I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed - Chapter 55

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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 55
On the day of the mid-round evaluation, the trainees didn’t stop practicing even while cameras were being set up.
Everyone understood how important this mission was.
“Have you all practiced well?”
“Yes!”
“Today we’ll conduct the mid-round evaluation in random order. The dance position team goes first.”
“Yes!”
Despite being first, they exuded confidence. Both the trainees and judges believed this team would naturally do well.
“Isn’t this combination way too strong?”
“There are three debut-ready members alone.”
After Go Jae-sung became Code 1, the judges’ gazes had noticeably shifted.
“Looks like Jae-sung has made up his mind about the dance route—”
“He probably did a lot of the choreography too?”
Now they spoke to him the way they did to trainees like Han Sang-yun and Ju Han, whose debuts were already confirmed.
“Shall we begin?”
“Yes!”
An intense beat filled the air, and the six of them moved like a single body.
Ju Han was, as always, Ju Han. The moment he took the center, he captured every eye. No one else could match his presence.
[A heart bursting with rhythm—
Boom!
Like a Dynamite—]
Steps that moved with razor-sharp precision to the rapid beat. Even the other trainees watched the stage, mesmerized.
But then.
‘Hwang Gun-hee’s part… is bigger than I expected?’
He stood in the center frequently and was even taking the killing part.
‘When exactly does it all blow up?’
Before the regression, I only binge-watched this program after becoming an Impacter fan. So I don’t know the exact point when the scandal broke or when he dropped out.
After his departure with an apology statement, the broadcast had already erased almost all traces of him.
Since Hwang Gun-hee barely appeared even during the fifth round’s preparation, I’d naturally assumed he’d dropped out early.
‘I thought he was already gone, but it looks like they just edited out his very soul.’
On variety shows, when a scandal erupts, it’s common for producers to edit as if the person never appeared in the footage at all.
‘This is something I only learned about because of Go Jae-sung.’
Hwang Gun-hee danced, completely absorbed, unaware of what the future held.
‘Could it be—’
Suddenly, one possibility struck me.
‘Did he prevent the scandal from happening?’
If the future changed and Hwang Gun-hee’s scandal itself vanished? If Go Jae-sung’s intention was to eliminate two existing Impacter members and bring in him and Hwang Gun-hee?
Hwang Gun-hee was currently Code 7. One good showing could shoot him straight up to debut rank.
What if Go Jae-sung was maneuvering to give him that one chance?
‘Damn it…….’
Not knowing exactly when Hwang Gun-hee would drop out, all manner of speculation swirled in my head.
I was at a disadvantage in this information war with Go Jae-sung.
‘But that doesn’t make sense. How would Go Jae-sung know who the whistleblower is?’
Preventing a scandal before it happens—that wasn’t even logical.
My speculation was getting ahead of itself.
“Wow…… how did they even choreograph something like that?”
The murmuring among the trainees grew louder. I set aside my thoughts and turned my attention back to the stage.
Choreography where they formed pairs of two. Gasps of admiration burst out throughout.
In this routine as well, Hwang Gun-hee was paired with Go Jae-sung. The mid-round evaluation ended with Go Jae-sung’s parts relatively modest.
The judges smiled with satisfaction and gave their applause.
“Just as we expected.”
“The choreography has changed quite a bit, yet they’re already synchronized like this—”
Katin, who took the microphone, gave particular praise to Hwang Gun-hee.
“This is the first time Gun-hee has caught my eye like this.”
“Thank you!”
“Did you choreograph it yourself?”
Hwang Gun-hee immediately pointed to Go Jae-sung.
“Jae-sung helped so much. Honestly, it’d be more accurate to say Jae-sung did most of it.”
Go Jae-sung waved his hand as if embarrassed.
“No, that’s not it.”
“Your breathing felt incredibly in sync, didn’t it?”
Katin nodded in understanding.
“Your level’s definitely risen, Jae-sung. The choreography is fantastic.”
“It was polished enough to take straight to the stage.”
“Thank you!”
Then came the question I’d anticipated.
