'Is he out of his mind this late at night?'

No matter how often I worked until night because of my job, it was already past midnight now.

I thought that Gold 1 would still be a sensible guy, but it seemed that he wasn't.

I bitterly answered the phone.

"Hello."

Gold 1's voice sounded a bit stunned as he responded.

"Yes. Go ahead."

Gold 1 lingered for a while, then slowly continued to speak.

"Yes?"

"...!"

He was just saying it openly like this?

It wouldn't be strange if this guy figured out what was going on as that company would be in a frenzy dealing with the emergency bomb, but it was strange of him to call out of the blue.

'So, what is he going to do?'

This question was answered the very next moment.

"..."

It was about this.

Well, it was obvious how I would respond to it.

"It wasn't something hyung did, so you don't have to worry too much about it."

If it was the company who told him to contact me then my words would be useless, and if this was just Gold 1 personally talking, my words would be consoling.

'Saying this much should be enough.'

However, Gold 1's response was unexpected.

"...!"

I could hear Gold 1 sighing over the phone.

"...Mm."

His voice trembled slightly.

Hmm, oh dear.

'It looks like their company has really turned upside down.'

A person's guilt did not arise without a reason. It seemed that their territory must be in a real mess, enough for the singer of the company to look back on the past actions.

'Still, it's great that he thought to apologize rather than having a backlashing mentality.'

I didn't know if he contacted me to put his mind at ease or to help his company... but what could be done? Looking at this guy, he was also barely at college age.

Just having the courage to apologize made it possible for me to see him as a decent guy.

I readily accepted the apology.

"It's okay. I was a bit surprised but it's already all over."

In a situation where your company was screwed, there was no reason to not accept the apology.

I mean, it's not like he could do anything.

I could hear Gold 1 sighing with relief from the other side of the phone.

"...?"

Who was that... Oh, right. That was the Korea University student.

'Should I just call him Gold 3?'

I moderately acknowledged it.

"I didn't do much... Anyway, I understand."

"Yes."

Gold 1 groaned in an odd voice.

The heaviness wore off in an instant.

"I was also doing it. It's okay."

It seemed that they were also watching as a group in which the Korea University student appeared.

"Still, it seems to be time to go to bed."

I made an appropriate closing remark and Gold 1 hung up the phone tactfully.

"Yes. Thank you. I wish you good results, hyung."

The conversation ended gently.

However, I had a feeling that in the future, these guys wouldn't greet or pretend that we knew each other like they did at the beginning of their debut.

'There's nothing special about it.'

That was how it was to be competitors. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my smartphone to silent mode to avoid any other disturbances.

'Let's sleep.'

And I slept soundly without noticing Seon Ahyun and Bae Sejin entering the dorm room.

Due to this, it was the morning of the next day that I checked the text message that came at dawn.

* * *

What's with this bastard again?

I almost spat out the food while eating brunch.

'When the hell did he send something like this?'

I looked at the time the text was sent and it was 4 am at dawn.

'He must have sent it while going to the salon.'

It was a nuisance.

I looked at the letters 'VTIC Chungryeo sunbae-nim' with cold eyes with a profile picture of a retriever puppy I saw at the time of the insurance advertisement shooting.

'Come to think of it, I told this guy that I studied for civil service exams.'

Unintentionally, it became proof of some kind of trust.

I quickly typed 'Yes, thank you' and tried to exit the message tab. But a new text message came before that.

Bzzzt-

It was out of the blue... a gifticon.

"...??"

When I pressed on it, it was a 'chocolate set for supporting students taking exams' sold at franchise cafes.

Did he send this to be humorous?

That was... right. It was the time to start slowly releasing a repackaged album.

And as planned, the active song, which was chosen from the option of songs, was the one received from the composer who was in charge of Golden Age's song.

'The arrangement is good.'

Kim Raebin's arrangement was almost unanimously approved, but Kim Raebin himself still seemed to be very unsure.

The funny thing was that he was more concerned about the circumstances rather than his skills.

We've had several conversations like this lately.

I held back a sigh.

'He should worry about his foot.'

Kim Raebin's foot was recently judged to be 'perfect to the point that it no longer requires stabilization'. Thanks to that, the choreography practice was very smooth.

'If this guy hadn't insisted on doing the indoor climbing, he would have gotten it a week earlier.'

I could understand his passion to carry out the schedule, but this guy was so inflexible.

"If we try too hard to be appealing that there's going to be huge criticism..."

"No, Raebin-ah~ Don't worry, and let's eat."

He was like that even when eating.

Anyway, so the preparation for the album was smooth sailing.

'If the other company was going to be muzzled like this, anyway, did I draw the big picture involving the composer for no reason?'

I even involved Youngrin and Chungryeo to share the composer.

I thought as I put the rice wrapped in seaweed into my mouth.

'Hmm, Youngrin also had good scores this time.'

Youngrin, whom I intentionally shared the composer of Golden Age with, released a new song two weeks ago, which was currently at the top of the music charts.

A few days ago, I received another thank you for introducing the composer.

'Ah, so maybe that's why they were more upset.'

If Golden Age's company had heard somewhere that I was the one who introduced the composer to Youngrin, it would make more sense why they held onto me.

'It would have been better if they put their emotions into their work.'

