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{Your company's girl group TWICE has reached cumulative album sales of one million copies.}
{Congratulations, Player! Achievement unlocked: "Million-Selling Girl Group".}
{Your company artist Taeyeon from Girls' Generation has broken all previous solo performance records.}
{Reward: 100 million Korean won.}
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.
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{Your company's girl group ITZY has broken the previous generation's record for top girl groups.}
{Congratulations, player! You have completed the game!}
The mechanical, cold female voice kept ringing in Lee Kyung's ears, making him frown as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
"What's going on? Did I forget to turn off my computer?"
Last night he had stayed up playing games and stumbled to bed in a daze.
He remembered shutting down the computer, so why were there still game notification sounds?
He forced his heavy eyelids open, and the scene before him was unfamiliar yet somehow familiar:
A somewhat modest office room with a desk, computer, and a business license written in Korean hanging on the wall.
"Am I still not fully awake?"
Lee Kyung got up and walked to the business license, looking at the characters that should have been like incomprehensible to him, but strangely, he could understand them:
"Luminous Youth Entertainment Co., Ltd... Wait, isn't this my company name from the game?"
"This looks like the CEO's office from the game." Lee Kyung finally realized why the scene felt familiar – this was clearly the office from the game!
The game he had played last night was a highly flexible girl group management and romance simulation game, jointly launched by major entertainment companies from Korea.
The current scene was almost identical to the one in the game.
As he stood there bewildered, looking around, a massive flood of memories rushed in like a tide, and the severe headache caused him to collapse onto the desk.
Nearly half an hour later, Lee Kyung finally woke up, holding his head.
He had transmigrated – transported to the year 2016, and specifically into the parallel world created for K-pop players in that game.
In the game, Korea's entertainment industry had been completely altered, replacing all the K-pop girl groups that should have appeared at this time with unknown characters created by the system, even modifying their ages.
After two generations of lukewarm girl groups, major companies were now launching third-generation girl groups.
Industry rules were just taking shape, and without Girls' Generation, TWICE, missA and other girl groups, girl groups were being completely overshadowed by boy groups.
The protagonist was a wealthy second-generation heir from Beijing, also named Lee Kyung.
He had come to Korea out of his love for K-pop, wanting to use his music expertise to create a company like JYP.
"Maybe I should just go home and live off my family's wealth?"
The game started with insufficient funds, disbanded groups, and staff departures. Players had to manage the company from near-bankruptcy to becoming a leading entertainment conglomerate.
Without the game system, now that he was actually in the game world, what could he use to run an entertainment company?
But then again, Lee Kyung was also considering another question: what would happen if the company actually went bankrupt?
In the game, bankruptcy simply ended the game progress, but what if in reality it ended his "life progress"?
Reviving the glory of K-pop girl groups – he cannot shirk from this responsibility!
*Knock knock!*
Just as Lee Kyung's thoughts were racing, there was a knock at the door, and he instinctively said, "Come in."
A mature, professional woman in business attire entered carrying a folder. She stopped in front of the desk:
"President, all six members of Starlight Girls have chosen not to renew their contracts, and the company's producer has also resigned."
Here it comes – the plot begins.
"I'm already aware of this, Director Kim." Lee Kyung leaned forward against the desk.
"What about the other departments? How is the company's financial situation?"
The woman before him was Kim Soo-yeon, Director of Artist Development and secretary – a career-focused professional woman who was one of his key staff members.
"The other departments have remained largely unchanged. After the President initiates the next group's debut planning, the company funds should be able to support three comebacks." Kim Soo-yeon placed the folder on the desk.
"Three times... What trainees does the company currently have, and how long could we operate if we suspend the project?"
Three times – according to K-pop girl group comeback cycles, that meant about one year.
"The company currently has four trainees. Two have been training for three years, while the other two are newcomers who just joined." Kim Soo-yeon adjusted her frameless glasses. "If we suspend the debut planning, we can operate for three years – precisely three years and four months."
"Hm? That long?" One year becoming three years – that was twice as long.
"Promotion, music shows, variety programs – all of these require significant financial investment." Kim Soo-yeon felt that Lee Kyung seemed different today, but still patiently explained.
"Especially music shows – President, you required appearances on too many music programs, and each round of promotions costs a fortune..."
In simple terms, Lee Kyung had used the "money-burning" strategy during girl group comebacks: spending big money with almost zero returns, creating a severe revenue-expense imbalance.
"If we maintain the status quo without any company income, the company will go bankrupt in three years, and all of the President's investment will turn to nothing."
The previous Lee Kyung had invested nearly 6 billion won in this company. If it went bankrupt, all that money would be wasted.
"What about the information on those four trainees?"
"At the end of the file." Kim Soo-yeon opened the folder and flipped to the last few pages.
Let me see the trainees first.
If they're "familiar faces," I can keep them; if I don't recognize them, I'll suggest they leave.
Lee Kyung pulled the materials toward himself, and the first thing he saw was a familiar face in the profile photo.
"Jang... Jang Wonyoung?!"
"Yes, President, this is one of the trainees who has been with the company for three years." Kim Soo-yeon's voice came from in front of him. "The other one, An Yu-jin, is the younger sister of An Se-ri, a member of our former group Starlight Girls."
There's more?
One ace player with a few supporting members could revive the company, and now both pillars of IVE are here – what is there to worry about??
Time to take off!!
Lee Kyung's mind raced with thoughts about how to manage the new girl group as he unconsciously flipped to the next page.
"Kim Gaeul, Kim Ji-min."
Jang Wonyoung, An Yu-jin, and Kim Gaeul – this was like having half of IVE! Are beginner bonuses this generous now?
"These two are newly recruited trainees."
"Kim Gaeul has decent rap talent, and Kim Ji-min has excellent vocal skills."
"Most importantly, the four of them have non-overlapping positions, similar heights, and should perform well on stage together – perfect for debuting as one group."
Kim Soo-yeon knew each trainee inside and out.
"The only issue is that those two newcomers have too little training time, which might affect the debut timeline."
"That's not a problem at all. We're a small company – we can completely train while debuting."
Half of IVE plus Kim Ji-min, the main vocalist of girl group Weeekly – isn't this basically a ready-made group configuration?
Why not immediately arrange for debut planning?
Besides, it's not like they're debuting immediately. If it's just practicing debut songs, intensive training for a month or two should be fine.
Such a wonderful starting situation – truly, heaven never seals off all exits!
Lee Kyung looked at the four familiar faces in the profile photos and placed the materials on the desk: "Let's go see the trainees. If all goes well, these four will be our debut candidates."
He was planning to see the four girls and comfort them emotionally.
After all, with the company in turmoil, he was worried they might just leave.