The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol – Chapter 112

Author: Cireng

Chapter 112

The fans shouted in unison.

“Yeah! It’s really delicious!”

“Cooking genius! Visual genius!”

“It’s the best!”

“Sandwich of a lifetime!”

Fortunately, the response was enthusiastic.

The recording venue was filled with confident praise from every direction.

Thankfully, the sincerity we had put into it had struck a chord with the fans’ hearts.

Kim Sunyoo showed his trademark gentle smile toward the fans.

“Thank you all for enjoying it. You know today is the final stage of this promotion cycle, right? Don’t hold back your voices, let’s enjoy it together until the very end!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Along with the explosive cheers, the now-familiar intro of ‘First Greeting Hello’ began to play.

During the first broadcast, the members were so overwhelmed by nervousness that they could barely even find the camera lenses with the red recording lights on them.

But now things were different.

True to their ability to adapt quickly, they had completely changed.

The members now knew exactly when to look at the cameras and from which angles the cameras were filming.

Identifying the moments the public would go crazy for, they enjoyed the stage to the fullest.

As they rode the rhythm, nodding their heads to the beat, the fans’ cheers surged onto the stage like a giant wave.

Kang Chan’s explosive dance break followed, and when the song reached its climax, the members gathered in the center.

As if by prior agreement, we flashed bright smiles toward the audience and formed finger hearts.

“Hello, Lumina! We’ll meet again!”

The moment we struck our ending pose, I could clearly see the expressions on the fans’ faces one by one.

Fans wiping away tears and fans cheering flashed past my eyes.

‘Why do they like us this much…?’

A bittersweet emotion swirled deep in my chest.

Wrapped in that strange feeling, our final music show performance finally came to an end.

Today marked the end of our music show promotions, but it was by no means a period.

As we came down from the stage, I roughly threw my arm around the shoulders of the sweat-soaked members.

“Good work, everyone. Now it’s time to go win Rookie of the Year, right?”

At my words, the members’ eyes gleamed once more like hunters.

Now it was time to prepare for the hunt toward Rookie of the Year, the next album, and even greater heights.

☆☆☆

Our official music show activities had come to an end.

But our schedule had actually become twice as hectic as it had been during promotions.

We were now handling an endless flood of schedules, including web variety shows and advertisements.

‘Even if it’s hard, we need to firmly establish our status right now.’

Perhaps because the success of our debut song and the massive hit of the variety show ‘Run, Star’ had created a powerful synergy, offers were pouring in from major places anyone would recognize by name.

One of them was a university festival.

‘It’s a replacement slot, but that actually makes it a great opportunity.’

Normally, university festival lineups are arranged months in advance.

That was why I had never imagined that rookies who had only just debuted like us would be standing on a university festival stage this year.

‘We got lucky.’

As it happened, one of the popular singers originally scheduled to appear had fallen from grace due to a drug scandal, and the vacant spot ended up coming to us.

“Guys, stay sharp. Today’s stage is on a completely different level from music shows.”

A surprisingly heavy tension settled into Kim Sunyoo’s voice.

“The audience might not be our fans. So even if the response isn’t great, don’t get hurt by it. Got it?”

Judging by his serious expression, it seemed to be a concern born from some painful experience.

“Yes! Don’t worry so much, Sunyoo hyung.”

“Yes! I definitely won’t get hurt or anything!”

Amid the cheerful responses from the members, I added my own comment.

“We’re rookies. Of course they might not be our fans. Wouldn’t it be enough if we just turned them into fans?”

“What…? Hahaha!”

Only then did Kim Sunyoo’s expression relax a little.

At last, the car came to a smooth stop, and we arrived at the place known as the flower of all festivals… Minguk University.

‘We really worked hard preparing for this despite our packed schedule.’

One debut song alone wasn’t enough to fill a festival setlist.

So we had hurriedly rearranged and practiced songs such as the theme tracks from the survival show ‘Star Picking 5’, ‘The Story We Couldn’t Finish’, and ‘KING’ specifically for the festival.

As we quickly walked through the waiting room hallway, I noticed a senior group in flashy outfits in the distance.

‘Who’s that?’

There were a total of three invited artists at today’s festival.

“Hello, sunbaenims!”

Following the members who quickly bowed, I lowered my head as well.

“Oh, well look who this is.”

“Isn’t this LSB, the water-cannon masters?”

“…!”

The ones who had spoken were none other than ‘Raiden’, one of Korea’s top-tier male idol groups.

That’s right.

Because this was a university festival famous enough to represent the country, even a first-tier idol group like Raiden had come to perform.

For a festival of this scale, it made sense that a group of Raiden’s caliber would be invited.

“It’s been a while, everyone. Have you been doing well?”

The sight of Yoo Haein approaching with his harmless smile made my brow twitch involuntarily.

“Yes! Yoo Haein sunbaenim!”

“It’s an honor to see you again.”

The members, who knew nothing, chatted brightly with him, but I couldn’t shake off an unpleasant feeling.

