I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed - Chapter 38

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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 38
There’s a new trend spreading through Nexti lately.
Specifically, mimicking Kang Se-jun’s MC delivery.
“Code—on!”
“No, no! You’ve got to do it like this.”
Zenon, the youngest, stretched his index finger forward.
“The hand gesture is the key!”
His voice pitched two octaves lower.
“Code. On.”
The living room erupted.
“Ahahahaha!”
Kang Se-jun finally couldn’t hold back and tugged Zenon’s ear.
“Ow! Ow!”
“Cut it out.”
“That hurts!”
“I grabbed it because it hurts, you brat.”
This was everyday life at Nexti Dormitory these days. Since Boys Code started airing, the members had been camping out in front of their screens every week.
“Episode 3’s starting—”
“Hyun-woo, aren’t you watching episode 3?”
“Come on, the famous MC is here—we’ve got to watch!”
The barbs had been sharpened by years of friendship. Kang Se-jun squeezed his eyes shut.
“Hey, so… the braces guy. Wait, Yoo Sung-woo? How’s he doing?”
“Sung-woo? Why?”
“Zenon has a one-pick.”
Kang Se-jun let out a small, hollow laugh.
“Is today… the second round? We’ll see.”
“What, you getting a lot of screen time or something?”
Kang Se-jun shrugged.
[Trainees rushing to the Studio for the secret mission]
[The first trainee to arrive is…]
“Oh.”
Yoo Sung-woo appeared, and Zenon started clapping.
“He showed up right away.”
[The trainees look deflated when told the prize is a Snack Set.]
[Trainee Yoo Sung-woo: I’ve been wanting sweets so badly while dieting… Thank you so much!]
He clutched the Snack Set, genuinely thrilled.
Hyun-woo burst out laughing.
“Whoa, what’s with this guy?”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s so positive.”
Kang Se-jun took a swig of the beer beside him and added a comment.
“When I first heard about it from the production crew, I was floored. They had him racing around since morning, and the prize is a Snack Set? Come on, he’s not a grade schooler.”
“I mean, it wasn’t supposed to be a mission where you actually got anything in the first place, right?”
“Yeah. Look at the others’ reactions. They’re all let down.”
“That’s cute though.”
After the team selection wrapped, scenes of each team’s strategy meeting followed.
[While everyone else was having passionate discussions, there’s one team that’s notably quiet…]
[The Cheongyang Team, where an awkward silence hangs in the air.]
[One hour of silence and counting]
“Goodness.”
The Nexti members watched Boys Code like it was a drama.
“How is someone that introverted going to make it as an idol?”
The members clicked their tongues disapprovingly.
“Right. At the very least, someone like Zenon should know how to command attention.”
“Me? I don’t really stand out like that.”
[Then, Trainee Yoo Sung-woo opens his mouth.]
“Whoa, what’s Sung-woo going to do?”
“Is he seriously about to vote?”
“Right, when does public voting start?”
“What, are you actually thinking about this?”
Zenon nodded as if it were only natural. Kang Se-jun shook his head firmly.
“Don’t go showing off about this, all right? We don’t need fairness issues cropping up.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, that could be a problem.”
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee: Trust me with the part distribution.]
“Huh?”
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee: One last thing—is there a part you’d prefer to do?]
[Teammates just watching the mood carefully.]
“Surprisingly straightforward, isn’t he?”
“Right? I figured he was the quiet type.”
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee suggests vocals to Song Woo-ju Trainee, who’s a rap-position player.]
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee: Then you should’ve said from the start that you wanted to do rap, not vocals.]
His tone was soft, but his words were decisive. The Nexti members all leaned back slightly in unison, impressed.
“That’s totally different from before.”
“Seriously? Doesn’t he usually avoid saying things like that?”
Kang Se-jun let out a small laugh.
“It’s been ages since I’ve seen a trainee in a Survival actually speak up like that.”
“Is it harsher because it’s an all-male Survival?”
[Song Woo-ju Trainee gradually comes around to Yoo Sung-woo Trainee’s persuasion.]
“Sung-woo? He’d probably make a great producer too. He already knows how to produce.”
“How did he spot vocals in a rapper like that?”
