Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 525 - The One Who Leaves (1)

For an idol whose face was already well known, pulling off an unauthorized escape from his agency would require the system’s help. After returning to Seoul, I spent the entire night carefully reading every clause and condition the system had ever shown me, putting together my retirement plan.

 

The part I scrutinized most was the ‘reputation’ section.

 

Back when we were filming IDC Season 1, the system had manipulated people’s impressions of me on the grounds that I had violated internal regulations. It adjusted something called a ‘reputation score’ to turn the public’s image of me negative.

 

The document format specified ‘Content’ and ‘Reason’. Based on that, I figured that if I provided a proper justification along with a description of how it should be carried out, the system might be able to make it happen.

 

The moment I reached that conclusion, the system immediately issued a stern warning.

 

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

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, do you really think everything in the world is going to go exactly the way you want?

 

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

▶ A company is not a playground~. We have no obligation to do everything Assistant Manager Kim asks for. Got it?

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Sure, you have no obligation to follow my demands.

 

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[SYSTEM] Additional effects following the ‘Resignation Procedure’ are being notified.

. . .

▷ The ‘Superior’ will actively cooperate for the termination of the contractual relationship and a smooth resignation of the ‘Subordinate.’

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But shouldn’t you comply with the clauses the company explicitly stated? Do you think I kept my side of the contract because I’m some kind of pushover?

 

If the System intended to keep playing this game of chicken with me until the very end, it should have realized long ago that Manager Nam’s condescending tone no longer worked on me. At the very least, it had to honor the rights it had already promised.

 

When I took a defiant stance, the system began to make long-winded excuses. It brought up the clause stating that its influence over me would decrease as my resignation date approached.

 

So, I brought out the countermeasure I had prepared.

 

‘You don’t need to exert influence on the ‘Subordinate’.’

 

The system could distort the public’s perception of an individual. This had been proven during the reputation manipulation incident. Furthermore, as long as there were reasonable grounds and a clearly defined request, there was more than enough basis for such an abnormal phenomenon to become reality.

 

I requested the system to provide the exact same form as the notice it had shown me in the past. Then, I wrote in the details myself, just as I had entered my itinerary into the scheduler.

 

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[SYSTEM] ‘General matters for a smooth resignation’ are being submitted to the ‘Superior.’

▷ Content: Decrease in public recognition toward the ‘Subordinate.’

▷ Reason: Essential task for a quiet resignation without noise from disputes.

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If other people can’t recognize me, isn’t that enough?

 

It was nothing more than a loophole born of wordplay. As long as the system was obligated to cooperate with my resignation, it had no choice but to accept it.

 

I didn’t believe the system had left such a glaring loophole by accident. It probably intended to use this same function if I failed to achieve my KPIs and was forced to join the Hanpyeong Industry.

 

Even if I quit being an idol and became an office worker, an employee with an idol background could never quietly blend into corporate life. It would become an issue at some point, in some way… and that didn’t align with the system’s goal of overwriting my life with my past self—the one who lost his sister and had no will to live—as a penalty for failing the KPIs.

 

Searching for a loophole based on the belief that the thing must have prepared some kind of contingency was worth it. Though I did get chills thinking this bastard had actually prepared to turn me back into a perfect salaryman. Since my employment at the Hanpyeong Industry fell through anyway, I’d make good use of this.

 

With this, I was able to hide my face and name as an idol, which would have been the biggest obstacle to a celebrity’s vanishing act. From the moment the biggest problem was solved, I immediately set out to prepare for my escape.

 

It wasn’t particularly difficult. For someone who had left home and become independent at twenty, moving a single-person household was easy. The only difference this time was that, instead of relying on my sister, I had years of life experience and capital to help me.

 

I’d even found a place to live based on my many years of living alone. Though saying I ‘found it’ was a bit of an exaggeration. It was the same officetel I had lived in during my days at the Hanpyeong Industry…

 

Its greatest advantage was that there were several vacant units, so I could move in whenever I wanted. They also carried out regular pest control and gas inspections. Since I had no attachment to my family home, that place felt more like my true hometown, so like a salmon returning upstream, I decided to go back.

 

‘It’s even cheaper than when I first signed for it.’

 

The monthly rent was low because real estate prices hadn’t spiked yet. And on top of that, it was fully furnished. If my goal had been long-term residence, I might have looked for a lump-sum deposit lease.

 

Even with everything proceeding smoothly, one headache remained. The culprit was banking—the same thing that had plagued me from my office-worker days all the way through becoming an idol. What was the point of living in the digital age when you still couldn’t even get a single cashier’s check issued without going to the bank in person?

 

Fortunately, no one tried to stop me from visiting the bank. Everyone was wary that I might do something impulsive, but ‘going to the bank’ was a perfectly reasonable excuse, so they reluctantly let me go. It almost wasn’t easy since even Manager Daeyeon had started to suspect me.

