A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 240

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Regression Guide for Idols Who Lost Their Initial Intentions Episode 240

was out of the top 20 on the charts.

I had prepared myself since the initial results at the title song meeting were split fifty-fifty, but I never imagined it wouldn’t even make it into the top 10.

This time, unlike before, there were no external factors like music leaks, which made it even worse.

-I don’t think this is a Rev song…ㅜ

-The song is too monotonous compared to Rev’s usual style

-At first it felt unfamiliar since it wasn’t Rev’s usual style, but after listening repeatedly it’s addictive and good

– was much more catchy and felt more like Rev’s original style, so why did they make the title track?

└Gotta live up to the Produce member reputation, you know ㅎ

└Yeah, Y3 can’t give up their artist self-producing media play

└Objectively is better though, just seems good because of the beat and strong opening

-The musicality is good, but did you really have to do it at the most important time, Eden? You could have solidly established your popularity in your 4th year, built up your performance record, and then done whatever music you wanted – musicality, solo albums, whatever. Why pour cold water on things when they were going well…

└Anyone listening would think Eden insisted on making his song the title track, crazy

-The song is just good, so why is everyone going crazy?

└For real, it sounded fucking great to my ears too, but seeing them foam at the mouth and lash out like 2E released the worst song in history is so disgusting to watch

└We should make the whining kids listen to on infinite repeat

-At least with there was the excuse of the music leak, but what’s this?

-Of all groups, it’s not even some nobody but KICKS we’re up against, so this mess is even more embarrassing

Perhaps because KICKS’ new song released on the same day as ours was occupying 3rd place on the music charts, the fans’ reaction to our song was quite sharp.

“It’s because we’re being overshadowed by KICKS. It’s not that the song is bad.”

Ryu Jaehee said as he snatched the phone from my hands while I was deliberately looking up reactions to the song.

“KICKS’ new song is good on first listen, and our song is one where the true value emerges as you get used to it through repeated listening. Don’t be too hung up on the first week’s reaction.”

Even though I composed this song with the judgment that it was time to gradually show Rev’s expanding musical spectrum, I never expected the reaction to be this bad.

Then again, was the reaction to our music video that we went all the way to New York to film any good?

-No, KICKS connected this to their previous activity’s worldview and put all the hints in their MV, but ours is just a video pictorial of the kids

└I heard it’s a Bonnie and Clyde homage but I don’t know what part is the homage, just hope we don’t get beaten up for glorifying criminals

└KICKS already has people searching for hints and their MV views and buzz are fucking skyrocketing, but we don’t have any hints to consume

-There’s a limit to just looking at the kids’ faces, what’s the point of having visual beauty if it’s bland and boring

-What I remember from the MV: Yehyeon’s silver hair, red-haired Eden’s jacket, why are you dancing there Dobin

-I’ve watched it five times and still don’t get it, what exactly is the MV story?

└Don’t know,, runaway family that grows one by one?

-Looks like Yoon2E and the music video director both caught a case of pretentious artist syndrome lol

-The 6-minute Reverse MV was better, that only had the one flaw of being long but at least it had story and was tense and entertaining

-Fuck, please stop talking about worldviews;; Didn’t you hear the kids say Kim No-dap fucking loves parallel universe worldviews? If you keep chanting worldview mantras, Kim No-dap will grin and present part 2 worldview

└We don’t have songs like that

Apparently that wasn’t particularly well-received either.

The music video wasn’t objectively poorly made – no, it was actually well-made.

But KICKS happened to sharpen their knives and sprinkle worldview hints in this MV that connected to their previous activity’s music video, making our MV, which prioritized visual beauty that could harmonize with the song, look relatively boring.

Moreover, since the concert had just ended, we decided to start music shows a week later considering the artist’s condition, which became even more poisonous.

-No, we’re already being pushed down in music rankings by KICKS, so what do we do if we’re late to music shows too

-Sigh, KICKS went straight to music shows and their rankings are rising with the music show buff… Kids, are you going to be 1st place clapping shuttles next to KICKS?

-KICKS being so fucking confident pisses me off, their timing for putting us down is amazing really

-They’re saying I hit rock bottom lol I can’t even ㅋㅋㅋ Anyone would think our kid made front page news or something, just because they won one song and they’re talking about hitting rock bottom, what bullshit

‘What exactly is the problem…?’

This was the first time my music had been so harshly criticized, both before and after regression.

Was it because of insufficient work time? That didn’t seem right, since other songs I’d worked on in more rushed environments received better evaluations than this.

Was it because it wasn’t purely my work and someone else interfered? No, the part Kim Dobin worked on actually brought freshness to the song and didn’t harm it.

Was it because I changed direction too suddenly? If my ability had been good enough, such attempts would have been smoothly accepted as praise without causing antipathy.

