The Daughter of a Conglomerate Family Has Debuted - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Chaebol’s Daughter Has Debuted

Chapter 204

‘They said Start Plan was ruined…’

Even if it’s ruined, is it still Start Plan?

“See, public opinion and reality are different.”

There wasn’t a single empty seat visible in this vast concert hall.

Of course, Flora’s fans occupied the most seats among them, but fans of the controversial May Rookie and third-place U&Da were also present in meaningful numbers.

However, fans of groups other than these three were barely visible…

Even excluding the debuted Flora, it seemed there was quite a significant popularity gap between the groups.

‘How did Flora survive in this situation?’

As far as Choi Gyo-young knew, May Rookie and U&Da had fans from the beginning.

Even if their numbers were small compared to debuted groups, they had secured a solid fanbase that couldn’t be ignored when they participated in Start Plan.

In such circumstances, the individual trainees who appeared on the show must have struggled even more, yet they achieved actual victory.

Was this also part of some plan by Ryu Ji-ye that he didn’t know about?

“What’s this, only Flora fans here? I only see Flora light sticks.”

“I can see some U&Da fans too. Those over there are May Rookie fans. Looks like they didn’t arrange seating by teams?”

“How do you arrange seating by teams? It would be awkward if unpopular teams’ seats weren’t filled.”

“But it’s surprising to see more U&Da fans than May Rookie fans.”

“The rigging was a fatal blow.”

Choi Gyo-young sat down while eavesdropping on the reporters’ conversation.

There were so many groups that reporters might be interested in – May Rookie, U&Da, and other groups that had become sinking ships – but strangely, Choi Gyo-young felt no interest in them.

If it were the old Choi Gyo-young, he would have been more interested in the controversial May Rookie than Flora.

‘…Is this right?’

“Sigh…”

At this rate, I’ll end up writing only Flora-biased articles?

As he fidgeted with his camera in inexplicable displeasure, the commotion in the auditorium had settled into quiet, and soon the performance viewing announcement began to flow.

The performance started.

On the darkened stage, white text appeared on the black background screen showing the date when Start Plan first aired.

Then a video began to play.

[Hello! We are May Rookie!]

“Wooooooh!”

Fans’ cheers could be heard.

The May Rookie members in the video were taking the Start Plan preliminary audition.

Their tense appearance from the first filming looked quite fresh and innocent now.

The screen quickly switched to show May Rookie during Start Plan.

Their first stage that imprinted May Rookie’s existence on everyone.

Scenes of victory after victory.

With each scene change, the fans’ cheers grew louder and louder.

And when the final scene of their ultimate victory appeared…

“…”

“…”

Instead of cheers, the auditorium became somewhat murmured.

“Ah, pfft…”

Choi Gyo-young couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

No matter how much the fans liked May Rookie, it seemed awkward to cheer for a victory scene achieved through manipulation in front of other groups’ fans.

Other fans, especially Flora’s fans, must also find it very annoying that this scene was presented as May Rookie’s achievement.

What a ridiculously funny situation – this atmosphere at the part where the loudest cheers should have erupted.

Anyway, amid the continued murmuring, the VCR ended and May Rookie’s stage began.

May Rookie appeared with the song they had performed on their first stage of Start Plan.

“Oh, May Rookie is the opening act?”

“Wow, putting May Rookie as the first stage is really.”

The reporters giggled as they spoke.

May Rookie had so many fans, and despite the controversy, they were a popular group, yet they were put on first.

He wondered if U-Net was perhaps retaliating against May Rookie.

Choi Gyo-young initially thought the same, but as he watched the stage, he realized that wasn’t the reason.

‘Not retaliation, but because of the popularity gap.’

Unfortunately, this time May Rookie had become victims of Start Plan-style manipulation.

In terms of popularity, May Rookie’s stage should have come later, but the unpopular teams were far too unpopular for that.

They were so unpopular that it would be difficult to induce fans’ cheers or create atmosphere.

So among the teams that could induce fan response, May Rookie was probably the only group suitable to put up front.

Come to think of it, if that VCR had appeared later in the order, the atmosphere would have sunk even more than now.

May Rookie performed two songs they had shown on Start Plan consecutively, then gathered in the center of the stage.

“Hello. We are May Rookie!”

“Waaaah!”

