Chapter 255: Final Achievement

The glossy black bean sauce flowed over the noodles, glistening.

Gulp.

I swallowed my saliva and picked up my chopsticks.

Manager Lee Jaeyoon was looking this way with a satisfied smile.

“Is the black bean noodles good?”

I hadn’t even taken a bite yet.

Feeling a little embarrassed, I smiled awkwardly and shoved a large mouthful in with my chopsticks. I had eaten the lunchbox my older members made until I was full, but after using my brain for several hours, hunger had quickly returned.

And I had been craving black bean noodles anyway.

To savor the taste of carbohydrates—something I couldn’t properly eat during promotions—I closed my eyes and focused with all my taste buds.

“Ah, it’s good.”

A smile naturally spread across my face.

The rich flavor that struck the tip of my tongue was incredible. Even the subtle smoky aroma lingering in it was pure art.

This place makes good black bean noodles. I nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, Manager Lee Jaeyoon asked casually,

“Seohan, did your exam go well?”

“We already asked earlier. He said he solved the questions well.”

“…Ah.”

Manager Lee Jaeyoon coughed awkwardly and waved his hand.

“It’s fine. You didn’t even study because of the comeback.”

“…Seohan probably studied.”

“You were busy, so you couldn’t have done much~.”

Whenever I had spare time during comeback promotions, I had flipped through my summary notes little by little.

I had done my best in my own way, but how could I beat people who had studied properly?

It wasn’t like I was going to university now anyway, and the time when grades mattered to me had already passed. I pushed the meat around with my chopsticks and added quietly,

“Still, I think I did well on math.”

“Oh, really?”

“Wow… confidence~.”

“What about Korean? Were there difficult questions? Do you think you did well?”

“Well, who knows.”

“Hey, you guys sound like parents….”

At Seo Ian’s remark, Cha Seongbin burst into laughter.

Seriously… if someone saw this, they’d think they were parents with intense academic enthusiasm.

I could go along with it and give them a briefing about today’s exams one by one…

But there was something else I needed to think about.

The next achievement that had to be accomplished no matter what.

Since Kim Woochan hadn’t mentioned anything yet, I had remained quiet too.

Part of me didn’t want to tie myself down with complicated thoughts right after finishing promotions, and part of me felt reassured because we had achieved Double Million-seller status.

Still, I couldn’t leave things like this forever. Now that the urgent exam was over, I would probably have to contact him soon.

“Manager.”

Right then, Jin Sehyun, who had been chewing on fried dumplings, spoke up.

“When are we debuting in Japan?”

“Ah.”

They had definitely said preparations would start soon, but the exact schedule had appeared and then disappeared without a trace. Jin Sehyun chewed on pickled radish and smiled awkwardly.

“Ah, maybe talking about work on a day like this is a bit…”

“No, it’s fine. I was going to talk about it anyway.”

Manager Lee Jaeyoon shook his head and spoke. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but his expression looked slightly darker.

“You know about your Japanese debut.”

“Yes, yes.”

“It looks like it’s already running into some problems.”

The last thing I remembered was the A&R team being busy selecting songs. What happened in the meantime?

Kang Siwoo asked with a serious expression.

“Why?”

“The relationship between the company and the broadcasting station you were supposed to appear on got a little bad….”

They wouldn’t just go there and release an album. To build recognition, they needed to appear on various broadcasts.

But apparently there had been some friction regarding a variety show appearance.

“This time there was some trouble on the Tiple side.”

Tiple had quite a high level of recognition even in Japan. Any Japanese fan who liked K-pop would know that name.

“Compared to their status, the treatment they received was too poor, so the company got pretty annoyed. That last variety show appearance was the worst.”

“Ah….”

Even if they protested, the broadcasting station held the power, so there wasn’t much they could do. The atmosphere between both sides had grown cold, and the aftereffects were still lingering.

Manager Lee Jaeyoon clicked his tongue and sipped his hot tea.

“Still, it’ll probably get resolved somehow.”

In other words, we shouldn’t worry too much.

—

[Stardust’s growth rate is insane]

Second year since debut and already top-tier idols lol

Until the last album, tons of fans from other fandoms kept claiming they weren’t top-tier and only got to Billboard through luck, but now everyone’s shut their mouths??? lol They hit Double Million-seller in first-week sales, what are you going to do about it?

* The general public still doesn’t know boy groups anyway

└ Then what exactly is that general public listening to lol Universe Dust’s Title Track is still in the digital Top 10 right now?

└ True. If it’s stayed in the Melon Top 10 for two weeks, what more metrics do you need?

