The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 79
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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 79
I quickly brought a soju glass to the green soju bottle he offered.
The liquor poured without hesitation, filling the glass so completely that surface tension formed on top.
“No empty glasses here, right?”
“Yes!”
“To the debut of Lucy Star Boys!”
“To the debut!”
The members, reading the mood perfectly, clinked their glasses against the PD in Charge’s.
“Ahhh~ Now that you’ve succeeded, you can’t just disappear from my show, right? You understand?”
“Of course. Whenever you call, we’ll definitely appear.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Oh? Your glass is empty? Get another one.”
The PD in Charge’s eyes were already half-glazed.
“Yes, of course.”
“Good. You’ve succeeded, after all. Tonight, we eat and drink!”
The PD laughed and pushed his glass forward again.
When I caught Kim Sun-yu’s eye with a subtle signal, I could see him discreetly filling the team members’ glasses with water.
‘I’m glad I mentioned it beforehand.’
I had given Kim Sun-yu a heads-up before the celebration dinner started.
‘Let’s fill one soju bottle with just water.’
Realistically, a newly debuted idol couldn’t easily refuse alcohol offered by broadcasting staff.
‘If someone gets drunk and causes trouble or gets caught in a scandal, that would be a problem too.’
Kim Sun-yu, quick to read situations, readily agreed.
I, however, was an exception.
Because I had never once gotten drunk at a celebration dinner until now.
‘I’m planning to cover for everyone as much as possible, but in a situation like this where everyone needs to drink, I have no choice but to use a trick or two.’
“One more! This is really the last one.”
The PD in Charge was already waving an empty glass.
“Ah, the last one is actually a lie. Haha, anyway, drink up!”
‘Fine. I’ll drink as much as needed.’
“Yes!”
Starting with the PD, the Writer, Sound Director, Makeup Artist, and many others offered congratulations and filled their glasses.
“Cheers!”
Only after more than half of the Production Staff were intoxicated did their footsteps toward our table finally stop.
“Wow. Si-woo, you’re a total drinking machine!”
“Si-woo, are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine. No one’s drunk, right?”
“Right. Thanks to you.”
“That’s a relief. We had plenty of meat, so shall we send the minors home first?”
Since filming had stretched into the late hours, it was already approaching dawn.
“Why!”
“We can have more fun here.”
I pressed down on the heads of Yoo Ho-seung and Seo Ha-yul as they protested.
“There’s nothing good about watching adults drink.”
‘With so many people getting drunk now, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone crossed the line at any moment.’
“But… still.”
“We want to go with you guys.”
The two youngest members were being stubborn.
‘Don’t you think it’s about time we slipped out?’
In that moment, my eyes met Kim Sun-yu’s.
It seemed he understood my thoughts, as he nodded in agreement.
“Right. We’re a team now, so let’s all leave together.”
“Okay.”
The moment we all stood up, everyone’s attention turned toward us.
“Huh?”
“The stars are leaving already?”
‘I knew they’d try to stop us.’
I offered a professional smile and nodded.
“Yes! Actually, our team has minors, so we’re concerned about staying too late.”
“Ah, I see. It is getting quite late.”
The Production Team also nodded carefully regarding this matter.
“Then the adults can stay a bit longer, right?”
“Yeah. We should celebrate more on such a joyful day!”
Escaping a Korean celebration dinner was never easy.
“It would be risky to send just them, so we’re planning to escort them home since it’s late.”
Once I brought up safety concerns, even those who were objecting reluctantly agreed.
“True, they’re getting popular now.”
“We’d be responsible if something happened.”
“You guys, it was fun. Be careful!”
“Thank you so much for understanding!”
Before the Production Team could change their minds, we quickly bowed and headed outside.
☆☆☆
“Phew… finally we can breathe.”
“Everyone worked really hard.”
“You must be exhausted. Let’s go rest.”
Since it was so late, instead of heading home, we made our way to Rua’s House, the closest place to the celebration venue.
Since we had just debuted and were in a fresh situation, with no manager or bodyguard present, this was the safest choice we could make.
‘Besides, we all have to go to TX Entertainment in the morning to sign the contract anyway.’
It was also the most efficient route.
“How about we have a small party among ourselves when we get there?”
“Sounds good.”
‘Aren’t you all exhausted?’
I knew those guys had cut back on sleep to focus on practice.
Their stamina was remarkable for their age.
Though dark circles had descended all the way to their cheekbones from exhaustion, their eyes and mouths were smiling.
“Good! Party!”
“I agree.”
It was quite late, but no one objected.
‘Well, it’s a joyful day after all.’
Everyone was intoxicated with dopamine at the fact that we had finally debuted.
I too felt quite pleased that I had safely achieved the Quest and survived, having debuted.
Finally arriving at Rua’s Home, we gathered in the Living Room without even removing our makeup.
“Guys, want some wine?”
“Sure.”
Rua brought out cheese and fruit arranged on a plate—apparently there was cheese in the freezer.
“Rua, can we eat snacks too?”
“Of course! Grab whatever you want!”
“Thank you.”
By the way, next to Rua’s refrigerator was a mini convenience store’s worth of snacks in variety.
Sitting in a circle in the Living Room, our small celebration party began, doubling as an after-party.
“We still have our makeup on—should we take a photo before eating?”