“You created so much choreography, but your own part is surprisingly minimal. Why?”
Go Jae-sung answered while reading the room carefully.
“It’d be a lie if I said I had no ambition—”
He paused with a slight smile.
“I considered the bigger picture first.”
‘Exactly as I thought.’
This round clearly had a specific image in mind.
The sacrificing leader. The dedicated player.
“Rather than thinking about my own part, I kept wondering how to make my teammates shine better…”
If I were watching this live with the audience, I’d have been taken in too.
It was that meticulously calculated, that infuriatingly convincing.
The judges were completely won over.
“I respect your concern for the team, but you should be ambitious when you can be.”
“Still, even with limited screen time, your presence was unmistakable.”
“I’m curious to see what you’ll do on the main stage. Good work.”
“Thank you so much!!”
There wasn’t even time to process what had just happened.
“Next.”
Kang Se-jun raised his hand.
“The Vocal position team, please come forward.”
“…Yes!”
Coming right after the team that had just received such lavish praise, everyone was visibly tense. But none of them showed even a hint of intimidation.
Song In-hyuk’s gaze landed on Kang I-yul.
“How does it feel trying vocals instead of dance?”
Kang I-yul answered without hesitation.
“I think it was the right choice.”
Song In-hyuk smiled with genuine interest.
“Is that so? Then shall we hear it right away?”
“Yes!”
He gathered the team members close for a moment.
“Just perform it the way you practiced.”
He met each one’s eyes in turn.
“Yes.”
“Don’t stop even if you’re nervous!”
He emphasized this especially to Kwon Ki-hyun.
The kid grinned.
“Of course!”
I nodded slowly. Then the backing track began to flow.
* * *
When Song In-hyuk first heard that Kang I-yul had chosen the vocal position, he’d tilted his head in confusion.
Part of him was disappointed.
‘Is he running from Ju Han?’
He’d lost in the fourth round—was this his way of taking the easier path?
It was a reasonable suspicion.
Now wasn’t the time to avoid your limits; it was the time to face them head-on, to break through them. But seeing him choose to retreat felt like a missed opportunity.
But that thought didn’t last long.
Kang I-yul’s opening line.
That alone was enough.
“Huu—”
With a breath to steady himself, Kang I-yul’s voice filled the practice room.
[Anyone at all—
tell me,
that I can shine]
It felt less like listening to a song and more like overhearing Kang I-yul’s private whisper.
The discomfort of overhearing a secret, yet the curiosity that made him want to hear it all.
He was caught between conflicting emotions.
‘Is this really how Kang I-yul’s Vocal usually sounds?’
It was entirely different from the singing technique he’d shown until now.
[If you dream it all
it will come true—
that sweet fantasy]
He’d simply delivered it plainly, yet the lyrics struck with an almost jarring clarity.
[Before I knew it, I’d grown
so much, and now I face myself]
Song In-hyuk recalled the day he’d first met Kang I-yul.
It was right after two debut attempts had fallen through, and he’d just left the third company.
Perhaps because of that, Kang I-yul had rejected casting offers again and again.
“Now is the time to quit.”
Even when he’d said it, he’d held back his tears to the very end.
Kang I-yul wasn’t a trainee who’d failed to debut for lack of skill.
He’d simply been cursed with terrible luck.
The first agency had collapsed when its CEO got caught up in a gambling scandal. The second had cut him from the debut lineup because he was too young. The third had promised to create a wild concept boy group, then suddenly scrapped that to rebrand the debut team with a cute and refreshing concept instead.
He’d convinced the CEO that he could pull it off, but the response had been final—anyone over sixteen wouldn’t work—and he’d had no choice but to leave.
First he’d been too young; then, as time passed, suddenly too old. At that moment, Kang I-yul was only seventeen.
[Giving up would be easier,
they said, but that lie was
the most uncomfortable thing for me]
That version of Kang I-yul was singing now.
It was as though the boy who’d spoken curtly while holding back tears was standing right in front of him.
The other team members’ lyrics carried the same weight.
