I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed - Chapter 34

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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 34
Ko Jae-seong’s mischief didn’t end there.
He lifted his head a beat too late.
Tap.
He planted his foot.
Up to this point, it was a move I recognized.
The problem came after.
Ko Jae-seong’s body folded once more.
His fingertips grazed his chin, carving out a sharp angle.
“……What is that?”
I muttered without thinking.
It wasn’t in the Mid-term Evaluation. He’d taken the move that Yi Ryul had already earned high praise for and elevated it one step further.
What was absurd was that even that came from imitating someone else—the very move Ju Han had showcased as his Killing Part in Round 4 before I regressed, the one that had solidified his first-place standing.
The two flowed together seamlessly. As if they’d been a single choreography from the start.
“Wow—”
A gasp erupted from the judges’ panel.
‘That’s—’
How was that possible?
I couldn’t dismiss it as coincidence anymore. My suspicion that Ko Jae-seong was a Regressor solidified once more into certainty.
Frustratingly, Ko Jae-seong soared across that stage. Even if he’d borrowed from others, the fact that he’d woven the two together and made it his own hit me hard.
So what would it be like for everyone else? The moment this aired, Ko Jae-seong’s ranking would climb—of that I was certain.
‘Ugh—’
It was time to reassess my evaluation of Ko Jae-seong.
Gaewhwa’s stage earned good marks. Choi Un-jo and Ko Jae-seong anchored it well, and the rest of the trainees followed that current smoothly.
“The Arrangement was mostly handled by trainee Jae-seong, right?”
“Yes!”
The answer shot out as if he’d been waiting for the question.
“Your producing skills keep getting better.”
“Thank you!!”
With each compliment, my gut twisted.
“And the fan sweep in the middle—that’s improved so much.”
“Right. That was seriously incredible.”
Before I regressed, Ko Jae-seong had taken the Killing Part yet hadn’t drawn any real attention—which made this all the worse.
“Overall, a harmonious stage. Though I did feel like the other three trainees were overshadowed by you two, Choi Un-jo and Ko Jae-seong.”
Song In-hyeok’s sharp critique thickened the air in the venue.
“It’s a shame because they’re promising kids.”
“……Yes.”
“You all worked hard.”
“Next, Stop! team—please come up to the stage.”
Song Woo-ju trembling, his teammates shaking even worse.
‘Oh dear……’
“The stage prepared by Go! team, performing Stop!—beginning now. Code on—”
The stage, reinterpreted with an old-school sensibility, could be summed up in a single phrase.
Song Woo-ju’s triumph of the human spirit.
“Did trainee Woo-ju completely change his path to vocals?”
“Well, there was a trainee better at rap than me, so I focused on vocals.”
“That was a good choice.”
“Thank you!!”
I felt oddly proud.
“Next, the team that chose ‘Shadow Play’—please come up to the stage.”
Our turn came before the warmth from the previous stage had even faded.
“……You’re not going?”
“Oh, yes.”
I snapped to attention.
“Let’s go.”
My heart pounded hard. At last, my first stage with Yi Ryul had arrived.
* * *
Robin, the special guest judge from Wind Boys, leaned forward in his seat.
A team that had captured the mood of the original song’s guide that no one else had known—that alone had raised his expectations for the team now taking the stage.
“The styling is completely different too, huh?”
They’d all dyed their hair black for this stage. At first glance, their costumes struck the eye immediately—half black, half white, split perfectly down the middle.
“You matched the hair color too?”
“Yes. We thought unifying the hair color would complement the stage concept well, so we decided to try it.”
“This is the team that made such an impression at the Mid-term Evaluation, so I’m especially looking forward to it.”
At Jackpee’s words, the trainees’ expressions tightened subtly. They all knew it was praise wrapped in pressure.
“What’s your team name?”
“Our team name is Black and White.”
“Ah, so that’s why the costumes too?”
They nodded firmly.
“Give us a brief introduction, please.”
Han Sang-yun picked up the microphone.
