The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 86

The A&R department representative who picked up where the planning director left off turned his laptop screen toward us and explained.

“We’re planning to proceed with debut song preparations simultaneously while filming the reality program. Actually, we’ve been working on songs since before the 〈ISL 2〉 finals took place. So we currently have about 5 candidate songs prepared in advance, and we promise to select the song that best matches the concept that will be decided through discussions with all of you.”

“Y-yes!”

“Thank you!”

The other guys also widened their eyes and kept nodding at this unexpectedly kind development.

I was also reacting mechanically, but I hadn’t lowered my guard in my mind yet.

‘There’s always a reason behind this kind of goodwill, right?’

Sure enough.

“Ahem. Considering how much we’ve invested this time, we naturally need to produce proper songs, don’t we?”

“Of, of course, CEO.”

“I’m sure everyone knows we’re pressed for time, so I hope each of you will do well in your respective positions.”

Hearing CEO Go Hyeong-seok’s words as he sat in the middle clasping his hands, I realized why Rave was so desperately trying to restore their reputation.

Even though Cerberus couldn’t clearly read specific soul scents when there were many people around, CEO Go Hyeong-seok’s soul was easy enough to see through.

{Master, I don’t think you should trust that person. He just feels like a toad completely drunk on money!}

‘I wasn’t planning to easily trust someone like that anyway when this much money is involved.’

{He’s reeking so much that the stench is vibrating all the way here even without trying. Ugh.}

〈ISL 2〉 was drawing a somewhat guaranteed success backed by the previous season’s success.

However, due to the participants’ outstanding abilities and the legendary stages that appeared every round, its popularity and buzz exceeded expectations.

There must have been many investors rushing in after seeing CENTIX formed through such fierce competition.

So Rave Entertainment, which took charge of us, had to act like their feet were on fire to meet those investors’ expectations.

‘Well, there’s no way they would have done self-feedback for no reason.’

The other side is a company with enormous capital flowing back and forth.

I shouldn’t forget that point.

“……So we’re looking at CENTIX’s debut happening at minimum one month, maximum one and a half months from now.”

Using the official SNS account and reality program to steadily build up during the preparation period.

The schedule was to debut while 〈ISL 2〉 hadn’t yet been forgotten from the public’s minds and secure as much fandom as possible.

The members all seemed to understand.

“It’s going to be really busy.”

“Well, we came here prepared for this much. Don’t worry, Si-hyeok. I’ll take good~ care of you from the side.”

“Ah, I see.”

As Seong-hwi cheerfully patted Ma Si-hyeok’s back, Chae Ha-ru whispered to me from the side.

“Why do I feel anxious just watching?”

“Same here.”

The chemistry between those two same-age guys feels so unpredictable that I can’t imagine how they’ll come across in the reality show.

“Our building has a main tower and annex tower connected structure. The dormitory and practice rooms that the members will use are in the annex tower, so after today’s meeting ends, you’ll move there immediately to unpack and start reality filming. Is everyone okay with that?”

“Yes!”

“Come to think of it.”

CEO Go Hyeong-seok raised his eyebrows as if he was just now noticing Cerberus sleeping in my arms.

“That dog…… did you bring it, Si-hwan?”

“Ah, yes. Since I live alone, there’s no one to take care of this friend when I’m away from home. I was going to ask if it would be okay for him to live together in the dormitory if it’s not a problem.”

“That’s not something I can decide on my own, so it would be faster to ask the members’ opinions.”

The baton naturally passed to the CENTIX members.

Fortunately, the guys who already had quite some familiarity with Cerberus readily nodded.

“I’m good with it!”

“I’ve seen Cer before and he was really gentle and didn’t bark. So I think it would be no problem.”

“Cer is cute!”

“I don’t mind either.”

“Ahaha, feels like we got ourselves a mascot.”

Hearing the members’ agreement, the planning director calmly wrote something down.

“Definitely, today’s generation seems to like animals, so it would be fine for him to appear in the reality show as a mascot. Let me make a quick call to KNet, CEO.”

He was probably going to add additional information about Cerberus for the reality filming.

The planning director finished his call with repeated phrases like ‘one of the cast brought a pet dog’ and ‘it seems gentle and doesn’t bark.’

As praise poured out calling him a very good dog, Cerberus puffed out his chest proudly and showed off.

{Look, Master! This is the thorough social skills developed through gatekeeper life!}

‘Yeah, yeah. I’m glad the kids all said it was okay too.’

{What were you planning to do if they said no? Don’t tell me, Master, you were thinking of flipping the table and storming out for my sake?}

‘No. I was just going to leave you alone at home or somehow contact the judge to have them take you back.’

{Th-th-this heartless Master! How can you think of abandoning me so easily! Huh? Isn’t that too much!}

Actually, I didn’t have any way to contact Asphodel’s judge.

But Cerberus, who fell for my teasing answer completely, scratched at my thigh.

So I roughly petted his forehead while listening to the overall outline of the reality program we’d be filming today.

About 30 minutes later.

“Thank you, you’ve worked hard!”

“See you next time!”

