The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 85

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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 (85)
Yoo Sung answered the phone with a reluctant expression.
“Hello?”
[“Hey, this is Sung-i, right?”]
“You’ve got the wrong number.”
[“What? That can’t be right. It’s definitely you, Sung-i. My younger brother Sung-i, Yoo Sung!”]
Even without switching to speakerphone, the voice came through remarkably clear.
Yoo Sung answered with his eyes squeezed shut.
“Why are you calling?”
[“It really is my brother Sung-i, isn’t it? Sung, I’m watching you right now!”]
“What? What are you talking about?”
[“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be on TV?”]
[“What, a handsome bachelor brother on TV? Let me see too!”]
Through the phone speaker came a cacophony of noise and another person’s voice.
It seemed Yoo Sung’s Older Brother was somewhere crowded.
[“Hey, hyung. I’ve been telling you since earlier. Did you just see it? That handsome guy who appeared a moment ago—that’s my younger brother.”]
“Wow, I don’t know whose brother he is, but he’s incredibly good-looking!”]
[“Haha, right? He’s my brother. He’s my brother!”]
Yoo Sung’s Older Brother began chatting naturally with the other person.
A flustered Yoo Sung interjected urgently.
“W-who is that?”
[“Ah, someone I met while eating today. It’s market day, so I came down to the village after a long time.”]
“M-market day? You came down to the village?”
[“Yeah, I usually spend most of my time in the mountains. Anyway, never mind that—Sung-i, you should’ve told me if you were going to be on TV!”]
His older brother dismissed Yoo Sung’s words lightly and turned the tables on him.
Yoo Sung was so dumbfounded that he momentarily lost for words.
“I did tell you… I said I was filming.”
[“You said you were filming, but you never said you’d be on TV!”]
“I definitely even told you the program name.”
[“Oh, th-th-th, E-Grade Idol Hunter? That was the program you were appearing on? I thought it was some novel title.”]
“Sigh…”
Yoo Sung pressed his forehead and let out a deep breath.
[“Anyway… I was a bit shocked. While I’ve been adventuring around Korea, my younger brother became famous.”]
[“Bachelor, is that really the handsome bachelor on TV your younger brother?”]
[“That’s right! Look carefully. Don’t our faces look quite similar?”]
His older brother began conversing with the other person again.
Yoo Sung seemed to be contemplating whether to just hang up.
[“Actually, my daughter is a fan of that bachelor on TV, so I asked about it.”]
[“Really? Is your daughter here right now? I’m on the phone with Sung-i right now, so let me switch the call.”]
[“No, hyung. My opinion is…”]
Yoo Sung’s Older Brother, flustered, tried to stop him.
But there was no one in Korea who could restrain the sole Adventurer.
[“Y-yes? Is this really Yoo Sung Oppa?”]
“Ah, hello.”
[“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! It really is you! I’m such a huge fan! I even went all the way to Seoul to see your advertisement!”]
“Thank you for your support.”
Yoo Sung appeared somewhat tense, but his eyes betrayed no displeasure.
After the brief call with his fan ended, his older brother handed back the phone.
[“Wow, meeting a fan of our Sung-i even in a small town like this. I’m really lucky!”]
“Brother….”
After less than ten minutes of having his energy completely drained, Yoo Sung looked a decade older than his actual age.
[“Anyway, Sung-i, do well with the filming and I’ll always be cheering you on! If things get tough, tell me anytime. I’ll accept you as a colleague!”]
“That’s really not necessary, okay?”
[“Alright, take care. See you next time!”]
Yoo Sung’s Older Brother said what he needed to say and hung up.
Yoo Sung stared at his phone as the call-end tone played, silent for a long moment.
“Sigh….”
“Want some water?”
When I asked carefully, Yoo Sung nodded without a word.
Yoo Sung gulped down the cold water with ice cubes floating in it.
I watched him slowly catching his breath, his face exhausted, and blurted something out.
“You two seem close.”
“What?”
Yoo Sung looked at me as if bewildered.
But I meant it sincerely.
“He’s doing well. That’s what matters.”
* * *
We returned to the Filming Set and gathered in the Auditorium to prepare for the final live broadcast Stage.
“It’s finally time to reveal the fifth and final Main Quest!”
The MC’s voice echoed through the more-than-half-empty Auditorium.
Twenty trainees who had survived the final ranking announcement stood with serious expressions, gazing up at the MC on the Podium.
As the live broadcast Stage drew near, the atmosphere among the trainees shifted.
[The fifth Main Quest has arrived.]
[Main Quest: Debut]
Debut.
A brief and straightforward Quest.
“The clear condition for this Quest is simple: be chosen by ordinary citizens and debut! Please do your best preparing your Stage to clear this Quest!”
The MC continued his explanation.
“You trainees will be divided into two teams of ten each to prepare your Stages. But before we formally divide the teams!”
The MC paused for a moment.
