I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed – Chapter 24

Author: Cireng

Chapter 24

The music started again, for what had to be the umpteenth time.

Everyone had definitely changed.

“You need to raise your right arm higher!”

“Dong-seok hyung, you’re one beat early!”

“Okay–”

They listened to one another’s breathing, matched the sounds of their footsteps, and waited for the timing.

‘Good.’

I deliberately moved half a beat late.

The reaction came immediately.

“Wow, Yoo Seong-woo messed up again!”

“No, he did it on purpose this time!”

“Let’s just go without him!”

Laughter erupted throughout the practice room.

I laughed as well and got back into position.

‘This should be enough.’

We were a completely different team from when we started.

Before we knew it, it was three in the morning. The lights in the other teams’ practice rooms had gradually gone out one by one, but the music in our practice room still hadn’t stopped.

‘Maybe it’s because they’re young, but they’ve got great stamina.’

“One, two, three, four–”

Thud

At some point, our feet struck the floor simultaneously.

“Huh?”

The sound didn’t scatter.

It sounded as though a single person had made the noise, rather than five people.

“Just now–”

“We got it, right? We got it, didn’t we?”

Their eyes widened as they looked at one another.

“We did.”

The moment Song Woo-joo confirmed it, everyone erupted in cheers without even deciding who would start first.

“We did it!!”

Ji Dong-seok immediately collapsed onto the floor.

“Again–”

The joy lasted only a moment before Song Woo-joo immediately started the music again.

“Let’s make it even more precise this time!”

But nobody complained.

‘Because it felt amazing.’

They wanted to experience that feeling they had just had one more time.

We got back into formation.

Since it was already past midnight, I took the movement we had just executed perfectly and brought it into the editing program.

“One! Two! Add a pop here!”

Everyone bounced their bodies according to Song Woo-joo’s count.

Looking at our reflections in the mirror, I felt moved.

Now even my joints connected properly when I did a wave!

“Watch the steps! Hit! Hit!”

Screeech–scrape!

Had the sound of shoes dragging across the practice room floor always sounded this lively?

‘A little more. Just a little more.’

Sweat dripped from the tip of my chin. And yet everyone was smiling. Then, at some point, it wasn’t our movements that synchronized anymore, but our breathing. Even without counting the beats, we moved together.

And so our stage gradually came together.

***

D-1 until the Round 2 stage.

As usual, the wake-up song rang out.

But today, it was followed by a surprise announcement.

[All trainees, please gather in the practice room by 9:00 a.m. An outside schedule has been arranged.]

“An outside schedule?”

“What are they talking about all of a sudden?”

Once all the trainees had gathered, the Tiger Manager appeared.

“At five today, there will be a signal song performance at the plaza in front of CNET Broadcasting Station.”

The moment he finished speaking, the trainees began murmuring.

“What? CNET?”

“Today?”

“A signal song performance…”

It was such a shocking announcement that everyone seemed to have a different point they were most surprised by.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Isn’t our competition tomorrow?”

But I was surprised for a different reason.

‘This wasn’t supposed to happen at this point.’

There had been the exact same event before my regression.

But that event had happened after the survival show began airing, after the response had exploded.

‘But the broadcast hasn’t even started yet…’

“The response must have exploded.”

I muttered it almost to myself.

“What did you say?”

Ji Dong-seok asked, but–

“No, it’s just surprising.”

I couldn’t explain it to him.

I had been wondering why the rate at which my SP was increasing seemed so unusual. And apparently, even though they had only released the signal song, the response had already exploded compared to before my regression.

Thanks to that, this absurd schedule was beginning to make sense too.

Today was Thursday, and if it was five in the afternoon, that meant it was exactly one hour before CNET’s music program, Music Count, was scheduled to air.

‘That’s when all the fans will be gathered.’

The audience members who had come to watch the music show, as well as fans who couldn’t get inside but had come just to see the artists arrive and leave.

It was the time when the broadcasting station would be at its busiest.

‘This is crazy.’

“We’ll get our styling done, then head straight to CNET.”

In other words, CNET had given us that golden time slot.

“Wow, then we’re dancing in front of actual people?”

“Will people even come……?”

“I feel like there’ll be more of us than people watching.”

The trainees’ expressions rapidly stiffened.

‘Cute.’

They were definitely still trainees.

CNET wasn’t stupid. If they had arranged a schedule this hastily, it meant there was already considerable interest in the survival show.

It was unfortunate that our practice time would be reduced, but this was an incredible opportunity.

After briefly practicing our formations inside one of CNET’s studios, we finally moved to the plaza. Since we had entered through the underground parking lot, this was our first time seeing the scene outside.

And the moment we stepped out of the entrance…

“Wow–”

An exclamation escaped me before I knew it.

The plaza was already packed with people.

Large telephoto cameras, sketchbooks, cell phones… everyone was holding something in their hands as they looked toward us.

‘This… is no joke.’

Without realizing it, I clenched and unclenched my hands.

I had seen this scenery hundreds of times, but this was the first time I had ever been on this side, looking at the fans.

“Okay! Everyone, take your positions!”

A staff member’s voice rang out.

The trainees moved in a rush.

I found my own position according to the signal song formation.

A camera was directly in front of us. And people… No matter where I looked, I met someone’s gaze.

“I-yul-ah! I love you!”

“Joo-han, let’s debut!”

“Sang-yoon-ah, fighting!”

The names of the already-known trainees were being called out from all around.

The trainees whose names were called naturally waved their hands and struck poses.

Since even our names had been hidden on our profiles, it was only natural that nobody knew my name.

But then…

“Braces!”

