Office, computer, folders.
Jiang Shu looked bewildered at the familiar yet unfamiliar furnishings before him.
Just a few minutes ago, he was still controlling his game character on the computer, and then everything went dark. When he opened his eyes again, he was in this familiar yet unfamiliar scene?
It was familiar because this office was the President nim's office of the male protagonist's company in the game he was playing.
It was unfamiliar because… wasn't that just a game???
"What's going on?" Jiang Shu looked blankly at the office. The next second, a massive torrent of memories flooded into his mind.
Jiang Shu's eyes were somewhat dazed, impacted by this sudden rush of memories.
After more than ten minutes, his dazed eyes gradually regained their sparkle.
After digesting the vast memories, Jiang Shu's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
He actually transmigrated???
Before transmigrating, as a seasoned dream boy and K-pop girl group enthusiast, Jiang Shu was playing a highly customizable management and romance game featuring K-pop idols as female characters.
Just as Jiang Shu was trying to conquer a new female character late at night, his vision suddenly went black. When he opened his eyes again, he was already in this game world, and he had transmigrated into the male protagonist.
Fortunately, the name Jiang Shu used for the protagonist when he played was his real name for a sense of immersion, not his League of Legends ID "Minju, the first love of Iz*One."
Thinking of this, Jiang Shu's mouth twitched slightly.
If it really were that ID, he'd rather just kill himself.
Although his name wasn't a big problem, his transmigrated identity was a huge problem!
This game world was a fictional world built upon real-life K-pop. Aside from the completely different K-pop, other things were somewhat similar, with not many changes.
The peninsula where the game protagonist, into whom Jiang Shu transmigrated, resided had some very absurd changes.
Jiang Shu was the President nim of DM Entertainment, an entertainment company in the K-pop industry on the verge of bankruptcy. Although on the brink of collapse, he still had assets worth tens of millions of korean won, and his family was quite wealthy. He had come from a large Eastern country to open a company on the peninsula simply to prove himself.
DM Entertainment, Dream Entertainment.
None of that was the main point.
The crucial thing was that DM Entertainment, which wasn't even considered a small company and was on the verge of bankruptcy, didn't even have a single presentable group. Two groups they had launched both failed to make any splash and flopped directly.
Currently, the company only had one debut pre-group, built with the entire company's resources.
And therein lay the problem.
Every time he started a new game, seeing these incredible talents, Jiang Shu found it hard to keep a straight face.
The future super entertainment giant, DM Entertainment, currently had the following four heavyweight members in its debut pre-group:
Devoted and a show-stopping main dancer—Leader Lalisa!
Charming yet refined, gentle and mature—Main dancer Xu Suizhen!
Pure and flawless, innocent girl—Visual Kim Garam!
Loyal and resilient girl—Main vocalist Choi Yunjin!
Invincible!
What an invincible lineup!
Jiang Shu's vision went black just looking at them; he only wanted to disband the company on the spot.
While his own DM Entertainment boasted so many heavyweight talents, within the industry, leading company S.M. Entertainment made a strong comeback with the industry's first second-generation girl group, Rainbow Girls, ready to lead the K-pop industry into the girl group era.
JYP Entertainment also finally decided to shift its gaze from the small peninsula to the vast world.
Memories receded like a tide, and Jiang Shu couldn't help but scratch his head.
In the game, the protagonist had a pay-to-win system where he could draw excellent trainees by spending money, but he didn't have a pay-to-win system after transmigrating into the game world.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Jiang Shu immediately got up and went to the window, pulling open the blinds. He looked at Liu Zhimin, the trial trainee standing outside the door, deep in thought.
This was a beginner's perk in the game. An artist like Liu Zhimin, who was a top-tier idol in Aespa and even among all fifth-generation groups, being given away for free to players, was purely a beginner's perk.
And now, this beginner's perk had become his only reliance.
Damn it!
How could he achieve great things with this bunch of insects?
Jiang Shu painfully covered his face.
Transmigrating into a game world was already quite tragic, but becoming the protagonist without the protagonist's cheat was even more agonizing.
Jiang Shu took a moment to compose himself, then rubbed his face and walked to the desk to pick up the landline phone.
"Let the trial trainee come in."
"Yes!" The voice of Choi Ji-yeon, the President nim's secretary, trainee manager, human resources manager, and scout, came from the other end of the phone.
Even our high-level staff at DM Entertainment are almost all gone!
Thinking of this, Jiang Shu's face almost twisted into a pained expression again.
However, Choi Ji-yeon entered with Liu Zhimin after knocking, forcibly interrupting Jiang Shu's moment of despair.
Leaning against the office desk, he watched the girl following the mature-looking Choi Ji-yeon.
The gentle breeze from closing the door lightly ruffled a playful strand of hair across the girl's bangs, then let it fall.
The beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, illuminated by the office lights, was like a black gem, filling Jiang Shu's pupils.
Just this appearance alone made her worthy of being a beginner's perk!
Perhaps Jiang Shu's gaze was too "intense"; Liu Zhimin shifted uncomfortably and looked up at Jiang Shu.
That strange older sister, who sometimes called herself a DM Entertainment scout and sometimes the President nim's secretary, said that this young-looking man was their DM Entertainment's President nim.
So young…
Liu Zhimin wasn't too intimidated. It was a rare trip to Seoul, and she was just wandering the streets when Choi Ji-yeon pulled her over for an audition.
She didn't know why she agreed to Choi Ji-yeon's offer to audition as a trainee at this seemingly doomed DM Entertainment, but with the mindset of "since I'm already here," she decided to give it a try.
"Hello, I'm Jiang Shu, the President nim of DM Entertainment." Jiang Shu extended his right hand to Liu Zhimin, introducing himself.
"Hello, President nim, I'm Liu Zhimin, born in 2000, eighteen years old this year. I have experience in dance and vocal training." Liu Zhimin bowed politely. Although she didn't think much of this unheard-of DM Entertainment, she still maintained proper etiquette.
"I think you're very good. Would you like to join our DM Entertainment family?" Jiang Shu asked straightforwardly. He didn't have time to beat around the bush; he just wanted to get her to join first.
Liu Zhimin: "?"
"No trial?" Liu Zhimin asked, puzzled.
"I see you have extraordinary bones; you're clearly a good talent for an artist, no trial needed!" Jiang Shu waved his hand, directly approving Liu Zhimin's entry.
The K-pop industry in the game world was a mess, but each artist's potential was perfectly replicated; there wouldn't be absurd situations where Ye Shuhua's strength completely overwhelmed Wu Haiyuan.
So, even though Liu Zhimin was still an ordinary person at this moment, she still possessed the potential to become Aespa's core center.
Liu Zhimin's simple brain cells told her something was wrong. As a girl with not much brains but a good sense of self-awareness, Liu Zhimin decided to follow her intuition.
"I won't—"
"After joining us, you'll get free food and lodging, plus a monthly trainee allowance of one million korean won."
"I'll join!"
What intuition?
Benefits are the truth!