The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 21

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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 (21)
“C-Center? Me?”
Rarely flustered, I stammered out the question.
The Vocal Trainer was taken aback, and even the Dance Trainer seemed surprised, but Kim Junwoo simply shrugged as if to say, what’s the problem?
“Yes, you’re not interested?”
“Well… it’s not that I lack ambition, but my skills still need work….”
No trainee would hate being center.
Of course, there were exceptions—Okada, who inexplicably adored me, and Seo Ijae, who had burned out.
In truth, when our mission song became Starlight, I’d entertained the thought for a moment.
‘What if I took center…?’
But the moment I saw my pathetic stats, I abandoned the idea entirely.
With these stats, if I took center, I’d be torn to shreds by criticism and wouldn’t even make it to the live broadcast stage before being eliminated.
I had the Copycat trait, but relying solely on Okada’s dance stats to claim center was far too risky.
And the opposing guild’s center was Han Theo.
‘Han Theo versus Yoo Sung—now that’s worth watching. Han Theo versus Kim Chowol? That’s just throwing the game away.’
So I boldly relinquished center.
But giving up center didn’t mean giving up the stage.
“Is that so? I think Kim Chowol would suit it just as well as Yoo Sung.”
What on earth was he talking about?
I rolled my eyes, studying Kim Junwoo’s expression and those of the other judges.
I briefly wondered if they were conspiring to trick me, but it didn’t seem that way.
If that were the case, they genuinely believed I was suited for center….
“It would be difficult for Starlight, but if the opportunity arises, I’ll definitely take center.”
“Hmm… well, I understand. Still, it’s a shame….”
Kim Junwoo kept smacking his lips, clearly disappointed.
At this point, I was going mad with frustration.
‘Is he worried about me?’
But there’s really no need to worry.
I’ve already secured my path forward….
“Anyway, we’ll conclude the mid-evaluation here. Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Kim Chowol Guild, change your center and practice again—we’ll see you at the evaluation.”
“Yes!”
My guild members and I answered loudly in unison.
Of course, Ju Gilhyung kept his mouth firmly shut.
After bowing to the judges, we headed outside to return to the practice room.
The moment we stepped out, Ju Gilhyung, who hadn’t spoken a word, strode off in the opposite direction from the practice room.
“Gilhyung! Let’s go practice!”
I called out to him loudly, but Ju Gilhyung didn’t stop, as if he couldn’t hear me.
I let out a silent scoff.
‘I didn’t expect anything anyway.’
I slowly lowered my outstretched arm and turned to look at my guild members.
“Um… should we check if they’re practicing?”
“Yeah. The center position changed anyway.”
Seo Ijae, unusually taciturn, nodded and spoke.
We decided to head back to the Practice Room for now.
* * *
“Should we redistribute the parts from the beginning?”
Back in the Practice Room, I addressed Yoo Sung, Okada, and Seo Ijae.
The three guild members nodded in agreement.
“Yoo Sung can keep the center part as is, but the problem is Ju Gilhyung’s part….”
Without Ju Gilhyung present, dividing the parts was rather awkward.
Redistributing or changing his parts without him here?
It could look like we were ostracizing Ju Gilhyung.
If Jang Hyuk-soo caught wind of it, I’d plummet in an instant.
‘This time should be fine though.’
Ju Gilhyung was such a compelling villain that he wouldn’t turn us into the villains in his place.
But I still needed to be careful.
Lost in thought, I pointed to the sheet music for Starlight and spoke.
“Originally, Yoo Sung gives up one or two parts to Hiro and me.”
Yoo Sung had the most parts aside from the center.
Giving all of Yoo Sung’s parts to Ju Gilhyung didn’t seem like a good idea.
Even if Okada and Seo Ijae took one or two parts, it would still be plenty, so it didn’t matter.
I thought it was a reasonably sound decision, but the three of them turned to me in surprise.
“What? You?”
“Me?”
“Your parts are already the fewest, and you’re not taking any more?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Yoo Sung’s expression grew increasingly stern at my answer.
“Do you not want to debut?”
“Huh? Of course I do.”
“If you want to debut, you need to be greedy about your parts.”
Yoo Sung let out a deep sigh, clearly frustrated.
Okada, who had been fidgeting the whole time, tugged at my sleeve and spoke.
“Hyung, I’m fine. You take the parts!”
“I don’t need them either.”
Following Okada, Seo Ijae also yielded his parts.
Flustered, I waved my hands dismissively.
“No, really, it’s fine! Besides, Ju Gilhyung makes mistakes often, but he’s still better than me, right?”
If I took more parts here, I had no idea what I’d hear behind my back.
They’d say I was a talentless guy who lucked into a high ranking and formed a guild, and now I was greedily hoarding parts.
“For the sake of stage perfection, it’s right that Ju Gilhyung takes more parts than me.”
Of course, half of it was genuine and half was a lie.
I was aiming for a “big moment” rather than a part that would be fine to have or not have.
“If we redistribute the parts… hmm, Hiro can take this and this, and Seo Ijae can take from here to here. How does that sound?”
The three of them said nothing in response.
I didn’t give them a chance to speak and immediately stood up from my seat.
“Alright, let’s practice, practice! Yoo Sung, you need separate time to practice the center part, right?”
“No, I’m fine.”
At Yoo Sung’s words, Okada and Seo Ijae were startled.
