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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue: Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
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Past 11 PM, at home.
I was still in my room, my hands moving furiously, guilty of not having finished my work yet.
[~Celebrating the 7th Anniversary of the Unextinguishable Flame, Spark~]
Still, the pink banner file was nearly complete.
Just finish this, and I could finally sleep.
I could say goodbye to Department Head Nam's nagging calls and the dozens of reference materials piling up in my inbox every day.
I'd get to enjoy the Chuseok holiday one day earlier than everyone else.
‘Try canceling my leave on the day of again. I'll make you an ambassador for the Ministry of Labor's interrogation room.’
Thanks to a certain someone, I still had seventeen vacation days left, and it was already September.
I wasn't giving in this time. I will protect my vacation at all costs.
Muttering a phrase I'd picked up from some online community, I typed with renewed fervor.
How many times had I repeated the cycle of glancing at the calendar and then focusing back on PhotoPlat?
“……Done. I’m not touching it again, for real.”
After a long struggle, the file I’d created through sheer grit was finally renamed "Spark_7thAnniversary_CafeEvent(Banner)."
Now, all I had to do was send the email. I hurriedly opened a web browser.
And there they were, the same dazzling faces I’d grown sick of seeing on the banner, greeting me.
It was because I’d set the entertainment news as my homepage, on orders to always keep up with Spark's activities.
These were the damn thieves who had stolen the heart of my department head’s daughter, the very culprits keeping me awake at this ungodly hour… and yet.
“What the hell.”
There, I saw it.
The owners of the very banner whose colors I had changed some 28,000 times, agonizing over which looked better.
A single headline containing the name of that goddamn group, Spark.
『Spark Fails to Overcome the 7-Year Curse… To Begin Disbandment Process.』
“Fuck…”
My memory after that was hazy.
I don't know if I passed out from pure rage or if I just face-planted on my keyboard and fell asleep from severe sleep deprivation.
To think I didn't even pass out from overworking at the office, but from stanning an idol group on behalf of my boss's daughter.
And since I collapsed at home and not the office, I couldn't even file for workers' comp.
Everything about the situation was absurd, from start to finish. The blackness of my vision felt like my future.
* * *
Warm sunlight. A quiet, peaceful morning.
My body felt so refreshed I couldn't tell how many hours I'd slept.
It was, without a doubt, the best I'd felt in ages. Everything was perfect.
…Except for the wooden plank right in front of my face.
‘Was the ceiling always this close?’
For some reason, the ceiling seemed to be right before my eyes.
For things to appear so much closer than they actually were, I must still be half-asleep.
After working seven days a week and then staying late on Monday, it was no wonder I couldn't think straight.
On top of that, I'd just received the shocking news that the banner I'd spent two weeks on was now useless.
It made sense that I was exhausted. I couldn't even remember getting into bed.
As I reached beside my head for my phone to check the time, a conversation I'd once overheard between my team members flashed through my mind.
‘Doesn't the air feel different when you oversleep?’
‘I know, right? Your body feels strangely refreshed, and the sunlight is so warm.’
‘And everything's quiet. That's when the cold sweat starts.’
Peaceful air: check.
Refreshed body: check.
Quiet atmosphere… a perfect match.
‘I'm screwed.’
I shot up like a spring. In the process, I nearly hit my head on the unusually low ceiling.
It wasn't an illusion; the ceiling really was lower.
‘Did my house collapse in my sleep or something?’
I turned my head, wondering if I could use 'collapsed ceiling' as my reason for being late.
An even more shocking scene unfolded beside me.
Someone was sleeping in the opposite bed, just an arm's reach away, with their back to me.
Unfamiliar belongings were scattered messily on the bed and floor.
This was something that could never happen in my home, where I'd lived alone ever since moving out.
‘Okay, this isn't my house. Definitely not.’
The mysteries multiplied with every passing moment as my vision widened.
But who cared? If he hadn't broken into my house, then I must have been brought to his.
I immediately grabbed a pillow. It was time to use the strength I'd built up over years of being the pack mule for the company's hiking club.
Just as I carefully aimed for a spot about a hand's breadth above the guy's head, a flash of light erupted before my eyes. My eyelids snapped shut reflexively.
When I managed to pry my eyes open, an unbelievable sight awaited me.
+
[SYSTEM] Assistant Manager Kim Iwol's (hereafter referred to as 'Party B') life reuse has been approved.
+
‘…? What is this?’
Words were floating in midair.
And they made absolutely no sense.
I may strive for an eco-friendly lifestyle, but I had no intention of reusing my life.
Or was this that 'eye floater' thing Assistant Manager Hwang was talking about?
But 'I keep seeing an approval window shimmering before my eyes' wasn't one of the symptoms he'd described.
If it were, Assistant Manager Hwang should have resigned, not come to work.
