A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 538

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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 Original Intent Episode 538

Under the gaze of four pairs of eyes directed at me, Ryu Jaehee picked up a fork instead of using his fingers.

“One method might get us some criticism for stirring up unnecessary trouble, but it’s a 100% guaranteed way to get revenge without any chance of being buried.”

Hmm, 100%. That’s a very good word.

“The other one requires some luck with about a 50-50 success rate and the process is annoying, but we won’t get criticized for stirring up trouble and we can really properly scratch at Jung Iseo.”

I had no idea what either of them were. My brain could only come up with simple ideas like sending Gyeon Hajun to one of the vocal competition programs that would spring up like mushrooms after rain due to the huge hit of 【Voice Legacy】, having him sing Jung Iseo’s song amazingly well as a competition song and come back down.

Even that would only be possible if Gyeon Hajun got cast and could freely choose his competition song, so even I thought it was a damn sloppy idea.

Under the urging of the four, Ryu Jaehee took another bite of cake and began his kind, customized explanation.

“One is something we used to do before. Song request lives. We just slip Jung Iseo’s song into that request list. But the problem is that since these are fan-requested songs, there’s a possibility that our fans might get criticized along with us for intentionally reigniting the conflict.”

The public sympathizes with innocent victims, but that boundary is thinner than you’d think.

Even if victim Gyeon Hajun gets revenge, if it’s too obvious, they might feel uncomfortable about the perpetrator and victim roles being reversed.

The only revenge that’s tolerated without discomfort is ‘showing them through music chart performance’ – that’s the limit.

Since our goal is to make Jung Iseo’s public image irreparably collapse, we must maintain the public’s support for us.

“Then what about the other one?”

“The other one is a blind cover song. Hajun hyung covers his face and uploads cover songs to YouTube. The problem is that it depends entirely on whether that video goes viral, whether through algorithm blessing or pure attention. So the probability is exactly half and half, 50-50.”

If we reveal the identity after some time, there would be less backlash than blatantly stealing and singing the song in the current controversial situation.

But the problem is that we’d have to hide that it’s Gyeon Hajun and start a new channel, relying entirely on Gyeon Hajun’s singing ability for traffic and promotion.

There could be ways to create a unique channel identity. But the confidence that this could get attention without Rev’s name value… it’s not nonexistent, and about half and half as Ryu Jaehee said.

Both methods Ryu Jaehee suggested had clear pros and cons. Since the finale of revenge would be Gyeon Hajun’s role anyway, I left it to Gyeon Hajun to choose completely.

After a moment of consideration, stabbing the strawberry on his cake with his fork, Gyeon Hajun said calmly.

“Then I’ll just take the 50 percent failure risk. This isn’t even necessary, and we’re just trampling on someone who’s already falling as a confirmation kill, so I don’t want to do it while making our fans get criticized.”

Through this comeback, Jung Iseo had properly imprinted the image of a ‘parachute who got taught a lesson’ on the public and dug his own grave.

Jung Iseo’s new agency, whose image had already worsened due to Newborn’s media play, also contributed to Jung Iseo’s unlikable image.

Even aside from media play, sending away a perfectly fine debut group member and inserting his parachute nephew in that spot, sucking all the sweet benefits from Newborn, then as soon as the parachute he inserted destroyed Newborn’s cash cow, starting his own agency and taking the parachute nephew and other singers – well, that wouldn’t get good reviews.

Thanks to this, there were even suspicions that the bullying rumors were orchestrated with the current agency CEO.

Whether it was timely or fabricated, someone claiming to be Jung Iseo’s acquaintance posted online saying Jung Iseo had once said ‘△△ psychiatric clinic is good at issuing false panic disorder diagnoses,’ causing another uproar over whether he really had panic disorder.

And as their activities overlapped with KICKS, these two became excellent negatives for each other. Since it was such a big incident, the public also lightly joined in, making it more than just a fandom fight.

Since I had the voice recording of Jung Iseo’s threatening phone call to me, Jung Iseo couldn’t carelessly expose the relationship between the KICKS members who had been distant from him in the debut group and Gyeon Hajun.

Because the moment I, who followed Gyeon Hajun after he was kicked out, got involved with that threatening voice recording, the story would change again.

Anyway, I had been close with the KICKS guys during the debut group days, and it would likely be seen as him threatening me, who had maintained loyalty with Gyeon Hajun using a friend’s weakness as a weapon.

Most importantly, what would have been the most effective card – ‘the reason Gyeon Hajun was kicked out of the debut group’ – was now something Jung Iseo could neither let go of nor use carelessly.

Since he wasn’t originally someone who succeeded through music but relied on public image, this time he only established a greatly dislikable image rather than musical success, making his future unclear.

To put it metaphorically, KICKS and Newborn had kicked Jung Iseo into the pit that Gyeon Hajun and I had dug.

The cover song strategy of ‘your song is my song’ was now Gyeon Hajun’s final attempt to cover that pit Jung Iseo had fallen into with dirt.

