The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 6

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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 (6)
‘Guild Founding Right?’
Barely recovering from the shock, Yoo Sung watched the MC explain the Guild Founding Right and pondered.
‘It has nothing to do with me anyway.’
The trainees’ seating was arranged in a pyramid formation.
First place sat at the very top, while lower ranks sat below.
It was a seating arrangement that displayed ability more intuitively than anything else.
Yoo Sung, seated slightly above the middle, gazed down at those below.
The LMH trainees ranked lower than Yoo Sung glared at him with resentment.
‘What are you looking at.’
Yoo Sung shot them a cold glance before turning his gaze away.
With my eyes closed, I waited for the Guild matter—or whatever this was—to end quickly.
I wasn’t worried about being recruited into the guilds of the top 20 trainees.
Who would want to team up with me, who’d botched the stage and received the worst teamwork trait, dropping ten ranks?
And I preferred being alone anyway.
‘Damn it….’
Everything that had happened from a month before the LMH debut team was confirmed until now flashed before my eyes like a lantern show.
Feeling nauseous, I pretended to rest my chin on my hand while covering my mouth.
After subtly wiping away the cold sweat trickling down my forehead, I looked at the MC on stage.
“Did you all understand my explanation? Please feel free to ask if you have any questions!”
The MC, having finished explaining the Guild Founding Right, spoke to the trainees.
When no trainee asked questions, the MC lifted the mood with an enthusiastic tone.
“It seems everyone understands! Then let’s begin the Guild founding right away! Any of the top 20 trainees who wish to create a guild, please come up on stage!”
The MC pointed to the stage as he spoke.
But the trainees hesitated, only exchanging glances with one another, and no one stepped forward.
With my nausea subsiding, I sat quietly and thought coldly.
‘Who would create a guild.’
The top 20 trainees were fundamentally skilled individuals.
Unless they were fellow top 20 trainees, there was no reason to team up with lower-ranked trainees whose abilities and popularity fell short of their own.
“It seems you’re all deep in thought. We have plenty of time, so take your time deciding! Is there really no one?”
The MC earnestly encouraged the trainees.
Main PD Jang Hyuk-soo stood backstage with his arms crossed, glaring at the trainees.
Though the MC coaxed and Jang Hyuk-soo hinted, the trainees didn’t budge.
Just as Jang Hyuk-soo, unable to hold back, was about to take the stage to proceed with the broadcast—
A trainee stood up and headed toward the stage.
“Who is it?”
“Rank 20… that one who did ‘Look at me now.'”
“Ah….”
The trainees murmured among themselves.
Watching the trainee ascending the stage, Kim Chowol, I pondered.
‘Vocal and dance were both D-rank? And he wants to form a team without any real skills.’
The MC asked Kim Chowol as he stepped onto the Stage.
“So the glorious protagonist who will create the first Guild of an EX-Grade K-POP Idol is trainee Kim Chowol!”
“Yes.”
Kim Chowol replied with a bright smile.
“Do you have a Guild name in mind?”
“Ah… not yet. I’d like to decide it together with my Guild members.”
Yoo Sung scrutinized Kim Chowol’s expression carefully.
Whether it was genuine or just an act.
“Oh, how considerate! Then, we’ll temporarily call it the Kim Chowol Guild!”
“Yes.”
‘Pathetic.’
Yoo Sung, who had unconsciously criticized it internally, furrowed his brow and looked away.
It had nothing to do with him anyway.
“As I explained earlier, you need two trainees to form a Guild. Have you decided which trainees to recruit?”
“Yes.”
The MC’s expression brightened.
“Then, tell us right now which trainees the Kim Chowol Guild will be recruiting!”
“The trainee I’ve chosen is….”
Kim Chowol’s hesitation was brief.
Yoo Sung, who had been staring blankly into empty space with an indifferent expression, felt Kim Chowol’s gaze and turned his head.
The moment their eyes met.
Kim Chowol opened his mouth.
“Trainee Yoo Sung.”
Yoo Sung, taken aback, widened his eyes and stared at Kim Chowol.
* * *
What’s the most important thing to debut in an Idol Industry survival show?
Outstanding dancing and vocal skills?
Visual appeal and charisma that captivate the audience?
All of these are important, but the most crucial element is something else.
‘It’s becoming a PD’s pick.’
Being a PD’s pick simply means becoming a trainee that the show’s production director favors and pushes forward.
Not only do they receive favorable editing, but some trainees who couldn’t even get three minutes of screen time end up with over twenty minutes of footage.
So what’s necessary to become a PD’s pick?
Outstanding dancing and vocal skills?
Visual appeal and charisma that captivate the audience?
Skill and visuals are merely supplementary factors—the most essential element for becoming a PD’s pick is something entirely different.
‘You need a narrative and character.’
To be honest, my story is as bland as they come.
There were trainees who had spent longer as trainees than me without debuting, and there were also trainees from failed debut groups—what people call “flop idols.”
Choosing the “unlucky trainee” character with merely five years of training is a poor decision.
Moreover, if I tried to sell my sob story while possessing such pathetic stats, I’d hear people asking, “What have you been doing for five years?”
That’s why I crafted my character as a “hardworking trainee”—someone who refuses to be discouraged despite lacking skill and practices with desperate determination.
However, this “hardworking trainee” character, while good at earning universal favor, suffers from a lack of initial buzz and difficulty in forming a core fanbase.
