Chapter 2

Sacred Idol - Chapter 2 (2/902)

2. Dominating Real-Time Search Trends

As soon as the music ended and he descended from the stage, a young man with glasses ran up, roughly grabbing Remburi's arm and shouting.

"Hey, you little brat! What the hell are you trying to do? Are you trying to get us all killed?!"

The young man with glasses had his eyes wide open in fear.

Shocked, Remburi watched as the young man, with his remaining hand, tore at his own hair and shouted.

"Are you crazy? Are you crazy? Because you couldn't shine, you decided to just sink? You said you wanted to leave a name, but did you mean to leave a name as one of the biggest broadcast accidents in history?!"

The person who had just been boosting his spirits was now looking absolutely terrifying.

The young man with glasses, with his veins popping out, shouted, but the music from the stage was so loud that it wasn't very effective.

"Damn, Illu, come here!"

The young man with glasses, seemingly realizing this, grabbed Remburi's arm and pulled him.

When they returned to the waiting room, the young man with glasses finally let go of Remburi and shouted.

"What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Do you even know how many people, dozens, no, hundreds, are waiting to get on this stage? You want to shine, you want to be an idol! And then you do this to the stage... You really, I've worked so hard to get this stage..."

The young man with glasses couldn't even speak properly.

He pounded his chest in frustration.

The other young men who had been on stage with him also started to mock him one by one.

"Did you get paid? Did someone tell you to mess up the stage? To dominate the real-time search trends?"

"Damn, you really nailed it, didn't you?"

"You cut the last lifeline."

"I'm going crazy... If you want to die, die alone. But even if you die alone, it'll still be a mess."

Remburi still didn't understand what was happening.

But he could tell the atmosphere was very bad.

"There was no chair."

Remburi calmly explained the situation to the young man with glasses.

"They told you to sit on a chair, but there was no chair."

"Shut up with that tone! Do you think this is the time for jokes?!"

But it seemed that the situation wasn't what mattered to them.

The young man with yellow hair sneered sarcastically.

"Is it a surprise that an unknown idol gets treated like this? You should have known to stay in the corner."

"Unknown idol?"

Remburi, who had thought 'idol' was the name or surname of the body he had entered, asked in confusion.

"Then are you an unknown idol or a famous one?"

The young man with glasses, trying to suppress his voice, sneered.

Remburi now realized that 'idol' wasn't a name or surname but seemed to be a profession or something similar.

Clearly, while they could communicate, Remburi's world and this world were very different.

Even if they could communicate, there were too many words he couldn't understand.

As soon as he realized this, Remburi quickly tried to explain.

"Like the yellow-haired guy said earlier, listen. I hit my head this morning."

Remburi pointed to the side of his head with his finger.

"That seems to be the problem. I don't even know who you are."

Even Remburi, who had entered someone else's body, found it hard to believe this situation.

If he honestly said, "I am the high priest Remburi, and until a few hours ago, I was trying to save the world," no one would believe him.

It was better to come up with a plausible excuse.

"Damn, you're really a troublemaker!"

But the young man with glasses only pounded his chest and didn't believe a word Remburi said.

Just then, someone knocked on the waiting room door.

"You're all in there! Don't even think about going to the bathroom!"

As the young man with glasses shouted and went outside, the other young men started to criticize Remburi again.

What the hell is going on...

Remburi, feeling dejected, approached the door.

Even without pressing his ear to the door, he could hear the loud shouting from outside.

"Wild Animal, never, not until I'm blind, will never be allowed on the MusicMusic stage again!"

"No, Mr. PD. What do you mean? I'm sorry. The kid wasn't feeling well today. Really. We'll issue a proper statement to clarify this..."

"Standing straight and tall, not feeling well?"

"Ah, he was trying not to show it. Look how pale his face is. Our Yeonwoo is crying in the waiting room, feeling sorry."

"That's your problem. I don't have time to deal with it. I'm in big trouble too! If he was sick, he should have said so! He should have asked for a chair!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was my fault. I should have said something!"

Remburi awkwardly lowered his gaze.

He didn't know who was shouting, but the voice apologizing to the person shouting was definitely the young man with glasses.

Here, he was shouting and scolding, but outside, he was desperately trying to protect Remburi.

What the hell is going on...

Remburi sighed.

* * *

– U Yeonwoo's Silence

– U Yeonwoo Doesn't Know How to Dance

– Wild Animal U Yeonwoo

– U Yeonwoo

– Wild Animal

– Live Broadcast Ignored Idol

– MusicMusic Broadcast Accident

A black phone's screen was quickly scrolling up and down with a thumb.

Im, the representative, sighed after flipping through the screen with a dazed look and then looked at Jongwoo.

Jongwoo, the manager of the idol group <Wild Animal>, was bowing deeply.

"Jongwoo."

Im called him with a weak voice.

"Yes, sir."

"Did you see the real-time search trends?"

"......Yes."

"I mean..."

