A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 301

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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 301

For every step I took closer, Yongcheol hyung moved two steps away. As my stubbornness kicked in and my pace quickened, Yongcheol hyung was now practically running.

Yongcheol hyung shouted urgently at me as I gritted my teeth and chased after him.

“Hey hey hey, don’t chase me!”

“Then don’t run away, hyung! Why did you come all the way here just to run away!”

“Aren’t you preparing for rehearsal?”

“What rehearsal preparation do I need to do already? The first team, Team Moltic & Young Billy, hasn’t even finished yet. Team G1 & AJA is next, then it’s our team’s turn.”

“But Wonbaek hyung definitely said it was your turn soon!”

Yongcheol hyung, who had stopped running and stood still, quickly turned to look at Wonbaek who happened to be nearby.

“Oh, Yongcheol. You came? We can call G-TE when Seven Kick starts their rehearsal. Let’s do A01’s rehearsal first. Since you put your heart and soul into it, G-TE will go last and deliver the perfect finishing blow!”

Wonbaek, who had been throwing punches in the air, made eye contact with me.

“Oh my, what a surprise. Eden, you were here too?”

Wonbaek awkwardly lowered his fist and greeted me as well.

“Hyung, you said it was Eden’s turn soon!”

“Yeah, once Toohyeok comes down, Yupi and Geek Seung will rehearse, and then it’s his turn right after.”

“That’s soon!”

“Third is soon.”

Wonbaek calmly replied to Yongcheol hyung’s outburst and looked at me.

“This time is no joke. Yongcheol said he’s going to beat you and put all his heart and soul into it. This is why they say it’s scarier when allies turn against you. He customized it to match your style, completely.”

As expected, it was within my anticipated range. Above the running Lee Yongcheol, there’s me, Yoon Eden.

It was a bit disappointing that I wouldn’t be able to witness Yongcheol hyung’s flustered face when he sees my completely changed rap style. I’ll have to make sure to capture Yongcheol hyung’s bewildered expression when he watches my stage during the actual broadcast.

“Ah, hyung. How could you say that? I deliberately didn’t even answer his calls because I was worried he might leak information.”

“The main stage is in an hour, so what does it matter? It’s not like their team can tear apart and redo their song now.”

Wonbaek shrugged his shoulders.

“But why is Choi Hyeongjin holed up in the waiting room? Did he do some mind control to avoid making mistakes on stage?”

When I asked about Choi Hyeongjin, who was still nowhere to be seen, Yongcheol hyung shook his head briefly and answered.

“He says he won’t watch your stage beforehand until the main stage. He doesn’t want to already decide the outcome in his head.”

“Is he scared, or is he overconfident?”

“Obviously the latter. You have no idea how hard our G-TE prepared.”

Please don’t say that while smiling so proudly, hyung. And since when did Hyeongjin become your “our G-TE”?

Are you really abandoning the younger brother you’ve known for 8 years just because of DTB?

As I stood there with my mouth agape, someone draped their arm over my shoulder from behind.

“It would be better if it were the former. What are you going to do if you have to perform after us?”

BQ9, who had put his arm on my shoulder, asked Yongcheol hyung in a voice tinged with light sarcasm.

“That would be great for us. After all, the impact comes from going last.”

Yongcheol hyung responded nonchalantly. A tense standoff continued between the previous season’s winner and runner-up.

As I rolled my eyes wondering who to support, I decided to cheer for my temporary ally BQ9 rather than Yongcheol hyung who abandoned me and made Hyeongjin his “our G-TE.”

“Team Gongchul & BQ9, please prepare for rehearsal!”

At the staff’s call, BQ9 lightly tapped me as a signal that he had to go. As soon as he turned toward the stage, BQ9 lowered his voice and whispered.

“Should we hide it? Even so, it’s the rehearsal right before the main stage – should we just do it as we practiced?”

“I was planning to do it in my original style anyway. Since showing it in advance would reduce the fun, it’s meant to make you let your guard down.”

I replied to BQ9’s words with a grin.

“Good, let’s go.”

I went up on stage side by side with BQ9, who patted my back encouragingly, for the rehearsal.

* * *

“Hmm, they’ve been promoting this rival battle so extensively that I thought they’d show us something different, but it’s the same as usual.”

This was Yupi’s cold assessment as he watched Yoon Eden’s rehearsal from below the stage.

Do they prioritize playing it safe over experimental approaches? Making an inference much closer to wrong than right, Yupi steadily built up strategies to counter Yoon Eden’s stage that they would face in the semifinals or finals.

“Since the match against G-TE is as good as won anyway, maybe he’s holding back his strength now to unleash it in the semifinals?”

“For that to be the case, the beat was packed with power. Oh, EDM. But it seems like he’s deliberately messing it up right now…”

Is it a feint? That guy is certainly capable of doing something like that. Responding to Young Billy’s speculation, Skoen glanced toward where D.I and Wonbaek were.

“Perfect! They took the bait! We can definitely kill the impact, and now we just need to secure the second attack.”

“I’m a bit anxious because they fell for it too smoothly…”

Unlike Wonbaek who was rejoicing with his whole body, D.I, who knew Yoon Eden well, looked quite uneasy.

Toward the two showing contrasting reactions, Yoon Eden winked as he crossed the stage following his movement lines.

“Wow, an idol is an idol. His fan service is solid. Should I tell G-TE to throw in a wink toward the audience seats too?”

“Don’t. That works because it’s Eden. If G-TE tried it, even people who were going to throw prize money at G-TE would withdraw.”

