The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut Chapter 37

 [“The reward is none other than… the ‘Guild Creation Ticket’!”]

 

At the MC’s words, the real-time chat window began to explode.

 

[Guild? What’s a guild, you nerd?]

 

[Is it that guild from RPG games?] 

 

[How serious are they about this concept lol]

 

On SNS and community sites, a fan of Yoo Sung who went by the nickname ‘Starlight’ let out a hollow laugh. 

 

“They really are doing everything.”

 

Starlight watched Episode 3 on TV while checking real-time reactions on SNS and community sites on her phone. 

 

A strange tension still flowed between Yoo Sung’s fans and Kim Chowol’s fans.

 

[I admit the PR video got a good reaction. But honestly, was that thanks to Kim Chowol? It’s all because our Sungie is handsome. Honestly, even without Kim Chowol, it would’ve gotten this much of a reaction, right?] 

 

[Ugh;; I don’t think so;;] 

 

[Kid, I’m a fan of Sungie too, but delete this… why are you so desperate to keep adding fuel to the fire;;]

 

[Even when he does something good, he gets cursed at… seriously, I’m so frustrated because of the unfair hate our Chowol is getting.] 

 

[I’m not a fan of Yoo Sung, but honestly, isn’t it a fact? If it wasn’t for Yoo Sung’s face, it wouldn’t have gotten that kind of reaction.] 

 

[I admit Yoo Sung is handsome, but if it weren’t for Chowol, you think it would’ve hit 100k on the first day? It would’ve been more like 30k. Look at Han Theo’s PR video, it’s only just hit 50k;;] 

 

[Since you keep talking about facts, let me summarize it in one line of facts. Without Kim Chowol, Yoo Sung’s PR video wouldn’t even have hit 50k and would’ve been buried immediately. Fr lol. Why? Because Han Theo is more handsome than Yoo Sung. That’s the fact you guys love so much lol]

 

Whenever the fighting started to die down, fans from either Yoo Sung’s or Kim Chowol’s side would toss in more firewood. 

 

The dying embers would flare up and burn brightly again, only to have more fuel added just as they began to fade. This cycle repeated endlessly.

 

“This is exhausting.”

 

Starlight carelessly tossed her phone onto the sofa and focused back on the broadcast. 

 

Honestly, Starlight wasn’t particularly fond of Kim Chowol either. 

 

Of course, she admitted that the PR video owed much to Kim Chowol. But, well, when she watched the two of them, somehow….

 

“They don’t seem very close.”

 

The relationship between Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung in the PR video looked awkward. 

 

Of course, they had been on the same team, and they had taken photos together during the production presentation, but there was a strange sense of distance. 

 

At any rate, they looked like business partners—nothing more, nothing less.

 

“It just seems like they don’t get along very well.”

 

If they were actually close, she would have nothing to say, but if they weren’t and just happened to be stuck together, her heart wished they would just go their separate ways now. 

 

She certainly thought so….

 

[“The trainee I have chosen is… Trainee Yoo Sung.”]

 

When Kim Cho-wol spoke Yoo Sung’s name on screen, Starlight’s eyes went wide.

 

“What?”

 

Since she had heard about the Kim Chowol guild during the first recording, the fact that they were in the same guild wasn’t very surprising. 

 

However, she had never dreamed that the trainee Kim Chowol would pick would be Yoo Sung.

 

‘At the production presentation, he seemed closer to that Japanese kid, Okada Hiro, than our Sungie.’

 

Seeing them stuck together with bright smiles, she had assumed Yoo Sung was just a business relationship and that the other boy was his real friend.

 

‘Yoo Sung? Why on earth? Because he’s handsome? But he messed up the stage, so why bother? Or is he just trying to scavenge some crumbs because it looks like Sungie will obviously debut? But really, why? If he tries to scavenge, he might end up losing his own share.’

 

While Starlight was engulfed in shock and questioning, a short interview with Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung was inserted as if it had been waiting.

 

[“Is there a special reason why you chose Trainee Yoo Sung out of the eighty trainees?” 

 

“He’s handsome, but he’s also good at dancing and singing….”]

