Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 47

Kang Ji-woo, who had consciously taken a deep breath, calmly spoke out shocking words.

“I found out that other trainees have been ostracizing Gyeol for a long time.”

* * *

In any group, it is more natural than one might think for individuals to be jealous or envious of someone who possesses significantly superior abilities. This is especially true when it’s more than just a hobby.

And Seo Moon-gyeol was long accustomed to being the object of such envy.

He was born better than others, albeit unintentionally, but his natural personality made him doubly more approachable.

Even among the seed trainees, Seo Moon-gyeol stood out.

When Seo Moon-gyeol showed no intention of responding to the minor gossip and provocations that began at some point, the ostracism by the trainees worsened day by day.

‘Huh? Is it okay even like this? Even like this? …Seems okay.’

…These were the thoughts that ran through his head.

So, when Kang Ji-woo, who had been in another company, finally joined and the debut group for Seed Entertainment’s first boy group was confirmed.

The ostracism towards Seo Moon-gyeol had reached its peak.

One day, Gyun Seong-ha, unable to bear what was happening in the basement, grabbed Seo Moon-gyeol, who acted as if it wasn’t his business.

At that time, Gyun Seong-ha was the only trainee who purely admired Seo Moon-gyeol’s exceptional skills and showed a friendly attitude towards him.

“Hyung, it’s too much for them to even steal your stuff. Let’s tell the CEO before it’s too late. He will listen to us.”

“Don’t do that. The kids are just having a hard time.”

He said something nonsensical, implying that if the stress accumulated from the tough trainee life could be relieved by bullying him, then it was okay.

At this point, On Raon, who was vividly observing the past of the seed trainees with the help of the system while listening to Kang Ji-woo’s story, internally grabbed his neck.

‘Is there a rule that handsome people always think of others first and live as pushovers?’

With this extremely biased sentiment, On Raon soon changed his mind.

The word pushover itself felt too precious for Seo Moon-gyeol.

‘That… he’s a living Buddha, a living Buddha!’

Unless he had not spent about thirty years devotedly cultivating in some clean-watered, fresh-aired mountain, there was no way he could sincerely say such things in that situation.

Seo Moon-gyeol did it.

Not only did he completely ignore the bullying directed at him, but he also went a step further and sincerely worried about the lives of the other trainees, who were worse than animals.

It wasn’t simply a matter of good character.

‘The most abnormal person here is Seo Moon-gyeol.’

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that his mental strength was so strong……

While On Raon was having a great realization, in the flashback, Gyun Seong-ha nodded with a gloomy face.

“……Okay.”

Seo Moon-gyeol’s words were clearly wrong.

Not everyone who is having a hard time bullies others so viciously.

Although Gyun Seong-ha’s rationality also thought this was not right, he ultimately followed Seo Moon-gyeol’s words.

Originally, at that age, a word from a cool older brother had more power than anything else.

The person who put an end to all these incidents was Kang Ji-woo, who happened to overhear the trainees’ conversation.

Initially, he was half in doubt, but with continued attention, he was able to uncover all the facts.

According to Ban Yo-han, it was the first time he had seen Kang Ji-woo so angry in his life.

As soon as Kang Ji-woo secured clear evidence of the trainees’ ostracism towards Seo Moon-gyeol, he went straight to the CEO of Seed Entertainment, Ban Ga-eul.

Along with Ban Yo-han (the CEO’s nephew) to add more credibility to his words.

“CEO, I can’t debut with these kinds of kids.”

Ban Ga-eul, who had learned for the first time about the misdeeds in the basement through the words of Kang Ji-woo, who had recently been an outsider, was also enraged.

Seo Moon-gyeol had tried his best not to show any signs.

The trainees had also cunningly not shown any hints except when they were among themselves, so Ban Ga-eul and the staff knew nothing.

According to Ban Yo-han, it’s scarier when someone who usually doesn’t get angry finally does.

On the spot, Ban Ga-eul, who firmly declared that he couldn’t debut such kids, thoroughly cleaned up the problematic trainees, even resorting to legal action if necessary.

In other words, all trainees except for Seo Moon-gyeol, Gyun Seong-ha, and Kang Ji-woo were expelled.

The debut group or whatever, Ban Ga-eul was ruthless.

The problematic trainees were expelled, painfully realizing the Seed’s motto, “You reap what you sow,” that greeted them at the entrance every day.

It was inevitable that their debut was canceled in the process.

Though it was the right thing to do, it brought unspeakable damage to the company that had invested enormous costs in nurturing trainees and to the trainees who had been dreaming of debuting.

“I’m sorry. I really have nothing to say to you. I and the staff should have paid more attention and kept a closer watch…….”

Ban Ga-eul, looking weary from dealing with the parents of expelled trainees who visited almost daily demanding the CEO, explained the situation to the remaining trainees.

“If you want, I will responsibly connect you with another company. If you really want to stay with our company, that’s fine too. Since there are no prepared trainees in the company, it will be difficult to debut immediately, but I will try my best to set up a new plan.”

The three people who faced each other at that moment chose to stay without much hesitation.

There were various reasons, but the biggest was that it was too regrettable to lose the connections they had built due to individual circumstances spreading them to different companies.

Was it a youthful impulse driven by the emotions right after overcoming a big ordeal together?

