The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut Chapter 13

“This is truly incredible.”

 

A filming space prepared separately for the judges.

 

The dance trainer clicked her tongue in amazement after hearing the MC’s explanation.

 

The other judges kept their mouths firmly shut and nodded. 

 

They knew about the evaluation method since they had heard the explanation a few days ago, but it was still surprising to hear it again.

 

“Skills are one thing, but it seems like it’ll be a battle of mental strength.”

 

“Do you all have a trainee you’re looking forward to?” 

 

At the vocal trainer’s question, the rap trainer answered.

 

“Well, that’s obviously the 1st place trainee.” 

 

“Hey, the 1st place is on another level. Let’s exclude 1st place.”

 

“Exclude 1st place? Hmm…”

 

As the rap trainer fell into thought, the vocal trainer opened their mouth. 

 

“Shall I go first? For me, Trainee Yoo Sung.” 

 

“Ah, Yoo Sung.”

 

“Trainee Yoo Sung is good.”

 

Another judge agreed.

 

“He made a mistake on the stat evaluation stage but… looking solely at his skills, he’s in the top three.”

 

“That’s right. On top of that, he’s tall and handsome.”

 

While all the judges were nodding their heads, the dance trainer clapped her hands together and opened her mouth.

 

“Ah, I just thought of someone! For me, Trainee Okada.” 

 

“Okada? Ah… that Japanese friend?”

 

The vocal trainer made an ambiguous expression as if he couldn’t understand.

 

“Yes, he dances very well. I really don’t understand why he’s in the intermediate dance class.”

 

“Really? When I saw him, his singing was terrible…”

 

“Okada’s vocalization itself is fine.”

 

Kim Junwoo, who had been listening quietly, suddenly chimed into the conversation.

 

“The problem is the language. He’s not good at Korean, but he has to sing in Korean… There’s no way he can fully display his skills on stage.”

 

“Oh, Junwoo. You know it well.”

 

“It’s because I’ve seen a lot of foreign trainees.”

 

“Then Junwoo, who is the trainee you’re looking forward to the most?” 

 

“Looking forward to….” 

 

Kim Junwoo fell into thought.

 

Opposite the judges’ seats, the faces of 100 trainees were being broadcast simultaneously on a giant screen divided into 100 sections.

 

Kim Junwoo’s gaze headed toward the 20th trainee.

 

“Kim Chowol…”

 

“Huh? Ah, Chowol?”

 

A strange silence fell over the set as Kim Chowol’s name was mentioned.

 

“Kim Cho-wol, Trainee Kim Chowol… mm, I’ll say no comment.” 

 

“Chowol is… not very good, but. He works hard. He was practicing every time I saw him.”

 

“Working hard is a given.”

 

Kim Junwoo continued with a shallow sigh.

 

“What’s important is doing well.”

 

“R-right!”

 

“Then Junwoo, do you think Trainee Kim Chowol will do well on stage today?”

 

“Pardon? No.”

 

Kim Junwoo firmly denied it.

 

The flustered vocal trainer asked back.

 

“Didn’t you say earlier that you were anticipating Trainee Kim Chowol the most?”

 

“It’s not that I anticipate he’ll do well. It’s just… I’m curious.”

 

Kim Junwoo said, looking at Kim Chowol’s face on the screen.

 

“I wonder what kind of performance he’ll show today…”

 

The reason Kim Chowol received favorable reviews on the stat evaluation stage was thanks to his charm stat.

 

Through his song choice, Kim Chowol maximized his charm, which was his strength, and hid his vocals and dance, which were his weaknesses.

 

‘But he can’t choose the song this time.’

 

Every trainee must perform the stage for the theme song, HUNT THE STAGE. 

 

When Kim Junwoo first saw the demo for HUNT THE STAGE, he was startled by the difficulty level, which was much higher than expected. 

 

He thought it might be asking too much of mere trainees, but on the other hand, he also thought, ‘They should be able to do this much.’

 

‘After all, it’s an industry where you can’t survive without skill.’ 

 

Appearance? Charm?

 

Of course, they are indispensable elements when evaluating an idol, but you can’t be an idol if you can’t sing and dance.

 

In the end, an idol is someone who dances and sings. 

 

That’s why idols lacking skills can’t avoid public criticism, and to have a long run as an idol, they have to improve their skills no matter what.

 

[Boom, boom, boom…]

 

The first Main Quest, the theme song evaluation, began.

 

“Alright, let’s focus, let’s focus now.”

 

“Even if the AI makes the judgment, the final decision is up to us.” 

 

The judges holding the trainees’ fates in their hands focused on the screen with determined expressions.

 

The hybrid orchestra sound burst out like an explosion, and the trainees moved their hands that had been covering their eyes as if forcing open a massive door. 

 

[“In the pitch-black darkness. A single ray of light illuminating my front.”]

 

—Beep, beep, beep!

 

The AI’s notification judging mistakes rang out.

 

The dance trainer hurriedly checked the screen.

 

“Numbers 45, 89, 91. Their pitch wavered. We’ll give a warning and move on for now.”

 

The screens of the called trainees changed as if a yellow filter had been applied.

 

For things ambiguous to judge as a mistake, a warning was given in yellow, and for mistakes obvious to anyone, elimination was notified in red. 

 

“Please do well… do well…”

 

The dance trainer spoke, holding their two hands tightly. 

 

A beat and sound that weren’t too heavy continued, and they reached the 360-degree spinning jump choreography section. 

 

—Beep, beep, beep, beep beep beep beep beep!

 

“Oh my, it’s a disaster, a disaster!”

 

“Numbers 11, 37, 44, 47… and… there’s, there’s too many!”

