Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 488 - Achievement (1)

From the fireworks to the commemorative behind-the-scenes content for the Grand Prize, photos and videos capturing that monumental day flooded the internet. Between that and the recorded footage of the celebration party UA threw for us, there was an endless supply of content for the fans to feast on.

 

Meanwhile, I couldn’t bring myself to smile. In every photo taken after the award ceremony, my eyes were completely bloodshot.

 

The area around my eyes was bright red. While others looked even more ethereal with their slightly flushed noses and eyes reflecting the fireworks through tears, I just looked like a pathetic crybaby. I couldn’t lift my head in shame.

 

“Are you still lamenting?”

 

“Yeah. I’m planning a filibuster that’ll last all through January.”

 

“The photos turned out great, though. All your fans changed their profile pictures to those shots, you know?”

 

Kang Kiyeon spoke nonchalantly. That was exactly why I tried to be so good to the fans. They were so generous, even when I cried like a total loser…

 

I also received a flood of warm encouragement from everyone around me. Maybe because I’d cried my eyes out in front of the cameras, every message was long and overflowing with kindness. Every text ended with a ‘Read More’ button attached. I spent the whole time feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude that I practically felt dizzy while replying.

 

After leaving heartfelt thank-yous, I posted a year-end wrap-up report, sobbing inwardly as I summarized the year. No one asked me to do it, but it had become a habit; it was one of the documents I produced annually.

 

I also completed the important annual ritual: ‘Changing Park Joowoo’s contact name’. With this, Park Joowoo became ‘22-Year-Old Metal Marble’,

 

The system began the KPI settlement. Knowing it would take a while regardless, I didn’t even bother striking up a conversation.

 

Even though the year-end had only just passed, the New Year’s schedule began as soon as January 1st arrived. Just like the lives of office workers without vacations, Spark and UA had to work instead of play to survive as upright members of society. Fortunately, a nationwide tour had already been scheduled from January through February, leaving no room for complacency.

 

We also held an auction for our personal belongings. It wasn’t strictly to make Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon’s rooms more livable; it just turned out that way while we were trying to organize an offline event we hadn’t done before.

 

In the case of me or Choi Jeho, we didn’t have many items to offer. Neither of us had much interest in material possessions to begin with. The only thing Choi Jeho used frequently was his wired earphones, but since he replaced them so often, they weren’t suitable as ‘treasured items’.

 

Still, after raiding the storage room, my own suitcase, and Choi Jeho’s family home, we managed to pull together a decent selection.

 

≫ Kim Iwolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

They asked him to bring a treasured item, and he brought the Blueberry Alumni Cherry Blossom Picnic Polaroid Set ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

I have to hand it to him, he’s incredible.

└ ??? Is it different from the photos released before??

└ They were taken on the same day, but apparently he hid these away in case there was ever a chance to reveal old photos.

 

≫ An idol’s treasured item that’s becoming a hot topic on SNS

> A scrapbook of conversations the members had on Dotion. <

He even read a few out loud on-site to introduce the item ㅋㅋ

└ It was hilarious how they just kept calling Seongbin for every little thing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ @Seongbin AHHH!!!!! @Seongbin HYUNG!!!!!!

 

≫ Choi Jeho is crazy

He brought his actual high school name tag as a personal item.

The boys signed everything sold that day, but on the back of the name tag, he didn’t give his idol signature—he signed it with the actual signature he used when he was in school.

└ Whoa, damn.

└ How much did that sell for?????

 

While we competed with eccentricity, the maknaes pushed through with sheer volume. Those guys asserted their dominance by pushing a handcart onto the stage.

 

≫ Is this a flea market? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

They’re giving a 1,000 won discount if you buy three ㅠㅠ

└ What’s the point of a 1,000 won discount after spending 5 million won? ㅠㅠ

└└ They selected attendees by lottery to prevent resellers, and the starting bids were low, so prices weren’t as insane as expectedㅋㅋ

└ Seongbin: Cheonghyeon, we have a one-per-person limit. Cheonghyeon: Gasp.

