The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 85

“Wh-what on earth is this?”

The homma, who had been enjoying a peaceful evening, witnessed an unexpected sight while surfing through posts with the #CENTIX hashtag.

It was an official CENTIX account post that had been uploaded just 3 minutes ago.

A profile picture with the letters C and X written in gorgeous silver embroidery, and a video of the members bowing in greeting to the fans who had cheered them on was clearly posted there.

They say when people are flustered, they can’t even speak for a moment.

The homma just stared blankly at her computer screen for several dozen seconds.

‘Th-there’s definitely no way Rave would handle work this quickly and efficiently, right?’

Rave Entertainment was definitely not a small-scale agency.

It was an entertainment company with tremendous financial power, jointly operated through equity investments from two major corporations: KNet and JH Group.

So even when QS first debuted, fans didn’t have any particular worries.

The limitations of a new planning company.

And the fact that it was an agency invested in by companies distant from the idol market meant they hadn’t properly recruited professional personnel.

In the end, everything had to be filled in as much as possible with the individual capabilities that QS members possessed, and there were many problems with the qualitative aspects of content.

At least the songs were okay because they bought them from outside sources, but there were major issues with external communication that fans considered most important.

Considering such track records, people hadn’t viewed CENTIX’s activity support this time very optimistically either.

But what was this?

Not only had SNS platform accounts including Bluebird and Stargram been created in an instant, but even an official English page for global fans had been produced.

And it wasn’t lazy, half-hearted posts either, but content filled with the clean feeling that today’s generation loves.

The homma looked at the [CENTIX Official Formation Day] photo made from 6 posts on Stargram and wiped the corners of her eyes.

‘When in my life have I ever been this moved?’

Originally, ISL 2 was supposed to be used simply for growing her channel.

But at some point, she had been projecting herself onto Ryu Si-hwan and was making videos not just as a one-time thing, but with the mindset of steadily supporting him going forward.

Perhaps because of that sincerity.

Her most recent [CENTIX 6-Member Debut Moments] video was boasting an impressive 200,000 views and was being chosen by the algorithm.

Now that CENTIX would continue their official activities, there would be more sources she could use for the [HwanFather] channel.

Both for her own profit and for her idol that she had naturally fallen for, Rave Entertainment’s action policy was extremely important.

At this current pace, it seemed okay to have some early expectations.

With her heart full of excitement, she quickly left a post on her timeline.

[Rave is working!!]

They were definitely rich guys, but it looks like they finally came to their senses this time and hired a lot of talented people T_T I’m really crying T_T T_T. But honestly, it’s kind of funny that I’m running such happy circuits just because they quickly made SNS official accounts, but ah whatever, I just feel damn good!!

The people following her account seemed to feel the same way.

Just one minute after the post went up, dozens of comments poured in.

―No really T_T It’s weird to laugh and cry over just one official account, but what can I do when I feel good!

―It might really be a small change, but personally I think this is huge. Last time there was a post on the community that Rave was hiring experienced staff, I wonder if they really hired some decent guys

―Honestly, I didn’t expect this kind of speed and quality from Rave…… ㅇㅁㅇ It was just a 30-second video, but our kids looked so handsome!

―Teachers, my happy circuits have already started burning out. So then can we expect a quick debut and a quick reality program too?????

└Hiik crazy I want reality right now I want it right now I want it right now I want it right now I want it right now

└These are kids who already showed crazy energy in the dorms, so even if they just leave them alone in the dorms and film videos, they’d have content in no time lol. Reality, I really want to watch it

└Originally reality shows after survival programs were KNet’s specialty, right? This isn’t just happy circuits but reasonable hope, anyway

Because of the unexpectedly drastic speed, even people who had initially said they wouldn’t trust Rave were gradually starting to have hope.

And that hope turned toward a reality program where they could watch the members’ daily lives together.

‘Actually, when you really think about it, this isn’t complete nonsense.’

The homma also concluded after thinking as rationally as possible that a reality show had a very high chance of happening.

Just looking at QS, CENTIX’s senior group, they had filmed a pre-debut reality show.

Of course, because of the poor content, they got harsh criticism like ‘did you film this just trusting the kids’ faces.’

Former national managers who had completely surrendered to this flow even started writing prayer posts.

―[CENTIX Debut Schedule and Reality Show News Release Prayer D+1]

└Please just wish for one thing, isn’t wanting two things too greedy

└Ah why T_T. Since we’re having hope anyway, let’s dream big

└Speaking honestly, I think Rave would also think it’s better to announce debut confirmation news while people still remember ISL 2. They can use the recognition as much as possible

└Don’t miss the golden time, Hyeong-seok

└Who’s Hyeong-seok??

└Rave Entertainment CEO Go Hyeong-seok

└Shit LMAO. You called him so familiarly I thought he was your brother

While tremendous discussions about CENTIX’s future schedule were exploding outside.

A rather heated situation was also unfolding within the agency.

* * *

“Hello!”

“Hello~.”

Refreshing greetings echoed in the Rave Entertainment lobby.

Kang Seon-woo and Chae Ha-ru entered while dragging the suitcases they had brought.

{So that’s the guy Master said looks like a silver silver hairtail fish.}

‘So how did the silver hairtail fish taste? Was it good?’

{Yes! It was a taste I’d never had in hell, so it was great!}

It seemed the formula ‘Kang Seon-woo = silver hairtail fish’ was thoroughly established in Cerberus’s mind.

When ISL 2 filming was completely finished and I returned home, Cerberus had been so curious about silver hairtail fish that I bought some and grilled it for him.

