A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 533

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

A Regression Guide for Idols Who Lost Their Original Intent Episode 533

* * *

The main vocalist is an indispensable presence in a group.

The main vocalist, who symbolizes the group’s musical identity, goes beyond a simple vocal position and can be said to be the core axis that determines the group’s musicality and identity.

However, Rev’s main vocalist Ryu Jaehee didn’t think he was an essential member of the group. No, he couldn’t think that way.

First of all, Rev had Yoon Eden, a producing member who was responsible for the group’s musicality and identity, sitting right there. This meant that Ryu Jaehee wasn’t the first person who came to mind when thinking of ‘Rev’s music.’

Even considering musicality through vocals alone, there was lead vocalist Gyeon Hajun, who had an unparalleled tone and solid skills.

Recognition? There was Seo Yehyeon, who had garnered attention with his insane looks since debut, and Yoon Eden, who had natural star quality in everything from Hyoryun Rap to Slander War to DTB. He had once consoled himself that he was one of the mediocre three under this two-top system.

But what about now?

Currently, Gyeon Hajun had won a rookie award as an actor for playing a main supporting role in a hit drama, and Kim Dobin had established himself as the youngest member with a solid character on a terrestrial variety show responsible for weekend ratings, instantly boosting his recognition.

To a degree that was hard for Ryu Jaehee to catch up with.

He had once tried to target the variety position as a niche strategy, using Kim Dobin’s weakness of only being funny unintentionally as a stepping stone. He thought it could be achieved through effort, but this also had to be innate.

The reality that the words Yoon Eden or Kim Dobin casually blurted out without thinking got bigger reactions than the witty remarks he analyzed and calculated was nothing but bitter.

Of course, Ryu Jaehee had the definite and irreplaceable position of being the youngest member. But since this was a position gained solely through age, it wasn’t special.

It might work on fans, but why would the general public care who Rev’s youngest member was?

Fans who saw him desperately trying to create his own distinct character gave Ryu Jaehee the image of being ambitious.

But Ryu Jaehee didn’t want to receive exclusive attention in the group or monopolize popularity. This was closer to a need for recognition than ambition.

He just wanted to walk in step with the members.

However, while the members were walking far ahead, it felt like he alone was staying in place.

In truth, Ryu Jaehee’s life had always been like that.

When he was young, he was pushed to the back because he required less attention than his younger siblings, and he could only earn praise as a good son by giving up his own desires and making efforts.

Even at TK, while he had the title of a trainee who sang well, in a major entertainment company filled with flying and crawling talents, Ryu Jaehee was just trainee number one who had to prove his worth at every monthly evaluation.

Enough to be easily kicked out on false charges. If Ryu Jaehee had been an irreplaceable, unparalleled vocalist, would TK have kicked him out?

Seo Yehyeon had consolingly said that TK, having been burned by many male idols who made it to the society section, stupidly let go of a vocalist like Ryu Jaehee without even investigating, claiming to strictly follow principles by prioritizing character over skill. But well.

Anyway, didn’t TK also judge that Ryu Jaehee lacked marketability? Since TK was also a company, they wouldn’t do anything that would cause losses.

Seeing his own situation of being the least noticed in the team despite holding the position of main vocalist made it seem like TK’s judgment was really correct, which made him even more depressed.

Unfortunately, Rev was also a group filled with naturally gifted guys under CEO Kim Nodam’s insane luck.

Seo Yehyeon, who was born with looks; Yoon Eden, who was born with musical talent and the ability to attract aggro; Gyeon Hajun, who was born with a unique tone, acting skills, and aspects that drove certain demographics crazy; Kim Dobin, who was born with unintentional comedy and luck.

Among these insane talents who didn’t settle for what they had and even worked hard, Ryu Jaehee, who only had vocal skills to show for himself, had to work several times harder than the members.

But ironically, it was also the members who helped him not get buried in his inferiority complex.

Seo Yehyeon, who gritted his teeth and worked several times harder than Ryu Jaehee’s efforts in rap, vocals, or dance to produce output.

Yoon Eden, who easily outsourced anything outside his field.

Gyeon Hajun, who somehow managed to package his sensitivity well.

Kim Dobin, who lacked awareness but was the number one contributor to breaking awkward atmospheres and occasionally hit the nail on the head.

Since none of them were perfect, Ryu Jaehee could also stand completely as an imperfect person in that gap, and he could learn attitudes for facing his own shortcomings by watching the members.

Ryu Jaehee’s copycat behavior wasn’t limited to just Yoon Eden’s fashion.

Ryu Jaehee, who had been forced to become mature due to his childhood and adolescent environment, got the opportunity to grow slowly again in Rev and progressed step by step.

And finally, an opportunity came to Ryu Jaehee, who had been working so hard.

And it was through his vocal ability, which he could most proudly showcase.

A bit of luck, effort added to innate skill, and the broadcasting character-building ability he had steadily accumulated through monitoring without missing a single day.

Ryu Jaehee was a prepared person who didn’t miss the opportunity given to him and seized it.

Thanks to this, he succeeded in very powerfully imprinting the idol vocalist Ryu Jaehee on the public through 【Voice Legacy】.