“We’ve reinterpreted Wind Boys’ ‘Shadow Play’ as a story of twisted obsession. We’ve prepared it in a completely different atmosphere from the original, so please look forward to it!”
Robin’s eyebrows rose slightly.
It was certainly a bold choice.
“Then, please prepare for the stage.”
The five formed a circle and called out a brief cheer.
“We’ll begin Wind Boys’ ‘Shadow Play’ stage now. Code on.”
The lights cut to black on Kang Se-jun’s cue.
[I just want to be your Shadow]
A low, layered narration, and then violin.
Perhaps because previous stages had been nothing but mechanical beats, the archaic string sound seized the ears.
“Oh—”
Robin’s eyes opened halfway. Much better than expected.
When the lights came back up, only two were visible.
‘What? Where did the rest go?’
No—they were there. The trainees in black costumes melted into the background like shadows.
“Ha.”
A short laugh escaped. The direction alone was already compelling.
[24/7 I just want to be with you]
Yu Seong-woo’s voice, handling the intro, rang out.
[Following right behind you
Shadow Shadow—]
The same lyrics as the original. Words sung hundreds of times over, yet they sounded entirely different.
Not the cute sulking of the original. An inexplicable strangeness, an emotion tinged with danger somewhere.
Same sentence, completely different interpretation.
‘Nice.’
The corners of Robin’s mouth lifted. The image he’d only heard about during the surprise evaluation was now crystalline before his eyes.
Having missed even the Mid-term Evaluation due to a packed schedule, this reversal hit him particularly hard.
[Even for a moment
if you’re not beside me
I might just sulk]
The sweet violin melody twisted, tearing apart.
Crash—
The judges simultaneously looked up.
There wasn’t a dull moment.
Neither the music nor the choreography—they kept throwing something new at you.
Clean lines of movement locked perfectly with the beat. The trainees in black costumes danced diagonally behind those in white, matching the rhythm exactly.
Like shadows mimicking everything.
‘How are they pulling this off?’
Before long, Robin’s fingers began tapping the beat.
[I want to be your Shadow
can’t let you go nobody
you shine like the sun
being your shadow is enough]
Then the rhythm faltered.
The trainee in black moved first.
“What’s this?”
“The rhythm’s starting to go off…”
“Looks like the choreography still needs—”
The judges’ section stirred. But their suspicion didn’t last long.
In the next instant, the positions reversed.
[Sometimes I wonder
if it’s just my greed
wanting you to be my shadow]
“……!”
The relationship between the two had inverted. The shadow had become the master.
Robin’s eyes widened.
‘This is…….’
No explanation was needed. Through the direction alone, he could grasp the blatant metaphor—that the shadow now dominated its master.
[But this is
after all
My imagination]
And at the center of it all, a single white jacket. All eyes naturally converged on him.
‘Who is that?’
Without thinking, Robin turned to Jackpee beside him and asked.
“What’s that guy’s name?”
“Yi Ryul. Kang Yi-ryul.”
[Hold me tight-]
“……Wow.”
Admiration came first.
The choreography was so striking he couldn’t even remember the Mid-term Evaluation. No—it wasn’t the choreography. It was the person.
Some people draw all eyes even when dancing the exact same moves. Kang Yi-ryul was precisely that kind of performer.
Eye acting that could wring out a gasp of wonder in an instant, and fluid, water-like lines of movement. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from his every motion.
“This must be the killing part?”
Robin muttered unconsciously. But when he checked the evaluation sheet and saw the listed position, he tilted his head in confusion.
‘That wasn’t it?’
The trainee assigned the killing part was Jang Hyeon-jun. A different face entirely.
Robin quietly asked the judge sitting next to him.
“Is the killing part already over?”
“Yes, earlier. That was the trainee who stood center.”
Ironically, the killing part hadn’t left an impression on him.
“That trainee is really good.”
“Yi-ryul’s talented. He was always good, but this concept suits him perfectly.”
Robin followed Kang Yi-ryul with interested eyes.
Yet even as his gaze tracked Yi-ryul, his ears kept following someone else entirely.
