Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus – Chapter 108

Author: LyraDhani

PD Ahn

‘What on earth is that? What even is that?’

I kept racking my brain, but the only thing left in my head was a giant question mark.

‘Why… why is it ‘Fantasia’?’

“…….”

How on earth had they ended up deciding on Fantasia as the group’s name? It made me want to sit in on whatever meetings and discussions had led them to that conclusion.

‘Are they really doing this right? They must have a solid plan, right?’

No, maybe they didn’t. I’d been a bit uneasy ever since Crown stepped down and that rookie agency The World took over the kids, but….

Now that those fears were becoming a reality… I actually found myself wondering how much better it would have been if Crown had just stayed in charge of Idol Classism.

‘No, no. Hey HEY Hey was definitely not it. And Kang Hyuk was… well, Kang Hyuk.’

Do I have no choice but to trust and wait?

“…….”

Well, the timing of the teaser itself wasn’t bad. Actually, it was pretty good. It was exactly 43 days after the conclusion of Idol Classism. It felt a bit late, but not too late. Normally, around a month was the standard, but there were cases where debut preparations dragged on for another six months.

I’d always preferred seeing them debut as quickly as possible rather than dragging things out with mini concerts just to keep fans from forgetting them during a long wait….. So, strictly speaking, I was happy the teaser was out. It was just the content that was the problem.

I couldn’t understand it. Nothing about it made sense.

“It’s not a teaser video, right?”

“Uh… I don’t think the video is out yet… It’s the group name and… concept photos… and like, a concept description….”

“What? Concept photos?”

“Yeah. The text description of the concept is up on the official site right now. Wait, I can’t get in because of the traffic. Let me try checking another community.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sure someone’s already summarized everything….”

“Ah! This looks like the concept photo!”

The moment I grabbed the phone my brother held out, Joo Wooyoung’s photo filled my vision.

“Oh… wow….”

Without the slightest exaggeration, he looked so breathtaking that I almost thought the phone’s brightness had been turned up too high. No, I’d already known he was handsome because I’d seen him every day, but seeing a properly staged photo that had gone through professional editing and post-processing left me genuinely speechless.

“He’s… handsome.”

Even my brother blurted that out. ‘Handsome’ didn’t even begin to cover it.

With features that were both sharp and soft, a neat style, and eyes that looked particularly bright, he commanded your attention. A surefire idol face—yes, no matter how you looked at it, he was the perfect idol.

Overall, his appearance wasn’t that different from when he was on Idol Classism, but I felt that only someone like Joo Wooyoung could pull off a choice like this. It wasn’t that he didn’t need a style change, like earrings or dyed hair. It was just that he was charming enough exactly as he was.

No, if anything, that appearance was what made him feel the most like Joo Wooyoung.

Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t problems.

‘What are they… what the… F*ck? F*ck… seriously, what is this concept?’

The problem was Joo Wooyoung’s outfit and the design of the concept photo.

‘Why… why on earth is he wearing armor?’

And….

‘What is this tarot card design?!’

Why?

‘Is he holding a flag?’

“…….”

‘No. This isn’t it.’

“…….”

And what was <Paladin>, written at the bottom in a Gothic typeface, supposed to mean?

Paladin? A Holy Knight?

Why was a holy knight suddenly showing up here?

I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I was in a dream. As I read the text, I gradually began to understand the direction they’d been going for with Joo Wooyoung’s concept photo.

‘Is he really… a Paladin? No joke, is that ‘Paladin’ the same one I’m thinking of?’

I looked at the phone again. Inside a classic tarot card design, Joo Wooyoung stood quietly holding a flag. Looking at the pointed tip at the top of the flag, it seemed more like a spear with a banner attached to it.

Was it meant to express the determination of someone heading into battle? Or was it meant to portray a sense of holiness? In fact, the background behind Joo Wooyoung showed metaphysical patterns of light. It looked like special effects from a movie had been transferred directly into a photograph.

‘Is today April Fools’ Day? Is this some kind of event?’

The only saving grace was….

At least it doesn’t look cheesy… right? Or am I just wearing fan-colored glasses?

It didn’t look childish. It didn’t look like low-quality cosplay. It felt like they had poured a massive amount of money into the wardrobe. The design of the armor wasn’t tacky. Whether it was a modern reinterpretation or historically accurate, I didn’t know, but to my eyes, it looked convincing.

It didn’t look old-fashioned, cheap, or like they were fooling around. If I had to find something positive to say, it actually felt like some kind of mysterious high fashion.

“It—it’s actually cool? Right, noona?”

“Cool? I mean, it is cool, but….”

