The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 90

Track 8, which all CENTIX members thought was good, had actually been a discarded track.

When we said we absolutely had to go with this as the title song, the A&R team showed a slightly unexpected attitude.

“We actually thought this track wasn’t that great, so we didn’t even mention it to the composer. We’ll have to contact them quickly now.”

How exactly are the A&R team’s collective ears structured?

Still, it was fortunate that they showed willingness to accept the idol’s opinion and proceed with their own feedback as much as possible.

If I hadn’t taken the lead in speaking up, we really would have been on the verge of debuting with some bottomless concept.

About a week after they promised to contact the external composer to ask for a completed song based on the belated decision.

“The song’s all finished, guys.”

“Already?”

“The composer must have really ground themselves to the bone.”

As Ma Si-hyeok and Chae Ha-ru said, completing this demo track within a week would have required tremendous manpower.

But our manager brought his index finger to his lips and grinned slyly.

“The company apparently doubled the money on top.”

“Ah, then that’s totally understandable.”

And Seong-hwi agreed faster than anyone else.

I could already smell the scent of a monster born from capitalism wafting around.

Well, seeing how that guy who usually showed such a laid-back appearance puts on a young master aura in front of cameras.

Seong-hwi had probably already been thoroughly conquered.

Thanks to the composer’s hard work, we were able to listen to the completed song much faster than expected.

“The song’s really good.”

“Have we been hanging around together so long that our ear structures have all become the same? How could we all pick this with such perfect coordination?”

“Brother Seon-woo, no matter how you look at it, that’s a bit much.”

“Right…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Chae Ha-ru, who subdued even Kang Seon-woo with his occasional sharp one-liners.

Then Kang Seon-woo shook his silver hair and whined loudly.

“Ryu Si-hwan always laughs only when I’m getting picked on.”

“Ah, sorry. It’s just that your reactions are the funniest.”

“Really? Hmm, maybe this is actually good?”

“…Whatever you’re imagining, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to put it into practice in reality.”

“Tch, this is why I hate perceptive guys.”

While Kang Seon-woo was muttering to himself with terrifying words like ‘I was going to barge into the bathroom with a camera,’ I took a closer look at the file open on the laptop.

A file about 3 minutes and 30 seconds long.

After listening to it three times already with the members’ enthusiastic support, this was an impeccable finished product.

But the file name still read [Demo. DeepHouse].

‘Why isn’t it using the song title instead—?’

The moment I had this question in my head, our manager cleared his throat and delivered an announcement.

“Ahem. Guys, Si-hwan and all of your participation really shined when selecting this debut song, right?”

“Actually, it was basically Brother Si-hwan who gave his opinion alone—”

“Anyway! Since the members participated to some degree, the team leader mentioned making one item we can use for promotional purposes when releasing the debut album.”

No way.

I raised my hand and asked.

“What exactly do you mean by us participating?”

“The melody’s completed, so they said it would be good to try participating in the lyrics and title. The song originally had no lyrics to begin with. Also, since it was pushed forward based on Si-hwan’s idea, they thought it would be good for you to try it yourself. Ah, of course you’ll be working with a professional lyricist.”

So we’re getting into self-production after all.

I immediately thought it over in my head.

‘It’s not like I have nothing prepared in my notes, and they surely won’t ask us to write all the lyrics from start to finish. If I work with a professional lyricist, it won’t take too long. And…’

Normally, we who have to handle busy schedules should avoid this kind of painful work if possible.

But you can often see agencies occasionally grit their teeth and encourage artist participation.

When the composer/lyricist credits include their idol’s name, fans who see it feel more proud.

In short, high-difficulty fan service.

I looked at the manager’s face, already full of anticipation, and let out a short sigh.

“Fine, let’s give it a try.”

“Okay, then let’s go to a meeting tomorrow right away! Ah, and the CEO said they’ll also confirm the debut date based on roughly how the work progresses. Everyone fighting!”

“Yes!”

It looked like I wouldn’t be getting proper sleep for the next few days.

* * *

“…How’s this?”

I’m tired.

I had expected I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but having to use my brain continuously made that fatigue feel doubled.

The same went for the members sending mechanical applause in front of me.

“Good…”

“It definitely seems cleaner than before, brother.”

“I suddenly had a thought.”

Kang Seon-woo’s fierce eyes looked even scarier due to the dark circles that had drooped down.

“If we had gotten lyric creation instead of choreography creation for 〈Royal Road〉, we really would have been screwed.”

During the 〈ISL 2〉 final mission, the roulette I spun stopped on the [Choreography] space and we had to create choreography for the song.

Back then, everyone had complained about why I picked that instead of lyrics, which would have been much easier.

I snorted at Kang Seon-woo, who had been the most vocal in his complaints at the time.

“What did that Kang Seon-woo say back then? Clumsy hands? No luck? Unlucky?”

“Hey, hey! Back then I didn’t know creating lyrics was such difficult work—”

“Ah, whatever. I’m not accepting it. Go away.”

“Si-hwan!”

Seong-hwi yawned while hitting his cushion hard, as if he should cut off this Kang Seon-woo show that was starting again.

