I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed – Chapter 60

Author: Cireng

Chapter 60

Late at night, Hwang Geon-hee’s back as he left the dorm looked utterly miserable.

A heavy silence had settled over the hallway. Some of the trainees were probably trembling in fear as they reflected on their own pasts.

“This is seriously scary…”

“Good thing I just lived as a total loser.”

I felt complicated.

Relief that the future hadn’t changed. Tension toward Go Jae-seong, who had used that future to set up the entire situation. And at the same time, the chilling feeling caused by the information gap between him and me.

Go Jae-seong, who had been treating Hwang Geon-hee like his right-hand man until recently, had discarded him without a second thought.

That was enough to make me certain.

‘There’s only one person Go Jae-seong wants to change from Impactor.’

That one person had been Kang I-yul from the very beginning.

He must have decided that the reason Impactor failed was Kang I-yul.

‘So that’s why he took I-yul’s parts and gestures during Round 3.’

I couldn’t even laugh bitterly.

They say people don’t change easily. Even in his second life, he was repeating the same mistakes.

‘I absolutely can’t let that happen.’

The fortunate thing was that there had also been moments when his calculations had missed the mark. If there hadn’t been, he would have completely cemented his position as Code 1 with this round.

‘He’s been thinking things through.’

He had even calculated the timing of Hwang Geon-hee’s removal, creating the image of himself as the hero who saved the team.

It was a narrative that could never have been created before regression.

Back then, Hwang Geon-hee had been in the rap position and hadn’t had much screen time. So the other team members had filled in his missing parts little by little, and the production staff hadn’t made much of the incident either.

But this time was different.

Hwang Geon-hee, who held a key role in the choreography.

Go Jae-seong, who stepped in to replace him.

It was exactly the kind of picture a survival show couldn’t help but love.

One puzzle piece after another was falling into place.

‘That’s a setup that could only be created by someone on the inside of the survival show.’

As an observer, it was information I could never have known.

Of course, he still didn’t know that I had regressed.

Thanks to that, some of Go Jae-seong’s calculations had begun to go awry, and at the center of it all was Kang I-yul.

Thanks to I-yul, I no longer hid my 100%. Naturally, the standard of the team members around me had also begun to rise.

“We’ll match you, hyung.”

“That’s right. If you deliberately hide your skills, we’ll really be upset!”

Their rather mature words made a laugh escape me.

Is this what it feels like to have younger siblings?

‘If I’d had a younger brother instead of an older sister……’

At that moment.

[How dare you imagine such a thing?]

A chill ran down my spine.

‘…If I had, I definitely wouldn’t have become a decent human being. Our noona is the best!’

Only then did Yoo Seong-ah’s satisfied voice ring in my ears.

[That’s more like it!]

The fact that I could practically hear her voice as a hallucination meant my situation really was pathetic.

I shook my head hard and slapped both cheeks.

‘This is all because I haven’t been sleeping enough.’

The moment I returned to the dorm, I threw myself onto the bed.

Just as my consciousness was gradually fading…

“Seong-woo, you have to wash up before you sleep.”

“Yes, sir.”

I had almost become one step more distant from Han Sang-yoon.

***

Before leaving for the practice room, I muttered quietly in the dorm bathroom.

“Use item.”

No matter how many times I did it, I just couldn’t get used to this. Still, this was an item I had worked so hard to obtain. I was going to suck every last drop out of it.

I had never obtained an item through this much fucking suffering before.

Actually, after the Round 5 teams had been formed, I had spent several days wrestling with the status window.

‘My head hurts just thinking about it again.’

After it was confirmed that I would be on the same team as Kang I-yul, the first thing I checked with the status window was simple.

The range of the item’s application.

“Can I apply the item to someone other than myself?”

[S: Yes, it is possible. However, in such a case, the amount of SP required when creating the item will be significantly greater.]

“How much more are we talking?”

[S: It depends on the purpose and abilities of the item.]

“It can be applied to anyone?”

The status window paused for a moment before slowly answering.

[S: Correct. However, the more closely the person is connected to the Dead Man’s Wish Ticket, the more stringent the conditions for creation will be.]

My eyes closed on their own.

‘Kang I-yul is the Wish Ticket itself!’

It was obvious this wasn’t going to be easy. And that premonition proved exactly right.

[Item creation failed: Insufficient SP]

[Item creation failed: Non-intuitive item name]

[Item creation failed: Inappropriate purpose]

[Item creation failed: Insufficient creativity]

“What the hell do you mean, insufficient creativity?!”

I threw all sorts of names at it for days, but nothing worked.

Then, two days ago, one sentence from Kang I-yul gave me a hint.

“Because you’re always at 100%, it makes me want to do even better for no reason.”

The moment I heard those words, I stopped practicing and ran to the bathroom.

After making sure nobody was inside, I quietly called up the item creation window.

“Create item.”

▶Item Name: Growth Synchronization Link

▶Effect: When the item user demonstrates 100% of their ability, the linked target will also grow proportionally.

“It worked…!”

A screen resembling an email window appeared before my eyes.

There was a long link that looked like an actual Internet address.

At the top, under ‘Recipient,’ I could enter the person who would receive the link.

I entered the names of the team members.

[Kang I-yul / Song Woo-joo / Kwon Gi-hyeon / Jeong Eun-gyu]

“It really feels like I’m sending an email…”

When I created the item and returned to the practice room, percentages were floating above the team members’ heads.

[Kang I-yul: 130%]

[Kwon Gi-hyeon: 150%]

[Jeong Eun-gyu: 135%]

[Song Woo-joo: 125%]

At first, I wondered what they meant.

But I soon realized. Those numbers represented how much each person needed to grow in order to match my 100%.