└└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ What is Lee Cheonghyeon doing? ㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ The person who bought the Spark Kingdom Another concept photo frame posted a proof shot

They even decorated a Kingdom Another zone specifically to display the frame ㅋㅋ ㅠㅠㅠ

Look at the maknae who took photos of his hyungs cosplaying his favorite series, framed them, and kept them.

└ Ah, the area around the frame is so sparkly ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ This rich baby who looks like a Harpy Eagle / Desert Fox / Pacific Ocean Flight Attendant…

How dare he bring his favorite comfort bag as a treasured item…?

└ This ㅋㅋㅋ The highlight was Kang Kiyeon asking if he had any intention of selling it to Jeho hyung ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Didn’t Iwol buy Jeho a bag for his last birthday? ㅋㅋ

└ It’s already about to have holes in it.

└ Is Jeho that busy, or is he just rough with his bags?

└ Probably both ㅋㅋ ㅠ

 

However, there was a clear MVP. Park Joowoo, the born genius who was still clumsy at interpreting the deep desires of fans, and Jeong Seongbin, the Idol World Expert who knew the depths of a fan’s heart, showed contrasting yet awe-inspiring selection skills.

 

≫ Did you see Rock-Joowoo selling a full album set?

He said he put together a package including one album from each of his favorite bands since the 1960s.

It included ancient relics, so there were even LPs.

(Photo)

Nothing but masterpieces. He really knows his music.

└ What the—when did they sell this??

└ They held some kind of auction event and sold it there.

└ Can only fans go to stuff like that? Even if you’re not into idols, rock fans would’ve wanted to buy that.

└ Rock-Joowoo beats everyone here when it comes to being a true fan ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Seongbin

So you’re saying you brought an MP3 player as your treasured item…

Which contains 219 cover songs you’ve been recording since you were a trainee.

You scraped together every recording you had to fill it.

Seongbin, you…

└ Whoa.

└ Seriously, a true fan should have bought this ㅠㅠㅠ

└ Thankfully, one of Bin’s hommas managed to get it…

 

Every attendee was given photo cards and a small gift set so that no one went home empty-handed. To prevent scalping, all photo card image data was later released through the fan café.

 

In any case, we spent time with the fans, the maknaes’ rooms became a little more breathable, and we even made a donation. It was a win-win in every way.

 

We also held fan meetings. All sorts of things happened while we wore various items and interacted with fans.

 

≫ Battle Bunny KKY

He looks strong.

└ How did he end up like this? ㅋㅋㅋ

└ He just kept putting on every item given to him at the fan sign… ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ He looks like a character customized by a veteran gamer.

 

≫ I’ve asked a hundred times: who gave the Emperor a short-sleeved tennis uniform?

└ What are you going to do when you find them?

└ Give them a kiss.

└ Whoever it is is probably having nightmares.

 

≫ I saw the photo of Seongbin wearing a halo and wondered why he looked so sad, but turns out it’s because his angel wings ripped.

└ Why did the wing rip?

└ As soon as he put his arms through and tried to fit them over his shoulders, it snapped ㅠㅠ

└ Well, he is a member of Spark, after all…

 

≫ 2X0124 Giant Chinchilla Joowoo 😀

└ I love how Joowoo’s hommas always add this ‘:D’ ㅠㅠㅠ It’s so cute.

└ I came here thinking he wore a chinchilla headband, but I froze when I saw the high-quality plushie costume… Calling these fan sign items isn’t enough anymore…

 

≫ Please share the Lee Cheonghyeon hairpiece clips

I’m collecting them because they’ve been giving him all sorts of hairpieces lately ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Can anyone share them in the comments?? I’ll start!!

└ Saved.

└ Saved x2.

└ Everyone is just saving them and nobody is sharing!

 

≫ Kang Kiyeon’s fan sign clips are the funniest

He goes back and forth between cold and hot.