“Yongcheol, aren’t you discriminating too much between Eden and G-TE…”

“It’s not discrimination, it’s an evaluation based on facts.”

While responding to Wonbaek’s words, D.I’s mind spun rapidly to find additional elements that could enhance G-TE’s stage impact.

It was worth it for Yoon Eden to pull a fake by giving up the rehearsal right before the main stage.

* * *

After the rehearsal ended and I came down from the stage, Seven Kick, who took over from me, immediately went up on stage to conduct their rehearsal.

While Seven Kick’s rehearsal was in full swing, Choi Hyeongjin finally showed his face, apparently having received contact. After Seven Kick, A01 went up on stage with Yongcheol Hyung and Wonbaek.

My gaze met briefly with Choi Hyeongjin’s, who I would face head-on in a few hours.

“I’ll be in the waiting room.”

As I turned around with both hands in my hood pockets, Gongchul grabbed me.

“Already? Watch G-TE’s rehearsal before you go.”

“No, I’m going to try doing the same thing as Hyeongjin once.”

I pulled one arm out of my hood pocket, waved it lightly, and returned to the waiting room.

I waited in the waiting room, memorizing the lyrics until the very end, and finally the performance time approached.

Before the full-scale team competition, the first and second attacks were decided by the team producers’ drawing. The participants didn’t need to come on stage and could just watch the drawing scene on monitors from their respective waiting rooms.

First, the result of the Seven Kick-A01 match was…

“It doesn’t matter…?”

“Of course. Actually, it’d be even better if Hyeongjin gets scared listening from backstage.”

Thanks to that, I got to open the curtain for the main competition second round matchups. Performing first when the audience was still fresh wasn’t bad either.

“Please move to backstage now.”

Following the staff’s guidance, I moved to backstage. Gongchul and BQ9, who had finished the draw and returned to backstage, welcomed me.

On stage, the MC was busy explaining the rules of fight money, which was the stage evaluation method.

Even more audience members than during the first round of the main competition filled the audience seats. The MC, having finished explaining fight money, announced our stage.

“Alright, let’s not make mistakes. Let’s go tear up the stage.”

Gongchul patted mine and BQ9’s backs while sending words of encouragement.

The intro of our main competition second round performance song, 【LOST】, echoed through the concert hall.

I cupped the mic head with my hand and brought it close to my mouth, then spat out the first verse while striding boldly from backstage onto the stage.

Yeah, that’s right. The reversal begins.

* * *

“Wow… he completely changed his rap style like that.”

“He completely switched it up. Expecting us to come out with a customized approach. Seriously, what a cunning guy. It must have been hard to get that familiar with it in such a short time, really…”

With the producers exchanging lamenting conversations behind him, Choi Hyeongjin listened intently to Yoon Eden’s rap coming from backstage.

It was Yoon Eden’s rap that he prided himself on knowing as well as D.I did.

‘That guy and I are the same age? Third year middle school? Wow, crazy. That’s not the skill level of a middle schooler, is it?’

With admiration.

‘Hey, your rap name was… Unsik, right? I’m really curious about something – you can’t rap for shit, so what kind of confidence makes you do rap instead of studying? Are you confident you can make a living with this? No, I’m not being sarcastic, I’m genuinely curious. Me? Can’t you tell just by looking?’

‘Yoon Eden, you fucking bastard… I’ll practice my ass off and definitely take your head.’

With spite.

‘Crazy bastard, he actually debuted as an idol. He ran his mouth like that to me, saying his future was uncertain and whatnot, then couldn’t even get into a major agency and ran off to debut at some Jjotso, idiot. Why is the debut song so shitty too? His rap hasn’t fucking improved either. Serves him right.’

Finally catching up to mock him.

‘What the fuck, this bastard didn’t just improve in a few months, he fucking evolved? Did he sell his soul to the devil? Ha, I thought I’d barely caught up, but he’s climbing up by himself again. Damn bastard.’

Frustrated that he’d become distantly far away again.

That’s why he’d been consistently listening, so he could confidently say he knew better than anyone else, better than Yoon Eden’s fans, better than his crew hyungs.

Listening to the rapping that could be heard clearly even in backstage, Choi Hyeongjin chuckled.

The competition song they’d painstakingly crafted to make Yoon Eden’s style get devoured by his rap had become useless, but he wasn’t particularly upset.

Rather, if he had been complacent, if Yoon Eden’s competition song had been devoured by their competition song, that would have been more frustrating.

The foundation of Choi Hyeongjin’s current rap style was built on Yoon Eden from past to present.

It hurt his pride to imitate, but it was too much his ideal to ignore. That feeling was Choi Hyeongjin’s driving force.

Listening to the competition song building toward its climax, Choi Hyeongjin opened a water bottle and drank it down.

-Make some noise!

As the song ended with Yoon Eden’s final shout, a tremendous roar echoed through the concert hall, loud enough to crush the spirit of the next performer.

With the enthusiastic cheers still continuing behind him, Yoon Eden entered the backstage area, soaked in sweat whether from the heat of the concert hall or his performance.

“Hey, Yoon Eden. You asked me back then what confidence I had to rap, didn’t you?”

When he brought up that past incident he’d already received an apology for, Yoon Eden’s face turned uncomfortable.

Choi Hyeongjin spoke up a step ahead of Yoon Eden, who was opening his mouth to say something that might have been an apology or a retort.

“I’ll answer you with this stage, so watch carefully.”

After making his confident declaration of war, Choi Hyeongjin brushed past Yoon Eden and stepped onto the stage where spotlights and the audience’s cheers poured down—a stage that might be his last.

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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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