The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 66

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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 (66)
The team for the fourth main Quest had been decided.
“Should we start with introductions?”
I glanced across at my new teammates as I spoke.
The person sitting across from me waved their hand languidly.
“Want me to go first? My name is Jung Yoo-yeol. I’m twenty-two. You’re all younger than me, right? Just call me hyung.”
I massaged my throbbing temples gently, swallowing back a sigh.
I’d ended up on the same team as Jung Yoo-yeol after all.
It was a choice made under duress, but thinking it through slowly, it wasn’t entirely unfavorable.
‘Jung Yoo-yeol’s ranking is twenty-second.’
It was neither top-tier nor bottom-tier—precisely middling.
And regardless of personality, I could at least trust his abilities….
“I’m Lee Hyun-soo. I’m eighteen years old. I’m confident in dancing and rapping. Please take care of me.”
The next teammate was Lee Hyun-soo, whose name I knew but little else.
Thanks to repeated regressions, I’d retained most of the trainees’ names and notable characteristics.
But EX-Grade K-POP Idol was a massive program featuring a hundred trainees.
Even as someone who’d regressed, there were inevitably unfamiliar faces among them.
‘Lee Hyun-soo was definitely from LMH, wasn’t he?’
He was the trainee who’d been with Yoo Sung during the stat evaluation stage at LMH.
His skills were solid, and he’d made almost no mistakes on stage.
‘But that was the extent of it.’
His abilities were competent but nowhere near as exceptional as Yoo Sung’s.
He had no particular narrative or character appeal, nothing that made him stand out from the rest.
At his current ranking of fifty-five, even surviving to the live broadcast stage would be difficult.
‘But for this main Quest team, there’s no one more suitable than Lee Hyun-soo.’
What I needed right now was a teammate who was solid in skill, personality, and ranking alike.
Since our team had inadvertently accumulated too many standouts, I desperately needed someone as reliably ordinary as Lee Hyun-soo.
“Hello, I’m Han Theo.”
“Oh, I’m Okada Hiro!”
The fourth main Quest team consisted of me, Han Theo, Okada, Jung Yoo-yeol, and Lee Hyun-soo.
Notably, my ranking, Han Theo’s, and Okada’s were third, second, and ninth respectively—all single digits.
It was a team composition that would stand out whether we wanted it to or not.
“Now that introductions are done… shall we begin?”
I checked the sample track and reference audio the MC had mentioned using the Tablet distributed to each team.
No matter how far I scrolled, there seemed to be no end.
The expressions of Okada and Lee Hyun-soo, who were looking at the Tablet with me, darkened.
“There’s… way too much….”
It was a case of excess becoming a burden.
Too few reference materials was problematic, but too many was equally troublesome.
Especially in a time-limited situation like this.
“Should we start by deciding on the center position?”
Lee Hyun-soo, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of sample tracks and reference songs, offered the suggestion cautiously.
Honestly, it would have been better to establish the concept or theme first….
“Sounds good.”
“That’s not a bad idea either.”
The other team members nodded in agreement.
They all seemed too daunted to even attempt reviewing all those sample tracks and reference songs.
“So, who wants to be the center?”
When I asked, the other team members clamped their mouths shut.
I was taken aback.
‘What’s with this? They did the same thing during the last main Quest… Why does everyone suddenly go silent whenever the center position comes up?’
It wasn’t as if they were holding back out of consideration for others’ feelings.
They simply seemed to have no particular interest in the center position.
“Chowol, would you do it?”
Jung Yoo-yeol, who had been smiling meaningfully this whole time, finally spoke up.
What was he scheming?
“I’m a little….”
With the camera rolling, I couldn’t openly show my suspicion.
I laughed awkwardly and trailed off.
“Why not? You’ve never tried center before. It’d definitely be fun, right?”
“Well….”
Who does the center position for fun?
Everyone does it because they’re desperate to debut, willing to try anything.
“Yeah, Chowol would be great at center.”
“I think it would be nice if Chowol hyung did it too.”
Han Theo and Okada nodded, lending their support to Jung Yoo-yeol’s opinion.
Unfortunately, only Lee Hyun-soo seemed unable to follow the current situation.
Actually, to be honest, Lee Hyun-soo was the normal one.
The other three trying to push the center position onto someone else—they were the abnormal ones….
“I need to prepare for a cover stage performance.”
But I had an excellent excuse.
Those three who were so eager to make me the center would be disappointed.
Though it wasn’t really an excuse.
I genuinely couldn’t do center because of the cover stage performance.
“A cover stage performance?”
“I received it as a Sub Quest MVP reward. It’s called ‘With the Judges.'”
“Ah… there was a reward like that?”
Jung Yoo-yeol tilted his head slightly, his gaze lingering in empty space for a moment.
What event had Jung Yoo-yeol participated in?
The fact that I couldn’t recall immediately suggested he hadn’t made any particularly impressive contributions.
‘Anyway, with this, they’ll understand why I can’t take the center position….’
But Jung Yoo-yeol proved to be a tougher opponent than I’d anticipated.
“Why can’t you do both?”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re doing a cover stage, does that mean you can’t be center? Did the Female PD tell you not to?”
“That’s not exactly it.”
Lost for words, I clamped my mouth shut and awkwardly averted my gaze.
When he puts it that way, I have nothing to say.
An uncomfortable silence descended. Jung Yoo-yeol studied me intently.
“I understand your hesitation about taking center.”
Huh?
