Chapter 33

Was it the aftermath of sitting across from me yesterday and spilling his story over drinks? Gowon had become fairly capable of showing his prickly side openly. It made him seem exactly twenty years old, and he was much easier on the eyes that way.

“Fine.”

I took out my phone and made a call. The recipient was Kwon Taeyoung.

“Yeah, Taeyoung. It’s me. Ah, I wanted to ask you something. What’s Gowon’s schedule today?”

Gowon’s eyes widened at the appearance of the division head. He still did not have the nerve to try stopping me from speaking with Kwon Taeyoung.

—Why are you asking?

Of course, Kwon Taeyoung was a perfectly rational person too.

“He slept at my place last night. Well... after what happened, I thought I’d pretend I had somewhere to go and give him a ride if he had anything scheduled.”

He would never imagine I was lying with Gowon standing right in front of me.

—Nothing important. We could cancel it.

“Well, I’ll ask him once he wakes up. He might say he wants to do it. Or he can rest if he wants.”

—Ah.

He’s lying, Director. Don’t fall for it!

That was exactly what Gowon’s expression said.

—He doesn’t have a schedule. Hmm, he said he was going to take proof photos with his subway advertisement.

“Aha. Then I can drop him off in front of the station. Thanks.”

—Baek Hanje, you really are taking good care of Gowon. The youngest member finally gets a little brother for the first time—

Click.

There was no need for pointless remarks.

I turned toward Gowon, who had frozen in place from sheer disbelief.

“So which station is it?”

“.......”

“I’m still holding my phone, you know. It won’t even take a minute to search, so make this easy and tell me.”

“Brother, you really are....”

Gowon soon muttered the station’s name. Apparently, an advertisement congratulating him on his debut and first music-show win had gone up last week, while another advertisement nearby saying they were waiting for his comeback had been installed a few days ago. He said he needed to visit that one too.

Q2-4. Consistent Growth Is the Shortcut to Your Goal

(Revised Edition)

Peace has returned after the resolution of a major incident.

But you cannot simply rest forever.

A rookie idol still has a long road ahead.

Appear on various entertainment programs and leave a strong impression on the public.

Requirement: Appear on terrestrial television entertainment programs (0/3)

Success: MAX LEVEL increase (100→120), expansion of Gowon’s fandom

Failure: Comeback Scenario cannot be initiated; Quest Scenario forced termination.

Time Limit: 499h 35m 01s (D-21)

Now, of all times?

The Q2-3 quest that had been pushed aside because of the emergency—the task of raising his Vocals and Dance—had vanished entirely, and a new Q2-4 quest appeared in its place.

The reward attached to Q2-3 had simply been transferred over.

Status.

Pop.

Gowon

Vocals Lv.91

Dance Lv.95

Current MAX LEVEL: 100

He was not far from one hundred. I would have felt cheated if the reward had disappeared because of an emergency quest I had never chosen, so it seemed to have carried it over.

More importantly.

I think I’ve more or less figured out how this is structured....

First, this quest had one overarching theme.

<A Senior Paving the Road to Glory>, intended to fulfill Gowon’s wish: ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■.

And the journey was divided into several major arcs.

Those were separated into Parts.

The first was Part 1: Debut. The one that had threatened me with Kwon Taeyoung’s life.

A Senior Paving the Road to Glory Part 1

Debut ‘Gowon’ as a K-pop singer in South Korea.

Stage 1 Objective: A Flawless Debut

That had been cleared with “A Flawless Debut.”

Then Part 2 began: Establishing Himself.

The quests derived from it were, quite literally, all intended to help Gowon establish himself in the entertainment industry. They seemed to keep appearing with new numbers attached—2-1, 2-2, and so on.

Then presumably, until the ultimate objective of Part 2 was achieved....

A Senior Paving the Road to Glory Part 2

Establish yourself as a K-pop singer.

Stage 2 Objective: Reach the Top 10 of the CPCE Public Reputation Index

The repetitive work would continue.

Put another way, if we achieved the Stage 2 Objective quickly, there would be no need to complete the subquests.

Going around in circles with quests was a pain in the ass, so naturally, the shortcut was best.

When I stared at him closely, Gowon turned his head away.

“I can’t go today anyway. All my clothes are at my accommodations.”

“I have plenty of clothes. I’ll lend you some. We’re roughly the same size. And you absolutely have to go.”

I answered his puzzled look as though asking what was so difficult to understand.

“You need to show the culprit that you’re perfectly fine and that something like that didn’t affect you.”

“...Ah....”

“You’re going, right?”

The tenacity and defiance unique to him when he stood onstage filled his eyes.

