LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 5 - Boomer System (4)
My mood plummeted straight back to hell.
I had traveled back 9 whole years, only to voluntarily board the overtime train again. How miserable.
In exchange for losing my energy, happiness, and sense of achievement, I gained the basic step and 20 exp.
“F*ck, what a fulfilling day.”
I felt disillusioned with life.
Still, instead of giving up everything, I began cleaning up. I had to vacate the practice room before the security guard left at midnight.
No one should have to work overtime because of me. If that happened, I might die from the guilt.
When I turned off all the lights in the practice room, the already deathly silent company building felt even more desolate. The familiar air of overtime engulfed me.
Just as I was about to get melancholic, I sensed someone in the lobby. Soon, a tall shadow stretched into the hallway.
The owner of the shadow was Choi Jeho.
Choi Jeho looked very grim even though he was only standing at the desk.
I was not just selectively seeing his negative traits because I disliked him. Really.
As Jeho approached and our eyes met, he took out his earphones. I asked him in a doubtful tone.
“You haven’t left yet?”
“Yeah.”
“Were you perhaps waiting for me?”
“Yeah.”
Choi Jeho consistently gave one-word dismissive answers, as if annoyed.
“Why were you waiting for me?”
“Do you think a guy who’s here for the first time could find his way back to the dorm?”
“Are you being considerate?”
“Jeong Seongbin said he wanted to stay, but it was too late for the kids to go out.”
Meaning Choi Jeho didn’t stay because he wanted to, but what did it matter?
Our future leader was eighteen years old. If Choi Jeho had any conscience, it should be him staying late instead of a minor.
Still, knowing Jeho’s loner personality, I gave him a pat on the back with a strained smile, wordlessly praising his consideration.
Choi Jeho looked deeply displeased.
* * *
When we got back to the dorm Lee Cheonghyeon, who used the top bunk of our two-floor bed, was waiting for us instead of sleeping.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“I was waiting for you, hyung!”
When I pointed to Choi Jeho, Lee Cheonghyeon confidently pointed to me.
Did idols have hazing rituals for new members too?
Like making the newbie buy 30 cups of coffee alone. Or washing everyone’s shoes in the dorm.
When I looked at him with eyes that seemed to say, ‘I didn’t know you were that kind of guy…’, Lee Cheonghyeon looked flustered.
“Why are you giving me such a fierce look?”
“No, I was wondering if you’d start hazing me from now on.”
The most vicious thing he could do at this hour would be something like making me buy lunch boxes from each convenience store brand, or packing pork bone hangover soup from a 24-hour hangover soup restaurant and having it delivered to the front door before it got cold.
Having run cigarette errands from Gangnam to Gangbuk before, that was nothing to me.
As I steeled myself and tried to recall the restaurants we passed on the way back, Cheonghyeon said.
“No one’s going to haze you!”
“You won’t?”
“Of course not! Why would you say something so scary?”
I was already running simulations in my head of asking the soup place owner to pack some radish kimchi too. Well, if he wasn’t going to haze me, then never mind.
When Choi Jaeho, who had long since lost interest in us, went to shower, Lee Cheonghyeon sat on the floor beside my bed. I ended up sitting on the floor with him side-by-side.
“Kang Kiyeon had inflammation in his ankle. I saw him wearing an ankle brace earlier.”
It seemed Lee Cheonghyeon was waiting for me to talk about Kang Kiyeon’s ankle.
He seemed the most panicked when I told them Kang Kiyeon was hurt, but now he seemed more composed.
“Then he’ll have to take a break from practice for a while.”
“Right. He’s really stubborn.”
That seemed to be the case. I nodded in agreement with Lee Cheonghyeon.
“How did you know, hyung?”
“Know what? About Kiyeon’s ankle?”
“Yes. None of us knew.”
“Well, I didn’t notice up close either. But when I looked from a distance, I could tell.”
If I said here…
‘I came from the future, and thanks to proxy fan duties my boss made me do at the company, I learned about Kiyeon’s weak ankle, so I was confident I wasn’t wrong.’
…He probably wouldn’t believe me. I didn’t really want to explain in detail either.
Lee Cheonghyeon’s eyes widened as if he genuinely believed my half-hearted answer.
“You must have really good eyesight, hyung. It’s not easy to notice something like that with just a glance.”
Normally, when someone who didn’t know much luckily guessed something right, wouldn’t people just chalk it up to a beginner’s luck?
This kid seemed to have a tendency to value people positively.
“I just got lucky. If you rewatch the footage, you’ll probably see it too.”
“I watched the video with Seongbin hyung when we got back to the dorm, but we didn’t notice anything. Your keen eye is no joke.”
It wasn’t keen eyesight but the benefit of years of accumulated big data, but I kept that to myself.
If it was about being recognized for improving through practice, I could still accept it, but I preferred not to stand out for odd reasons.
Taking the chance when Choi Jeho returned from washing up, I got up, saying I needed to wash up too.
Lee Cheonghyeon seemed a bit disappointed but obediently returned to his spot. He was quick to read the room.
Once I finished my shower and lay on the bed, it finally sank in that the day was over.
‘If possible, I’d like to get a better grasp of the system at times like these. Will it be difficult?’
