The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut – Chapter 38

Author: rolypoly

[“If vocal and dance skills could be built through cheering alone, there wouldn’t be an idol in the world who couldn’t sing or dance.”

“What?”

“I’m telling you not to credit other people’s help or support. You’re the one who did well on today’s stage, Trainee Kim Chowol.”

“Oh….”]

The screen showed me looking bewildered at Kim Junwoo’s pouring praise.

As if waiting for this moment, scenes of me practicing flashed by quickly.

The real-time chat window began to explode as it showed me staying late into the night for self-practice and teaching Okada Hiro Korean in my spare time.

[Wow, Kim Chowol’s personality is seriously top-tier.]

[I thought he just had a good personality, but he practices so hard.]

[He probably doesn’t even have enough time to practice, yet he’s teaching Okada Korean. That’s truly touching.]

[So you’re saying Yoo Sung bullied a nice guy like Kim Chowol? His character is seriously legend-tier trash.]

As the positive reactions toward me grew, Yoo Sung’s image plummeted to the bottom.

I glanced at Yoo Sung, who was sitting next to me.

Yoo Sung was staring blankly at the TV screen with an unreadable expression.

I was certain that Jang Hyuksoo wouldn’t throw Yoo Sung away, but I hadn’t expected him to be criticized to this extent.

Feeling unnecessarily uncomfortable, I nudged Yoo Sung’s shoulder to start a conversation.

“Hey, Sung-ah.”

“It’s coming up.”

“What?”

“You and me.”

Yoo Sung gave a light chin gesture without taking his eyes off the TV.

Having been watching Yoo Sung’s reaction, I immediately turned my head back to check the broadcast and the real-time chat.

[“Hey, Kim Chowol.”]

Yoo Sung woke me up by lightly nudging me with his foot as I lay on the practice room floor.

[“Finally awake.”

“Yoo Sung…?”

“What, is there a problem?”]

The image quality was poor, and the angle was strange.

The sound wasn’t clear either, cutting out intermittently.

However, no one took issue with the low production quality of the video.

[Public execution ㄷㄷ]

[But did Yoo Sung curse out Jang Hyuksoo or something? I don’t get why he’s going this far.]

[He probably just gave Jang Hyuksoo an excuse with his usual behavior lol. Coming from a big agency doesn’t mean anything to Jang Hyuksoo. If he catches you, you’re just screwed.]

Yoo Sung.

With his handsome face and outstanding skills, he was someone who looked perfect to anyone’s eyes.

And the downfall of a perfect person provides people with a low-brow catharsis and a mean-spirited pleasure.

He was definitely a bully in the past; he must have been a school violence perpetrator; pull up his student record; felt off from the moment I first saw him; don’t know what he’s thinking trying to become an idol after committing school violence.

The reaction in the real-time chat grew even hotter.

The real-time chat box boiled over with negative public opinion toward Yoo Sung.

Yoo Sung’s fans fought back with everything they had, but the tide had long since turned against him.

[Wow there are still people defending Yoo Sung lolol The level of stanning a school violence bully]

It didn’t matter whether Yoo Sung was actually an Iljin or a bully.

There were only people trying to satisfy their low-brow catharsis and mean-spirited pleasure by watching Yoo Sung’s ruin.

[“What are you doing here?”]

However, the situation flowed differently from the viewers’ expectations.

[“Huh?”]

Yoo Sung handed a cold bottle of water to Kim Chowol.

[“Drink it.”

“Oh… thanks.”]

After giving the bottle of water to Kim Chowol, Yoo Sung immediately turned around and left the practice room as if he had no further business.

[“I’m going.”

“Are you going back to the dorm?”

“Yeah. You should come up soon too, don’t overdo it.”]

The atmosphere in the chat window turned strange following Yoo Sung’s last words.

[?]

[?? What’s with those two?]

[They look pretty close.]

[Where would you find a bully who takes care of his errand boy’s water?]

Fortunately, Jang Hyuksoo had a plan and had edited out Yoo Sung’s actual final remark.

What was it again? Was it ‘Don’t use up all your strength today and be weak tomorrow’?

It was clearly a joke, but in the current overheated atmosphere, it would have only provided an excuse for people to tear him apart.

Having flipped the atmosphere in an instant, Jang Hyuksoo began to drop hints about me and Yoo Sung as if he had been waiting.

The scene where I cheered for Yoo Sung during the first main quest theme song evaluation.

The scene where Yoo Sung and I took a photo with our arms around each other’s shoulders at the production presentation.

And once again, the scene where Yoo Sung gave me a cold bottle of water during night self-practice was shown.

It looked as though we were awkward at first but became closer as we shared the same guild and spent time together.

Of course, Yoo Sung and I knew that Jang Hyuksoo had edited the sequence a bit to make it look like we were ‘becoming close.’

The viewers still seemed a bit confused, but fortunately, the public opinion toward Yoo Sung and me was leaning toward the positive side.

“Haha….”

I was just starting to feel relieved and let out a quiet sigh when Yoo Sung, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly let out a small laugh.

“So that’s what it was.”

I couldn’t understand what Yoo Sung meant.

But I saw it.

That Yoo Sung’s eyes were burning with a quiet fire.

* * *

[[HOT] Summary of Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung’s “Bestie” Moments

A summary of Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung’s bestie moments I put together for myself.

(Video of Kim Chowol choosing Yoo Sung as a guild member)

(Interview video of Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung)

(GIF of Kim Chowol cheering for Yoo Sung)

(GIF of Kim Chowol taking a photo with his arm around Yoo Sung)

(GIF of Yoo Sung bringing water to Kim Chowol during night self-practice)

Anyone who sees all this and still says Yoo Sung is a bully and Kim Chowol is an errand boy just wants to believe that.

