Translator: Dreamscribe
The management division of 'Leon Entertainment' was split into Teams 1 through 4. Management Teams 1 and 2 housed Leon Entertainment's S-rank, top-tier celebrities. Team 3 specialized in rising rookies and artists just starting to make a name for themselves.
Team 4, on the other hand, was the graveyard of the washed-up. And Team 4 was where Jae-ha's fate had been decided.
'Honestly, I half expected to get fired, but... a transfer to Team 4. Not bad.'
Given the pretext of having crossed Ra Yoon, the chances of getting canned had been high, yet the verdict was merely a move from Team 2 to Team 4. Why? Ra Yoon, that little tattletale, had surely latched onto the CEO and chirped away. She was, after all, undeniably Leon Entertainment's top-tier girl group Visual Center.
So by all rights, the company should have sided with her.
But the outcome said otherwise.
Had someone shielded me? The Team 2 leader? No, that couldn't be it. The Team 2 leader had always looked down on Kang Jae-ha.
'Or maybe... it was a unilateral order from the CEO.'
But that didn't quite add up either. Han Tae-sung, CEO of Leon Entertainment. Jae-ha could count on one hand the number of times he'd even seen the man. To CEO Han Tae-sung, Kang Jae-ha would be a speck of dust, a nobody employee with zero presence.
After a moment of deliberation, Jae-ha clicked his tongue inwardly.
'Tch, whatever. It worked out somehow.'
This wasn't a situation that called for strategizing, speculating, or racking his brain to calculate angles. It wasn't a battlefield. The habits of eighteen years in another world had crept out without him realizing, when a man's voice reached Kang Jae-ha again.
"Jae-ha ssi, did you... hear what I said?"
It was Jang Hyung-su, the Team 4 leader who had just appeared. His tone was drowsy and drawn out, every word dragging. Jae-ha answered curtly.
"Yes, I heard you."
"Okay... let's go."
As Jae-ha walked alongside Team 4 Leader Jang Hyung-su, he recalled Team 4's notorious reputation. Every employee at Leon Entertainment described Team 4 the same way: "the recycling bin for failures and has-beens."
Team 4 had been established under the nominal goal of giving the failed, the flopped, and the washed-up a shot at a comeback, but everyone knew the truth.
It was impossible.
Leon Entertainment had a massive roster of actors, singers, and other entertainers, and the numbers doubled when trainees were included. Careers ranged from unknowns and rookies to top-tier stars.
So success and failure were both frequent, and Leon Entertainment gathered only the most spectacularly failed among the failures and dumped them in Team 4.
Trainees weeded out by competition. Those who'd started as trainees and crashed. Debuted rookies who never escaped obscurity. One-hit wonders who flared and fizzled. Those who'd caused scandals needing to be scrubbed clean, or those who'd simply vanished from public memory.
Trainees, of course, but also actors, idols, comedians, TV personalities, and on and on.
Each of them surely had a tangled or complicated story. But Leon Entertainment wasn't a charity. If something had no value, it was discarded. The failed and the faded washed-up would linger in Team 4, and when the time came, they'd be released. Or forgotten. For an entertainer, nothing was more terrifying than being forgotten.
In a way, Management Team 4 was a hospice for the washed-up. A place where they were kept on life support before the death sentence came.
Before he knew it, Kang Jae-ha had fallen in step behind Team 4 Leader Jang Hyung-su.
-Swish.
He judged that being transferred to Team 4 was actually fine given his current situation.
For instance, a top-tier girl group like 'Seriel', the one Ra Yoon belonged to, operated in a hellish sphere of activity. Schedules staggering enough to make one's jaw drop, an endless parade of people to meet. That inevitably bred trouble. Internally and externally.
'Dealing with small fry is going to be way less of a headache than dealing with top-tier stars.'
It was just as Kang Jae-ha was about to leave the Team 2 office with Team Leader Jang Hyung-su.
"Hey."
Someone grabbed Jae-ha's arm from behind. It was General Manager Seo Jin-su, the one who'd been told his mouth smelled like shit. His jaw was clenched tight with fury, and he hissed through gritted teeth.
