The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut Chapter 25

Yoo Sung, who became a colleague after achieving 100% trust, told me everything that happened to him at LMH in a place without cameras.

 

After hearing Yoo Sung’s story, the doubt that had been lingering in my mind was immediately cleared.

 

‘He failed to debut because of a nepo baby?’ 

 

I had heard rumors a dozen times over my several regressions that a connected trainee had joined LMH. 

 

‘But I had no idea… that Yoo Sung was dropped from the debut lineup because of that nepo baby.’ 

 

I said my doubts were cleared after hearing Yoo Sung’s story, but in truth, not all of them were gone.

 

‘Even so, they dropped a trainee of Yoo Sung’s caliber?’

 

Yoo Sung was a charming idol.

 

I was certain.

 

No matter how good the parachute was, they wouldn’t have reached Yoo Sung’s level.

 

And among the debut group trainees, excluding the parachute, there wouldn’t have been a trainee superior to Yoo Sung.

 

‘If it were me, I would have dropped a different trainee instead of Yoo Sung… no, wait.’

 

According to Yoo Sung’s story, the nepo baby trainee said he wanted to be the ‘center.’ 

 

The center is the one who shines the most among the members.

 

Both the parachute and the LMH staff must have known that as long as Yoo Sung was there, the parachute could never be the center.

 

‘Yoo Sung must have been quite an eyesore.’

 

The nephew of the LMH CEO.

 

He probably had everything he wanted and achieved everything he desired.

 

But in this world, there were things one couldn’t have even if they wanted them, and things one couldn’t achieve even if they desired them.

 

The parachute must have discovered something in Yoo Sung that he could never possess.

 

‘So he stole Yoo Sung’s most precious dream. Is that it?’

 

Ha, hahaha….

 

Letting out a hollow laugh, I looked at Joo Gilhyung, who was pinned against the wall and trembling.

 

This was a deserted alleyway near the filming set.

 

After checking the messages exchanged between Joo Gilhyung and the trainee presumed to be the parachute, I had immediately dragged Joo Gilhyung here.

 

“It’s not even funny, is it?”

 

I used my foot to block the escape route of Joo Gilhyung, who was trying to sneak away.

 

Joo Gilhyung’s shoulders flinched.

 

“To trample on the efforts of a trainee who worked so hard… for just, just that kind of reason.”

 

I stared at Joo Gilhyung, who was avoiding my gaze, and asked.

 

“Gilhyung, what do you think? Hmm?”

 

“I-I have no idea what you’ve been talking about… since a moment ago.” 

 

“You know exactly what I’m saying. You’re just pretending not to.”

 

I smirked and continued.

 

“What promise did you make with that nepo baby?” 

 

“W-what…?”

 

“Shall I guess? He told you to interfere so Sungie wouldn’t be able to debut, right?”

 

Joo Gilhyung’s jaw dropped as if I had hit the nail on the head.

 

He’s so transparent….

 

I couldn’t hold back a laugh.

 

“The reward… let’s see, did he say he’d let you debut under an LMH subsidiary label?”

 

“H-h-how…?”

 

Because I’ve seen plenty of guys like you until I’m sick of them.

 

Joo Gilhyung probably doesn’t know how many deceptions, plots, and schemes I’ve seen while regressing dozens of times.

 

The parachute trainee… with this much dedication, he would surely bother Yoo Sung even in EX-class K-POP Idol and even after debuting later.

 

I’m already in the same boat as Yoo Sung.

 

Whether I like it or not, I will be heavily entangled with Yoo Sung in EX-class K-POP Idol.

 

Perhaps even after debuting.

 

For a smooth and safe debut, I need to send a warning to the parachute trainee.

 

“Tell him.”

 

“W-what…?”

 

Joo Gilhyung was now looking at me as if I were some kind of monster.

 

Right, be even more terrified.

 

It’s better to be feared than to be looked down upon.

 

Since Joo Gilhyung has outlived his usefulness anyway….

 

“Tell him not to even think about pulling cheap tricks on a show I’m appearing in.”

 

I pulled out my phone and took photos of the messages exchanged between Joo Gilhyung and the parachute.

 

—Click, click.

 

The sound of the camera shutter echoed in the quiet alleyway for a long time.

 

After taking photos of all the messages, I handed the phone back to Joo Gilhyung.

 

“Did you understand?”

 

Joo Gilhyung, who had been staring at me blankly, nodded vigorously.

 

“Then get lost.”