There was nothing more troublesome than unexpected issues popping up while you were diligently working.
I wanted to minimize such mishaps, and right at that moment, the system appeared before my eyes. It seemed it would show up if I wished for it earnestly.
This time, it was the same text I had seen before.
+
[SYSTEM] Hand Over Progress
▷ Notification of work period: February XX, 20XX (Synchronized and cannot be changed)
▷ Check manual
▷ Check processes
+
But two of the points were crossed out. It seemed to indicate they were completed.
‘The manual must be referring to the life reuse manual.’
Thinking about that manual only made me angry, so I decided to set it aside.
The only thing left to do was to check the process.
I imagined checking the process in my head. Then, naturally, articles related to the process appeared. The speed at which it connected with the brain was impressive.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Process’ is applied to ‘subordinate’.
▷ ‘Subordinate’ will receive ‘tasks’ or ‘KPIs’ irregularly.
▷ Welfare points will be awarded based on the task performance of ‘subordinate’.
▷ Awarded ‘welfare points’ can be added to ‘proficiency’.
▷ As the process is applied and the handover progresses, the difficulty of ‘tasks’ will increase. (Penalties occur for task failure)
[SYSTEM] The job role of ‘subordinate’ is set to ‘Producing Member.’
+
F*ck you, If you’re going to make me do something like producing, can’t you just appoint me as the new member of planning team instead of the group member?
The fact that penalties could occur was also annoying.
If I didn’t debut, I wouldn’t be able to save my sister, and I would have to re-enter the company. What more penalties would I need?
I should have distanced myself from this crappy, old-fashioned system from the moment it started sounding exactly like Manager Nam.
I almost tried to find an option to change it, like changing the navigation voice, but I held back. I didn’t want to look deeper into this system.
Still, I liked the idea of using points to improve my abilities instead of buying ice cream.
Part of me felt bad about so easily taking the fruits of others’ hard work and effort, but with my family’s life and a lifetime contract on the line, I had to use any means necessary, whether it was an underhanded method or not.
‘At least it doesn’t say I have to stay active for 7 years.’
The condition for completing the tasks was clearly debuting.
In other words, it could mean that as long as I made my debut, it didn’t matter if I left afterward.
I could just take out a loan to pay the penalty fees and spend a lifetime paying it back.
It would be better for the team if an incompetent person like me left early on.
Technically, this was fraudulent employment anyway, so I had to contribute enough to cover the losses caused by my early departure.
With a guilty conscience, I opened my pathetic hologram resume.
+
Performance Evaluation (100)
– Vocal proficiency: 4/20
– Dance proficiency: 1/20
– Self PR: 12/20
– Attendance management: 18/20
– Organizational adaptability: 10/20
Total exp: 40
Total point: 0
+
There were the precious 40 exp I had earned through relentless dance practice and overtime.
Wait a minute.
So you’re telling me… even after dancing like a rabbit at a tiger’s birthday party and voluntarily doing overtime, I can’t raise my proficiency by even 1 point?
This wasn’t even an underhanded trick anymore; it was the ultimate life speed-learning.
I was looking for conscience in the wrong place. How naive I had been, not realizing my life was a sh*t storm.
Anyway, my immediate task was clear: diligently accumulate exp to earn points.
At the time, earning another 60 exp felt immensely far away.
However, the very next day, I quickly maxed out the exp and earned points.
* * *
The incident started with a new task notification flashing at me demandingly first thing in the morning.
+
[SYSTEM] A ‘new task’ has been assigned.
▷ Attend your first dance class
▷ Reward: Exp (20)
+
Since the system got caught only giving out 20 exp, it didn’t even bother to hide the amount of rewards anymore.
Since it was the company’s first time forming an idol group, they were still in the process of creating a training program for trainees.
Because of this, instead of having an in-house trainer, UA had vocal and dance trainers visit once a week each.
Today was the day when the dance trainer came.
It was also the day I would, for the first time in my life, perform something resembling a dance in front of an expert.
I flailed around, giving my absolute best in front of the dance teacher, whom I had seen a few times on Spark’s reality show.
Ultimately, it proved that I was nothing more than an empty barrel.
The faces of the prospective Spark members were filled with shadows, not a hint of a smile.
They seemed disheartened by my helpless display, despite having helped me so earnestly the previous day.
Their lack of smile was the reason why even when I sent edited videos to Manager Nam, he still said, ‘Can you make our kid’s mouth curve up just a tiny bit? It’s nothing big, do it quick.’ Just thinking about it made me feel mad again.
The teacher, seeing me floundering in a daze, hesitated before speaking.
“Iwol…”
“Yes.”
I stood upright with my hands clasped politely.
I could sense the teacher was carefully choosing their words.
This pause, this tension.
It was a perfect situation to crush me.
The teacher who tried to choose their words even in such a situation was truly virtuous.
“You need to practice a lot.”
“Understood.”
“Just practicing a lot isn’t enough. You need to practice more than anyone else, with utmost diligence.”
“Yes, I will do my best.”
I could say with the utmost sincerity that I would work hard more than anyone else. My sister’s life and my future depended on it.
Moved by my sincerity, the teacher said no more. I was grateful for that.
The problem was that the system had to pop up and open its mouth.