"Kang Jae-ha, don't push your luck."
Jae-ha smirked as if the man were beneath his notice. His body may have shrunk, but the skills to kill a man hadn't vanished with it.
"Pushing your luck is your specialty, General Manager-nim."
"......Asshole."
Regardless, Team 4 Leader Jang Hyung-su had already stepped out of the office, and Kang Jae-ha, having roughly yanked his arm free, followed. Right then, a woman with a bob cut walked into the office. It was Song Sun-hee, Team Leader of Management Team 2.
Team Leader Song Sun-hee, recalling the Kang Jae-ha she'd just passed in the hallway, opened her mouth.
"You heard, right? That kid's going to Team 4. Finally got rid of that tumor."
General Manager Seo Jin-su, eyes brimming with rage, answered his senior from college.
"That bastard... something about him changed."
"Changed? Really? How so?"
"I can just tell something's off. The guy who used to be a pathetic pushover, he's... anyway, he's gone insane."
"Eh, probably all the stress he'd been bottling up finally blew? You know how it is. Pushovers like that always turn into psychos once something snaps. He's lost it. I mean, what kind of manager tells the artist they're supposed to be taking care of to shut up and sit down?"
"......But Team Leader-nim, how did he survive? You said he was definitely getting the axe."
"Beats me. It was the CEO's call, so what can you do?"
Team 2 Leader Song Sun-hee shrugged as if it were nothing.
"Still, if he's in Team 4... his presence will shrink even more."
A few minutes later.
Kang Jae-ha was walking down the corridor. Team Leader Jang Hyung-su ahead of him had nothing particular to say. One would expect him to be curious about the incident with Ra Yoon, or about Jae-ha, or something.
'Is he the type who has zero interest in anything around him?'
Team Leader Jang Hyung-su simply yawned wide, one after another, and didn't ask Kang Jae-ha a single question. He radiated an aura of "none of this is any of my business."
Around then, the Management Team 4 office came into view.
Team 4, where Jae-ha was headed, was on a different floor from Team 2, and the office was crammed into a corner at the end of the hallway.
'I'd heard the rumors, but... they really do treat this place like nobodies. What is this office, a deserted island?'
Soon, Kang Jae-ha entered the Management Team 4 office. The interior was far smaller than Team 2's, and with most people apparently out in the field, there were barely any staff in sight. Team Leader Jang Hyung-su introduced Kang Jae-ha to the three who remained.
"Um... this is Kang Jae-ha ssi."
The introduction was brief and to the point. No, it was more accurate to say there was no introduction at all. But the three employees, either accustomed to Team Leader Jang Hyung-su's way of speaking or simply uninterested, gave Jae-ha a cursory nod. Kang Jae-ha was much the same. There were no familiar faces.
Then.
"Jae-ha ssi, this way."
Team Leader Jang Hyung-su called Jae-ha into the team leader's office within the main office. The moment he stepped into the cramped room, the first thought that crossed Jae-ha's mind was this:
'Clean up a little, would you.'
The team leader's office was appallingly filthy. Jang Hyung-su's desk was buried under heaps of paper, and stacked paper cups along with assorted bits of trash littered the surface.
'There's no way he themed this place as a dump just because Team 4 is a dumpster. Must just be his personality.'
Jang Hyung-su, who had sat down first at a six-person table rather than his own desk, waved Jae-ha over loosely.
"Have a seat."
"Yes."
"Uh, you know what Team 4 is... roughly?"
"Yes."
"Great. Then I'll skip the explanation."
Team Leader Jang Hyung-su was mid-yawn again when it happened. Suddenly, Jae-ha's vision rippled. A familiar sense of déjà vu. And then, a scene began to unfold before him in the third person.
It was 'Deja Vu'.
『Team Leader Jang Hyung-su sat at his trash-laden desk. He was staring at his laptop, chin propped in one hand. When could this be? There was no way to tell right now.
Soon, Team Leader Jang Hyung-su let out a wide yawn and muttered to himself.
"'Condensation'... this short film won the Grand Prize. Blew up big. How many years has it been since this festival had a Grand Prize winner?"