Jung Yoo-yeol, who had been subtly pressuring me until just moments ago, suddenly shifted his approach.
“You’re worried that trying to catch two rabbits will result in catching neither.”
Jung Yoo-yeol was right.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the cover stage, I would have seriously considered taking center.
But unlike previous rounds, with my current stats, it would be difficult to execute both the center position and the cover stage flawlessly.
Since I’ve already committed to the cover stage, I should do it properly.
“It can’t be helped. Let someone else besides me take center.”
Jung Yoo-yeol ultimately backed down first.
But an uneasy feeling lingered within me.
I couldn’t fathom what Jung Yoo-yeol was truly thinking.
“Then, since no one wants to take center right now… shall we start by deciding on a concept and theme?”
I quickly steered the conversation forward.
In K-POP and Idol Survival Audition Programs, a strong concept and theme are half the battle.
“Once we nail down the concept and theme, we’ll be able to pick sample tracks and reference songs in no time.”
I pulled out an A4 sheet of paper and a pen I’d brought separately, laying them on the floor.
“Does anyone have a concept or theme in mind?”
“I’m not sure about concepts or themes, but… what if we aim for easy listening?”
Lee Hyun-soo, who had been reading the room carefully until now, cautiously offered his opinion.
“Easy listening isn’t bad. It’s trendy right now. If we set the concept and theme to refreshing or high-teen vibes, that could work well.”
I nodded and wrote words like “easy listening,” “refreshing,” and “high-teen” on the A4 paper.
Lee Hyun-soo’s expression noticeably relaxed.
“Does anyone have other opinions?”
As I looked around at my teammates, they began offering their thoughts one by one.
“Refreshing or high-teen vibes might come across as a bit lightweight, don’t you think? I think a heavier, more intense feeling could work well too.”
“But we have two minors on our team—wouldn’t heavy and intense be difficult?”
“Then what if we try to incorporate both directions? For example, what about a dreamy, ethereal feeling?”
“Ethereal is good, right? If we go with pastel or purple-toned colors for the visuals and choreograph soft, flowing movements, that could work nicely.”
“Ethereal isn’t bad, but wouldn’t it be too difficult for us to pull off? What about retro instead?”
“Retro works too. Instead of pure nostalgia, if we blend in a modern sensibility and go for a new retro vibe, it would feel fresh and good.”
We exchanged opinions in a comfortable and composed atmosphere.
I listened intently to my teammates’ thoughts with a serious expression, occasionally interjecting with my own views when appropriate.
While laughing and chatting together wasn’t bad, I found this kind of atmosphere more reassuring.
“What about you?”
“I think….”
Okada suddenly turned to me and asked.
She seemed to have noticed that I wasn’t actively voicing my opinions.
“I think a somewhat unique and distinctive concept or theme would be good.”
“Unique and distinctive?”
“Yeah. Something like horror or Korean-style aesthetics.”
“I’m not against it. But is there a particular reason you want to do it?”
Jung Yoo-yeol was the first to nod and ask.
He seemed oddly pleased, which caught my attention for some reason.
‘A reason? Well….’
In truth, unique and distinctive concepts are a double-edged sword.
If executed well, they’re unbeatable, but one misstep and they become cringeworthy disasters that make you want to hide.
So what’s needed to pull off a unique and distinctive concept?
‘Skill. The kind of overwhelming skill that crushes anything juvenile or awkward.’
I glanced across my teammates’ faces.
Okada, Han Theo, Jung Yoo-yeol, Lee Hyun-soo….
I judged that they all possessed the skill to handle even somewhat excessive concepts and themes.
Especially Jung Yoo-yeol….
“You don’t have confidence?”
I asked Jung Yoo-yeol with a playful smile.
“Both vocals and dance… they’re all people I can trust.”
Of course, my own skill is a bit… hard to trust.
But I’ll set that aside for now since I have my reasons.
“I’m sure you’ll all do great.”
My teammates seemed slightly taken aback, as if they hadn’t expected that answer.
But I paid them no mind and spoke to Jung Yoo-yeol, who had been smiling meaningfully this whole time.
“I trust you too, Yoo-yeol.”
As a person, Jung Yoo-yeol wasn’t particularly trustworthy, but his skill was beyond question.
‘There’s a trainee who turned down a Top 3 Entertainment Companies debut position and joined a Small Entertainment Agency instead.’
Joining an Entertainment Agency was a wall difficult to overcome with ordinary talent and effort, and making it into a debut team afterward was even harder.
But this wasn’t just any Entertainment Agency….
The fact that someone had entered the Top 3 Entertainment Companies one after another, turned down every debut position, and left was honestly beyond common sense.
‘But the moment Jung Yoo-yeol steps on stage, all these questions disappear.’
I checked Jung Yoo-yeol’s stat window.
The stat window I hadn’t been able to check when Jung Yoo-yeol first became my teammate because I was too flustered.
[Name: Jung Yoo-yeol
Age: 22]
[Basic Stats
Vocal: S-
Dance: B-
Visuals: A
Charisma: B+]
Jung Yoo-yeol was that elusive main vocalist everyone sought after.
Not merely a main vocalist, but someone all three of the Top 3 Entertainment Companies coveted, desperately trying to claim for themselves….
‘The main vocalist with undeniable visuals.’
This was precisely why Jung Yoo-yeol, who had rejected the debut lineups of all three Top 3 Entertainment Companies, could appear on EX-Grade K-POP Idol.

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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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