It’s something still unknown.

After that, not only the dedicated casting staff but also the CEO, Ban Ga-eul, delayed his main job and personally visited several agencies specializing in training idol trainees until his feet were worn out, but it was difficult to find a trainee who would fit well.

Partly because many trainees had been consumed by various audition programs, and most importantly, it was as hard as picking stars from the sky to find a trainee who wouldn’t be overshadowed by the three distinctive individuals.

Meanwhile, the eldest, Kang Ji-woo, had already turned twenty-one, and any further delay would make him too old to debut as an idol.

Though he occasionally participated in activities like singing drama OSTs or appearing in competition programs like ‘King of the Masked Singer’ through Ban Ga-eul’s arrangements, it was meaningless without a debut.

“Ji-woo, are you really okay staying here? With your level, it wouldn’t be difficult to join the debut group at any company. Even solo….”

Kang Ji-woo, who obviously knew this, instead responded nonchalantly.

“It’s okay. If I go alone, what will happen to Gyeol and Seong-ha? If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll just go back and help my parents.”

At the age of twenty, he had to repeat the same words internally when he first knocked on the CEO’s office door to report Seo Moon-gyeol’s situation.

Ultimately, Ban Ga-eul decided to take an extraordinary measure by sending the trainees to Pick Heart, a competition program on Music Box, despite the poor relationship between the two companies.

Though it would be difficult to reach the final debut due to the long-standing strained relationship with Music Box, the recognition gained through the program would extend Kang Ji-woo’s grace period.

The plan was to definitely find a suitable trainee from across the sea or anywhere else while Kang Ji-woo was on the program.

If that failed, he planned to give up finding trainees that matched the level of the three and take another approach to ensure their debut within the year.

In any case, Pick Heart would serve as an important turning point for Seed trainees.

Yet, just before the first filming, the most crucial member, Kang Ji-woo, injured his leg.

It happened because he pushed himself too hard, burdened by the pressure of having to accomplish something before it was too late.

Ban Yo-han, who found Kang Ji-woo’s excessively altruistic nature annoying, found it pathetic.

“Oh, you fool.”

“I know, so please cut me some slack….”

Since it was promised that Seed would send two members, they had to send someone.

It was obvious that sending Gyun Seong-ha, who would certainly return as fine powder after being ground down, wasn’t an option.

Ban Yo-han, who felt secretly guilty for introducing Kang Ji-woo to a troublesome company, used the excuse that it seemed interesting and even took an unexpected leave of absence to join Pick Heart. That’s the story.

* * *

“That’s what happened.”

“…….”

Due to the system’s interference or help, I ended up knowing more detailed facts than what Kang Ji-woo had told me, and I was just left in a daze.

‘Seriously. This human documentary-like story just came at me without a trailer, popcorn, or cola…….’

At some point, Seo Moon-gyeol, who didn’t seem to possess normal mental strength, had also entered the room.

Seo Moon-gyeol was sitting beside Gyun Seong-ha, who had turned pale recalling the bad memories, and was soothingly patting his back.

‘Isn’t the one who should be comforting and the one who should be comforted reversed?’

Seeing it was so natural, I didn’t worry at all about Seo Moon-gyeol, who was the victim. Is this okay?

I don’t know. They’re all weird.

They’re all good-looking, yet they seem to have serious emotional flaws.

It’s astounding.

And as expected, Ban Yo-han didn’t really intend to be an idol.

He only came to Pick Heart to replace Kang Ji-woo, knowing he would be eliminated anyway.

Even so, his talent is irritating.

Anyway, to me, he’s just an annoying fox, but he seems to have some loyalty to his decade-long friend.

Kang Ji-woo seems to believe that Ban Yo-han joined simply because it looked like fun.

Even amidst this, the quest wasn’t completed.

There was still something left to be done….

Just then, Kang Ji-woo, whose expression had softened much more than when he started the story, spoke.

“I’ve been a trainee for quite a long time and moved through several companies, so I know quite a few people in this field. Because of that, I often hear things I don’t want to hear.”

For some reason, Kang Ji-woo suddenly stopped talking.

“You hear things?”

“……Among those, I also heard about you.”

“About me?”

“Yes.”

The atmosphere was so quiet that even a breath could sound loud.

Kang Ji-woo, who slightly nodded, continued to speak more cautiously.

“I know what happened to you when you were with True.”

“…….”

Hearing something I didn’t expect, I held my breath for a moment.

I began to understand a little why Kang Ji-woo had told me such a long story.

What ‘On Raon’ experienced at True.

Even though I was thrown into this game world without proper background knowledge, that was something I knew all too well.

The abysmal favorability state of True trainees, including Oh Hyun-jin, their attitude, and the disturbing illusions I had seen at True’s headquarters all pointed to one thing.

‘On Raon’ was also ostracized among True’s trainees, and he couldn’t endure it, so he quit.

People like Kang Ji-woo and Ban Ga-eul from Seed were unusual; typically, the world works that way.

It’s always the victim who ends up shouldering everything, not the perpetrator.

The reason I decided to beat Oh Hyun-jin in the first round was also because of that.

One of the purposes of playing a game is vicarious satisfaction.

I may not be the one directly involved, but I can at least give them a taste of their own medicine, right?