Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 1 - Prologue

At home, after 11 p.m.

 

I busily moved my hands in tmy room, still burdened with unfinished work.

 

[~Congratulations on Spark’s 7th anniversary, the unextinguishable flame~]

 

Fortunately, I almost finished the pink banner file.

 

I could sleep once I finished this.

 

No more nagging calls from Manager Nam, no more piles of reference materials cluttering my inbox every day.

 

I could enjoy the Chuseok holiday one day earlier than everyone else.

 

‘Just try canceling my annual leave again this time. I’ll make sure you become an ambassador to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s interrogation room.’

 

Because of someone, my annual leave was now in September and I had 17 days left.

 

I couldn’t give in this time. I would absolutely protect my vacation.

 

I focused on typing while muttering words transferred from a certain community.

 

How many times had I repeated looking at the calendar and focused on the photo flat?

 

“…Done. I really won’t touch it anymore.”

 

After a long struggle, the name of the file created with persistence was finally changed to ‘Spark_7th Anniversary_Commemorative Cafe (Banner)’.

 

Now all I had to do was send an e-mail. I quickly opened the Internet window.

 

Then, the dazzling faces I had grown tired of seeing on banners greeted me.

 

This was because I had set the entertainment news as the main page since I was asked to always check for updates about Spark.

 

These rotten people were the thieves who stole the heart of our company manager’s daughter, and they were the main culprits who were keeping me up at this hour… But.

 

“What?”

 

There I saw it.

 

The subject of the banner who had made me change colors about 28,000 times until now, agonizing over which one would look prettier.

 

A one-line article title with that damn Spark’s name in it.

 

『Spark, unable to last for more than 7 years… Currently in the process of dismantling.』

 

“F*ck…”

 

My memory was blurry after that.

 

I didn’t know if I was so upset that I fell back, or if I fell asleep with my head pressed against the keyboard due to extreme lack of sleep.

 

I couldn’t believe I didn’t pass out while working overtime, but passed out while fangirling on behalf of my boss’ daughter.

 

And since I didn’t collapse in the office, it wouldn’t be treated as an industrial accident.

 

From start to finish, it was utterly absurd. The blackened vision looked like my future.

 

* * *

 

Warm sunlight. A quiet, peaceful morning.

 

My body was so refreshed that I didn’t know how many hours I had slept.

 

Needless to say, it was the best condition I had been in a while. Everything was perfect.

 

…Except for the wooden plank that I could see right in front of me.

 

‘Was the ceiling always this close?’

 

Somehow, the ceiling seemed to be right in front of my eyes.

 

For things to seem much closer than they actually were. I must be half-asleep.

 

After going to work 7 days a week, I had to work overtime until Monday, it was no wonder I lost my senses.

 

In addition, I heard the shocking news that the banner I had been working on for two weeks had become useless.

 

I might be tired. I didn’t even remember when I came to bed and laid down.

 

As I reached next to my head to grab my phone to check the time, a conversation my teammates once had in passing flashed through my mind.

 

‘When you oversleep, doesn’t the air itself feel different?’

 

‘Right. Strangely, your body feels refreshed and the sunlight is warm.’

 

‘It gets quiet around you. That’s when you start breaking into a cold sweat.’

 

Calm air, check.

 

Refreshed body, check.

 

Quiet atmosphere… perfect check.

 

‘F*ck.’

 

I raised my upper body like a metal spring. Then I almost hit my head against the strangely low ceiling.

 

It wasn’t an optical illusion, the ceiling was actually low.

 

‘Did the house collapse while I was sleeping?’

 

I turned my head, wondering if I could write ‘the ceiling of my house collapsed’ as my reason for being late.

 

An even more shocking scene unfolded next to me.

 

On the bed across from me, within arm’s reach, someone was sleeping with their back turned towards me.

 

Unfamiliar luggage was scattered messily on the bed and floor.

 

This was an impossible scenario in my home, which had been a single-person household since I became independent.

 

‘First of all, it’s not my house. Definitely not.’

 

As my field of vision widened little by little, the number of mysteries increased by the minute.

 

But I knew one thing. If they hadn’t broken into my house, I must have been taken captive at their house.

 

I immediately grabbed a pillow. It was time to utilize the strength I had developed after working as a porter for several years in the company’s mountain climbing club.

 

As I was carefully taking aim above the person’s head, a flash of light appeared before my eyes. Reflexively, I squeezed both my eyes shut.

 

When I managed to open my eyes again, an incredible phenomenon lay before me.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] The reuse of Assistant Manager Kim Iwol’s (hereinafter referred to as subordinate) life has been approved.

 

+

 

‘…? What is this?’

 

Letters appeared in the air.

 

And that too, with content that I didn’t understand at all.

 

I pursued an environmentally friendly life, but I had no intention of reusing my life.

 

Or was this the sleep paralysis that Assistant Manager Hwang was said to be suffering from?

 

However, among the symptoms that Assistant Manager Hwang mentioned, he never said anything like ‘An approval window keeps flickering in front of my eye’.