One moment he’s doing something super cute, and then suddenly he’s in delinquent mode, and then before you know it, he’s back to being a super cute Kiyeon.

└ A filial son who changes concepts constantly during a single fan sign.

└ It really doesn’t look like the same day ㅋㅋ

 

Whenever we finished a schedule, it became a hot topic in some way. This, too, could be said to be a change resulting from our increased mainstream popularity. It was no longer just fans or idol enthusiasts talking about us briefly; articles were written for every single move we made, and even people unrelated to the industry showed interest. For people whose careers depended on public interest, it was ideal.

 

If things had remained this peaceful, there would have been no problem. But as the saying goes, life can’t be all sunshine and roses.

 

[SYSTEM] A work instruction from the ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ Assistant Manager Kim! I saw the KPI performance report!

 

The time had come to wake up from the sweet dream and face reality. I swallowed nervously and waited for what came next.

 

[SYSTEM] A work instruction from the ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ There was no room for subjective evaluation. It was perfect! Man, I really made the right choice investing in someone with potential. I have an eye for people. I’ll approve this one without any revisions!

 

[SYSTEM] The achievement of the ‘Subordinate’s’ KPI ‘Grand Prize Award’ has been confirmed.

 

There was no separate ‘Reward’ column like before.

Which meant, just as I had guessed…

 

[SYSTEM] Upon the achievement of the ‘Subordinate’s’ final KPI, the ‘Final Performance Reward’ is being processed.

▷ Provision of an opportunity to nullify the death of the older sister (sibling).

 

[SYSTEM] Upon the achievement of the ‘Subordinate’s’ final KPI, ‘Personnel Disadvantages’ are being revoked.**

▷

 

…It meant that this long journey had come to an end.

 

‘Is it over? Really?’

 

I couldn’t believe it. It would be more accurate to say it didn’t feel real.

 

Now, the event of my sister dying in that car accident on that day had vanished. Just because of those few words.

 

I felt a bit hollow at the lackluster conclusion. It was something I had desperately wished for, but it ended… this simply.

 

While I sat there dazed, the system picked a fight as usual, as if it never got tired of it.

 

[SYSTEM] A work instruction from the ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ Even I didn’t expect Assistant Manager Kim to pull this off in such a short time. I’m worried, though. There’ll be a huge gap in operations once Assistant Manager Kim resigns.

 

Like I care. If you’re short on staff, become an idol yourself. Stop ordering others around.

 

At my words, the system blinked a couple of times. The message inside the box changed.

 

[SYSTEM] A work Instruction from the ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ Well, I’m sure Assistant Manager Kim will wrap things up properly before leaving. You know that ending on a beautiful note is a virtue, right? You’re still part of the company until the day you resign, so don’t start slacking off now.

 

Then, a new window appeared.

 

[SYSTEM] Upon the achievement of the ‘Subordinate’s’ final KPI, the ‘Resignation Procedure’ is being notified.

 

I had thought about this in passing at some point. I suspected that receiving the Grand Prize would be the final KPI, but before that, I had harbored doubts because the thing called ‘synchronization’ was progressing separately from the KPI. I had even hypothesized several times that ‘what the system truly wants from me might be something other than achieving the KPI’.

 

So, I had tried to prepare myself not to be flustered whenever the unexpected happened.

 

Yet my anxiety became reality all the same.

 

[SYSTEM] Upon the achievement of the ‘Subordinate’s’ final KPI, the ‘Resignation Procedure’ is being notified.

▷ Until the ‘Resignation Procedure’ is complete, the ‘Subordinate’ remains under the control of the ‘Superior.’

▷ Once the ‘Resignation Procedure’ is complete, the resignation process will be applied, and the contractual relationship between ‘Superior’ and ‘Subordinate’ will be terminated.

▷ When the ‘Subordinate’s’ synchronization rate reaches 100%, it will be regarded as the return of the reused life, and the resignation procedure will end.

 

In the worst possible way.