May Rookie looked visibly very nervous.

Only May Rookie’s fans cheered enthusiastically while other fans’ reactions were lukewarm.

‘Well, that’s their own doing.’

Their wavering pupils from the ambiguous response were visible even from here. Eventually, they remained stiff until the end, finished their talk, and moved on to their last song.

While the talk was awkward, the last song was May Rookie’s representative stage from Start Plan, properly immersing fans in nostalgia.

Next was First Year’s stage.

If May Rookie struggled to create a strange atmosphere, First Year was troubled by a different problem.

“Who are they?”

“What was that group’s name again?”

“Wow, I can’t remember.”

After the VCR, the stage began but even cheers were barely audible.

The reaction seemed worse than when May Rookie’s victory scene appeared in the VCR.

But this time it wasn’t because First Year did something wrong, but because their presence was too small.

A group formed by individual trainee participants like Flora.

A team once called the younger sister group due to their young average age.

But they were eliminated too early and didn’t make as much impact as Flora, so many people couldn’t remember them even if they watched Start Plan in real time.

Moreover, they weren’t even under the same company. While debut groups had the belief that they would eventually debut if you waited, most of First Year had returned to being ordinary people, making it even harder for fans to deeply support them.

Therefore, First Year’s stage began in an even quieter atmosphere than May Rookie’s.

The intro started smoothly, but as soon as the first verse began, Choi Gyo-young unconsciously let out a sigh.

“Wow, really…”

They were so bad.

Such vocal ability on such a big stage. He felt embarrassed for them.

‘Weren’t they this bad during Start Plan?’

When he watched it on broadcast, they seemed to sing decently enough.

“Those kids are terrible. It’s almost like karaoke room level?”

Even the reporters who had been giggling about lacking skills began to murmur seriously.

Needless to say about the fans’ reaction, the atmosphere that May Rookie had built up gradually sank.

A group that was eliminated before a fandom could even form. There were surprisingly few people cheering for them.

But that didn’t mean they should be mocked either.

After all, most of First Year’s members had probably never received professional training except for Start Plan’s training camp and lessons.

If they didn’t get trainee contracts after elimination, they would have returned to ordinary daily life, so they wouldn’t be prepared to take the stage.

In such circumstances, being right after May Rookie’s turn made it seem harsh and pitiful in a way.

Perhaps knowing that the reaction to First Year’s stage wouldn’t be very good, the Start Plan side arranged the setlist accordingly – First Year sang only two songs without much talk and left the stage.

Next came Romance Story’s stage, followed by a joint stage between May Rookie and Romance Story.

“Oh.”

He thought it was a combination that didn’t suit each other well, but with SU’s producing involved, it was indeed different.

A dance battle stage utilizing dance, which is considered May Rookie’s greatest strength.

Romance Story, who we thought might be overshadowed, also showed skills comparable to May Rookie and once again lifted the concert atmosphere.

Next came I Meet You’s performance, who had played a solid supporting role at Start Plan.

And then the joint stage between I Meet You and First Grade.

With I Meet You’s characteristic liveliness, their hosting skills, and song selection matched to First Grade’s abilities, they successfully drew enthusiastic responses from fans and finished their stage.

I Meet You was originally considered to have the highest debut possibility among the three unpopular groups, but this joint stage was tremendous luck for them.

“Hmm, those I Meet You girls are going to debut, aren’t they? They’re better than I thought.”

Though it was relative, I Meet You, who had only been seen as a cheerful group, was able to show they also had good skills thanks to the joint stage with First Grade.

Next, U&Da’s stage followed.

‘Well, U&Da is…’

Consistent jazz vocals, stable choreography.

With flawless skills, they presented Start Plan competition songs as a medley, simultaneously capturing fans’ memories and hearts.

And finally, the long-awaited last act.

“Now, shall we introduce our next members?”

“Shall we? The next stage is… oh, haha. As soon as we mentioned the next stage, the fans’ eyes started sparkling.”

“Yes, I think many people have been waiting for this.”

“They are now our colleagues and rivals who have become our seniors! It’s Flora’s stage!”

“Waaaah!”

At U&Da’s introduction, Choi Gyo-young’s expression became strangely determined.

Soon the entire stage went dark and the VCR began playing.

It was the long-awaited Flora stage.

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