“Yawn. Well, the feeling now is definitely different from back then. 〈Royal Road〉 had meaning given by the song itself, but our debut song started from a completely blank slate. And like Brother Si-hwan said, we had to hint at a ‘connected worldview’ in the middle of the lyrics, so it being harder is natural.”

The time it took to create the lyrics was about two days.

Just saying it took two days might seem relatively short, but we had been clutching lyric sheets and wracking our brains for 19 hours every day.

We naturally collaborated with a professional lyricist to revise the overall framework, but we had to suffer tremendous creative pain as a group due to the directive to ‘have each member give meaning to the lyrics.’

On top of that, I was responsible for incorporating the message that only CENTIX could convey into the lyrics based on ideas I had conceived beforehand, making it even more difficult.

“But brother really is amazing. You took the ‘time-traveling hero’ concept the company set up and created a worldview using just the time element.”

“Who’s praising whom when you’re smarter than me?”

“I don’t have this kind of creative brain.”

As Chae Ha-ru gave me a thumbs up, I felt a secret sense of pride.

The initial concept that Rave had proposed to us was certainly excessive.

But the ‘time’ element taken from CENTIX’s meaning was really useful material.

So I applied the concept of time from the perspectives of ‘us’ and ‘fans’ to insert a message right in the heart of the lyrics.

The composer who worked on the idea with me also confirmed it was good.

This kind of message in the lyrics wasn’t just a one-time function but could connect to all future albums, they said.

They even mentioned continuing to use this concept in songs that would appear after the debut song.

“Then I’ll ask them to send the file to the composer.”

“Good work, everyone!”

“Can we sleep now?”

“Dismissed, dismissed! Everyone scatter to your positions!”

“Yes!”

The guys dragged their fatigue-stricken bodies as they moved, but they didn’t forget to greet the cameras installed at various points in the hallway.

The reality program was also recording our lyric-writing adventure.

I too could only collapse onto my bed after saying “Good night” to the camera fixed outside my room.

* * *

While CENTIX was suffering from reality filming and self-production.

Outside, the (former) national managers were beating their chests every day.

Ironically, the CENTIX official account wasn’t slacking off at all.

They would upload one member’s selfie every 3-4 days.

Or they would post [Isn’t our dorm pretty?] and show the members enjoying their neat dorm life.

They continued providing appropriate content for fans curious about how the members were doing after 〈ISL 2〉 ended.

But this only made people’s hearts more anxious.

Since September 9th, CENTIX’s formation day, there hadn’t been a single official announcement except for posts hinting they were filming a reality show.

—Ahhhhh so when exactly are they debuting

—Thank you so much for continuing to post our kids’ faces but when exactly are they debuting

—Teachers, there must be a reason you’re being so harsh with us, right??? Why still no official debut date T_T

—Do we need to hold another rain ritual…

Fans were hoping more than anything for an official debut date to be confirmed.

Before the memory of 〈ISL 2〉, which ended with tremendous ratings, disappeared.

They were desperately praying for CENTIX to debut in an environment where they could attract as many regular people as possible.

The (former) national managers who had been checking the CENTIX official account and entertainment news sections every day finally got their wish fulfilled on September 23rd.

[CENTIX, formed by 〈ISL 2〉 survival members, confirms debut on October 23rd]

[CENTIX dreams of rookie uprising, debuts October 23rd]

[‘Six of us will aim for the top’ Monster rookies CENTIX, debut countdown… Will they succeed in box office success again?]

[Long-awaited CENTIX the everyone’s been waiting for, debut date ‘countdown begins’]

October 23rd.

As soon as they saw articles saying that the CENTIX of their dreams would debut on stage exactly one month later, idol-related SNS platforms literally went crazy.

—What do you guys think about the hundred-year-dols’ debut timing?? I’m completely satisfied lol. Avoided year-end and debuting one to one and a half months after formation is totally the best

└What’s hundred-year-dols?

└CENTIX

└??? Why are they hundred-year-dols

└Century(100 years)+Six(6 members) so they’re nicknamed hundred-year-dols

└Oh I’m learning this for the first time

—I really had no expectations for Rave but lmao. Ah this debut timing was honestly pretty good, agree? If we estimate about 4 weeks of activities, they won’t clash with year-end award shows and if they do well they can even win rookie awards right away

└Wow I never thought of this but you’re right, if activities end in November the data will accumulate before year-end award shows so they could win rookie awards

└If they get triple crown right after debut, it might really be possible?

└Hmm I’d love to see our kids get triple crown too but realistically isn’t it a bit difficult? Even for rookies, getting 1st place once on public broadcast music shows is hard

└It’s actually quite empty right now so there’s possibility

└Ah really? I haven’t been watching music shows lately so I didn’t know, who’s promoting now?

└Groups you’d recognize by name are Zefa and Comet? And these guys will finish their promotion periods before late October anyway lol so it’ll really be empty, hundred-year-dols 1st place totally possible

The appropriate timing to participate in various award ceremonies and year-end music stages held in late December.

And the news that formidable competitors who could monopolize public broadcast music show 1st places were gradually ending their activities drove CENTIX fans into a frenzy.

Finally, everyone was satisfied with the emergence of something substantial to get excited about.

But there were still many things left that would set their hearts ablaze.

[CENTIX’s First Profile Photos/September 25th Release/P.S. Please look forward to lots of behind-the-scenes from the shoot!]