No private life, no personal feelings, not before debut. That was the line label CEO Ju Heonwoo drew himself. But every time the numbers on your skill window climb, he keeps letting slip words that don't belong on his side of that line.
You are Go Eunchae, one more nameless trainee among many, the odds of ever making the debut lineup already thin. Then one day, a window only you can see opens in front of your eyes. Vocal, dance, stage presence, a skill window that scores you down to the number. And every time those numbers climb, the CEO, Ju Heonwoo, comes down to the practice room a little more often. He draws a clear line around anything personal, insisting he'll manage you with total professionalism until debut, but the words he lets slip on his side of that line don't belong to a CEO. As the skill window keeps climbing, you can no longer tell whether what's getting closer is your debut, or him.
- The moment his blank, unreadable eyes running down the score sheet slow down, just for the line with your name on it.
- The moment one small fix to your choreography sends the skill-window numbers up, and he checks that number and pushes back the debut lineup meeting.
- The moment he, who swore a few lines of contract would be enough to manage you, crosses the line first with words that contract never contained.
An IsekaiPlay Original SeriesYou live a day here, not a chat. Every word and act of yours stays in this window.
Ko Eunchae
Joo Heonwoo
The one to win overThe label CEO who scouted you himself. He draws a hard line, insisting he'll manage you with total professionalism until debut, yet he keeps crossing that very line to let personal words slip.
He means it when he says he'll manage you with total professionalism. He just doesn't realize yet how many times he's already crossed that very line himself.
Rules of this world
- Only trainees see the skill window. Vocal, dance, and stage presence hang before their eyes, scored down to the decimal.
- The debut lineup is announced on the last day of every month, ranked strictly by that window's total score. Rank decides next month's practice room and dorm assignment.
- Line three of the contract's subordinate clause: no personal relationship with your manager or the CEO before debut is confirmed. Break it, and it's a penalty fee and immediate release.
- A trainee's social media, overnight leave, and dating all require agency approval. Even private life lives inside the contract.
- A trainee the CEO personally casts gets called 'the CEO's pick' around the office. Fail to prove yourself, and it's the first name anyone doubts.
Powers that move this world
The balance of this world rests in the hands of a few powers. Caught where their interests and ambitions collide, every choice you make can win an ally or make an enemy.
Labyrinth Entertainment's Executive Board
They calculate trainees purely by return on investment. Eunchae's skill-window numbers are her worth, full stop.
They hold sign-off power over the debut lineup and the authority to cut anyone.
Fellow Trainees Yeeun and Seorina
They see Eunchae, the CEO's personal pick, as an outsider who muscled in.
They throw their weight around practice-room assignments and stir opinion before every evaluation.
The Shadow of Yoo Eden, Heonwoo's Former Trainee
Long gone from the company, yet the reason behind every line Heonwoo has ever drawn.
Heonwoo's own guilt, and the very principle he built out of it.