I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 47

Chapter 47

 

There was one major difference from the previous round.

Yoo Seong-woo was no longer being relegated to the background. And yet, he wasn’t irritating to look at in the slightest.

No, rather than being irritating, people kept finding their eyes drawn to him.

“Huh?”

The audience watching the stage gradually began to notice something strange, too.

“What? Yoo Seong-woo dances well?”

“How much did he practice?”

Confused voices erupted throughout the audience.

Until the previous broadcast, he had been a trainee criticized for being “clumsy.” An unfortunate trainee who, despite leading his team to victory, couldn’t even make the debut lineup because of his dancing.

But now, at least on this stage, no one could criticize him.

Ga-yoon made up her mind. She absolutely had to preserve this on video.

Filming videos at an on-site survival show recording was difficult enough to be practically life-threatening. Several fans had already been caught and dragged out despite only taking photos.

But his improvement was so incredible that she would never believe it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

‘Even if I get dragged out, I’m filming this.’

They performed different movements individually, but it didn’t look messy. They seemed to scatter, yet at a certain moment, their movements fit together with perfect precision.

“The choreography is insane!”

“Was this choreography already made?”

It was obviously original choreography, since the song itself had no choreography to speak of, yet it was still hard to believe. The choreography was so intricately constructed that it was astonishing to think a trainee had created it.

And at the center of it all was Go Jae-seong.

“Wow, he really is in the debut lineup for a reason…”

Choi Un-jo’s rap followed. His distinctive pronunciation, flowing over the kkwaenggwari and janggu beats, was strangely addictive.

“Ay—!”

He naturally drew a response from the audience, too.

“That guy really doesn’t get nervous at all…”

But the real cheers erupted after that.

 

♪ There’s no way to express

♪ This mysterious

♪ Feeling

 

Yoo Seong-woo walked out to the center.

“What the hell!!”

Ga-yoon almost dropped her camera.

“Yoo Seong-woo is the center?”

“He’s dancing?”

“Don’t tell me……”

As if mocking their concerns, the dance break began.

“Wow, fuck–”

“He’s just flying around, isn’t he?”

The audience went completely wild.

“No, but Seong-woo is so good at dancing!”

“Am I really seeing this correctly right now?”

Even as she followed his movements with her camera without letting it shake, Ga-yoon felt inexplicably emotional.

It was a part he could never have been given before. No, it was a part they wouldn’t even have considered assigning to him in the first place.

But now, even standing in the center, he didn’t look awkward at all.

“This is insane.”

That wasn’t something that could be described as simply improving a little.

These were the movements of someone who had practiced as if his life depended on it in order to survive onstage.

“What on earth happened……”

She wanted to check the next episode immediately. She was going crazy with curiosity about the two weeks that had transformed Yoo Seong-woo.

Of course, Go Jae-seong quickly moved into the center afterward, but the impact had been undeniable. Spectators, shocked by Yoo Seong-woo’s incredible growth, whispered among themselves.

“Did he pretend to be bad on purpose?”

“Honestly, that would make more sense.”

“No way, come on–”

But Ga-yoon scoffed. That level of clumsiness couldn’t have been produced through acting.

 

♪ Before that blue moon

♪ Sets,

♪ I’ll definitely

♪ Catch your shadow

 

Yoo Seong-woo swept the tails of his dopo widely and reached out to grab the air. As if he had finally caught the dead person he had been chasing for so long.

And then, blackout.

“……Huff, huff.”

His ragged breathing spread through the audience via the microphone.

After a brief silence…

“Waaaaaah!!”

“Yoo Seong-woo!!”

“JAE!! SEONG!! A!!!”

“Seong-woo!!”

The cheers they had been holding back exploded all at once. When the lights came back on, Ga-yoon frantically pressed the shutter.

Even the judges’ expressions were different.

“Who did you say created the choreography?”

“Jae-seong made all of it for us!”

At Yoo Seong-woo’s shout, dance trainer Katin burst into laughter.

“Honestly, I would believe you even if you told me that a famous choreographer had put it together. How did a trainee come up with a composition like this…”

“From the grim reaper concept to the arrangement and choreography, it was an absolutely perfect stage.”

The trainees’ expressions visibly brightened.