In the end, the blind cover song was finally adopted.

As soon as the agency approved the channel creation, we immediately began planning.

“If we just upload one song alone, the intention would be too obvious, so we’ll naturally upload about five or six songs before uploading the cover song.”

“How about following trends for the first song? Right now my arranged version of 【Blue Night on the Street】 is causing a cover craze.”

“But he’s not an unknown singer, and 【AND YOU】 is such a hit right now – wouldn’t people recognize his voice?”

I shrugged at Seo Yehyeon’s concern. That much could be solved with producing and post-processing.

“Tone modification and style changes are enough. If we just remove Hajun’s distinctive characteristics, it’ll be confusing, right?”

“We don’t need to hide it extremely thoroughly. There should be some suspicion that he’s a professional singer in disguise for traffic to come in.”

Since my studio recording booth appeared in the 【AND YOU】 music video and frequently in Rev’s self-content, I sent an SOS to Jiwon hyung.

After hearing a brief explanation, Jiwon hyung said it sounded really fun and gladly lent us his studio recording booth. Since I might lack some objectivity, Jiwon hyung was optimal for removing Gyeon Hajun’s distinctive traits too.

“Hey, Eden. But how is that thing staying attached?”

“It’s fixed to the tip of his nose with double-sided tape.”

“You guys really do all sorts of things.”

After several rounds of producing, watching the filming scene in the recording booth, Jiwon hyung marveled.

Gyeon Hajun’s eyes and nose were covered with a mask hastily made from a sketchbook as he filmed six cover videos for six days’ worth of uploads.

It wasn’t really a mask, just paper cut and made like A4 paper with two eyes drawn like straight lines and a smiling mouth curve. The so-called smile mask.

By the way, I drew it. When I left it to Kim Dobin, he drew the eyes unevenly from the start.

The lower face cleverly hidden by angling the microphone pop filter. And even a sports jersey far from Gyeon Hajun’s usual fashion.

He had rejected everything during the hip-hop warrior concept, but with his face covered, my clothes suited him quite well.

“How about Smile J for the channel name?”

As soon as he heard my suggestion, Gyeon Hajun firmly shook his head and modified one alphabet letter.

“Smile B.”

“Don’t tell me…”

The sudden nightmare of CB made me unconsciously hold my forehead.

“Hajun, please tell me you’re not aiming for the abbreviation of S-i-b-a-l?”

Seo Yehyeon said desperately with trembling eyes. Despite everyone’s opposition, the channel name barely became ‘Smile J’.

Of course, Gyeon Hajun didn’t like the channel name much because it was too obvious. What would he say later when revealed and asked why Smile B? Smile, Bastard to the parachute?

The first video uploaded to the channel was 【Blue Night on the Street】. Since Ryu Jaehee’s stage video had hit ten million views and the cover song craze was in full swing, it was chosen to generate some traffic.

“Crazy, it made it to trending?”

The 【Blue Night on the Street】 cover video made it to trending videos just two days after upload.

Among cover songs trying to follow the high-difficulty version tailored for Ryu Jaehee, a song that clearly showed its own style while perfectly handling the arranged version was bound to stand out.

Since I had created the 【Blue Night on the Street】 arrangement, then reworked it for Gyeon Hajun’s vocal range and even produced it, of course he’d sing it well.

Plus the strange and childish smile mask as a clear concept.

8888-25kl • 9 hours ago

This seems like the top among all the Blue Night on the Street arrangement covers I’ve heard so far. By my standards, other covers can’t even follow half of Yuje’s version, but this one seems like it could compete?

👍 152

kimdabin01 • 8 hours ago

I never thought I’d be fluttered by a man with paper stuck to his face…

👍 322

sdafhyi • 3 hours ago

So this was the source of that video going around on Twitter lol That shoulder dance is really something else lololol

👍 45

Looking at the comments, it seemed Gyeon Hajun’s shoulder dance moves, along with his vocal skills and the mysterious mask, had gone viral on SNS, even though he couldn’t showcase proper dancing.

As other cover songs were gradually uploaded, the subscriber count steadily increased. At this rate, even if Jung Iseo’s cover video didn’t blow up, it wouldn’t be buried either.

“Youngest, did anyone comment that all the videos seem to be filmed in one day?”

“No way. We packed various outfits and had Hajun hyung’s fashion show.”

And finally-

“Hajun hyung should upload this one. The finale of revenge!”

“Would it be too obvious if I or Yoon Eden post the link on our personal accounts? Probably, right? But what if this doesn’t blow up like the 【Blue Night on the Street】 video?”

“Hyung, instead of cheering, you’re making negative sounds. Negative! From now on, just say the ‘no’ part of ‘it won’t blow up.'”

“This level of worry isn’t being negative, you know?”

“No!”

“Damn it…”

The cover video of Jung Iseo’s solo song 【Selfish】 was uploaded to the ‘Smile J’ channel.

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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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