Conditions for Becoming a Perfect Idol Leader

“Haa… Well, whatever.”

‘Get a grip. Sitting around like this isn’t going to change anything, and no one’s going to notice. Enough with this self-pity.’

This quick acceptance came from experience.

In a past reset that he could barely remember, he had done nothing and lain around in a state of helplessness, only to reset in some terrible way.

Gyeo Yeong-in ruffled his hair irritably. Of course, he could only do this because he was alone in the room.

If anyone else had been around, the damn status window would have loudly admonished him for such reckless behavior.

This was the first time he had returned as an adult rather than a child.

It was supposedly a benefit, as it seemed to have saved time, but it was the year Zero One celebrated its second debut anniversary.

Not before the debut, but precisely at this time—there had to be a reason.

‘…Is there?’

He couldn’t shake the suspicion that he had been sent back to the most troublesome period just for the sake of making him suffer.

And to top it off, he was supposed to be the leader.

What kind of nonsense is this? What happens to the member who was originally the leader?

He had indeed gathered the members himself out of desperation, but that didn’t mean he had assumed the leadership of the group.

He had only taken the initiative because he couldn’t bear to go through another horrendous reset.

He could barely manage himself; why would he want the position of being responsible for others?

That was the case, but now he was supposed to team up with these guys again. As the leader? Was he supposed to be responsible for them too?

The members of Zero One had quite the notorious backgrounds.

School violence, drugs, cheating, assaulting civilians.

They had all committed actions that could land them on the front pages, not to mention controversies over their character, plagiarism, and attitude issues that constantly damaged their image. There was no guarantee such incidents wouldn’t happen again.

The biggest problem was Gyeo Yeong-in himself.

Despite experiencing it himself, there were many parts that he couldn’t remember clearly.

Of course, he remembered major events or intense incidents, but predicting exactly what happened was difficult.

Even the major events were jumbled up, making it hard to predict when they occurred.

Moreover, the Zero One members were only bound by formal contracts and didn’t communicate with each other properly.

Therefore, although Gyeo Yeong-in knew what activities Zero One had been involved in and what he had been doing around that time, he knew almost nothing about what the individual members of Zero One had been doing personally.

‘Gyeo Yeong-in, you fool, you should’ve just kept recording…’

If he had known he would return to this point, would he have diligently written down everything? Would he have forced himself to talk to them?

Who knows? Even thinking positively didn’t yield any hopeful thoughts.

His head was already hurting from the new clause and the added items.

Couldn’t the status window at least provide a detailed explanation of what was added?

Of course, the status window had rarely been kind, so complaining was pointless.

### <50 Clauses for Becoming a Kind Idol Leader>

‘Kind, my ass.’

Just hearing the name made him not want to follow it.

If it had been just about being a kind idol, he might not have felt this way.

But the word “leader” made it even more confusing and brought up the unsettling thought of ‘Could it be?’

‘Kind Idol Leader… The fact that it includes the ‘word’ leader means it applies specifically to the members of Zero One.’

A plausible but unwelcome hypothesis flashed through Gyeo Yeong-in’s mind.

Did it mean there were conditions on how he interacted with the members? The very idea was dreadful.

Wasn’t there any clause that created a perfect system?

The explanations were unhelpful, leaving Go Young in frustration.

‘What if I just quit and started over or went solo?’

This thought led him to even more extreme ideas.

Unfortunately, these drastic and impulsive thoughts were immediately dismissed by the status window.

[An idol is not alone but part of a ‘team.’ The leader must guide the team members forward for the group’s success.]

[Challenge yourself to become the best idol as the ‘leader of Zero One’!]

The message that always ended with ‘Challenge yourself to become the best idol!’ now included ‘as the leader of Zero One.’

‘The leader of Zero One, It has to be this team, and I have to be the leader…’

Damn status window.

What’s the point of being the leader, and what benefits does it bring? Being the leader doesn’t guarantee that things will go smoothly.

[Clause 18│A perfect idol does not speak or act recklessly anywhere.]

