Testa pumped ten billion won into the company, and the system spat something out.
‘Five Hint Tickets.’
And it says a “hint” is information that helps the company...
‘Then right now it has to give me information useful for Testa’s next comeback success.’
The fate of this company was tied to Testa’s successful return.
I felt intrigued.
“Hmm.”
I sat back down and clicked the Hint Ticket.
The hologram shifted, showing a gray machine icon I recognized.
A roulette machine.
“[Use a Hint Ticket?]”
‘Sure.’
It reminded me of the trait pull from before.
I watched the spinning wheel, nostalgia stirring.
“[You’re nostalgic...?]”
Yeah. I’m not dying, so it’s a fond memory.
“[...]”
Even though I was the one who visualized the roulette in the status window, why the theatrics?
Anyway, the wheel—steel-blue and brass segments—rotated with a few silver slots, then...
“[Use Complete]
– Hint Acquired!”
“...!”
It landed perfectly on silver.
That meant the highest available grade.
‘Grade C.’
Let’s see... “Come to think of it, that’s true” was a C trait. I’d used it a lot even after debut.
So what useful information do you have...
“[Defection from Subsidiaries (C)]
– Apparently, due to some recent incident, employees at multiple T1 Ent subsidiaries have been resigning en masse.”
“.......”
That was my own doing.
‘Where’s the scam here?’
Since when did reminding me of known facts become a “hint”?
Is the scammer claiming “I never said only unknown info”?
‘This bastard...’
After eating ten billion won, this is their output?
“[C-Calm down! Hyung, your blood pressure!]”
“Sigh.”
I took a deep breath.
‘Stay calm.’
These Hint Tickets were just a bonus anyway. I’d raised company control power to use system functions—tickets were the reward.
‘Let’s pretend they never existed and keep going.’
I spun the roulette again.
“[Petty Embezzlement (E)]”
“[Dangerous Practice Room (D)]”
“[Shooting Hobby (D)]”
Hints did drop.
E-grade embezzlement was in the millions—small enough to handle via audit. D-grade practice-room hazard was about a warped floorboard, useful for injury prevention.
Basic checks would find those anyway—weak, but tolerable.
But the last one was intolerable.
“[Shooting Hobby (D)]
– The leader of Testa, the agency’s flagship group, enjoys shooting as a hobby. You might build rapport if you meet at the nearby range?”
That was the hobby I introduced to Ryu Geon woo, you idiot.
“[Hyung, hyung! Breathe again!]”
“Sigh....”
I pressed my brow.
And I soon realized the gap.
‘I’m way too prominent.’
Testa was already a five-star group, so D-grade info was useless for a top-tier idol.
‘Can’t upgrade the roulette machine, can I?’
“[Help: The Hint-Ticket roulette upgrades as the company rank increases.]”
Only then did I nod.
Right. This is early stage. When the company rank rises, I’ll get better hints.
‘Consider this a demo run.’
I unhesitatingly fed the last hint ticket into the wheel.
“[Oh? No tickets...?]”
Why?
“[No! You should save them until the machine upgrades...]”
He knows nothing.
‘When the roulette upgrades, they’ll just sell fancier tickets.’
[...]
That’s how pay-to-win works.
“[Sorry for taking a mechanic from mobile games...]”
At least it’s intuitive.
I watched the wheel skeptically when suddenly a golden four-leaf clover emblem appeared ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ above it.
“[Lucky Chance!]”
“...?”
A triumphant fanfare, then all slots turned gold.
Slowly, the wheel halted.
“[Wonderhol’s Newcomer (B)]”
“...!!”
Grade B.
And Wonderhol’s newcomer?
‘A major agency.’
I opened the details.
“[Wonderhol’s Newcomer (B)]
– Summer 202X: finally, a male-idol rookie will debut under Wonderhol.
A massive project with a two-hundred-billion-won investment over three years, its groundbreaking concept has raised expectations internally.
Wonderhol was the agency of T-holic, the pre-VTIC national idol... now launching a new male-idol rookie group.”
I tapped my chin.
‘This is... valuable.’
T-holic was a hugely mainstream male idol lineage—Testa was almost the only group that carried that mass appeal forward.
They still thrive on their own variety show as veteran idols.
So a rookie on T-holic’s lineage could rival Testa’s public positioning.
‘Worth monitoring this rookie.’
I decided and adjusted my view of Hint Tickets.
High-grade hints could be genuinely useful.
Information from inside industry networks was my biggest gap—and Hint Tickets could supplement that.
‘I can trade these up and expand my intel.’
I was very pleased.
“Wow! That’s a relief...!”
Right.
After a few more words with Keun Sejin, who seemed more reassured than me, I closed the roulette window.
With that distraction handled, it was time for the newly unlocked Album function.
“Okay, let’s start now.”
“Mm-hm, got it!”
“This is amazing!”
I gathered the members in the living room of the empty dorm—we’d cleared out most furniture, but the table remained.
I placed a notebook on it.
What was I going to do with it?
‘I’ll share the status window visually.’
Album production was a group task. Since they knew the situation, I’d share some access.
But if they couldn’t see the status window,
‘Just visualize it.’
I sketched the “Album Production” hologram on paper.
Scratch, scratch.
“.......”
Kim Rae bin raised his hand.
“Hyung, is that barbed wire?”
“It’s cards.”
“.......”
Well.
“Ha-ha-ha!! Ack, I won’t laugh! I won’t laugh, Mundae-nim! Your PPT skills are great—let’s project it on the TV screen! How ’bout it?”
“Yeah, Mundae, that’s perfect.”
“...Okay.”
After switching to a laptop, the work progressed much more smoothly.