"Yes."

"I've never seen one of my agency's members dominate the search trends like this?"

"......I'm sorry."

Jongwoo barely managed to answer without lifting his head.

"He says he lost his memory..."

"Jongwoo. Do you believe that?"

"...No."

Im grabbed the back of his neck and leaned his head back on the chair.

<Wild Animal>, a third-year idol group known as the "nuclear submarine."

LLL Entertainment, the agency of Wild Animal, was originally a talent agency for actors.

But with the K-pop wave, some idol groups quickly rose to fame, and LLL Entertainment decided to launch an idol group to keep up with the trend.

That was Wild Animal.

However, the group, launched without proper preparation, didn't do well despite their high hopes.

They sought out famous composers to get good songs and hired foreign choreographers to create complex group dances.

They invested a significant portion of the budget for their actors into Wild Animal.

But among the countless idol groups, Wild Animal couldn't stand out.

There were talks about disbanding the group, but Im, as the representative, continued to pour money into the group he had launched.

While he couldn't provide good accommodation or meals, he tried to give them good songs and choreography.

He convinced himself that they would eventually succeed, almost brainwashing himself.

If their faces were good enough, they could become actors later, and since they weren't well-known, they wouldn't face as much criticism for trying to become idols. He tried to comfort the members with these thoughts.

But... they had caused a major accident.

Im groaned in pain.

U Yeonwoo was, at least, the most recognizable member of Wild Animal.

Even though his recognition was minimal, in an unknown idol group, even a little recognition was important.

"Listen. No, no. Come and see this yourself."

Im clicked on the most viewed article on an internet entertainment news site and showed him the best comments.

"Look. Read from here to here, in the order of recommendations."

– Could the group name 'Wild Animal' be because their heads are like animals? 😭😭😭😭😭😭 The heads seem wild too.

– It's a historic level of mental strength. If he was in his right mind, he should be praised.

“......”

– The group name 'Wild Animal' doesn't seem to fit? 😂😂😂- I've never seen an idol with this much guts on stage.

– Is it because they don't have money for publicity? 😭😭😭😭😭😭

– I bet 100 won that he did this to become famous.

– I'll add 100 won to that bet.

– Do idols these days just need to stand there? The world is so good. I might try it too.

– You can't. 😂😂😂😂😂

– An unknown agency and unknown idols finally got some attention. 😊

– Did he get plastic surgery?

– Did he get it? Did he not?

– I don't know how to dance!

– 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 ㅅㅂ😂😂😂😂😂 But why did he shout that?

– It seems there's a problem with the agency...

As Im scrolled down the screen with his finger, Jongwoo's head bowed lower.

"Well, what's the point of telling you."

Im sighed, put his phone on the desk, and gave an order.

"Bring U Yeonwoo here."

* * *

After leaving the waiting room and riding in a strange carriage, they went to a new building.

It was a smaller building than the first one, and as soon as they entered, the young man with glasses left Remburi and the other young men and went somewhere.

The other young men, who seemed to know where they were, dispersed more casually than before.

Remburi stood there, motionless.

After a while.

The young man with glasses came back and asked in surprise.

"Have you been standing here the whole time?"

When Remburi stared blankly, he tilted his head and frowned.

"Come with me for a moment."

He led Remburi to a room. Inside, there was a large desk, and in front of it, a nameplate read "Im Seonil, Representative."

A man with a haggard look sat at the desk and, upon seeing Remburi, sighed and called out, "U Yeonwoo."

Remburi, upon seeing the nameplate, immediately realized that this man was in a higher position than the young man with glasses.

Moreover, unlike the other young men who were very agitated, this man seemed relatively calm.

Remburi, making a quick judgment, tried to start a conversation with a bit of hope.

"Im Seonil. I have something to say."

But as soon as Remburi finished speaking, the young man with glasses let out a scream and pressed down on the back of Remburi's head.

"I'm sorry, sir! Why are you speaking so informally! Are you crazy?!"

The young man with glasses looked like he was about to faint.

In a situation where he should be begging for forgiveness, speaking informally was the last thing he should do.

His heart was pounding.

However, instead of getting angry, Im Seonil widened his eyes and waved his hand.

"Just a moment."

When the young man with glasses removed his hand, Remburi, who had been forced to bow, lifted his head.

Im Seonil, with a serious expression, stared at Remburi.

Their eyes met, and he raised his eyebrows, then frowned after a moment.

Suddenly, he got up from his desk and ran to the bookshelf.

He took out an album and pulled out a small piece of paper from it.

Im Seonil handed the paper to Remburi and asked.

"Do you know who this person is?"

The paper contained a realistic portrait.

"I don't know. Why are you asking?"

As Remburi answered, Im Seonil clicked his tongue.

"It seems you really have lost your memory."

The young man with glasses also let out a sigh.

Curious, Remburi looked at Im Seonil, who said in a hopeless voice.

"It's a picture of your parents."