Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 231

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 23.

“Prism!”
“Bleduck! Wow, it’s been such a long time seeing you off-schedule.”

Prism Home Ma and Bleduck greeted each other warmly at their long-awaited reunion.
Neither had intentionally planned to meet, but they’d grown accustomed to naturally expecting to run into each other whenever these off-schedule events occurred.

“You didn’t attend the Tokyo concert last time, did you?”
“No. I had an absolutely unavoidable business trip that day… And apparently the members filmed something legendary while I was gone. I’m still regretting missing it. You went, didn’t you, Prism?”
“I attended the entire concert. But it wasn’t easy… Getting older means my stamina just isn’t what it used to be….”

StillBlue was the one performing, so why were we the ones exhausted? The two devoted fans silently empathized with each other’s sentiment.

“It’s been forever since an outdoor stage event like this. I have a feeling another legend is going to happen after the Wangcheon Rice Festival last time.”
“Since it’s connected to ‘ShowShow! MusicMusic!’, the sound quality should be decent…right…?”
“No. I’ve never seen them spend money on sound equipment. It’s just called a music broadcast, but really….”

The two shook their heads in resignation.

“Did you see the cue sheet? They’re supposedly doing a special stage.”
“A BurnAsh cover, apparently? BurnAsh choreography is insanely intense—I don’t know when they even practiced it….”
“This is the best….”

Sigh.
The two could already envision the members updating their legendary stage performance before their very eyes.

“But….”

Prism Home Ma opened her mouth cautiously.

“Geum’s condition… it seems… that rumor is probably true, isn’t it?”

At those words, Bleduck’s expression darkened as well.
The truth was….
Ever since this morning, rumors about Kim Geum’s condition had been spreading rapidly across social media.

★
Wait, Geum has sudden sensorineural hearing loss..?
People who already knew about it knew everything; there were hospital sightings anyway, so trying to keep it under wraps was pointless lol;
Is sudden sensorineural hearing loss incurable?
└There are cases where recovery isn’t possible
└└Wow that’s crazy
└└└Then how do they promote?
It’s not even confirmed yet, so let’s not spread rumors
Here we go again with the clueless ones lol seriously, the moment they go to the hospital, all sorts of rumors spread, so the kids can’t even go to the hospital. Just stop
└It’s because of the fans lol the company not being able to send them to the hospital is because the Colors management are idiots
Could it be that the comebacks kept getting pushed back because of the hearing loss? That would explain it, they said the plan was this year but there’s been no news
└Do you even trust Colors’ plans? Their history of delays is insane
Something felt off since the fan meeting lol couldn’t get a word in, and I said something was wrong back then lol but the fans attacked me and shut me down
└└Those haters are so dramatic lol it’s been like this since Make a New Color
└└└Can’t even say anything, fans have a right to know too..
If you don’t want to be criticized, don’t cause problems for your teammates, and if you can’t manage your health, people will talk

At first, it was merely a rumor circulating among some fans, or those masquerading as fans.
The logic was that in these times when emergency rooms struggle to accept patients, it made no sense that she went to the Emergency Room simply for poor condition.
And so the criticism kept mounting—that Kim Geum’s visit to the Emergency Room was corporate abuse of power, special treatment, that the truth needed to be revealed—
But soon that criticism twisted into rumors disguised as questions: ‘If it wasn’t special treatment, then what illness did she actually go in for?’
And eventually those rumors grew large enough to trend in real-time searches.
No matter how much other fans pleaded for people not to speculate without confirmation and to wait for the members’ own words, it was futile.
Some people even went so far as to harshly criticize the members, demanding to know why they were keeping secrets from fans, insisting that something like this absolutely had to be disclosed honestly.

“Ugh… those people aren’t even real fans. They’re just antis pretending to be fans, and the worst part is they genuinely believe they’re giving loving advice without a shred of doubt.”
“If they were just antis… at least that would be better…. It’s ridiculous when random people who can’t even keep the members’ names straight start swinging their moral authority around…. Like, I manage my own fandom my own way, so why are they worrying about me?… If they had that much time, they should worry about the members instead….”

