The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut Chapter 22

Because Yoo Sung was lying on the bottom bunk of the two-story bed and I was on the top bunk, I comfortably checked my status window. 

 

[Name: Yoo Sung 

Age: 20]

 

[Basic Stats 

Vocal: A+ 

Dance: S 

Appearance: A+ 

Charm: A-]

 

[The recruitment condition ‘Achieve 100% Trust’ has been completed, and ‘Yoo Sung’ has become a colleague.]

 

[‘Yoo Sung’s’ current trust level: 100%.]

 

How flashy. 

 

I clicked my tongue after checking Yoo Sung’s stats.

 

The stats Yoo Sung received during the first stat evaluation were Vocal A+, Dance B-, Appearance S, and Charm A-.

 

After the theme song evaluation stage, every stat had risen by one level, so his current stats were Vocal S-, Dance B, Appearance S+, and Charm A.

 

The stats in the status window were almost identical to the ones from the evaluation, except for the dance stat, which had been significantly cut due to a mistake.

 

But what is S-rank?

 

As I slowly reviewed the status window, I discovered a term that was both familiar and strange.

 

[Hidden Quest cleared.]

 

[Hidden Quest: Recruit your first S-rank colleague. 

Reward: 1 Item Selection Ticket]

 

First S-rank companion…? 

 

While scanning the status window to figure out what S-rank meant, I noticed that the window had changed slightly.

 

[1. Okada Hiro (Grade: B+) (Status window available) 

2. Yoo Sung (Grade: S-) (Status window available) 
3. — 
4. — 
5. — 
6. —]

 

Roughly guessing, it seemed to be a grade that comprehensively evaluated current stats and growth potential.

 

‘Can I not check my own grade?’

 

I was a bit curious, but something else was more important right now.

 

‘The hidden quest reward is… an Item Selection Ticket?’ 

 

So far, I had cleared two hidden quests and received two rewards.

 

The rewards I received were an Item Gacha Ticket and a Trait Gacha Ticket.

 

Both were gacha tickets given randomly regardless of my will, so a selection ticket was a first.

 

[Item Selection Ticket 

Description: You can select and acquire one item out of three.]

 

Seeing is believing.

 

After checking the description of the Item Selection Ticket, I decided to use it immediately.

 

Use Item Selection Ticket.

 

Upon using the Item Selection Ticket, a translucent status window appeared before my eyes.

 

[Viral Confirmation Ticket 

Grade: C+ 

Description: You can select one desired post on SNS or community sites and make it go viral. *The impact varies depending on the content of the post.]

 

[Charm Potion 

Grade: B+ 

Description: Increases the Charm stat to EX-rank for approximately 12 hours. 

*Distributed in potion form; can be used on others.]

 

After checking two of the three items, I fell into thought.

 

Neither of them really appeals to me.

 

Unlike traits, items disappear once used.

 

The Viral Confirmation Ticket could be useful in a survival audition program like EX-class K-POP Idol where buzz is important, but the cautionary note about the impact varying made me a bit uneasy.

 

The Charm Potion was an item perfectly suited for use before a stage.

 

‘However, using it right now is a bit… risky.’ 

 

The Charm Potion had a limitation of 12 hours, so once time passed, stats would return to normal. 

 

It was an item that was a bit difficult to use in a survival audition program where one had to show a more improved version of oneself on the next stage. 

 

It wouldn’t matter if used for the final live broadcast stage, but in the current situation where the immediate stage was pressing, I was reluctant to choose it.

 

‘The third item too, mm….’

 

I checked the third item.

 

[Stat Growth Ticket 

Grade: A 

Description: Can increase one stat by one level.]

 

The third item was the same Stat Growth Ticket I had pulled when I used the Item Gacha Ticket.

 

However, there was a slight difference from the one obtained through the gacha.

 

‘The grade is A, and it can only raise a stat by 1 tier.’

 

Perhaps because I had already used an S-grade Stat Growth Ticket that could raise a stat by two levels, this one didn’t feel very enticing.

 

‘Status Window.’

 

When I thought of the status window in my mind, it appeared before me.

 

[Basic Stats 

Vocal: D+ 

Dance: D 

Appearance: A- 

Charm: B]

 

Dance and Appearance had risen by one level each from D- and B+, becoming D and A-.

 

If I used an A-grade Stat Growth Ticket here, I felt it would be difficult to achieve a significant effect since all the stats were mediocre.

 

‘Mm….’

 

I fell into thought while looking at the three items.

 

‘No, let’s not forget the original plan.’

 

From the moment our mission song was set as Starlight and I gave up on being the center, I had planned to aim for a ‘big hit.’

 

The item I had to choose for that big hit was already decided.

 

*    *    *

 

The morning of the day for the guild match stage—the second main quest of EX-class K-POP Idol—dawned.

 

Amidst the crowd gathered for the live audience viewing, a woman with a worn, exhausted face checked the DSLR camera hidden inside her bag. 

 

One might think a trainee already had a fansite master attached to them, but the woman had no interest in trainees who weren’t even at the fledgling level yet.

 

The reason she applied for the audience recording today was none other than Nexus’s eternal youngest and center, Kim Junwoo.

 

The woman was a longtime fan of Kim Junwoo from Nexus and one of the first fansite masters people mentioned whenever the topic of Kim Junwoo’s fansites came up. 

 

“How long has it been since he had a schedule?”

 

The woman muttered in a tone mixed with joy and anger.

 

Kim Junwoo had spent a considerably long hiatus from his solo comeback the year before last until this year.

 

The woman had been forced into a two-year hiatus from being a fan, and just as she was getting used to a life without content crumbs.

 

She heard the news that Kim Junwoo would appear as a judge on Jang Hyuksoo’s survival audition program.

