I became the leader of a damned girl group

Episode 2.
It had already been a week since this inexplicable event happened.

After making a deal with the fluffy creature, I opened my eyes and found myself in a shabby goshiwon (a small, cheap dormitory).

Ding!

Soon after, a strange alarm sounded.

Congratulations! You have become ‘Yoon Chung’.
From now on, you must save the doomed girl group, ‘Steel Blue’!
This world is a little different from yours.
To put it simply, you could call it a parallel world.
Everything is the same as in your world — except for one thing.
In this world, a person named ‘Baek Noka’ has never existed, and never will exist.

A game-like window appeared before my eyes.

You have entered the body of ‘Yoon Chung’ from 10 years ago, based on your world’s time.

And you must fulfill two of ‘Yoon Chung’s’ wishes.

Yoon Chung’s first wish is—

[Debut as the 1st place winner on the agency’s debut survival program, ‘Make a New Color’.]

…?

What?

Pushing aside my bewilderment, I tried to recall the name ‘Yoon Chung’ from my memory.

“Yoon Chung, Yoon Chung….”

Ah, I remembered.

Around the time I debuted, there was a debut survival program aired on a cable TV channel.

It was a survival show conducted by one of Korea’s top five entertainment agencies, ‘Colors’, to launch a new girl group.

All the female trainees under ‘Colors’ participated in this competition to debut.

And Yoon Chung was one of those trainees.

I had been really busy back then, so I hadn’t watched the show properly… but it was quite a hot topic, so I knew the gist of it.

“But I thought she debuted?”

…What’s this wish about?

[Debut as the 1st place winner on the agency’s debut survival program, ‘Make a New Color’.]

She wants to debut in 1st place?

I frowned.

She did debut… what rank was she again?

The trainees who were confirmed for debut through the program debuted a year later as the girl group ‘Steel Blue’.

There were five of them, right?

I remembered seeing them once because our promotion periods overlapped.

Among them, there was one who sang really well, and I vaguely recalled thinking, “Ah, that must be the main vocalist.”

“Didn’t she debut even if it was as 5th place or whatever? I mean, even debuting at all is something to be grateful for, right? Does it have to be 1st place?”

I stayed lying on the bed, puzzled.

Then—

Bzzz.

My phone vibrated beside me.

But something was strange.

“This phone… it’s my phone.”

What the heck.
I thought I entered someone else’s body?
But why is the phone mine?
And it’s even my phone from 10 years ago?

Unable to grasp the situation and feeling scared, I didn’t pick up the phone.

Bzzz—

The phone vibrated even more fiercely.

Reluctantly, I picked it up and saw a notification on the screen.

…A news notification?

[Yoon Chung selected as the final member of ‘Make a New Color’.]

This… is an article. From my world.

Almost as if possessed, I tapped on the article.

The fifth member of ‘Make a New Color’ has been finalized.
It is none other than trainee Yoon Chung, who had been embroiled in controversies over her lack of confidence and social skills throughout the show.
Though she ranked last — 12th — in the popularity votes, she was selected as the final member through the judges’ special pick, the ‘Color Choice’.
Judge Do Hee-Young, a member of the 12-year-old girl group ‘Grayish’ and a senior under the same agency, cited ‘the need for a main vocalist’ as her reason for choosing Yoon Chung.

Ding!

While I was absorbed in reading the article, another notification popped up as if it had been waiting.

[Controversy over Yoon Chung’s selection as the final member?]

“There’s always some kind of controversy, huh.”

Annoyed but curious, I clicked the article.

I had to understand what situation I was in.

Director Kim Mo-Kyung from the agency ‘Colors’ explained the reason for selecting Yoon Chung as “a voice that can hold the group together — the final puzzle piece to complete the still immature skills of ‘Steel Blue’.”
However, netizens reacted negatively, saying the judges ignored the viewers’ opinions.

So that’s why she wished to debut as 1st place.

…She must have been really upset.
Being at the center of such controversy.

Of course, every trainee dreams of debuting. Just debuting alone is a blessing.

But being hurt is only natural.

She’s human.

Getting criticized even before debuting — who wouldn’t be upset?

It must have felt like the whole world hated her.

“By the way, what’s up with this phone?”

I unlocked the phone and looked through it.
But nothing worked.

The only things that worked were viewing the news notifications… and the Contacts app.

“Why is only the Contacts app working?”

Everything was incomprehensible.

Luckily, even after opening a news article once, I could keep reopening it.

