The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 1

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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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The Gate Burst Open on My Debut Day (1)
I stared blankly at the glittering spotlight above my head.
‘It’s so hot….’
Sweat beaded across my forehead, hidden beneath my hair.
I wanted to wipe it away, but I held back and kept my gaze fixed forward.
Countless light sticks sparkled in the darkness like stars scattered across the night sky.
A woman holding a light stick in one hand and a crumpled banner in the other waved it enthusiastically toward me.
The banner bore a familiar phrase.
[Absolutely Debuted—Genius, Versatile, All-Talented Idol Kim Chowol]
Tens of thousands of people had gathered here alone.
Including those watching the broadcast, millions of people were focused on me, yet none of it stirred any real emotion within me.
‘How tedious.’
I simply wished for everything to end as quickly as possible.
“Thank you for your patience.”
The MC, who had been drawing out the suspense, finally spoke.
“We will now announce the 1st Place winner of the ‘EX-Grade K-POP Idol’ competition!”
The spotlight above my head dimmed, and a tense sound effect filled the air.
“Whether it’s vocals or dance, the long-awaited 1st Place—the all-talented idol who captured the hearts of our viewers—is…!”
Pop!
The spotlight above my head blazed to life.
I instinctively squinted against the flood of light.
“Congratulations! Trainee Kim Chowol!”
“Kyaaaaaah! Kim Chowol!”
“Chowol! Congratulations on 1st place!”
“Sob… Chowol… congratulations so much….”
The people in the audience seating erupted in cheers.
Some screamed, others spoke with trembling voices, and still others collapsed in their seats, weeping openly.
I scanned the audience and thought to myself.
‘I actually took 1st place.’
I had anticipated this day would come, but now that it was reality, the feeling was strange.
My stomach churned and my chest tingled, causing my fingers to fidget involuntarily.
‘I thought I’d never feel this way again.’
The smiling MC approached me as I bit my lips and handed me the microphone.
“Congratulations on 1st place, Trainee Kim Chowol! Let’s hear your thoughts right away!”
I couldn’t find the words to speak after accepting the microphone.
‘What am I supposed to say here….’
As I gripped the microphone in silence, the MC looked slightly flustered and studied my expression.
“Trainee Kim Chowol? You seem so shocked you’re at a loss for words!”
The MC joked, assuming I was nervous.
Hearing the laughter ripple through the audience seating, my mind somehow grew calm.
‘I’ll do what I can.’
Steadying my resolve, I brought the microphone to my lips.
“In approximately one minute. A terrorist attack will occur.”
The people who had been cheering for me moments ago froze solid.
The viewers watching me through the broadcast were likely experiencing the same shock.
“Many people will die and be injured. Those of you here, and those watching the broadcast as well….”
The flustered MC stammered out a question.
“W-wait, Kim Chowol? What are you saying right now….”
“It’s already too late to run. This isn’t a threat you can escape from. Move to the nearest Shelter. And while hoping that Shelter is safe, wait for rescue. That’s the best—no, the only way to survive.”
I continued speaking, ignoring the people staring at me with trembling eyes.
I had done everything I could.
‘No, wait. There’s one more thing I can do.’
I stretched my lips into a smile with all the strength I had.
My final moment.
I spoke with the smile my fans had loved most.
“Thank you for supporting someone as lacking as me. I hope at least one more person survives.”
Crash!
As my words ended, a deafening roar tore through the air.
The people in the Audience Seating stared blankly upward, past my head.
Monsters poured forth from within a massive, circular black void like a black hole.
The monsters that fell onto the Set Stage tore through the spotlight illuminating me and the ceiling with their razor-sharp claws in a single motion.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Someone’s scream erupted as they finally grasped the situation, and the collapsed Set Stage buried me beneath it.
‘Damn it.’
How many times was this now?
Facing death repeated countless times, I slowly closed my eyes.
* * *
Dozens of times, hundreds of times, thousands of times.
I pondered where this tragedy had begun.
Was it when I watched a Top-tier Male Idol’s year-end performance in Elementary School and dreamed of becoming an Idol?
Or was it when I impulsively auditioned for a Small Entertainment Agency and somehow passed, beginning my trainee life without knowing anything?
Or perhaps when I failed to make the debut group due to insufficient skill and appeared on an Idol Industry survival audition program, unable to abandon my dreams?
Regardless of the reason, it doesn’t matter now.
The EX-Grade K-POP Idol program—an Idol Industry survival audition where the top six trainees selected by viewer votes among 100 trainees would debut—was my last resort to become an Idol after failing to make the debut group at my Small Entertainment Agency.
The concept and evaluation method were somewhat unique, but I’ll discuss that later.
Thinking of EX-Grade K-POP Idol as my final chance, I failed to debut.
I couldn’t debut even at the tiny Small Entertainment Agency, so there was no way I could surpass 100 trainees.
I hadn’t wasted my five years as a trainee—I survived until the final live performance, but only that far.
Miracles didn’t exist for someone with insufficient skill and no charm.
Only the announcement of 1st Place remained.
Unable to be called a top contender, my debut completely shattered, I stood in the shadows beyond the spotlight and applauded the trainees who had made their debut.
Beside me, I heard another trainee who had failed to debut sniffling through their tears.