 

Kim Chowol answered the PD’s question with a shy smile.

 

[“How did you feel when you were recruited as Trainee Kim Chowol’s guild member?” 

 

“That was….”]

 

Yoo Sung hesitated and stammered a bit before just giving an awkward smile and trailing off.

 

[Still an awkward relationship]

 

A caption appeared, seemingly representing Yoo Sung’s feelings. 

 

Scratching at a hangnail beside her thumbnail anxiously, Starlight muttered. 

 

“What is it? Does he like it or hate it?”

 

Kim Chowol definitely seemed to think well of Yoo Sung, but she couldn’t even begin to guess what Yoo Sung was thinking. 

 

However, that was the end of the story regarding Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung for now.

 

When electric scooters appeared as a means of transport to the dorms, the chat box flipped upside down, but it didn’t enter Starlight’s eyes. 

 

“But that theme song is really difficult.”

 

Byulbit muttered after watching the choreography video for the theme song, “HUNT THE STAGE.”

 

“Well, our Sungie will do fine….”

 

After the introduction of “HUNT THE STAGE,” the show cut between the MC’s bright expression and the trainees’ dark ones. 

 

Kim Chowol, in particular, looked so serious that the bright image from his Stat Evaluation stage was nowhere to be found. 

 

Sure enough, Kim Chowol faced difficulties starting from the very first lesson.

 

[His real skills are being exposed already lol] 

 

[The only reason he changed the song for the Stat Evaluation was because it looked like he was gonna get screwed;; or maybe he planned it all from the start.] 

 

[Still, it looks like he memorized all the choreography? Not that he’s good, but…]

 

The broadcast focused on showing Kim Chowol’s gloomy face and the dance trainer’s troubled expression. 

 

As expected, the real-time chat erupted with negative reactions toward Kim Chowol. 

 

On the other hand, Yoo Sung received nothing but praise in his vocal and dance lessons. It was a situation diametrically opposed to Kim Chowol’s in many ways.

 

The only saving grace was that Kim Chowol wasn’t the only trainee struggling with the overly difficult choreography and song. 

 

Trainees like Yoo Sung and Han Theo, who mastered the dance and vocals skillfully, were shown only in passing, while trainees like Kim Chowol, who practiced through clenched teeth and eventually burst into tears, were shown in focus.

 

“I guess it can’t be helped….”

 

Starlight, a devoted viewer of idol survival programs, let out a deep sigh. 

 

She knew all too well that survival programs needed trials and tribulations, and that Jang Hyuksoo preferred giving more screentime to the underdogs rather than the talented ones. 

 

Episode 3 ended with the trainees practicing hard. And immediately, the trailer for Episode 4 began.

 

“Well, it’ll probably go with a narrative like, ‘He was so bad he seemed hopeless, but his skills improved this much through incredible effort.’ Something like that.”

 

It was so obvious she didn’t even need to watch it. 

 

However, because she knew these cliché narratives also moved people’s hearts and worked well, she had nothing to say. 

 

She just felt it was a bit of a shame that Yoo Sung lacked screentime. 

 

But as Starlight watched the trailer for Episode 4 with resignation, a familiar face and voice caught her eye.

 

[“Hey.”]

 

Huh?

 

The footage was blurry and the angle was strange, so she couldn’t be certain right away, but that was Yoo Sung. 

 

Yoo Sung was waking up a trainee lying on the practice room floor by lightly nudging him with his foot.

 

[“Hey, Kim Chowol.”]

 

The trainee lying down was indeed Kim Chowol. 

 

As if Kim Chowol had opened his eyes, Yoo Sung stopped nudging him and spoke while standing at a slant.

 

[“Finally awake.”] 

 

[“Yoo Sung…?”] 

 

[“Is there a problem?”]

 

Someone might say they look close. 

 

However, any person with a normal perspective would probably think differently. 

 

Rather than a normal friendship, the relationship between the two was more like….

 

“A bully and his errand boy…?”

 

*    *    *

 

[[HOT] I see now why he couldn’t debut at LMH. 

I can’t say the name because I might get sued, but I was seriously shocked watching the trailer lol. 

