Chapter 100

### Chapter 100: If I Don't Debut, I'll Get a Terminal Illness

When I woke up, my boss was gone.

‘Was it a dream?’

It wasn’t a dream.

The department head, who had been in a power struggle with the fans for the past few days, had disappeared.

Of course, it wasn’t a resignation. He had just returned to his original workplace.

It turned out that the department head had been planning to leave with his portfolio for a while.

According to what I heard from the staff, he had always intended to stay for only a year.

During the conflict with the fans, he used it as an excuse to negotiate well with the higher-ups and left quickly.

And, of course, the ‘collaboration with Testa and the game’ included in the department head’s portfolio...

continued. The contracts were already signed.

‘Damn it.’

I couldn’t go to the fans who were happy about the department head’s departure and beg them to do something about it.

I accepted the reality and started preparing to go out.

Today was the Friday when the meeting was scheduled.

* * *

“Hello~ I’m really a fan!”

“Hello!”

“Hello!”

The two people I met at the meeting were surprisingly gentle and kind.

I felt a bit embarrassed for having suspected them of being scammers.

Moreover, they seemed a bit dazed, as if the collaboration proposal had been sudden for them too.

“Um... shall we start by explaining our game?”

“Yes, yes!”

“I’m all ears.”

“Sure, then...

The content that followed was quite distinctive and interesting.

That was unexpected.

‘Hmm.’

“The main story of the game is about the protagonist exploring a destroyed Seoul due to a mysterious substance from a meteor. It’s a roguelike adventure where the protagonist meets various factions in Seoul, and their choices determine their companions and abilities.”

“That sounds really interesting!”

“Thank you!”

Kim Raebin was the first to clap.

This... seemed to be a good sign.

Maybe the department head had thrown away a quality piece of meat instead of garbage.

Moreover, these people were quite friendly. Not just in words, but in a way that could be useful for the project.

“Actually, this collaboration... we received it suddenly, so we didn’t have much time to research, but when we checked the basics... your ‘Magical Boy’ was really impressive.”

“Thank you. We also want to check the game as soon as possible. It sounds really interesting.”

“Oh, then... would you like to try playing it for a moment?”

“Huh?”

“It’s still in the bug-fixing stage, but it’s already playable! There shouldn’t be any issues with progression.”

The person sitting on the left pulled out a smartphone. It was a large Android device.

After swiping the screen to open the game, he handed it to Ryu Cheong-woo.

“Ah...”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

Ryu Cheong-woo, who took it a bit awkwardly, looked troubled at Cha Yujin’s earnest request.

But thinking it would be better for someone who was good at it and found it fun, he soon handed over the smartphone with a word of caution.

“Be careful.”

“Yes!!”

Cha Yujin eagerly took it, her eyes shining as she started the game. The other members began to look at the screen with curious expressions.

‘...They seem excited too.’

Feeling their excitement and tension, I also looked at the screen.

The game seemed to have a high degree of freedom and was mobile, so it didn’t try to implement everything in detail. Instead, it progressed with a mix of text, graphics, and illustrations.

It was very sophisticated and conceptual.

Moreover, it was fun. The structure of gathering companions and clearing story chapters was quite good.

‘This... might work.’

The quality made it clear why T1 had acquired it.

‘...But where do we fit in the idol promotion?’

Just thinking about it made me speechless.

Anyway, Cha Yujin, who finished Chapter 1 in no time, exclaimed excitedly.

“It’s really fun!”

“Oh~”

“Thank you.”

The two people took back the smartphone from the disappointed Cha Yujin with some effort.

They smiled and said,

“How was it? Do you have any ideas for the collaboration?”

“...Hmm.”

“That’s something we need to think about from now on.”

“...Of course, right? We’ll think about it too.”

Everyone expected this, so no one was too solemn.

Still, the fact that the game wasn’t a disaster was a significant gain.

“Thank you~”

“We’ll see you next time.”

The first meeting ended with the vague agreement to think about it. However, the atmosphere was good, as the prospects didn’t seem too bad.

“I think we could use a variation of the game’s BGM as our title track.”

“...Wouldn’t that mean it can’t be played on public TV music shows?”

“Oops.”

Kim Raebin, who seemed to have gotten some inspiration and was drawing, fell into thought at Lee Sejin’s comment.

And I felt a bit relieved.

‘At least we won’t ruin our brand image.’

It might be criticized as a risky move and could affect our performance, but it didn’t seem like it would become a laughingstock that would hinder our next album.

‘Now, the problem is what exactly we’ll collaborate on.’

As soon as we entered the dorm, a discussion began on this topic.

First, Ryu Cheong-woo relayed the proposal he had heard from the company’s staff.

“The current opinion is that swapping a track with the game’s BGM would be the cleanest option.”

“Hmm, that’s safe.”

Without the meddlesome department head, it was a suggestion to just go through the motions of a collaboration.