I did not cry.
Despair overwhelmed me more than sorrow.
‘How will I survive from here on?’
While others studied and went to university, I spent entire days dancing and singing.
My efforts went unrewarded, and my dreams were crushed.
‘Should I study? Or learn a trade? Maybe my experience as a trainee could help me get hired in the entertainment industry….’
As countless thoughts swirled through my mind, something began to boil up from deep within my chest.
I bit my lip.
Finding a way to survive?
Honestly, I wasn’t worried about that.
I had endured five grueling years as a trainee—surely I could find a way to make a living.
The real reason I felt so lost and heartbroken was….
‘I want to be an Idol.’
Even though I thought I had done everything I could, I couldn’t abandon my dream of becoming an Idol.
“Thank you all so much!”
The 1st Place Trainee, brimming with emotion, bowed repeatedly toward the Audience Seating as they finished their remarks.
A massive black hole tore open in the air, and monsters erupted from it.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
The monsters that burst from the black hole ravaged the Set Stage in an instant and began attacking people.
I stared up at the collapsing ceiling of the Set Stage above my head and lost consciousness.
Effort becomes meaningless, dreams grow impossibly distant, and in the end, I die having accomplished nothing.
With that thought, I closed my eyes.
“Kim Chowol, you’re up next, so get ready.”
When I opened my eyes, I found myself back just before the first Stage of an EX-Grade K-POP Idol.
Accepting that this was reality and not a dream or illusion, I thought to myself.
‘Could this be a chance?’
The thought suddenly struck me—was this another opportunity given to me, someone who couldn’t abandon the dream of debut?
I steeled my resolve and worked hard to achieve my dream of debuting.
Second cycle. I placed 17th.
My skills had improved slightly, but the wall to debut remained high.
A monster appeared on the final live broadcast Stage.
I lost consciousness, and when I opened my eyes, I was back just before the first Stage.
The opportunity was not just one.
Third cycle. I placed 14th.
My skills had improved considerably, but I failed to debut. Still, it’s fine. There’s always next time.
Next time, I’ll surely achieve a higher rank. If I keep climbing like this, one step at a time….
Fourth cycle. I placed 11th.
Fifth cycle. I placed 9th. For the first time, I achieved a single-digit rank. I’m almost there now.
Round 6. I placed 13th. What? What went wrong? No, it’s fine. Let me try again.
Round 7. I placed 8th. Round 8, I placed 11th. Round 9, Round 10….
By the time I stopped counting how many times I’d regressed, I finally placed 5th.
I had finally achieved my dream.
My heart raced with hope and anticipation.
I believed a brilliant future awaited me.
But no such future existed for me.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
I watched the monsters attack the crowd and wondered.
‘Where did everything go wrong?’
The monsters appeared after the final live competition ended and the debut lineup was confirmed.
I believed their emergence was a mechanism designed to give me the ‘opportunity’ to achieve my dream.
So I thought that once I achieved my dream and no longer needed that ‘opportunity’, they would naturally disappear.
But I was wrong.
Even after I debuted, the monsters appeared, and I died, returning to just before my first Stage performance.
Round nn.
I had no choice but to accept it.
An opportunity to achieve my dream?
I wanted to punch my past self for harboring such naive thoughts.
Something like that couldn’t possibly exist.
Yet I didn’t lose hope.
There had to be a way to escape this tragedy.
Then a hypothesis flashed through my mind.
‘What if I need to debut in 1st place instead of 5th?’
I don’t know what logic led me to that conclusion, but at the time, it felt oddly convincing.
I began repeating regressions to achieve 1st place.
Round XX, Round ##, Round &&….
With each regression, my spirit crumbled further.
If I placed 1st, could I really escape this suffocating cycle of regression?
If I just debuted, if I just placed 1st… these were all mere speculation, and what if I was trapped in this cycle forever?
My suspicion was correct.
Regardless of my placement, the outcome remained the same.
Once my 1st place remarks ended, the monsters appeared and I died.
‘It hurts….’
I slowly opened my eyes beneath the rubble of the collapsed Set Stage.
The moment I had just spent giving my 1st place remarks on that glittering Stage felt like a dream.
My head throbbed, and my vision blurred.
Every bone in my body ached as though they were all shattered.
But pain was irrelevant now.
‘What do I do from here?’
I’ve tried everything I could to escape this endless cycle of regression.
Whether I debuted or claimed first place, no matter how hard I worked, I always ended up dead.
‘Maybe I should just quit the Idol Industry and run far away?’
Yes, let’s do that.
I’ll abandon this Idol Industry without a second glance and leave.
If I locked myself away in the Deep Mountains or some Remote Village where few people ventured, surely I could survive at least once.
Feeling death creeping closer, I slowly closed my eyes again.
That was when it happened.
A foreign notification sound pierced through the thundering of my own heartbeat.
―Ding!
As I cracked my eyes open, a translucent window materialized before me.
[You have achieved the Main Quest unlock condition.]
[Unlock Condition: Reach 1st Place in the EX-Grade K-POP Idol competition.]
[The Main Quest is now unlocked.]
My eyes, which had been slowly closing, snapped wide open.
I had returned to just before my first performance in the EX-Grade K-POP Idol competition.

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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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