Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 215 A New Beginning (2)
[Performance Goal]
[- Sell 300,000 copies of Climaxâs regular album in the first week]
âIs this⊠even possibleâŠ?â
It seemed like others were easily hitting 0millions or half-millions, but that was only a tiny fraction of the whole market.
I sighed as soon as I saw it, but Climaxâs popularity was incomparable to half a year ago.
I had to try it first and see if it was feasible. Until the regular album was released, I had no choice but to stake my life on raising the awareness with unit singles.
Contrary to the daunting goal, the achievement reward was rather simple.
[Achievement Reward]
[- Special Item> âForesightâ acquired]
[- Data Transfer Right]
What is a data transfer right? I asked the system, but it only gave me a brief explanation that it was an item that prevented data loss in case of an error.
[Recommended Deadline for Quest Completion D-180]
At least they gave me half a year.
I closed all the system windows and right before I went to sleep, I entered the news section with a mind to check the entertainment news. I was startled by an unexpected situation.
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[Todayâs Stock] Jo Young Foodâs stock price falls for consecutive days, reflecting the expected poor performance in the 4th quarter
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Falling for consecutive days? I had nothing to do with it anyway, so I tried to keep my mental health by ignoring the company-related news.
The company was basically run by the system, but Jo Young Food was a brand that built trust by having me, the representative, participate in the planning and development stages.
The pillar of the company was pulled out from the root, so I thought it couldnât be normal. But when I saw my half-brother who had the title of the new representative, the sleepiness that was slowly creeping up on me disappeared.
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After the death of former representative Lim Hyun-seong, new business development ALL STOP, most of the sales generated from selling off business units, shareholdersâ anxiety leads to EXIT intensification.
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To summarize, the new business development department was drastically reduced after my half-brother took over the management.
He must have thought that there was no need to invest in research and development when the parts that were already making good sales were decent.
The answer is obvious. Food and beverage is the most sensitive to trends and fashions change quickly.
It is most important to catch and utilize the theme that will be popular in the future and secure the factory capacity that can be used.
This chapter is updatđźd by freÄnovelkiss.com.
But if you push for expansion too hard, you might lose out if the trend ends sooner than expected.
âItâs a field that requires foresight in many ways, so there arenât many companies that last longâŠâ
How would he know that? I clenched my fist as I saw the companyâs situation collapsing.
[<Warning> You cannot interfere with any events related to [Lim Hyun-seongâs Wish] until you complete the preceding quest.]
I know. I know.
I had nothing to do, but I couldnât even watch. I quickly turned off my phone screen.
In the night when everyone was asleep. I was the only one staring at the ceiling of the bedroom with a blank mind, feeling restless.
It had been half a year since I lived in this world. From the time when summer was just beginning to now when the year was ending.
So many things had happened that it was hard to recall them all at once. I became friends with the kids who I thought would never fit me when I was Lim Hyun-seong, and I even meddled in their affairs.
Moreover, I had spent so much time on Floss, a group that I didnât even belong to, that it made me laugh at my own meddling.
âLetâs focus on finishing the quest now.â
I didnât know what kind of quest would be waiting for me after I achieved my wish of becoming a successful idol.
But I had to get rid of the things that needed to be done first.
As I barely calmed down my excitement and pulled the blanket up to my chin, I felt annoyed again.
âWhy canât he just sit in his seat and stamp the approval? The company wouldnât go bankrupt.â
I was furious at what he was doing. What were the employees who had worked hard with me and entrusted me with the fate of the company thinking now?
I buried my face in the pillow to stop myself from worrying about one thing after another, and my mind became restless.
I forced myself to close my eyes, and I felt sleep creeping up on me.
Yeah. The direction I was going to take was already decided. All that was left was to run with my body.
âWow, Iâm so happy to be able to work again!â
The editor, who wore glasses that were too thick to see his face properly, fiddled with the height adjustment pin of his chair, as if he was still uncomfortable, and greeted me brightly.
âThank you for accepting the hiring offer so readily.â
âOh, you gave me such a good deal, I should have bowed to you.â
I smiled politely and shook the editorâs hand lightly, then exchanged brief greetings with the rest of the staff.
It had been two weeks since Floss joined Composition. The new group name of the Floss trio and the eight-member unitâs activity name were decided. They were âSweepâ and âOFFBitsâ.
I wanted to choose a name that could remind me of Floss, so I had a hard time choosing between âSweepâ and âFloodâ.
It was because of Yu-geonâs refreshing remark that it became âSweepâ.
âI wonder if it would sound like a Floss rip-off if I say hello, we are Flood, from tomorrow.â
I had nothing to say when he said that he would be active with that group name.
I was surprised by the huge response that was more than I expected, right after the official article of Sweepâs debut.
I didnât know whether to call it luck or not, but a big drug scandal broke out in a competing agency, so I was able to get over it without much controversy.
Hwijin was a member who had bought sympathy cards from the manipulated members, saying that he must have been wronged.
Yu-geon hadnât confessed his fatherâs affair yet, but the public opinion was more welcoming when he heard the news of his upcoming activity.