 

“Don’t give warnings for obvious mistakes, just display elimination immediately!”

 

Steps getting tangled, missing the choreography, and even falling.

 

Trainees began dropping out in droves.

 

The judges all notified the trainees of their eliminations with regretful faces.

 

[“Hunt the stage, win the stage!”]

 

The chorus, the highlight of the song, began.

 

Bursting high notes and a dazzling dance break.

 

The AI notification rang like crazy.

 

—Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!

 

“Accumulating 2 warnings means elimination, right?”

 

“Number 4 eliminated, 15 eliminated, 66 eliminated… Ah, even the good ones are making mistakes.”

 

“Since the evaluation method is like this… keeping your sanity is impressive in itself.”

 

“It’s a pity…”

 

[“Break the stage, win the stage!”]

 

Even though only the first of the three performances was coming to an end, more than half of the trainees had been eliminated.

 

The judges couldn’t hide their regret.

 

[Boom, bang!]

 

The first performance ended with a loud gunshot sound.

 

Checking the remaining trainees, the vocal trainer clicked his tongue.

 

“Wow, a lot of the good ones dropped too. Almost all the bottom-tier trainees dropped, and the mid-tiers too… Huh?”

 

The vocal trainer glanced slightly at Kim Junwoo.

 

[“The 2nd Wave. Begins immediately!”]

 

The MC spoke to the trainees through the screen.

 

Kim Junwoo was staring at the screen with a furrowed brow.

 

On the 20th screen, Kim Chowol’s face, catching his breath, was being broadcast. 

 

‘He survived?’

 

At the unexpected situation, one corner of Kim Junwoo’s mouth began to creep up.

 

*    *    *

 

‘F*ck…’

 

I feel like I’m going to die of exhaustion.

 

Swallowing a curse inwardly, I caught my breath.

 

Following the first wave, the second wave was over too.

 

A brief break before the third wave begins.

 

“Hah, haah…”

 

Bending my waist, I only rolled my eyes to look around.

 

Out of the 40 trainees who survived the 1st wave, half were eliminated again, leaving only about 20 survivors.

 

The surviving trainees were catching their breath like me, preparing for the next performance.

 

‘Most of the ones bound to drop have dropped.’

 

After scanning the trainees, I stared straight ahead again.

 

Trainees lacking skills and those with weak mentalities mostly drop out in the 1st wave.

 

And in the 2nd and 3rd waves…

 

“The 3rd Wave. Begins immediately!” 

 

At the MC’s words from the podium, the trainees sighed and stood up.

 

[Boom, boom, boom…]

 

The third Wave began. 

 

I moved my body in accordance with the music. 

 

“In the pitch-black darkness. A single ray of light illuminating my front.” 

 

Whether the Copycat trait was activating well, my body moved so well it couldn’t be compared to during practice.

 

I firmly put power where power needed to be given, and took it out where it could be left out. 

 

What was important right now was efficiency rather than the perfection of the performance.

 

The success condition of the quest is ‘not making a mistake in the three performances’.

 

In the 2nd and 3rd Waves, trainees who failed to properly analyze the success condition get eliminated. 

 

“Ugh!”

 

“Ah, crazy!”

 

Trainees number 5 and 13 were eliminated.

 

They were trainees in the upper tier whose skills weren’t bad either, but they had overlooked the success condition and exerted full strength from the start, resulting in their stamina getting entirely depleted. 

 

I maintained my composure and continued the performance.

 

“Hunt the stage, win the stage!”

 

A raw high note with absolutely no technique.

 

But it doesn’t matter.

 

As long as the pitch isn’t wrong.

 

“Break the stage, win the stage!”

 

My lungs, having reached their limit, hurt as if they would tear, and my arms and legs grew increasingly heavy.

 

Even so, I kept dancing and singing.

 

To take 1st place.

 

I will take 1st place, debut, and end this damn regression.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

I thought my pitch wavered slightly just now, and sure enough, a warning was given.

 

The 20th box turned yellow.

 

Complex upper-body choreography, steps continuing without rest. 

 

I only kept the crucial points and completely blew off the details.

 

‘Ha, haha…!’

 

I couldn’t tell if I was dancing or the dance was dancing me.

 

I sang and danced frantically, half out of my mind.

 

[Boom, bang!]

 

The song ended with a loud gunshot sound.

 

“Hah, haah!”

 

I sank to the floor, panting.

 

The 20th box remained yellow and didn’t change.

 

‘F*ck…’

 

I did it.

 

I overcame it.

 

With these trash-like stats, I cleared the first main quest. 

 

I cheered soundlessly and tightly clenched both fists.

 

“Hyung…!”

 

Just then, I heard a familiar voice from behind.

 

Looking back, Okada, out of breath to the point it reached his chin, was running toward me like crazy.

 

Okada had never survived until the 3rd wave in dozens of regressions due to his clumsy Korean pronunciation.

 

But today’s Okada is different.

 

“わ、わたし… 最後まで生き残りました！ (I, I… I survived until the end!)”

 

I smirked at the excited Okada.

 

‘Status window.’

 

As I thought in my head, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.

 

[The Copycat trait is activated.]

[Designated Companion: Okada Hiro]

[When the companion uses their abilities, you can copy the companion’s abilities.]

 

The very bottom of the trait status window.

 

The trait effect that wasn’t bad for me, but wasn’t particularly helpful either. 

 

[When I use an ability, the companion can copy my ability.]

 

Of course he survived until the end.

 

Since he copied my language ability.

 

Hugging Okada tightly, I thought.  

 

That today’s performance would be edited in a very entertaining way.