“…”
My first time oversleeping, after boasting a perfect attendance record until now.
An intruder who, despite being a complete stranger, was sleeping soundly under the covers.
And now, a floating text show in some stranger's house I'd been dragged to.
I knew exactly what to call a situation like this.
‘A fucking weird dream.’
Realizing I wasn't actually late for work, I instantly felt relieved. I pulled the covers back over myself and lay back down.
That was when my vision flashed white once more.
Just as I was about to request they turn off the light, a message appeared that was impossible to ignore.
+
[SYSTEM] A work directive from 'The One in Charge' has arrived.
▶ Assistant Manager Kim, I need you to debut with the kids in this batch. This is a really good opportunity, you know? The day will definitely come when you thank me for this. And don't you ever forget that the higher-ups have high expectations.
[SYSTEM] 'Debut as a 6-member boy group' has been set as 'Party B's' KPI.
+
The One in Charge, my ass.
There are exactly three things I despise in this world. One, my immediate family. Two, my boss, Department Head Nam. And three, responsibility. I'm just cut out for the bottom of the ladder.
What's more, the system's tone was Department Head Nam to a T. I thought he'd come back from the dead.
Ah, right. The old man's still alive and kicking.
Even if this was a dream, sending me a message impersonating my boss first thing in the morning was unforgivable.
No matter how devoid of business ethics this industry is, there should be a minimum level of human decency. I should just report it for smishing.
And what was that? Debut as a boy group?
Utter nonsense.
It was a terrible nightmare. So bad that I felt it would be better to just slam my forehead into the ceiling and see the light.
* * *
My long and ill-fated history with idols began when I was a new employee.
A week after I joined the company, (the former) Team Leader Nam, before his promotion to Department Head, asked me his first question.
‘Kim Iwol, you know how to use PhotoPlat?’
Ignorant of the golden rule that you should pretend not to know things even if you do, I made the foolish mistake of saying, “I have a certification.”
After that, my life went to shit. From that day on, I was designated as Department Head Nam's official errand machine.
The errands Department Head Nam assigned were by no means limited to company work.
From transcribing radio shows when the boy group ‘Spark’—which included the bastard's daughter's favorite member—made an appearance.
To taking frame-by-frame screenshots during their live streams and even designing and ordering cup sleeves for something called a 'birthday cafe.'
Whenever Spark started promotions, I had to handle tasks I'd never done in my life, my eyes wide with disbelief.
It was the beginning of an idol-stanning life I was never destined for.
‘I don't get why she pays other people to do this stuff. Watching you, Employee Kim, it looks like she could do it herself at home if she just learned how.’
‘Haha, it takes more time than you'd think, Team Leader.’
‘I gave her a piece of my mind at home. Told her she doesn't know how to save money. Anyway, my kid wants a revision on that banner you made yesterday.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘She says it needs to say 'Center Emperor Choi Jeho,' not just 'Emperor Choi Jeho.' Have it in my inbox by 1 o'clock.’
And so, six months passed with me as the dedicated GIF-making machine for the daughter's favorite, Spark's center, the so-called 'Center Emperor Choi Jeho.'
Department Head Nam's daughter had 'grown' from being a solo fan of Center Emperor Choi Jeho to a fan of all of Spark.
She said it was 'Only Center Emperor Choi Jeho.'
She said she only had eyes for you, Jeho.
It felt like my world was collapsing.
With the number of GIFs I had to churn out increasing fivefold, my energy, having been demoted to a human GIF-steamer, was rapidly depleted.
Of course, I didn't just sit back and obediently do everything I was told.
I even asked around, wondering if it was normal for an office worker to have to cater to such whims.
After being told I didn't have to do it all, I tried saying, 'I'm sorry, but I don't think I can take on any more of this work,' in a hundred and one different ways, but all that did was get me endlessly nitpicked.
‘Iwol, what is this supposed to mean? Why can't I understand a single thing you've written?’
‘Did you get Manager Jo to review this before submitting it? Get Manager Jo in here.’
Days of requesting confirmation four times, cursing internally eight times, and bowing my head six times.
After desperately holding out and refusing the fangirling duties under him, I finally raised the white flag on the day Team Leader Nam, who squeezed his subordinates dry, was promoted to Department Head.
And then those detestable Spark bastards, who had gifted me this living hell, suddenly announced their disbandment.
Right in front of my face, as I was being forced to prepare for their 7th-anniversary support project.
I was already at the point of crying tears of blood whenever I thought of idols. These guys have no business ethics.
I didn't look in a mirror, but I was sure my eyes were bloodshot. I could feel the pressure building behind them in real time.
To compose myself, I mentally reviewed my 'Things to Do After Quitting' list, starting from number one.
“Ugh…”
As I was trying my best to calm down, the guy sleeping in the opposite bed tossed and turned.
