Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 114
Only Krnovel
| Episode 114. Financial difficulties
The atmosphere wasn’t bad until we met to prepare for the first competition.
Still, as expected from a senior group that debuted a few months earlier, Parte has released quite a few albums. There are mini-albums and singles.
It was different from Spark, who only had one mini and one single.
There will be more choices than that, and there will also be concepts prepared in advance for the royal appearance.
The only thing to worry about was where to put the youth in the song of Parte, who was armed with a concept king and especially with flashy capital.
Until the manager came with the budget.
“So this is the amount of available budget…?”
“Yeah, that’s what happened.”
“Not just one stage… … but the entire program combined?”
“……huh.”
I read the numbers carefully again.
I checked closely to see if the comma was pushed out or if a number was in fact missing, causing the total to be incorrect.
But nothing changed. I didn’t have any money to spend.
I opened my mouth with difficulty, at the ridiculously small amount compared to what I had expected.
“Manager, is your company preparing another idol group?”
“That’s not it. Actually… … The company is currently conducting an internal audit. It’s become difficult for other departments to get approval as well.”
In short, the story was that UA had begun a large-scale review of expenditures after the embezzlement attempt between Yoo Han-soo and the production team leader was discovered.
But even considering those circumstances, this budget was unreasonable. Even if Spark were to alternate between the royal palace and local festivals, it wouldn’t be enough.
Even though Spark hasn’t broken even yet, UA isn’t the only company that hasn’t invested this much.
Something was strange. My head couldn’t quite understand it.
It was then that the system that had briefly appeared a few days ago and was just annoying reappeared.
+
[SYSTEM] Work instructions from ‘Manager’ have arrived.
Manager Kim, do you think the company is paying you for transportation to do useless things? If you want to do what you want, why don’t you go out and start your own business? Why do you go to work?
[SYSTEM] ‘A’ is notified of ‘violation of internal rules’.
▷ ‘乙’ has a ‘duty of fairness’ to fairly use the benefits arising from information imbalance.
▷ If any actions that are excessively different from existing history are discovered, it will be considered that ‘乙’ has violated its duty of fairness.
▷ Depending on the extent to which ‘乙’s’ actions changed history, sanctions can be imposed by taking advantage of the environment in which ‘乙’ is located.
[SYSTEM] Sanctions for ‘violating internal rules’ will be notified to ‘乙’.
▷ Content: Reduction of available budget provided by UA
▷ Reason: Appearance in ‘Idol Dynasty Chronicles’
+
XX, you’re doing this because you told me to be number one!
Who dies when Spark leaves Awang? Does the flow of weather change?
I can revise the album that’s going to be released anyway, but if I do something I’ve never done before, will I be punished by heaven?
I felt blood rushing to my head. My eyes were hot.
What do you want us to do when you tie our hands and feet by imposing unclear standards?
I can’t say that I understand the system to this point, but this part alone was one where I couldn’t understand the system’s intentions at all.
“Lee Wol-ah, why are you suddenly like this?”
The manager asked me as I was staring into space without saying anything.
I excused myself, saying I was just thinking about it for a moment, and then looked at the budget again.
If the sanctions are imposed considering my circumstances, then the system must have manipulated the situation to make it look natural by taking advantage of my finite number of attempts.
I was complacent.
Knowing that the system could interfere with not only me but also the outside world, I thought that if I just kept my mouth shut and acted, there wouldn’t be any problems.
If it’s this easy to influence people’s thoughts and make them come true, how easy would it be to let my sister die or make me go to Hanpyeong Industries on my own two feet?
My eyes were dark. For the first time since my first day as a child, a feeling of helplessness came over me.
Even though I felt helpless, I couldn’t just lie around and do nothing because I had to do my work.
A solution was needed. A major change in plan was also needed.
* * *
Sometimes I wish there were 48 hours in a day.
That’s it for now. No, I wish it was around 480 hours.
The time given until the first competition is two weeks.
Originally, we planned to decide on the song and concept in one or two days, develop it in three days, do a mid-term check in one week, and then have the six of us work together at the end to tear up the stage…
I got it all wrong.
From the moment I saw the budget, I couldn’t sleep a wink and became one with my laptop. Thanks to that, Choi Je-ho baked the bread yesterday and today.
“after…….”
“Brother, are you okay… …?”
While I was looking at the ceiling to cool my head, Park Joo-woo came into the room.
“Oh, it’s okay. Did the kids go to school?”
“huh.”
“Okay. Let’s go practice too.”
It was unpleasant to have to go to practice when there was no plan in place, but my bad luck didn’t end there.
Three minutes after I set foot in UA, I ran into Yoo Han-soo, who was wandering the hallway.
If the company atmosphere is ruined because of you, you should go around a bit more inconspicuously.
Anyway, he has a talent for making people angry from start to finish.
