The screen of Han Yoo-jin's phone was the only light in his dark bedroom.
6:00 AM. The charts had just updated.
He refreshed the Melon app.
1. ECLIPSE - Sol & Luna
2. Gravity - Sol & Luna
3. Love Dive - Aurora (Titan Ent)
Yoo-jin let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding for ten years.
It was a "Roof Kick." The stream count had hit the maximum measurable limit. They hadn't just beaten Titan's flagship group; they had stepped on their heads to reach the top.
[System Notification]
[Achievement Unlocked: 'Monster Rookie']
[Reputation: 'The God's Touch' (Industry Wide)]
[Stamina restored to 100%.]
The fatigue from the Hongdae showcase vanished. The fear of the "Version 1" glitch was shoved into a box in the back of his mind.
Right now, he wasn't a rebooted ghost. He was the winner.
His phone buzzed. It was Director Park.
"Where are you? The phones are melting. Get to the office. Now."
Yoo-jin smiled. He grabbed a fresh shirt. It was time to collect his winnings.
The Starforce office was usually a quiet place on Saturday mornings. Today, it looked like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Staff were running with coffee cups. Phones were ringing in a dissonant chorus.
When Yoo-jin stepped off the elevator, the noise stopped.
Every head turned. The marketing team, the A&R reps, the interns. They stared at him with a mix of fear and reverence. He was the man who had dragged a dying agency into the spotlight with nothing but a microphone and a hashtag.
"PD-nim!" Kim Seo-yeon ran over, holding a tablet like a shield. "We have requests for interviews from Vogue, Dazed, and Billboard Korea. And..."
She lowered her voice.
"Titan's distributors are stalling. They claim there's a 'logistics error' with our physical albums. They aren't shipping to stores."
Yoo-jin's eyes narrowed. Of course.
Titan couldn't stop the digital stream, so they were attacking the physical sales. If the albums didn't reach the Hanteo Chart retailers by Sunday, the first-week sales numbers would tank. Sol & Luna would look like a digital-only viral trend, not a legitimate seller.
"They blocked the trucks," Yoo-jin muttered. "Classic."
"What do we do?" Seo-yeon asked, panic creeping into her voice. "We have 100,000 pre-orders sitting in a warehouse in Incheon."
"We rent our own trucks," Yoo-jin said calmly. "Call the logistics manager. Tell him to hire every independent delivery van in Seoul. If he has to use motorcycle couriers, I don't care. Get the albums to the fans."
"That will cost triple the budget!"
"And if we miss the first-week sales window, we lose our momentum," Yoo-jin countered. "Spend the money. I'll make it back."
He walked past her, straight toward the Director's office.
He didn't knock.
Director Park was sitting at his desk, looking at a sales projection graph with a goofy grin on his face. He looked up as Yoo-jin entered.
"Assistant Manager Han! Or should I say, Chief Producer Han?" Park stood up, extending a hand. "Have you seen the stock price? We're up 15%!"
Yoo-jin ignored the hand. He sat down on the leather sofa.
"Titan blocked the distribution channels," Yoo-jin said. "I just authorized emergency independent shipping. It will eat into your profit margin."
Park's smile faltered. "How much?"
"Fifty million won."
"Fifty..." Park turned pale. "Yoo-jin, we can't bleed cash like that! Just wait a few days for the blockade to lift."
"If we wait, we lose the 'All-Kill' narrative," Yoo-jin said sharply. "We are at war, Director. You don't save ammo during an invasion."
He leaned forward. The System interface flickered in his vision.
[Target: Park Dong-soo]
[Desire: Recognition, Money, Safety]
[Fear: Returning to irrelevance.]
"I need full autonomy," Yoo-jin said. "Budget, scheduling, personnel. No more asking for permission. If you want Sol & Luna to stay at #1, you give me the keys to the kingdom."
Park hesitated. He looked at the rising stock graph on his screen. Then he looked at Yoo-jin's cold, unwavering eyes.
"Fine," Park sighed, slumping back. "Do whatever you want. Just keep the stock green."
"Done."
Yoo-jin stood up. "One more thing. Fire Manager Choi."
Park blinked. "The scheduler? Why?"
"He leaked the Hongdae location to Titan before we announced it," Yoo-jin lied.
He hadn't. But Choi was weak, and Titan would use him again. Yoo-jin needed the staff terrified and loyal.
"He's gone," Park agreed instantly.
Yoo-jin walked out of the office feeling lighter. He had control. Now he needed answers.
He took the elevator down to the basement.
The "Safe House" studio was quiet. Mina and Hana were upstairs in the dance practice room, probably fueled by the chart news.