It was a bit ridiculous if they were upset about barely sharing a composer while trying to do reverse viral posts against me.

'Well, it's all over anyway.'

This was not enough to cause moral problems, so those guys who were out of breath dealing with T1 wouldn't be able to hold on to the bad feelings for long.

'Then, after Youngrin, it's us.'

The last batter was Chunryeo's group VTIC.

'The shrewd bastard.'

While talking about tours and comeback schedules, we quietly fell behind, but after seeing all our ups and downs while proving ourselves, it was no different from saying that he would bet the stakes after seeing all that.

'It's not even a title song but a sub-song, and you're making all the fuss.'

It was like perfectionist reset syndrome.

...Well, on the other hand, the fact that this lunatic easily agreed to work together would be a sign of cooperation in its own way.

'I can tolerate it even if it goes on like this.'

I sighed and moved my thumb on the keyboard of the smartphone screen.

Okay. It was clean.

Wasn't this guy more cooperative because he actually liked the composer's song?

'And if Golden Age's side doesn't try anything stupid, it's better not to say anything else uselessly.'

In many ways, this was a decent picture. I nodded and focused on eating again.

No, I tried to concentrate, but my phone rang again.

Bzzzt-

"..."

So what?

I turned off my smartphone with distaste.

Let's finish eating.

"Did each of you clean up your plates?"

"Yes!"

There was a person who would clean it, but I put the plates in the sink to do the basic humane thing.

Then, it was free time.

"Uhahahaha!"

Usually, they hung out in their own rooms but today, the living room was crowded with the guys who came to watch Cha Yujin play some strange dancing game.

'Should I go back in?'

I came out because I was always in my room, but it was too noisy.

But since I was lazy to move, I found a different focus.

'...It's about time I take a look at it.'

It was more comfortable to do this when it was noisy since I didn't have to think about anything else.

'Status window.'

After a very long time, I started to sort it out.

First of all, the singing, that entered the S- grade, caught my eye.

'I'm quite proud of that.'

It was a good category. From variety shows to promotions, I used it a lot.

Following that, the points gained from leveling up were also noticeable, but it was another factor that had more of my attention.

'Why is it like that?'

I didn't know why, but my talent stat naturally increased from B to B+.

'I don't think... I've done anything particular for the talent to climb up.'

I haven't checked it recently, so I didn't even know when it increased.

"Hmm."

Anyway, the increase was a good thing.

I calmly crossed my arms.

Now I should just quickly distribute the points and turn it off.

Now was the right time before the new album came out.

'Is the standard... the talent?'

It was the most efficient because it was an opportunity to enter the A rank by consuming only one point.

"Good."

"What is?"

"...!"

Oops.

I concentrated all my energy on turning on the status window and seemed to have talked out loud.

Cha Yujin, who had just finished the game, was looking at me with wide eyes.

'Well, it's because I didn't say anything else.'

It didn't matter. I was about to give a rough answer, but suddenly I had an idea.

Let's see what these guys thought.

"Well, I just wanted to ask something."

"Yes!"

"What do you think is the most necessary ability to be active as an idol?"

"Hmm? It's like- personality?"

//TN: Cha Yujin answered in English.

Personality.

'Is it possible to replace it with talent?'

These words were coming from a guy with such good talent that was even hard to find in the same industry.

However, Kim Raebin cut in right next to him.

"You should give a more professional answer! Hyung! In my opinion, it is the ability to carry out a song. I think expressiveness is important."

Sure. In the end, it was a word that was replaced by the 'talent' ability, just like with Cha Yujin.

"I am professional! You're basic!"

"No! Your answer was insincere!"

As I watched the two guys fighting, a gloomy voice interrupted from the side.

"...Fundamental skills."

It was Bae Sejin. It seemed like he was saying what he felt he needed.

In the meantime, Keun Sejin also added a word to Cha Yujin and Kim Raebin's quarrel.

"You should be doing everything well~ What are you arguing about?"

"Still, we're choosing which is more important..."

It was a mess.

'I shouldn't have asked.'

Let's just leave it until it was settled. I shook my head and decided to use the pause to check something else.

It was an event pop-up.

Ten million people.

At this point, it was impossible to imagine that scale gathering in reality.

What was even scarier was that this pop-up has been around for quite some time. Perhaps right now... it would be running towards 50 million people.

'Huu.'

The rejoicing and goosebumps came at the same time.

Anyway, let's click on the attribute draw.

Flutter, flutter-

With a picture of a familiar slot machine, the slots started to spin.

'If a hero attribute started with a B grade... since it's a legendary one, would A come out as a standard?'

After all, 10 million people knew me, so this much should be deserved.

However, the slots were mixed with gold.

'What?'

It seemed like now there was only a probability of getting a higher grade instead of it getting a confirmed A grade.

'It's like a mass-produced flopped game.'

I stared at the slot machine that was spinning in gold, platinum, and rainbow colors.

'Anything is fine, so I hope something useful for activities comes out.'

I thought it was time to drop the 'International student' and change it. It would be nice if it helped with carrying out concepts or at least made my hair texture stronger.

The slot slowly rotated, then stopped.

Fortunately, it was platinum.

Papapang!

"...!"

However, there was... a name for an attribute I had seen a lot before.

With only the level changed.