‘I can feel the sorrow of a working adult.’

But surprisingly, Lee Sejin shook his head with a smile.

“Eh~ then we’ll be the only ones working hard, right?”

“Eh...?”

“Both are music-related! I think only the AR team and us will end up working hard... I think we should also get something in return, right?”

That’s right.

‘It’s not just about not losing; it’s about gaining something.’

If we went with the current plan, the workload would increase, and the game company would be the only one benefiting.

The game would get publicity, but Testa wouldn’t gain any recognition from collaborating with an unreleased game.

‘...It’s rare for game players to become fans of idols because of the BGM.’

“Then what’s your suggestion?”

“Let’s think about it from now on~ After all, it’s better to have a reward if we have to work on it.”

“Hmm.”

Just as everyone was about to fall into thought, Lee Sejin spoke up.

“...Let’s just leave it to the company people. We’re already busy preparing the album, and it’s strange to ask us to decide what to collaborate on.”

“Bro, then the workload will...”

“That’s the AR team’s job. We just need to say we’ll do the recording.”

Lee Sejin was firm.

“Initially... this situation is strange. Why should rookies be making and deciding on such things? The company isn’t short on money.”

“...”

It’s such a valid point that I just want to agree.

Lee Sejin, who rarely spoke much, was breathing heavily. He must have been thinking about it for a while.

And Cha Yujin answered cheerfully.

“But I want to do something else! The BGM is boring.”

“...”

Lee Sejin closed his eyes.

‘Oh dear.’

But the fact that he didn’t run away shows he’s improved.

“Okay, let’s vote? Raise your hand if you want to come up with a new collaboration theme.”

Surprisingly, everyone except Lee Sejin and me raised their hands.

‘These guys are tricky.’

Clearly, except for Lee Sejin, they weren’t just trying to gain something but wanted to challenge themselves and create something great.

Meanwhile, Lee Sejin pretended to be surprised.

“Wow, you don’t want to do it?”

“No, I’m on hold. If a good idea comes up, we can go with that, otherwise, let’s just do the BGM.”

“Okay. Let’s proceed that way.”

Ryu Cheong-woo redirected the conversation.

“Then, what are the advantages our group can gain from collaborating with the game?”

“...Can we appear in the game?”

“Money? ...That’s out of the question. The contract is already signed.”

“Yes. Neither is applicable this time. The game is about to be released, so there’s no way they can include us.”

Hmm, that’s true.

Even if there was enough time, they probably wouldn’t want to suddenly add a character from an idol in a game with a carefully crafted world.

‘...Wait a minute.’

...Could we think about it in reverse?

“What about this?”

“Huh?”

“Instead of asking them to include our characters, let’s pick characters from the game and use them.”

“...??”

I pointed at the smartphone.

“Let’s select the game characters that are most similar to us and use them for a sub-track.”

“...!”

“It’s not the title track, so it’s fine if it doesn’t air on public TV. We can focus on cable and YouTube, which have a large audience these days.”

The idea was to absorb the well-made game IP into our world.

* * *

“Um... are you asking for a list of companion characters?”

“Yes.”

“Um...”

The game company representatives were taken aback by the unexpected proposal.

They exchanged glances and answered reluctantly.

“Well... we do have a system for randomly selecting companion characters for revenue generation.”

“Yes.”

“Um, all the elements are random...”

“...!!”

It meant the characters were randomly generated.

“But I saw some illustrations.”

“Those are... well, they’re also randomly generated using cartoon rendering!”

“...”

I didn’t expect this to be a roadblock.

Then, Kim Raebin raised his hand.

“...So, the companions Cha Yujin used aren’t fixed and their names change every time?”

“Ah, those characters... well, they all die at the start of the next chapter.”

“...!!”

“To make the protagonist explore Seoul alone... hahaha.”

The people in front of us laughed awkwardly.

“I don’t want them to die...”

Cha Yujin became suddenly depressed. She had already grown attached to them.

And I realized something.

‘...Could we just use them?’

Turning my head, I saw everyone except Cha Yujin had the same thought.

‘...There are exactly seven of them.’

This game, with a party of four, had set the tutorial characters to exactly eight, including the protagonist.

Ryu Cheong-woo cautiously spoke up.

“...Can we use those characters?”

“Huh?”

“I mean... our members could each take on the roles of those characters and create a song and stage.”

“...”

‘They might not like it.’

If they received the collaboration proposal suddenly, they might not want to be so deeply involved.

‘Then we’ll just stick to the BGM...’

“Wow!”

“...?”

“I love it!”

“...!!”

“I’ve always wanted to do such a project if we had the time and budget!”

The excited woman was followed by the man, who clenched his fists and exclaimed.

“To see our characters in 3D...!”

“...”

Surprisingly, the collaboration seems to be proceeding smoothly.