 

At my words, Joo Gilhyung hesitantly moved his feet out of the alley.

 

Joo Gilhyung looked back once every three steps.

 

I stood in the dark alley and watched him quietly until he was no longer in sight.

 

*    *    *

 

“I’m home.”

 

As usual, there was no reply.

 

I took off my shoes and coat and sprawled out on the living room sofa.

 

There was a musty smell of dust, but I didn’t have the energy to move.

 

—Vrrr.

 

While I was resting with my eyes closed, the phone vibrated.

 

[Okada: Did you arrive home safely?]

 

I saw the message Okada Hiro sent through the group chat.

 

A smirk escaped me at the stiff sentences characteristic of a translator.

 

[Mhm.]

 

[What about you?]

 

As soon as I sent the message, a reply came almost simultaneously.

 

[Okada: Yes!]

 

However, the next message came much later.

 

[Okada: I arrived home 30 minutes ago.] 

 

[(Cat ‘OK’ emoticon)]

 

Seo Yijae also sent a reply, having apparently read the messages.

 

[Seo Yijae: I arrived, too.] 

 

[Seo Yijae: Everyone rest well, and see you next week.]

 

I didn’t wait for Yoo Sung’s reply.

 

He seemed to be the type who didn’t check messages often, let alone reply.

 

I turned on the TV with the remote.

 

The TV was airing a rerun of this morning’s news.

 

[“The mysterious group disappearance incident in the Mount Jiri area is growing even more puzzling.”]

 

A disappearance case….

 

I thought of Kim Chowon, and my brow furrowed involuntarily.

 

[“Seven members of a hiking club who went on a weekend trek have vanished without a trace and have been missing for three days. Reporter Kim Minjun reports from the scene.”]

 

It was a common occurrence for people to go missing in the mountains.

 

But seven people disappearing simultaneously?

 

It was news that always appeared whenever I regressed, so there was no special emotion, but I was curious about what had happened.

 

[“Yes, I am currently at the entrance of Cheoneunsa Temple on Mount Jiri. Last Saturday at 9:00 AM, seven members of a Seoul hiking club left this location to climb the Nogodan course of Mount Jiri. They were scheduled to descend by 6:00 PM that day, but they had not returned by nightfall.”]

 

Following the reporter’s broadcast, an interview with a family member of a missing person followed.

 

[“My brother is a veteran who has been hiking for over 30 years. He’s not someone who would ever get lost…. I can’t reach him, and I have no idea what’s going on….”] 

 

[“The strangest point is the location of the disappearance. The last trace of them found by the search team was a flat ridge path just 500 meters away from the Nogodan peak. Seven backpacks and hiking gear were found here, neatly arranged in a row….”]

 

I picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

 

“Haaa….”

 

It was news I had seen a few times already, but every time I saw it, it overlapped with Kim Chowon’s disappearance and made me feel uneasy.

 

By the time I finished changing clothes, cleaning, and eating dinner, it was already 7:00 PM.

 

I sat back on the sofa and turned on my phone.

 

By now, many reviews of the first audience recording for EX-class K-POP Idol would have been posted.

 

*    *    *

 

[[HOT] ECK Audience Review Actually, 

I forgot everything after seeing the last stage. 

Bye.] 

└That’s a creative way to bait people. 

└What? I just don’t think they had any intention of writing a review. 

└I also went to the recording, and this isn’t bait lol. Ah, I really want to spoil it seriously lol. 

└If you want to spoil, just do it. Stop just saying you want to spoil. 

└By the way, what is ECK? 

└EX-class K-POP Idol, it’s shortened to Ikid, or ECK.

 

[[HOT] Holy crap Jang Hyuksoo 

How did he think of pitting HTO and YS against each other lol 

Seriously, he’s got a great sense for this. I loved it.] 

└YS? I know HTO, but who is YS? 

└You don’t know? He’s not as much as HTO, but he’s pretty famous. 

└Heck, I just looked him up and he’s freaking handsome. Honestly, more my type than HTO lol. 

└Wait, HTO and YS went against each other?

└Yeah, they were both centers. I heard they did NXS SL. 

└What? NXS SL? Ah, that must have been so much fun ㅠ I should have applied for the recording ㅠ

 

[[HOT] Spoilers are forbidden but I have to say this 

I still can’t accept the result of the last stage…. 

First of all, I’m not an HTO fan, and I don’t have a trainee I support on HTO’s team. 