When I looked it up beforehand, there were posts saying silver hairtail fish was bad for dogs, but my Yorkshire Terrier wasn’t just any Yorkshire Terrier.

He ate it very deliciously and seemed quite satisfied.

But I had a feeling he would keep looking at Kang Seon-woo’s head and calling him silver hairtail fish.

“Wow, Ryu Si-hwan! Why are you here so early? Oh, come to think of it, who’s next to you—?”

“I have my circumstances.”

“Is Cer also coming into the dorms with us?”

I nodded slightly to Chae Ha-ru, who was scratching Cerberus’s forehead.

This was something I’d need to discuss at the meeting later.

The CENTIX members already knew about Cerberus’s existence since they had visited my studio apartment.

If someone living alone left their companion dog behind and entered the dorms alone, there was a possibility of hearing questions about who would take care of the dog.

So I was planning to ask if Cerberus could also enter the dorms together.

Five minutes later, the remaining members arrived one by one, and all six were assembled.

“Why does it feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever?”

“What do you mean forever, we met a few days ago and filmed that video for the official account.”

Seong-hwi set down his bag and shook out his bangs.

As if he didn’t want to think about that day.

Personally, I thought I knew why Seong-hwi was acting like that.

It was the day they had to sign contracts saying they would promote as CENTIX for 3 and a half years.

I was an individual trainee, so I wasn’t in any entertainment company, but the other members had been accompanied by their agency team leaders.

And Seong-hwi had signed the contract with the team leader from X2, who had left him with many bad memories.

Kang Seon-woo, who was quite perceptive, seemed to notice this and quickly changed the subject with a laugh.

“Hey, since we’re all starting dorm life together from today, that’s why I said that! Now we’re close enough that we’d miss each other if we didn’t see each other for even a day.”

“From that perspective, I think my eardrums are going to burst every day.”

“Haha! Ah, how great would it be if I could be roommates with Si-hwan.”

“Don’t set up such a terrible flag.”

“Brother Seon-woo, I also want to be roommates with Brother Si-hwan.”

“Huh?”

Ma Si-hyeok suddenly inserted his aspiration into this chaos.

With a very determined expression, too.

“I just wanted to state my opinion.”

“Oh, okay. Let’s have some friendly competition then.”

“Sounds good.”

“Excuse me, isn’t the opinion of the person in question needed at all?”

My words were cleanly ignored by both guys.

I had an ominous feeling that scenes like this would appear frequently in the future.

“Ah, if everyone’s gathered, let’s go up!”

Just then, a manager who had hurriedly run toward us gestured with a bright smile.

He was a man in his early thirties whom I had seen for the first time yesterday when signing the contract.

According to the self-introduction information I recalled, he had served as head manager at a mid-to-large agency for 3 years.

‘At least the assigned manager seems somewhat decent.’

Having experienced so many changes during the Black Hash Entertainment days, I knew well how much influence each of these people could have on a debuting team.

Before signing the contract, when I looked up information about Rave Entertainment, there had been many unpleasant news stories.

Fortunately, it seemed they had recruited quite a few decent resources during this personnel reorganization.

But more important than managers were the content planning team and A&R team.

Today’s meeting was a place to meet these high-ranking people, including Rave Entertainment’s CEO.

“What do you think they want to talk about today, Brother?”

“Hmm……”

I thought about Yu Ha-woon’s question in the elevator.

“Well, since the contracts are done, they’ll need to move quickly with debut procedures.”

“Right!”

“And looking at how they told us to bring all our stuff today, we’re going to the dorms.”

“I like the dorms!”

“Rather than just leaving us alone in the dorms, they’ll try to use us as much as possible.”

“Us-use us?”

The elevator stopped on the 3rd floor.

Holding Cerberus, who was looking around curiously and diligently observing the inside of the building, I entered the conference room with its doors wide open.

“Welcome.”

“Hello!”

“Hello, good morning!”

After exchanging greetings with the CEO and department heads who were already seated, the full-scale meeting began.

“Well, first, the reason we called you here today is simple. Currently, what’s most important for CENTIX is time. Time. We need to move through all procedures quickly to properly capture the fans who flowed in from Idol Stove League Season 2.”

The planning director sitting next to CEO Go Hyeong-seok began explaining in a gentle tone.

I was quite surprised from the very first statement.

‘……What? If people like this were here, why did the agency get criticized for not doing their job during QS’s time?’

Taking action before the high from the audition program wore off was an undeniable fact.

However, I had heard that Rave Entertainment always ruined QS’s progress with judgments that were one beat too slow.

Could this director also be someone recruited from somewhere else?

“The official accounts are also receiving good reactions from fans, and public opinion asking when CENTIX will debut is strong. So the company thought it would be best to immediately bring you to the dorms and extract sources to use before debut.”

“When you say sources, you don’t mean……?”

“Yes, it’s the reality program that currently has the strongest public demand.”

The planning director nodded and adjusted his glasses in response to Kang Seon-woo’s question.

“It’s a good opportunity to show fans your usual sides, raise internal intimacy, and capture your debut preparation process. Previously, after ISL 1 ended, we received feedback that QS’s reality program had many shortcomings in terms of timing and quality. Thinking deeply about those points, we’d like to try making higher quality content much faster this time.”

We briefly exchanged glances without saying anything.

Probably not just me, but the other guys had also looked up news about Rave Entertainment out of curiosity.

So seeing Rave showing this kind of behavior would be quite bewildering.

Cerberus, who had been quietly listening to the story while held in my arms, scratched his ear and said,

{It wasn’t a new person, but a man who admits his mistakes. Such humans are hard to find. Right, Master?}

‘……Right.’

An agency that accepted feedback.

How unfamiliar, Rave.