The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 39

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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 (39)
For the first time in a while, all the trainees from the Kim Chowol Guild gathered together.
Myself, Yoo Sung, Okada, Seo Ijae, and Ju Gilhyung.
“What should we do?”
At my question, everyone’s gaze turned toward Yoo Sung and Ju Gilhyung.
The two of them, their eyes meeting, turned their heads away as if they couldn’t bear to look at each other.
“Let’s give it to whoever needs it.”
Seo Ijae, who had been quietly observing the situation instead of Yoo Sung and Ju Gilhyung, answered.
“I, I think that’s a good idea too.”
“But… there isn’t just one person who needs it. There’s only one potion.”
I gently shook the trait removal potion I’d received from MC.
The red liquid inside the crystal bottle swirled with a soft tinkling sound.
“Should we decide fairly with rock-paper-scissors?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Seo Ijae and Okada nodded eagerly, clearly wanting to escape this awkward situation quickly.
“The opinions of those involved are what matter most.”
I stared intently at Yoo Sung and Ju Gilhyung.
But the two of them, the ones directly involved, remained silent like statues, their thoughts unreadable.
“What do you want to do?”
….
“Huh? Sung-i, Hyung. Say something.”
When I called out both their names in turn, Ju Gilhyung flinched as if he’d seen a ghost.
What’s wrong with him, seriously.
“Just like when we decided on the center position, either of you can yield first.”
I continued, alternating my gaze between Yoo Sung and Ju Gilhyung.
“If you yield again, Sung-i…”
“R-Rock-paper-scissors!”
I was about to ask Yoo Sung if he’d be willing to yield, but Ju Gilhyung suddenly cut me off.
“What?”
“Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors.”
“Well… suit yourself. What about you, Sung-i?”
“I’ll do rock-paper-scissors too.”
Yoo Sung nodded, having no other objections.
As I watched Yoo Sung and Ju Gilhyung play rock-paper-scissors, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘What a shame.’
Ju Gilhyung was one of Jang Hyuk-soo’s favorite villain character types.
A selfish trainee with no real skill.
If Ju Gilhyung had eagerly accepted the potion when Yoo Sung offered to yield, his image would have been damaged beyond recovery.
There’s no need to rush.
His character arc will probably unfold around episode six of the broadcast.
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
Yoo Sung won the game.
Yoo Sung immediately drank the trait removal potion, and the worst teamwork trait that would have dropped his ranking by ten tiers was successfully eliminated.
“Now I’ll announce the rankings!”
The ranking announcement ceremony began again.
Due to time constraints, the MC announced only the top 25 rankings in reverse order.
“Next, I’ll announce the 21st Place Trainee. The 21st Place Trainee is… Congratulations! Seo Ijae!”
Seo Ijae rose from his seat and walked unsteadily onto the Stage.
Seo Ijae had ranked around 13th during the stat evaluation stage.
He survived through the second wave in the theme song evaluation and maintained his stats.
Perhaps because he came from a professional background, his overall skills weren’t poor, even if he didn’t stand out.
‘After the theme song evaluation, his ranking was… 17th? He dropped a bit, but Seo Ijae should be satisfied.’
Instead, his expression seemed dazed, as if he couldn’t believe his current position.
“Well, Seo Ijae. Please express your gratitude to the fans supporting you.”
“Ah….”
After receiving the microphone from the MC, Seo Ijae’s lips trembled several times before he finally opened his mouth.
“Th-thank you…. To be honest, I never dreamed my name would be called today.”
Seo Ijae continued speaking while fidgeting with his fingers.
“I thought I no longer had any fans supporting me. I’m truly, truly grateful…. I’ll work even harder from now on.”
After finishing his remarks, Seo Ijae bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle.
It was a brief greeting, but one filled with sincerity.
I smiled warmly and sent applause of encouragement toward Seo Ijae.
21st, 20th, 19th… as the rankings climbed higher, my heart began to race faster.
“Next, I’ll announce the 12th Place Trainee. The 12th Place Trainee is… Congratulations! Okada Hiro!”
Okada, who had been sitting, widened her eyes in shock.
Okada looked around in disbelief, pointing at herself and glancing about frantically.
The trainees sitting nearby beamed with smiles and pushed her forward by patting her back.
“Huh, me? Really?”
Okada seemed so flustered that she couldn’t even manage to speak in Korean.
The MC handed the microphone to Okada, who was practically shoved onto the Stage.
Flustered, Okada fumbled several times before finally taking the microphone.
“I, I am….”
“It’s alright, Okada. Take a deep breath… and you can speak slowly!”
“…Yes, thank you.”
Following the MC’s gesture, Okada took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
‘Lee Jae and Hiro will make Jang Hyuk-soo incredibly happy.’
Jang Hyuk-soo loved genuine and pure reactions like those from Lee Jae and Okada.
Neither of their gratitude remarks would be edited out.
“I never thought I would receive such a h-high ranking. I’m truly grateful.”
Okada spoke slowly but clearly in her still-awkward Korean.
Before long, even the MC was smiling warmly as he looked at Okada.
