Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 121

My head was a mess.

 

It kept getting more and more tangled.

 

It was unavoidable.

 

I thought the storm had finally passed, but another one had crashed in.

 

It reached a point where I felt the need to organize everything that happened yesterday and today in my mind.

 

In fact, I was already doing exactly that.

 

‘So… first, I confirmed that there was a power struggle between the Planning Headquarters and the Management Headquarters of <The World>, right?’

 

I’d gotten so frustrated that I’d confronted them head-on, and that was how I’d found out.

 

That was definitely how it happened.

 

Then, I was put in a situation where I had to choose between the Planning and Management divisions, and without hesitation, I sided with the Planning Headquarters.

 

As a result, I made an enemy of Director Oh, but I reached a silent agreement with Director Gu.

 

I succeeded in increasing <Fantasia>’s influence within <The World>.

 

‘Then, after we went back to the practice room, Kim Haejun asked… whether we should be handling the producing ourselves….’

 

And for some reason, I received an emergency quest.

 

<< Emergency Quest >>

[You, with a 1% contribution to the Demon King’s defeat. Assist the Hero Joo Wooyoung, who had a 99% contribution, and produce <Fantasia>’s next full-length album together.]

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

 

Before I could even agonize over whether this quest system revolved around Joo Wooyoung, Planning Team Leader Park Sangah showed up.

 

After that, I watched her awkward PPT and marveled at the incredible quality of the music video.

And then, the next day….

 

I received the dire news that [Crown] would be holding a showcase for their new group just one week before <Fantasia>’s debut showcase.

 

Immediately after that, this was the sight that caught my eye.

 

<< 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>>

 

‘Wooyoung hyung, seriously, what is wrong with you? What is it now? What’s the problem?’

 

There he was, staring at the news on his phone with a hardened expression while the newly issued Emergency Quest floated before me.

 

I still couldn’t tell exactly what was going on, but at least one thing had become certain.

 

‘Right.’

 

“…….”

 

‘This quest… it’s definitely being influenced by Joo Wooyoung’s desires.’

 

I was certain of it.

 

The desire to debut, the desire to form the optimal members, the desire to produce, and the desire to overcome the challenge of Crown’s new group.

 

They were all Joo Wooyoung’s desires manifested right in front of me.

 

In fact, right after receiving the producing quest, I wanted to test various things, but I realized there was no real need for testing.

 

Of course, simply figuring this out didn’t mean I could immediately do anything about it…

But I also realized that I could reduce the risks by inducing or changing Joo Wooyoung’s thoughts.

 

For example, if I faced a quest that was absolutely impossible to execute, I could persuade Joo Wooyoung with realistic arguments and lead the situation toward canceling the quest.

 

Say I kept impressing upon him that having the members personally produce a full-length album was realistically impossible…

 

‘I might actually be able to get the quest cancelled.’

 

The same went for this current quest.

 

It would be great if we could overcome the challenge from [Crown]’s new group, but if I judged that to be impossible, I could shift his thinking in another direction.

 

Furthermore….

 

‘It means I can distinguish between quests I can complete and quests I can’t.’

 

This part was the most important. It had already been proven through the previous quest that this system didn’t just bring me bad luck. Seeing as the rank of Siren’s Voice rose immediately after completing the quest to form the optimal members….

 

‘It means the other quests probably have rewards too….’

 

“…….”

 

‘If I can just convince Wooyoung hyung… I can reduce the risks these quests pose while keeping all the rewards.’

 

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy. As I’d said countless times before, once Joo Wooyoung set his mind on something, he wasn’t the type to waver.

 

Even now, trying to get him to abandon this quest didn’t seem easy either.

 

Just looking at his face…

 

‘He looks like he’s absolutely determined to win.’

 

Yes, his expression was too serious.

 

Sure enough, there was a determination in Joo Wooyoung’s face unlike anything I’d seen before. Calling it anger would have been an exaggeration.

 

Rather, it was….

 

An overwhelming determination not to lose.

 

It was unmistakable. It was written in his eyes so clearly: a burning desire to never lose to [Crown].

 

‘You’re a little angry, too, aren’t you?’

 

Maybe he hated the idea of the debut showcase he’d been looking forward to being buried under someone else’s news. Or perhaps he simply believed what Crown had done was unfair and violated basic professional ethics.

 

Considering Joo Wooyoung’s character and personality, it was better to weigh things toward the latter. Since he was always upright and couldn’t stand injustice, it was natural for him to react this way to the current situation.

 

To make matters worse, Kim Taeyeol and Baek Suhyeon were enthusiastically adding fuel to the fire.

 

“This has to be an anti-viral campaign.”

 

“It is. There’s no way articles and hate comments could increase so blatantly all of a sudden.”

 

“Hell, even their group name is Kingdom. Isn’t that obviously a direct shot at <Fantasia>?”

 

“Of course it is. Our concept is seven kingdoms with seven thrones. If they come out calling themselves Kingdom, then if that’s not a direct attack, what is?”

 

Similar voices chimed in. Joo Wooyoung was listening closely. Since he wasn’t fully adjusted to the modern world yet and couldn’t grasp the flow of events, he was paying closer attention to their conversation.

 

Before long, he even asked a question.