Someone’s shout clearly struck my ears.

I reflexively looked toward where the voice had come from.

A woman holding a huge camera. She cautiously pointed at me.

“Me?”

“Yes!”

‘Why me?’

At that moment…

Click!

A flash went off.

My mind went blank for a moment, and I reflexively raised… my thumb.

Click.

I hurriedly lowered my hand, but the woman had already burst out laughing.

Ji Dong-seok beside me also snickered.

“What was that supposed to be–”

Only then did I notice what was happening around me. V-signs, cheek hearts, flower poses, and so on……

Everyone was striking poses that were unmistakably idol-like.

And in the middle of all that, there was only me. Giving a thumbs-up like the owner of a business I was trying to close a deal with.

‘Am I insane?’

My face grew hot.

But strangely, I didn’t feel bad.

All this time, I had been the one taking pictures of Kang I-yul from behind the camera.

And now someone was pressing the shutter toward me.

‘This is interesting.’

Maybe this was even more fascinating than dying and coming back to life.

After thinking for a moment, this time I pointed at my braces with my finger.

“Kyahhh!”

The woman holding the camera stomped her feet excitedly.

The shutter went off like crazy.

Click–click

For some reason, the sound pounded against my heart.

“Filming begins!”

The intro played in accordance with the signal.

At the same time, the plaza shook.

“Waaaaah!!”

I flinched for a moment at the much larger cheer than I had expected, but the timing embedded in my body was exact.

Boom!

Movements we had practiced countless times.

Beats we had matched countless times.

But now, everything was different.

There were cameras.

There were people.

And there were eyes looking at me.

This is bad.

‘This is fun.’

The corners of my mouth naturally rose.

“Braces, over here!!”

I turned my head and met their eyes.

The large telephoto camera pointed toward me again.

A thrill unlike anything I had ever felt in my life swept through my entire body.

‘Wow…’

Why people wanted to stand on a stage so badly.

Why they were willing to stake their lives on becoming idols.

Why Kang I-yul had shone so brightly.

For the first time, I understood.

The music raced toward its climax.

My breathing grew rougher and rougher, and my heart beat faster than the rhythm.

And yet my body felt strangely light.

‘So this is how vivid being alive can feel.’

The final ending.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

A deafening roar erupted.

I lowered my head and caught my breath.

My breath was already coming up to my throat.

And yet…

“……Ha.”

The corners of my mouth kept rising.

Even when I tried to hold it back, laughter escaped.

Everyone was the same.

Blank expressions, and eyes brimming with excitement.

They had been trainees until just moments ago, but now they had the expressions of people who had tasted a stage for the first time.

I looked around the plaza once more.

[SP 510 (+10)]

[SP 520 (+10)]

[SP 550 (+10)]

The status window flashed endlessly.

The shutter sounds never stopped.

And flashes filled my entire field of vision.

It was a moment I would never forget for the rest of my life.

***

Even after the absurd yet exhilarating flash mob ended, nobody could quite return to reality.

Even after we returned to the practice room, the atmosphere remained excited.

“There were seriously so many people earlier, weren’t there?”

“They took pictures of me too.”

“Wow, I still can’t believe it.”

It was already late at night, but nobody was tired. Everyone was still dazed from the cheers they had experienced for the first time.

It was practically the perfect state for practicing.

“Good.”

I played the music.

“Let’s practice.”

“Hyung, your arm angle keeps dropping there.”

“Really? Thanks. Is this about right?”

Now, whenever they had something to say, they didn’t beat around the bush anymore.

Compared to the first day, it was tremendous progress.

[SP 600]

A little while later…

[SP 620]

Even after continuously using the hourglass and editing items, the number quickly filled back up.

‘Looks like the reactions on the internet are still increasing too.’

“Can you look at this part?”

“When you do one, two–three, take the step.”

Fortunately, the more we repeated the movements, the more decent footage we were recording.

“One, two–three!”

Step!

With a lively sound, the soles of our shoes pressed against the practice room floor.

“That’s exactly it!”

The trainees’ faces were filled with vitality, to the point that the gloomy mood from the first day was hard to remember.

In high spirits, I opened the editing program.

Now, this program contained only the best movements I was capable of performing.

I meticulously edited the video again.

It was similar to the music composition editing program as well.

I connected the best takes together and tuned them naturally.

Finally, the completed version was ready.

“Want to run through it one last time before we go home?”

“Ughhhhh……”

Everyone got up like zombies.

The music started, and I pressed the video playback button.

The closer we got to the movements Song Woo-joo had pointed out every time, the sharper his gaze became.

I deliberately stepped in time with the count.

“One, two–three!!”

Song Woo-joo’s eyes widened.

He was so surprised that he himself missed the beat.

“Let’s focus–”

“Yes, sir.”

To think I was now the one telling them that.

The change was strangely thrilling.

“The timing here is important! Match the angles!”

It was choreography where the same movement was repeated like a domino effect.

Because there was a time difference, this was a section that had to be even cleaner. If anyone was even slightly faster or slower, the difficult choreography could easily look sloppy.

“Step, step, step, step!”

“Waaaaah!!”

“We actually got that right, didn’t we?”

Do you know how important the experience of success is?

“Hey, again! Again, let’s go!”

As if they didn’t want to lose the sensation of succeeding just now, everyone immediately got back into position despite panting heavily.

Even in the middle of all that, they didn’t neglect the live singing.

“Hey, hey–don’t miss the vocal timing!”

The ending move where everyone brought their hands together and stretched them toward the sky.

“One! Two! Three!”

At the cleanly synchronized beat, the guys screamed.

“Waaaaaaaah!!!”