The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 47

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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 (47)
―Beep beep beep beep!
A shrill alarm jolted Seo Ijae awake.
Opening his eyes slowly, Seo Ijae frowned as he glanced around the room.
“The alarm… oh!”
Realizing his roommate hadn’t woken yet, Seo Ijae quickly silenced the alarm.
“Ugh….”
He barely managed to sit up, but his vision remained hazy.
Seo Ijae stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before belatedly checking the time.
“…Six thirteen in the morning?”
Seo Ijae’s eyes snapped open.
‘I’m late!’
He’d told Kim Chowol last night he’d be at the Practice Room by six in the morning!
After hurriedly getting ready, Seo Ijae sprinted toward the Practice Room.
“Huff, huff….”
The full-speed dash left him gasping for breath.
Arriving at the Practice Room entrance, Seo Ijae caught his breath slowly.
“Huh?”
A familiar melody drifted from inside the Practice Room.
A crystalline synthesizer sound and a deep bass intertwined.
A kick drum that pulsed like a heartbeat anchored the other sounds with reassuring stability.
“In the frigid air, small lights drift and dance.”
Seo Ijae peered through the Practice Room window as if entranced.
Through the small window in the Practice Room door, he could see his teammates singing and dancing in formation.
“Do you see it there, the constellation we created?”
Yoo Sung, whose name carried the character for star,
(constellation: a pattern of stars)
was singing about stars.
Yoo Sung’s eyes sparkled as if precious gems had been set into them.
“Walking alone through the cold night, I suddenly look up.”
“Countless shards of ice fill the sky above.”
Han Theo and Kang Hae-soo stepped forward, their voices blending.
They sang with a calm, lyrical quality—like reading a bedtime story to a child on a deep night.
“Where are they all going, lost in this vast darkness? But those lights don’t know the way either, just drifting aimlessly.”
Now it was Kim Chowol’s turn to step forward.
Despite his considerable height, which would strain most singers, his pitch remained unwavering.
Next came my part at last.
“You say I’m small, but I know your light. We’re not alone—we shine for each other.”
Without realizing it, I found myself humming my own part.
“Ah….”
Seo Ijae, belatedly realizing what he’d done, bit down hard on his lower lip.
No, this song. This song isn’t mine….
Whether Seo Ijae denied reality or not, the music continued.
“Diamond Dust, floating in the air, our shining dreams.”
“Small but shining together, we fill the frozen night.”
Brilliant synth sounds and powerful bass erupted from the speakers.
Yet neither sound overwhelmed—the ethereal melody shone all the brighter for their restraint.
“Diamond Dust, Diamond Dust.”
Kim Chowol’s crystalline voice sparkled with luminous clarity.
‘Even if it seems to disappear. We are here. Glittering proof of our existence.’
The next lyric rose naturally in Seo Ijae’s mind.
“My song, my members, my stage….”
Seo Ijae clenched his teeth, murmuring the words while fighting back tears.
His dream was alive before his eyes, moving and breathing in the present moment.
‘Once I dreamed of it, but it became tainted, and I ultimately threw it away in the trash….’
Seo Ijae’s precious dream.
Kim Chowol and the team members had pulled it from the garbage, washed it clean, and now showed it to him.
“Oh, Lee Jae! You’re here?”
The first verse had ended.
Kim Chowol stopped singing and caught his breath, noticing Seo Ijae watching from outside the Practice Room.
“You’re a bit late, aren’t you? Come in quickly. Oh, did you see us practicing?”
“….”
“Lee Jae?”
Kim Chowol bent forward to examine Seo Ijae’s expression.
But Seo Ijae couldn’t speak.
“…Lee Jae? Are you crying?”
“No, I….”
Seo Ijae, struggling to hold back his tears, quickly raised his arm to cover his face.
Kim Chowol positioned himself to shield Seo Ijae from the other members’ view.
“The song was really good.”
“Yeah….”
“The lyrics are so much better than Winter Boys. Oh, now that I think about it, this isn’t originally called Winter Boys, is it?”
“Oh, yeah….”
“What’s the original title?”
Seo Ijae, his face still covered by his arm, slowly lifted his head.
The MP3 filename of the original song Seo Ijae had shared with Jiyu.
[Winter Boys_DD.mp3]
Though the song ultimately became titled Winter Boys, Seo Ijae couldn’t let go of his attachment.
So he secretly added it to the end of the original file he kept for himself alone.
“Diamond Dust.”
Diamond Dust, or DD for short.
After eight years, Seo Ijae had reclaimed the dream he’d lost.
* * *
―Ding!
[Sub Quest Progress has been updated.]
[Please check your Sub Quest.]
[Sub Quest: Recruit Allies
Description: Recruit allies for a successful debut.
Ally Recruitment Progress (3/6)
Success Reward: Gate Occurrence Suspended (180 days)]
[1. Okada Hiro (Rank: B+)(Stats viewable)
2. Yoo Sung (Rank: S-)(Stats viewable)
3. Seo Ijae (Rank: B)(Stats viewable)
4. ―
5. ―
6. ―]
The moment I finished my conversation with Seo Ijae, status windows cascaded down as if they’d been waiting for this moment.
‘Is there no reward? No reward at all?’
When Okada and Yoo Sung’s trust reached 100%, I’d received hidden quest rewards one by one.
But unfortunately, there was no reward this time.
I clicked my tongue silently as I watched the status window settle.
‘How stingy. Let me check Ijae’s stats first.’
