Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 120

As if it had been waiting for this moment, my phone started vibrating as well.

 

The acquaintances from Idol Classism—specifically, ‘Unha’s Clique’—had received the news too. It was clear that articles were already breaking. I could see messages pouring into the group chat with No. 45 Han Yohan, No. 141 Park Deokoh, Hocheol hyung, and the others.

 

Their reactions went without saying. Messages like, ‘Are they crazy?’, ‘Are you okay?’, and ‘I just heard the news’ flooded in. Even from the perspective of Lee Uha’s circle of friends, this wasn’t something they could simply brush off.

 

‘But… shouldn’t these Hyungs be worrying about their own debuts and lives? Why are they so worked up over something that has nothing to do with them?’

 

I heard they were all preparing for their own debuts at their respective agencies. Did they really have the spare energy to worry about <Fantasia> too?

 

‘No. They’ve probably been holding themselves back all this time.’

 

In fact, they had seemed to maintain their composure when our concept was first announced. I felt they were intentionally limiting contact so as not to interfere with or burden the <Fantasia> members preparing for the showcase, and even sending simple greetings seemed to weigh on them.

 

Those same people were now pouring out messages the moment this [Crown] situation erupted.

 

‘Right? It looks wrong to you too, doesn’t it? This is a total breach of business ethics, isn’t it? That’s why you’re getting angry on our behalf, right?’

 

‘They’re openly targeting us, right? They’re basically throwing dirt on us, aren’t they?’

 

An absurd laugh escaped me. My head already hurt from internal company issues and Joo Wooyoung… and now people I’d never expected were making it even worse.

 

‘Wait. Is there any chance this isn’t directed at us? Could that be it?’

 

For a moment, I wondered whether this outcome might simply be the result of several unfortunate coincidences piling up, but….

 

‘No. F*ck, there’s no way. These agencies aren’t idiots. There’s no way they’d decide their rookie group’s debut schedule like this by accident.’

 

Judging by Hong Dukwang’s dark expression, <The World> also seemed to believe they had been stabbed in the back by [Crown]. It went without saying. This was….

 

‘They’re screwing us over.’

 

Yes, they were openly targeting <Fantasia>. It was the most obvious conclusion. Of course, questions still remained.

 

‘Why… on earth… are they targeting us?’

 

The problem was that I couldn’t find an answer to the motive behind their actions. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t understand why Crown, or Kang Hyuk, would do something like this. I couldn’t understand it with the information and common sense I had.

 

And for good reason….

 

‘Didn’t [Crown] have a stake in <The World>?’

 

Sure, it wasn’t enough of a stake to influence management decisions, but I clearly remembered them having a stake. Lee Unha wasn’t smart enough to know everything about how the world worked, but I knew this one thing: The success of <Fantasia> would ultimately make money for [Crown].

 

‘So why on earth are they doing this?’

 

Naturally, I turned to the nearest adult. Even though Hong Dukwang didn’t seem particularly savvy about worldly affairs, I figured he’d still know more than I did.

 

“Um… Hyung?”

 

“Uh… yeah?”

 

“Didn’t [Crown] have a stake in <The World>…?”

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“Well, of course I know. What happened? Did they pull out all their shares when the Crown scandal broke out? Is that why Crown is acting like this?”

 

“No, I don’t know either…. I heard they still have it… but as a road manager, there’s no way I’d know the details! That’s something the business department knows… no…”

 

“If they still have a stake, why are they doing this?”

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

A heavy silence settled between us.

 

“I’m not sure either… maybe they’re doing it because of personal feelings?”

 

“Personal feelings? Why would personal feelings be involved here?”

 

“I don’t really know either.”

 

“That can’t be right. You’re saying they targeted <Fantasia> because of personal feelings? They deliberately moved up their own rookie group’s debut just to do this? What personal grudge could possibly justify something like that? Is it because he couldn’t produce us? Or because <Fantasia> escaped his grasp? You don’t think it’s a massive agency just crushing a small one to vent out, right? That can’t be it. A person running such a large company… there’s no way they’d suddenly act like that. It makes no sense.”

 

‘Right… this is too… this is too much of a stretch.’

 

Even as I said it, it felt nonsensical to me.

 

‘There’s no way.’

 

There was no way. There had to be another reason. A CEO running a company of this scale wouldn’t run wild to destroy <Fantasia> over mere personal feelings. There had to be another reason. For instance….

 

‘Did that Archmage make a mistake?’