After I politely greeted Yoo Han-soo, repeating to him that South Korea is a Confucian society, I felt like half of my energy was gone. I wanted to just throw everything away and go back to my dorm.
But there is no law that says you have to die, so I received advice from the planning team and somehow managed to get the item. It was called ‘friendly competition’.
The third single titled 『Desire』 by Parte that we chose was a song themed on the desire to covet the sacred relics of God.
They filmed a visually impressive music video in which all the members came out in uniforms with epaulets and capes, swore a knightly oath in front of a giant statue, and walked forward swinging their swords… … .
First of all, since we can’t even afford to put a reed on the shoulder strap, we focused on reinterpreting what Spark would covet, excluding the method of overwhelming him with a fancier costume.
What is valuable in competition?
The value that a gamer who is running wild towards first place should pursue is victory. This was chosen as the main keyword.
Next, I thought about the means.
What will show victory?
There is nothing like sports for something that is familiar to everyone, yet also shows the feeling of sweating, and is competitive but not dark. So the overall concept was set as sports.
So what do you want to say with this stage?
The answer to this could be summed up in one word.
Fight fairly, win, and gain honor.
This message got passing marks from all five. So far so good.
“I don’t have enough money.”
They even set a grand goal of creating a fireworks high school volleyball club to match the number of students, but the problem was money.
There was no way to save money on the Hongdangmu app unless you bought six of the same outfits from a vendor.
You don’t necessarily have to wear expensive clothes on stage, but this only applies if the clothes are really clothes.
If you really send out your volleyball team wearing only fluorescent lime t-shirts, the early morning volleyball club will also get a lot of hate for dressing better than you.
They are supposedly competitive pros, so you can’t just put them in uniforms and send them up.
I sighed.
It’s not like there was no solution at all.
You can just use your own money…
That’s because I really hate writing.
After Manager Nam prepaid for the package tour, I promised myself that I would never pay for it myself again.
Even though this money is really money that I have no hope of receiving!
I got dragged into a tough program and the budget was cut because of me, so I don’t have the confidence to say, ‘Let’s do our best with what we have!’
I went straight to my manager before the market closed, got his phone, and sold a few shares of stock that were doing well.
Once I was able to withdraw my deposit, I thought I could get half of the items on my shopping list.
Chief Nam’s daughter must see me like this. It’s just a shame.
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[SYSTEM] Work instructions from ‘Manager’ have arrived.
Mr. Kim, are you born with a silver spoon in your mouth? Do you have a lot of money? What did your parents do?
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The system mocked me before my eyes could even moisten. I wanted to break that window, but I didn’t have the energy to do so, so I just gave up.
* * *
It’s fun to see my colleagues grow.
Because the growth of our colleagues means that our team’s workload will be reduced.
However, not all growth is necessarily beneficial.
“I’ve been talking to Jeho hyung a lot. I think he’ll have to be in the middle a lot this time.”
Even today, something unfortunate happens, where the guy I trusted, Kang Ki-yeon, takes away my cozy place in the outskirts.
“For what reason?”
I asked, hiding my embarrassment and discomfort.
I’m sure these guys know that their budget was reduced because of me and they’re taking revenge on me.
You intend to use me as a shield in an all-out war with Parte, and give me the dishonor of a fight that I didn’t even fight well in. I’m rather impressed by your meticulous planning.
Kang Ki-yeon remained indifferent, unaware of the turmoil swirling inside him.
“There’s a part in the middle of the choreography where they put in volleyball moves. I kept watching it, but other than hyung, the other members didn’t seem to have that feel.”
“okay?”
I thought they all danced well, but Kang Ki-yeon seemed to prefer something a little more realistic.
“If my brother goes to the side, it’s a bit… … I guess I should say it feels like the teacher is at the end of a kindergarten art festival.”
“You should curse instead, Kiyeon.”
But I understood what Kang Ki-yeon meant.
Unfortunately, there were almost no people in Spark who had played volleyball before, so the only person with experience was me, who had been called here and there from college or the military.
I was really embarrassed because I was suddenly showing off some sloppy motions and explaining things in between the dance lines. But I didn’t expect to be in an even worse situation.
I couldn’t refuse it because it was to improve the quality of the stage, but I felt uncomfortable.
It might be much better if five people do the planning, arranging, editing, and choreography, but in the meantime, I’m stuck here and there, and it seems like I’m expanding my territory.
“All the members get used to the movement quickly… … Let’s practice together a little more for now. But if I feel like it would be better for me to go to the center, then I’ll definitely move then.”
I answered in a roundabout way and sent Kang Ki-yeon back to Choi Je-ho. And if there is a god, I fervently hoped that the god of volleyball, in particular, would take possession of one of the members’ bodies in the past few days.
Perhaps it was because my dark intentions were seen through. The god of volleyball did not descend even by the deadline set in advance with Kang Ki-yeon.
One day, while I was practicing over and over again, feeling abandoned by the world.
The royal family’s broadcast has begun.