The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 10

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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 (10)
I was never particularly good at studying.
I had no interest in it, and no time for it either.
I believed that spending even one more minute practicing during study time was far more worthwhile.
But when it came to foreign languages, even I studied diligently.
The reason was simple.
‘To succeed as a K-POP Idol.’
K-POP had reached a mature stage of globalization—among idol groups debuting recently, it was rare to find one where all members were Korean.
Entertainment Agencies had begun competing fiercely to discover outstanding K-POP talent from around the world, and they invested considerable effort in foreign language education for Korean members to facilitate overseas expansion.
The Entertainment Agency where I trained for five years was no exception.
While the Agency hadn’t produced many major Idols, their foreign language education was so exceptional that all K-POP fans acknowledged it.
I attended foreign language classes without fail—to debut, and to succeed as a global K-POP Idol after my debut.
Of course, attending classes diligently and conversing fluently with foreigners were entirely different matters.
There was another reason I became skilled at foreign language conversation.
“Huh? How did you know?”
“It’s obvious from your expression.”
I lied without hesitation to the bewildered Okada Hiro.
Obvious from her expression—what nonsense.
The reason I could converse fluently in Japanese, the reason I knew about Okada Hiro’s circumstances—it all stemmed from experiences in previous iterations.
Around the twentieth regression, my mind began to crumble.
The early iterations were bearable.
As my dancing and singing improved, I found it entertaining to watch how people’s reactions and situations changed.
But that novelty faded quickly.
Endless repetition of regression.
The same faces, the same words, the same days….
Honestly, it would have been strange not to go mad.
But I couldn’t afford to go mad.
Because I couldn’t afford madness, I relentlessly sought ways to prevent it—and one of those ways was foreign language study.
I needed change.
And foreign language study was the means to create that change.
“Hello.”
“Oh, you speak Japanese?”
“A little. I’m still learning.”
Okada Hiro was one of the trainees I approached to acquire foreign language skills.
To summarize Okada Hiro in one sentence: ‘a capable trainee with a good personality and nothing remarkable about her.’
She ranked 65th after failing the Stats Evaluation Stage, but if she performed at full capacity, she could easily aim for 30th place.
Though timid by nature, she was considerate and hated being a burden or causing trouble to others, so she worked hard at everything.
Good skills, good personality.
And a final ranking of 65th—eligible for Guild recruitment.
One might wonder why such a capable trainee wasn’t recruited into the Guild.
But there was a fatal problem with recruiting Okada as a Guild member.
‘Out of the dozens of loops I’ve experienced, Okada dropped out except for only a few occasions.’
Recruiting a trainee who could quit at any moment as a Guild member carried too much risk.
However, I could still use her without officially recruiting her as a Guild member.
‘Let me see… the nearest camera is… perfect.’
After confirming the camera’s position, I felt my lips curl upward in satisfaction.
Idols’ primary job is to dance and sing, but they must never reveal their stupidity.
A stupid Idol becomes a target of ridicule and criticism.
Conversely, an intelligent Idol gains favor from fans and the public.
If I showed myself conversing with a foreign trainee, I could plant the image of being an intelligent trainee in the public’s mind, and the buzz would naturally follow.
If there was any method to raise my ranking even slightly, I had to use it.
Even if that method meant exploiting an innocent foreign trainee.
“Want me to tell you what the dance instructor said earlier?”
“Really?”
The moment I nodded, Okada’s eyes lit up and she sprang to her feet.
“It’s about the step part when the dance break starts….”
I explained the trainer’s instructions with clumsy gestures to accompany my words.
Honestly, we could communicate, but my Dance stat was so pathetic that I wasn’t confident she’d understand me well.
Yet Okada nodded enthusiastically up and down, listening intently to my explanation.
“How about it? Did you understand everything? If there’s anything you don’t understand, I’ll explain it again.”
“No. I understood everything. Thank you very much.”
As I asked back while catching my breath slightly, Okada smiled brightly and spoke.
Until I started talking to her, her face had looked like it was carrying all the world’s sorrow.
I had approached her to use her, but seeing her so happy made me feel a twinge of conscience.
“Then I should go practice….”
Building rapport was good, but I needed to be wary of becoming too close.
Just as I was about to leave after finishing my business.
“Hyung.”
Okada called out and stopped me.
Because of her pronunciation, it sounded more like “hyung” than the proper term.
“What…?”
“Um, did I say something strange? Is it wrong?”
“It’s correct, but….”
I was twenty and she was nineteen, so it wasn’t strange for her to call me hyung.