“Yes.”

And so Gowon climbed into the passenger seat of my car.

If yesterday’s incident had made him afraid of crowds or reluctant to go outside, I had intended to advise Kwon Taeyoung to arrange counseling for him, but that did not appear necessary.

Honestly, if that person had been a stalker who showed Gowon the same fanatical affection as an obsessive fan, I would have been the first to stop him from going out.

But considering what had been written on the door and the hostility they had shown Gowon, it was—

An inferiority complex.

They had gone insane because Gowon was doing better than the favorite artist they loved so much that they had entrusted their entire identity to them.

...And the most suspicious possibility was the fandom of Newton, Division Four’s senior group that had debuted immediately before Gowon.

I had heard the atmosphere had been bad lately. Not only were fans constantly fighting, but tensions between the divisions inside the company had also shown no signs of ending.

What a mess....

The former CEO stepped down so the company could handle its own affairs. She’d cry blood if she saw this.

Yang Okmi, an old trot singer, had founded K-Dom on little more than impulse. When the company miraculously grew, she declared, “Old people shouldn’t interfere in art,” reorganized the company into divisions, and withdrew from frontline management. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Back when we were active, she had practically lived at the company with us, but now she never showed her face.

‘About stage names for our heavenly voices. Mijeong can be Mitchell, and Hanje can be Hanzel. What do you think?’

‘They’re terrible....’

When we sat in a circle on newspaper spread across the practice-room floor, tearing into cheap neighborhood pizza, she probably had not imagined a future like this at all.

—Your destination is on the right.

While I was lost in thought, we arrived at the station.

The moment I parked in the public lot near the station, Gowon unfastened his seat belt as though he had been waiting for the chance. Then he hurried out as if someone were chasing him and bowed through the window.

“Thank you for taking care of me yesterday and today. I’ll return the clothes through the company.”

He kept calling me Brother while pretending he had completely forgotten that I had ordered him to move into my home.

The sight was amusing enough that I covered my face with a cap and mask and followed him.

After repeatedly glancing back at me, Gowon finally stopped.

“...Why are you following me?”

“Since I came all this way, I might as well take the photo for you. Do you really think your phone’s camera can capture the billboard properly?”

“.......”

Gowon’s advertisement was directly across from the ticket gates.

More precisely, the walls were covered with it all the way from there to the stairs leading down to the subway platforms.

And the picture they had chosen was his tearful face after his first win.

“Wow. They picked a very baby-like photo.”

“.......”

He said nothing, but his ears turned bright red.

“Go stand over there.”

“You’re really going to take it for me?”

“Do you think I came here to take a selfie of myself?”

Gowon abandoned the argument he had no chance of winning and shuffled over to stand in front of his own damp-eyed face.

Apparently intending to milk the one thing he had learned for the rest of his life, he awkwardly made a heart beside his cheek.

“What kind of pose is that? Boring. Use your body a little.”

“Th-then....”

Gowon barely managed to make finger guns with both hands.

“Lift one foot. Smile more. Move closer to your face. Now stretch your arms out. Good. Next, pretend you’re taking a selfie.”

He was already enormous, and now he was striking conspicuous poses, so people gradually began to take notice.

It did not take long.

“Is that Gowon...?”

“That’s Gowon, right?”

People began murmuring as they realized that the large man in front of them was the person displayed on the billboard.

Soon everyone had noticed except Gowon himself, who was struggling to fit the entire billboard into his selfie.

“Gowon!”

At the unfamiliar voice calling his name, Gowon abruptly looked around.

Before he knew it, people with shining eyes had gathered around him.

“Did you come to take a proof photo?”

“Gowon, when are you making a comeback? You need to work while your joints are still healthy instead of resting!”

Flustered, Gowon hurriedly pulled up his hood, but it was already too late.

“Y-yes, th-thank you. The comeback schedule hasn’t been....”

“K-Dom is treating you well, right?”

“What are you eating for lunch today?”

“Oh my God, he’s really so handsome.”

Even passersby were now looking around at the noisy scene.

“What’s happening?”

“You know, the winner from <Debut Chart>. The one who sang ‘I’m Gonna Superstar.’”

Trapped in the crowd, Gowon searched for the person who had come with him.

“Br-Brother.”

But the companion responsible for attracting everyone by making him strike extravagant poses had fled long ago.

“......?!”

A short while later, after repeatedly bowing to the fans, Gowon sprinted at full speed toward the nearest staircase.

When he emerged outside, the car stopped directly in front of the gate with its hazard lights flashing at the curb would look very familiar.

“You getting in or not?”