Of course, it also helped that he hadnât shown his face yet, and as soon as he started his activity, he would be flooded with hate comments like, he pretended to be pitiful and went into hiding, but heâs fine after all.
âThe problem wasâŠâ
Of course, it was Naru. Naru, who had been bashed everywhere like a neighborhood book before the official article of joining Composition, enjoyed the glory of ranking first in the popularity ranking as soon as the activity notice came up.
[- Where did Shimâs conscience go? He didnât even show up at the press conference and announced his activity right away??? He has a thick face.]
[? His face was always thick.]
[- When Shim debuted twice, the other trainees who lost their chances because of Shim gave up their dreams.]
[? The investigation team officially acknowledged that there was no vote manipulation, so I donât understand why this keeps coming up.]
[? Yeah, stop shielding him. Is it normal for Shim to have more than 10 minutes of screen time out of 60 minutes of broadcast?]
[? The members who received the favor also ended up disbanding and being branded as manipulators. The production team was the one who did wrong, and the members had no veto power in the situation. I donât see the point of just cursing them.]
[? Everyone is sick of the victim narrative?????? Some couldnât even debut and only sold their faces, and some hit millions as soon as they debuted. How are they the same victims?
In fact, there were some members who benefited the most from the initial grade evaluation and the opening filming, butâŠ
Naruâs early editing of Angel was so impressive, and his image of catering to the fansâ needs excessively made him hard to sink.
Naru would cry out dozens of times a day that he wanted to retire because his mental state was torn apart. It was not an easy task to comfort him by taking turns among the seven of us.
âSome of them even made fun of him instead of doing their job properly.â
I did not blindly console Naru by saying that the people who cursed him were bad. There was also a person next to me who resisted the temptation and debuted on his own. If Naru, who had such a high level of popularity, had refused to sign the pre-contract, he would not have suffered such blatant disadvantages as Yu-geon.
So I told him that this was the price he had to pay for choosing the easy way, knowing what the right direction was.
That did not mean that he had to accept the excessive criticism and personal insults. I also added that he had no choice but to show his improved skills in the future to prove that he was not a person who relied on manipulation.
âWell⊠I donât know how he took it.â
He seemed to be stimulated by the fact that he did not leave the practice room all day, holding onto the vocal trainer.
And so the sun set and it was already January 2022.
In the meantime, Composition increased its staff from four to ten.
People would say, ten peopleâŠ? Isnât that barely out of the small business category?
It was a bold choice for a label that had no significant achievements yet.
From my experience, it was natural to choose investment over profitability in the early stages of business.
âBut still⊠there has been no clear revenue since the labelâs launch, except for the cosmetics ad model fee.â
If it werenât for the capital of Cheon Soo Group, I would have had a lot of trouble.
âChairman Cheon wonât keep supporting a business that doesnât produce results, so I have to turn it into a profit soon.â
To do that, the members had to earn income from broadcasting appearances, ad model activities, and other entertainment activities, and the external sales team had to bring in PPL and other self-produced content.
It was a sales battle after all. To have aggressive sales activities, I needed employees to support me.
I divided the departments into planning, support, and content, and each had four, four, and two small ministries, and I felt that the operation was more stable.
âIt feels like the system is in place with a lot of experienced people.â
Jinkyung, who had become more neat, looked at the partitions divided by department and spoke to me.
âJinkyung, youâve worked hard.â
âWhat are you talking about? Iâve never seen anyone as meticulous as you, Director. If it werenât for you, it would have taken longer and been more troublesome.â
That was true. I had to put a lot of effort into giving them their roles and making the company run properly, as they had worked in their own ways.
At first, the senior staff who doubted if I, who was only twenty-four, knew how to manage, changed their minds after working with me for two days.
The expression of the young entertainer who had just inked his birth certificate was wary of what he would say, but it became more friendly as he saw my meticulous and clear work.
And on top of that, I had a faster document review speed than others. I was fast and caught every typo and number error that others made. Even Woo, the team leader with the longest career, was impressed.
âThatâs not true.â
âNo, it is. Youâre really a rare breed, Director.â
âYeah. What kind of idol works overtime until dawn to list up the companies for collaboration proposals?â
They seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied with the fact that I stayed and worked until the latest and went home.
âIâll have to take it to the dormitory from now on.â
When I came to the dormitory, I was distracted by the furry beasts of the members, so I stayed in the office for a long time, and it felt like they were giving me a hint.
It was similar to when Director Lim Hyun-seong was here, so I just had to adjust to them.
âIâll try to take it easy. Starting tomorrow, it might be hard to come to the office because of the shooting⊠Thereâs a lot to do in the future, so Iâd appreciate it if you could help me out.â
âYep!â
Since I wouldnât be able to come here every day from tomorrow, I decided to finish the office work check and head to the dorm.
âHey! Ise hyung, you came early today!â
Seon-woo, who was busy packing his stuff, greeted me first.
âYeah. Did you pack everything?â
âUm~ almost?â
I ruffled Seon-wooâs hair and looked around. The other members were also preoccupied with packing their bags.
âLetâs do well tomorrow.â
For the first time in a while, I was about to resume my official activities as the idol Cheon Ise.