Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 8 Someone’s Dream (2)

Cheon Ise had more passion for dancing than anyone else.

But he wasn’t strong enough to endure when his dream collapsed.

It seemed like a device to make the audience cry if it was a movie.

‘Tsk…’

He ran until his feet blistered and bled, and he changed several pairs of practice shoes a month.

But there were things in the world that couldn’t be helped.

It was obvious that the result wouldn’t be good if the direction of his effort was wrong.

Soon, there was discord within the group due to poor performance.

Cheon Ise, who had difficulty with interpersonal relationships since childhood, became more and more estranged from the members.

‘They all seem… not so bad-hearted…’

The agency kept trying to please Cheon Soo’s group and promote Cheon Ise.

Even if he didn’t do anything wrong, the members’ complaints turned to him.

As the failed albums piled up, the members’ fatigue increased, and some of them gave up and left.

Then Cheon Ise also became more and more sensitive.

“How dare you live off my family’s money!”

He flaunted his money and acted arrogant over every little thing.

The remaining members treated Cheon Ise as a cash cow.

Even then, he didn’t slack off in practice and worked harder than anyone else. His appearance was now pitiful.

He knew very well what the result of his effort was.

Soon, the dismal result of the album that Cheon Ise also participated in the choreography followed.

Cheon Ise, who had suppressed his tears, burst into tears.

“Why, why can’t I do it!?”

I can’t do anything no matter how hard I try.

The more I try, the more I become a laughingstock who can’t make it even with money.

He was sincere about being an idol more than anyone else, so there was no worse outcome for Cheon Ise.

[Will you ignore Cheon Ise, who dreamed of being an idol so much?]

What is this, a public service announcement for quitting smoking?

I frowned at the white letters that rose sharply on the black background.

The fluffy at the bottom of the status window also looked at me with round eyes, making a squeaking sound.

“I know, I got it!”

As soon as I shouted at the status window, the surroundings were colored again and returned to reality.

He still didn’t have the same passion as Cheon Ise, who wanted to devote himself to the idol industry.

But anyway, if I wanted to get revenge on my family who were tearing up my inheritance like hyenas, this was the only way.

He was handsome, so it would be faster to succeed as an idol than to bother looking for another route.

‘Sigh… I’ve lived my whole life knowing only a few girl groups as idols, what do I do now…’

[How about thinking of it as a reward for Cheon Ise, who gave you a chance to get revenge?]

Reward my ass!

That was something I could think of only when I really succeeded in revenge.

‘Can I do well…’

He was confident in his effort and strategy more than anyone else, even though it was a different field.

He had built a company worth hundreds of billions of won with his bare hands, not by luck.

‘I’ll do well. Just like I’ve done so far.’

Suddenly, with a cheerful signal, the TV screen lit up.

Woof-!

The fluffy barked silently at me, as if to tell me to look over there.

“This morning at 9 o’clock, the funeral of Jo Young Food’s representative Lim Hyun-seong was held. The line of franchisees who visited to pay tribute to the deceased continued until late at night.”

I know I’m dead.

Why are you showing me this again?

I narrowed my eyes and there was a reason for that.

“Lim Hyun-seong’s father, Lim Seonghwan, was the chief mourner and his family members were all together.”

Then, as if he was going to faint at any moment, his stepmother’s crying face appeared on the screen.

Next to her was his brother, no, the murderer who took his life, who was supporting her and shedding tears with her.

‘How can those bastards be so shameless…’

As soon as I clenched my teeth, the status window popped up as if to warn me.

[Article 2 of the Terms and Conditions: You cannot interfere with any incidents related to Lim Hyun-seong while you are doing the quest as Cheon Ise.]

“I know, who doesn’t?”

The intention to provoke me was obvious.

As they said, there was nothing I could do right now.

“Following the will of the deceased, who worked hard for child welfare and free meal support, Jo Young Children’s Foundation announced that his mother, Heo Jin-hwa, will continue to run it.”

I knew very well why that woman was aiming for the foundation.

She kept nagging me, saying that I had money to support other people’s kids, but why couldn’t I help my family once?

The building where the foundation center was located was a 10-story building that was built about 20 years ago.

At first, it was just a building built in a suitable place.

But when three subway stations came in nearby, the price skyrocketed.

The fact that the children’s center was in a place with good accessibility meant that it was also good for the marginalized to visit.

‘No intention to sell. Don’t call me.’

I always refused the inquiries for sale several times.

I could see that the woman would sell the building as soon as she became the foundation director, saying that she would move it.

If only the will I wrote before was made public…

I could stop my entire fortune from going to those trash.

As soon as I clenched my fist, the status window rang an alarm and popped up.

[Article 2 of the Terms and Conditions: You cannot interfere with any incidents related to Lim Hyun-seong while you are doing the quest as Cheon Ise.]

“I know! Damn it, just let me succeed as an idol!”

Now that I’ve said it, I had to act on it.

I couldn’t tolerate half-heartedness because of my personality.

[It’s a relief that you’re motivated. Would you like to proceed with the second quest of Tutorial 1 right away?]

[Yes/No]

It’s not like I’m taking someone’s medicine.

I pressed the [Yes] button.

The fluffy rubbed his body on the floor and acted cute as if to comfort me, but it didn’t have much effect.

Of course… well… it was cute when I kept looking at it.

Is this just… for decoration? There’s no other function? It seemed like a good idea to check it out when I had a chance.

[Before proceeding with the second event, the system will be expanded.]

