Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 110

Yeah, it was the kind of situation where all I could do was grit my teeth.

 

‘These bastards are crazy. They are definitely out of their minds.’

 

“…….”

 

‘There’s no other way to explain this situation.’

 

Surely, my SNS friends active in this field were thinking the same thing. I was, too. In fact, in my case… I’d been thinking they might be delusional for the past 50 days.

 

Yes, as far back as fifty days ago, I distinctly remembered seriously considering whether everyone at The World had collectively gone delirious. The people who had now become my teammates and roommates reacted much the same way.

 

Joo Wooyoung, as always, maintained a beaming smile and a ‘let’s trust the producer and staff’ stance, and Kim Haejun tried his best to hide his uneasy look, but….

 

I remembered the rest of the members had reacted quite differently. Jegal Hwi couldn’t hide how nervous he was, pacing around like a puppy desperate to relieve itself, and even Kim Taeyeol, who had been riding the excitement of finally debuting, couldn’t stop complaining.

 

Every night at the dorm, words like ‘Aren’t we going to fail?’, ‘Unha, is this right? Can we really trust them?’ were floating around. Even Jung Taehee, of all people, had looked visibly uneasy.

 

I figured the whole team would crumble if I wavered, too…. So I forced myself to stay strong, but the person trembling most with anxiety and fear among the seven was none other than myself, Lee Unha.

 

Even now, I was shaking with anxiety and fear. I felt like flipping the whole thing over. If I could have, I would have done it without a moment’s hesitation.

 

“…….”

“…….”

 

‘The timing is too bad. Too, too bad.’

 

“…….”

 

Quite literally, this wasn’t like the situation with Crown, where we could overturn the agency. Nor was it a situation where I could summon Slave Joy instead of Lee Unha. There was no guarantee another miracle like before would happen, and even if I somehow used another supernatural ability to drive The World out, the only ones who would end up paying the price would be us, <Fantasia>.

 

‘Seriously, is the group name for real?’

 

No matter how many times I thought about it, it still felt absurd, but at the moment, there was no denying that we had no real alternative besides The World. We couldn’t just cancel The World’s already-planned roadmap, could we? Schedules were already set from the moment Idol Classism ended, so in the end we had no choice but to be dragged along helplessly.

 

Of course, internally we hadn’t simply accepted everything without protest, but…. Eventually, the moment that ridiculous concept revealed itself to the world…. all I could do was let out a long sigh.

 

The only relief was that, surprisingly, there were some positive reactions mixed in. Every online community reacted differently, but it wasn’t the absolute worst-case scenario I’d imagined. We weren’t even being attacked for useless things outside the concept. For example, debates over the debut lineup itself.

 

The indiscriminate bombardment of complaints from fans of specific trainees who appeared on Idol Classism vanished like a ghost the moment <Fantasia>’s concept dropped. The same went for other scandals, big and small, that I hadn’t even been aware of. Every controversy surrounding Fantasia was completely swallowed up by the overwhelming attention generated by its utterly insane concept.

 

‘Well, strictly speaking, I am basically just forcing it to have a meaning. And the idea that they’d deliberately gamble with the group’s future just to bury those controversies is completely ridiculous. F*ck.’

 

“…….”

 

‘It was all planned. They intended to do this from the start. They were planning to do this garbage even during Idol Classism.’

 

“…….”

 

‘Maybe Kang Hyuk was actually trying to save us because he pitied us. Maybe he felt bad for us having to self-destruct with a concept like this… so he tried to seize management rights or whatever. Maybe he’s like an anti-hero… and because that Archmage showed useless loyalty, we might have just swatted away the hand of an anti-hero.’

 

“…….”

 

‘Come to think of it, Hey HEY Hey was also… no… that was a bit much. The songs—the songs are definitely better over here, but… this… no, even so, isn’t <Fantasia> too weird? I don’t even know what <Fantasia> is supposed to be.’

 

I didn’t know. I honestly had no idea. Looking at positive reactions like the ones above made me think maybe everything would be fine after all, but then I’d see fans who were genuinely furious like this, and I couldn’t help wondering whether something had gone terribly, irreparably wrong.

 

↔ Reposted by DieTheWorld 2 hours ago

[DieTheWorld @QSMDKNGKQ111: Seriously, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. F*ck. This isn’t what I spent all that time supporting and voting for them to see. I don’t know why they’re devouring kids who would have been fine if left alone in this way; there’s more than one thing I don’t understand. I’m not just mad because of this one thing!!! F*ckkkkkkk!!!! Do they really think people are only mad because of the concept?]

 

Every single word was true.

 

[Yeah, okay, it actually is because of the concept. I never imagined they’d debut with something like this… what on earth is a Dark Mage, and what is a Paladin? I don’t know any of this stuff… Really? Other idol groups have debuted with over-the-top concepts before? So that means Fantasia will be fine too? No. Those groups… honestly, they were ridiculous enough that you could just laugh and enjoy them. This is on an entirely different level. The fact that they chose to debut with concept photos like these is already bizarre enough, and the absurdly detailed background lore just makes me even more uncomfortable.]

 

Yes, that was true too.

 

↔ Reposted by DieTheWorld 2 hours ago

[DieTheWorld @QSMDKNGKQ111: The lore is solid? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ do you actually believe that? I’m continuing this thread for the people who told me to ‘read it properly before posting’. Did you think I hadn’t read it all? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Even though it’s uselessly complex and makes no sense, I clenched my teeth and kept reading, but there wasn’t a single useful piece of information in it.]