 

I repeatedly packed out-of-season clothes in my bag when I left for the gym and dropped them in clothing collection bins until my closet was fairly empty. I was very busy clearing out the back of the drawers so as not to get caught by Jeong Seongbin. Learning how to sneak things out while playing Santa proved to be a great help.

 

I also made sure not to forget my precious suitcase. Fearing that carrying 50,000-won bills withdrawn from an ATM might be traceable, I intentionally paid in cash and carefully hid envelopes of 10,000-won bills I’d collected from change in the inner lining.

 

I thought about shredding the file folders I’d had since Yoo Hansoo’s time, but decided it was more work to throw away such small volume, so I decided to take them.

 

‘Maybe because I came here with nothing, there’s nothing much to take back.’

 

A few clothes to wear immediately, my journal planner, and money were the entirety of my luggage. Since I had left my fan letters at a storage facility, I just had to visit the company and pick them up after the move was over. I really only had to walk out with my body.

 

If that 15 million won had been money given to me by my sister, I would have kept the bankbook just for the sake of the record. But since it had become nothing more than hush money disguised as a settlement, I tore it up as soon as the trial ended.

 

I set the moving date by placing my scheduler and journal planner side-by-side. I was already anxious about the synchronization rate, and I felt like things would go horribly wrong if I picked an unlucky day, so I carefully checked for the traditional son-eop-neun nal. It was a relief that I’d be leaving only after promotions had ended.

 

(TL note: ‘Son-eop-neun nal’ means a lucky day with no bad spirits.)

 

My preparations were thorough, but one slip of suspicion and it would all be over. To deceive the members, whose intuition had sharpened, I needed an even higher level of acting. I didn’t want to be caught by Choi Jeho before the day of execution due to negligence.

 

So, I threw myself into overtime work like a madman. When I was working, everyone understood my stiff expression. They didn’t even peek at what I was doing, careful not to break my concentration.

 

I didn’t even have to squeeze out tasks to do. Simply organizing my handover files took an enormous amount of time. It would have been a disaster if I hadn’t been weeding them out under the pretext of year-end settlements every year. Thanks to that, I was able to maintain my work persona while also hiding from scrutiny.

 

Even now, no one disturbed me despite the fact that I’d been typing away on my laptop for two straight hours. Once it passed three hours, though, Jeong Seongbin would start sending silent warnings, so I’d have to wrap things up soon…

 

I stared blankly at the icon of a private folder on my personal drive named ‘Deleted Files’, lest anyone see it by chance.

 

Inside were the fruits of my extra work, from photos of Spark I’d taken over the years to the planning proposal for the new album. Once I unlocked it and transferred ownership to Jeong Seongbin, it would all be over.

 

I felt relieved yet bittersweet. Was this what prospective retirees felt when they looked at their completed handover notes? I felt restless the entire time I powered down the laptop and closed the screen.

 

It had been a long journey. Truly.

 

 ***

 

The day for the group variety show appearance, which had been booked before the holidays, finally arrived. I was not included in this group.

 

The official reason was that they couldn’t send a member who had recently been in an accident to a physically demanding activity show. Never mind that the same idol had already rejoined the tour and had even filmed our self-produced content just the other day.

 

“Take care of the dorm. And don’t spend all day on your laptop.”

 

“Cheonghyeon, I’m twenty-four this year.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon snorted. I wanted to show him right then and there how much in checks I’d withdrawn from the bank. I held back, knowing he’d find out in a few hours anyway.

 

As soon as they all left, I began organizing my personal items. Even if the filming lasted all day, I’d have to move quickly if I wanted to clear out everything I’d accumulated over the past few years.

 

Just packing up the random gifts the members had exchanged over the years filled several large shipping boxes. I would have been in trouble if I hadn’t already bundled them up beforehand.

 

I personally collected the pager devices that had been installed in the dorm where Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon had moved. Since the person who would use them was gone, they would only collect dust if left there.

 

After making several trips to the recycling area and finally getting rid of the shoes and bedding I’d left behind as camouflage, the room was completely empty. Memories of preparing to vacate every time I moved house came back to me.

 

Back then, my only thought was to get my security deposit back quickly and move to the next place. This was the first time I felt this way leaving a home behind.

 

The dorm, when I looked back for the last time, felt hollow. The sunlight coming in brightly because of the good exposure, the bedroom door that stayed open all the time for no reason, and the inside of the room where the owner’s presence used to be so plainly visible…

 

I forcibly swallowed the word that came to mind. I turned my head before I could desire to see anything else. I didn’t look back until the door closed behind me and the elevator reached the first floor.

 

After changing the ownership of the shared documents to Jeong Seongbin, I switched off my phone. It was time to swap it for the second phone I’d secretly opened without Manager’s knowledge.

 

As the building’s main entrance slid open, a cool autumn breeze greeted me. My hair whipped around frantically. Throughout my walk, I heard the sound of the suitcase wheels scraping against the asphalt.

 

The moment I stepped out of the apartment complex and onto the main road, I realized it.

 

That no one recognized me.

 

That I was no longer the idol Kim Iwol.