The reason I was flustered was that I thought Okada was calling me hyung too quickly.
Out of all the loops, I’d only become close with Okada about five times.
True to her Japanese sensitivity about titles, she initially called me “Kim,” but as we grew closer, she called me “hyung” in awkward pronunciation.
That wasn’t the case in every loop where we became close.
In some loops, she called me “Kim” all the way to the end.
“No. Call me however you like. So… Okada?”
“Please call me Hiro!”
Even the first-name basis was happening this smoothly?
Calling someone by their first name without honorific suffixes was a deeply intimate Japanese cultural custom—one not permitted unless you were very close.
In every timeline where I’d grown close to Okada, I’d called her by her surname—Okada.
Had I ever called her Hiro? I couldn’t quite remember.
Regardless, what mattered now was understanding why Okada was being so familiar with me.
I thought it over carefully, but I couldn’t fathom why she was treating me with such warmth.
‘Building rapport is fine, but I need to be careful about getting too close….’
I answered while remaining conscious of the camera’s direction.
“I see… understood. Hiro.”
If I refused the first-name basis here, I risked being painted as a racist discriminating against a foreign trainee.
Too extreme a way of thinking, you say?
With Jang Hyuk-soo as the main PD, this wasn’t extreme thinking at all.
There had been an episode where I’d played a psychopathic serial killer.
“Yes, hyung!”
Whether Okada knew it or not, she answered brightly in Korean, accepting the first-name basis against my will.
“Thank you so much today. I’ll definitely repay this kindness.”
“No, don’t worry about it.”
Okada didn’t give up despite my refusal.
She stepped closer to me and spoke.
“No! Absolutely, absolutely! I will repay you!”
Seriously, that’s enough….
Through her long, fluffy hair, I could see Okada’s sparkling eyes.
Was I being punished for thinking of using Okada?
The victor and loser of this struggle were already decided.
“Then I’ll look forward to it.”
“Yes!”
Satisfied with my response, Okada nodded.
‘Ranking first is really exhausting….’
I sighed inwardly.
* * *
Both the dance and vocal lessons had ended.
After dinner, I returned to the Practice Room and checked the clock—it was 10 PM.
PD Jang Hyuk-soo had opened the Practice Room, saying we could practice freely until morning, but most of the trainees, exhausted from the shooting and lessons that had continued since morning, had returned to the Dormitory.
But I remained alone in the spacious Practice Room and continued practicing.
“Sleep is for the dead, for the dead….”
Looking at my pathetic stats in my status window would chase away any sleep that might come.
The most important things to become a PD’s pick were narrative and character, but without fundamental skill to back them up, no matter how attractive the narrative and character were, I couldn’t debut.
And the “hardworking trainee” character I’d chosen wasn’t one that could earn favor through effort alone.
Effort had to be accompanied by results.
Without results, people grow frustrated, and eventually they come to secretly pity trainees who show no progress despite their efforts.
I remained alone in the Practice Room and continued training.
One hour, two hours, three hours….
“Gasp, wheeze….”
I lay on the Practice Room floor, breathing heavily.
I rolled only my eyes to check the clock hanging on the wall.
[2:31 A.M]
‘Status window’
The moment I visualized the status window in my mind, it appeared before my eyes.
[Basic Stats
Vocal: D+
Dance: D-
Appearance: B+
Charm: B]
‘Damn it….’
It really isn’t rising.
Seeing my stats unchanged, I cursed inwardly.
‘I never expected it to rise easily, but I didn’t think it would be this stubborn….’
After dozens of regressions, I’d barely managed to reach Vocal S, Dance A+, Appearance A, and Charm S-, so it was unrealistic to expect my stats to improve from just a few hours of practice.
‘Is there any method I’m missing?’
I stared blankly at the ceiling, racking my brain desperately, but nothing came to mind.
My body felt heavy and limp, and with my mind so cluttered, sleep began creeping in.
‘No, I can’t sleep… sleep is for the dead… for the dead to….’
My consciousness cut out abruptly.
A floating sensation, as if drifting through empty space, dominated my entire body.
How much time had passed?
While I was savoring my own quiet, peaceful world.
“Hey.”
I heard someone calling me.
“Hey, Kim Chowol.”
Who is this?
My mind was still foggy, but I slowly opened my eyes.
“Finally awake.”
When I opened my eyes, there stood someone I hadn’t expected at all.
“Yoo Sung…?”
“What, got a problem?”
Yoo Sung, flawlessly handsome even at this late hour, looked down at me.

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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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