The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 46

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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 (46)
That night.
I called Seo Ijae to the empty Practice Room.
The Practice Room was dark.
Seo Ijae glanced around nervously before stepping inside.
“Gasp…!”
Seo Ijae jumped in fright when he discovered me sitting with my back against the Practice Room wall.
“What are you doing here without even turning on the lights?”
“I was waiting for you, hyung.”
Truth be told, I didn’t turn on the lights because I didn’t want Jang Hyuk-soo to find out.
But there was no need to tell Seo Ijae that.
“Why did you call me?”
“Because I have something to tell you.”
At my words, Seo Ijae approached without hesitation.
When I made space, he quickly sat down beside me.
“What is it?”
Instead of answering, I pulled out my Tablet.
“You had a lot of trouble practicing without the Tablet, didn’t you?”
“Ah, well… yes.”
Was he saying it was troublesome or that it wasn’t?
Watching Seo Ijae hesitate awkwardly made me chuckle despite myself.
“It’s fine. From now on, you won’t have to take the Tablet away like today.”
“Huh?”
“Because I’ve resolved it.”
“Uh… resolved what?”
This time, instead of answering, I turned on the Tablet.
When I logged into my personal email account, an email from Jiyu caught my eye.
I downloaded the MP3 file Jiyu had attached and played it immediately.
“This is…?”
Seo Ijae’s expression gradually hardened as he realized what the MP3 file was.
“You don’t need to rearrange it.”
“…”
“We’ll prepare our Stage performance with this song.”
The original Winter Boys track continued playing from the Tablet.
Even to my ears, which lack any talent for composition or arrangement, it sounded far superior to the officially released Winter Boys version.
“Hyung?”
Seo Ijae hadn’t said a word since the song began.
Growing concerned, I carefully placed my hand on his shoulder.
Seo Ijae’s shoulder was trembling slightly.
“Hyung? Hyung! Breathe!”
“Gasp…!”
Seo Ijae inhaled sharply, his face drained of all color.
It seemed he’d been holding his breath for quite some time.
“Are you alright? Why did you suddenly….”
“Huff, gasp…. This, this thing.”
After slowly steadying his breathing, Seo Ijae grabbed my arm desperately.
“Where did this come from?”
“…Composer Jiyu gave it to me.”
“Jiyu…, Jiyu noona?”
I hesitated for a moment but decided to be honest.
Jiyu had said it was fine to tell him anyway.
“I managed to get in touch with her somehow. As for her contact information… well, someone I know gave it to me.”
Still, it was better to keep Kim Junwoo’s involvement out of this.
But fortunately—or unfortunately—Seo Ijae didn’t seem particularly concerned with how I’d obtained Jiyu’s contact information.
He was too preoccupied with the fact that his own song was playing from the tablet.
“Did… did Jiyu noona still have my song….”
Seo Ijae’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
It was a reaction within my expectations.
I’d dredged up his trauma and thrust it right before his eyes without mercy.
“Listen carefully, Lee Jae.”
But I couldn’t back down either.
Even if I couldn’t fix his stutter, he had to overcome his trauma.
“No one is tormenting you anymore.”
“….”
“That bastard who stole your compositions, ruined them, and lived well off his own arrogance—he’s gone now.”
I gripped Seo Ijae’s shoulders and spoke firmly.
But his breathing remained ragged.
“We’re going to perform with your songs. You have to do it too. You’re the center.”
“No… I, I can’t.”
“You have to.”
“No, this, this isn’t my song.”
Seo Ijae twisted his body, trying to break free from my grip.
But I had no intention of letting him go.
“This, this isn’t my song. This is….”
“What are you talking about? It’s your song. You composed it yourself.”
“No, no, this, this is Min Woo’s song….”
“Hwang Min-woo.”
Seo Ijae’s shoulders flinched.
A grinding sound.
My teeth clenched without my realizing it.
How much gaslighting did it take to reduce someone to this state?
“Should I go punch that bastard for you?”
“What…?”
We’d probably get a chance to meet him soon enough.
If Seo Ijae could just overcome his trauma, I could sneak in a punch when the opportunity arose.
“If you’re okay with it, hyung, I’ll throw a punch for you.”
“Uh, what?”
“Wouldn’t you feel a bit better after getting hit once?”
Honestly, I’m not thrilled about using my fists.
But if it helps Seo Ijae overcome his trauma, I could do it once….
“Ha ha…. What are you talking about?”
I was genuinely considering it when Seo Ijae suddenly burst out laughing.
“What? I’m not joking. I’m serious.”
“An idol can’t go around punching people. You need to debut…, you.”
Seo Ijae’s ragged breathing gradually calmed down.
It’s a bit disconcerting that he treated my sincerity as a joke.
But at least Seo Ijae has settled down, so that’s something.
“You need to debut too, hyung.”
“Debut….”
Seo Ijae trailed off with a bitter expression.
I checked the time and stood up.
“Let’s take it easy today.”
“Huh?”
“Your face looks terrible right now, hyung. Look at those dark circles. A panda would come ask to be your friend.”
“Ah…. Ha ha.”
Seo Ijae grabbed my hand and stood up.
“Get some proper rest, then we can practice. The arrangement is… already handled, so don’t worry about it and just sleep.”
“…Okay.”
Seo Ijae glanced at the Tablet.