I tried to cool my head and analyze the cause of failure, but no clear answer emerged.

“Eden hyung?”

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Ryu Jaehee calling me carefully.

“The rankings will bounce back once we go on music shows. Or maybe it’ll suddenly reverse and flip like during our title song meeting.”

I got up, pretending to be nonchalant and suggesting we go practice until the music shows.

“Right, good songs always show their true value.”

Kim Dobin quickly chimed in. After all, since he was also credited as co-composer, the reaction probably bothered him as much as it did me.

If I showed disappointment, Kim Dobin would obviously be overly considerate again, so I had to be careful with my expression in front of him.

I could only hope this unsettled state wouldn’t last long.

* * *

“Oh, Eden hyung! Congrats on being a 1st place candidate!”

Despite my repeated warnings, Choi Hyeonmin grinned and spoke to me as soon as he saw me in the music show waiting room, like drawing water from a well or memories from his head. I clenched my fist tight.

I was already stressed, and seeing the guy who contributed about 20% to that stress acting cheeky made my blood boil.

I wanted to grab him by the collar and punch him in the face right then, but I suppressed the urge by remembering the upcoming recording and my initial intentions, when I heard a low, sunken voice beside me.

“Choi Hyeonmin, know when to stop, will you?”

Choi Hyeonmin flinched at Gyeon Hajun’s serious expression and stepped back.

The KICKS members who had been ignoring Choi Hyeonmin picking a fight with me and talking among themselves also turned this way with surprised faces.

That made sense, since even when we got into fights among ourselves, Gyeon Hajun rarely stepped forward except for one time, and regardless of talking behind his back, those guys found Gyeon Hajun quite uncomfortable.

I was preparing 24 choice sentences to thoroughly destroy Choi Hyeonmin without swearing when Gyeon Hajun stepped forward first, making things a bit awkward.

Gyeon Hajun coldly snapped at Kwon Yunseong who was just entering the waiting room.

“Kwon Yunseong, manage your member a bit. Aren’t you the leader?”

Kwon Yunseong’s brow twitched as he was unilaterally scolded by someone he was uncomfortable with despite doing nothing wrong.

But that was brief.

After looking in turn at Choi Hyeonmin watching his reaction, my clenched fist, and Gyeon Hajun’s hardened expression, Kwon Yunseong seemed to immediately grasp the situation and roughly dragged Choi Hyeonmin away.

“Fuck, Hyeonmin. I told you to tone it down. When I give you a warning, listen to it, okay? Do you want to get beaten up by Yoon Eden and have both of us decorate the entertainment news together?”

Why would I suddenly be decorating it too?

After rubbing his face once, Choi Hyeonmin stubbornly resisted Kwon Yunseong’s scolding to the end.

“Ah, why! What did I do! I just said congratulations on being a 1st place candidate!”

“You want to say that kind of thing in this situa-“

Kwon Yunseong stopped mid-sentence with an “oh no” expression and glanced at me.

Now even Kwon Yunseong was pitying me, and my mood hit rock bottom.

Pity was enough with that fucking shitty .

“The 1st place winner for the first week of March is… Congratulations, KICKS!”

I forced a smile and clapped while watching Kwon Yunseong receive the trophy from the MC.

In times like this, even a single expression could be enough to get criticized.

Inside the van returning to the dormitory. Perhaps reading the atmosphere, the youngest line who would normally have made a fuss complaining about losing to KICKS kept their mouths shut obediently.

As someone who wanted to hear KICKS being cursed out, I found the youngest line’s choice very regrettable. But I couldn’t exactly tell them to complain.

“Um… Hajun, Yoon Eden… are you guys okay?”

Among the three from Not New Born, Seo Yehyeon took charge and asked carefully.

“I’m fine, but Eden’s the problem.”

Gyeon Hajun replied indifferently while glancing at me.

“Yeah, I’m fine too.”

I answered with a soulless voice. Since Gyeon Hajun had already answered that he was fine, I felt like I’d become a petty person if I said I wasn’t okay here.

After finishing the music show schedule that I couldn’t even remember what mindset I had during, I headed straight to the studio instead of the dormitory.

Since this promotion had already started anyway, I shouldn’t dwell on it anymore and just go all-in on the regular album coming in the second half of this year.

If I could just produce a good title track for the regular album…

Thinking that way, I opened the composition program and was pressing the synthesizer keys when I suddenly froze at a thought that came to mind.

‘What if I fail this time too?’

For the first time, I doubted the success or failure of music, something I had never questioned before. For the first time, I assumed failure.

I froze with my hands on the keyboard. It felt like my mind had gone blank. My stomach churned and I covered my mouth.

My hands randomly hitting the keys created an unpleasant discord.

It was the moment when music, the only thing that had never betrayed me, the last support I could believe in, crumbled.

A terrible slump of a level I had never experienced before began.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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