 

If he had, Assistant Manager Hwang shouldn’t have come to work—he should have quit the company instead.

 

“…”

 

This was the first time I overslept, after boasting perfect attendance until now.

 

A stranger was sleeping soundly, even covering themselves with a blanket, even though it was my first time meeting him.

 

And a typing display was floating in mid-air in front of me in this place I was suddenly brought to.

 

I knew exactly what this entire situation was called.

 

‘It’s a dream.’

 

When I realized that I wasn’t late, I instantly felt at ease. I covered myself with the blanket again and lay down on the bed.

 

At that moment. Once again, my vision lit up white.

 

Just as I was about to request that the light be turned off, a message that I couldn’t ignore appeared.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from your ‘superior’ have arrived.

 

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, you should debut with this new batch of trainees as an idol group. This is truly a great opportunity, you know? There will definitely come a day when you’ll thank me for this. Don’t ever forget that the higher-ups have expectations of you.

 

[SYSTEM] The KPI ‘Debut as a 6-member Boy Group’ has been assigned to ‘subordinate’.

 

+

 

Indeed, it sounded just like a superior.

 

There were only three things I hated: one was my immediate family, the other was my boss, Manager Nam, and the last one was responsibility. I was just better suited to be at the bottom rung.

 

The tone of the system sounded like Manager Nam himself. I thought Manager Nam had come back to life.

 

Oh, by the way, I still needed to set this thing straight.

 

Even if this was a dream, sending a message impersonating my boss first thing in the morning was unforgivable.

 

No matter how unethical this industry was, there should be at least basic human respect. I’d report it as a voice phishing scam.

 

And what? Debut as a boy band?

 

Nonsense.

 

It was a dreadful nightmare. I even thought it would be better to bang my head against the ceiling and find enlightenment.

 

* * *

 

My bad relationship with idols started when I was a new employee.

 

A week after joining the company, the first question that (former) Team Leader Nam, before he got promoted to manager, asked was this.

 

‘Kim Iwol, do you know how to handle flat photos?’

 

Unaware of the truth that sometimes you had to pretend not to know things, I ended up making the foolish statement,  ‘I have a certificate’.

 

Since then, my life went astray. From that day on, I was selected as Manager Nam’s official chore machine.

 

The chores ordered by Manager Nam were not limited to company work.

 

Starting with transcribing recordings whenever the boy group ‘Spark’, which Manager Nam’s daughter’s favorite member belonged to, appeared on the radio.

 

When their live broadcasts started, I had to capture motion clips and post them on some cafe called a ‘birthday cafe’, even designing and ordering cup holders for them.

 

As soon as Spark’s activities began, I had to handle tasks I had never done before in my life.

 

It was the beginning of an idol fan-like career that my life was not intended for.

 

‘I don’t understand why they pay someone else to do stuff like this. Looking at what Employee Kim is doing, it looks like I could just learn the method and do it at home.’

 

‘Haha, it actually takes more time than you’d think, Team Leader.’

 

‘I told people at home that they don’t know how to save money. And my kid wants the banner you made yesterday revised.’

 

‘Yes?’

 

‘Instead of just Emperor Choi Jeho, it needs to say Center Emperor Choi Jeho. Send it to my email by 1 pm.’

 

So, for six months, I became the GIF expert for the center, also known as ‘Center Emperor Choi Jeho’, who was apparently my boss’ favorite member of Spark.

 

Manager Nam’s daughter grew from a solo stan of Center Emperor Choi Jeho to a fan of all Spark members.

 

You said Center Emperor Choi Jeho was the only one for you.

 

You said you could only see Jeho.

 

I felt like my world was falling apart.

 

As the number of GIF clips I had to make increased fivefold, my energy was quickly exhausted as I was suddenly reduced to a human GIF maker.

 

Of course, I didn’t just sit still and obey what I was told.

 

Wondering if an office worker really had to do this, I sought advice from others around me.

 

After being told that I didn’t have to do all that, I tried a hundred different ways to say things like, ‘I’m sorry, but I think doing any more than this would be difficult,’ but after that, I got nitpicked a lot.

 

‘Iwol, what does this mean? Why can’t I understand anything you wrote?’

 

‘Did you upload this after getting reviewed by Manager Cho? Tell Manager Cho to come.’

 

Those days, I asked for confirmation four times a day, cursed inwardly eight times, and bowed my head six times.

 

After stubbornly refusing the fan-related tasks to the bitter end, I finally waved the white flag on the day Team Leader Nam, who had been squeezing his subordinates dry, got promoted to the manager position.

 

And that was when those vile Spark jerks who put me through hell suddenly announced their disbandment.

 

They did it right before my very eyes, as I was being forced to prepare for their 7th anniversary support.

 

It was as if dealing with idols wasn’t already enough to bring me to tears of blood. These unethical bastards.

 

I didn’t look in the mirror, but I was sure my eyes were bloodshot. I could feel my intraocular pressure rising in real-time.

 

To pull myself together, I reviewed my ‘Things to Do After Resigning’ list from the start, one by one.