Yu Seong-woo’s vocals, infused with an obsessive emotion.
Despite singing the exact same lyrics as the original, it felt completely different. Despite having the youngest face, his voice alone felt dangerously compelling.
That precarious edge was what completed this stage.
‘He’s lead vocal material.’
There was no doubt about it. Perhaps because Robin had arranged it himself, the trainee’s song interpretation was exceptional.
If Kang Yi-ryul had captured the eyes, Yu Seong-woo had captured the ears.
But Robin’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Is dancing just inevitable weakness for him?’
It was definitely lacking. He’d cleverly choreographed the pathways to disguise it, but it couldn’t escape Robin’s eye.
Precise beats and movements, stability in hitting high notes at the right moments.
Sufficient for a lead vocalist.
But the way he used his body was fundamentally different. He didn’t move like someone who’d received proper dance training.
“Yu Seong-woo has everything going for him, but the dancing is a bit lacking.”
“Well, he hasn’t been a trainee for long, so he’s never really had proper dance training.”
“Given the timeframe, what he’s doing is pretty miraculous, really.”
Had no potential been visible at all, he wouldn’t have felt this regret. But compared to the other debut-track trainees…….
‘He’s definitely short.’
Robin, being an idol himself, knew better than anyone how glaringly apparent such shortcomings were.
A member whose performance drags down the group—no matter how stellar a lead vocalist they are—spends their entire career catching criticism. Whether because it’s such a visible element, idols face harsher judgment for dancing than for singing.
Fans frame-by-frame capture and analyze, create comparison videos of them dancing alongside skilled members, endlessly rehashing them. In severe cases, even their commitment to idol work gets questioned.
Years later, even if they improve dramatically, past footage keeps getting excavated.
[Hyung, no matter what, we can’t just suspend activities…….]
[I’m scared to dance. I feel like I’m dragging you guys down.]
Robin shook his head at the memory that had suddenly surfaced.
‘What a waste. Such a shame.’
The stage ended, and Robin grabbed the microphone first.
“First of all, the performance was excellent.”
Five shoulders relaxed simultaneously.
“You certainly nailed the concept.”
“Thank you!”
“In particular, I was impressed by… Kang Yi-ryul, trainee?”
Kang Yi-ryul, still catching his breath, raised his hand.
“…Yes!”
“You made the strongest impression on me. Especially the choreography during Hold Me Tight—that’s new, right?”
“Yes. But—”
“It suited you perfectly.”
Kang Yi-ryul smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
After a brief comment, he turned his gaze finally to Yu Seong-woo.
“Yu Seong-woo, trainee.”
“Yes.”
“Your arrangement skills are excellent, and your singing is great too? I’d love to recruit you to our team.”
Yu Seong-woo’s eyes widened at the praise, and he bowed.
“But one thing.”
Gulp.
The sound of him swallowing traveled through the microphone and reached Robin’s ears.
“Practice your dancing relentlessly.”
“Yes!”
“Really relentlessly—”
The hall fell silent.
“Otherwise you’ll regret it later.”
“…Yes!”
“Even after debut, you can’t always stay in the lineup, right?”
It was blunt advice that would inevitably deflate anyone’s spirits, yet Robin didn’t regret it. Yu Seong-woo was a talent that absolutely had to debut. Which was precisely why he couldn’t afford to ignore his shortcomings now.
But he would soon realize his own worry was needless.
“You’re right.”
Eyes that looked straight up at him with unwavering focus.
“I won’t hide anymore. This is the last time.”
No excuses, no resentment, no false modesty. That calm answer held only certainty.
‘What is this guy.’
His face was smiling, yet for just an instant, a chill ran down Robin’s spine.
‘He’s not ordinary.’
Those were absolutely not the eyes of a nineteen-year-old.
I Killed My Favorite (Serialized)
Author | Youseu
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by | Jaeple Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyeok
Address | Suite 401, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Youseu 2026
※This work is published by Jaeple Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. No content may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this will incur criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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