 

“Sigh… I might not even see him because he’s a judge, but it’s been a while, so….”

 

If she couldn’t see Kim Junwoo, she planned to take photos of popular trainees and sell the data.

 

The woman entered the filming studio without getting her DSLR camera caught. 

 

For a woman with over ten years of homma experience, hiding a DSLR camera was a piece of cake. 

 

‘Phew, look at how many people there are.’

 

The woman took a spot where she could take good photos and then looked around.

 

Unlike the woman, who was in her 30s, most people looked very young, in their early to mid-20s or students.

 

‘Everyone is so young… must be nice.’

 

The woman smiled bitterly.

 

When Nexus debuted, the woman and Kim Junwoo were high schoolers who hadn’t even lost all their baby fat yet.

 

The woman, who had shared in the rise and fall of Nexus, stood firm even when other fansite masters and fans left to find younger, fresher new idols.

 

Nexus and Kim Junwoo were the woman’s youth and her life.

 

“Thank you for waiting!”

 

Once the audience entry was finished, the MC stepped onto the stage.

 

“Thank you for gathering here for the guild match stage, the second main quest of EX-class K-POP Idol!”

 

The MC continued the explanation in a high-pitched voice.

 

The woman anxiously fidgeted with her camera and looked around.

 

‘Junwoo, where is Junwoo?’

 

Before she knew it, the MC finished the explanation and spoke to the audience.

 

“Then, before we see the stages, let’s meet the Hunters belonging to the Association who will guide and evaluate the trainees’ performances!”

 

Just as she was thinking that she might not see Kim Junwoo after all, the MC said something strange.

 

Hunters belonging to the Association?

 

‘What is that, you nerd….’ 

 

The woman was looking at the MC with dry, unimpressed eyes when five people with familiar faces swarmed onto the stage.

 

Seeing the face of the tallest person, the woman was startled and shouted involuntarily.

 

“Junwoo-yaaaa!”

 

The Hunters belonging to the Hunter Association the MC spoke of were the judges.

 

Kim Junwoo, hearing the woman’s voice, turned his head.

 

‘H-he smiled!’

 

Kim Junwoo smiled broadly at the woman.

 

As she was a long-time fan who had liked him since his debut, Kim Junwoo also recognized her.

 

The woman hurriedly pressed the camera shutter repeatedly.

 

—Click, click, click, click, click!

 

The judges took turns introducing themselves briefly.

 

“Hello, I am Kim Junwoo of Nexus. I am happy to appear as a judge for EX-class K-POP Idol.”

 

The way he smiles is insane….

 

Seeing his smiling face, the anger and annoyance that had built up for two years melted away.

 

“Our trainee friends… worked really hard to prepare, so I would be grateful if you could look at them with warm eyes.” 

 

The woman, who was busy taking photos of Kim Junwoo, paused.

 

‘Did something good happen?’

 

It was because Kim Junwoo’s expression and tone were much softer and warmer than when she saw him at a fan signing event two years ago.

 

The judges finished their brief greetings and stepped down, and the trainees’ performances began.

 

Although Kim Junwoo had asked them to look at the performances with warm eyes, the woman couldn’t bring herself to watch the stages with a smile. 

 

‘Overall, it’s a bit… mediocre.’

 

They covered songs by second-generation boy groups, but perhaps because they were all songs that had marked an era in K-POP, there wasn’t a single stage that met the woman’s standards.

 

“It’s better than I thought?”

 

“The center just now was good… what was his name?”

 

However, the reactions of the other audience members were positive.

 

It seemed the woman’s standards were a bit higher than others because she was a long-time fan of the second-generation idol Nexus.

 

‘If they’re doing second-generation boy group songs… will they do a Nexus song too?’

 

They definitely would.

 

Kim Junwoo was a judge, and with Jang Hyuksoo’s personality, there was no way he wouldn’t include it.

 

‘Honestly, I’m not expecting much.’

 

The woman smiled bitterly.

 

No matter how well a trainee did, it would be difficult to show a performance that surpassed the shock and emotion the woman felt when she first saw the stage for Starlight.

 

“I will introduce the final guild!”

 

As she spent her time busily taking photos of trainees who might sell for a high price, time flew by.

 

Finally, at the MC’s words for the last stage, ten trainees swarmed onto the stage.

 

“Oh?”

 

The woman was surprised upon seeing the trainees’ faces.

 

“They’re handsome?”

 

“It’s Han Theo!”

 

It was because there were quite a few eye-catching trainees, including Han Theo, who was the center for the theme song HUNT THE STAGE.

 

The woman immediately raised her camera and began taking photos.

 

“Now, will the Guild Master please come forward and briefly introduce the guild and its members!”

 

“Hello, I am Kim Chowol, the Guild Master of Kim Chowol’s Guild.”

 

The woman, who had been taking photos of Han Theo, naturally turned her camera and began taking photos of Kim Chowol.

 

Kim Chowol was a clean-cut, classic handsome man; he looked good in person, but he also looked great on camera, making him satisfying to photograph.

 

In terms of appearance alone, he fell short of Han Theo, but considering the average face of recently debuting rookie boy groups, he more than passed.

 

“The song we have prepared this time is… Nexus sunbaenim’s Starlight.”

 

What?

 

The woman, who was busy taking photos, froze.

 

The woman was a fan of Nexus, but she had no interest in trainees covering Nexus songs.

 

She would simply watch them a bit more strictly than other stages.

 

‘But Starlight is different.’

 

The woman gripped her camera tightly and bit her lower lip.

 

Starlight, the song that wrote Nexus’s success story.

 

The beginning of that success story was a ‘Miracle Shot’ taken by Kim Junwoo’s fansite master.

 

And the woman was that very fansite master of Kim Junwoo who had taken that ‘Miracle Shot.’