Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 88

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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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Chapter 88.

[
【My Song as the Debut Album’s Title Track!】
If a song I composed and wrote myself becomes the title track?! It would be an incredible feeling.
Reward: 200 Points]
[
【My Song Included in the Debut Album!】
If a song I composed and wrote myself gets included in the album?! It would be an incredible feeling.
Reward: 100 Points per Track]

Getting my composed songs onto the album.
Hmm.
In truth, the act of composing itself wasn’t the problem.
I was even considering retrieving a few songs I’d composed back when I was Baek Nok-ha.
The real issue was this.

‘Whether Director Kim would actually select my song as the title track.’

Inclusion as a B-side might be possible.
If he outright rejected it, it would look like obvious discrimination.
Besides, I’d need an excuse to explain to Hong President later.
But the title track was different.
If he claimed he simply preferred another song, there was nothing I could say.
I didn’t feel like I’d lose to anyone else in composition.
Given that I’d never even heard StillBlue’s songs in my past life, it seemed unlikely they’d produced anything particularly exceptional.
There was no reason this life would be any different.
In my past life, despite having Kim Ryeo-yu, Director Kim still failed to secure good tracks.
The probability of quality songs arriving this time around would be far lower.
If I could only compete fairly, I’d have a real chance.
The problem was how to make this inherently rigged game appear legitimate.

‘The debut album will likely be a single, I’d wager.’

No entertainment company releases a mini or full-length album for a debut.
Perhaps it happened in the past, but those days are long gone.
A single album contains only one title track.
If you’re fortunate, maybe one additional B-side.
However, the B-side is already set to be “Fingertips,” which was the Make a New Color mission song.
Then I need to stake everything on the title track.

“…All right.”

While I’m at it, I should solve one chronic problem as well.

“I need to create a song so undeniably perfect that it becomes the title track by default, and then force the concept to match that song instead.”

I had no idea what concept Director Kim would assign to us.
Based on experience, it probably wouldn’t appeal to me much.
So I’d craft the song brilliantly and make the concept conform to it.
Rather than fitting the song to the concept.
By establishing the debut album concept this way, I could simultaneously build the group’s universe and overall image.
With a single debut track, I’d be sketching out a grand vision with dozens of possibilities.

“…First, I need to select a few songs and ask the members to review them with me.”

Songs that would suit all five of their images.
While considering the group’s concept.
It felt strange and unfamiliar.
When I performed as a solo artist, I only thought about my own identity.
What I wanted to convey.
The music I wanted to express.
But an idol group felt entirely different.
A shared direction that five people look toward together.
What did we five want to say?
I recalled the members as I’d seen them over these four months.
Everything they’d been expressing, and everything they desperately wanted to achieve.
Then I quietly made my way to the studio.

***

Outside the studio within the Company Building.
I was quietly trying to slip into the studio when I spotted Do Hee-young inside the adjacent one.
It was 3:30 in the morning.
Another poor soul whose day and night had completely reversed….
I was about to offer some unsolicited advice about how she’d ruin her health this way, when I suddenly remembered that I was a trainee myself.
Whoever was in there would definitely have more seniority than me.
I’d almost become that annoying rookie lecturing a senior.
I should just walk past.
Besides, I was here at this hour too.

“…Yun Chung, trainee?”

At that moment, the door I thought was firmly shut opened.
Damn.

“Hello, senior.”

I had to greet them regardless.
Because I recognized their face.

“Ah… it’s been a while. Congratulations on your debut.”

The person inside the studio was Dan-ha from Burnash.
The very person who’d composed our song so damnably difficult that it had completely drained Ryu Bora’s spirit.
No wonder they only created such challenging songs when they weren’t sleeping at this hour.
A healthy mind produces healthy music.

“Yes, thank you.”

I answered politely and tried to move on.

“Hey, Yun Chung, trainee.”

But Dan-ha called me back.
Wait, I’m not a trainee anymore—I’m a half-trainee now.

“Yes, senior.”
“I need a female vocal guide right now. Could you help me out?”
“I’m sorry. My voice is shot from the early hour, and I’d only be a burden….”

Who’s the lunatic making me sing at this ungodly hour?
I hadn’t planned to push myself anyway—my vocal cords were already deteriorating.

“Ah, I see.”
“Yes.”
“I happen to have a hundred packs of pear-balloon flower juice here—excellent for the throat.”

…Well, I suppose I should at least hear him out.

In the end, I found myself sitting on Dan-ha’s studio couch, sucking on a pack of pear-balloon flower juice.
This bastard.
He’s even drinking the exact same brand I used to buy.
The stuff here is good.
A true idol of this era, meticulously caring for his own throat.
Keep up that diligence.

“Would you possibly be able to give me some of these?”
“…The pear-balloon flower juice?”
“Yes.”

Dan-ha looked at me with eyes that said, ‘Does this person not even have money to buy juice?’
I don’t.
Yun Chung didn’t have that kind of money either.
She was living in a gosiwon, after all.
She’d even fallen behind on rent there, and only managed to move out by borrowing money from Seo Baek-young.