Just as I-yul had said, in order to match my 100%, Kang I-yul currently needed 130% of his current ability.

The fact that Song Woo-joo was 5% lower than I-yul was the most unexpected part.

Kwon Gi-hyeon was a whopping 150%.

‘Gi-hyeon is going to have to practice a lot.’

It wasn’t an item that simply increased someone’s stats. I had to grow first, and only then could the team members grow alongside me.

‘So it’s basically saying it absolutely won’t let me take the easy way out?’

That was exactly what the status window was trying to say.

I smiled faintly.

“I wasn’t planning to do that, either.”

I opened the practice room door. As expected, the first person there was Kang I-yul.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

On the other side, the dance position team was sprawled across the floor, fast asleep.

“Didn’t you come too early?”

“When I thought about how the competition is tomorrow, I couldn’t sleep.”

“When did those guys get here?”

“I think they just slept here? When I came this morning, they were already like that.”

It was fascinating to see a different percentage above Kang I-yul’s head instead of his danger level.

[Kang I-yul: 110%]

It had already dropped by 20%.

That meant the standard was decreasing according to how much he practiced.

It wasn’t a buff that forcibly raised his abilities. It was an item that changed the standard of growth itself.

I liked that.

“And strangely……”

Kang I-yul smiled awkwardly.

“The more I practice, the more I can feel myself improving, so I wanted to practice even faster.”

“…….”

“Why are you smiling like that……?”

I wondered what he meant. But the moment I saw my face reflected in the mirror, I suddenly came to my senses.

‘Fuck, I had the exact same face I make when watching my favorite’s legendary fancam!’

I hurriedly changed my expression.

“I’m just…… naturally smiley, you know?”

“……?”

“Should we warm up our voices and start practicing right away?”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, Kang I-yul didn’t ask anything else.

“We’re here!”

Not long afterward, the other three arrived as well.

[Kwon Gi-hyeon: 140%]

[Jeong Eun-gyu: 125%]

[Song Woo-joo: 115%]

They had all dropped by about 10% compared to two days ago. There wouldn’t be a dramatic change overnight. Still, today’s goal was clear.

Get everyone below 110%.

“Since the competition is tomorrow, let’s practice while taking care of our vocal condition.”

“Of course!”

“I’m observing a vow of silence except when I’m practicing.”

Woo-joo, don’t you normally not talk anyway?

“Good. That’s the best way to save your voice.”

I played along because he seemed to be looking for some praise.

Then a very small voice came from beside me.

“…I drank bellflower pear juice, too.”

How had our I-yul managed to do something so admirable? As expected, his dedication to the stage was the same before and after debut. There should be a law requiring only kids like this to become idols…… and so on.

I poured out dozens of compliments inside my head before finally managing to say one thing aloud.

“Bellflower pear juice? That’s very admirable.”

“……?”

“Is it really that admirable?”

Song Woo-joo looked at me suspiciously.

I said calmly.

“I can’t drink bellflower pear juice. So I genuinely respect people who can drink it.”

A perfect excuse. Just look at that face that has absolutely nothing to say back.

Slide.

Song Woo-joo quietly approached and whispered in my ear.

“Hyung, what are you talking about? You downed the one Kang I-yul gave you yesterday, too.”

What am I talking about? Nonsense, obviously.

It wasn’t that he had no response. He had the face of someone choosing not to respond.

Still, what a good kid. He was preserving my dignity.

In the middle of our intense practice, an irritated mutter came from the corner.

“Ah, you’re so noisy……”

Go Jae-seong, who had been sleeping in the corner, raised himself up.

Messy hair, swollen face.

The traces of staying up all night were plainly visible on his face. Of course, there was also a very good chance that even that was part of the act.

“Wow.”

Go Jae-seong looked around and smiled with his eyes.

“You guys are practicing this early in the morning?”

His mumbling tone, pretending he was still half-asleep, made me snort.

‘Ah, of course… Internally.’

“I heard you guys stayed up all night here.”

“As you can see, we’re kind of… in a crisis.”

I gave him words of encouragement with the most sympathetic expression I could manage.

“You worked this hard, so I’m sure you’ll get a good result.”

“I hope so.”

Go Jae-seong smiled.

“But aren’t you guys too good? That’s a little troublesome.”

I smiled along with him.

“I’m joking, I’m joking.”

After letting out a huge yawn, Go Jae-seong returned to his team members. The other trainees also staggered to their feet and stood in front of the mirror. The fact that they were all still able to keep their eyes open looked like a miracle.

‘Everyone’s in pretty bad shape.’

The problem wasn’t solved simply by Go Jae-seong filling Hwang Geon-hee’s empty position by himself.

‘Could this possibly…….’

Go Jae-seong’s greed might bring down the entire team.

We just had to do our own thing properly. Then it was a game we could win.

That conviction became even firmer.

“Good.”

As we practiced over and over, the percentages above the team members’ heads gradually decreased.

“We’ve pretty much sorted out all the technical parts now.”

I clapped once.

“From now on, let’s try singing while thinking more about the lyrics. This isn’t a stage where we simply have to sing well. We have to convey a story.”

The percentage above Kang I-yul’s head had already dropped to 105%.

‘Just a little more……’

The other three hadn’t reached 110%, but they had still gotten below 120%.

However, until the final practice ended, the number I had been waiting for never appeared.

[Kang I-yul: 101%]

Exactly 1%.

That number looked unusually huge.

“Everyone needs to manage their condition, so let’s call it a day.”

“Ugh, I’m nervous.”

“I feel like something’s still missing…”

Kwon Gi-hyeon scratched his head.

“We’ll be able to do well tomorrow, right?”