Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 30
Only Krnovel
| Episode 30. The Emergence of a Competitor (2)
“There are eight members, and I think their age range is similar to ours.”
“It’s been a while since MYTH released a boy group, so I thought the age range would be a bit higher… … Isn’t that right?”
Jeong Seong-bin and Lee Cheong-hyeon spoke in turn.
MYTH was a large agency that was incomparable to UA.
MYTH’s trainee pool was that large. Even if they had only chosen young and talented members, they would have had enough talent.
It seems like the image of a powerhouse idol family just came out of nowhere, and even the usually calm Park Joo-woo looked quite serious.
‘Is this a large-scale recognition?’
Well, it’s hard for most groups to make their name known in real time before their debut.
Idols appear and disappear by the dozens in just one year.
There are so many teams that there are over a hundred teams that debut in a single year.
The unique aspect of the K-idol scene is that it was a market that was oversaturated, and generational change was bound to occur at some point.
In an already competitive market, a group from a major agency that seems most likely to lead generational change among its generation is debuting?
‘It’s strange that you’re not paying attention.’
After reading the article, I found that indeed, the photos and stage names of the members who will soon debut were all revealed.
It wouldn’t be strange if a fandom had already been formed, as they had profile pictures and everything else in place.
‘It’s not like there aren’t any agencies that promote their trainees before their debut.’
Moreover, for a company like MYTH that has been in the idol business for a long time, the company has a clear identity and values, which have also become a marketing element.
Because of this, the fandom that followed not only the group but also the company itself was also thick.
This means that from the beginning, they will secure supporters who are ‘any idols who follow in the MYTH lineage’.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like everyone had gone crazy to get to this point.
It was a decent level of liveliness in that there was no one who said naive things like, “I’m jealous that you debuted in a big company!”
I said, scrolling down the article.
“First of all, we lost in terms of numbers.”
“yes?”
“There are eight people over there.”
‘There must be one of these that you like.’ The strategy was a victory for the other side. The risk of personnel management is a separate matter, so it is your business.
“What will we win with?”
“Winning… … .”
“If we lose in numbers, we have to find another way. If we fight in height, I think we, the team that has Choi Je-ho, will win.”
After I had put the entire article into my head, I closed the Internet window.
“I understand what you’re worried about, and I know that it’s a very real and important issue.”
“… … .”
“But don’t be discouraged before you even try.”
I also believe that goals should be set realistically, but considering that about half of the members have low self-esteem, I changed my course to encouraging them with warm encouragement.
“You have to think about winning to be motivated to do anything.”
“That’s right. Hyung, then should we make our own individual skills? If we each practice three, I think we could do a medley of individual skills!”
“I don’t think pushing through with quantity is a good idea. If they practice three each, Parte will come up with twenty-four individual skills.”
“Oh, really?”
“Why is the conversation going that far… … ?”
Choi Je-ho, who was watching the tiki-taka between me and Lee Cheong-hyeon, made a trembling expression.
I couldn’t understand why they were so skeptical when they were reviewing the members’ opinions from a very objective point of view.
“I think the best way is to develop your skills. If you have skills, there’s always something you can do.”
I knew full well how that skill had protected Spark for 7 years despite the storms of controversy.
If there comes a time in the future when Spark needs to focus on something, they’ll probably have to pick their skills until the end.
And the next most important thing after skill is the title of ‘Controversy-free clean zone.’
Well, if we talk about this now, it’ll just be a pain in the butt, so let’s gradually establish some discipline.
“Anyone object?”
Still, since it was a group activity, I thought I should hear their opinions, so I asked, but there were no objections.
“Then, in order to beat the average height after being the tallest, everyone should sleep. Wake up early tomorrow and improve your skills… … .”
… … I felt a chill down my spine as I spoke.
Something was ominous. It didn’t feel right.
It’s as if, when I went to the conference room at 4 o’clock because Manager Nam didn’t inform me that the meeting time had changed, the meeting had already started at 3:30…
‘Monthly calendar!’
I quickly took out the holographic calendar that I had forgotten about for a long time after my debut date was brought forward.
In today’s date box, it says ‘Parte’s debut plan revealed’, and in tomorrow’s date box… … .
[(???) Debut group confirmed press release distribution]
In the past, the ‘press release distribution’ schedule that was spread two years before debut, which caused all the aggro and drained all the moisture when it was really needed, was written down.
oh my god.
I should have thought that this issue would naturally be brought up. I was complacent.
Did discipline become lax because of the absence of Manager Nam? If that was the case, I needed to change my mindset.
“Hyung! Our manager said that he’s putting out a press release saying that we’re going to debut tomorrow too!”
“Tell them to stop right now.”
“yes?”
“Rather, say you’ll hold up a ‘Congrats on becoming UA’s first idol’ banner when you debut!”
* * *
After that, we wasted about an hour communicating with the manager through PC messenger.
Manager Chanyoung
[Why? When you guys debut, there’ll be several times as many articles about you^^ If you’re already embarrassed by something like this, what are you going to do later?ㅋㅋㅋ]
This is because the manager interpreted the press release as the humility of a rice plant that bowed its head in denial.
