By Zephyria 
The President quickly cleared up my curiosity.
“Penalty.”
“…Pardon?”
“The penalty you have is enormous. Can you even afford to pay it?”
“Oh, how much is it?”
The President neatly took out the contract from the drawer with a clean gesture.
“Read it.”
I hurriedly read the penalty details in the contract.
“Th-this is…”
“See that it says you have to pay five times the penalty if you terminate the contract due to a simple change of heart, or if the reason for termination is on your side?”
I saw it alright…
It was such a large amount that I wanted to tear up the contract right away.
“No, isn’t five times too much?”
“I clearly warned you when we signed the contract. Do you know what you said back then? You said there would never be a reason to terminate the contract, so if a penalty had to be paid, it would be the company paying it.”
“……”
Damn Yeon Yujin.
‘What confidence did you have to say something like that?!’
If I could pay just the penalty, I could have managed somehow with the cash I currently had…
Unfortunately, five times that amount was too much to handle.
Enduring the humiliation, I pleaded to the President in a small voice.
“Um, excuse me. President.”
“What.”
“Could you possibly reduce the penalty…?”
“Do you think I would?”
“…I guess not. Aaaagh.”
Should I have earned more money in my past life with the life hazard pay?
An absurd regret washed over me.
Eventually, I asked the President almost resignedly.
“…Why is the penalty so high?”
“Because it costs a lot of money to create an idol group. Besides, we’re not a huge entertainment agency. Do you think it’s easy to give up on an idol group that we planned and created with ambition? I even added a lot of my own money?”
I didn’t know. I didn’t know it cost so much to create an idol.
The money pouch I confidently brought from the vault felt pathetic.
The last question I asked, hoping for a miracle, was also useless.
“I was just a sub-vocal and sub-rapper, though? Aren’t there many people who could replace me?”
“The core of Secreety is the relationship between the Esper and the Guide. If you leave, do you think it will be easy to find another Guide idol trainee?”
“Is it… difficult?”
“It is. These days, the number of people who manifest as Espers or Guides is small, and even if they awaken, only those who are A-Class or higher are affiliated with government agencies. And that’s with a high salary as a condition.”
“No, how much money do they give…”
In response to my words, the President showed me data, saying that this was the most recent salary statistics for government-affiliated Ability Users.
“Heok.”
How many zeros are attached to that?
Even considering the inflation rate that has soared over the past 20 years, it was an extraordinary salary.
I glared at the statistical data, feeling wronged and resentful, but an even more shocking story flowed from the President’s mouth.
“Even if they’re not A-Class or higher, the government occasionally opens special recruitments for those who wish to join, so the job of an idol isn’t very attractive to Hunters. They can’t enjoy their private lives while working a tight schedule. The long trainee life is the same.”
“……”
“It’s faster to become a Hunter influencer or a NewTuber and generate profits through various SNS channels, so there’s no reason to dream of a difficult idol life. Even if they’re hired as regular members of a private guild, Ability Users earn enough to be the envy of others. Especially if they’re A-Class or higher, like the other members of Yujin’s group, except for you.”
The President told me.
These days, awakening as an Ability User is like winning the lottery.
“A D-Class Guide like you is low-level and common, so you tend to go down other paths, but even so, Guides are still more welcomed than Espers because there are fewer of them.”
“…Do they get paid well?”
“Of course. They easily earn the salary of an average small to medium-sized company employee. If they get a reputation in the industry for being good at Guiding, they’ll be actively scouted, so they have nothing to regret. In the Ability User industry, it’s not just the rank that matters, but also the matching rate.”
“Heo…”
So, to summarize…
‘Yeon Yujin and the members of this group are unique cases.’
Come to think of it, when I first opened my eyes in Yeon Yujin’s body, I was puzzled.
Why would Espers and Guides want to live as idols!
“…The other members are A-Class, so why did they want to become idols?”
“Are you really suffering from amnesia? You’ve forgotten why your teammates debuted.”
“I don’t know. So please tell me.”
If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.
Even if we can’t get along harmoniously, it would be good to know information about the Espers I will be working with as a Guide.