 

“Hm…”

 

I was trying hard to calm my mind, but the guy sleeping in the bed across from me started tossing and turning.

 

Could it be he was one of the kids from the current batch mentioned by the system?

 

What kind of sin did he commit in his past life to be punished by becoming an idol with an old guy like me? That young man must have a pretty unlucky fate too.

 

Even though it was just a dream, I felt a bit of sympathy toward him but then his sleeping face turned towards me.

 

Surprisingly, it was a familiar face.

 

Strong, well-defined features with thick eyebrows.

 

A sharp facial line and a long, slender neck.

 

It was a face I couldn’t fail to recognize, since it was imprinted on my corneas.

 

It was exactly like the younger face of the Center Emperor Choi Jeho, my boss’s daughter’s bias, who had kept me staying up late for over three years.

 

Spark appeared here?

 

Why him of all people?

 

The face that had once made me return to the office after I had already gone home, just because I missed one photo edit, was right in front of my eyes? You couldn’t blame me if my eyeballs were about to pop out here.

 

My whole body was burning hot, as if lying on an electric blanket. It was definitely an anger-induced sickness.

 

But I had to be patient. This was just a dream.

 

Even if I grabbed the sleeping person’s collar and shouted, ‘Were you out of your mind when you deleted your feed when I was meticulously archiving your Insta?’ nothing would change.

 

Anyway, unless you were a subordinate who was threatened by your boss and scraped other people’s posts until 9 p.m., you wouldn’t understand that pain.

 

But I couldn’t do anything about my seething anger. The rage seemed etched into my spine.

 

‘Could it be that the other four are also from Spark…?’

 

Adding me to the five-member group Spark made it exactly six members, just as the system had designated. Everything fit together perfectly.

 

Right now, if I could contact Manager Nam’s daughter, I wanted to ask her.

 

She once said that 5 minus 1 equals 0.

 

‘I am sorry, but what happens if it’s 5 plus 1?’

 

I deeply regretted not closing my eyes before seeing that absurd message.

 

And I strongly denied the current situation.

 

If it was Spark, I refused.

 

If it was the Center Emperor Choi Jeho, I absolutely would refuse even if they locked me up in a hotel and made me work with room service only.

 

Debut with the guys who only smiled three times during a two-hour live broadcast, even though I had to capture 50 smiling faces per member?

 

‘Yeah, absolutely never.’

 

Perhaps it could hear the sound of my heart closing.

 

The letters that had been floating disappeared, and new sentences appeared.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from your ‘superior’ have arrived.

 

▶ I heard young people only work as much as they’re paid these days. But can you really live like that in a company? Still, I’m not too harsh in my evaluations. Let’s make sure our Assistant Manager Kim gets what he deserves for the work he’s done. Sounds fair?

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Personnel Disadvantage’ has been assigned to ‘subordinate’ due to failure to meet final KPIs.

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Performance Reward’ has been assigned to ‘Subordinate’ for meeting final KPIs.

 

+

 

From start to finish, it was filled with infuriating phrases.

 

Do you really think that I’d fall for that?

 

I wouldn’t deny that my life was so far gone that the system thought it could look down on me.

 

I accepted all of Manager Nam’s absurd demands, so I was practically digging my own grave.

 

But even in my dream, I didn’t want to be branded as a complete pushover.

 

I’d rather poke my own eyes rather than continue watching this crap, but just as I was about to do that, my vision lit up again.

 

What happened next was truly shocking.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Personnel Disadvantage’ will be notified.

 

▷ Restrictions on job transfer will be imposed upon forced re-employment and resignation of Hanpyeong Industry

 

▷ Permanently deprived of the opportunity to receive the final performance reward

 

+

 

It was a notice forcing me to rejoin my old company, which I hadn’t even properly quit.

 

Re-join that hellhole Hanpyeong Industry?

 

It forced me against my will to join a company that would tell you to wait for mart discount periods when the toilet paper ran out!

 

It even stated that if I quit, it would restrict my chance to move to another job.

 

It seemed dead set on pouring ash all over my career prospects.

 

I had to work at that damned company until retirement?

 

No way. My greatest regret in life was submitting my resume to Hanpyeong Industries.

 

No, screw that. I regretted getting on that job search site on that very day and time.

 

It took me a while to understand the explanation that followed. My mind wasn’t functioning well because I was so enraged by the thought of rejoining the Hanpyeong Industry.

 

‘Final performance reward?’

 

The final reward didn’t matter. I already hated the idea of rejoining so much I could die.

 

I had no doubt that there couldn’t be a worse situation than this.

 

That was until I read the next explanation.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Final Performance Reward’ will be notified.

 

▷ Annulment of the death of your sister (biological sibling) and the opportunity to reunite

 

+

 

The chance to meet my sister, who died two years ago, was being offered under the mere term ‘reward’.

 

Annul her death?

 

I felt like I was hit hard by bad luck. Either that, or I was facing backlash for wishing Manager Nam would go to hell every night.

 

Really, instead of a dream world, I felt like I had fallen into hell.

 

*Note: KPI: Key Performance Indicator.