Chapter 9

### Holy Idol - Chapter 9 (9/902)

9. Receiving a Proposal for Devilish Editing

The person holding the phone took a few steps back and then started to run away.

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

Kathy shouted belatedly when she saw Remberly holding a damp handkerchief.

She quickly assessed the situation, cursed, and then turned to chase after the person with the phone.

Remberly watched her go, quickly put the plate back in place, and wiped up the spilled water with the handkerchief.

However, water continued to leak from the plate, causing Remberly some trouble.

‘Is it reacting to my holy power?’

I should probably come back here later and meet the priest.

Remberly decided to do so and went outside to find Kathy.

It seemed Kathy had lost the person with the phone and was shouting loudly in some direction.

“Damn it. What did you take a picture of?”

After a while, Kathy quieted down when she noticed people staring, put on her mask, and approached Remberly.

“Did you get anything weird in the picture?”

“...Probably not.”

“What do you mean, probably not? Why is your answer so vague?”

When the shutter sound was heard, Remberly was wiping the water from the plate.

Did they see that?

What if they did?

The power of a sub-priest was quite useful, and there were many people in the original world who wanted to possess or misuse it.

It seemed there were no users of holy power or magic here.

Remberly was worried that if the use of holy power was exposed, it might attract unnecessary attention.

‘But they probably didn’t see it.’

After thinking for a moment, Remberly concluded it was fine and said, “It’s okay.”

Remberly had learned from the members that phones could take pictures.

The timing was odd, but when the shutter sound was heard, Remberly was right in front of the bowl.

From the angle, it was unlikely that the person with the camera behind her could have captured the water rising in the bowl.

“Hmm. Right. It’s okay.”

Remberly repeated, and Kathy, though muttering, “It’s suspicious...,” didn’t press further.

However, that evening, it became clear that it wasn’t okay at all.

Jongwoo, who came to the dorm, burst into anger as soon as he closed the door.

“Yeonwoo, are you crazy?!”

He had been trying not to get angry since losing his memory, but today his face was red with rage.

When Remberly came out with a toothbrush, Jongwoo showed him the phone and asked.

“What is this?!”

Remberly took the phone and looked at the picture.

As expected, the scene of water rising in the bowl wasn’t captured.

However, the part where Remberly was tilting the bowl from behind was visible.

It looked like Remberly was playing with the water in the bowl.

‘Oh no.’

Remberly clicked his tongue.

It was true that the power wouldn’t be misused...

But he had become a mischievous person in a holy religious institution.

“Yeonwoo, you really-”

Jongwoo pounded his chest.

“Listen, you! Why were you flipping over the bowl in someone’s church?!”

Meanwhile, Kathy quietly took the phone, read the picture and the accompanying text, and giggled.

The person who took the picture had written that Yeonwoo was playing with the church’s holy objects, and a member of the same group was trying to stop him.

Kathy’s name wasn’t explicitly mentioned, but a few comments had already revealed her name.

– He was the nicest in the group originally.

– He’s always getting picked on by Yeonwoo. I saw it in the video.

Comments from people who knew Kathy and Yeonwoo well continued to appear.

“Why are you laughing?!”

Jongwoo, even more angry at her reaction, shouted. Kathy finally composed herself and handed the phone back to Jongwoo.

Jongwoo snatched the phone and put it in his pocket, then shouted at Yeonwoo again.

“Yeonwoo. Got anything to say?”

“I did spill water, but Kathy didn’t try to stop me-”

Before he could finish, Jongwoo grabbed his collar and shouted.

“Are you calling that an excuse?!”

* * *

The next day.

As soon as he arrived at work, Jongwoo was called into President Im’s office.

“What’s going on?”

President Im, who already seemed to know the situation, asked.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it. A top star would get criticized for overturning a holy object in a church, but an unknown idol with no fans to defend him? Why did you overturn it? Do you think you’re a top star just because you’ve been on the hot search twice?”

“...”

President Im, realizing he had been harsh, became somber.

He remembered that Yeonwoo’s mind was currently a blank slate.

Yeonwoo might not even know what a holy object was.

Or what a church was.

“Alright, forget it. Why did you overturn the bowl?”

“...There was something stuck, so I tried to clean it...”

“Oh!”

Surprised by the good intention, President Im grabbed his collar.

He groaned for a while, deep in thought.

Jongwoo stood there, watching and feeling guilty for allowing Yeonwoo and Kathy to go to the church.

After a long while, President Im sighed.

