The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 23

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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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Chapter 23
‘No, wait. Realistically speaking, isn’t starting in the top 10 way too harsh? I got completely edited out of Episode 1.’
[It depends on how you approach it, Cha Si-woo.]
‘You have quite a lot of faith in me.’
[OO]
“I hope you all survive by placing within the final top 50. Good luck to all our trainees.”
I walked toward where Vocal Team 2 had gathered, clutching the album “The Moment I First Saw You” in my hand.
“Vocal Team 2! Vocal Team 2!!”
“It’s our team representative who came in first in the running race!”
It was a triumphant return.
‘I’ve never experienced such a welcome in my life.’
Vocal Team 2’s initial atmosphere was excellent, buoyed by the success of securing the song we wanted.
I waved the album “The Moment I First Saw You” while wearing a professional smile.
“Thank you for the warm welcome.”
“Seriously, our Vocal Team 2 really picked a great representative.”
“That’s right.”
…
‘This harmonious atmosphere feels good.’
I gave the team a brief moment to savor the joy, knowing it would boost their morale.
“We only have two weeks, so should we start practicing right now?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s listen to the original first and decide on the arrangement direction.”
“Sounds good!”
I opened the music app and played the audio for “The Moment I First Saw You.”
Gentle piano melodies flowed from my phone speaker as the accompaniment.
As strings gradually layered into the backing track, the music became increasingly rich and textured.
As I focused on the song, matching the rhythm and pitch, a soft voice resonated through the room.
Through the passing seasons
You came quietly to me
Without a single word spoken
My heart remembered you first
As the song progressed toward the latter half, the melody intensified.
It was a classic traditional ballad structure, with an emotional climax building at the bridge section.
Too vivid to call it a fleeting encounter
That first scene keeps me alive
“…!”
“Wow. The notes are really high.”
“The bridge section gave me chills.”
The trainees let out exclamations of admiration.
After listening through the second verse and chorus, the trainees’ expressions turned resolute.
“Your song choice is really wonderful!”
“It’s definitely a piece that showcases vocal elements beautifully, so I’m getting ambitious about it.”
“You really made an excellent song selection.”
‘If I perform well, I can definitely establish solid vocal recognition.’
Watching the Vocal Team 2 Trainees exchange their impressions, I pulled over a whiteboard that was nearby.
‘Still, as the Team Representative, I need to show active leadership.’
The moment I set up the whiteboard in front of my teammates, all eyes turned toward it at once.
I wrote “Vocal Team 2” in large letters with a marker on the freshly cleaned whiteboard.
“Is there a particular arrangement direction you’d like?”
“The current song is great, but I’d love to transform it into something stylish and idol-like!”
“It’s a vocal-focused song, but I think adding intense choreography would be amazing.”
I wrote down each team member’s opinion on the whiteboard one by one.
Just then, as if he’d been waiting, Rua raised his hand.
“I want to change the ‘boom-boom’ rhythm into something more ‘thump-thump-thump-thump.'”
“…?”
“Hmm.”
‘What is he talking about?’
I forced a professional smile while looking at the camera’s red light.
“Rua, could you explain that in a bit more detail?”
“Hold on.”
Rua glanced around before walking toward the electronic piano in the corner.
“Listen to this.”
Rua sat down at the bench.
His long fingers glided smoothly across the keys, and a crystalline piano melody rippled outward like gentle waves.
At first, the familiar notes of “The Moment I First Saw You” emerged, but the tempo gradually accelerated.
“…!”
Rua’s fingers danced across the keyboard.
The melody flowing from his fingertips infused the original ballad with a cheerful brightness, touching something deep within my heart with its luminous transformation.
His picturesque form made the entire scene feel almost surreal.
‘So this is the genius I’ve only heard about.’
I’d never experienced a piano melody quite so captivating in my entire life.
‘Did he really just describe that ear-melting melody as “thump-thump-thump-thump” a moment ago…?’
Mesmerized by the cinematic scene that suddenly unfolded, everyone gazed at Rua with entranced eyes.
Beyond his technical skill, his charisma—rated B-grade—possessed a subtle magnetism that drew people in.
Rua lifted his head, ending the short performance.
“Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Wow. Rua, your piano playing is really impressive.”
The Vocal Team 2 members nodded their heads as if under a spell.
Even I, who know little about music, could tell it was absolutely magnificent.
“That sounds good.”
Rua’s eyes widened slightly as he flashed a bright smile.
“Oh! I got approval from Si-woo’s younger sibling too!”
‘It’s not because you like me, you idiot. It’s because you like the song.’
“What if we go with the arrangement direction you mentioned, Rua—that thump-thump-thump feeling?”
“Sounds good.”
“Honestly, I don’t think we’ll come up with anything better than this.”
“Then we’ll go with thump-thump-thump for Vocal Team 2’s arrangement.”
I wrote “thump-thump-thump” on the whiteboard for the arrangement.
The meeting continued.
“Next, let’s decide on the parts.”
The Star Picking 5 Audition Program’s Position Mission required seven trainees to divide and sing a single song that was about four minutes long.
In a four-minute song, excluding the intro and interlude, the actual singing time was roughly between two minutes thirty seconds and three minutes thirty seconds.
For the song “The Moment I First Saw You,” the calculation showed a total of 210 seconds available.