Praise continued to pour in afterward, but what stood out most clearly to Ga-yoon was Song In-hyeok’s judging comment.

“Trainee Seong-woo.”

Yoo Seong-woo raised his head with a nervous expression.

“Yes!”

“You don’t look awkward onstage anymore, do you?”

“Thank you!”

Yoo Seong-woo smiled, his face flushed and his breathing still labored. Exclamations erupted from various parts of the audience.

His hair was damp with sweat, and both cheeks were flushed, his face still carrying the heat of the stage moments before. Ga-yoon pressed her camera shutter as though hypnotized.

“Your dancing skills have improved tremendously, in particular. It’s surprising, isn’t it?”

Yoo Seong-woo hesitated for a moment before scratching the back of his head.

“Thanks to my noona… I practiced hard.”

Everyone knew about the rumor incident involving his sister, so they all burst out laughing at once. Yoo Seong-woo was unusually conscious of the cameras.

“Cute.”

Ga-yoon smiled softly as she watched him through her lens.

She was simply glad that she had been able to see this stage in person and preserve it on video.

The next stage was performed by the ‘After-School Boyfriend’ team, which had chosen school uniforms. They selected ‘School Love’ and delivered a performance that exceeded expectations.

In truth, part of the reason was that people’s expectations had been extremely low, since most of the trainees were lower-ranked.

“There are a lot of trainees here who performed with Seong-woo in Round 2, right?”

“Isn’t Dong-seok so funny?”

“Gihyeon switching to vocals after listening to Seong-woo was a stroke of genius.”

Seeing trainees who had chosen new paths through Yoo Seong-woo’s advice deliver good performances made Ga-yoon feel proud for no particular reason.

“Next, we’ll meet the ‘Home Run’ team, which chose baseball uniforms. Please come up onto the stage!”

When Joo-han appeared onstage, cheers erupted that were incomparable to anything heard so far.

“Joo-han!!”

“Hanaaa!!”

“Oh, I-yul is here, too?”

“Are you fucking kidding me!! I-yul!!”

Ga-yoon’s shoulders flinched for a moment. The woman had certainly possessed an incredible voice when shouting for Yoo Seong-woo earlier. But this was on another level. The cries were almost screams.

“I-yul in a baseball uniform…… I-yul in a baseball uniform……”

Ga-yoon smiled softly as she watched Gyeong-jin, who was out of his mind and merely muttering the same words over and over.

“I’ll take the photo of your life today.”

 

***

 

The lights went out, and conversation could be heard.

Even while heading toward the waiting room, my heart refused to calm down.

“Did you see the audience’s reaction? Wasn’t it totally insane?”

“The cheers were so loud that I was startled!”

“It was truly amazing!! I thought I was going to have a complete heart attack!”

The audience’s cheers. They felt completely different from broadcast comments or view counts.

Even before my regression, I had watched countless stages. As a producer, I had created numerous performances, and as a fan, I had watched even more.

But standing at the center of those cheers myself was an entirely different experience.

The SP rising in real time made that exhilaration even more vivid.

“Hyung, you really worked hard.”

“You too.”

“I’m still shaking.”

Song Woo-joo’s face was still flushed as he said that.

Then I suddenly saw my reflection in the window.

…I had the exact same expression.

Only then did it sink in.

So many people were really supporting me.

The voices calling my name. The faces cheering as they watched the stage. This could never be a misunderstanding. It was reality.

Before the excitement had even faded, we arrived at the waiting room.

The Ground team, who had already finished their stage, was gathered in front of the monitor.

‘I-yul’s team is next, right?’

I forcibly calmed my excited mood. I needed to watch the stage calmly and check whether there had been any changes to I-yul’s danger level.

‘The baseball uniform really suits him……’

Kang I-yul had always had good proportions. But after putting him in a baseball uniform, he looked exactly like the male lead of a youth drama.

[The difference between the two teams’ scores is now just one point!]

Clang!

The stage began with the sound of a bat striking a ball.

[It’s a home run!!]

An explosive cheer, followed by Kang I-yul springing out to the center.

 

♪ This is a youth anthem

♪ Dedicated to you

♪ Our summer

♪ Starts now!

 

“Wow……”

An exclamation escaped me before I knew it.