“You don’t think it’s cool? It looks awesome.”

“It is cool. It’s cool, but… that’s a different issue. This… this is popular music! They’re doing business with the public! I don’t know who their target demographic is, but I don’t think the majority of people are going to like this…. I mean, if this is the very first concept photo they’re releasing, then what exactly are they trying to accomplish…?”

“But maybe there’s a normal version too? You know, something with the usual idol vibe….”

“There has to be a normal version. No, there has to be one. There absolutely has to be.”

“I kind of like it, though. It makes me curious about the lore… Ah, although they haven’t released the world-building explanation yet….”

‘Right… lore… lore… there’s definitely going to be lore, isn’t there?’

“…….”

‘With a concept like this, there’s no way there isn’t lore, right?’

“…….”

But seriously….

‘Is it really okay for a concept like this… to be released to the world? I mean, is this even right?’

I couldn’t even call it a bold attempt.

Of course, it wasn’t as though there had never been bizarre concepts before. In fact, there had even been times when outrageous ideas like this had actually succeeded. There had even been a meme saying that if you were going to overdo something, it was better to go all the way.

There had been idol groups where every member had their own superpower, and others built around saving a cyber world. There had definitely been groups mass-produced with all sorts of bizarre concepts, but….

‘In this day and age? Can you really come out with a concept like this now?’

Strictly speaking, it felt a bit far removed from current trends.

Sure, there were major entertainment companies that specialized in elaborate fictional universes, but those companies had enormous financial backing. Even the idols who debuted with those bizarre concepts didn’t go this far. It didn’t even come across as ‘bold’ anymore. It looked more like they had recklessly gone all in without thinking, and that made it even harder to accept.

“Ah. There’s a description here too.”

“Give it to me.”

I didn’t even need to read the whole thing. No, I wanted to read it in detail, but I was so irritated that I couldn’t concentrate on the words. I genuinely couldn’t make sense of whatever the hell this nonsense was supposed to mean.

If you read it carefully, it seemed to be explaining Joo Wooyoung’s trajectory in Idol Classism, but right now, I didn’t want to understand.

“What… what even is this?”

<Ability>

<Holy Spear>

“And what’s with the ‘Ability’? Why are there abilities?”

<Holy Healing>

“And what’s Holy Healing supposed to be? Is there ever going to be a situation where they’re singing and dancing and suddenly need to perform Holy Healing?”

“It’s cool, though?”

“That’s not the point!”

“No, but seriously, it does look cool. It’s all just a concept anyway, isn’t it? They’re not actually going to wear that armor and dance on stage.”

“What if they do wear that armor on stage? Looking at what they’re doing so far, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised. It feels like they’re saying, ‘If we’re going to commit, let’s go all the way!’”

“W-well, that would have its own charm. Maybe he’ll wear the costume as a promise for winning 1st place on a music show… besides, it’s fun. It’s not ordinary… I think I would’ve been more disappointed if it came out generic. Idol Classism was such a weird program to begin with. And… I don’t know much about idols, but concepts and lore like this usually fade away into background over time anyway….”

“No, Kyeongnam. Is there really any reason they have to avoid being ordinary? I mean, Fantasia… sigh… just thinking about it again makes me angry. Fantasia already had a solid fanbase. They didn’t need to gamble like this. Their popularity alone would’ve been enough. They didn’t have to take a risk like this! They could’ve just put them in decent outfits and debuted them!!!!”

“Noona, why are you screaming?”

“How can I not scream?! Watching our kids go through hell on that insane program already made me furious enough. How am I not supposed to be angry? They’re talking about paladins and holy kingdoms now—how am I supposed to stay calm? Why the hell is the eldest son of a noble family suddenly becoming an idol?! People are going to make fun of this! They’re absolutely going to get mocked for it!!!”

“It might be better than you think. In fact, it gives people a lot to talk about, so it might be good?”

“For you, maybe! For you!!!”

“So, noona….”

“WHAT?!!”

“Are you sure… you aren’t curious about this?”

On the phone screen my brother was showing me, the words ‘REVEAL IN 4 HOURS’ were written in huge letters. And a silhouette of a tarot card, presumably one of the other members, was visible.

<Mercenary>

“The next class they’re revealing is Mercenary.”

“Huh?”

“And… I looked it up… among the unrevealed occupations, there’s also <Dark Mage>, noona.”

“Dark Mage?”

“Yeah… probably….”

“…….”

“There’s a near 100% chance the Dark Mage is Unha. Right? Lee Unha is definitely going to be the Dark Mage.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you excited?”

I shut my mouth tight.

I didn’t know about anything else, but these tarot card designs….