We left the conference room with cheerful greetings.

While being guided by the manager toward the annex tower, Kang Seon-woo muttered in a very low voice.

“Si-hwan. You felt it too, right? No matter how much Rave seems to be working well now, there’s something unsettling about them.”

“Of course.”

“If money wasn’t involved from the start, these guys wouldn’t be moving this quickly either.”

The other members except Kang Seon-woo were looking around the tower interior without any particular thoughts.

As I felt during 〈ISL 2〉 filming, Kang Seon-woo definitely had quite a few similarities with me in this aspect.

“I’m also worried about those debut song candidates that were briefly mentioned earlier. I don’t trust what kind of concept they’re preparing.”

“You mean there’s a high possibility we’ll have to change things as much as possible to match the fans’ tastes?”

“Yeah. If all the songs the agency prepared turn out to be terrible, we should even be prepared to do self-production.”

I hope we don’t go to that scenario.

Hearing Kang Seon-woo’s words, if I really think about the worst of the worst, we might need to be prepared for self-production.

I sighed and patted his shoulder for now.

“Let’s not look at it too negatively for now. No matter how bad their sense is, most of the songs will be commissioned from outside sources anyway. Then there should be a few decent songs.”

“Well, you have a point too.”

As Kang Seon-woo nodded, silvery waves rippled beside him.

Seeing the smile that bloomed on his lips suddenly gave me chills.

“Our Si-hwan, getting along so well with his brother like this, what should I do?”

“Who’s your brother, brother. Are you crazy.”

“He usually communicates well, but as soon as I compliment him, the kid changes completely.”

“Have you ever thought about why he changes?”

“Hahaha! Ah, what if we really become roommates? Just imagining it makes me happy.”

“I don’t like it.”

They say words become seeds, so I didn’t want to say it out loud.

So I tried to ignore Kang Seon-woo pushing his silver hairtail-like head at me as we entered the dormitory.

“Wow!”

“Is it a duplex?”

“Amazing!”

Seeing the cameras greeting us from the entrance, the members realized that reality filming had begun in earnest and let out intense cheers.

But looking at the guys’ faces, those were reactions that would have come out naturally even without cameras.

Looking at this, you could definitely tell that Rave Entertainment was a place overflowing with capital.

Even based on my experience, there were hardly any places with dormitories equipped within the agency tower.

And especially for rookie idols, ordinary villas were typical.

CENTIX had acquired facilities full of luxurious pension vibes as well as a convenient commuting location.

“Hello, CENTIX members! I’m main PD Jo Seung-soo who will be directing 〈TIME WITH CENTIX〉 filming starting today. Please take care of me!”

“Please take care of us, PD!”

After greeting the staff who had been waiting in the living room, we sat side by side on the sofa.

Even though this is definitely the dormitory we’ll be living in from now on, why does it feel so unfamiliar?

“I thought I’d gotten somewhat familiar with cameras during 〈ISL 2〉, but having dozens of cameras in such a narrow space makes me nervous.”

“Me too.”

“Me too!”

Ma Si-hyeok’s mumbling was somehow heard by Chae Ha-ru and Yu Ha-woon, who showed awkward expressions while looking around the living room.

Then the main PD waved his hand as if it was okay.

“Please think of us as not existing here as much as possible and live comfortably. The fans will also want to see your natural sides. It might be difficult at first, but I hope you’ll gradually become friends with the cameras.”

“We’ll try our best!”

“Drop that military-style tone, Si-hyeok.”

Everyone burst out laughing at Seong-hwi’s cheeky comment.

Ma Si-hyeok, whose face turned red in an instant, hurriedly tried to change the subject.

“So, so what should we do?”

It was exactly the same as the content we’d been briefed on in advance.

Our reality program’s name is 〈TIME WITH CENTIX〉.

In short, it means fans and artists spending time together.

“Every time you succeed at one mission, you’ll receive one stone that fills your ‘time power.’ You need to succeed at a total of 7 missions and collect all 7 stones to fully charge your ‘time power’ and officially open the door to debut.”

“The missions sound fun!”

“What kinds of missions are there?”

“I hope there are individual competitions.”

“Hey, if it’s individual competition, does that mean you get a stone by yourself and run away?”

When Seong-hwi showed a sinister smile, PD Jo Seung-soo confirmed that all missions would be team competitions.

And most importantly.

“Tonight, one announcement will be posted on our page. We’re planning viewer participation so fans can directly write what missions they want to see CENTIX do.”

“The fans decide directly?”

“I think all kinds of missions will come up.”

“Right.”

Definitely, missions with fan input will likely be much more diverse and outrageous than what general production staff would come up with.

Look how widespread this kind of content has become on NeoTube these days.

“So while fans spend a day gathering opinions, you’ll perform one warm-up mission we prepared in advance to get a feel for ‘ah, this is how it works.'”

“Yes!”

“Sounds good!”

“But before that.”

PD Jo Seung-soo placed a familiar device on the table.

Then Kang Seon-woo’s face, which had been grinning happily, hardened in real time.

“We need to decide roommates who will share rooms first, don’t we?”