A Blank Slate Regression For The Idol That Lost His Original Intention

“They’ll be heading to Arario TV and Showdown soo too.”

 

“We’ll see them at the local Bokbunja Festival, pfft!”

 

“Oh, crazy idiots. Seriously funny.”

 

I hadn’t even left the waiting room yet, but I heard the mocking laughter behind me, as if they wanted me to hear it.

 

I noticed Seo Ye-hyun, who was standing in front of me, clenching his fist tightly. Kim Do-bin beside him was also biting his lip hard.

 

But instead of frowning, I put on a benevolent smile.

 

Foolish people who don’t even know their own future.

 

The two guys who laughed at us will both fall out in three years due to drunk driving and marijuana.

 

One will get a year in prison for a second drunk driving offense during probation. The other will get ten months in prison with a two-year probation for smoking marijuana.

 

‘We’ll see you in the crime section of the news.’

 

And honestly, having experienced performing at Arario TV, Showdown, the local Bokbunja Festival, Gochu Festival, Hanwoo Festival, and all sorts of specialty product festivals before the regression, it didn’t bother me at all.

 

Anyway, it’s better than jail, right?

 

“Hey, are you guys crazy?”

 

A senior group leader rebuked them, but the two future prisoners kept mocking and laughing among themselves.

 

“Why, hyung? It’s obvious what’s going to happen.”

 

“Yeah, we’ve seen plenty of rookie groups.”

 

The leader quickly came out of their waiting room and apologized on their behalf.

 

“Sorry, they’re still immature.”

 

“Hmm, no matter how you look at it, they seem past the age to be immature… If they haven’t matured by that age, they should see a psych— ugh!”

 

The leader’s expression turned odd at my words. Gyeon Ha-jun urgently pressed the back of my head down to force a bow and, along with Seo Ye-hyun, dragged me back to our waiting room.

 

Back in the shared waiting room with several other idol groups, I saw the dark faces of our members.

 

If it were just us, I would’ve thrown out a word of encouragement to definitely succeed and crush those guys, but saying we’d crush our seniors in a place with other groups around was tantamount to suicide.

 

Especially if those damn seniors (literally and figuratively) were going to be around for another three years.

 

I just silently patted the back of our sulking youngest member.

 

“We’re not really going to Arario TV, are we…?”

 

A despondent Kim Do-bin mumbled in a voice low enough not to be heard by other teams.

 

Before the regression, we failed until our second album and ended up on Arario TV. Thanks to that, I had plenty of time to focus on composing and producing.

 

“We won’t. Don’t worry.”

 

With this genius composer Yoon Eden back, our doomed future as failed idols would change. And to end this regression, we can’t stay as failed idols.

 

“Really? The next song will be better than this one, right?”

 

Kim Do-bin sniffled and asked in a desperate voice. Before I could give him an affirmative answer, it was our turn, and we had to leave the waiting room.

 

While dancing a choreography I had done dozens of times to the point where my body knew it instinctively, I thought as I listened to Kim Do-bin’s part.

 

[Those stars in the universe are twinkling

Your eyes in front of me are twinkling too]

 

…Even I have to admit, it really does seem like we’re headed for Arario TV.

 

As soon as we returned to the dorm after finishing our schedule, I was showered with warm touches and praises.

 

“Hyung, you held it in well.”

 

“Yeah, Yoon I-deun. You held it in well. We were tense thinking you might cause a scene in the waiting room.”

 

I blinked blankly. What’s this situation? I was planning to console my hurt members like a leader should, but why are they praising me?

 

It seemed like something that happened in the past before the regression too, so I looked back on my past…

 

‘What kind of bastards are those?’

 

‘Ah, hyung! Please watch your mouth!’

 

There was a reason I remembered those two guys’ downfall particularly clearly among all the many troubled idols.

 

Before the regression, not knowing their eventual downfall, I couldn’t hold back and cursed at them in the waiting room, and somehow, they heard about it and kept bothering us whenever we met.

 

Even after we went viral with our fancam and started gaining traction, those guys who used to harass us were gone. To prison.

 

This time, since I didn’t curse in the waiting room, those soon-to-be prisoners wouldn’t bother us.

 

* * *

 

“Are we going to end up with only 62 people at our fan sign event too?”

 

Lying on the mattress with a face pack on, Seo Ye-hyun clicked his tongue.

 

He was commenting on the dismal turnout in the fan club name poll posted on our official fan cafe.

 

With only 62 votes out of 172 fan club members, his concern was understandable.

 

“We’d be lucky if even 62 show up.”

 

I replied indifferently and logged into the fan cafe to vote for ‘Daydream,’ which was our fan club name before the regression.

 

Was the nickname ‘Ilmong’ taken from the last two characters of the word for ‘daydream’ in Korean? Maybe because we always called them ‘Daydream’ straightforwardly, ‘Ilmong’ felt unfamiliar.

 

Of course, I didn’t particularly plan to use a nickname for ‘Daydream’ in this round either, so it wasn’t really an issue.

 

“Isn’t Nyx a good option too?”

 

“Yes, fan club nickname ‘Goddesses.’”

 

When I read the comments under the same post Gyeon Ha-jun was looking at, he quietly gave up on ‘Nyx’ and voted for ‘Daydream.’

 

Then, once again, he racked his brain and posted a two-line message full of flowery words on the fan cafe.

 

It was the fourth post this week.

 

[▶ Post a selfie and message on the FROM board of the fan cafe at least 4 times a week (4/4)]

 

[You have received 2 loyalty points!]

