The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 40

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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 (40)
After finishing my conversation with Yoo Sung, I returned to my seat and glanced around the venue.
There were far more disbanded Guilds than I’d expected.
I’d been too caught up with our own Guild to notice, but it seemed many Guilds had suffered through the Guild War.
“I hope you all had a good talk with your Guild members?”
The trainees laughed awkwardly at the MC’s question.
“Since everyone’s finished their business, let’s reveal the third Main Quest right away!”
The large Screen behind the MC changed.
[Third Main Quest has arrived.]
[Main Quest: Resolve a Commission]
Resolve a commission?
It wasn’t an unfamiliar term like Guild War had been, but I couldn’t figure out what commission we were supposed to resolve.
As the trainees tilted their heads in confusion, the MC began explaining in a bright, energetic tone.
“Since this Main Quest isn’t a ‘Guild’ War, you’re free to discuss with your Guild members and decide whether to team up together or not!”
The principle was that all other team members would be determined 100% randomly, excluding Guild members.
But principles were just principles.
Only Jang Hyuk-soo knew whether his influence had shaped the team composition or not.
“Let’s skip the complicated explanations and meet the client right away, shall we?”
The MC’s lips curled upward as he grinned.
It was an ordinary smile, but I knew the true meaning hidden beneath it.
The Screen on the Podium changed again.
A man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties emerged on the Screen.
[“Hello, EX-Grade K-POP Idol trainees.”]
He had calm black hair and wore a neat white short-sleeved shirt.
His appearance was tidy, but his ears were covered in piercings.
“Who is that?”
“Is he a composer? Or a lyricist?”
Unsurprisingly, none of the trainees recognized the man.
Well, almost none.
Out of the 99 trainees excluding me, exactly one knew who he was.
“Han Ul…?”
Seo Ijae, visibly shocked, murmured softly while his hands trembled.
The man with a somewhat melancholic expression began introducing himself.
[“I’m Han Ul, the main dancer of Winter Boys.”]
Winter Boys!
The trainees, finally grasping the situation, glanced sideways at Seo Ijae.
[“I’ve stepped in front of the camera after a long time because I wanted to give you EX-Grade K-POP Idol trainees a commission.”]
Confusion rippled through the trainees.
I couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of commission he intended to give.
Amid the chaos, Seo Ijae stared at the man on the Screen with wide, disbelieving eyes.
[“My request is… a remake of our Winter Boys’ debut song, Winter Boys.”]
* * *
The third main Quest—resolving the request—involved remaking a song by an Idol who had been active from the second to third generation.
To be precise, it wasn’t just any Idol song, but a song by a failed Idol, though no one dared speak the word “flop” aloud.
Including Winter Boys, a total of eight failed Idol groups had commissioned remakes from EX-grade K-POP Idols.
The trainees were divided into eight teams to proceed with their respective requests.
“Should we start with introductions?”
I surveyed my teammates for the third main Quest, which had been determined by random selection.
Yoo Sung, Han Theo, Kang Hae-soo, and Seo Ijae.
Of course, the song we would be remaking was Winter Boys’ “Winter Boys.”
‘See, I told you it wasn’t random.’
If it were truly random, how could Seo Ijae have beaten the 1-in-8 odds to be assigned to the Winter Boys team?
And it wasn’t just Seo Ijae—the other trainees from failed Idol groups found themselves in similar situations.
The members from their original groups had submitted remake requests, and those former members had been assigned to those teams.
‘That aside, I have no idea why Jang Hyuk-soo crammed three top-ranked trainees into one team like this.’
Han Theo at first place, Yoo Sung at second, and me at fourth.
That’s not to say Seo Ijae and Kang Hae-soo ranked poorly either.
Already, I could hear whispers around us calling us the “Avengers Team” or something similar.
‘Avengers Team? That’s what people say when they don’t know anything about Survival Competition programs. Having top-ranked trainees clustered together is absolutely not a good thing.’
In a Survival Competition program, what matters isn’t skill—it’s narrative.
I only managed fourth place despite being far below average in actual ability, and that was entirely thanks to my character and narrative.
To create a compelling narrative, you need hardship and adversity.
There are two types of hardship and adversity frequently used in Survival Competition programs to craft compelling narratives.
First is a song that’s far too difficult for the trainees’ skill level, and second is….
‘Discord among team members.’
Ugh.
The moment I realized what Jang Hyuk-soo was thinking, I barely managed to swallow my groan.
Me, Yoo Sung, Han Theo….
‘Did he really cram the three most talked-about trainees into one team?’
Of course, being on the same team as Yoo Sung was a decision we made together, but still.
My head suddenly throbbed, and I discreetly rubbed my temples.
“Should I go first? Hello, I’m Kang Hae-soo. I’m nineteen years old.”