 

Did the Archmage handle the incident back then with something like hypnotic magic? Did the hypnosis break for some reason, or did a negative side effect occur, making him run wild like this?

 

‘F*ck, I really have no clue.’

 

Although, come to think of it, the circumstances surrounding him losing the management rights hadn’t exactly been pleasant, had they?

 

‘It was definitely bad. Anyone would see it was bad.’

 

I could understand if he had been bitter about being forced to step down, but why take it out on <The World> and <Fantasia>?

 

The completely unexpected turn of events left me so tense that I found myself absentmindedly picking at my fingernails. Hong Dukwang, who had been watching me, spoke up.

 

“F-First, calm down. The company will handle things like this.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

‘That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.’

 

“Of course, I heard that you wanted… to be kept in the loop more… but this case is a bit of a different matter. And honestly, I don’t know much either. I don’t know what will happen from here on out….”

 

‘That’s true… it’s not like squeezing this guy for answers is going to get me anywhere….’

 

“Just trust the company and wait. They’ll take care of everything.”

 

‘Of course… I have to believe, but…’

 

To be precise, believing was all I could do. Even if I somehow knew every detail of what was happening behind the scenes, there wasn’t anything I could actually do about it. At most, I could provoke Joo Wooyoung to move the Archmage again, or summon a soul to do what I originally planned. And the second option wasn’t even possible. I had neither the time nor the physical stamina.

 

The anxiety that had faded slightly because of the music video I saw yesterday started rising again. Just thinking that I had to sit here and wait, trusting these people, made me restless. The planning division had proved their ability and pleaded for trust, but honestly, there was no way I could fully trust them. I hadn’t seen how the Business Division operated, but there was no guarantee they weren’t just like the Management Division.

 

‘And so… am I just supposed to wait here like a fool?’

 

While searching through nauseating news articles?

 

The internet situation already looked ominous, as if viral marketing for [Crown]’s rookie group and anti-viral marketing against <The World> and <Fantasia> were happening simultaneously. Every headline was focused solely on Crown’s new rookie group. It almost looked as though people were forcing a rivalry into existence.

 

Talk was already going around that <Fantasia>’s over-the-top concept was a reach and hard for the public to relate to—perhaps because even the media saw it as absurd. It wasn’t just articles. Barely any time had passed, yet I could already sense organized attempts to manipulate public opinion.

 

It could just be Lee Unha’s paranoia, but after something like this happened, everything looked suspicious. It felt like ridiculous hate comments and agitational posts were getting unusually high upvote counts.

 

‘Is this right? Is this… really okay?’

 

Was I really supposed to go back to the practice room and rehearse with the members as if nothing had happened? Caught in a dilemma, Manager Hong Dukwang was also at a loss as though he’d never experienced anything like this before, but one thing was clear: he felt he had to maintain order.

 

“F-First! You should go back inside and wait in the practice room like the Planning Team Leader said, Unha.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Damn it… What the hell is going on…? S-So what I’m saying is, you all need to keep practicing hard, I….”

 

“…….”

 

“Ahem… No, it’ll be fine. I saw the music video yesterday, and it turned out great. It looks like the people at Crown underestimated you after seeing your concept… So you’ve got to prove them wrong.”

 

‘What the hell? Why did he get so nice all of a sudden?’

 

“I know it won’t be easy to concentrate on practice in a situation like this. But still, Director Oh was thinking of you…”

 

His loyalty to Director Oh seemed unchanged, but…. the hostility from earlier was gone. No, it wasn’t completely gone, but he was keeping it to himself. Did he finally realize we were on the same team? Did he think the priority now was resolving this crisis rather than our petty power struggles?

 

It was hard to believe, but that was how it looked.

 

‘Right. If we succeed, it’ll benefit Hong Dukwang too.’

 

So this was….

 

‘A case where our interests aligned.’

 

Though discomfort still lingered in a corner of my mind, I thought:

 

‘Maybe this is an opportunity.’

 

After all, the easiest way to unite people on the inside was often to give them an enemy on the outside. Thinking this somewhat cliché thought, I opened the practice room door as if I had no choice.

 

And,

 

<< Emergency Quest >>

[You, with a 1% contribution to the Demon King’s defeat. Assist the Hero Joo Wooyoung, who had a 99% contribution, and overcome the challenge from [Crown]’s rookie group.]

<<Penalty for Quest Refusal or Failure: Return to the Other World>>

 

The image of Joo Wooyoung staring at his phone with a serious face was reflected in my eyes.

 

‘Wooyoung hyung, what’s wrong with you now? Seriously….’