IJLMT 25

Chapter 25….

[Nova Girls ‘Ugly Syndrome’ Official MV]

• Views: 18.3 million

• Likes: 1.95 million

The new MV release of Nova Girls’ latest track.
Most people would click on the video with joy, but Park Min-gyu was different. Because he was none other than the CEO of Valhalla Studio, the number one company by market cap in the entertainment industry.

He carefully scrolled, avoiding pressing the play button. What, you think it’s petty for a big-company CEO to act like this? Does he not look the type? Even Chairman Lee Jae-moon of Samgang Electronics is known to get angry if his employees use an A-phone instead of his brand.

On release day, he had casually clicked with a laugh—“Heh, that bastard Lee Jong-muk actually pulled it off, huh?” He had been relaxed. But when he woke up the next day, the situation had shifted.

ㄴ Three years as a trainee plus unknown days… must have been hellish, I’m so proudㅠㅠ
ㄴ “No more sighing in front of the mirror” ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ it’s over, girls—flower road only from now on
ㄴ I’m rewatching it five times an hour
ㄴ The song’s so good… somewhere in the world, someone must think I’m handsome, right?
ㄴ There already is. Take care of your parents.
ㄴ Not your parents, duh
ㄴ Let’s smash NobelBeatz’s record gogoㅏㅏㅏㅏ

“Smash what, exactly?”

No matter how far he scrolled, there were no hate comments. And even if one appeared, it had like 80 replies defending against it. Those are “good” hate comments. You think there’s no such thing? When there’s a bad guy, allies rally tighter.

Get heated replying to haters, time passes, then before you know it you’ve clicked the MV again.

“Hey, Chief Lee.”
[Yes, CEO.]
“How’s the strategy team reading this situation? Will it affect our sales or not?”
[Well… it’d be hard to say it won’t. They’re also a four-member girl group in their early twenties, and the concept overlaps. On top of that, they’ve got the underdog story of overcoming long obscurity, plus leader Im Da-bin writes and composes.]
“Any market indicators to check right now?”
[Since it’s been less than 24 hours since release, exact figures are hard… but NobelBeatz’s fan club posts are getting fewer views than usual. And mostly from hardcore fans only.]
“…Really?”

Park Min-gyu bit his lip.
Do you know why idols disband? Fans love them, spend money, so shouldn’t staying active mean endless profit?

But it doesn’t work like that. Fans drift away quietly, only to appear supporting some new idol. Especially when a “rival” emerges.

‘Still, NobelBeatz has its foundation!’

The monster girl group NobelBeatz. They debuted with a record-breaking 21 million debut MV views, still enjoying global popularity. Yes, enjoying, present tense.

The name “Nobel” itself meant only the best of each field gathered. Huge investments in MV production and marketing. A group made to dominate from the start. And Nova Girls? A bunch of nobodies for over a year, daring to surpass NobelBeatz?

Sure, a no-name group can go viral. But there are limits. Let’s be real—if their light was truly that bright, they wouldn’t have been unknown to begin with. What’s happening now defies common sense.

“Chief Lee, what do you think? Will Ugly Syndrome’s 24-hour views surpass NobelBeatz’s Cobra?”
[That’ll be hard. Less than two hours remain till the 24-hour mark. Growth per hour is slowing—1 million between 4–5 pm, then 910k between 5–6 pm. Unless something explosive happens, the record will hold.]
“Relief or not, that’s still massive growth… By the way, did you check that? This Yoo Hyun-jae guy—they say he’s now a ‘part leader’?”
[Yes, and it’s true. But oddly, JM Entertainment only has that position in Team 1. So they created a special role just for him.]
“That’ll cause major backlash, won’t it?”
[We couldn’t confirm that far.]

Something was off.
Back when he was younger, Park Min-gyu had briefly worked with Lee Jong-muk. To describe him in one word: ruthless. A paragon of logic and efficiency—never touched anything unprofitable.

Greed and profit-seeking are different. Min-gyu learned that from Lee Jong-muk. He never did things that didn’t lead to profit, or those that might harm long-term profit. No bribes, no nepotism, no indulgences.

For such a man to give Yoo Hyun-jae special treatment? Then it must mean Hyun-jae brings profit.

“Hm… good. If the record won’t be broken, that’s fortunate. We’ll need to rethink our promotions. Charisma—yes, that’s our angle. Nova Girls are the challengers, but we’re the reigning champions. Show the appeal of the champion—”

But suddenly, Chief Lee’s voice trembled.

[Uh—CEO… the record might… break.]
“What?!”

What nonsense? They just said the growth slowed. He hurriedly refreshed.

• Views: 19.41 million

• Likes: 2.01 million

“What… what is this? You said 910k in an hour! In the ten minutes we were talking, it jumped 1.1 million! What’s going on? Who’s clicking?!”
[It… seems to be from GukppongTV.]
“What? Gukppong? But they were always on NobelBeatz’s side!”

Always hyping them—crushing Taiwan stages, scaring Japanese idols, praised by the U.S.… and now suddenly switching?

[There was… news.]

What news? He quickly checked. Just half an hour ago there was nothing.

<[Breaking] Nova Girls invited to UN’s International Day of Happiness>
<[UN Seoul Office: “Nova Girls can inspire global youth with hope of happiness.”]>

“What kind of ridiculous… Last year, wasn’t it Justin Carius at that event? And now Nova Girls? Different league!”
[Yeah, but after Justin’s event, he posted on SNS: “Yo, this is happiness bro” with bikini girls at his villa. Since then, they completely changed invite criteria.]
“And it just had to be….”