The Winter Boys original track downloaded on the Tablet seemed to be nagging at him.
I naturally positioned myself in front of him to block his view.
“Come on, let’s go. Should I take you back to the Dormitory?”
“No need. I can go on my own.”
As I pushed Seo Ijae’s back out of the Practice Room, he finally tore his gaze away from the Tablet.
I smiled with satisfaction and said.
“Go get some rest.”
We’ll handle the rest ourselves.
* * *
After sending Seo Ijae back to the Dormitory, I called the remaining team members to the Practice Room.
Yoo Sung, Han Theo, and Kang Hae-soo.
I played the original Winter Boys track for the three of them.
“What do you think?”
Once the song ended, I examined their expressions carefully as I asked.
Fortunately, all three of them seemed receptive.
“It’s good, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
“I think it’s good too.”
Well, well.
Anyone could hear that this was far superior to the officially released Winter Boys version.
“Who arranged this? Seo Ijae?”
“Well… if I had to say, then yeah, Seo Ijae did.”
My ambiguous answer left all three of them tilting their heads in confusion.
‘What do I do?’
It didn’t feel right for me—someone uninvolved—to carelessly reveal what had happened between Seo Ijae and Hwang Min-woo.
But at the same time, I couldn’t keep hiding it from my own teammates.
In the end, I decided to explain the situation as simply as possible.
“So what you’re saying is that the Winter Boys we just heard is the pre-arrangement version?”
Kang Hae-soo summarized the complicated situation into one clean sentence.
“That’s right.”
“That’s really unfortunate. If we’d released it without the arrangement…”
The response would have been so much better.
I thought the same thing.
Perhaps Winter Boys could have risen beyond being a failed group—maybe to the second tier, or even higher.
‘But then again, everyone’s life is made up of “what ifs” and “maybes,” isn’t it?’
There’s no point in regretting it now.
What-ifs and maybes are nothing but shackles binding my feet.
“Anyway, we’re going to prepare our stage with this Winter Boys version. There are still a few days until the mid-term evaluation, but…”
I trailed off and checked the current time.
8:34 PM.
“…I’d like to try running through it together by tomorrow morning. Is that possible?”
“You want to run through it?”
“Yeah, I want to show it to Seo Ijae.”
I’d told Seo Ijae to come to the Practice Room by 6 AM tomorrow, so I had roughly ten hours left.
If we pushed hard, we could just barely make it in time.
Of course, I needed the other members’ consent first.
I carefully gauged the reactions of my teammates.
“Sure, whatever. I’m fine with it.”
“Me too.”
“I’m okay with it as well.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Thanks. So, shall we start practicing right away? Oh, the lyrics are different too, so let’s memorize the new lyrics first….”
We replayed the song and began memorizing the lyrics from scratch.
Everyone had such excellent foundational skills that they quickly adapted to the changed lyrics and melody.
Everyone except me.
‘I’m screwed.’
I hadn’t thought of this.
Drowning in despair, I checked my status window for the first time in a while.
[Basic Stats
Vocal: D+
Dance: D
Appearance: A-
Charm: B]
Vocal D+, Dance D.
Seo Ijae’s Winter Boys had higher notes and more high-pitched sections than the officially released Winter Boys, making the overall vocal difficulty significantly higher.
My part was split from the original Winter Boys center’s part with Seo Ijae, so it was quite challenging.
In short, it meant my pathetic vocal stats couldn’t handle this part.
‘Right, I have the Copycat trait!’
I immediately checked the Copycat trait details.
[Copycat trait is currently active.]
[Designated Ally: Okada Hiro]
[When the ally uses an ability, you can copy their ability.]
[When you use an ability, the ally can copy your ability.]
Since Okada Hiro wasn’t on the same team, I couldn’t use the Copycat trait, but there had to be a solution.
‘What if I change the designated ally of Copycat to Yoo Sung?’
Okada Hiro’s Korean had improved so much that the Copycat trait wouldn’t be necessary anymore.
‘Change designated ally.’
But contrary to my expectations, the status window remained silent.
‘What? Change designated ally. Change designated ally!’
I shouted inwardly while glaring at the translucent window, but the status window didn’t budge.
After struggling with the status window for a while longer, I finally had to accept reality.
‘Could it be… that once an ally is designated, they can’t be changed?’
What a garbage trait….
It really wasn’t B-rank for nothing.
I grabbed my head and fell into deep thought.
‘What do I do?’
I couldn’t ask to re-arrange the song now.
I couldn’t ask to redistribute the parts.
‘Hmm….’
As I was pondering, I suddenly realized I still had one unused trait draw ticket remaining.
[Hidden Quest: Be mentioned by people over 1 million times.
*This includes all nicknames and aliases.
*Online mentions on SNS and Community Sites are also counted.
Reward: Trait Draw Ticket (B) x1]
Alright, I should use this.
‘Using Trait Draw Ticket.’
A spinning wheel similar to the one I’d seen when using the Item Draw Ticket (B) appeared before my eyes.
No rainbow or gold sections—just silver, bronze, and black segments on the wheel.
Even if I landed on the best trait, it would only be Grade A.
―Whirrrr.
The wheel began spinning without giving me time to feel disappointed.
‘Please, silver. Please!’
I silently pleaded and fixed my gaze on the spinning wheel.
The wheel, spinning with a whirring sound, came to a stop between the silver and black segments.

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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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