 

“So… Taeyeol hyung, you’re saying this is some kind of anti-viral campaign?”

 

“Yeah, it’s obvious. Does it make sense that there are suddenly this many articles attacking <Fantasia>?”

 

“I guess that’s true, but…”

 

“Of course, I don’t want to jump to conclusions this early, but honestly, it feels off. The comment sections too, and it almost looks like a major agency is trying to redirect all of its fandom’s attention toward us.”

 

They kept talking without even noticing that I’d arrived.

 

‘So… I’m not the only one who’s completely overwhelmed.’

 

Joo Wooyoung was overwhelmed too.

 

All of the members were.

 

The members hadn’t personally gone up to the Management Headquarters and come back down like I had, and they didn’t seem to be affected by Joo Wooyoung’s emergency quest, but they were in a state of semi-panic nonetheless.

 

Only Jung Taehee noticed me and opened his mouth wide.

 

“Unha! Unha, did you hear the news about [Crown]? I think their teaser just dropped too.”

 

‘A teaser already? Man… they’re fast. Really fast.’

 

“They have six members, one less than us… and fortunately, the concepts don’t seem to overlap.”

 

‘There’s no way their concept could overlap with ours. Who else would even attempt something like <Fantasia>?’

 

“But you know, Unha… this guy, he has a similar vibe to you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“No, no. I don’t mean he looks like you… Obviously, Unha is more handsome. Yeah… Unha is definitely better-looking… but just something, something feels similar to Unha. Specifically, the Unha from Idol Classism….”

 

“And this guy has a similar vibe to Wooyoung hyung.”

 

“F*ck, they really have zero business ethics. Is there anyone who looks like me?”

 

“No. There’s no one similar to Taeyeol hyung. That’s probably why they debuted as a six-member group.”

 

“…Wow, seriously… this is ridiculous.”

 

“…….”

 

“Mark? This person is similar to Hwi hyung.”

 

“…….”

 

“And this one kind of reminds me of you too, Suhyeon.”

 

“…….”

 

As I looked….

 

‘Wait, they really do.’

 

“…….”

 

‘It really feels like they gathered the six of us… excluding Kim Taeyeol.’

 

Of course, they weren’t actually the same.

 

Their physical features were definitely different.

 

They had to be. No matter how rushed the debut was, they couldn’t possibly have gone around collecting people who looked just like us and debuted them. They likely picked skilled trainees from their pool and used makeup, hair, and styling to mimic our images as closely as possible.

 

‘How can they be this shameless?’

 

The aggressive marketing was to be expected, but this was too blatant.

 

Even the leader was….

 

‘Exactly like ours.’

 

They had put a guy with a similar image to me as the leader and center—the main focus.

 

Of course, he wasn’t modeled after Dark Mage Lee Unha. Apparently Crown hadn’t expected us to commit to such a crazy concept and reveal my dark transformation, so they’d instead based him on the cheerful Vitamin Unha from <Idol Classism>.

 

At the same time, it really drove home how important makeup, styling, and photography were. Even though there were clear gaps in their actual features, they really did look like me.

 

The teaser video was the same.

 

‘They’re putting a huge emphasis on his eyes.’

 

They had shown the guy’s eyes from the very start, so that alone said it all.

 

However, he didn’t have anything like my Succubus Eye.

 

It looked like they’d tried to imitate them with colored contact lenses and various visual effects, but there was an unmistakable difference compared to a real ability.

 

The visuals were decent, so it wasn’t boring to watch, but still….

 

‘Can they… really get away with this?’

 

That thought kept occurring.

 

‘Weren’t these guys already talented to begin with?’

 

True to form, even though it was only a 30-second teaser, I could see that their overall stats were high. Even the dancing….

 

‘Isn’t he better than me?’

 

And the singing….

 

‘He’s good.’

 

Since they had likely been trainees for a long time at a major agency like Crown, it was only natural they’d be good at singing and dancing. It was enough to make me feel a slight sense of crisis.

 

But I soon realized that he was wearing clothes that didn’t fit.

 

It seemed he’d been instructed to imitate Lee Unha, because he kept copying my mannerisms. The other Kingdom members gave off a similar impression, but the one positioned as my counterpart stood out even more.

 

Of course, he was debuting with a mountain of support….

 

No, he was waiting for debut with the full support of [Crown]’s existing fandom…

 

‘But my fandom is quite passionate too….’

 

I had a feeling something, some kind of war, was about to break out.

 

Of course, it was a clash that had been destined since [Crown] first threw down the gauntlet….

 

Inside every community, a war reminiscent of a nuclear conflict was likely already unfolding.

And just as we were watching this war,

 

Kingdom was probably watching it too.

 

“…….”

 

‘How is this going to turn out?’

 

“…….”

 

Out of habit, I looked toward Joo Wooyoung. He was still staring at his phone with burning determination in his eyes.

 

There was certainly a risk involved, but I had no intention of trying to forcibly cancel this quest. It wasn’t because I was confident we could win, but rather….

 

‘Because it doesn’t specify when or how to complete the quest.’

 

I stood up and quietly nodded to myself.

 

It might be a gamble, but the arrival of [Kingdom] might actually be good news for <The World> and <Fantasia>.

 

Contrary to what those bastards expected.