The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut Chapter 18

“F*c …”

 

I poked the ribs of Yoo Sung, who was about to curse, with my elbow.

 

When I gave him a look, Yoo Sung immediately clamped his mouth shut.

 

It probably just slipped out because of Joo Gilhyung; Yoo Sung likely didn’t really intend to curse.

 

‘Joo Gilhyung, Joo Gilhyung, huh…’

 

I fell into thought as I watched Joo Gilhyung slowly walking toward me like a cow being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

 

“I’m Kim Chowol. Nice to meet you.”

 

“…LMH Joo Gilhyung.”

 

I smiled brightly and took Joo Gilhyung’s hand.

 

Joo Gilhyung tried to pull his hand away immediately, but perhaps conscious of the cameras, he clicked his tongue quietly and shook it.

 

Okada fidgeted with his fingers and took a step closer to my side.

 

It seemed he had read the unusual atmosphere flowing between Yoo Sung and Joo Gilhyung.

 

Seo Yijae was looking at Joo Gilhyung with an unreadable expression, and Yoo Sung had his head turned away with a deep frown.

 

“How old are you, by any chance? I’m twenty.”

 

“I’m twenty too.”

 

At my question, Joo Gilhyung slightly raised his chin and spoke.

 

Using informal language right away with someone he met for the first time today…

 

Should I call this brave, or stupid?

 

“Shall we speak comfortably? We’ll be together for at least a week.”

 

“Well, whatever.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Gilhyung.”

 

When I approached him proactively, Joo Gilhyung seemed a little flustered.

 

Whether Joo Gilhyung was flustered or not, I kept smiling.

 

There’s a saying that you can’t spit on a smiling face.

 

The world is full of trashy people who would spit even on a smiling face, but he couldn’t possibly spit openly with so many cameras around.

 

“Have you all finished greeting your guild members? Then I will explain the mission song for the second Main Quest right away!”

 

The MC said in a high-pitched voice.

 

To organize the situation, I looked back at my guild members and said,

 

“We haven’t finished all our greetings yet… but let’s check out the mission songs first. Is that fine?” 

 

“Yes, Hyung!” 

 

Only Okada answered my words, and the rest just nodded.

 

Yoo Sung and Joo Gilhyung made it blatantly obvious that they didn’t want to exchange greetings with each other.

 

‘Hmm…’

 

I felt like I could already see the broadcast subtitle, ‘Kim Chowol Guild in crisis, is it okay like this?’ right before my eyes.

 

The viewers would point fingers, calling it a group project disaster, and they would chew, tear, taste, and enjoy the trainees they disliked on social media and community sites.

 

But I was viewing this situation a little differently.

 

‘This is actually great.’

 

It was a team composition that an ordinary person would shudder at.

 

Me, who is bad at dancing and singing but has a high rank thanks to other stats.

 

The Japanese Okada, whose Korean is still lacking, and the flopped idol Seo Yijae, who is Korean like the rest but hard to converse with.

 

And Yoo Sung and Joo Gilhyung, who made mistakes during the stat evaluation stage.

 

‘It’s perfect.’

 

If you looked around, you could easily tell why I called our guild perfect.

 

‘Everyone is watching us.’ 

 

Every single trainee and production staff gathered here was watching us just as much as—no, even more than—the guild with Han Theo. 

 

What is the most important thing in a team battle in a survival audition program?

 

Team members with outstanding skills and good personalities?

 

Perfect teamwork and a highly complete performance?

 

No, that’s not it.

 

Skills, personality, and teamwork are all just supplementary elements.

 

‘In the end, team battles are exactly the same. You need a narrative and characters.’ 

 

And there was one thing required to create a compelling narrative.

 

‘A villain.’

 

I thought as I looked at Joo Gilhyung, who became a guild member as a special mercenary.

 

All the preparations to successfully complete the second Main Quest were in place.

 

*    *    *

 

The twenty guilds are divided into ten groups.

 

There are two guilds in one group, and the two guilds prepare a performance with the same song.

 

It’s a true one-on-one showdown.

 

The mission songs are 2nd-generation boy group songs, which the guilds cannot choose and are all decided randomly.

 

“Our opponents are the 2nd place trainee’s guild.”

 

I continued, glancing at the guild that became our opponent.

 

“…The guild with the 1st place, Han Theo.”

 

“It’s over.”

 

Joo Gilhyung said with a snort.

 

Yoo Sung scowled deeply at the sarcastic Joo Gilhyung.

 

Up until he first joined our guild, Joo Gilhyung acted somewhat well-behaved, whether he was being shy or cautious.

 

However, realizing that no one was saying anything to him, he gradually started acting out.

 

“It’s the 1st and 2nd place. How do we beat those two? The production team is probably frantic to push that team too.”

 

Is that really so?

 

Joo Gilhyung didn’t seem to realize that the staff was keeping an eye not only on Han Theo’s guild but our guild as well.

 

I don’t know about his skills and personality, but he definitely lacks tact.

 

“It might be worth a try.”

 

The one who cut into our conversation was none other than Seo Yijae.

 

Seo Yijae said as he looked at the sheet music of the mission song placed in front of us.

 

“If it’s this song, it might be worth a try.”

 

The other guild members besides me didn’t seem to understand what Seo Yijae was talking about.

 

“Definitely… that’s right. Because we have Sungie.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

When his name was mentioned, Yoo Sung eventually couldn’t hold back and cut in.

 

Since Seo Yijae didn’t seem inclined to explain in detail, I stepped forward and began to explain instead.