When I asked confidently, the President made a dumbfounded expression but answered diligently.
“They all have different reasons. Ho-yeon and Tae-beom purely want to fulfill their dreams of becoming singers. Si-yoon wants to escape from his strict and suffocating family. Yoon-chae simply thought it would be fun and challenged himself. Even though he comes from a wealthy family.”
“…Seo Yun-chae’s family is rich?”
“Yes. He said everything felt too easy because of his family. But now, he doesn’t seem to be very happy about joining our agency.”
‘Yeon Yujin is practically an orphan with no inheritance.’
As I trembled at the difference in our innate environments, the President took back the contract and said.
“Do you understand now? You have to stay here if you don’t have the money to pay the penalty.”
‘Wow…’
In the end, I had to leave the President’s office with nothing to show for it.
‘I expected the penalty issue to some extent, but I thought I could solve it with the money I had…’
That was nonsense.
Sadly, the money that had been in the vault for 20 years had become less valuable because the inflation rate had risen even higher.
It was quite a large sum of money back then as life hazard pay, but now it was a pittance compared to what I thought.
“I’m screwed.”
I slumped down on a random chair in the corner of the company and lamented.
“…What should I do now?”
I have to get out.
‘I need to leave this place and meet Hyeon Jae-ha, so I can find the person who killed me…’
I was blocked from the start, and I didn’t know what to do with my frustrated heart.
[Aigo. What are you going to do with your mentality shattered like that.]
Potato lay down on my head, saying something that I couldn’t tell if it was comforting or mocking.
Why does this Potato bastard like my head so much?
I was annoyed, but I didn’t have the energy to respond.
‘Wow, what am I really going to do?’
At this rate, wasn’t it pointless to risk going to the vault?
I was just spacing out because I couldn’t think of any immediate solutions, but someone approached me.
“Who is this? Isn’t it Yeon Yujin?”
“Who…?”
When I raised my head, I saw the owner of bright-colored hair that looked like it was spun from gold thread.
A man with sparkling fresh green eyes smiled creepily.
“Don’t you know me?”
“I don’t know. Who are you?”
When I replied bluntly, the other person’s expression stiffened for a moment before blooming like a flower again.
‘Ah, I know guys who make that kind of expression well.’
They usually pretend to be friendly and kind, but in reality, they’re twisted inside and make that kind of expression in an instant.
And most of those guys died in battles with monsters. Because they didn’t receive support from their comrades.
“I’m Seo Yun-chae. A member of the same Secreety team as you.”
“Ah.”
Only after Seo Yun-chae mentioned his name and affiliation did I remember.
When I first woke up, I thought there was a particularly bright yellow-haired member among the members who accompanied me.
“Sorry. I lost my memory, so I don’t know my teammates very well.”
“I guess so. You’re speaking informally to me, even though I’m older than you.”
Seo Yun-chae, who snorted, was annoying.
‘What’s with this guy?’
It was clear that he came to pick a fight. He was blatantly showing that he was looking down on me.
“You didn’t even try to talk to us before you lost your memory.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. You said you didn’t want to associate with the likes of us.”
Yeon Yujin and this guy had a bad relationship too.
‘Now that it’s come to this, should I ask what happened?’
Since I can’t quit anyway, there’s no harm in gathering information about Yeon Yujin.
I needed more intimate and private information than what I could get online.
“What happened between me and the members before I lost my memory?”
“Do I have to tell you? Didn’t you just tell the President that you were quitting? Why should I bother telling someone who’s just eager to leave?”
Tch.
‘What’s with this annoying guy?’
Every word was a challenge. He had a friendly smile, but he was clearly showing that he didn’t like me.
“…I can’t leave. I can’t afford to pay the penalty.”
“Aha. Is that so?”
Pleasure settled in Seo Yun-chae’s softly curved green eyes.
“Do you think I’m easy?”
When I asked that in a fit of anger, Seo Yun-chae nodded obediently.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“…Why do you hate me?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Because we’re not on the same level.”
“What?”
Was this guy a rank discriminationist?