A festival vacancy that had suddenly appeared, a singer ruined by a drug scandal, and now Yoo Haein standing before me.

‘There’s no way this bastard had a hand in it… right?’

If it was the psychopath Yoo Haein, it was entirely possible.

‘I should keep some distance between him and the members.’

As I watched with guarded eyes, Yoo Haein laughed heartily and introduced his teammates.

“This is your first time meeting our team, right?”

“Yes!”

“Guys, these are the juniors I told you about before.”

Raiden consisted of five members, each with a distinct personality.

As expected of a top-tier male idol group with years of experience, they all carried an air of composure.

“Oh? Hello, juniors.”

The member with the gentlest appearance greeted us first with a smiling expression.

“Hello, sunbaenim!”

“I’m a fan!”

The two members who looked somewhat flashy swept their eyes over us with apparent displeasure, but after noticing the cameras, they quickly changed their expressions and nodded.

“This is your first university festival performance, right?”

“Yes!”

“How do you feel?”

“Honestly… I’m nervous.”

“You’re all talented, so you’ll do great.”

“Thank you!”

“Good. I’m looking forward to your performance.”

Raiden offered warm encouragement, displaying the demeanor of seasoned seniors.

Still wearing his harmless smile, Yoo Haein slowly approached and stopped right in front of me.

“By the way, Siwoo.”

“…Yes, sunbaenim.”

Conscious of the surrounding gazes and cameras, I carefully controlled my expression as I answered.

“I watched ‘Run, Star’. You seem to have quite a talent for variety shows.”

Despite his calm face, his words carried obvious provocation and hidden barbs.

I responded with my professional social smile.

“Thank you for thinking highly of me, sunbaenim.”

“Haha… If you have time later, let’s meet separately sometime.”

“Of course. It would be an honor.”

‘Perfect.’

I had actually been waiting for this.

That day, I had been too flustered by the revelation that Yoo Haein was a regressor to ask all the questions I wanted.

I needed to extract information from him about regression and the system.

‘My system labels everything confidential whenever I ask anything.’

That meant I had no choice but to get information from another regressor.

‘I’m going to squeeze every last bit of information out of him.’

“Good.”

Yoo Haein left, once again wearing his harmless mask.

‘What a psychopath.’

He had a strange talent for making me feel worse the more I talked to him.

“Wow… Siwoo hyung, when did you become so close with Yoo Haein sunbaenim?”

I gently placed a hand on Yoo Hoseung’s head as he spoke in admiration.

“Hoseung.”

“Yes?”

Aware of the self-produced content camera filming nearby, I swallowed what I really wanted to say and answered briefly.

“It’s not like that. Let’s focus on the stage.”

“…?”

Leaving the confused Yoo Hoseung behind, Kim Sunyoo clapped his hands to gather everyone’s attention.

“Alright, we’re first up, so let’s hurry and get ready!”

“Sounds good!”

There was only one hour left until the performance.

☆☆☆

Minguk University’s main athletic field.

The heat generated by over ten thousand students and the smell of beer filled the outdoor venue.

It was LSB’s first stage and the opening act of the university festival.

Just as I was about to climb the stage stairs, I spotted Raiden preparing in the waiting room beside us.

At the center stood Yoo Haein, twisting his lips into a smirk as he looked at me.

‘I seriously want to flick him on the forehead.’

One day, I was definitely going to give that fake face of his a good punch…

No, at least a solid forehead flick.

“Alright, LSB. Please head onto the stage now!”

Following the staff’s instructions, we stepped onto the stage, and the MC’s booming voice echoed through the venue.

“The first stars to open the Minguk University festival are none other than monster rookies!”

As the spotlight hit us, cheers erupted loudly enough to shake the entire field.

“Lucy Star Boys!”

We hadn’t expected much since we were only filling in as a replacement act, but the atmosphere was far hotter than imagined.

“One, two, three!”

Following Kim Sunyoo’s count, we bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

“We are the shining stars! Hello, we are Lucy Star Boys!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The raw energy unique to an outdoor festival hit us all at once… completely different from a music show.

Holding the microphone, Kim Sunyoo smiled warmly at the crowd.

“To be honest, we debuted not long ago, so this is our first university festival performance. It’s an honor to be the opening act at the famous Minguk University festival!”

The audience seemed to like the confidence of rookies, and their reaction became even more enthusiastic.

“To celebrate that, the first song we’d like to perform for you is our debut track, ‘First Greeting Hello’. Please enjoy!”

The moment we took our positions, the familiar instrumental began.

As we moved in sync with the intro choreography, another wave of cheers erupted.

‘The response is great. Everything’s going smoothly.’

Just as the song reached its highlight chorus…

Screeeeeech! Crackle—Thud.

A sharp mechanical noise pierced our eardrums, and the powerful speakers suddenly died.

“…!”

The tens of thousands of spectators instantly fell silent, as if cold water had been poured over them.

The audio staff turned pale and began running frantically beneath the stage.

It was an unmistakable sound-system failure.