[I don’t want to betray
my parents’ expectations
walking those dark streets alone
on nights that no one knew about]
Song In-hyuk shifted his gaze to where the trainees stood.
Someone had closed their eyes; someone else was quietly biting their lip.
[If I reach out my hand
it feels like it might touch—
but each time, like a mirage,
it fades away]
It was a story that every trainee had wondered about at least once.
It was rough. Which made it all the more striking.
These weren’t sentences imitating someone else, but words pulled directly from their own lived experience.
And what completed that sincerity was the arrangement.
Without destroying the original’s emotional tone, it layered feeling upon feeling, bit by bit, ever so carefully.
Before anyone realized what was happening, the climax was suddenly upon them.
The emotion deepened gradually, like paint being applied in successive coats.
[Even for a moment, even once,
I want to shine—]

Yu Seong-woo’s high note pulled all the emotion together into one.
Harmony so seamless it seemed they’d been breathing as one all along.
“…That’s good.”
Vocal trainer Park Jae-hoon exhaled quietly.
“What are these kids?”
“They’re better than expected, aren’t they?”
[If I meet that you
from back then
I’ll hold you without a word]
The harmony created by the five couldn’t be called perfect.
But there was something far more powerful in it.
As soon as the stage ended, Song In-hyuk was the first to pick up the microphone.
“Most of your team members aren’t originally Vocal position, right?”
The trainees’ expressions hardened instantly.
“So, honestly, I didn’t have high expectations.”
The sound of nervous swallowing was uncommonly loud.
“The only thing I could trust with certainty was Yu Seong-woo’s producing ability.”
Song In-hyuk paused for a moment, then smiled.
“But precisely because of that, I was even more impressed.”
The frozen expressions around the table began to soften.
“Who wrote the lyrics?”
All eyes naturally turned toward Yu Seong-woo.
‘Of course. I should’ve known.’
“All five of us wrote the lyrics together.”
Song In-hyuk’s pen stopped. The other judges wore similar expressions of surprise.
“You wrote it together?”
“Yes.”
Song In-hyuk pressed further.
“Was it just a word or two of participation from each of you?”
Even a single line of lyrics could earn a writing credit, which was why he asked. But Yu Seong-woo shook his head.
“No. Each of us wrote our own parts directly.”
Song In-hyuk’s eyes shifted.
‘Ah, so that’s why.’
Why the Stage had felt more alive, why every lyric had breathed with authenticity.
Now it all made sense.
“Had any of you written lyrics before?”
The four of them, minus Yu Seong-woo, shook their heads almost in unison.
“It was our first time.”
“Seong-woo helped us so much.”
“He just told us to write honestly about our own stories—”
“And he tied everything we wrote together into one piece.”
Song In-hyuk found himself marveling anew at Yu Seong-woo’s potential.
‘He even has the gift of drawing talent out of others.’
There were many trainees who excelled on their own.
But trainees who could make others excel as well—those were rare.
In his mind, Yu Seong-woo’s place in the Debut lineup grew steadily sharper.
Or rather, he was becoming the kind of trainee who had to debut.
“The lyrics resonated with genuine feeling, and the arrangement elevated the original song’s appeal—it was a compelling stage.”
“Thank you!”
“However…….”
Praise alone was uncharacteristic of Song In-hyuk.
Perhaps that’s why the trainees waited for his next evaluation with the attitude of ‘here it comes.’
“Don’t you think it’s time Yu Seong-woo asked for a bit more?”
“…….”
“You led the arrangement, and you drew out every bit of potential from the others.”
Song In-hyuk met Yu Seong-woo’s gaze directly.
“Playing a role like that—”
He paused, then spoke with unmistakable clarity.
“Don’t you think you deserve to want more for yourself as well?”
At those words, the smile faded from Go Jae-sung’s lips as he watched them from behind the glass.
I Debut with My Ruined Favorite (Serialized)
Author │ Yu Sseu
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ JPlus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8)
Email │ [email protected]
Homepage │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒYu Sseu 2026
※This work is published by JPlus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. Its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this may result in 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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