KCW is truly a saint, letting him appear in his PR video, giving him insane makeup, and creating a legendary shot for him…. Oh, or maybe he’s being gaslit? I feel so bad for KCW, I’m gonna have to vote for him.] 

└ Vowing not to say the name because you might get sued lol 

└ No, but LMH is good at suing, though. 

└ Use your head, would they really sue? Over a little hate toward a trainee who didn’t even debut? 

└ The losers are crawling out from their rooms to have a fit again. No, how could you even think like this? Anyone can see they’re just friends, they’re the same age too. 

└ Welcome, Yoo Sung fan lol. You’re the one without eyes. How on earth does that look like a friendship? It’s just a bully and his errand boy.]

 

[Honestly, I’ve felt a bad vibe since the first time I saw him. His face is just… you know what I mean? 

RT37 ♥252] 

└ Know what? Just say you found him annoying because he’s handsome;; Vibe-checkers are seriously exhausting. 

└ Excuse me? Who are you to be replying to my post?;; 

└ You’re the one who picked a fight first, and now you’re asking who they are lol. Hilarious. 

└ No, there wasn’t even a mention, so how did you find your way here? Truly strange. 

└ Hey, just admit it… honestly, he looked like a total thug. This is seriously irrefutable.]

 

After the trailer for Episode 4 was released, social media and community sites exploded with rumors of Yoo Sung being a bully. 

 

I was worried about Yoo Sung, who was surprisingly soft-hearted, so I tested the waters, but his reaction was unexpected.

 

“What about you.”

 

“What?” 

 

“What do you think?”

 

Seeing Yoo Sung ask back with a sullen face, I was momentarily at a loss for words. What did he mean, what did I think?

 

“It’s all a misunderstanding anyway, so won’t it clear up on its own?” 

 

“Then it’s fine.”

 

Since it didn’t seem like Jang Hyuksoo would let Yoo Sung go down like this, I gave a vague answer, but Yoo Sung just nodded as if he believed me, or whatever. 

 

In a situation where I couldn’t even guess what Yoo Sung was thinking, Episode 4 began. 

 

The simultaneous evaluation of 100 trainees. Amidst the shock and horror of the viewers, the evaluation began immediately. And well, the result was as you know….

 

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

 

Only a few people, including myself and Okada Hiro, survived until the end. 

 

The surprising part was that even trainees who rarely made mistakes during practice ended up making many, perhaps due to nerves.

 

[Crazy, Kim Chowol survived.] 

 

[Fr, how did he even survive lol] 

 

[Looking at it, it seems he threw away all the choreography details and just focused on not making mistakes… he’s smart.] 

 

[He’s just being sly lol. So cunning, so cunning.]

 

As a victim image started to form around me due to the Episode 4 trailer, the negative reactions decreased significantly. 

 

But this is by no means a good phenomenon. 

 

Once a victim image sets in, someone will bring it up as a weakness whenever I do anything in the future.

 

‘Come on, show it, show it, show it….’

 

Clenching my fists, I stared intently at the TV screen with wide eyes. 

 

He wouldn’t have edited it out. 

 

It’s obviously good footage. 

 

A trainee whose rank is high but whose skills are desperate, succeeding in clearing the main quest through incredible effort—it was a scene too delicious to throw away.

 

[“Hiro… I mean, Trainee Okada Hiro helped me a lot. Because he’s a great dancer.”]

 

When I mentioned Okada Hiro, the show showed me speaking to him in Japanese while he was huddled up during dance lessons, almost as if it had been waiting. 

 

Positive reactions about me poured out. 

 

Yes, good. It’s good, but… isn’t there something else that needs to be shown?

 

‘Could it be… only Hiro gets saved and Yoo Sung is edited out?’

 

There’s no way. The reaction to the PR video was good, so there’s no way they’d toss Yoo Sung away here.

 

[“Trainee Yoo Sung, who shares a room with me, also cheered me on. I think I was able to find strength thanks to him.”] 

 

“That doesn’t seem to be the case, though?”] 

 

A prickle.

 

The hangnail I had been irritably picking at finally tore off, and a single drop of blood trickled out.