“He knows how to convince people—”
Even in the eyes of professional idols from Nexti, Yoo Sung-woo was beginning to look like an increasingly fascinating trainee.
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee: What matters more—having a bigger part, or the team winning first?]
“Look at this kid’s character, look at it.”
“Want to vote together with me?”
“Should we?”
[Fresh conflict breaks out during choreography creation in the Cheongyang Team.]
“Ugh, they’re really not going to make it.”
“You never know—this could all be an Evil Edit. They might’ve just cut it to look bad.”
But Yoo Sung-woo flipped the mood again.
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee demonstrates the choreography he created himself.]
“Hold on.”
“……What is that?”
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee wriggling earnestly.]
[Teammates at a loss for words.]
[Song Woo-ju Trainee: I seriously thought I was dreaming.]
A long silence fell over the room. No one had ever seen dancing like this.
“……Ahahahahaha!!”
Zenon was the first to burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. He rolled across the living room floor.
The entire dormitory dissolved into fits of laughter in seconds.
“Whoa—that’s unbelievable.”
“Sung-woo’s debut is going to be rough, huh?”
“That reminds me of baby Zenon.”
“Hey, come on!”
On screen, Yoo Sung-woo’s face showed indignation.
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee: You don’t have any other opinions? Why?]
“Seriously, that’s frustrating—”
“My stomach hurts, ugh…….”
“But honestly, it is pretty creative, though…….”
Kang Se-jun couldn’t take his eyes off Yoo Sung-woo’s dancing.
His dance skills were at that level.
‘How did he pull off the actual performance?’
[Teammates begin pooling their opinions.]
[Choreography creation starts under Song Woo-ju Trainee’s leadership.]
[Production Staff: He suddenly got really motivated and participatory…….]
[Song Woo-ju Trainee: Ah…… well, the thought just hit me that there’s no way we could ever perform on stage with that choreography…… so ideas just started coming.]
His shoulders trembled visibly at the sheer horror of the memory. The Nexti members couldn’t hold back their laughter.
[Production Staff: So the original choreography…… wasn’t serious?]
[Yoo Sung-woo Trainee: Ah—even the members said I was just joking around, and now you’re saying it too? What am I supposed to do? I’m really hurt…….]
[Production Staff: You were being serious?]
[Yoo Sung-woo: D-did you really mess up that badly?]
[The practice studio lay in ruins at Yoo Sung-woo’s innocent question.]
The Nexti Dormitory was equally devastated. Even the braces visible each time he bit his lip in embarrassment seemed comic.
The broadcast soon moved into the mid-term evaluation.
[Yoo Sung-woo’s rhythm gradually falling apart.]
Swish, swish-swish—
“Man, every time that sound effect comes on, I feel myself trembling.”
[Jack P: You need more practice. Overall it feels too… disconnected.]
[Song Woo-ju: ……It was frustrating. Sung-woo worked so hard, and we all really gave it our all.]
[Ji Dong-seok: There’s nothing we can do! But we’ll work even harder in the time we have left!]
“That’s a positive attitude.”
Failure, despair, then practice again.
Even at ten times speed, the practice footage seemed endless—a testament to how much this team had lived in the practice studio.
[Finally, the Cheongyang Team became one.]
[Yeaaahhhhh!!]
“That’s it!”
“Anyone watching would think we’re watching the World Cup.”
The Nexti members were completely absorbed.
‘The PD would love this.’
It was the kind of star quality that justified why every episode’s ending—starting with the preview—had featured Yoo Sung-woo.
[Kang Se-jun: Then, Cheongyang concept team, we’ll start the stage. Code on!]
No one had the mind to tease Kang Se-jun’s announcement. Everyone held their breath, watching the stage intently.
Each movement that landed perfectly drew a soft gasp of appreciation.
[Oh! I’ll muster the courage to tell you—
You’re my first love
I’ll give you my everything—!]
And when Yoo Sung-woo nailed the high note, Zenon clenched his fist.
“Is he going to get the main vocal position?”
[Today too
The path to meet you
Is always clear!]
[The stage ended to applause.]
“Wow, he really did amazing, didn’t he?”
