Chapter 56

But could the system really fail to find the right special character...? Wait. Then did that mean someone was typing this in manually? That made no sense....

“H-Hanje?”

“Oh.”

Apparently, while staring at the status window, I had leaned my face toward Gowon sitting beyond it. Gowon was using every ounce of strength in his core to pull his upper body away from me.

“Hmm?”

“.......”

Just as he had said, he did not seem seriously injured anywhere, so why was he avoiding my eyes like someone who had committed a crime?

Even when I tilted my head and examined his face, the eyes that usually met mine with a sullen stare refused to turn in my direction.

“What are you doing?”

I had no particular intention of delicately considering the feelings of a sensitive twenty-year-old, so I took hold of his chin and turned his gaze toward me.

The redness in his face spread all the way to his ears and neck.

“I swear, I swear on everything that I’m not lying. I’m not hurt anywhere.”

No, I already knew that.

“It’s...! It’s really late, so let’s hurry home.”

Gowon quickly fastened his seat belt and clutched the strap across his chest as though it were a lifeline.

Apparently, he had not been lying about having energy to spare. He was not even going through some rebellious age at twenty, so I had no idea what to make of him....

When we passed beneath a bright streetlight, the color of Gowon’s face seemed strangely similar to the new color of the status window.

***

And it became clear that this damned quest did not care what kind of disaster happened at the company as long as it did not involve Gowon.

<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

<A Senior Paving the Road to Glory> Part 2

Cleared

Gowon’s name had barely made it into the CPCE TOP 10 announced that week.

It was probably the result of the entertainment programs he had filmed during promotions gradually accumulating more views.

<A Senior Paving the Road to Glory> Part 3

Become the year’s most outstanding rookie.

Stage 3 Objective: Win Rookie of the Year

As expected, that triggered the start of a new part.

Part 3 Additional Penalty: An injury severe enough to place Kim Yeban in a suspended-lyrics condition

This time, the hostage was the third-oldest member of Young Ace, who was actively working as an actor.

“Damn it....”

Q3-1. Summer’s HOT NEWBIE

If every preparation is complete, it is time to show your true worth.

Reach No. 1 on the HOT 100 chart and the Top 10 of the TOP 100 chart with the new song.

Success: Increase domestic Recognition; receive more stage time for the year-end special performance

Failure: Forced termination of the Quest Scenario

Anyway, Newton or whatever else could go to hell. As far as “Gowon’s success” was concerned, they were someone else’s problem, so the quest was telling me to focus on releasing the new song.

But the greatest obstacle to Rookie of the Year was still Division Four’s interference.

Executive Director Choi had walked out of the company perfectly fine.

Apparently, he had shamelessly argued that Newton’s youngest member had merely been frightened, and that everything had been done for the sake of results, so it was not as though he had committed some truly terrible act.

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

I glared at the quest window.

“Hey, this is a crisis. Wee-woo, wee-woo. Emergency situation. You heard him too, right? Some evil bastard said he was going to make Gowon fail.”

I addressed the quest window, which still had its suspicious pink hue.

Ever since that day, the quest window had not returned to its original color.

I did not know what it meant, but it probably indicated that something had changed in Gowon.

“You’re desperate to raise Gowon. Whenever it looked like something might happen to him, you threw a fucking fit. So cooperate this time too. Give me a quest that lets me do something about Executive Director Choi.”

The screen did flicker.

But its sluggish attitude seemed to say, Come now, is that really necessary? and it pissed me off.

3-X. Subquest

Go to Division Four and keep the division head occupied for one hour.

The greater the disturbance, the better.

Success: Improve the quality of “Gowon’s” album

Failure: Confine “Baek Hanje” to his studio for forty-eight hours

It was not even an emergency quest, just some incidental subquest.

Even the failure penalty felt like it was subtly telling me to stop causing trouble and quietly work instead.

“Ha....”

So it was asking whether I wanted to go vent my anger for an hour even though the only reward would be improved album quality, or whether I wanted to give up.

“.......”

It was true that the situation yesterday had ended in such a fucking aggravating way that I still held a grudge.

Fine. I would do it.

An hour-long disturbance? Sounded fun.

“Hello.”

“.......”

“It’s been a while. Oh, wait. Maybe it hasn’t? I suppose I got confused because I’m seeing you somewhere brightly lit.”

I even slapped my fist into my palm as though I had realized something profound, making Executive Director Choi’s expression twist.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why did you come here first thing in the morning to pick a fight?”

“Wow, I’m genuinely envious of you, Executive Director. As I get older, I keep realizing that knowing a lot isn’t necessarily better. Living in ignorance seems much more peaceful. Just yesterday, I found out something I would’ve been much better off not knowing.”

“.......”

“My heart’s been pounding so badly that I can’t sit still. Oh, did you happen to watch that entertainment program? Whenever my work isn’t going well or I feel anxious, I wander around the company. So while I’m at it, would it be all right if I looked around Division Four?”

Several employees who had no idea what was happening glanced at Executive Director Choi, their division head.

“...And what exactly are you so curious about?”