He murmured it as though it were someone else's business, smacking his lips with a tinge of regret.
The flickering 'Deja Vu' cut off. What Jae-ha saw now was not a vision but the real Jang Hyung-su. The team leader parted his lips indifferently.
"Obviously... from now on, you don't have to handle 'Seriel' anymore."
Kang Jae-ha hadn't really been listening to Team Leader Jang Hyung-su's languid remarks. Because of the 'Deja Vu' he'd just seen. The ability to glimpse future moments, whether his own or someone else's. He'd relied on it for eighteen years in the other world, but it hadn't been long since he'd started using it in reality, so it still felt somewhat alien.
Perhaps it was harder to adjust because the backdrop kept changing.
Still, there was nothing difficult about it. The setting had changed, but the mechanism of 'Deja Vu' remained the same.
'A short film called 'Condensation'? Grand Prize? I'll file that away for now.'
Jae-ha committed the 'Deja Vu' he'd just witnessed to a corner of his mind. His memory was exceptional. No, it had grown exponentially through years of using 'Deja Vu' in the other world. To that Jae-ha, Team Leader Jang Hyung-su gave a vague instruction.
"Take it easy today... I still need to figure out who you'll be assigned to and what you'll be doing."
"Understood."
The man's speech was drawn out and lazy, but his demeanor was prickly. Kang Jae-ha didn't mind Team Leader Jang Hyung-su. People like Jang Hyung-su, straightforward on the surface, were cleaner to deal with than the ones rotting with hidden agendas.
"Hmm, go on out for now. Check out who's registered under Team 4 from your desk or something."
A short while later.
Kang Jae-ha stepped out of the team leader's office. Team Leader Jang Hyung-su, who had been yawning with his legs crossed, stretched long and wide. Dark circles reaching down to his chin, he hauled himself up with visible effort.
"Ugh..."
He dropped into his own seat as if about to collapse. Then he recalled the Kang Jae-ha who had just left.
"Changed? No... hmm. It's more like the kid swapped out his entire core."
He did know Jae-ha. He hadn't seen him often, but he had a few times. And each time, Team Leader Jang Hyung-su's assessment of Jae-ha had been the same.
A feeble creature of the same breed as himself.
Though Kang Jae-ha had been even more pathetic in that regard. Team Leader Jang Hyung-su might seem equally lethargic, but he bit back when provoked. Meaning he had a temper. On top of that, he got his work done. Without that, he never could have secured a team leader position at Leon Entertainment, even if it was only Team 4.
But Kang Jae-ha had been a pushover, inside and out.
By all appearances and by all accounts.
Yet the Jae-ha of now had changed. The pushover quality had evaporated. Their conversation had been brief, but that was how it looked through Team Leader Jang Hyung-su's eyes. After sizing up Kang Jae-ha for a moment, he abruptly lost interest. His chronic case of "not my problem" had flared up.
"Well, maybe he had a near-death experience or something."
He began searching for Kang Jae-ha's first assignment.
Meanwhile.
Kang Jae-ha settled into his new seat and took in the quiet Team 4 office. The calm was fine, but it was a bit dull.
'Boring.'
The old pushover Kang Jae-ha might not have minded, but the current Jae-ha had been charging through life-or-death situations in another world. For a full eighteen years. Blood and chunks of flesh flying had been daily life, so the sudden tranquility left him feeling restless.
'I should do something.'
His body itching for activity, Kang Jae-ha flipped open the laptop in front of him. First, he scrolled through the roster of failures and washed-up talents registered under Team 4. There were so many. From trainees to forgotten entertainers. Team 4 really was a dumpster, through and through.
Jae-ha had been browsing the washed-up roster for a while when.
-Clunk.
The team leader's office door swung open, and Team Leader Jang Hyung-su emerged.
"The actress you'll be assigned to starting tomorrow. You know who she is, right?"
He held out a single clear file. Inside was the profile of one of Leon Entertainment's actresses. The moment Jae-ha saw the actress's photo.
"Yes, I know her."
A faint twitch ran across the space between his brows.
'Shit, of all people, it had to be this crazy nutjob.'