‘Since we’ve debuted, I should leave a thank-you message on SNS.’
“Sounds good!”
“Yeah.”
The guys seemed to have the same thought, quickly gathering in front of the camera.
After taking several photos with all the members, I naturally edited them and handed them to Yoo Ho-seung.
The faces reflected in the photos looked tired enough to collapse at any moment, yet their expressions were the best I’d ever seen.
“Ho-seung, I’m counting on you.”
“Of course. Si-woo, just trust me with SNS!”
Yoo Ho-seung quickly uploaded the photo to DalStagram.
‘It looks like Yoo Ho-seung should handle the team’s main SNS duties.’
I’ll mention it to him later.
“Alright, we’ve posted the photo—should we toast among ourselves now?”
Kim Sun-yu was grinning widely instead of his usual gentle smile, clearly in high spirits.
The team members raised their glasses, each filled with wine, soft drinks, or chocolate milk according to their preferences.
“How about Si-woo, who came in first place, gives the toast?”
‘If I skip this, the mood will be a bit off.’
“Sure, let me give it a try!”
In high spirits, I raised my glass of wine high.
“To celebrate our debut, cheers to Lucy Star Boys!”
“Cheers!”
With the atmosphere now fully ripe, our private celebration dinner truly began in earnest.
“I’m really happy we became one team.”
“Me too! I really love our team.”
“Since we’ll be together as one team going forward, let’s get along well.”
“Sounds good.”
I hadn’t realized these guys could be this talkative.
‘When did they all become so close?’
“How about we share our first impressions of each other?”
“That sounds fun!”
Just as I was savoring the taste of wine for the first time, a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder.
‘…?’
“Si-woo’s first impression was pretty sharp.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Right. You do look a bit cold when you’re expressionless, don’t you?”
“What? What’s wrong with me?”
‘This is so unfair.’
As I protested while setting down my wine glass, they burst into laughter.
“Si-woo’s first impression was definitely cold, wasn’t it?”
‘Even Kim Sun-yu, whom I trusted, has betrayed me.’
As I looked around in indignation, only Yoo Ho-seung shook his head.
“I thought Si-woo’s first impression was warm and nice.”
“…?”
Everyone except me stared at Yoo Ho-seung with confused expressions.
“Why? Our Ho-seung is saying something right.”
“…Si-woo, haven’t you looked in a mirror?”
“What? Seriously, what’s wrong with me?”
While I was bickering with Rua, Kim Sun-yu opened his mouth with a puzzled expression.
“Ho-seung, why do you think that?”
“Actually, at the beginning of the broadcast, no one approached me. Si-woo was the first one to come up to me.”
He must be talking about when I sat next to him on the Bus during the initial movement.
‘I just wanted to get off quickly, so I sat in the front seat.’
“You brat. You’re now third on my list.”
As I patted Yoo Ho-seung’s head affectionately, Rua and Seo Ha-yul protested.
“Ah…hyung! What about me?”
“Hey, Si-woo!”
While I was enjoying their reactions, Kang Chan’s deep baritone voice resonated through the Living Room.
“Si-woo’s first impression might be that way, but once you get close, he’s warmer than anyone.”
“That’s right.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“…Me?”
Looking at these guys spouting nonsense, it seemed the wine was quite potent.
“Is everyone drunk?”
“No.”
“Si-woo is embarrassed?”
“Si-woo, Ha-yul and Ho-seung didn’t drink at all—how could we be drunk?”
“Ahem.”
The conversation continued in the increasingly relaxed atmosphere.
“Si-woo, I’m curious about something.”
“What is it, Ha-yul?”
“Why did you choose ‘Lucy Star Boys’ as the group name?”
“Don’t you like the team name?”
Seo Ha-yul shook his head vigorously.
“I can say this now… I really struggled with that choice.”
I was being sincere.
I’d expected the first-place reward to be prize money, but suddenly I was asked to choose a group name instead.
And it was a grueling decision—having to pick one from five terrible options.
Recalling the situation on stage, my heart sank.
‘By now, people online might be criticizing me for choosing such a bad name.’
“It really was the best choice.”
“That’s what it seemed like.”
“Why? I think our team name is great! Lucinyeong Star Boys!”
“Rua, it’s Lucy Star Boys, not Lucinyeong.”
“I like it too!”
“Honestly, it was the best of the five group names.”
I was grateful they were all so positive about it.
As the conversation continued in the comfortable atmosphere, the night progressed until they began passing out one by one.
☆☆☆
‘Finally, they’re all out cold.’
Watching them sprawled across the sofa sleeping, I felt the moment had arrived.
‘Hey.’
[Yes!]
‘Let me check the Quest rewards.’
Colorful fireworks burst before my eyes, and two translucent blue windows appeared.
[Congratulations. You have successfully completed ‘Sub-Quest (10): Make your final debut on the Final Stage.’]
[Congratulations. You have successfully completed ‘Main Quest: Participate in the Idol Survival Audition Star picking5 and achieve a successful debut.’]
That’s right.
By ultimately debuting, I had completed a total of two Quests.
The fact that this was my first Main Quest completion felt deeply moving.
‘So what’s the reward?’
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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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Heyheystrawberry
Honestly, the name is really bad (not like the other options were great tho)