The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 61

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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 (61)
Kang Hae-soo first discovered his talent in Kindergarten.
There was a boy in his Kindergarten class who bullied only the girls.
Kang Hae-soo disliked this boy, and eventually, unable to hold back any longer, he gave the boy a light push.
The boy flew over a meter through the air and struck his head against a desk.
“T-teacher! There’s b-blood!”
“Waaaaah! Teacher, Hae-soo, Hae-soo did it!”
Blood streamed from the boy’s head.
The children, seized by panic, burst into tears and wailed.
“I, I didn’t mean to hurt him….”
When his mother asked why he had hurt his friend, Kang Hae-soo gave a hesitant answer.
Understanding the situation, his mother comforted him gently.
“Our Hae-soo is special.”
“Special?”
“Yes. Because our Hae-soo is special compared to other people, if you want to get along with your friends, you need to be more careful than others. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
To be honest, he didn’t fully comprehend his mother’s words.
But young Kang Hae-soo nodded and said:
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
Kang Hae-soo loved his friends.
He loved sharing secrets with them, and he loved running around the Sports Field playing.
So he was careful.
Careful, and careful again.
But Kang Hae-soo’s talent was not something that could be hidden.
It was truly a talent that could not be concealed—a gem that shone through any wrapping.
“Kang Hae-soo is too good. I don’t want to play with him.”
This happened in Elementary School.
His classmates divided into teams to play soccer on the Sports Field.
But a friend on the other team grumbled and said:
“Hey, why are you talking like that?”
“Don’t be petty just because we’re on different teams.”
His teammates defended Kang Hae-soo, but the friends on the other team remained resolute.
“But it’s not fun. Kang Hae-soo’s team always wins.”
Even the friends who had been defending Kang Hae-soo fell silent.
They couldn’t argue—it was the truth.
His steadfast ally, his mother, spoke to him kindly.
“Hae-soo, would you like to try playing sports?”
“Sports?”
“Yes. There, you’ll be able to get along with friends without worrying about standing out.”
And so Kang Hae-soo began playing baseball.
There were many other sports like soccer and basketball, but the reason he chose baseball specifically was….
“It’s the least team-oriented sport among team sports.”
As a pitcher, I could single-handedly prevent all the opposing team’s scores, and as a batter, I could create points entirely on my own.
Regardless of whether my teammates performed well or poorly.
Of course, a pitcher needed help from fielders, and even if a batter excelled, if the pitcher gave up runs, we couldn’t win.
But that was a problem to worry about when the time came.
“Hello, I’m Kang Hae-soo.”
Kang Hae-soo began learning baseball relatively late, starting in his first year of middle school.
Because he started later than others, initially there were some difficulties….
‘There weren’t any.’
The fastball velocity of the pitch Kang Hae-soo threw on his first day of the Baseball Club as a test was 105km/h.
Moreover, he was a rare left-hander.
With hardware that was different from the start and software that absorbed and output instruction exactly as given—an incredible talent.
It was only a matter of time before the Coach and Director’s eyes went wide.
“Hae-soo, you are the future of our school!”
“You’re definitely going pro! I stake my coaching position on it!”
The Coach and Director surrounded Kang Hae-soo, pouring praise upon him.
But all Kang Hae-soo could see in the eyes of his classmates was discomfort as they glanced at him sideways.
“Your talent is certainly impressive.”
Kang Hae-soo, who was about to enter the Club Room after practice, paused.
“Who?”
“Kang Hae-soo, I mean Kang Hae-soo.”
“Ah….”
Inside the Club Room, the members were talking about Kang Hae-soo.
“When you look at him… you start thinking, ‘So that’s the kind of kid who goes pro?'”
“Yeah, honestly, we’re human—how can we even compare ourselves to a monster?”
“Right. It’s easier if you just accept that we live in different worlds.”
Talent, monster, different worlds….
Each word from my teammates flew like a dagger, piercing into my heart.
I had started playing sports to fit in and have fun with friends, but even here, my talent became a shackle.
Still, baseball and the Baseball Club were manageable enough through middle school.
Fortunately, I had no rough edges in my personality, and both the Coach and Director liked me.
‘The real problem came in high school.’
Kang Hae-soo enrolled in a high school famous as a baseball powerhouse.
At that time, my average fastball velocity was 138km/h.
My velocity was steadily increasing, and my control was flawless.
On top of that, the irreplaceable advantage of being left-handed.
“Hae-soo, you are the future of Korean baseball.”
On the first day of the Baseball Club.
The Director called me forward in front of all the seniors and juniors and spoke.
All eyes turned toward me, and I instinctively realized something was wrong.
“First-year students, assemble.”
The seniors, whose atmosphere was clearly unwelcoming, gathered the newcomers in the Club Room.
And there….
“Everyone, drop and give me push-ups.”
Beverage trickling down cheeks, cold and piercing eyes scanning entire bodies.
The physical punishment between seniors and juniors unique to sports clubs that I’d only heard about in rumors… the hazing had begun.
* * *
Kang Hae-soo enumerated the physical punishments he’d endured during high school.
Even I, who had experienced countless things across dozens of regressions, couldn’t help but furrow my brow.
“At first, it was bearable.”