Okada took her seat, and the ranking announcement ceremony resumed.
11th place, 10th place, 9th place….
The expressions of the trainees whose names hadn’t been called began growing darker by the moment.
‘It should be my turn soon….’
Feeling slightly anxious, I picked at the cuticle beside my fingernail while staring intently at the MC.
“Now, we have only the top four trainees left to announce—positions 1 through 4!”
I made a rough guess about who the top four might be.
‘Han Theo and Yoo Sung are almost certainly in there. Both of them are perfect in dancing, singing, and looks. That leaves two remaining spots….’
Could I be one of those final two?
Han Theo, Yoo Sung, Kim Chowol.
Wasn’t there one person who seemed out of place no matter how you looked at it?
I was confident I wouldn’t lose in terms of buzz and relevance, but for an Idol, dancing, singing, and appearance were ultimately what mattered most….
My mind felt cluttered.
“I’ll now reveal the four trainees right away!”
As the MC pointed to the large display screen behind the stage, the screen that had been dark until moments ago flickered to life.
The display was divided into four sections.
And across those four divided sections, the faces of the top four trainees appeared.
* * *
4th place.
That was the ranking I had recorded at the first ranking announcement ceremony.
‘It’s a bit ambiguous.’
If I were another trainee, I would have made a fuss about how 4th place wasn’t ambiguous at all and was truly a high ranking, but my goal was 1st place.
EX-Grade K-POP Idol would debut a total of six trainees.
For me, 4th place was an ambiguous ranking where, depending on what happened next, I might not even make it to debut.
‘Think positively, think positively.’
Still, what gave me some hope was that the gap in Help Call votes between 1st place Han Theo and 4th place me wasn’t that large.
It was a gap that could flip at any moment, and simultaneously, one I could flip at any moment.
“Good afternoon, trainees!”
After the ranking announcement ceremony ended, we had a late lunch.
Then we gathered in the familiar Auditorium rather than the stage where the ranking ceremony had taken place.
“Now it’s finally time to reveal the third Main Quest!”
The trainees swallowed hard and gazed intently at the MC standing on the podium.
“But before I introduce the third Main Quest! There’s something we need to do first!”
Something we need to do?
The clueless trainees tilted their heads in confusion.
“Guild withdrawal!”
“Ah…!”
The trainees belatedly recalled the explanation the MC had given when they created the guilds.
‘Oh, and one more thing—once the Guild War ends, you’re free to withdraw from your guild or disband it entirely! However, if you withdraw or disband your guild, you’ll forfeit all the benefits you’ve received so far and any future benefits you could have received. Please keep that in mind!’
An uncomfortable tension hung in the air among the trainees.
Those who had formed guilds while competing in the Guild War must have thought to themselves:
‘This isn’t going to be easy.’
Even if trainees were close to each other normally, preparing a stage together was a different matter entirely.
And if they were complete strangers, coordinating every single detail from start to finish was far from simple.
MC gave the guild members a moment to confer among themselves.
I rose from my seat and gestured silently to Yoo Sung.
“Are you thinking of leaving the guild?”
I asked Yoo Sung abruptly once we’d settled into a corner of the Auditorium.
“You can leave if you want. I don’t mind.”
Some trainees were intimidated by MC’s exaggeration, but truthfully, the benefits given to guild members were so meager it was embarrassing to even call them benefits.
‘We can use the same Dormitory and… we can be on the same team during team matches?’
What else is there besides those two?
As I was trying to recall what other guild benefits existed, Yoo Sung, who had been quietly watching me, blurted out:
“Why? Would you prefer if I left?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if you’d want me to withdraw.”
Why are you asking me that?
Ever since Yoo Sung’s trust level hit 100%, he’d developed this odd habit of asking for my opinion first whenever something came up.
“Have I been annoying?”
“What?”
“Have I been annoying? I mean… I’ve probably irritated you.”
What was he talking about?
When I tilted my head in confusion at Yoo Sung’s words, he let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh…”
“Why the sudden sigh?”
“You… never mind, forget it.”
I slowly retraced the flow of our conversation to try and understand what Yoo Sung meant.
“I’ve never been annoyed.”
“What?”
“You said you’ve probably irritated me, but honestly, I haven’t been annoyed. Well, at least not during the Guild War.”
Yoo Sung’s eyes widened at my words.
“The reason I asked if you’d leave the guild was… just…”
“Just?”
“You can leave if you want. No matter how close friends are, there are always people you don’t want to team up with for group projects. I was worried you might feel that way about me.”
“Sigh…”
Yoo Sung let out another deep sigh.
“Keep sighing like that and you’ll lose your luck.”
“Do I look like I have any luck left to lose?”
If anyone should be sighing, it’s me.
I couldn’t fathom why Yoo Sung was so frustrated about all of this.
“So you’re going to withdraw?”
“No, no! I’m seriously losing my mind.”
“Don’t curse. There are cameras around.”
“Ugh!”
In any case, thanks to Yoo Sung not withdrawing, the Kim Chowol Guild was able to continue.
That worked out well, that worked out well.

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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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