The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 99

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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 (99)
Flicker, flicker.
My blurred vision gradually sharpened into focus.
A familiar status window hovered before my eyes.
[Basic Stats
Vocal: A
Dance: A-
Appearance: A-
Charm: S-]
Flicker, flicker.
As I slowly closed and opened my eyes, the status window shifted slightly.
Startled, I carefully examined the altered window.
[Basic Stats
Strength: S+
Agility: S+
Stamina: S+]
[Additional Stats
Intelligence: S+
Mana: S+
Luck: EX]
Strength, agility, stamina? This isn’t some RPG game. What are these additional stats?
But all these stats are dazzling. There’s not a single stat that isn’t S+. And luck is EX-grade.
‘Whose status window is this?’
I lay there dumbfounded, staring blankly at this unfamiliar status window.
My body felt utterly devoid of strength.
“Kekeke….”
Then I heard laughter—whose, I couldn’t tell.
It was a laugh so sinister and ominous that it sent chills down my spine.
With trembling arms, I barely managed to raise my upper body and slowly surveyed my surroundings.
The sky was shrouded in dark clouds, and the ground was littered with the debris of collapsed buildings as if a tempest had swept through.
“…Hero from Korea.”
I turned my head toward the source of the voice.
There lay a colossal figure—easily three meters tall.
‘A person… right?’
I used a long sword lying on the ground to support myself as I stood, then staggered toward the fallen figure.
The creature before me didn’t look human—not really.
Its height and build were gigantic, its skin devoid of any color, and horns protruded from its head.
“Do you think this is all over?”
Blood pooled beneath the fallen creature in a massive puddle.
Despite losing so much blood, it was still alive. Definitely not human.
“I, Asmodeus, shall never perish. I will return and exact my vengeance upon the human who has reduced me to such wretchedness!”
The entity that was not human referred to itself as Asmodeus.
Asmodeus… it sounded exactly like the name of a final boss from an RPG game.
Wait, could this actually be that kind of setting?
“A Demon King…?”
“Yes. I am the Demon King, Asmodeus.”
It was real….
So that makes me the hero who vanquished the Demon King?
I haven’t played an RPG game since early elementary school—so why do I keep having dreams like this?
“Hero from Korea, look around you. You have protected nothing. I have fallen, yet you have not achieved victory.”
The Demon King began hurling curses at me.
“You always spoke of wanting to return home. But wherever you go, misfortune will follow.”
As I listened to the Demon King’s curse in silence, my stomach churned unbearably.
I gazed down at the long sword supporting my body.
“Misfortune will consume you, and you will fail to protect anything once more! You are a hero who summons calamity.”
“Shut up.”
I drove the long sword I held aloft straight into the Demon King’s chest.
The Demon King, who had been sneering at me with a chuckle, began to shriek.
“Gaaahhh! Ugh, guh… hack, hack hack….”
No, it wasn’t a shriek.
Even with the long sword piercing through his chest, the Demon King never lost his laughter.
Then, behind the king, a massive black circle appeared like a black hole. It was a Gate.
“Damn it…!”
I instinctively fled from the Gate.
But instead of spewing monsters, the Gate pulled at me with tremendous force.
“Hero who protected nothing! Hero who summons misfortune! I shall return, and your calamity shall repeat itself!”
The Demon King’s chilling laughter grew increasingly distant.
My body was swallowed by the Gate. My vision turned black.
* * *
Tick, tick.
The sound of a clock woke me. As I slowly opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
“Where am I….”
This isn’t my home.
An unfamiliar bed and blanket, an unfamiliar room, and….
“Yoo Sung…? Oh, wait, Okada’s here too. What, Lee Jae’s here as well?”
Familiar faces huddled together around me, sleeping soundly.
One, two, three… six.
Six members who would debut together through the Guild were crammed into a small room that appeared to be about sixty square meters.
“What, you’re awake?”
Yoo Sung, who had been sleeping leaning against the nightstand beside the bed, opened his eyes.
“Yeah. But where is this?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? It’s the Dormitory, our Dormitory.”
Ah, the Dormitory.
Yoo Sung rose from his seat and gestured toward me.
“Let’s head out for now. Everyone’s still sleeping.”
“Oh, okay.”
I followed Yoo Sung into the Living Room.
Our Dormitory was an Apartment of roughly 1,300 square feet. I wandered about, taking in the sights of our new home.
One large Room that resembled a master bedroom, and two smaller Rooms.
The Living Room and Kitchen were spacious as well, and the overall interior appeared freshly renovated and immaculate.
“Not bad at all.”
After finishing my inspection, I returned to the Living Room and settled onto the Sofa.
Yoo Sung handed me a cool glass of water.
“Thanks.”
“If you’re grateful, then take care of yourself. Do you have any idea how shocked we all were when you suddenly collapsed?”
“I… I’m sorry.”
“We had to sneak you to the Hospital to avoid the public eye, and the traffic was absolutely brutal. You owe me a meal, seriously.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Yoo Sung explained what had happened after the Broadcast ended.