It would have been easier to bear if the members had actually done something wrong to deserve the criticism.
But did she really deserve to be attacked just for being sick?
People get ill sometimes… why on earth….

“They just want to criticize, but since they have no real grounds, they’re just making up excuses.”
“At this point… it doesn’t even surprise me anymore…. I’ve gotten too used to it….”

The two of them let out heavy sighs.
Just then.

[MC: Next up, the fresh new faces of the music industry these days~ the idols bringing a vibrant new spring breeze of green, ‘Greenery’!]

The MC’s announcement that it was Greenery’s turn brought the two people’s conversation to a brief halt.
Both were longtime Colors idol enthusiasts, so they knew the existence of Colors’ rookie idol Greenery quite well.
…Though whether they actually liked them this time was another matter entirely.

“The Burners were really grinding their teeth over this.”
“That Label 1 reverse viral marketing… everyone knows about it.”

Burners was the name of BurnAsh’s fanbase.

“The song itself was well-produced… but why did they choose that marketing direction…?”
“That song was even composed by Dan-ha.”
“Ugh…”

For reasons unclear, the situation kept triggering PTSD, and the two fans fell silent.
Greenery’s debut song itself was certainly good. There was a sense that their execution was slightly lacking, but since they were rookies, it was forgivable enough.
But then.

“Huh? This song…”
“Oh, they’re doing a BurnAsh cover too?”
“Is today a BurnAsh special or something?”

They had assumed StillBlue would be covering BurnAsh’s stage, but BurnAsh songs were now pouring out from Greenery’s performance as well.
The problem was…

“…”
“…”

The two fans watching the stage directly couldn’t bring themselves to say anything.
The performance was so disastrous that it was literally unbearable to watch with open eyes.
At least their debut song had been manageable since they’d practiced it relentlessly for months…
But the BurnAsh cover stage was revealing their true skill level due to the short practice period.

“Isn’t she the main vocalist…?”

Hidden behind that question was the bewilderment of why the main vocalist couldn’t even sing a single line properly.

“Even if singing is difficult, so what… but the dancing, how on earth…?”

They couldn’t even execute the choreography properly, completely botching all the intricate details of the dance.

“Looking at it this way, BurnAsh’s songs really are difficult, aren’t they….”

They made it look so easy that I didn’t really feel how hard it was.
The two fans grew increasingly solemn.

“This broadcast will… be edited before it airs, right…?”
“It probably will be, honestly…. Otherwise, these guys… they’d probably get dragged for like five years straight….”

But this was… an outdoor stage, so it definitely would’ve been captured on direct camera….
Could they really hide it…? The two fans felt their hearts ache for them.
After all, they were still juniors from Colors… that sentiment remained.
Then.
As the first verse ended, the Greenery members scattered and hurriedly rushed down from the stage.

“Huh?”

At the sudden disbandment, the two fans looked up at the stage with confused eyes.
In that moment.

“!!”
“Whoa.”

The StillBlue members climbed onto the stage apparatus.
Dressed in a full girls’ hip-hop style outfit they rarely wore otherwise.
They all looked great and refreshingly new, but the member who caught everyone’s eye most was undoubtedly Kim Geum. She wore a tank top with cargo pants, a military-style cap, and large hoop earrings.
She looked absolutely perfect, as if she were born to wear such an outfit.

“Insane….”

The two fans naturally clasped their hands tightly together, their mouths hanging open.
And.

Hello. Hater.
Long time no see, how have you been?
Ah.
It hasn’t really been that long since we last saw each other, has it?

Kim Geum’s narration began, standing at the center among the members who swayed to the rhythm with their hands clasped behind their backs.

‘No, Geum…!’

Both fans thought simultaneously.
No way… she’s pulling off these arrogant lyrics…?
Those very lyrics that even fans had dismissed for lacking relatability?

You’ve all just been following me around

The moment that narration ended.
The dance break erupted instantly.
Far more powerful than most male idol choreography—
flawless.

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