“This is our company’s current roster; the detail page looks like this.”
“Oooo.”
“R-Rae bin has five stars!”
“Kim Rae bin is a genius!”
“I’m honored... though I don’t know the criteria. I’ll keep improving... Wait, am I weak at trot composition?”
“...Isn’t that obvious?”
“R-Rae bin likes trot music....”
“Oh.”
And that was the process.
“Park Mundae, uh... did you really invest ten billion?”
“Yes.”
“...!”
“Whew! We’re making a ten-billion-won album!”
“Yoo jin’s spending all of Mundae’s money~”
“If it succeeds, Mundae-hyung will make far more!”
Cha Yoo jin’s triumphant payback meta emerged... and the final album page looked like this:
“[Album]
Manpower: A
– Kim Rae bin(★★★★★), Kim Seowon(★★★★), Park Jaeseok(★★★★), Park Wonju(★★★)...
Capital: S
– ₩5,000,000,000
Duration: B
– 60 days
(Manpower Bonus +150%)
(Capital Bonus +200%)
Start Production ← Click!”
“I’ll press it.”
“Sure~”
The moment I clicked, various effects scrolled like credits.
“[Concept: TBD]
[External Manpower: TBD]
[Production Company: TBD]
......
[Predicting Album Production!]”
Predicting, huh.
I noted the hologram in my pad again; the members nodded.
“So this predicts what kind of album will come out.”
“And since we haven’t finalized concept, many items show as TBD.”
“Still, normally you’d pay a ton for this! Amazing.”
Soon the hologram flashed again.
“[Prediction Complete!]”
Completed...
“...??”
Oh.
“[Expected Album Grade: A–B]”
B?
No chance at S or EX, B grade possible?
Our album?
‘What nonsense is this?’
Our first album surely hit at least A-, I thought.
I clicked for details immediately.
“.......”
As expected, there were debuffs.
“[※ Promotion ↓↓]
[※ Physical Quality ↓]
[Help: You lack contacts for external manpower! Expand your network.]”
Difficulty contacting external staff?
“.......”
Strange.
It had never been an issue before.
‘And since we retained the same staff, if this appeared...’
Someone was blocking contacts.
And that someone would be more powerful than any solo celebrity.
‘...A corporation.’
“Result’s in?”
“How is it?”
“.......”
I folded my arms.
“It seems... T1 didn’t just cut ties with us.”
“...What?”
“They’ve blacklisted us. Looks like no one wants to work with us.”
“...!”
New issues to address immediately.
That evening.
Ryu Geon woo scrolled his phone grimly.
“MusicBomb is definitely out.”
I assumed we’d be off music shows for at least six months. What came next was critical.
“...No response from T1-affiliated variety shows either.”
“Sigh.”
Of course.
We weren’t just cut loose—we were sent to recycling.
‘They’re blocking every affiliated variety show? I thought we could at least do T1 network shows.’
‘Not at this level.’
I slowly grasped their motive.
To attract demand for a new T-network survival show, they’d want to suppress the Testa, Miryuna, Spacer line that holds all their existing viewership.
And they’d announced themselves as a shiny new agency—people loved it.
‘They made a big spectacle and offended T1.’
Public reaction was even better than I expected—so it backfired.
T1 must have told insiders, “Orbit? Let’s crush them.”
Industry people would be wary for a while.
‘Directors, photographers, entertainment journalists... few haven’t worked with T1.’
If they hope to work with T1 again, they’ll tread carefully now.
“So... everyone’s going to find it hard to work with us.”
“They’ll feel pressured. For a while, at least.”
“.......”
Damn.
I raked my hair.
Meeting paused; I stepped onto the balcony to sift through the status window.
I hadn’t smoked in ages, but a cigarette seemed appealing.
Still, my brain kept working.
‘...We have to rely on LeTi’s network.’
Even if we fill music-video directors and album art...
‘No. That’s dangerous.’
If we rely entirely on that side, this company will become just another LeTi subsidiary.
‘That defeats the purpose of all this effort.’
We mustn’t only use their line.
I sighed and scrolled through the hologram again, hoping for actionable intel.
‘Information, huh.’
If only Hint Tickets gave useful external-staff contacts.
‘Not that C-grade rehash of known facts.’
I sighed, scrolling.
“[Defection from Subsidiaries (C)]”
I skimmed past it.
“.......”
But then—hold on.
‘Still odd.’
Why was that a C-grade hint?
Just reporting mass resignations at a subsidiary is too vague for that level.
Even ignoring that I already knew it.
I read it carefully again.
“- Apparently, due to some recent incident, employees at multiple T1 Ent subsidiaries have been resigning en masse.”
“...!”
Then I realized. I’d overlooked a crucial nuance.
‘The subsidiaries mentioned aren’t just one.’
It says subsidiaries. Multiple locations.
And one more thing.
‘T1 Stars wasn’t a subsidiary then.’
Our former label had already been cut loose by T1 when the staff resignations occurred.
So... this hint refers to other T1 subsidiaries.
‘There are other companies.’
Those subsidiaries whose staff resigned en masse.
I started searching immediately.
I looked through news and SNS for subsidiaries T1 Ent owned.
Even non-broadcast or talent agencies—film, music, home shopping, studios.
And...
‘Games.’
I found it.
“- Apparently, everyone quit at T1 Plays’ Ruin Factory team... looks like 127 Section’s next project is cancelled.”
└ “ㅠㅠㅠ”
└ “Saw an interview—they seemed to be at odds with T1”
Ruin Factory.
The team that produced <127 Section> had completely resigned and started fresh.
“.......”
I sensed it.
‘This is it.’
Found it. External talent lead number one.
