The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 22

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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 (22)
Yoo Sung lay on the lower bunk of the two-tiered bed, while I occupied the upper one, giving me a comfortable vantage point to check my status window.
[Name: Yoo Sung
Age: 20]
[Basic Stats
Vocal: A+
Dance: S
Appearance: A+
Charm: A-]
[You have completed the recruitment condition ‘Achieve 100% Trust’ and Yoo Sung has become your ally.]
[Yoo Sung’s current trust level: 100%.]
Quite impressive, truly.
After reviewing Yoo Sung’s stats, I let out a low whistle.
In the first stat evaluation, Yoo Sung received Vocal A+, Dance B-, Appearance S, and Charm A-.
During the theme song evaluation stage, every stat rose by one tier, so his current stats were Vocal S-, Dance B, Appearance S+, and Charm A.
The stats in the status window were nearly identical to those in the stat window, except for the Dance stat, which had been significantly reduced due to a mistake.
‘But what exactly is S-grade?’
As I slowly reviewed the status window, I discovered a term that felt both familiar and foreign.
[You have cleared a Hidden Quest.]
[Hidden Quest: Recruit your first S-grade ally.
Reward: 1 Item Selection Ticket]
First S-grade ally…?
While scrolling through the status window to understand what S-grade meant, I noticed the window had changed slightly.
[1. Okada Hiro (Grade: B+)(Stat Window Viewable)
2. Yoo Sung (Grade: S-)(Stat Window Viewable)
3. ―
4. ―
5. ―
6. ―]
From what I could infer, it appeared to be a comprehensive grade based on current stats and growth potential.
‘Can’t I check my own grade?’
I was curious about it, but there was something more pressing at the moment.
‘The Hidden Quest reward is… an Item Selection Ticket?’
So far, I had cleared two Hidden Quests and received two rewards.
The rewards I received were an Item Draw Ticket and a Trait Draw Ticket.
Both were draw tickets distributed randomly regardless of my wishes, so this was my first time having an actual choice.
[Item Selection Ticket
Description: You can select and obtain 1 item from three options.]
Seeing is believing.
After confirming the description of the Item Selection Ticket, I decided to use it right away.
‘Activate Item Selection Right.’
As I activated the Item Selection Right, a translucent status window materialized before my eyes.
[Viral Confirmation Right
Grade: C+
Description: Select one post from SNS and Community Sites of your choice and make it go viral.
*Impact varies depending on the post’s content.]
[Charm Potion
Grade: B+
Description: Elevates your Charm stat to EX-Grade for approximately 12 hours.
*Provided in potion form and can be used on others.]
After reviewing two of the three items, I fell into contemplation.
‘Neither one really appeals to me.’
Unlike traits, items disappear once used.
The Viral Confirmation Right could be useful for a Survival Competition program like EX-Grade K-POP Idol where buzz is paramount, but the caveat about varying impact left me slightly uneasy.
The Charm Potion was an item perfectly suited for use before a Stage performance.
‘But using it right now feels a bit… risky.’
The Charm Potion has a 12-hour constraint, after which my stats revert to their original values.
In a Survival Competition program where I need to demonstrate more advanced abilities at the next Stage, it was a difficult item to justify using.
It wouldn’t matter if I used it during the final live broadcast Stage, but in my current situation where the immediate Stage looms before me, I hesitated to choose it outright.
‘The third item, hmm…’
I examined the third item.
[Stat Growth Right
Grade: A
Description: Raise one stat by 1 tier.]
The third item was the Stat Growth Right I’d obtained when I used the Item Draw Ticket.
However, it differed slightly from the Stat Growth Right I’d drawn before.
‘It’s Grade A, and it can only raise a stat by 1 tier.’
Perhaps because I’d already used a Stat Growth Right that was Grade S and could raise stats by 2 tiers, this one didn’t spark much interest.
‘Stat Window.’
As I visualized the stat window in my mind, it appeared before my eyes.
[Basic Stats
Vocal: D+
Dance: D
Appearance: A-
Charm: B]
Dance and Appearance had each risen one tier from D-, B+ to D, A- respectively.
Even if I used the Grade A Stat Growth Right here, all my stats were mediocre enough that it would be difficult to achieve significant results.
‘Hmm…’
I gazed at the three items, lost in thought.
‘No, I shouldn’t forget my original plan.’
From the moment our mission song was set to Starlight and I gave up the center position, I began planning for one grand move.
The item I needed to choose for that grand move was already determined.
* * *
The morning of the Guild Inter-Guild Competition stage arrived—the second main Quest of the EX-Grade K-POP Idol.
Among the crowd gathered for the audience, a worn and tired-looking woman checked the telephoto camera hidden in her bag.
One might think a fan account had already attached itself to a trainee, but the woman had no interest in trainees who hadn’t even reached the level of complete novices yet.
The reason she applied for audience attendance today was none other than Kim Junwoo—Nexus’s eternal maknae and center.
The woman was a longtime fan of Kim Junwoo from Nexus, and she was the fan account most frequently mentioned when discussing Kim Junwoo’s fanbase.
“How long has it been since his last schedule?”
The woman muttered in a tone mixed with joy and frustration.
Since his solo comeback the year before last, Kim Junwoo had spent quite a lengthy hiatus through this year.
The woman had been forced into a two-year hiatus from her fandom, and just as she was growing accustomed to a life without content—
She heard the news that Kim Junwoo would appear as a judge on Jang Hyuk-soo’s survival audition program.