 

The door burst open, and Ryu Jae-hee dragged Kim Do-bin in, shouting in his loud, leader-like voice.

 

“Hyungs! Vote for Nyx, vote for Nyx!”

 

“Jae-hee, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before entering someone else’s room?”

 

Seo Ye-hyun, who had a subtle old-fashioned streak as the oldest member, said.

 

I turned my head while still lying down and asked.

 

“Do-bin, have you voted? You didn’t vote for Nyx too, did you?”

 

“Can you not put the ‘n’ sound in my name, please.”

 

While Kim Do-bin grumbled to me, Gyeon Ha-jun was trying to convince Ryu Jae-hee that if ‘Nyx’ was chosen, we’d have to call our fan club members ‘Goddesses.’

 

Of course, his persuasion was futile.

 

“What’s wrong with calling them ‘Goddesses’? Our Goddesses-.”

 

“I think the fans would be overwhelmed and freak out.”

 

I shook my head as I watched Ryu Jae-hee, with his hands under his chin, cooing the potential fan club nickname ‘Goddesses,’ which wasn’t likely to be chosen anyway.

 

Ryu Jae-hee, who sat down heavily on the mattress and logged into the fan cafe to check the voting status, looked at me with a very surprised expression and said.

 

“Hyung, how come you’re consistently posting on the fan cafe? Judging by your usual behavior, it doesn’t seem like you at all.”

 

Yeah, that happened. I need to restore my reduced initial’s intention

 

I nodded roughly as I confirmed that the 2 points of my initial intention were reflected.

 

As the time changed from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM, signaling Monday midnight, a status window suddenly appeared before my eyes.

 

[☀ Weekly Quest settlement is starting.]

 

[⚠ Since less than two weekly quests were completed, a random penalty will be applied.]

 

‘Wait, did I forget to do the fan response search today…?’

 

Right, I completely forgot. But still, what’s the worst that could happen— just as I was feeling relieved.

 

“Ugh!”

 

I reflexively covered my mouth as a hot, metallic taste surged up from my stomach, but I couldn’t help but vomit.

 

Red liquid dripped through my fingers. As soon as I realized what I had thrown up, my mind went blank. My hands started trembling.

 

This is insane.

 

“Ah! Blood! I’m coughing up blood!”

 

As I urgently raised my blood-stained hand and shouted, all the members’ gazes turned towards me. They stared at me blankly, as if they couldn’t grasp the reality of the situation.

 

Gyeon Ha-jun, who was the first to come to his senses, barely managed to speak.

 

“You didn’t bite your tongue…?”

 

“…It’s not a nosebleed running down your throat?”

 

As if to answer those questions, blood surged back up my throat.

 

The metallic taste filled my mouth.

 

Is the system crazy? I believed it wouldn’t affect my health, but it made me cough up blood?

 

Damn, the system is killing me! Missing one search, and it’s killing me!

 

“119! Call 119 quickly! I’m going to die! If we miss the golden time, I’m dead!”

 

As I rolled on the floor in a panic, the youngest member quickly dialed emergency services on his phone. The rest brought me water and offered wet towels, trying to calm me down.

 

“Manager hyung! Hyung Eden suddenly coughed up blood! What? Well, considering he’s lively and making a fuss, it doesn’t seem like he’ll collapse immediately, but…”

 

The manager burst through the dorm door in just 7 minutes, seemingly having rushed over.

 

“Eden, do you have any chronic illnesses?”

 

“No! That’s why it’s a bigger problem! Unexplained symptoms are more dangerous!”

 

I was then carried to the emergency room with the manager’s support. I wasn’t sure whether to be thankful that no one recognized me as an idol.

 

Seeing me trembling and making a fuss about dying, the system displayed a status window.

 

[It is a blood-vomiting penalty that does not affect your health.]

 

Bullshit. How can vomiting blood not affect your health?

 

* * *

 

The detailed examination results showed no abnormalities. The results didn’t warrant hospitalization either.

 

But unable to believe those results, I booked a health checkup and was discharged the same day.

 

“Ugh, my throat hurts.”

 

I grumbled, rubbing my throat which hurt every time I swallowed. Gyeon Ha-jun handed me warm water and asked.

 

“From coughing up blood?”

 

“No, from shouting so much. But how can there be no issues after vomiting that much blood?”

 

“I don’t think it was that much…”

 

Strange. It felt like a bucketful to me.

 

That damn system claims it doesn’t affect my health, but continually vomiting blood can’t be good for you. From now on, I must complete at least two weekly quests.

 

As I obsessively added vitamins and supplements to my cart on an online shopping mall, Ryu Jae-hee sat down next to me and asked cautiously.

 

“Hyung, you didn’t vomit blood because of the first-week sales, right?”

 

“Are you crazy? This isn’t some novel or comic where that would happen.”

 

I grumbled and brushed back my disheveled bangs, then paused.

 

‘Wait, how many was it again? Did we even hit 1,000?’

 

First-week sales refer to the number of albums sold in the first week after release.

 

Recalling the pre-regression days when tens of thousands of first-week sales were the norm, I looked at Ryu Jae-hee’s phone screen, showing first-week sales with the last two digits marked as *.

 

The debut album first-week sales for REVE were…

 

1** copies.

 

Not even close to 1,000.

 

Seeing that shocking number again, I felt like blood was about to rise in my throat once more. We really were a failed group at debut.

 

Clearly, now is not the time to sit back and accept that our debut has flopped.