Starting with Kang Hae-soo, I, Yoo Sung, and Han Theo finished our introductions.
“Seo Ijae. I’m twenty-three.”
“Then I’m the youngest? Lee Jae is the oldest among us.”
With Kang Hae-soo at nineteen and me, Han Theo, and Yoo Sung at twenty, there was quite a significant age gap.
“Should we listen to the song first?”
“Sounds good.”
Since no one seemed eager to speak up, I made the suggestion first.
Fortunately, Kang Hae-soo responded.
I played the Winter Boys’ performance video on the tablet distributed to each team.
‘As you can tell from the group name and song title, Winter Boys’ concept is winter.’
Sure enough, snow was falling from the very start of the video.
It looked like they’d just bought some cheap artificial snow spray from a Mart and sprayed it on.
[“White snow falling on the night.”]
The members stood frozen in the center of the Stage.
As the song began, they started moving one by one in sequence.
Like icicles melting under the hot sun.
[“I stand in the cold wind. On this frozen street. Waiting for you, baby.”]
The members expressed the falling snow through delicate hand movements.
But they seemed quite nervous, and their movements were slightly out of sync, making the choreography look disorganized.
[“We are the winter boys hot in this cold season.”]
Synth sounds that aren’t used much anymore filled the Stage.
The weightless bass line made the overall atmosphere of the song feel light.
[“We are the winter boys I’ll melt your frozen heart.”]
The song properly began, and Winter Boys’ center stepped forward.
But the center became overly conscious of the camera, and their expression turned stiff and rigid.
[“Dancing in the snow, snow, snow just you and me.”]
The transition from the bridge to the chorus wasn’t smooth, and the flow of the song felt abruptly cut off.
[“We are the winter boys this winter is ours.”]
We didn’t say a word the entire time we watched the Stage.
After the song ended, just over three minutes long, a heavy silence descended.
Seo Ijae was the first to speak.
“You understand why it failed, right?”
“….”
“First, the synth sound is too tacky, and the bass line is weak, so there’s no weight to it.”
“….”
“The transition from the bridge rap section to the main melody is awkward too. The lyrics are full of clichés and the storytelling is stale—it’s juvenile. And also….”
“Ijae.”
I cut him off before Seo Ijae could spiral further.
Seo Ijae, coming to his senses belatedly, took several deep breaths and hung his head low.
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, there’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“No, I am. I’m… sorry.”
Hmm.
I spoke calmly to the dejected Seo Ijae.
“Winter Boys didn’t fail.”
“What?”
“It’s their debut song and it charted in the TOP 100. That’s not a failure.”
“Ah….”
The group Winter Boys had failed, but the song Winter Boys had not.
I wasn’t saying this out of any personal bias.
It was an objective fact.
“I think the concept itself wasn’t bad. There are singers who live their whole lives off a single Christmas carol. The debut song was decent too. It captured the winter aesthetic well, and the melody is catchy.”
As I poured out my objective analysis, Seo Ijae fell silent like someone who’d eaten honey.
“Sure, there are some regrettable aspects, but honestly, I was surprised that a Small Entertainment Agency produced a song of this caliber.”
The problem was that they botched the next song.
‘Come to think of it, who was the composer?’
Suddenly curious, I manipulated the tablet to check the song information.
‘Huh?’
Upon checking the song information, I found myself doubting my own eyes.
“What if we start by thinking about the arrangement direction?”
Kang Hae-soo carefully raised his hand and made the suggestion.
It seemed he’d realized that only I and he were capable of properly leading our team right now.
“Is there anyone among you hyungs who can arrange?”
“I can’t.”
“Neither can I.”
Yoo Sung and Han Theo shook their heads in turn.
There aren’t as many idols capable of composing and arranging at a professional level as one might think.
And among trainees, it’s even rarer—they’re not even debuted idols yet.
“Can the other two hyungs arrange?”
“No, I can’t either….”
“Ijae hyung.”
I hastily cut off Seo Ijae’s words.
Why hadn’t I known this until now?
How foolish must I have looked every time I bragged about being a Winter Boys fan.
“You can do it, hyung.”
“Huh…?”
“Arranging, I mean.”
Seo Ijae pressed his lips firmly shut.
It was a silent affirmation.
I laughed hollowly and showed the tablet to my three teammates.
[Winter Boys
Lyrics: Hwang Min-woo (Winter Boys)
Composition: Seo Ijae (Winter Boys), Hwang Min-woo (Winter Boys), JiU
Arrangement: Hwang Min-woo (Winter Boys), JiU]
Composition—Seo Ijae.
I asked Seo Ijae, who had been avoiding my gaze this whole time, with firm resolve.
“You can arrange it, right?”

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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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