YS was good too, but looking at just the average skill of the trainees, didn’t HTO’s team win by a landslide? 

I naturally thought HTO’s team would win… I’m shocked they lost by such a narrow margin ㅠ] 

└What? HTO lost? Does that even make sense lol 

└Probably just ‘check picks.’ Everyone knows HTO is definitely going to debut lol. The trainees on HTO’s team also had high rankings. 

└It’s seriously frustrating that he’s already being sabotaged ㅠ 

└It’s fine, HTO is going to debut anyway lol. 

└I’m someone who went to the recording; I wondered if this would happen and sure enough, the HTO fans are starting to stir trouble lol. Honestly, both were so good and it wouldn’t have been strange for either to win, but saying they won by check picks lol. Truly pathetic. 

└What trouble? lol Honestly, NXS SL is a battle of centers, and it makes no sense that HTO lost in a center battle. It’s only natural to think it was sabotage. 

└Let’s say that to the trainees on HTO’s team too lol. I also went to the recording and they were so desperate to stand out more than HTO, it was a mess. It was so unpleasant to watch. Poor HTO ㅠ

 

“Hmm….”

 

Checking the reactions on the community sites, sure enough, people were fighting tooth and nail over the result of the last stage.

 

Even though the first episode hasn’t aired yet, for this much buzz volume….

 

“Not bad.”

 

I kept refreshing the community site and checking the reactions. 

 

Then, I discovered a post that caught my eye.

 

[[NEW] Wait, holy crap lol guys look at this 

KJW’s fansite posted an ECK trainee preview.] 

└KJW’s fansite ? You mean Milky Way-nim? 

└Holy crap it’s true lol. But who is this? He’s handsome. 

└That fansite only posted KJW photos for over 10 years… this is the first time I’ve seen her post photos of another idol. 

└For real, even on April Fool’s Day she steadfastly only posted KJW photos, so she’s the one with the nickname ‘Pure Love Pro’ lol. 

└Wow, but it’s the first recording and a preview is already out lol. 

└There are more than you think. Especially for handsome kids like HTO. 

└There are so many data sellers too. Those guys smell money like crazy lol. 

└So who is the trainee KJW’s fansite posted? HTO? 

└No, never seen him before. 

└It’s the trainee who appears at 1 minute 10 seconds of Music Day, Kim Chowol!

 

[[NEW] Preview Trainee 

Isn’t he handsome? 

No… I’m not exaggerating, he’s seriously handsome. 

It might just be that the photo came out well… But since Milky Way-nim took it, it reminds me of KJW’s ‘Miracle Shot.’ 

+) I also went and watched the Music Day stage video, and he wasn’t bad then, but he seems to have gotten even more handsome since.] 

└Of course, it’s the power of editing, you idiot. 

└Milky Way-nim barely does any editing. She said she doesn’t take photos of ugly kids who need a lot of editing lol.

 

After seeing the reactions on the community site, I nodded and thought.

 

‘She has a good eye.’

 

Isn’t there a saying that the best plastic surgery is a diet?

 

I successfully lost 5kg just before the guild match through a consistent diet.

 

The fact that my Appearance stat rose from B+ to A- was also thanks to the diet.

 

‘A consistent diet and exercise really are the best.’

 

After scanning through the community sites, I accessed SNS to check my preview.

 

[Milky Way@milkyway_KJW 

XX.XX.XX 1st Audience Preview 

#EXclassKPOPIdol #KimChowol #KIMCHOWOL]

 

Milky Way.

 

The famous fansite master who took Nexus Kim Junwoo’s ‘Miracle Shot.’

 

Kim Junwoo’s fansite, Milky Way, consistently came to see the first recording, and every time Han Theo sang Starlight, she would post photos of him.

 

‘The Starlight preview of Han Theo posted by Milky Way… surpassed 3,000 retweets in just one day.’

 

And as the show aired, the number of retweets gradually increased, exceeding 30,000 retweets just before the live broadcast.

 

I feel bad for Han Theo, but those 30,000 retweets, I’m taking them.

 

I immediately checked the number of retweets and likes on my preview posted on Milky Way’s account.

 

[RT 541 ♥ 781]

 

The numbers were still rising, but because I remembered Han Teo’s 30,000 retweets, it felt a bit lacking.

 

However, in preparation for such a moment, I had an item ready.

 

‘Status window, check items.’

 

The familiar 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.]

 

I muttered softly while looking at my preview posted by Milky Way.

 

“Use item.”