└ Sorry but other people have to listen for that ranking to stay ^^ Fans can’t just camp it by streaming ㅎㅎㅎ

└ LOL here comes the “general public doesn’t know boy groups” guy again

└ This is embarrassing dude… delete your comment….

* Sob… whenever our kids got good results people used to say audition-show groups should be like that and kept dragging them ㅠㅠ now that talk has disappeared and I’m so happy ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└ There are still people who say that lol But if every audition-show group is Double Million-seller then why didn’t your fandom debut through an audition show? lol

└ True

└ Even among rookies this is record-level performance, criticizing them like that is shameless

└ Surprisingly there are a loooooot of shameless people

* But honestly Universe Dust would’ve succeeded even without the audition show. Doubles poured everything into their rookie boy group… it’s a big company so they pushed them hard… and the songs are insanely good like now, so it’d be weird if they didn’t succeed

└ The ones meant to rise just rose

└ 2222 One regret though is Doubles seems a bit hesitant when overseas opportunities appear

└ No… don’t go overseas…

└ If they push overseas too aggressively they might neglect Korea. They should solidify their top-tier idol position first before suddenly leaving Korea

└ Still, Every Summer performed really well and this album is getting overseas reactions too, so Doubles might be testing the waters?

Although the post had been dirtied with various malicious comments, the very fact that such reactions existed proved one thing.

Stardust was clearly on the rise.

They had already established themselves as top-tier idols domestically, and overseas there were clearly strong signals of interest.

According to what I heard from Seohan, they were also preparing for a Japanese debut next, so it seemed likely they would achieve good results.

“Hmm.”

It felt… good.

Honestly, it felt even better than when my group received the Best Artist award at a year-end ceremony.

Even if the achievements I had built over many years were being caught up to by rookie idols in only their second year, I didn’t feel impatient at all.

Compared to pride in my career, surviving was several times more important.

Kim Woochan of The Way.

That might be the title people remembered, but Kim Woochan wanted to live as the human being Kim Woochan.

He had endured the past year while focusing only on that goal.

Everything was going smoothly.

Seohan had done far better than expected, but there was just one thing bothering him.

Tap, tap.

Kim Woochan tapped the desk with his fingers as he sank into thought.

Do Seohan was clearly someone destined for great things. He had talent, ability, and even luck—because the universe itself protected him.

But that dream-filled boy knew nothing about his own future.

‘Will you really be able to do it in the end….’

The Final Achievement that existed at the end of all these trials.

Could that achievement, the one binding Kim Woochan’s ankle, really be accomplished by Do Seohan, someone living his life for the second time?

Kim Woochan raised his head and looked up at the empty air.

Blink. Blink.

The system message appearing on his retina was just as harsh today.

Every time he saw it, it left him feeling unpleasant, and his brow furrowed.

[Variable of the Universe 2 — Save Do Seohan.]

“This is my Final Achievement….”

Kim Woochan turned his gaze and checked Do Seohan’s achievements.

Two choices were glowing at the top.

He scanned the achievement list with his eyes once more, something he had checked hundreds of times already.

Kim Woochan swallowed dryly and reached out his hand into the air.

[Final Achievement — 1]

[Final Achievement — 2]

Compared to the countless intermediate achievements he had passed through until now, the wall of the final achievement was towering.

[Final Achievement — 1: Grammy Awards Victory]

Your variable has become the first Korean to win Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

“…The Grammy Awards….”

Not just a nomination—an actual win.

He still vividly remembered the shock he felt when he first saw this achievement, but even now, looking at it again made curses rise to his lips.

Is that even possible?

You’d have to rewrite history.

“Hoo….”

And then—

Kim Woochan rolled his eyes and checked the second achievement.

The second Final Achievement claimed a result completely different in nature from the first option.

Kim Woochan’s face turned cold.

[Final Achievement — 2: Vegetative State]

Your variable remains alive through life-sustaining treatment. This condition will remain valid until 2024.

The requirement was simply that the variable maintain a state of “survival” by any means.

Coldly speaking, it was far easier than the first achievement.

“…….”

Kim Woochan read that sentence over and over with deep eyes.

What came before guilt was rational thinking.

In truth, he had considered that option many times, but reality always stopped him.

‘If he dies now, it’ll be hard to keep that state until 2024.’

Maybe if he had already lasted several more years.

For now, caution was necessary.

Still, as he stared at those cold words, a conversation he had once shared with Seohan came to mind.

When the Billboard chart-in achievement had appeared, he had called Seohan and said something like this.

‘I personally hope you make it to Billboard. If the first button is fastened properly, everything afterward can be managed.’

‘Because I…’

Kim Woochan quietly spoke the words he hadn’t been able to finish back then.

“…don’t want to kill you.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep