Idol Hides His Military Service

Army Captain.

And “Company Commander.” Those were the titles that had once referred to me in my previous life.

'I wonder if that version of me was buried in the National Cemetery.'

Even after coming back to life in a woman’s body, that old question still lingered in my mind.

In my past life, I’d died in the line of duty.

Normally, if you die in the line of duty, you’d expect to be buried in the National Cemetery—but my death had been so absurd that I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Company Commander!!”

'That crazy useless bastard...'

I was shot by one of my own soldiers.

The day I died was just another routine monthly shooting drill.

Company commanders took turns supervising the range, but the one scheduled that day had asked to swap shifts, and I—being generous—had agreed. That was my mistake.

“Commence firing, starting from the first shooter!”

I gave the order over the range mic, scanning the lanes to make sure no idiot was doing something stupid—

Bang!

A sharp pain hit my chest, as if something had stung me.

I rubbed the spot, thinking it was an insect bite, and when I looked at my hand, it was covered in bright red.

'Huh...?'

The first thing that flashed through my head was a shooting rampage.

Just a few years earlier, a reservist had gone berserk at a range, firing on everyone.

But no one was pointing a rifle at me.

Thud.

I’d seen it in movies and dramas countless times—people getting shot, screaming, fighting through it.

'All bullshit.'

When you really get shot, you can’t scream. Your body just goes limp, and all that comes out of your mouth is a faint hiss of air.

“Company Commander!”

People rushed over in a panic once they realized what had happened, but I already knew.

The bullet had hit a very bad spot.

'Who the hell...'

I couldn’t die without knowing who had done it.

So I forced my head to turn, searching desperately for the culprit.

'That... that stupid worthless bastard...'

One of the new recruits stood frozen, gripping his rifle in shock.

The safety lever in his lane had a deep bullet mark, as if a round had grazed it.

That’s when I realized it.

The idiot had missed his target and hit the safety mechanism. The bullet had ricocheted—right into me.

That was the last thing I remembered.

When I opened my eyes again, I was a crying baby. A little later, I realized I was also a girl.

'Well... it’s not that big a deal, is it?'

Maybe it’s just my nature not to care about details. Or maybe after going through something as impossible as reincarnation, being reborn as a woman barely registered as an issue.

But still, I didn’t expect this.

“You want me to appear on an idol show?”

“To be precise, an idol survival show.”

Hmm.

Honestly, I didn’t even know the difference, but judging by my aunt’s serious face, it felt safer to pretend I understood.

“That’s unreasonable. Even for my landlord, this request crosses the line.”

The mistake had been coming out of my room so eagerly when she said she’d ordered fried chicken for dinner.

Even if she was my aunt, she was still another person. And you never accept more than crumbs from someone else’s kindness.

“Our network’s big project—I’m directing it. And now it’s falling apart before it’s even begun.”

She popped open a can of beer, took a long drink, and sighed.

“How does a company not notice their trainee going into a motel with a guy?”

From what I gathered, my aunt had been producing an idol survival program for nearly a year, personally scouting trainees to reach exactly one hundred participants.

From major labels to small agencies, she’d begged and scrambled to meet the quota. But a few days ago, one of the confirmed trainees had gotten into a scandal, blowing a hole in the lineup.

Her eyes practically radiated murderous intent as she explained it.

'Nom.'

I chewed on the chicken, half-listening, half-nodding.

Of course, to keep up appearances, I threw in the occasional “Really?” “Wow.” “No way.” “Uh-huh.” so I didn’t look like I was ignoring her.

By the time I was finishing the last piece—

“So anyway, Sion, I need you to fill in.”

“Sure.”

“Great, it’s settled!”

...Wait.

It took a second for my brain to register what I’d just agreed to.

“No! Auntie! How could I go on a show with idols?!”

“It’s fine! They’re not even real idols yet.”

“I’ve never danced in my life!”

“It’s fine! Nobody’s asking you to debut. You just need to fill the headcount.”

Was she infected with some kind of “It’s fine” syndrome?

No matter how logical my objections were, all I got back was It’s fine.

It reminded me of my old battalion commander, who always said It’s fine whenever I asked, “Sir, isn’t this dangerous?”

“There must be someone else who can replace her.”

“There are a few people I could call.”

“Then why not them—”

“The one who dropped out was the visual member.” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Huh?”

