I Quit Being an Idol and Became a Youtuber - Chapter 58

“Hoo····.”

To relax, Natsume took a deep breath.

A few days after Ren’s attack incident.

Due to the swift actions of the two, articles in the entertainment industry began to mention Ren’s name again.

Now that public interest is once again focused on this topic, it is the perfect time to expose the related details.

“······.”

Looking around, outdated cameras and microphones caught her eye.

The studio, poorly managed by the company, was in disrepair.

Since it was a studio that had been entered after secretly picking a lock, the filming quality was significantly lacking.

‘It doesn’t matter, though.’

After all, the quality isn’t that important.

As long as her face appears and her voice is clear, it’s a success.

And that was already proven through the rehearsal sh**t a moment ago.

“Hey, Natsume. Are you really okay?”

Yui asked her with a serious tone, completely different from her usual way of speaking.

“If you’re feeling nervous, we can share the load…”

“No, I’m fine.”

With Ren gone and Hikari missing, Cornelia’s backbone was herself.

That meant, regardless of any other content, she had to start the opening.

‘It’s okay.’

She could definitely do well, just like her older sister.

Natsume kept repeating that to herself.

“Then, should I start? We have three seconds until we begin?”

Hina shouted to everyone, taking on the role of hitting the filming timer.

Since there were no accompanying staff, everything had to be done manually.

“····Okay, got it.”

At her words, all members stood up and moved in front of the white background.

“Is everyone ready? One, two, three!”

A live event that would later be called the “Cornelia Revelation.”

Its beginning was a small YouTube live stream.

* * *

The 2020s were like a storm.

As an epidemic spread in one country on a continent, the tension among various nations began to rise.

Meanwhile, Japan was ablaze with another incident.

[Former idol R, attack incident occurs]

[Assault by a man wielding a blunt weapon]

[“I just wanted to punish the devil who betrayed her fans…”]

[“Because I loved her too much, I hated her…” Is that okay, twisted fan sentiment?]

The rising famous rookie idol group, Cornelia.

It was about the former leader of that idol group, Sakamiya Ren.

A stalker who was imprisoned by her attempted to take her life with a weapon but failed.

It was enough content to attract people’s interest.

– Well, she was always a nuisance, serves her right.

ㄴ Yeah, it would have been better if she just died!

– What’s this? Boring.

ㄴ It’s not even that she’s dead, why are you making such a fuss?

– She’s probably at her boyfriend’s house right now.

ㄴ ? : Stop…! I can’t eat anymore!

ㄴ I can’t stand this.

– But isn’t her mom a former prostitute too?

ㄴ There’s a reason she went around selling her body.

ㄴ But honestly, Cabaret Girls aren’t really prostitutes, they just serve drinks and chat.

ㄴ But if she met a guy there and had a kid, she’s a prostitute after all.

ㄴ It’s all the same anyway, no need to debate it, lol.

ㄴ From the moment she was born there, she’s out.

Tap-tap—

“·····.”

Watching people start to tear down Ren in an instant, the woman typed on her keyboard.

‘If it were me, I would have grabbed a kn*fe and stabbed him.’

Pressing the enter key, her comment was successfully registered on the internet.

– But no matter how you look at it, someone almost died, isn’t this a bit much?

ㄴ Exactly… I wonder why everyone is acting like this…

ㄴ The internet is really scary.

“Seriously, what the heck?”

Some clueless comments caught her eye, but they didn’t matter.

Many people were already roasting them in the replies.

After all, nothing beats watching someone else’s fight as entertainment.

“Who does she think she is, worrying about celebrities?”

She had never cared about the group Cornelia and didn’t care what Ren did.

She just needed an escape to vent her frustration while enduring the tough company life.

Numerous celebrities had been targets before, and this time it was just Cornelia.

‘After all, everyone is cursing her, right?’

She had heard that fans were mocked and that Ren had even slept at a man’s place.

In that case, isn’t it acceptable to criticize her?

Finishing her post, the woman quietly stared at the calendar.

There wasn’t much time left until the announcement of Cornelia’s new song that she had seen on the internet.

‘I wonder what the agency will say about it.’

Since she was an idol who had completely withdrawn, they probably wouldn’t care much.

Ding—

At that moment, the woman’s phone rang, sending her a message.

It was a keyword alert she had set up.

[Cornelia official channel live has started, what’s this?]

What kind of reaction would it show?

The troll returned to the YouTube official channel to view it again.

What stood before him was a scene from the time Ren was present. Natsume, who had been the second member and was now the first, was there.

The number of viewers gathered in that manner was immense.

– What is this?

– Where did Hikari-chan go?

– Is she being bullied again?

– Seeing this, her face looks weird.

– But isn’t this her first live?

– The company hasn’t said anything.

– Who do they think they are, going live?

– What’s an idol doing at this hour?

– Wow, the setup is terrible.

Soon, the other members revealed themselves.