Or they’re a loser who has lived their whole life without a real friend. If you disagree, you’re wrong. Trolls will be ignored.]

└ We were all played by Jang Hyuksoo. This is seriously scary.

└ This is what “evil editing” is;; I really thought Jang Hyuksoo decided to destroy a man’s life.

└ But it’s also a fact that Yoo Sung’s personality doesn’t seem all that great. Kim Chowol is just the nice one.

└ Am I the only one who saw Yoo Sung being super respectful to the judges? He’s polite to other trainees too; he’s just like that because he’s close to Kim Chowol.

└ Where is a trainee who isn’t respectful to the judges? And other trainees? It seems like his relationship with the other LMH trainees isn’t great.

└ Of course things could be awkward with the LMH trainees since they botched the stage so hard… Yoo Sung was the only one who actually did the stage properly.

└ Fr lol. Then who told them to come on a survival show with such bottom-tier skills?

[From now on, I withdraw my support for Kim Chowol.

Starting today, I am stepping away from a supportive relationship. Kim Chowol and I become one and the same. Any attack on Kim Chowol will be considered an attack on me. RT 872 ♥ 1.3k]

└ Oh damn, I thought they were a Kim Chowol fan, but they’re a Yoo Sung fan? Fr?

└ Didn’t Yoo Sung fans hate Kim Chowol just a few days ago?

└ Ahem, how can you be so rude as to call him by his name so casually? You should call him Lord Kim Chowol.

└ Are Yoo Sung fans crazy? This is hilarious ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Seeing him raise hype with the PR video and stay close even when there was a personality controversy, I have to acknowledge him.

└ Are Yoo Sung fans for real with this 180? lol. Honestly, isn’t it all because of Kim Chowol? If Kim Chowol hadn’t chosen Yoo Sung as a guild member, this never would have happened.

└ You’re not a Yoo Sung fan, are you?

└ Han Theo fan caught.

I scrolled straight down to check the community sites and SNS.

Although Han Theo’s fans kept trying to pick fights, my fans and Yoo Sung’s fans had long since joined hands.

The overall atmosphere had shifted to our side.

‘Jang Hyuksoo really is a genius at editing.’

After checking all the reactions, I handed in my phone.

—Ding.

And as if waiting for that moment, a familiar notification sound rang in my ears.

[You have cleared a Hidden Quest.]

[Hidden Quest: Be mentioned more than 1,000,000 times by people.

*Includes all pet names and nicknames.

*Online mentions on SNS, community sites, etc., are also tallied.

Reward: 1 Trait Gacha Ticket (B)]

One million times?

I thought it was one hundred thousand last time.

It seemed to be thanks to the influence of the PR videos for me and Yoo Sung, which had properly caught the algorithm, but more than anything, it was thanks to the communities and social media that had burned hot with Yoo Sung’s personality controversy.

‘The Trait Draw Ticket reward… I’ll use that later.’

What’s important now is the filming.

“Thank you for waiting!”

The MC, now dressed in a proper suit rather than casual clothes, stepped onto the stage.

The one hundred trainees, including myself, returned to the set where we had performed the Stat Evaluation.

However, the seats we were in were a bit different.

I, who was 20th, sat in the 13th seat; Yoo Sung, who was 22nd, sat in the 17th seat; and finally, Okada Hiro, who was 65th, was in the 32nd seat.

“Today is the long-awaited day… for the first ranking announcement!”

I rubbed my palms, damp with cold sweat, against my pants and thought.

The first ranking was the most important one after the final ranking that would determine the debut.

Our current rankings were purely determined by stats.

However, from the ranking announcement ceremony onward, stats would no longer have a significant impact on the rankings.

This was because the rankings would be determined by viewer votes… specifically, the number of Help Calls.

‘Theoretically, the 1st place could become 100th, and the 100th could become 1st.’

I wondered where my ranking would be.

I needed to be at least within the top 10 to aim for 1st place later.

In the previous regression, excluding just a single time, I had held 1st place continuously.

“Before we announce the rankings! There is one thing we missed and skipped over.”

Something we missed? What was that?

The MC gave a grin to the confused trainees and made a V-sign with his index and middle fingers.

“It’s the reward for the second main quest, the Guild Match!”

The expressions of the trainees who had won the Guild Match brightened.

‘Ah… I completely forgot about this.’

Recalling the reward and our guild members, I rubbed my chin with a troubled expression.

“The reward for the Guild Match victory is none other than….”

The MC paused as he saw the expectant looks in the trainees’ eyes.

“The Trait Removal Potion!”

Trait Removal Potion…?

The trainees tilted their heads, not immediately understanding the MC’s words.

“A trait is something you will acquire as you clear various quests in the future. This is a potion that can remove that trait. Some of you might need it right now, while others might not. However! Since we don’t know what situation might arise in the future, I recommend keeping it safe even if you don’t need it right now!”

The trainees who needed the Trait Removal Potion right now were the LMH trainees who had received the ‘Worst Teamwork’ trait from Kim Junwoo.

Since our guild had won the Guild Match, we were entitled to receive the potion.

But there was one problem….

“The Trait Removal Potion, the reward for the Guild Match victory, will be given out as one per winning guild!”

Yoo Sung and Joo Gilhyung almost instinctively turned their heads to face each other.

There were two people who needed it, but only one potion.

I could hear the sound of the cameras rolling fiercely to capture the intriguing situation.