Isabelle was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, watching the MV teaser on a loop on her phone.
She looked up as Yoo-jin entered. Her eyes were clear, the madness of the Oracle receded for now.
"You're number one," she said softy. "I saw it."
"You saw the chart?"
"I saw it in a vision three days ago," she corrected. "But I didn't tell you. I wanted you to earn it."
Yoo-jin pulled up a chair and sat opposite her.
"Let's talk about visions," he said. "Tell me about Version 1."
Isabelle flinched. She put the phone down.
"I don't know what 'Version 1' means," she whispered. "I just know the sound. The man in my vision... the Doppelganger... he sounds like static. Like you."
"But older?"
"No," she shook her head. "He sounds... empty. Like he used up everything he had."
Yoo-jin felt a chill. System Overload.
"He sent me a message," Yoo-jin said. "He said he died. He said he was reset."
Isabelle's eyes widened. She grabbed Yoo-jin's wrist. Her hands were ice cold.
"Yoo-jin," she said urgently. "The 'noise' you use to shield me. The simulation skill. The way you see numbers. Does it hurt?"
"Yes," he admitted. "Nosebleeds. Migraines."
"That's not a side effect," she said, her voice trembling. "That's the fuel. You're burning your own lifespan to power the System."
The room went silent.
Yoo-jin looked at his hand. He thought about the fainting spells. The warnings about 'Neural Damage'.
The System wasn't a gift. It was a furnace. And he was the coal.
"Version 1 died of Overload," Yoo-jin realized. "He used the skills too much. He tried to be a god, and his brain melted."
"Stop using it," Isabelle begged. "You won. You have the charts. You don't need the magic anymore."
"I can't stop," Yoo-jin said grimly. "Titan is coming. And the Doppelganger is waiting at the Awards. If I stop now, Sol & Luna get crushed."
He stood up, gently removing her hand from his wrist.
"I just have to be smarter. I have to win without using the cheat codes."
He went back to his desk. He opened the "History" tab in the System again.
It was still glitched, but one new line of text had appeared under the "Cause of Death."
[Warning: User Sync Rate at 40%. Reaching 100% will trigger Total Recall.]
[Total Recall risk: Catastrophic Failure.]
He was 40% of the way to remembering who he used to be. And apparently, remembering would kill him.
"Great," Yoo-jin muttered. "Don't remember the past. Just survive the future."
His computer pinged. An email from Kim Seo-yeon.
Subject: URGENT - Venue Issue
Yoo-jin opened it.
Titan has bought exclusive rights to every mid-sized concert venue in Seoul for the next three months. They claim it's for 'maintenance' or 'long-term rehearsals'. We have nowhere to hold the official debut showcase next week.
Yoo-jin laughed. It was a dry, humorless sound.
They blocked the TV. They blocked the albums. Now they were blocking the physical earth.
"They really want to suffocate us," he whispered.
He stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the Seoul skyline. Specifically, at the massive, gold-tinted tower of Titan Entertainment in the distance.
They had bought all the venues? Fine.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he hadn't used in weeks.
"Director Ahn," Yoo-jin said when the line connected.
The TK Group executive answered on the first ring. "Mr. Han. Congratulations on the chart topping. The Chairman is... pleased."
"I need a favor," Yoo-jin said. "Titan has blockaded every venue in the city."
"And you want TK Group to buy one for you?"
"No," Yoo-jin said. "I want you to rent me the TK Department Store Atrium."
There was a pause. "The Atrium? It's a shopping mall, Mr. Han. Not a concert hall."
"It has a glass ceiling," Yoo-jin said, his mind racing with the image. "It fits five thousand people on the balconies. And most importantly..."
He paused for effect.
"It's directly across the street from Titan Entertainment."
Director Ahn chuckled. It was a low, impressed sound. "You want to hold your debut showcase specifically to make noise that rattles their windows?"
"I want them to look out of their boardroom and see a giant banner of the daughter they threw away," Yoo-jin said cold. "I want Sol & Luna to be the only thing they see."
"The Chairman will love the irony," Ahn said. "Consider it booked. Do you need security?"
"Yes. Lots of it."
Yoo-jin hung up.
He looked at the Titan tower again.
He wasn't going to use his System skills for this. No simulations. No mind-reading.
Just pure, petty, strategic warfare.
If using the System killed him, he would just have to be a monster without it.
He turned back to his computer and opened the marketing file. He typed a new location for the showcase.
LOCATION: TK Atrium (Gangnam).
TIME: Next Friday, 8 PM.
He hit send.
Let the Doppelganger watch. Let Titan panic.
Han Yoo-jin was done playing defense.