I had anticipated it to some degree, so I just pretended to be surprised.
“I’ve already memorized all the lyrics and choreography for the center part.”
Seo Ijae, apparently quite shocked, widened his eyes and asked Yoo Sung.
“You must not have had time while practicing your own part… When on earth did you memorize it?”
Yoo Sung, looking somewhat embarrassed, scratched the back of his neck as he spoke.
“I memorize it whether I want to or not. If I watch the stage video about three times….”
What an irritating talented bastard.
Here I am, having gone through dozens of regressions to memorize lyrics and choreography, and he memorizes everything after watching just three times.
Why is the world so unfair?
The only consolation was that Okada, who had been listening quietly, and Seo Ijae, who had asked the question, were both bewildered and couldn’t say anything.
“Anyway, let’s practice quickly. We don’t have much time.”
At Yoo Sung’s words, Okada and Seo Ijae snapped back to attention.
I connected the Bluetooth speaker to the tablet.
Okada hesitantly approached my side and whispered softly.
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“Do you also memorize it after seeing it three times?”
What is this now?
I looked at Okada with a bewildered expression.
“You pick it up right away too, hyung.”
Only then did I realize what Okada was asking.
It seemed like she was asking if I, like Yoo Sung, memorized lyrics and choreography quickly.
Unfortunately, my memory is average.
The reason I appear to memorize lyrics and choreography quickly is thanks to dozens of regressions.
“No.”
“B-but you pick it up right away too, hyung.”
“That’s… well, yes. I studied it beforehand.”
“Studied it beforehand?”
“I studied it in advance.”
“Ah, studying in advance!”
It’s not a lie.
I learned it through real experience, through trial and error and failure.
“Let’s practice now.”
“Yes!”
Okada beamed and nodded at my words.
She must have known my memory was average, yet she didn’t seem bothered at all.
If anything, her gaze had grown more intense.
I was curious what Okada was thinking, but part of me didn’t want to know.
* * *
While we redistributed our parts and practiced until dawn, Ju Gilhyung never showed his face.
“Ugh!”
Seo Ijae, who had been practicing, mistepped and tumbled to the floor.
We immediately stopped practicing.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Just scraped a bit.”
I bent down to check Seo Ijae’s condition.
His knee was slightly reddened from the scrape, but it wasn’t a serious injury, as he said.
After examining the wound, I shifted my gaze to look at Seo Ijae’s face.
“You’re struggling, aren’t you?”
“….”
Seo Ijae clamped his mouth shut at my question.
With the younger members practicing so hard, he probably felt too embarrassed to admit he was tired.
I checked the time.
[3:21 A.M]
We’d been practicing since morning, then continued after lunch and the midterm evaluation….
Excluding meal times and brief rest periods, we’d practiced at least ten hours.
“Should we call it a day?”
Seo Ijae seemed reluctant to stop practice because of him, but Yoo Sung and Okada readily nodded.
Yoo Sung and Okada hadn’t shown it, but they must have been exhausted too.
“We need rest so we can give it our all again tomorrow.”
We tidied up the practice room we’d used.
Since we’d be back in about six hours anyway, we just threw away the trash.
We arrived at the Dormitory Building, cutting through the cold air, and parted ways to head to our respective rooms.
Yoo Sung and I share the same room since we’re in the same guild, but Okada and Seo Ijae had different rooms.
They hadn’t moved rooms since they’d joined temporarily as special mercenaries.
“See you tomorrow… or rather, this morning at the Cafeteria.”
I exchanged light farewells with Okada and Seo Ijae, then headed to the room Yoo Sung and I shared.
Yoo Sung and I washed up quickly and collapsed into bed.
Tick, tick.
The sound of the clock’s hands moving echoed in the quiet room.
About ten minutes must have passed.
Yoo Sung, whom I thought had fallen asleep, suddenly spoke.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“….”
“I know you’re not sleeping.”
Yoo Sung spoke in a sharp voice.
I understood what he meant.
‘The center will be you.’
Those were the words I’d spoken in front of the Vending Machine Area after the center position was decided for Ju Gilhyung.
In Yoo Sung’s eyes, I must have looked like some kind of prophet.
But I couldn’t actually prophesy.
This was just… an intuition that emerged from repeating experiences dozens of times over—experiences that others couldn’t have.
“If I really had prophetic abilities, I would’ve become a shaman instead of an Idol.”
“….”
“I just… believed in you.”
I trusted the Yoo Sung I’d seen through dozens of regressions and my own intuition.
Yoo Sung said nothing in response.
As the silence stretched on and I began to wonder if he’d fallen asleep without answering,
a familiar notification sound rang in my ears instead of his reply.
[Sub Quest progress has been updated.]
[Check your Sub Quest.]
[Sub Quest: Recruit Allies
Description: Recruit allies for a successful debut.
Recruitment Progress (2/6)
Success Reward: Gate Occurrence Suspended (180 days)]
[1. Okada Hiro (Stats viewable)
2. Yoo Sung (Stats viewable)
3. ―
4. ―
5. ―
6. ―]
[Hidden Quest cleared.]
[Hidden Quest: Recruit your first S-rank ally.
Reward: 1 Item Selection Voucher]
The corners of my mouth curved upward slightly.
‘Ah, this is fun.’
Even without Yoo Sung’s answer, I could understand his true feelings.

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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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