The shabby background behind them clearly looked like a studio that the company hadn’t supported.

The moment the number of viewers passed 30,000.

With a trembling voice, Natsume began to speak.

“⸻Hello everyone?”

Although she was starting to make a name for herself as a rookie, Natsume was, after all, a professional, just like Ren.

She had performed countless live shows and had experience acting as an idol.

However, thinking about how many people were watching her announcement live, she started to get nervous.

Her own life, Cornelia’s, Ren’s, and Shion’s.

Not to mention the groups of siblings under the same agency.

With so many lives at stake, the tension was incomparable to that of a concert.

There would be no editing for any mistakes that might happen.

Every action of hers would be broadcasted to those watching this stream.

“Some of you may be surprised by this sudden live, but today we want to talk about our agency, UFO Entertainment.”

“First of all, I will address the rumors related to our group’s leader, Ren.”

She couldn’t quite remember the script she had prepared in advance.

Just convey the genuine feelings that came to her mind.

That was the answer passed down from her idol, her role model.

“⸻Even if a member of our agency has caused a problem, what kind of company would handle it like this?”

Without a formal clarification, they even turned a blind eye to the actions of the trolls.

They didn’t hold a kn*fe, but their intention was clearly to bury the other party.

“We can no longer overlook this problem and cannot trust this company any longer.”

As Natsume spoke, the gazes of the artists watching the live stream changed.

In the early stages of the establishment.

Even Ren, who had helped build the company together, was driven out of the industry without a word of explanation, stained with disgrace.

Could they guarantee their own safety?

Everyone must have harbored that underlying anxiety.

That was one of the goals of this live stream.

No matter how small the crack.

Once it occurred, it would spread quickly.

Although nothing more could be done for Ren, what mattered was not that.

“In light of this situation, what we want is contract termination. Not just for me, but for all of our members.”

With Natsume’s concluding remark, the live broadcast ended that day.

At the same time.

As if a bomb had gone off, panic spread throughout the internet.

* * *

“What a mess.”

The words Ren uttered upon seeing the completely chaotic internet situation.

[Famous entertainment agency UFO Entertainment faces allegations of exploitation against its artists…]

[The madness of idol culture, are fans not responsible?]

[Cornelia, the queen of rookies, expresses intent to terminate contract with agency…]

“So, how do you feel?”

“To be honest, it feels refreshing.”

The arrows that had once been directed entirely at her were now split towards the company.

Just that simple fact made her heart feel much lighter.

“You were right, Shion. Our kids have grown up.”

Well, that was obvious.

Detailed stories about the stalker incident did not come out on the internet.

The main focus was on internal corruption and unfair contracts of the agency.

And the treatment issues directed toward their artists.

The stalker case had served its purpose by drawing people’s attention.

The rest would be handled by internet conspiracy theorists.

Considering the previous situation with Mayuri, it would be hard for the agency to just brush this off.

“Oh, there’s also the exploitation contract talk.”

This wasn’t something that came up in the live stream.

Some internal whistleblower revealing contract details…

“·····.”

“Not me.”

As she quietly looked at Shion, he returned with a denial, as if he had anticipated it.

‘Actually, mine isn’t an exploitation contract.’

Even until that point, I was planning to withdraw at the original timeline, so the contract was pretty lacking.

I was okay just receiving a salary equivalent to a big corporation’s worker, so I had left salary-related matters to the agency as a kind of bargaining to lower the penalty fee for withdrawal.

Therefore, strictly speaking, it wasn’t the case that I wrote what was in the article under coercion from the company…

‘I don’t care.’

Why should I care about that?

After all, they didn’t stand up for me when the s*xual favor controversy erupted.

In that case, might as well let them see some karma.

The fact that such articles appeared openly might suggest there were other cases besides mine.

I wonder what kind of expression the higher-ups would be making right about now.

Judging by common sense, they’d probably be furious.

After a long time, the dopamine flowed through Ren’s mind.

Now I see why everyone looks for those cathartic moments in novels.

‘If possible, I’d like to see how it ends.’

My longing to savor this delightful sweet moment in one go was overwhelming.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time for that.

Right now, I had a very busy schedule ahead of me.

“By the way, Ren.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really planning to leave?”

Suddenly, Shion asked me with a worried expression.

He was doing this because of the future plans I had shared with him recently.

“Why, are you worried?”

Well, it made sense.

From Shion’s perspective, ‘that side’ would be a place completely disconnected from me.

“No, I just thought maybe it was too early.”

Logically thinking, he was right.

I didn’t even have a proper foundation over there.

What I said might sound like I was intending to live abroad without proper preparation to anyone listening.

From my acquaintances’ perspective, a hundred concerns wouldn’t be enough.

“····I don’t know, but it feels like it has to be now.”

They probably wouldn’t believe me if I said that the road between the countries would soon be cut off.

Before the COVID pandemic that started in the continent spreads globally.

I plan to move to Korea.