“Yeonwoo... I can’t predict what he’ll do. Just let it go.”

Jongwoo was shocked and looked at President Im.

“Huh? Let it go? You mean...”

“Not kick him out, but just give up on image management.”

“?”

“If the image consumption is fast, we need to maximize his exposure before people get tired of his antics. He’s the type who will cause a big accident while trying to manage his image.”

“Ah...”

Jongwoo sighed.

For an idol, maintaining a good image was crucial.

The public got tired easily.

This was why established popular idols often got overshadowed by rising newcomers.

The freshness wore off.

Of course, there were many core fans who stuck around.

But those core fans were also the ones who were less likely to leave their favorite entertainers.

<Wild Animal> didn’t have a fan club, so they naturally had no core fans.

The people who were currently interested in Wild Animal could easily turn away.

In front of such a fickle audience, an idol needed to conserve their image as much as possible.

Minimal consumption for maximum effect.

This was the basic way entertainment companies managed their idols.

Considering that idols with heavy image consumption had shorter careers, President Im’s suggestion was quite risky.

“Unless he causes a major incident, just let him be. As long as it doesn’t harm the group.”

“Understood.”

“If a schedule comes in, send him unless it’s something strange.”

“Understood.”

“If a good schedule comes in, try to include a member.”

“...Understood.”

* * *

With a heavy heart, Jongwoo left President Im’s office and walked back to his desk.

In larger agencies, there were multiple managers with specialized roles.

But LLL Entertainment wasn’t that big, and Wild Animal had been unknown since their debut.

So, Jongwoo handled various managerial tasks alone.

Sadly, as a road manager, he rarely went out because the group was so unknown.

“Sigh.”

“Jongwoo, you seem to have had a rough day.”

Kim, the manager in charge of the agency’s most successful actor, offered some comfort.

“Ha, yeah. Thanks.”

Jongwoo awkwardly replied, sat down, and turned on his computer.

Despite the many empty slots, he needed to update Wild Animal’s schedule on the company website.

Thanks to the Sunday performance, they had three music show appearances scheduled for the next week.

He planned to add those dates.

As he clicked the mouse, his phone rang.

“Hello.”

– Is this Wild Animal’s Jongwoo?

“Yes, it is.”

It sounded like a work call.

Jongwoo politely answered, and a hearty laugh came from the other end.

– Ah, this is Manager Kim. I’m PD Kim Murok.

“Hello!”

Jongwoo stood up to greet him, and Kim, the manager next to him, gave a curious look.

Jongwoo quickly moved to the hallway and asked.

“Yes, are you calling about that matter?”

PD Kim Murok was a mid-level producer of a non-broadcast network variety show, currently planning a very provocative program.

It was called ‘Sing Survival,’ which on the surface appeared to be a regular singing competition.

But the ‘Survival’ part wasn’t just a name.

The contestants competed in various ways each week, and the loser had to take on the role of a slave for the week.

The ‘slave’ role wasn’t literal, but they had to serve the other contestants for the week.

If a popular star took on this role, it would likely cause a stir among fans.

Given the brutal rules, the program was expected to either fail spectacularly or become a huge hit.

Popular singers and idols had declined to participate, but as a newcomer, Jongwoo had immediately sent Wild Animal’s profile after seeing the proposal.

At the time, PD Kim Murok had said he would think about it and get back to him.

That was three months ago.

The call now was clearly about that.

But Jongwoo smiled brightly.

“Can I expect good news, PD?”

– Yeah, yeah. You know, I looked at the profile, and Yeonwoo is quite handsome. He has a great look.

“Yes, I think Yeonwoo is one of the best-looking guys out there!”

– Yeah, I want to go with him. Is he available?

“Thank you. Yeonwoo is great at generating buzz and will do well.”

– Yeah, I think so too.

PD Kim Murok laughed, but then suddenly became quiet.

He seemed to have more to say.

“PD?”

Jongwoo called out cautiously, and sure enough,

PD Kim Murok spoke in a subtle tone.

– But, you know, Yeonwoo...

“Yes.”

– As you know from the proposal, our show needs a bad character.

“Yes... I understand.”

– Otherwise, it’s not fun. A nice competition? People won’t watch it with a smile. We need viewers who will watch while cursing. Right?

Jongwoo, sensing what was coming, clenched his fists.

– So, Manager. About Yeonwoo. Can we edit him as the villain? His image might take a hit, but I’ll give him a lot of screen time.