It was endless—“Why them? Why now?”

TV was going wild.

• “The government will fully support Nova Girls’ participation at the UN Happiness Day event. Furthermore, their triumph over hardship will ignite the hearts of our youth, fueling the advance of free Korea—”

“Kim Seok-gu again? He’s just trying to raise ‘Kim Seok-gu Kids’!”
[It’s a UN event. Of course the government pays attention. But… it’s not just the president.]
“What do you mean?”
[Even the opposition is riding this. Look at the party leader’s SNS—posted right after the president’s speech.]

@Kim Jin-mu

• “Young people, even on rainy nights, the stars are still above. If you keep your eyes on the ground, you’ll never see light. Just as Nova Girls endured obscurity and suddenly soared, you too will one day shine. Our party will ensure you need never bow your heads—”

“What’s this old man on about?”
[Remember when he mocked, ‘Noba or Nobi, who cares!’ and got blasted? He’s trying to redeem himself.]
“Then the MV views right now….”

• Views: 21.13 million

• Likes: 2.1 million

Broken. NobelBeatz’s record shattered.

The angle of “champion meeting strong challenger but standing tall” was gone.

[CEO, this was… unstoppable. Practically a natural disaster. Still, people will keep NobelBeatz in their hearts—]
“Exactly. Which makes it more newsworthy—‘They broke NobelBeatz’s record!’”
[…]
“We’ll need a new strategy meeting. I’ll head down now. The division head’s still in office?”
[…I’ll call him back immediately.]

He hung up, replaying the situation.
It made no sense. Just six weeks ago, no one knew Nova Girls.

Yet by “coincidence” they met the president, by “coincidence” their manager saved Im Yoo-joo, by “coincidence” the UN saw their stage. Why did miracle coincidences keep lining up for them?

‘…Why does one name keep coming up?’

• “Manager-nim said Mina trained nonstop since 6am, running, weights, yoga…”

• “Nova Girls’ manager Yoo Hyun-jae saved top star Im Yoo-joo’s life.”

• “Because of Manager-nim, I found my confidence again.”

‘Why is Yoo Hyun-jae’s name behind every so-called coincidence?’

Logically,

1. This many coincidences is impossible.

2. Lee Jong-muk never does unprofitable things.

3. Behind all coincidences is Yoo Hyun-jae.

Conclusion? Only one.

—Somehow, Yoo Hyun-jae is doing something.

The moment he realized it, Min-gyu grabbed his phone.

“Chief Lee.”
[Yes, CEO. Division head will be here in 15 minutes.]
“Fine. About Yoo Hyun-jae, the guy we mentioned.”
[Yes, we’re digging deeper.]
“No need. Don’t dig.”

His voice turned firm.

“Just steal him. Whatever it takes, whatever conditions.”

7 p.m.
I was on my way to Nova Girls’ dorm.

• “We’re so restless without you.”

• “Can you stop by for a bit?”

That’s what the members messaged in the group chat. Understandable—between maybe breaking NobelBeatz’s record and now UN news.

As I stepped out of my car in the dorm parking lot… someone stood there.

“You there.”

The silhouette looked familiar. As I approached—

“Elder!”

It was the old man who gave me the onion. Who was he? A god?

Didn’t matter—I dropped to the ground, bowing. He spoke.

“After all the blessings you’ve received, and what you put in your mouth is… instant noodles?”
“…I’m sorry, Elder.”

He chuckled.

“No need to be sorry. You’re only doing what that would like. You know, most blessings rot or wither fast.”
“Is… that so? I’m just trying to care for Teacher Yang as best I can…”

I had bought a heater so he wouldn’t be cold, growth lamps so he wouldn’t lack sunlight, and wiped each leaf by hand whenever I could.

“Those things aren’t necessary. Do you know what blessings feed on to grow?”
“I don’t, Elder.”

“Don’t know? Then why are you bowing?”
“Because you fixed my life.”
“You fixed it yourself. Anyway… good. I’ll give you more fertilizer, so it grows sturdier.”

Suddenly, my hand felt touched by something like cold water.

“Don’t eat too much salty food. To enjoy blessings, you must stay healthy.”

When I looked up—he was gone.

‘What do blessings feed on?’

I was still dazed as I knocked on the dorm door. Oddly, it was Hyung-sik who opened.

“Hyung-sik?”
“Come in, Part Leader.”
“The members…”
“Heh, just come in.”

I stepped into the living room—

Pop! Pop!

Mini fireworks burst overhead. Confetti rained down.

“What, what’s going on?”
“Thank you, Hyun-jae oppa!”

All the members shouted in unison. Da-bin brought out a big cream cake. I was dumbfounded.

“Wh-why? My birthday’s not for a while…”
“Who says you need a birthday for cake? Any reason to celebrate will do.”
“Weren’t you all anxious wrecks just this morning?”

Nari answered—she’d been the most restless earlier, but now looked calm.

“We kept watching the charts, the news… but then thought, what’s the point? Better to do something constructive for our future. Then Ha-young said…”
“What did she say?”
“That successful people are always grateful. So we had to throw a party.”

Everyone nodded. Now I noticed balloons and decorations everywhere. Clearly, they’d poured effort into this instead of fretting.

“Cut the cake, please.”
“We got you a present too!”
“After the cake.”

I picked up the knife and sliced the cake in half. Da-bin smiled.

“Hyun-jae oppa, thank you. Last year, I really wanted to die… but now, I want to go back and tell myself—‘Just a few more months, and look where you’ll be.’”
“Huh?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“No… nothing.”

I’d heard those words before. They were what Da-bin said in the future that Ban-ji had seen