‘Then again… there’s nothing wrong with borrowing some of someone else’s spotlight.’
One of the various ways to secure initial buzz is to demonstrate “chemistry” with another trainee.
Of course, if I overdo it, it becomes poison—just enough to make people anticipate future chemistry is sufficient.
I scanned through the faces of the eighty lower-ranked trainees I could choose from.
First, I excluded anyone with personal issues like romantic entanglements or school violence scandals.
That left seventy-two trainees.
‘Who should I pick?’
A trainee with strong skills?
But most skilled trainees ranked in the top twenty, so they weren’t available to choose.
Then a trainee with a good personality?
It would be comfortable to practice together, but I couldn’t sacrifice stage completeness and quality.
“Is there really no one willing to step forward?”
I surveyed the hesitant trainees.
In the first round, since no trainee voluntarily came forward, Jang Hyuk-soo climbed onto the stage and persuaded them.
Persuaded is too gentle a word—Jang Hyuk-soo’s words were closer to reproach and harsh criticism.
‘Kids these days have no guts, no guts. If someone just steps up here first, boom—attention! Buzz! Isn’t that why you came here to debut? How are you going to debut like this?’
Jang Hyuk-soo was right.
The only question was whether that attention and buzz would be good or bad for the trainees.
The trainees understood that too, which is why they didn’t rashly volunteer.
After finishing my thoughts, I stood up from my seat.
Jang Hyuk-soo, who looked ready to leap onto the stage at any moment, spun around to face me.
‘Attention? Buzz? Exactly what I need.’
With a smile on my face, I headed toward the stage.
After the formal Q&A with the MC concluded, the selection time arrived.
Since I’d decided who to choose the moment I stood up from my seat, my hesitation was brief.
“Yoo Sung, the trainee.”
“Kim Chowol has recruited Yoo Sung as his first Guild member! The first Guild of an EX-Grade K-POP Idol has been formed! We sincerely congratulate you both—Kim Chowol and Yoo Sung!”
“Wait…!”
“Is there a problem, Yoo Sung?”
“…No, there isn’t.”
Yoo Sung, his expression displeased, started to rise from his seat but said nothing and sat back down.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing Yoo Sung can do about it.
He probably knows that himself.
Instead, Yoo Sung glared at me as I returned to my seat with a look that could kill.
“Now, any other trainees interested in joining the Guild?”
“Me!”
One trainee abruptly rose from their seat and climbed onto the Stage.
The moment I broke the ice, the emboldened trainees began forming Guilds one by one.
Some recruited trainees from the same agency, but surprisingly, many—like me—recruited trainees they didn’t know.
Once the Guild formations were largely complete, the MC took the Stage and announced the next schedule.
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work! The Stat Evaluation Stage has concluded. Trainees, please proceed to the Dormitory to change clothes and follow the announcements for further instructions! Now, we’ll begin with the 100th-ranked trainee and move in order.”
Yoo Sung continued to glare at me, but unfortunately, our paths never crossed.
We were assigned to different vehicles.
“Ranks 1 through 5 will take limousines. Ranks 6 through 20 will board premium buses, and ranks 21 through 60 will take regular buses.”
Notably, trainees ranked 61 through 80 could choose between bicycles or electric kickboards, while the rest had to walk.
Outside the Dormitory Building, bicycles and electric kickboards—frequently used in earlier rounds—were neatly lined up.
I smiled bitterly as memories flooded back.
‘Those days were… fun, weren’t they?’
The lower-ranked trainees who spotted the bicycles and kickboards stood slack-jawed.
“We’re supposed to ride those?”
“What is this? Seriously?”
“I guess it’s better than walking…”
Leaving the shocked trainees behind, I boarded the premium bus.
Yoo Sung, who had been glaring at me, never uttered a word and headed toward the regular bus instead.
After about ten minutes on the bus, the Dormitory Building came into view.
“Rooms have been assigned to four trainees each based on ranking. Check the name tags on the doors, and… oh, wait a moment.”
A staff member stopped the trainees heading into the Dormitory Building.
“Trainees belonging to a Guild will share a room with their Guild members, so please keep that in mind.”
I felt someone’s gaze on me, but I ignored it and entered the Dormitory Building.
I found our assigned room before Yoo Sung did.
Two name tags were affixed to the door of the four-person room.
It was nice that they gave us a four-person room despite having only two Guild members.
[Room 201]
[Kim Chowol, Yoo Sung]
Entering the room first, I inspected every corner.
‘Cameras, as always—four total, one in each corner of the ceiling.’
Still, for the sake of protecting trainee privacy, there were no cameras in the bathroom.
After placing my luggage on the bed, I glanced at Yoo Sung as he entered behind me.
Yoo Sung, who had stepped into the room, remained frozen at the entrance, staring off in an odd direction.
‘Has his anger cooled?’
About an hour had passed since I recruited Yoo Sung.
Judging it sufficient time for his anger to subside, I spoke to him in a friendly tone.
“This Dormitory is pretty nice, don’t you think?”
But that was a miscalculation on my part.
Yoo Sung turned his head toward me and suddenly strode toward me with long, purposeful steps.
“Ugh!”
Yoo Sung dragged me into the restroom and slammed me against the tiled wall, his grip iron-tight on my collar.
“What on earth are you thinking?”
A menacing breath hissed through the gaps between his teeth.

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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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