Park Joo-woo supported me as I tried to fall backwards in frustration. It was a sight I couldn’t watch without crying.
I thought I had at least a first-class license to ‘keep my mouth shut when I don’t have the time’, but it was impossible.
If I let this situation pass, I’ll end up regretting it right before my debut, so I couldn’t keep my mouth shut in this situation.
me
[Manager, I am being very cautious in my opinion, but I think it would be too early to report unless our debut schedule is set in stone. In Parte’s case, they are scheduled to debut next month…
see more]
[Manager, I think you need some supporting data, so I’m going to organize and report on some of the promotional articles and debut schedules of groups that debuted in the past year. We were unable to conduct a full survey due to time constraints, so we conducted a sample survey…
see more]
[20XX Group Debut Marketing Article Sample Survey.png]
Manager Chanyoung
[I’ll talk to the company… … !]
Meanwhile, since Webcell was still not installed, I had to work on a shared sheet that could be used on the Internet and send a capture copy.
The work environment is so bad. I should have just asked them to buy me a program account.
“So you stayed up all night waiting for a reply?”
“Oh. They decided not to distribute the press release.”
“You’re really annoying too.”
It’s annoying.
It was a shame that if the company had insisted on distributing the materials, we would have seen a really bad sight.
If anything, I was prepared to stand next to the person in charge’s desk for two hours just like when I asked Manager Nam to approve something.
“If you stay up all night and save on impact, it’s not a bad deal.”
“That bastard.”
“I’ll take that to mean you have strong survival skills.”
Everything went as planned, so the result was perfect.
By the way, a hidden task also appeared. This X-like system.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Hidden task (block press release)’ has been completed.
▷ Reward: Experience (5)
▷ Cumulative experience: 65
▷ Accumulated points: 0
+
It seems that it was right to try hard to block the distribution of press releases.
Honestly, shouldn’t you just tell me about this in good conscience? Even if I had two hearts, both of them would fall out.
Even if it’s work directly related to achieving KPIs. Are you kidding me?
Besides, I’m a bit timid, so I’m weak when it comes to these kinds of unexpected events. You should show some consideration to tired office workers.
I followed the example of the manager, Kang Ki-yeon, and mechanically chewed the bread without even a spoonful of jam and spoke to Choi Je-ho.
“Juwoo and I will go to the practice room first.”
“why?”
“I stopped by for a bit because I had somewhere to go.”
Today I had to go to the artist management team.
Now was the time to strike first, since we didn’t know what UA would do or when.
Deputy Kim Yi-wol… … No, this is Intern Kim Yi-wol’s first project.
Of course, considering my narrow-minded view that only knows Spark when it comes to idols, I checked with an expert beforehand.
‘What’s the concept?’
‘Yeah. I was organizing it in my own way, and I thought it would go well with Cheong-Hyeon’s song.’
‘What is the concept?’
‘I decided on something that I think would suit you guys well.’
‘A real youth drama… … ?’
Jeong Seong-bin made a trembling expression.
That was understandable. The Spark of the past debuted as a classic youth drama and almost got buried without a sound.
It seemed like they were quite objective about their own appearance. It seems like they all lack youth in their physiognomy.
But my primary goal was to fool UA, which sticks to traditional idols, and push my concept.
For that, it would have been good to slightly change the course from Spark’s original debut concept.
Fortunately, my opinion was evaluated as being too classic, but it could be okay depending on how the details are captured.
‘Considering the nature of the job, I think I should go to the planning team… … For now, I guess I should go to Joo-kyung?’
The only way for trainees to communicate with the company was to talk to their manager or Minju Kyung.
I decided to go with the regular approach for now, fearing that skipping this would seem like I was ignoring the system.
Hearing the words “crossing the line” from Manager Nam five times a week was enough.
The only good thing was that UA positively evaluated the trainees’ proactive attitude.
Minju Kyung, thankfully, listened to my bold proposal without showing any sign of annoyance. She was a wonderful talent that we can never have again in this era. I just hope that UA will give her a generous salary.
Minju Kyung said as she handed me the plan I had printed out.
“Have you ever planned anything?”
“Yes. But I don’t know who to ask for advice.”
“Usually I go to the production headquarters. The planning team and the album production team are there. But, well… … I have a meeting with the CEO this week, so I’ll give it to you then!”
The speed at which the agenda was raised was also unusual. UA was indeed a small business.
“How did you get the idea to make something like this?”
“I wanted to try something.”
“I’m not a planning person so I don’t know much, but it seems like it has everything you need. You must have had a hard time.”
If you follow the basic items from UA’s concept plan form, but it doesn’t have enough variety, then that would be problematic.
But since I couldn’t say, ‘Where did I get such valuable documents?’, I decided to just say goodbye quickly and leave.
“i look forward to.”
“Yeah. Keep practicing hard.”
Fortunately, Minju Kyung, who is a busy modern person, didn’t hold me back any longer. Thanks to that, the planning work report scheduled for the morning ended without a hitch.
After that, it was a continuation of the usual practice.
“Sorry to interrupt your practice, but can you come out for a second?”
That is, until I was called in by Minju Kyung right after lunch time.