[Name: Seo Ijae
Age: 23]
[Basic Stats
Vocal: B+
Dance: B
Appearance: B+
Charm: B-]
[By completing the ally recruitment condition ‘Achieve 100% Trust’, ‘Seo Ijae’ has become your ally.]
[‘Seo Ijae’s current trust: 100%.]
Perhaps because he had prior debut experience, his vocal and dance stats were quite high.
I knew he had talent.
It was just a lack of confidence—but when it mattered, he delivered.
‘The problem is me.’
I closed Seo Ijae’s status window and pulled up my own.
[Basic Stats
Vocal: D+
Dance: D
Appearance: A-
Charm: B]
Still a pathetic stat.
If I hadn’t drawn an A-grade item from the item gacha, things would have gone terribly wrong.
[Universal Scheduler
Grade: A+
Description: Set a goal and complete the To Do list to achieve your designated objective.
*If you achieve your goal within the specified timeframe, you can obtain a special reward.]
I’d set the goal achievement deadline safely to the day of the final evaluation.
I was curious what the special reward might be, but since I couldn’t receive it immediately anyway, I’d worry about that later.
[Current Goal: Master Diamond Dust’s choreography and vocals
Current Completion: 26%]
Until Seo Ijae told me the song title, it had been Winter Boys, but somewhere along the way it had changed to Diamond Dust.
[To Do List
―Accumulate 1 hour of choreography practice (Completion +3%) (Completed)
―Accumulate 1 hour of vocal practice (Completion +3%) (Completed)
―Accumulate 2 hours of choreography practice (Completion +2%) (Completed)
―Accumulate 2 hours of vocal practice (Completion +2%) (Completed)
.
.
.
―Accumulate 10 hours of choreography practice (Completion +1%) (Completed)
―Accumulate 10 hours of vocal practice (Completion +1%) (Completed)
―Accumulate 11 hours of choreography practice (Completion +1%)
―Accumulate 11 hours of vocal practice (Completion +1%)
.
.
.
―Accumulate 37 hours of choreography practice (Completion +1%)
―Accumulate 37 hours of vocal practice (Completion +1%)]
Of course, the Universal Scheduler’s effect was limited only to the goals I set, so my stats wouldn’t increase.
But at least I could guarantee the completion level for the Diamond Dust stage, which was my immediate priority.
‘Doing the math, 37 hours of practice is perfect. The To Do list goes up to 37 hours too.’
The completion started at 3%, then decreased to 1%, maintaining a steady 1% per hour thereafter.
The final evaluation was in five days.
I had roughly 120 hours remaining.
Subtracting eating and sleeping, about 80 hours were left.
‘Are you serious?’
I let out a silent scoff.
The situation was absolutely ridiculous.
’37 hours. This is a piece of cake.’
The final evaluation? I can finish this by the midterm evaluation in two days.
‘I’ll definitely finish it by the midterm evaluation.’
And I’ll give that unlucky bastard a proper hit.
* * *
Two days later, the morning of the midterm evaluation arrived.
Though I’d been waiting for this midterm evaluation for days, I wasn’t in a particularly good mood.
“Junwoo, Junwoo. Did you hear? There’s supposed to be a special guest judge today.”
When I arrived at the Practice Room where the midterm evaluation was being held, the other judges greeted me familiarly.
I smiled gently at the Dance Trainer who was speaking to me so warmly.
“Yes, I heard.”
“Not just one, not just two, but five special guests!”
“Yes, I heard that too.”
“I wonder who’s coming?”
I smiled bitterly at the Dance Trainer, who seemed genuinely excited.
This was the third time I’d appeared as a judge on Jang Hyuk-soo’s program.
‘Predictable, really.’
By now, I could quickly figure out what kind of scheme Jang Hyuk-soo was planning.
A conversation with composer Jiyu from a few days ago kept floating through my mind.
[‘Hey, Junwoo.’]
‘I’m sorry, Jiyu.’
I apologized immediately.
From Jiyu’s perspective, a trainee she’d never met had suddenly contacted her using my number.
She must have been quite confused.
[‘Huh? Ah… Hey, you can’t just hand your spare phone to anyone. Well, I’m sure you had your reasons.’]
‘But what did you talk about?’
[‘Huh? Didn’t that trainee tell you?’]
‘Ha ha….’
[‘What? I thought you must know everything since you even lent him your spare phone.’]
Jiyu, thinking it was strange, roughly explained what she’d discussed with Kim Chowol.
‘I never expected something like that would happen.’
I searched for Hwang Min-woo on a Portal Site with a serious expression.
‘Hwang Min-woo, Hwang Min-woo….’
I’d heard the name before, but I had no idea what he’d done in the past or what he was doing now.
‘With no talent and no ability, he must have resorted to such dirty tricks just to survive.’
I understood his mindset.
There was a time when I too would have gladly sold my soul to the devil for success.
But even so, this was a bit….
“This leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
“Pardon? Junwoo, what did you just say?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Kim Junwoo smiled gently at the Dance Trainer, who tilted his head in confusion.
‘The special guest is probably… the members of the group that originally performed the song.’
With ten groups and ten teams total, it made sense that ten people would show up originally.
But there were likely people who couldn’t attend due to scheduling conflicts or personal circumstances.
‘I wonder if Hwang Min-woo is among the five.’
He was the only Winter Boys member actively working in the entertainment industry, so he’d probably come if he was invited.
If he really did show up, then that would be…
“Hello, I’m Hwang Min-woo, one of the special judges for today’s event.”
Kim Junwoo watched Hwang Min-woo exchange greetings with the other judges, smiling brightly, and thought to himself.
‘This guy really…’
He had some nerve.

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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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