The trainees tilted their heads in confusion, their eyes fixed on me.
“Your senior members have prepared a surprise gift for all of you. A special present for EX-Grade K-POP Idols—let’s see what it is right now!”
As I signaled to the staff, the massive Screen behind me flickered to life.
A familiar face appeared on the display.
[“Hello, this is Kim Junwoo from Nexus.”]
It was none other than Kim Junwoo, who had served as a judge alongside the trainees for the past several months.
“Wow, it’s Senior Kim Junwoo!”
“Is the senior who prepared the gift from Nexus?”
The trainees gasped in surprise at Kim Junwoo’s appearance and began whispering excitedly among themselves.
The Kim Junwoo on screen continued speaking.
[“Today, I greet you not as judge Kim Junwoo, but as Nexus’s Kim Junwoo. Thank you all for making it this far.”]
Kim Junwoo smiled warmly as he spoke.
The Kim Junwoo on screen was no longer the stern judge—he was a 15-year veteran idol, Nexus’s Kim Junwoo.
[“The surprise gift that Nexus has prepared for all of you is… a song.”]
A song!
The trainees’ eyes sparkled with excitement.
[“We created a song that will determine your fate on the final live broadcast Stage. I hope you’ll love it.”]
As Kim Junwoo finished speaking, the excited trainees erupted in cheers.
“This is insane, absolutely insane!”
“We’re going to perform a song that Senior Kim Junwoo created?”
“Wait, but there are two teams. They’re not going to have both teams perform the same song, are they?”
Then the Screen changed again.
This time, a face appeared that was familiar in an entirely different way from Kim Junwoo’s.
Porcelain-pale, luminous skin and elegantly arched brows. Beneath them, deeply set double eyelids and a gently upturned smile.
A face that commanded attention without uttering a single word.
[“Hello, this is Laira from SILK VEIL.”]
A sharp intake of breath…!
The trainees, a beat slow to comprehend the situation, gasped in unison.
“SILK VEIL? Is it really Senior Laira from SILK VEIL?”
“This is crazy. SILK VEIL is giving us a song?”
The trainees’ shock was entirely justified.
If Nexus had planted the seeds of self-produced idols, SILK VEIL had made them bloom into flowers.
With members leading the songwriting, composition, and production, they had earned recognition for setting a new standard for K-POP Idols through their unbound creativity and overwhelming stage presence.
[K-pop History Rewritten — SILK VEIL Sets a New Standard for K-pop Idols]
With a headline like that on Billboard, there was truly nothing more to say.
[“I’ve prepared a small gift for my hardworking juniors. Please accept it with joy.”]
As Laira smiled gently and tilted her head slightly, a soft gasp rippled through the trainees.
“Oh my… she’s really so beautiful.”
“Accept it with joy, accept it with joy!”
“Isn’t Senior Laira coming to the Filming Set? I want to see SILK VEIL in person…”
The trainees, conscious of the camera, whispered excitedly among themselves.
“Well then, shall we take a look at the gift our seniors have prepared for us?”
The trainees swallowed hard and gazed at the Screen with serious expressions.
As the Screen changed, the guide vocals and choreography concepts for the first song began to play.
* * *
After reviewing the guide vocals and choreography concepts for both songs, it was time to form teams.
But before that, we were given a short break.
The trainees gathered in small groups and began conversing, probing each other about which song to choose.
“Song selection goes by ranking, right? Starting with the highest-ranked trainee…”
Yoo Sung, who had approached without my noticing, asked for confirmation.
I nodded.
As the first-ranked Yoo Sung and second-ranked me, we could choose any song we wanted.
“Which song are you going with?”
“I’m….”
I paused and looked around at the trainees who were busily chattering away.
“Wasn’t SILK VEIL’s senior’s song really amazing? I’m worried everyone’s going to flock to that one.”
“Nexus’s senior’s song had incredible impact too. SILK VEIL’s senior’s song is good, but isn’t it a bit different from their usual style?”
“Maybe they worked on it differently on purpose for us? Even though the style is different, the song itself was really good.”
Certainly, both songs themselves were excellent.
There wouldn’t be much difference no matter which one I chose.
‘…That’s what everyone else is probably thinking.’
And if the song quality was similar, they’d naturally prefer SILK VEIL’s, given the prestige of the name.
But I knew something the other trainees didn’t.
“I’m going with Nexus’s senior’s song.”
“Why?”
“Well….”
How was I supposed to explain this?
After a moment of deliberation, I decided to brush it off vaguely.
“Just… I need to honor my loyalty to Kim Junwoo, senior.”
“Loyalty?”
“I owed him a debt from the special cover stage.”
“Ah… He didn’t seem like the type to care about that sort of thing.”
Yoo Sung was right.
I wasn’t choosing Nexus’s song merely out of loyalty.
The real reason I chose Nexus was….
‘SILK VEIL’s song is plagiarized.’

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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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