“Tch… I might not be able to see him since he’s a judge, but still, it’s been so long….”
If she couldn’t see Kim Junwoo, she planned to photograph popular trainees and sell the data.
The woman entered the filming set without revealing her telephoto camera.
For a woman with over ten years of fan account experience, hiding a telephoto camera was child’s play.
‘Geez, look at all these people.’
After positioning herself for good photographs, the woman looked around.
Unlike the woman in her thirties, most appeared to be in their early-to-mid twenties or students—very young.
‘They’re all so young… good times.’
The woman smiled bitterly.
When Nexus debuted, both the woman and Kim Junwoo were high school students whose baby fat hadn’t fully disappeared.
Having witnessed Nexus’s rise and fall, the woman steadfastly remained in her place even as other fan accounts and fans moved on to seek younger, fresher new idols.
Nexus and Kim Junwoo were her youth and her life.
“Thank you for waiting!”
Once the audience had finished entering, the MC took the stage.
“Thank you all for gathering here for the second main Quest of the EX-Grade K-POP Idol—the Guild Inter-Guild Competition stage!”
The MC continued with an explanation in a high-pitched tone.
The woman nervously fidgeted with her camera while looking around.
‘Junwoo, where’s Junwoo?’
The MC, having finished the explanation, addressed the audience.
“Now, before we watch the stage, let’s meet the Hunter Association hunters who will guide and evaluate the trainees’ performances!”
Just as she was thinking Kim Junwoo wouldn’t appear after all, the MC said something strange.
Hunter Association hunters?
‘What is that, you crazy fan….’
While the woman stared at the MC with cold eyes, five people with familiar faces rushed onto the stage.
The moment the woman saw the face of the tallest person, she gasped and cried out without thinking.
“Junwoooooo!”
The hunters from the Hunter Association that the MC mentioned were the judges.
Kim Junwoo turned his head at the sound of the female fan’s voice.
‘He smiled!’
Kim Junwoo broke into a wide smile toward the female fan.
As a longtime fan who had supported him since his debut, Kim Junwoo recognized her as well.
The female fan frantically mashed her camera shutter.
―Click, click, click, click, click!
The judges introduced themselves one by one, keeping it brief.
“Hello, I’m Kim Junwoo from Nexus. I’m honored to be here as a judge for the EX-Grade K-POP Idol competition.”
That smile was incredible….
Seeing his smiling face, the anger and irritation I’d bottled up for two years melted away in an instant.
“Our trainee friends have worked incredibly hard in preparation, so I’d be grateful if you could watch with warm eyes.”
The female fan, who had been eagerly photographing Kim Junwoo, paused.
‘Did something good happen to him?’
His expression and tone were far softer and warmer than when she’d seen him at the fan signing event two years ago.
After the judges finished their brief introductions and stepped down, the trainees’ performances began.
Though Kim Junwoo had asked them to watch with warm eyes, the female fan found it impossible to smile while watching the stage.
‘Overall, it’s a bit… mediocre.’
They had covered songs from second-generation male idols, and since these were all songs that had left their mark on K-POP history, none of the performances truly impressed her.
“It’s better than I expected, though?”
“The center just now was good… what was his name?”
But the other audience members’ reactions were positive.
It seemed the female fan’s standards were slightly higher than others’, likely because she was a longtime fan of Nexus, a second-generation idol group.
‘If they’re doing second-generation male idol songs… will they perform Nexus songs too?’
They definitely would.
With Kim Junwoo as a judge, there was no way Jang Hyuk-soo wouldn’t make it happen.
‘Honestly, I’m not expecting much.’
The female fan smiled bitterly.
No matter how well the trainees performed, it would be difficult for them to surpass the shock and emotion she’d felt when she first witnessed Starlight’s performance.
“Now I’ll introduce the final guild!”
Time had flown by as she eagerly photographed the trainees who seemed marketable.
Finally, at the MC’s announcement of the last stage, ten trainees rushed onto the stage.
“Oh?”
The female fan was startled as she examined the trainees’ faces.
“They’re handsome?”
“It’s Han Theo!”
Not only was Han Theo, who had been the center of the theme song Hunt the Stage, present, but there were quite a few other trainees who stood out.
The female fan immediately picked up her camera and began taking photos.
“Now, guild master, please come forward and give us a brief introduction of your guild and its members!”
“Hello, I’m Kim Chowol, the guild master of the Kim Chowol Guild.”
The female fan, who had been photographing Han Theo, naturally turned her camera toward Kim Chowol and began taking pictures.
Kim Chowol possessed the clean, classically handsome features of an idol, and while his real appearance was decent, the camera loved him—there was a certain appeal to photographing him.
In terms of raw looks alone, he didn’t quite match Han Theo, but considering the average face of newly debuting male idols these days, he easily passed the test.
“The song we’ve prepared this time is… Starlight by our senior Nexus.”
What?
The female fan who had been photographing diligently paused.
She was a fan of Nexus, but she had no interest in trainees covering Nexus songs.
She simply judged them more strictly than other performances.
‘But Starlight is different.’
The female fan gripped her camera tightly, biting her lower lip.
Starlight—the song that wrote Nexus’s legend of success.
And the beginning of that legendary success was the “miraculous single shot” captured by Kim Junwoo’s fan account.
And she was the very fan who had taken that “miraculous single shot” of Kim Junwoo.

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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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