Once his need for recognition was satisfied, a competitive spirit he didn’t even know he had quietly raised its head.

At first, he thought this vocal competition variety show was just a means for him as a vocalist to gain recognition, but now, regardless of recognition or anything else, he purely wanted to win this competition.

“I didn’t know, but apparently I have incredibly strong competitive spirit.”

When he confided this only to Yoon Eden, Yoon Eden chuckled with the same face he made whenever Ryu Jaehee whined.

“You didn’t know? I’ve known since I saw your eyes light up when we won the Altair Grand Prize.”

Ryu Jaehee thought his desire for the grand prize was part of his need for recognition, but Yoon Eden saw through to the essence accurately.

How could he not know when the youngest was looking at the stage with eyes exactly like his own emotions?

“So, do you have any idea about the arrangement direction for this 3rd round competition song?”

“I searched and found that many people like the blues feel. So I tried to preserve the blues feel, but then it doesn’t seem much different from the original.”

“Do you absolutely have to sing this as R&B? Are you at the level where if you don’t sing this as R&B, you’ll regret not being able to sing it as R&B even on your deathbed, gasping for breath?”

Someone who didn’t know might think he was picking a fight, but Ryu Jaehee, already accustomed to Yoon Eden’s way of speaking, could tell immediately.

It was advice to try a different direction instead of R&B.

“You told me to focus on the parts I wanted to change. But what I thought of when I first heard the original was so out of left field that I had no choice but to stick with R&B.”

“What did you think of?”

When Ryu Jaehee answered cautiously, lacking confidence in the direction he had thought of, Yoon Eden crisply snapped his fingers. It was a signal that it was the right answer.

“You really want me to arrange it that way? I get the feel, but I don’t know where to start overhauling it. What do I do? There are only four days left until the competition…”

R&B would have been enough, but this was nowhere near enough to finish both arrangement and stage practice on his own within four days.

Ryu Jaehee knew very well how to navigate this situation that seemed to have left his hands. Outsource to someone reliable.

This was a life attitude Ryu Jaehee had learned from Yoon Eden.

“Eden hyung, you can help me get to the top 4, right?”

“Why are you stating such an obvious thing?”

At the reliable answer that came back refreshingly, Ryu Jaehee suddenly had an intuition that he could win this round too.

He didn’t know why, but somehow it felt like it would be cathartic.

* * *

Today was D-1 until KICKS’ comeback, that is, the three-way dogfight.

And it was also the day when Ryu Jaehee’s stage and its results from 【Voice Legacy】 Round 3 would finally be revealed.

Having interesting things happen every other day. There was absolutely no time to be bored.

Why do people crash their lives into the gutter with alcohol and drugs? Just living normally makes dopamine explode like this.

If I had been watching 【Voice Legacy】 up until now with the feeling of watching Ryu Jaehee’s cute antics as a fish in water, except for Round 1 where he was placed in an insanely difficult lineup, this time I watched 【Voice Legacy】 Round 3 Ryu Jaehee’s competition stage with fucking reverence.

Of course, only I was reverent while the other guys were watching it no differently than previous episodes.

It made sense since only I knew that Ryu Jaehee had been eliminated in this round before the regression. Of course, this time I was confident he would pass since I had intervened, but I was still nervous since this was the round where Ryu Jaehee had been eliminated in the past.

But should I call this the past or the future? Past? Future? Past? Future?

Well, seeing how damn peaceful Ryu Jaehee’s face looked as he once again occupied the center of the sofa, the results seemed good.

Round 3 was broadcast over two weeks, and last week, four singers including strong championship candidate No Gangyeol had shown their competition stages.

Today was the turn for Ryu Jaehee and three others to perform.

[MC: In this round, only the top four with the highest vote counts can advance to the next round.]

Last week’s footage explaining Round 3’s rules briefly appeared in black and white.

All eight singers who had made it to Round 3 were absolutely not to be underestimated in terms of skill. Just looking at experience, Ryu Jaehee was at the most amateur level, which said it all.

Ryu Jaehee was in the last position. Since senior Choi Eunjeong, who had presented a high-note power show stage by arranging a dance song into R&B, was right before him, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I hadn’t known since I only watched Ryu Jaehee’s stage separately as a clip on YouTube, but I think the audience’s fatigue from seeing two consecutive R&B stages also contributed to Ryu Jaehee’s elimination. The first might be fresh, but the second is bound to be boring.

[Ryu Jaehee – Blue Night of the City (Original: Lee Sangkwon)]

The tempo changed to be fast by adding house-style drum beats to the existing blues’ characteristic slow and emotional rhythm. Groove added to the bass line. The sweet and calm vocals changed to a powerful singing style. EDM-style drops and synthesizer sounds inserted at the climax.

And stage performance that fit the song perfectly, making it hard to look away.

The 【Blue Night of the City】 stage, where the vintage-feeling melody was reborn as a modern and sophisticated dance song, unfolded spectacularly.

For reference, arrangement was outsourced to Yoon Eden, choreography was outsourced to Kim Dobin.

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