“I just said I don’t want to know anything else. I only need some emotional stability. Inner peace?”

The gazes pouring down on me stung. It seemed that somewhere in the minds of people who did not know the circumstances, resentment was forming along the lines of, That lunatic Baek Hanje is abusing his power.

But it was not entirely unpleasant to read the guilty flinches from a few of them and sort them out while thinking, Oh, so you’re on that bastard’s side!

“I’m hungry. Do you have any snacks?”

Would there be an additional reward if I stayed and played for longer than an hour?

***

That evening.

Kwon Taeyoung summoned me from my studio.

I thought he might have a few words to say about the scene I had caused in Division Four, but what landed in front of me was a document envelope.

“What’s this?”

When I opened it, several blurry photographs came out. Most were out of focus, but one thing was clear: they were photographs of Executive Director Choi meeting someone.

Behind them were several pages describing suspicions of improper entertainment, embezzlement, and secret external meetings.

“You can start digging from here.”

“Oh....”

Seriously, Kwon Taeyoung. He had completely replaced his idol identity with that of a businessman now.

“How the hell did you get this?”

“An eye for an eye.”

I looked up at him, not immediately understanding. He declared proudly,

“I broke in. Last night. Into the division head’s office.”

“...Did you have someone do it?”

“How could I make someone else do something like this?”

Which meant the man himself had gone.

My mouth fell open in shock as Kwon Taeyoung gathered and neatly arranged the materials scattered across the desk.

“With all that chaos happening at night, I figured they’d be too distracted over there.”

“Wow.... No, what were you going to do if you got caught?”

“I couldn’t attack Jeongho for trespassing in the A&R room. It’s the same principle. Can K-Dom afford to damage my public image?”

That was true, but still.

Compared to him, I was practically harmless for kicking an expensive car, mouthing off to an executive, and causing a scene....

Even though people called me a lunatic on a regular basis, there were times when I became solemn in front of my fellow members.

Kwon Taeyoung was considered one of the more composed members of Young Ace, but when he did something insane, the scale was in a league of its own.

“Still, I thought they would’ve noticed by around now. Are they still too distracted by what happened yesterday?”

...Ah.

Was that why he wanted me to go aggravate Executive Director Choi?

Earlier, I had torn through Division Four like a hamster that had escaped its cage, right in front of Executive Director Choi.

I had even followed him into the division head’s office and held a snack-review session, telling him to manage the break room properly while debating which cookies tasted better.

Executive Director Choi became so furious that he left the company. Apparently, because of that, he had yet to notice that someone had entered his office the previous night.

Did my obnoxious behavior just complete Kwon Taeyoung’s perfect crime...?

At that moment, the door to the division head’s office flew open without a knock.

“Taeyoung.”

The person who entered with a confused expression was Chief Manager Park from the management office. When he saw that I was the visitor in the office, he looked relieved and shut the door firmly.

“Division Four is in chaos right now. No, not just Division Four—the whole company might be turned upside down.”

“Why?”

Oh, damn. Had I been mistaken about the perfect crime?

“Newton filed a formal complaint with the central audit office.”

Hmm?

“...What did you say?”

“The boys came to the company this morning and did it without Division Four knowing... Haah. Division Four must’ve been distracted too, because apparently no one even realized they were here.”

“...This is bad.”

Separate from understanding Newton’s anger, Kwon Taeyoung looked worried about the consequences their decision would bring.

“Well, that sounds complicated. I’ll leave matters like that to the executives and get back to work.”

Removing myself from the situation, I rose from the sofa. Both of them watched me, but I quickly slipped out of the division head’s office.

Once I was standing alone in the hallway, I dragged a hand over half my face as though washing it without water.

The one-hour gap I had created by scattering the attention of Division Four’s employees.

The incidental effect of that brief opening had been Kwon Taeyoung’s perfect crime.

The primary effect had been Newton’s complaint.

Someone had tried to harm their youngest member, and their own safety had been threatened as well. Newton could no longer trust Executive {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Director Choi. This was their desperate choice.

3-X. Subquest

Cleared

Rewards are being calculated.

I stared at the quest-completion window that appeared at a time like this with a sickened expression.

“Wow... Ha-ha. You’re insane in such a fascinating variety of ways.”

I had wondered why the reward for tearing through Division Four was an improvement in Gowon’s album quality.

If this incident continued to spread, Executive Director Choi would take a serious hit.

But separately from that—

Newton’s next promotional cycle would also become uncertain.

A victim of school violence? Of course that was tragic.

It was undeniably a good thing that society had grown colder toward perpetrators of school violence.

But awareness and consideration for the victims had not advanced nearly as far.

Even while pretending otherwise, people would frame them through the incident, claim they did not seem like a victim, or say that their image felt different now whenever they appeared on camera.

And since they’ve made an enemy of their own division with their own hands, promoting at all will be difficult.

If Newton was forced into a hiatus while the aftermath of the incident died down, Gowon would be the only male idol left who had debuted under K-Dom within the last five years.

Which meant—

Newcomer or not, they’ll have no choice but to concentrate their support on him.