As long as he didn’t say it out loud, it didn’t matter.

The status window sure knew how to detect his complaints. How ridiculous…

If they were going to give a reward, they should give it properly. Calling this a reward was laughable.

Zero One’s relationships were purely business.

There were hardly any instances of talking to the members or sharing daily lives like one would in a close relationship.

If asked whether their relationships were bad, he would say he didn’t know enough to answer.

In the end, he had to work with the members somehow.

Could he prevent incidents that might cause problems?

He was unsure how to stop them, let alone whether he could change anything.

[Clause 63│A perfect idol does not engage in actions that cause social controversy.]

‘So it’s saying to make it work no matter what. If that’s the case, just say it outright. Don’t beat around the bush. All these incidents the members caused’

Gyeo Yeong-in sighed deeply, feeling overwhelmed.

### Knock, knock

There was a light knock on the door, and the door slightly opened.

The knock seemed more like a formality than a genuine request for permission.

‘What the hell.’

Gyeo Yeong-in’s gaze naturally turned to the door. He soon made eye contact with the unwelcome visitor who had entered.

A man with light sandy hair and a gentle appearance. Long legs and neat attire. Overall, he looked harmless.

The man was staring at the newly awakened Gyeo Yeong-in without any particular greeting.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. It had been a while since he’d seen this face in person.

‘Cheon Sa-yoon?’

“Hmm.”

The intruder, Cheon Sa-yoon, who was standing there rubbing his lips and making a small sound of admiration, was a member of Zero One and the original leader of the group.

That meant he had some vision as a leader. Looking back, Cheon Sa-yoon was someone who had a decent social life and a friendly image.

‘Wasn’t he recommended as the leader by the agency staff?’

“Did you just wake up now?”

Cheon Sa-yoon asked softly, with a worried look on his face.

Gyeo Yeong-in squinted his eyes at him.

Seeing that shiny face, it was definitely Cheon Sa-yoon. But his expression and the fact that he didn’t remember collapsing around this time made it seem like he was just mocking him for waking up late.

‘Am I imagining things?’

“At least you didn’t die.”

His expression was genuinely worried, but he couldn’t hide the hint of amusement in his voice.

…It wasn’t an illusion. He might be polite, but he certainly wasn’t weak.

At least he didn’t have any personality controversies, right? He was remembered as a guy with an angelic face and personality, fitting his name.

“So how long are you planning to sit there like that? Do we have time to waste?”

Was I wrong…? Why is he so annoying? Instead of being polite, he seems more like a brat.

It was urgent, so he pretended to check the time and casually picked up the phone from the bedside table.

The dormitory and the phone were from a model he used in the past, confirming he had indeed gone back in time.

Gyeo Yeong-in unlocked his phone and quickly scanned the calendar memo displayed in the banner.

He wasn’t late yet… There was the 2nd-anniversary live broadcast, vocal and dance practice…

What else was there?

In addition to the various SNS notifications and messages, there were several missed calls from a contact saved as ‘Manager.’

Damn it. He quickly sent a text apologizing for the delay.

‘Haa… The manager has changed so often that I don’t even know which ‘Manager’ this one is.’

First, he needed to get rid of Cheon Sa-yoon. Only then could he gather his thoughts and figure things out.

Damn it, he couldn’t concentrate with this unnecessarily handsome and tall guy staring at him like he was being watched.

Gyeo Yeong-in swallowed the curse words that were on the tip of his tongue and tried to act natural.

“…Thanks for letting me know.”

“Ah.”

Cheon Sa-yoon responded softly, smiling gently.

His slightly drooping eyes formed long arcs. That characteristic smile made Cheon Sa-yoon’s already gentle impression even softer and brighter.

“Not just that, but today’s the day of our comeback concept meeting. Why are you pretending you don’t know?”

What the hell? Did he notice that I was trying to brush things off?

Gyeo Yeong-in was about to say something.

“Are you an idiot?”

Cheon Sa-yoon tilted his head, looking genuinely curious.

His tone and voice were so soft that it was hard to tell if he was actually insulting him.