Then Team Leader Jang Hyung-su tossed about five more clear files on top.
"And... today, just handle this and you should be good."
"What is it?"
He spread open the five files. They held faces that looked relatively young. Team Leader Jang Hyung-su gave a rough explanation.
"Kids who got cut even from the trainee development team. I've already sent out the calls, so... when they show up, just tell them one by one that their contracts can't be renewed and send them on their way."
In other words, deliver the death sentence.
In Leon Entertainment's trainee development team, countless aspiring actors and idol trainees were bleeding and sweating right now. To survive. They had to cling to their 'trainee' name tag no matter what, and if they caught someone's eye there, they'd be promoted to the debut lineup.
But if they couldn't survive among the trainees.
'The time that once sparkled with possibility comes to an end, and they become washed-up as trainees.'
Failure and being washed-up existed everywhere. Whether at the top or the bottom. In any case, once branded a washed-up trainee, they were shipped off to Team 4 like this, and Team 4 delivered the death sentence.
This kind of task was one most people dreaded.
The old Kang Jae-ha might have been visibly flustered. But for the current Jae-ha, it wasn't particularly difficult.
"Understood."
A short while later, Jae-ha sat in a small meeting room. Across from him was a young woman. A trainee pushed out as washed-up. To her, Kang Jae-ha delivered the news evenly.
"It will be difficult to extend your contract as a trainee."
"......"
The rims of the woman's eyes turned red. Without a change in expression, Jae-ha added.
"Thank you for all your hard work at Leon."
He didn't feel sorry for her. She had probably worked hard in her own way and had simply been outcompeted. If anything, she should hold her head high. At least Leon Entertainment had something resembling a conscience.
They delivered the death sentence quickly.
Plenty of entertainment companies kept trainees strung along indefinitely, not worth keeping but too grudging to let go. And like that, the trainees would age year by year, slowly sinking into the swamp of ruin.
The trainee wiped her tears, bowed to Jae-ha, and slipped out of the meeting room.
She now had two choices.
Look for something else, or go to another company.
Kang Jae-ha furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue briefly.
"Tch. Still leaves a bad taste."
The next one entered the meeting room ten minutes later. She looked similarly young, with a bob cut and classically East Asian beauty.
"...Hello. Um, should I sit here?"
"Hello. Yes, please sit there."
Eyes darting nervously, she sat down awkwardly across from Jae-ha. Anxiety and unease filled her gaze. Looking at her, Kang Jae-ha felt something. Something different from the trainee before, an atmosphere unique to her, if one could call it that.
Jae-ha skimmed her profile inside the clear file.
'Her name is... An Ji-hee.'
Age twenty. Two years as a trainee at Leon. Six years including her time at other companies. As he reviewed the profile, the trainee... no, An Ji-hee, parted her lips with difficulty.
"Um... the re-signing isn't happening, is it?"
Kang Jae-ha answered without beating around the bush.
"No, it's not possible."
"Ah..."
"Thank you for all your hard work at Leon."
"......"
An Ji-hee dropped her head low. Tears surged, but she was fighting them back with everything she had. Her expression bled with a mix of anguish, gloom, and more. She bit down hard on her lip. Her breathing quickened. Across from her, Jae-ha looked at An Ji-hee in that moment and sensed a different kind of potential.
'...Her expressiveness is good. She uses her face well.'
She hadn't done it on purpose, but the way she dissolved emotion into a pliable face, that was something you had to be born with. At least, that was how Kang Jae-ha saw it. If any other trainee had worn the same expression, it would have just come off as whining. But An Ji-hee was different.
The expression, the delivery, the mask. They move the heart.
Having somehow held back her tears, An Ji-hee answered as if she'd resigned herself.
"I... understand. Thank you."
She rose smoothly. It was just as An Ji-hee was about to leave the meeting room that Jae-ha's offhand voice reached her.
"Does it have to be a girl group?"
An Ji-hee flinched, eyes widening as she asked back.
"Excuse me??"
Kang Jae-ha looked up at An Ji-hee and answered with genuine sincerity.
"Instead of being an idol, I think you'd be better off as an actress."