But Kang Hae-soo continued matter-of-factly.
“I thought the seniors had their own circumstances.”
No matter how much he practiced, his fastball velocity wouldn’t improve and his control remained unstable.
To make it to the pros, he had to prove his skills somehow, but newly enrolled juniors were starting to take his spot.
‘Will I even make it to the pros? What if I don’t? Baseball is all I know how to do. How am I supposed to survive after this?’
Stress reached its peak, and the juniors became unbearably irritating.
Since I’m not going to make it to the pros anyway, wouldn’t it be fine to knock down that arrogant junior’s pride a bit?
“That’s not even funny….”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, never mind…. Just finish what you were saying.”
I waved my hand at Kang Hae-soo, who tilted his head in confusion.
I’d tried to hold back, but it was harder than expected.
“Anyway, when Coach found out about the seniors’ hazing… he said it was something common at any school.”
Kang Hae-soo was a good and sincere student.
He believed Coach’s words so firmly that he never once doubted them, even though they weren’t credible to anyone else.
“Coach said: if you make it to the pros, everything will be resolved. Once you reach the pros, your skills will be recognized and you’ll earn plenty of money. So just endure a little longer….”
Kang Hae-soo murmured, recalling Coach’s words.
“But then I suddenly thought: I don’t really want to become a pro.”
Kang Hae-soo had started baseball to fit in with his friends.
But greedy adults had blinded his eyes and brainwashed him into believing he absolutely had to go pro.
“Thinking this way, I suddenly felt sorry toward my seniors and friends. They were all working hard because they wanted to go pro… but could I really continue playing baseball with such a half-hearted resolve?”
So Kang Hae-soo quit baseball.
The Director and Coach tried to stop him, but Kang Hae-soo wouldn’t budge.
He had no lingering attachment to baseball.
‘What are you going to do for a living later? You should think about your parents who believed in you and supported you all this time. What else are you even good at besides baseball?’
When Kang Hae-soo showed no signs of backing down, the Director, growing impatient, began hurling abuse.
But Kang Hae-soo didn’t consider the Director’s words abusive.
Just as the Director said, Kang Hae-soo wasn’t particularly good at anything besides sports.
“That’s when… I remembered a business card I’d received while walking down the Street.”
It was a business card from an Entertainment Agency that, while not large in scale, had produced a first-tier Female Idol Group.
‘Right now our Entertainment Agency is preparing a new male idol group. If you’re interested, definitely reach out to us!’
Idol, idol….
Kang Hae-soo stared at the creased business card, lost in thought.
“At the time, I didn’t know much about the Idol Industry… but I vaguely felt like I wanted to try it once.”
I didn’t know why I felt that way.
Maybe it was because the idols I’d seen on Television once or twice looked so dazzling and happy.
But more importantly, the fact was that Kang Hae-soo needed an excuse to quit baseball.
“So I told the Coach that I was going to pursue the Idol Industry. He was naturally shocked. He was furious, asking how I could abandon baseball just to become some mere entertainer….”
Despite the opposition and dissuasion of countless people, Kang Hae-soo quit baseball.
And he went to the Entertainment Agency that had given him the business card and began his life as a trainee.
“The trainee life I started by running away turned out to suit me unexpectedly well.”
Of course, here too, limited opportunities were taken and lost in the same way.
But even Kang Hae-soo, who had been a celebrity since Middle School, was just one of many trainees in this place.
That fact made Kang Hae-soo incredibly happy.
Dancing and singing were unfamiliar and difficult, but precisely because they weren’t easy, they were all the more enjoyable.
I came to understand how precious and valuable the achievements earned through hard work truly were.
“The people at the Entertainment Agency and the senior trainees I practiced with were all good people.”
Kang Hae-soo thought to himself.
He wanted to debut with these people, in a place where these people existed….
But unfortunately, Kang Hae-soo never debuted.
The only Female Idol Group that had been bringing in money disbanded, and all the problems that had been barely held together until now erupted simultaneously.
“In the end, the Entertainment Agency went out of business, and the trainees scattered in all directions.”
The senior trainees I’d been close with said they were quitting the Idol Industry.
They were too old to join another Entertainment Agency and start from scratch.
Kang Hae-soo tried to follow the senior trainees and find another path forward.
If only the senior trainees hadn’t stopped him.
“They said to me: how could a young kid like you give up so easily?”
They said that since I was young and talented, I could debut anywhere I went.
Kang Hae-soo hesitated.
The trainee life had been enjoyable.
But I wondered if it was really okay to keep dreaming of the Idol Industry just because it was fun.
“Of course it’s okay.”
Unable to hold back any longer, I interjected.
Kang Hae-soo said that unlike sports, his dancing and singing weren’t bad, but they weren’t particularly good either—just average.
But my thoughts were slightly different.
‘He finds that tedious and grueling trainee life enjoyable?’
Talent cannot overcome effort, and effort cannot overcome enjoyment.
Kang Hae-soo was the one who enjoyed it.
If Kang Hae-soo, who even enjoyed the difficult trainee life, were to debut….
If he came to know the joy of being loved by fans and recognized by the public….
“You will absolutely come to love being an Idol.”
This wasn’t a guess or assumption—it was certainty, a prophecy.

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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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