He was good. Really good.

His expressions had become more natural, and his dance lines were much sharper than before. Especially during the dance break, he pushed himself as though his body were about to break apart.

‘He’s dancing that hard?’

The audience naturally had every reason to go wild. In fact, the cheers were enormous.

But…

“Joo-han is really riding the blade this time…”

“That guy is a natural-born idol.”

The admiration erupting throughout the waiting room was all directed at Joo-han.

I quietly bit the inside of my lip. Even if I didn’t want to admit it, I had to.

Joo-han was playing with the stage. He knew exactly when to relax and when to unleash his energy at the right moment. Because of those effortless movements, I-yul’s dancing felt somewhat rushed.

‘This is bad…’

I quietly swallowed a sigh.

I could see it more clearly because he was my favorite. Kang I-yul was pushing himself too hard right now.

The danger level still hadn’t moved. But my instincts were telling me that this time, things could truly become dangerous.

The venue remained filled with heat even after the audience had left. And we gathered again for the results announcement.

“Seong-woo!”

Choi Un-jo ran over and grabbed my shoulder.

“You were fucking insane today! You were totally the ace–”

“Th-Thank you.”

Excited, Choi Un-jo showered me with praise, frantically mixing English and Korean.

“The arrangement was seriously legendary. Did you see the audience’s reaction?”

Go Jae-seong, who had walked over behind him, smiled and joined in.

“It was also thanks to your choreography.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

I brushed it off with a suitable smile, but I felt nothing of the sort inside.

Both Go Jae-seong and Choi Un-jo looked satisfied. In fact, everyone on our team did.

But I couldn’t simply smile and enjoy it.

“All trainees, please gather!”

“Yes!!”

A tense atmosphere filled the venue. Kang Se-jun appeared onstage once again.

“We will now begin announcing the results of Boys Code Round 4.”

“Phew…”

This round, too, both team rankings and individual rankings would be announced together. The difference was that audience votes had been added to the judges’ evaluations.

“First, the rankings by team.”

The numbers on the electronic display quickly shuffled around. Fourth place went to Han Sang-yoon’s street team, while third place went to the school uniform team.

And the remaining teams were ours and I-yul’s.

‘That team must be first place……’

But the team name that appeared on the electronic display was…

[Hunter]

“…Huh?”

For a moment, it didn’t feel real.

“This is insane!”

“We’re the winners!”

“Hyung, they said we’re first place!!”

Song Woo-joo shook my shoulder vigorously. Tears were already welling up in the corners of his eyes.

It was the first time he had ever received first place. Knowing how desperately he had wanted it, I smiled without realizing it.

I was happy. Truly.

The concept I had proposed, the song I had arranged, and the stage I had practiced my ass off for. All of it had been recognized.

And yet, strangely, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kang I-yul.

“Next, we will announce the trainee who ranked first overall.”

The camera moved. Joo-han, Go Jae-seong, and…

“Huh?”

Me.

I blinked without realizing it as the faces of the three of us filled the electronic display.

I couldn’t help worrying that I might be mocked on SNS under some title like ‘Joo-han, Go Jae-seong, and Yoo Seong-woo.’

“Hyung, I think you’re a candidate for first place!”

Song Woo-joo shouted even more excitedly.

‘Me? Why?’

But I couldn’t smile.

It was strange. No matter how well this stage had turned out, was I really ranked above Kang I-yul?

“The trainee ranked first overall is…”

Kang Se-jun paused for effect.

“Congratulations, trainee Go Jae-seong!”

“Congratulations, Jae-seong!”

“Really? Me?”

Cheers erupted. Go Jae-seong’s eyes reddened, his expression one of disbelief.

“I really never imagined this… Thank you. It’s thanks to my teammates. I could never have done it alone.”

Go Jae-seong had reached the highest position faster than I had expected. Anyone could see that he looked like the perfect victor right now.

At that moment, someone came to mind.

Someone who could bring Go Jae-seong’s plagiarism to light without me having to intervene directly.

“Seong-woo, we did it!”

I patted Go Jae-seong’s back as he clung to me.

A faint smile formed at the corners of my mouth.

‘Noona, I really was lucky to be born as your little brother!’

Yoo Seong-ah was the answer.