 

[So why exactly are the seven kings sitting on the Seven Thrones dancing and singing? There’s absolutely no explanation for that. What’s the point of obsessing over pointless background lore when there’s no substance where it actually matters? And I still don’t even know what these abilities are supposed to be. There are way too many of them, and it’s all way too complicated.]

 

True. It really had no substance. The skill descriptions were weird too….

 

[The concept tarot cards have good quality? Sure, the quality might be good. But right now they’re just photos; I’m terrified just imagining what they’ll look like when animated. They’ll definitely come out with the MV… are you even considering that? Does anyone know how much it costs to make a decent MV? They say big agencies spend about 1 billion won, so there’s no way a place with no roots like this would spend that much. Sure, I heard they’ve got plenty of investors, but spending money well is something only people with experience know how to do.]

 

[Look at this! I dug around and found the MV team. It’s a company I’ve never heard of… ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It’s already guaranteed that the special effects will look terrible. ㅋ]

 

[In the end, they’re just going to burn through all that investment money on pointless things. Actually, they’re probably already burning through it now. At this rate, when will our boys ever get paid? I’m worried for them. I don’t care if the investors or the agency lose money, but I care about the kids’ settlement. They’ll probably suck the fans dry to recover their principal. Selling albums and goods, and infinite fan-signs! Running the kids ragged ㅋㅋㅋ Ah, it’s so predictable! So obvious! It’s so transparent I feel like I can see everything!]

 

What a person of great insight. Truly.

 

[I don’t know what they got hooked on to cause this mess, but if you lost your mind and reason because of Lee Unha’s Dark Mage stage, I want to tell you to wake up now. You guys aren’t in your right minds. Wake up.]

 

That made me feel refreshed. It felt like all the stress I’d been bottling up was finally being released at once. Not only was this person losing their mind on my behalf, they were also tearing into the agency with impressive flair, and I almost felt grateful for it.

 

The posts from people who had completely lost themselves in righteous fury were just as satisfying.

 

↔ Reposted by DieTheWorld 2 hours ago

[Can’tDebutLikeThis @MFK12222: I seriously! $$@@%@@!&&&S!!! No!!! I mean!!! I’m so pissed off!]

 

Fans like this too….

 

↔ Reposted by DieTheWorld 2 hours ago

[Can’tDebutLikeThis @MFK12222: What’s even more infuriating is how transparent their intentions are. Anyone can see they spent a lot on the costumes, but how are they going to recover that cost? They’re obviously getting ready to sell photo cards for every pose and every mood. There’s definitely a version where you can actually see Lee Unha’s face, right? Ah! They’ll probably release modern-version photo cards too, won’t they? And stuff every version into different album inclusions. It honestly just looks like they’re gambling everything because they’re drunk on the publicity. Is this really okay?]

 

Eventually, some comments hit the bullseye.

 

↔ Reposted by DieTheWorld 2 hours ago

[PleaseEveryoneWithdraw @GDGDGH: Every time I see posts like ‘Withdraw from Idol Classism!’ or ‘Make them leave!’, it’s just funny now ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Kim Haejun, explain the bar controversy and withdraw!!! Explain the cigarette controversy!!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Explain the fight with Jung Taehee and withdraw!!! Kim Taeyeol, explain the non-existent school bullying and withdraw!!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Lee Unha, withdraw too!!! Baek  Suhyeon, withdraw too! Just everyone withdraw!!! Joo Wooyoung, explain riding Lee Unha’s coattails! And withdraw!!! Everyone withdraw!!! Yeah…. that’s exactly what we want to say.]

[Please, all of you just quit! Please! Please quit! Don’t waste your precious time at this garbage excuse for an agency! Please just leave! I know it’s probably impossible… but please, just give it all up and escape from there!]

 

If possible, I really would like to withdraw.

 

↔ Reposted by DieTheWorld 2 hours ago

[Can’tDebutLikeThis @MFK12222: What the hell is wrong with our boys’ dorm? The rumor that they spent all the investment on making a trashy concept and couldn’t care about other things must be true. Seriously dammit!! I $^!@^&&!!!]

 

Looking at the dorm only made me agree even more. Turning away from the social media feed overflowing with rage, I slowly lifted my head….

 

A cramped dorm entered my vision. Of course, it was a better environment than where I originally lived, but…. it wasn’t a dorm that anyone would call decent.

 

“…….”

 

An old villa that was only large in square footage. No, it wasn’t even that large for seven people to live in. One living room, three rooms.

 

The bathroom….

 

One.

 

The f*cking bathroom.

 

Only one.

 

We were split into 3, 2, and 2 per room…. and unfortunately, I was assigned to the room with three people. It would have been better if I were in the same room as Joo Wooyoung, but….

 

“Every time I come in here, I’m reminded how ridiculously cramped this room is. Don’t you think so, Unha? Wouldn’t it be better if we just used my house as the dorm?”

 

One of my roommates was Baek Suhyeon.

 

“What are you doing on my bed?”

 

And the other was Jegal Hwi.

 

“Ah, sorry~ Jegal hyung. I was just sitting here for a second.”

 

It wasn’t exactly the most compatible combination. Sometimes it felt like there was no room to breathe…. And having to constantly listen to the incomprehensible nonsense that came out of Baek Suhyeon’s mouth was another problem altogether.

 

“Breathing for breakfast! Breathing for lunch! Breathing for dinner! Breathing for a late-night snack! When shall we eat?! Jegal hyung?”

 

“…….”

 

“Hyaaaaaah! O Spirits!!!”

 

I had ended up sharing a room with the only person whose mood had actually improved after this concept was announced.