That meant roughly 30 seconds per person.
During those 30 seconds, to stand out and differentiate oneself from the other trainees, how the parts were divided was incredibly important.
“With so many people, let’s divide it up carefully and decide.”
“We can split it into intro, verse, bridge, chorus, and outro.”
“Let’s decide the most important chorus part first!”
The warm atmosphere vanished, replaced by sharp, predatory gazes exchanged back and forth.
Gathering vocal position trainees to decide on the chorus was essentially setting up a battle.
“I’m really confident about the chorus part.”
“Me too. I’m pretty good with high notes.”
‘This is exactly the kind of drama the production team wants to see.’
As the voices grew louder, I tapped the whiteboard once.
“So, who wants to do the chorus part?”
The trainees all looked up simultaneously.
The moment their eyes met, smiles played on their lips, but their gazes burned with fierce competition.
“Me.”
“Me too!”
Most of the Vocal Team 2 trainees raised their hands.
“Hmm.”
‘Just as I expected.’
“There are quite a lot of applicants, as expected.”
“It’s actually good that Vocal Team 2 has so much ambition, right?”
Of course, I had my hand raised as well.
“Are you applying too, Representative?”
“The Team Representative is going for it too—you’re quite ambitious.”
Cautionary remarks flew from various directions, spoken as if in jest.
‘These jabs are almost cute compared to what I’m used to.’
I put on a professional smile.
“If you’re an idol aspiring to a vocal position, you absolutely have to give it a try.”
At first, I worried it might come across as greedy for screen time, but I quickly made the decision to go for the chorus part.
‘Completing the Quest is more important than my image.’
Taking the initiative from the start was a double-edged sword.
There was a risk of being seen as greedy or arrogant, but there was also a good chance of earning praise for being hardworking and proactive.
In situations like this, I decided it was better to be aggressive from the beginning and push forward with an image of leading like a true leader.
And thinking about the sub-Quest I’d been given now, this was the right call.
‘To make it into the top ten, I absolutely need to score well with the live voting and the Judge Panel.’
Since it was early in the broadcast, viewer votes were easily swayed by screen time and recognition.
With Episode 1 completely cut and only preview footage of me aired, I was in a significantly disadvantaged position.
My goal was to secure a safe spot by earning high scores from the live voting and the Judge Panel.
“Since I spent a long time as a trainee, I’m confident in my vocal abilities.”
As tension filled the air, Park Soo-gyeok glanced at me sideways.
‘Look at him? Pushing with his trainee experience right now?’
“Ah… Park Soo-gyeok, you’re a fifth-year trainee, right?”
“It seems like it makes sense for someone with more seniority to do it.”
The trainees on either side of Park Soo-gyeok, who had their hands raised, lowered them as they read the room.
‘What’s with all this talk about seniority from a trainee?’
Still, there were a few admirable trainees who stubbornly kept their hands raised.
“How about we have each person sing the chorus part one by one and decide fairly through voting?”
What matters more than seniority? Skill, that’s what.
‘Let’s compete based on ability.’
At my words about dropping rank and competing fairly, the corners of Park Soo-gyeok’s mouth twitched.
I could almost hear the Production Team loving this.
“YES. This sounds fun!”
Rua, who had been laughing out loud, answered first.
Several trainees quickly nodded in agreement.
“I agree too.”
“Since it’s a team mission, it makes sense for the best person to do it so everyone benefits!”
For any trainee aspiring to a vocal position, ambition for the chorus part was inevitable.
Once I laid the groundwork, the Vocal Team 2 Trainees enthusiastically agreed.
“Then let’s do this fairly, one person at a time.”
Rua, who was standing on the far right, quickly raised his hand.
“I’ll go first!”
As the chorus MR played, Rua’s sweet voice resonated through the room.
The moment I first saw you
I thought time had stopped
Desperately breathless
I called out to you again and again
The chorus section flowed smoothly in perfect pitch and rhythm—a masterclass in clarity itself.
“Wow~”
“Rua, you’re really talented.”
“Did you butter your throat or something?”
‘A Vocal stat of B really does make a difference.’
“Thank you!”
With Rua’s bright smile as the closing note, the trainees began taking turns singing the chorus section.
I forced a professional smile as the red camera light blinked on, dutifully becoming an applause machine.
When Park Soo-gyeok’s turn finally arrived, every trainee’s gaze fixed on him.
‘Let’s see how good he really is.’
“Then I’ll begin.”
Park Soo-gyeok gripped his fist around an imaginary microphone, his expression serious as he channeled his emotions and lifted the hand mic.
The moment I first saw you
I thought time itself had stopped
The high note section of the first chorus barely scraped by.
Could you possibly feel the same way…?!
At what could only be called the ultra-high note section, a crack finally split through his voice.
“…”
“..Pfft.”
Several trainees who had been concentrating urgently covered their mouths.
Honestly, it was so absurd I wanted to laugh.
‘Remembering how he bulldozed through with seniority earlier makes it even funnier.’
I’d bet every eyebrow hair on my head that this scene makes it into the broadcast.
Park Soo-gyeok, his expression visibly contorted, sang the final part of the chorus.
Like destiny itself, we began this journey together~~~.
‘Is that a sheep?’
A trembling sound too embarrassing to even call vibrato echoed through the room.

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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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