Could he be one of the 'kids in this batch' the system mentioned?
What sin did he commit in a past life to be punished by having to become an idol with an old guy like me? This young man must have some seriously bad luck.
Even though it was a dream, I was about to offer him some pity when his sleeping face turned toward me.
To my surprise, it was a familiar face.
Strong features and thick eyebrows.
A sharp jawline and a long, elegant neck.
A face so seared into my corneas that I couldn't possibly fail to recognize it.
Because it was identical to the younger face of Department Head Nam's daughter's favorite, the one who'd kept me up for over three years: Center Emperor Choi Jeho.
Spark is showing up here?
And of all people, it had to be him?
The same face that made me return to the office after I'd already left for the day, just because I'd missed editing one photo, is right in front of me? I wouldn't be guilty even if I lost my shit.
My whole body grew hot, as if I were lying on an electric blanket. This was definitely a case of stress-induced rage.
Still, I had to endure it. This was just a dream.
Grabbing a sleeping person by the collar and demanding, ‘Are you out of your mind, deleting your feed when I was in the middle of archiving your Insta?’ wouldn't change a thing.
After all, no one could understand that pain unless they were a subordinate who'd been forced by their boss to scrape someone else's posts until 9 PM.
But I couldn't control my boiling anger. The fury seemed to be etched into my very spine.
‘Don't tell me the other four are also from Spark…?’
The five members of Spark plus me made a six-member group, exactly as the system decreed. It all fit together with horrifying perfection.
If only I could contact Department Head Nam's daughter right now, I'd want to ask her something.
To the one who once said that 5 - 1 = 0.
I'm terribly sorry to ask, but what does 5 + 1 equal?
I fiercely regretted not closing my eyes before seeing that ridiculous message.
And I denied my current situation with all my might.
If it's Spark, I refuse.
If it's Center Emperor Choi Jeho, I would refuse even if they locked me in a hotel and made me work while feeding me nothing but room service.
Debut with the guys who smiled a grand total of three times during a two-hour live stream when I had to get 50 screenshots of each member smiling?
‘Yeah. No fucking way.’
Was the sound of the bolt sliding shut on my heart audible?
The text that had been floating there vanished, and a new sentence appeared.
+
[SYSTEM] A work directive from 'The One in Charge' has arrived.
▶ I hear kids these days only work as much as they get paid. But is that how corporate life works? Still, I'm not stingy with my evaluations. Let's make sure our Assistant Manager Kim gets what he deserves for his work. Sound good?
[SYSTEM] 'Personnel disadvantages' have been designated for 'Party B's' failure to achieve the final KPI.
[SYSTEM] 'Performance rewards' have been designated for 'Party B's' achievement of the final KPI.
+
Every single phrase, from start to finish, was infuriating.
Did it really think I'd fall for that?
I won't deny that my life has been soft enough for a mere system to look down on me.
Ever since I started putting up with all of Department Head Nam's bullshit, I had basically signed up for a life of hardship.
But I didn't want to be branded a certified pushover, not even in a dream.
I was about to just poke my own eyes out rather than keep looking at that crap when my vision flashed again.
The text that followed was nothing short of shocking.
+
[SYSTEM] 'Personnel disadvantages' are as follows.
▷ Forced re-employment at Hanpyeong Industries and career transfer restrictions upon resignation.
▷ Permanent forfeiture of the opportunity to receive the final performance reward.
+
It was a clause stating I'd be forcibly re-employed at the old company I hadn't even managed to quit yet.
Telling me to go back to a shithole like Hanpyeong Industries.
To think I'd have to join a company that, when you tell them the bathroom is out of toilet paper, tells you to wait for the supermarket sale—and against my will, at that!
It was even threatening to restrict my ability to find another job if I quit.
It seemed dead set on ruining my career.
I'd have to work at that goddamn company until retirement?
No way. There's a reason the biggest regret of my life was submitting my resume to Hanpyeong Industries.
No, fuck. Just logging onto that job search site at that specific time on that day was a tragedy.
It took me a moment to understand the next part. My mind wasn't working right, having been sent into a blind rage by the thought of rejoining Hanpyeong Industries.
‘Final performance reward?’
What did a final reward even matter? I already wanted to die at the thought of re-employment.
I was utterly convinced that things couldn't possibly get any worse.
That is, until I saw the explanation that followed.
+
[SYSTEM] The 'Final Performance Reward' is as follows.
▷ Nullification of older sister's (blood relative) death and provision of an opportunity for reunion.
+
The chance to meet my sister, who had died two years ago, was being offered to me with the simple word 'reward.'
Nullify my sister's death?
It seemed my bad luck cycle had hit hard. Either that, or my nightly prayers for Department Head Nam to go to hell had backfired on me.
Truly, it felt less like I was in dreamland and more like I'd fallen into hell.