 

“You know what our mission song is, right?”

 

“I should quit being a trainee if I didn’t know. It’s ‘Starlight’. Sung by Judge Kim Junwoo.”

 

“Right.”

 

Our mission song, ‘Starlight’, is the title track of the 3rd mini-album of Nexus, the 2nd-generation boy group Kim Junwoo belongs to.

 

The representative 2nd-generation boy group, Nexus, debuted in the mid-2000s, known as the golden age of boy groups, and went through many trials and errors.

 

An esoteric concept that even the members didn’t understand, a song that became neither here nor there due to a mix of various styles, and choreography that was ridiculously hard but oddly tacky.

 

If you watch the performance videos of their debut song and their 2nd mini-album title track, you can tell how much Nexus struggled in their early days.

 

At any rate, Nexus, who had been called a failed idol group up until their early days due to the perfect triple threat of a bad concept, song, and choreography, ended up doing self-production at the suggestion of their leader, who decided they couldn’t go on like this. 

 

‘The first self-produced song was exactly Starlight.’

 

The members, realizing the gravity of the situation and gathering to self-produce, knew that their composition skills were still lacking.

 

How could they make a good song with lacking composition skills? The members constantly pondered.

 

After agonizing over it, the conclusion they reached was, ‘Let’s not overthink it.’

 

‘Simple is best. If we can’t show the charm of all the members, let’s at least make the center stand out.’

 

The center was the leader up to their 2nd mini-album, but by the unanimous decision of the members, Kim Junwoo became the center for ‘Starlight’.

 

Because Kim Junwoo, who was in his early twenties at the time, was losing his baby fat and his beauty was reaching its peak.

 

The members created ‘Starlight’ of Kim Junwoo, by Kim Junwoo, for Kim Junwoo.

 

So what happened to ‘Starlight’?

 

‘Of course, it was a massive hit.’

 

Everything started with a single photo taken by Kim Junwoo’s fansite master during their debut showcase.

 

With ‘one miraculous photo’ that captivated people regardless of age or gender, Kim Junwoo and ‘Starlight’ became famous overnight.

 

‘Who is this guy? An idol?’

 

‘Nexus’s Junwoo? First time seeing him, but he’s incredibly handsome!’

 

‘Watching their performance, they’re all good. Why haven’t they made it big until now?’

 

‘First time hearing a Nexus song today, and it’s so good!’

 

‘Starlight’ spread through word of mouth even to ordinary people with no interest in idols.

 

With high-quality song and choreography, and the charm and star power of the center, Kim Junwoo, ‘Starlight’ ranked 1st on all music charts, literally hitting the jackpot.

 

“So why is ‘Starlight’ a song worth trying?”

 

Yoo Sung asked as if interrogating, with a frustrated expression.

 

Glancing toward the guild Han Theo was in, I continued my explanation.

 

“Our performance will be a battle of centers.”

 

“A battle of centers?”

 

“Recall the ‘Starlight’ performance. No, let’s watch it together with this.”

 

I played the performance video of ‘Starlight’ on the tablet provided to each guild.

 

Kim Junwoo stood tall alone in the middle, and the rest of the members surrounded him in a circle like backup dancers.

 

Yoo Sung’s eyes sparkled, seemingly finally understanding my words.

 

“See it? It’s not that the other members don’t have parts. But only the center stands out.”

 

The rest of the guild members nodded.

 

Pointing my finger at Kim Junwoo on the tablet screen, I said,

 

“‘Starlight’ is a song of the center, by the center, for the center.”

 

When I finished my explanation, Yoo Sung began to glance at me.

 

I could immediately tell what Yoo Sung was thinking.

 

He wanted to be the center, but he seemed conscious of the cameras to say it openly.

 

‘But Sung-ah, if not you, who among us would be the center?’

 

I looked back at Seo Yijae and Okada.

 

Seo Yijae was watching the Nexus ‘Starlight’ performance video with an unreadable expression.

 

‘What? Why are you looking at me with those eyes?’

 

On the other hand, Okada was staring at me intently with sparkling eyes.

 

Anxiety started creeping up from deep within my chest.

 

Sure enough, Okada raised his right hand high and said,

 

“I think it would be great if Chowol Hyung is the center!”

 

Why on earth does he like me this much?

 

I firmly held back the sigh threatening to burst out and said to Okada,

 

“Hmm, the center is a bit…”

 

“Why!”

 

“There’s someone who suits it better than me, so should I really do it?”

 

I said, glancing at Yoo Sung.

 

Meeting my eyes, Yoo Sung hurriedly avoided my gaze.

 

‘What’s wrong with him now?’

 

At my refusal, Okada’s shoulders drooped with a sullen expression, like a scolded puppy.

 

Just then, Joo Gilhyung, who had been quietly watching me and Okada, let out a small snort and said,

 

“He’s sure good at knowing his place, at least.”

 

“What?”

 

Yoo Sung, who had been looking elsewhere to avoid my gaze, whipped his head toward Joo Gilhyung.

 

“What did you just say?”

 

“I didn’t say anything.”

 

“You said something. I heard everything, you know?”

 

Joo Gilhyung shrugged and continued, as if asking what the problem was.

 

“If you heard everything, why are you asking again? It’s true that Kim Chowol doesn’t suit the center, isn’t it?”

 

“Hah… You know your tone is really pissing me off, right?”

 

I looked back and forth between Yoo Sung and Joo Gilhyung with a flustered expression.

 

‘What the, are you guys fighting over me right now?’

 

Before I knew it, I had become the tragic heroine caught between two men.