“She was useless otherwise, but her looks were top-tier.”

Auntie explained that picking one hundred trainees wasn’t just about filling numbers—it took time because each one had to serve a different broadcast role.

“Some for visuals, some for vocals, some for dancing. You also need variety personalities and, you know, people who’ll make others look better.”

So losing a visual meant losing an important balance.

“And you think I can fill that?”

“If you just keep your mouth shut—no, better yet, don’t move at all—you’ll be perfect!”

Would she tell me not to breathe next?

Honestly, I’d never paid much attention to my looks, but I knew I wasn’t bad-looking.

Even my mother, Kim Sukja, had stopped mid-beating once or twice after glancing at my face.

'Hey! Just because I spare your face doesn’t mean this isn’t abuse!'

'That mouth of yours! You’d better thank that face—you’d starve without it!'

Not to mention every White Day back in school, my desk turned into a candy stash from boys sneaking gifts and running away.

So yeah, I guess my looks were above average.

'Not that it matters—no one’s handing out Bitcoin for being pretty.'

If I didn’t have the mind of a middle-aged man inside, maybe I’d have cared. But I wasn’t about to start acting like some influencer just because I happened to have a decent face.

“No way. I’m not doing it.”

Even with my aunt’s devilish persuasion skills, I had zero intention of joining that show.

It wasn’t even about pride—who’d want to be one of a hundred random trainees? Besides, if my face ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) got on TV, it might screw up my carefully planned future.

I’d always dreamed of being a rich nobody, not a famous one.

“Okay then. How about one million won if you appear?”

“What?!”

Bitcoin was twenty thousand won a coin.

One million won meant I could buy five of them—five!

Just for appearing once?

My hands started trembling at the thought.

Since childhood, I’d only managed to save up two million won total.

Sure, if I hadn’t wasted money at PC cafés, or on League skins... or bought that Zhuge Liang: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Blu-ray last month... I might have had more. But still, two million was all I had.

Now she was offering half that in one go.

Without realizing it, I leaned forward, ready to take her hand.

“Wait—no! No, I can’t!”

The price was too high. Once my face hit TV, my classmates—and anyone who recognized me—could find out. I wasn’t shameless enough to live with that.

“Oh? You can resist a million? Fine then—if you survive the first round of voting, I’ll add another million.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I can do it!”

Smirking like the devil herself, she extended her hand, and I grabbed it.

***

“Hello, my name is Sion Lee.”

“Oh... uh, welcome.”

Lee Hyuksu, a rookie staffer at the cable channel MPlay, had been getting ground to dust for a month preparing a new show.

“Who wants to handle the pre-interviews for the trainees of Idol Ground 100?”

Idol Ground 100 was MPlay’s massive new project—an idol survival show where viewers would vote to pick seven members to form a “national girl group.”

“Interviews? With idol trainees? They’re all cute girls, right? Count me in!”

Nobody else had volunteered, so the job naturally fell to him, the newest recruit. He’d accepted eagerly, thinking interviewing a hundred pretty girls couldn’t be that bad.

Four weeks later, he wanted to go back in time and beat his past self half to death.

“Hello! I’m a trainee from BI Entertainment!”

“Uh... well, I... um...”

“I’ll work hard! No, I mean, I’ll do my best!”

It wasn’t like pre-debut trainees had top-notch interview skills.

“Is this what you call an interview?! None of this is usable! Do them all over again and get something fit for broadcast!”

After that outburst from his senior, Hyuksu had to redo every single one.

He’d grown numb to pushing these kids hard for soundbites—though he hated knowing how it would all be edited later.

At least today was the last of it.

Technically, it should’ve ended last week, but one trainee’s scandal had delayed the schedule.

Today, his boss—PD Kim Miyoung, the show’s director—had found a replacement and told him to wrap up quickly.

'Where the hell did she even find this trainee?'

He hadn’t expected much when he heard it was a last-minute addition. But once the trainee arrived, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

After interviewing ninety-nine girls, he thought he’d gotten used to seeing pretty faces. Yet this one stunned him.

Her black hair fell all the way to her waist, glossy as if polished with oil.

Her pale skin looked flawless, not a speck of makeup, smooth as white jade.

And her features—perfectly balanced, crowned by striking blue eyes.

'Colored lenses?'

Even so, Hyuksu thought this might be the easiest interview yet.

That face alone could carry the entire video.