“What is Fate?”

I looked down at the status window with a stiff head, as if to ask for more explanation.

[You can collect that will help you in various situations during the quest.]

[Fate is automatically acquired when you interact with the Fate subject under certain conditions. You can use the skills of each Fate subject by paying points.]

Oh… that was the most welcome sound I heard.

I had to pay points to use the buffs. That was a bit headache-inducing.

Anyway, having a lot of hills to hide behind is a good thing.

[As Cheon Ise, you can use the points you earn from completing quests for various contents.]

There are more ways to spend points than this.

They didn’t give me points for nothing.

“Does fate mean that I have to build it up one by one from now on?”

As soon as I said that, the status window popped up a list of fates I had.

[Fates in possession (9)]

-Cheon Yeong-tae

-Ahn Jung-hee

-Cheon Ji-su

-Cheon O-su

-Lee Ji-hyun

-Oh Yi-jun

-Son Seong-won

-Ryu Kyunghwa

-Na Seon-woo

From what I could see, Cheon O-su and above were family, Lee Ji-hyun was my manager hyung.

The four below them were the remaining members of Climax who hadn’t quit yet.

[We have pre-registered the minimum starting fates for basic activities!]

That was so touching.

I checked each person’s specialty one by one.

In the end, I needed at least 10pt and up to 30pt of points to use fate.

“Sure, thanks, but… don’t you think there are too many ways to spend points and too few ways to earn them?”

[When you finish Tutorial 1, you will receive 100pt as a congratulatory gift.]

I thought they would give it to me right away.

“How much longer until I finish Tutorial 1?”

[Second event > Meet the members to unlock the Tutorial 1 clear reward.]

Meet the members… Then the ones I’m going to meet now are

-Oh Yi-jun

-Son Seong-won

-Ryu Kyunghwa

-Na Seon-woo

These four.

“Okay, let’s go.”

I changed into a less conspicuous outfit. I wasn’t used to having such a handsome face…

It was awkward with the clothes too, and my face was burning.

Thanks to the officetel being in the middle of the main road, I was able to catch a taxi easily.

“Please go to this address.”

I sat back in the passenger seat and sat up straight after checking that the driver entered the address in the navigation.

‘Come to think of it, the manager told me to sync up with the members…’

Even if the time didn’t match, I was planning to look around the dorm anyway.

I glared at the notification badge for a while and opened the messenger.

‘Wow… Why are these kids so talkative these days.’

I couldn’t believe how many messages had piled up while I was gone.

There was no end to the group chats and conversation messages.

I looked for the one that looked like the member group chat and checked it.

[YJ] Hyung, are you ignoring us again today? 8:12 AM

[One] You used to at least check, but what’s going on these days? 8:14 AM

[Kyunghwa] Iseya, if you see this, please answer the phone. 8:19 AM

[Kyunghwa] Yi-jun and I have a radio appearance today, so we’ll be back in the evening. 8:36 AM

It was too much to read everything that had accumulated.

But looking at the recent ones, they seemed to be worried about Cheon Ise’s health.

‘Even if they’re just money-makers. They have some kind of camaraderie, I guess.’

Then a new message notification popped up.

[YJ] Huh? 9:15 AM

[YJ] The number 1 is gone? Did you see the messenger, Ise hyung? 9:15 AM

I was startled by the new message that came up while I was scrolling up.

‘I have to reply, quickly…’

I kept making typos because I wasn’t used to the keyboard.

[Me] Uh sorry I didn’t see it 9:16 AM

I hurriedly made an excuse and tried to add something, but I made a bigger mistake.

[Me] Sorry; 9:16 AM

[Me] Sorry; m; sorry 9:16 AM

[Me] No sorry;;;; 9:17 AM

[YJ] Calm down; 9:18 AM

[YJ] You don’t look good apologizing, and you have typos too, you look like spam; 9:18 AM

‘This damn keyboard, really!’

I should practice with it or something.

I wasn’t that fast at typing on the phone anyway, and I wasn’t used to the keyboard either, so I was sweating a lot.

[Kyunghwa] Like I said earlier, Yi-jun and I are out because of the schedule. 9:18 AM

[Kyunghwa] Regarding the future activities… 9:19 AM

[Kyunghwa] I think we need to talk for sure. 9:19 AM

[Kyunghwa] Can you wait at the dorm until we get back? 9:19 AM

Wow, how can they type so fast with their fingers?

I rolled my tongue at the speed of these kids’ typing and tapped the screen.

[Me] Got it 9:21 AM

[Me] See you later 9:22 AM

[YJ] Did you hurt your finger or something while we were gone; 9:22 AM

[Kyunghwa] Okay, see you later. 9:22 AM

‘Why are they all so quick to reply!’

I clenched my teeth and erased and wrote typos dozens of times.

I was able to press the send button when it was barely legible.

[Me] Y, y see you 9:24 AM

The good thing was…

Judging by the reaction of the messages, it seemed that they didn’t cause a suicide commotion to the members.

The manager didn’t seem to have told them anything either.

‘If Kyunghwa and Oh Yi-jun are out of the dorm because of the schedule… Does that mean Son Seong-won and Na Seon-woo are in the dorm?’

I pulled up the status window again to check the profiles of the two.

Pposili was next to me, proudly sticking out his fluffy chest as if to say call me anytime.

I should have matched their names and faces when I watched Cheon Ise’s life drama.

I felt a bit of regret, but it was too late.

I felt a bit of nervousness as I read the profiles.