I wanted to check other news articles too, but there was no internet connection.

The phone really was doing whatever it wanted.

“Still, I guess I should be grateful even for this much.”

…Looks like I really did make a deal with a demon, huh?

That fluffy thing must have been a demon, right?

Otherwise, none of this makes sense.

“Yeah. It’s actually better if it really was a demon.
At least that would mean it has the ability to grant wishes.”

I looked into the mirror on the desk at Yoon Chung’s face — now my face.

Now that I saw it properly, Yoon Chung was actually quite pretty.

Pretty enough to stand out even in the entertainment world, where beautiful people are everywhere.

“I think she’s even prettier than when I debuted.”

Well, it’s not like ‘Baek Noka’ became famous for being stunningly beautiful anyway.

As an idol, I had a fairly average face.

Of course, to my fans… I was the prettiest in the world.

But that’s what I wanted to say to my fans.

When I first debuted, I was buried under unsuitable outfits, hair, and makeup.

Thanks to finding a styling that suited me and the so-called ‘camera massage,’ I improved a lot compared to the beginning.

“Hmm. If she looked like this, she could have been quite popular.”

She had the looks, the skills, and a big agency to promote her.

So why… wasn’t she popular?

Just as my doubts piled up—

Ding!

Another notification arrived on my phone.

[Make a New Color Episode 1 Update!]
[Would you like to watch it now?]

…Is this thing reading my mind?

* * *
“Yeah, no wonder she wasn’t popular.”

I felt bad for Yoon Chung, but honestly, this was the truth.

That was my conclusion right after watching Episode 1.

In the short 55-minute episode, Yoon Chung only appeared for about 3 minutes.

And not even 3 minutes solo — just brief appearances with other trainees.

And those 3 minutes were filled only with frustration.

The owner of my current body, Yoon Chung—

Seriously—

Had zero talent.

If it was just a lack of talent, it would be fine.
She also had no presence, no social skills, not even a sense of humor.

Both on and off stage — she was completely… like a block of wood.

Normally, in survival programs, chemistry with other trainees is important, but Yoon Chung didn’t even have that.

Actually, she barely spoke at all.

Even when someone talked to her, her only responses were weak mutterings like, “Uh, yeah…”

“No wonder she had no screen time and wasn’t entertaining.”

The scenes at the practice room were just as dismal.

She could sing well, but her dancing and expressions were a complete disaster.

She couldn’t even match the choreography properly and bumped into other trainees — say no more.

Still, I didn’t think she was pathetic.

Because I had a feeling about why Yoon Chung was like that.

I could guess — the ‘original’ Yoon Chung…

Had camera phobia.

And stage fright too, probably.

* * *
Ten years.

That’s how long I’ve been rolling around this entertainment industry.

Including my trainee period, it’s been twenty years.
Maybe I’m not the most successful, but I’m not someone to be looked down on either.

You see all kinds of people in this business.

Those who survive generally fall into these types:

People with overwhelming talent, people who make up for it with hard work, people who have strong mental fortitude.

And the ones who struggle to survive are:

Those who cause scandals, those who lose their original determination, and…
People who are too soft-hearted.

This is a harsh world.

Soft-hearted people can’t survive here.
It’s not their fault — it’s the environment that crushes them.

Anyway, Yoon Chung was the third type.

A terribly soft-hearted person.

She had weak spirit.

“…Well, at least it’s a relief she wasn’t unpopular because of a bad personality.”

Because that kind is hard to help.

If someone had a terrible personality even before debut, chances are, they’ve always been like that.

You can somehow get them to debut.
But after debut, it’s all over.

No matter how much you manage them from that point, the past is already there.

If personality scandals or past issues explode after debut, there’s no fixing it.

Just being soft-hearted and lacking talent is not a crime.

At this age, having strong mental fortitude is what’s exceptional.

She’s only 20.
Basically just a newborn.

Well, being soft-hearted — that’s something I can fix.

“I may not know about other things—”

But when it comes to mental strength and stage presence, I’m an expert.

Ding!

[Tutorial complete!]
[Tutorial reward is being calculated…]
[Memory up to Yoon Chung’s 19th year has arrived!]
[Would you like to check it? (Yes/No)]

“…That was the tutorial until now?”

There’s even a reward.

And it’s… the memories of this body.

There’s no reason to refuse.
I have to live as this person from now on.

I pressed “Yes.”

And then—

I couldn’t speak for a long time.