“Sung-woo’s definitely moving up to the Debut Group. Right?”
But contrary to expectations, when Yoo Sung-woo remained at Code 6, questions erupted without anyone needing to speak first.
“What? Why?”
“What exactly are the judging criteria here?”
“This isn’t right. Open the voting already. This can’t be right!”
I placed my hand gently on top of Zenon’s head as he fumed.
“Just wait a bit.”
“But that guy—”
Hyun-woo, who had been quiet until now, muttered while watching the screen.
“He’s going to debut.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at those words.
In a survival show, the most dangerous thing isn’t an overwhelming genius. It’s the person viewers find themselves rooting for without even realizing it.
In Kang Se-jun’s eyes, Yoo Sung-woo was exactly that kind of protagonist.
* * *
Two weeks that felt like two months had finally ended. Or rather, for me, they really were two months.
Thanks to the explosion in screen time after episode two’s broadcast, I flipped the hourglass every single day. So while others experienced two weeks, I lived through almost two months.
They say humans are creatures of adaptation. What repeated for nearly two months wasn’t just dance. It was Yoo Sung-ah’s shouting and nagging, and the sharp sting of her hand cracking down mercilessly whenever I missed a step or hadn’t yet mastered a movement.
Honestly, I think I’d stopped caring about most of the malicious comments by now. They weren’t directed at me one-on-one the way Sung-ah’s criticism was.
“All right, this is the last one.”
Me standing in front of the mirror, and Yoo Sung-ah beside me.
I moved my body to the rhythm she counted out with her voice.
“One, two, three, four!”
Step, Wave, Isolation. The basic movements flowed naturally together.
Suddenly, the reflection in the mirror felt unfamiliar.
‘Huh?’
Is that really me?
The old me wasn’t moving my body—I was fighting against it.
My brain told me to go right, but my body went left, and when I tried to do the Wave, I could feel every joint in my bones snapping and popping.
“Next, Wave!”
My body, which had once been like that, now moved exactly as I thought.
‘Goodbye to those days of being nagged about doing Tetris with my arms.’
My arms truly ride the wave now. Every time the movement breaks, I remember the sound of Yoo Sung-ah’s Massage Stick—that sharp “thwack”—landing to punctuate each jerk. That sensation has melted into my arms.
“Next, Step!”
Screech—
My sneaker sole grinds against the floor. My feet move on beat, my center never wavering.
‘Ah—’
So that’s why people love dancing.
Being able to move my body however I want was far more thrilling than I’d expected.
“Last eight-count!”
Screech—!
I finished the final movement clean and sharp.
……Clap, clap, clap.
Quiet applause echoing through the Practice Studio.
“We did it……!”
I collapsed straight onto the floor.
Then I threw both arms up. Victory V.
A historic moment. An octopus has evolved into a human in two weeks.
“Ha…….”
Yoo Sung-ah had her forehead in her hand.
Could it be she was moved by my spectacular progress?
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m really amazing.”
‘Well, of course.’
I nodded quietly.
“I turned a flailing mess into a human…….”
Yoo Sung-ah spoke in a trembling voice.
“In just two weeks.”
I didn’t argue. Strictly speaking it was two months, but besides that, she wasn’t wrong.
“Hey, I should use you for promotion from now on. No matter how uncoordinated you are, two weeks will do it! Something like that.”
“……Sure.”
The agonizing special training has finally ended. Time for release.
“Now when I come back in, when do I get out again?”
“Probably won’t happen for a while.”
“All right. And don’t forget.”
After hearing it so many times over two weeks, I answered like a robot.
“I’ll never say you’re my sister.”
“Right. Go well.”
I grabbed my legs, still throbbing with muscle soreness, and made my way down the stairs. Goodbye to this terrible Practice Studio too.
I wouldn’t return right away. There was still one place I needed to visit.
[Beautiful Smile Dental Clinic]
I took a final photo.
“Cheese—”
Click—!
As of today, goodbye to the Braces too.
I’m Debuting with the Idol I Killed (Ongoing)
Author │ Yoo Sseu
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Publishing Company │ Jay Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ Suite 401, Ace Techno Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yoo Sseu 2026
※This work is published by Jay Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil 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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