Just before I lost consciousness, Seo Ijae, who had been holding me close, immediately sensed that something was gravely wrong with my condition.
My body had gone limp and heavy, and I wasn’t responding when he called my name. Mindful of the cameras, Seo Ijae quickly sent an SOS signal to the other members with just a glance.
Thanks to the quick-witted members forming a human barrier with their bodies, I was able to descend from the Stage undetected.
The Staff Member who discovered me unconscious was startled and immediately put me in his car, rushing straight to the Hospital.
“What did the Hospital say?”
“Fainting due to overwork. There were signs of dehydration too, and my nutritional status wasn’t good either.”
Yoo Sung’s eyes narrowed into slits.
I had nothing to say.
“Hmm… I see.”
“Kim Chowol.”
“Yeah?”
“I know how badly you wanted to debut. I know that, but….”
Yoo Sung exhaled a long sigh and continued.
He seemed to have much more to say, but was deliberately holding back.
“Still, from now on, take care of your health while you’re at it. There’s no rush anymore, right?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“Everyone was so worried. Even though there are three Rooms, they insisted on staying in that tiny Room next to yours… Ugh.”
Yet despite his grumbling, Yoo Sung stayed by my side until I woke up.
I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Anyway, that’s that. We’re filming a variety show.”
“A variety show? All of a sudden?”
Yoo Sung nodded.
“While you were sleeping, the Manager came by to brief you on the schedule. Apparently, we’ll be filming variety shows alongside our debut preparations.”
“That’s…”
Is that even physically possible with the schedule?
We’d have to practice, record, shoot music videos—there’s a mountain of work waiting.
“He gave us a list, so check it out. He said to divide it into three groups of two and pick one from each.”
Yoo Sung handed me a stack of A4 papers.
They were all terrestrial broadcasts and YouTube variety shows I’d heard of by name alone.
It seemed like solicitation requests had poured in from all over the place.
Given the buzz surrounding an EX-grade K-POP Idol, it was only natural.
“And we’re doing a live broadcast too.”
“A live broadcast?”
“Not right away. Maybe next week or the week after.”
“What do we do on the live broadcast?”
“We decide on the fandom name, pick a Leader, announce the debut date, and if there’s anything else we want to do, we should just say so.”
Hmm.
As I listened to Yoo Sung’s explanation, I felt a sense of unease.
Appearing on variety shows isn’t bad. Live broadcasts are something every idol group does.
But… why do I keep feeling this nagging discomfort?
“He also mentioned they’re planning separate content, but he didn’t go into detail about that.”
They’ve decided to milk us for all we’re worth.
It’s better than being left to rot without a plan, but still—dragging us through schedules and working us hard.
“This is going to be busy.”
But Yoo Sung just shrugged his shoulders.
His attitude suggested that no matter how busy it got, we’d handle being an EX-grade K-POP Idol.
‘Let me start by checking the list.’
I went through the variety show list Yoo Sung had given me one by one.
From long-running variety shows that had been on air for years, to YouTube variety shows that consistently hit at least a million views and sometimes reached ten million, to original content produced by OTT platforms.
‘I should probably appear on “Let’s Eat Well and Live Well,” right?’
It was the YouTube variety show with the most buzz on the list.
A young male host invites guests to eat, drink, and chat. The host’s conversational skills are so sharp that even long videos pull in solid viewership numbers.
A video uploaded a week ago had already surpassed five million views, which says everything.
But there was one thing that bothered me.
“I heard they’re picky about choosing guests.”
“You mean ‘Let’s Eat Well and Live Well’?”
“Yeah.”
“The Manager mentioned it—apparently the host’s sister is a fan of ours. More specifically, a Han Theo fan. She wanted to get an autograph.”
“Ah…”
Well, if that’s the case, then.
I nodded and moved on to check the next variety show.
“‘Favorite Investigation Life’ doesn’t look bad either.”
Favorite Investigation Life was originally a terrestrial broadcast program that had moved to YouTube—an entertainment show exclusively for idols.
When it moved to YouTube, everything from the host to the production staff changed, so some people questioned whether it was really the same program in name only.
But since it had done better after moving to YouTube, there was nothing to complain about.
“This one looks decent too? ‘Starting Today 1 Day.'”
From the title alone, it looked like some kind of dating entertainment program, but it was actually a wholesome show where people learned something new.
It was an entertainment program produced by an OTT platform, still in the planning stages, and it seemed they wanted to recruit our members as the first guests.
‘There’s the risk of being the first guests, but the concept itself looks solid.’
Since all of these were such good entertainment options, my deliberation only deepened.
That’s when I spotted a familiar name lower on the list.
“This is….”
This show is still airing?
Startled, I widened my eyes. But no matter how many times I looked at it, it was definitely the entertainment program I knew.
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention.”
As the name suggested, it was an entertainment show where people made audiences laugh through physical comedy.

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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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