“Without any compensation?”
“I can record a demo for you instead.”
“…There’s a box in the refrigerator.”
“A box only holds fifty packs though….”

That’s only enough for five people for ten days, he said.

“Knowing that much… you must have consumed quite a bit of it.”

Oh.
Did I let my idol experience show too much?

“No, it’s just that I used to do promotional work for it back in the day.”

It’s not a lie.
I tried it back when I was Baek Nok-ha.

“Ah, so Yun Chung tried that too as a trainee.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve done it as well.”
“Mm-hmm.”

I wasn’t really curious about it at all.
I just wanted to quickly record the demo, get paid, and move on to working on my own tracks.

“The company probably hasn’t settled accounts yet.”

Dan-ha paused briefly before nodding.
Right.
Think back to when you were a tadpole.
It’s natural for trainees to have no money.

“I’ll tell the manager to send some funds to the Dormitory.”
“Where should we start recording?”

Ever since the old days, whenever I performed at events, I did encores—double encores, triple encores, all of them.
It meant I always delivered work worthy of the payment I received.

***

Away from White zone
Ring out the white siren

Fortunately, singing it wasn’t difficult.
I already knew the song.
This was actually a song Dan-ha had given to her direct senior, White Noise.
Of course, it achieved respectable results.
I had even covered this song at the year-end Awards Ceremony Venue.
It wasn’t a massive hit, but it still managed to crack the top 100 for the year.
I sang it until I was sick of it for two weeks, and then that cover stage went viral, forcing me to perform it for another two months.
It became surprisingly popular, and I had to perform it while making the rounds on variety shows.
Due to fan requests, I ended up uploading it to OTube as well.
Naturally, I remembered it.
There were still a few parts that weren’t quite polished yet, so it was slightly different… but there was no way I couldn’t pull this off.

“…You did well. I didn’t expect you to nail it on the first try.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
“Yes.”
“You have a tendency to excel a bit too much.”

…Was she picking a fight?
Even when I sing well, there’s always something.

“Thank you for the compliment…”
“Could you possibly sing something else for us?”
“My rates aren’t cheap.”
“I’ll send you 20 boxes of juice.”
“I’ll take it, but pay me a service fee too.”
“…Understood.”
“And introduce me to some good hospitals. My vocal cords are on edge.”
“You’re asking for quite a lot.”
“Should I leave?”
“…I’ll tell you about them.”

I checked my watch.
It was already five o’clock.
I still needed to work on my own song.
If only I had more money, I wouldn’t be here.
Or rather, if Yun Chung’s vocal cords were just healthy, I wouldn’t be here.
We’d managed to scrape by so far, but Yun Chung’s vocal cords were truly on the brink of collapse.
They needed care.
Care required money.
That’s why I’d focused so intently on nailing the guide recording in one take.
I couldn’t afford to waste her vocal cords here.

“This song will be a bit challenging for you. Take a look and let me know if you have any questions.”
“Of course.”

The moment I took the sheet music, I froze.
This song.
I knew it.

“Is something wrong?”
“Oh. No, it’s nothing. I was just reviewing it.”
“Ah, I see. Let me play it for you. Listen.”

It was a song I’d heard back when I was Baek Nok-ha.
Ah, this really…

“The song is wonderful.”

A song I desperately wanted.
This track had been a massive hit, ranking in the top ten annually.
It wasn’t just the chart performance—it had generated tremendous buzz and cultural impact.
The problem was that this was Do Hee-young’s solo track.
Dan-ha had created it as a B-side for the Burnash album, but Do Hee-young claimed it the moment she heard it.
According to interviews, she said it felt like “bells ringing in her ears the instant she heard it.”
And right now, those bells were ringing like mad in my ears too.
A masterpiece so famous you could recognize it from just the intro.
With just this song, I could win a rookie award…!
But as the song continued, my expression hardened.

“…Is there some problem?”
“Oh, no, not at all.”

Why does this song sound like that?
It’s not the song I know.
Well, it was the same, but something felt subtly different.
Those slight variations in different sections were undermining the song’s quality.
I could finally understand why I’d initially dismissed it as just a B-side track.

‘So Do Hee-young pulled off the arrangement brilliantly.’

She probably didn’t do it directly—more like she directed it.
Still, it was an incredible ability.
At this point, I had to admire Do Hee-young’s discernment.
What should I do about this?
My lips itched to speak.
Your song is wonderful overall. I think it could become absolutely stellar with just a bit more refinement. Would it be alright if I tried adjusting it?
…Could a zero-year trainee who hasn’t even debuted really say something like that?
No. I shouldn’t say anything.
Besides, to extract points, I need to make my own song the title track, not someone else’s.

“Just let me know when you’re ready. There’s no need to feel pressured. Think of it as a demo of a demo.”

In that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

“Um, senior.”

If I participate in the arrangement, would that count as a Quest completion?
Not full composition… but arrangement?
If while doing the arrangement… I gradually… participate in composition too…?

“Yes?”
“Would it be okay if I tried arranging this?”

Ugh.
I don’t even know anymore.

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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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