Top Girl Group Scenario Rewritten with My Own Hands - Chapter 34

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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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Episode 34
“Live Music City, the voting is about to end!”
“Let’s all shout it together: five, four….”
The senior idols’ bright voices rang through the broadcast studio.
Once the countdown for the first-place tally—which had nothing to do with us—ended, and the score settlement for the winner was complete….
Well, it doesn’t matter. I never had high expectations for a first-place debut, and I didn’t even hope to be a contender.
You could call it a miracle that we got nominated on last week’s Cable Music Broadcast. I think we managed to make it to the nominee stage purely through luck: our debut promotion went better than expected, our Digital Audio Track ranking came out better than we’d hoped, and the Cable Music Broadcast’s policy of not giving trophies when larger groups skip broadcast appearances worked in our favor.
“I hope we can get first place next time.”
“…Is that a threat? Are you saying I should put out better songs?”
“Come on, you can do it. Honestly, the reason this Digital Audio Track did well and the promotion went so smoothly is because our in-house producer was brilliant at picking the debut track, right?!”
“You’re making this sound so heavy….”
“That just means I trust you that much, doesn’t it?”
While the group that won today’s first place was giving their acceptance speech, Kang Sua clung to me and spouted all sorts of nonsense.
The song did turn out better than expected, but genius? Come on. It’s all just experience earned from struggling to survive as a composer in the professional scene.
“…The hot place of the music charts that comes every Sunday—this is Music City!”
“See you next week. Bye~”
As the MCs finished speaking, confetti scattered with a popping sound, and the encore intro of the first-place group played.
And….
[Mission Complete!]
[Calculating mission results…]
[Tallying surprise event results…]
[Calculation complete!]
[▷ Mission: Lead a successful debut as a member of idol group EVERGREET!]
[▷ Mission Clear!]
[▷ Successful debut complete!]
[▷ Mission clear rewards will be granted. (View)]
So now it’s officially acknowledged. Thank goodness that’s over.
I let out a quiet smile watching the translucent panel glimmer between the falling paper confetti.
Our debut was successful.
EVERGREET has achieved a successful debut—successful enough for the system, or whatever it is, to officially recognize it.
It was the moment when EVERGREET, which had started going wrong from debut in my previous world, properly took its first step.
***
Looking at our performance objectively, it’s incredibly successful for a girl group from a mid-sized agency.
Initial sales of 60,000 copies.
Nowadays female idols supposedly sell 200,000 or 300,000 copies in initial sales, but that’s just talk about daughters of major corporations or survival-show alumni with solid fandoms.
For rookies like us from mid-sized agencies with no particular backing, this number is definitely something we can call ‘successful.’
The problem is….
“Is this… actually even possible?”
I stared at the empty space for a long while before looking away and letting out a heavy sigh.
[▷ Mission: Win the Rookie Award for Female Artists at the VMA this year!]
I expected something like this, but to think it actually was this.
And they even specified the awards ceremony? V-Net’s VMA consistently draws complaints about being too influenced by major agencies every year.
I pulled out my smartphone and searched “PN Rookie” in the search bar.
Without waiting long, several news articles appeared in the news section at the top of the search results.
[PN Ent. Launches New Girl Group After 8 Years…. Will They Be Noxia’s Successor?]
[PN’s Treasure Chest Finally Opens! Girl Group ‘Ashcode’ Debut Announcement]
[PN Entertainment Reveals Name of New Girl Group ‘Ashcode’ After 8-Year Hiatus]
That’s the problem.
PN has finally launched a new girl group after putting it off for eight years straight—this year, in spring no less.
Judging by the flood of articles yesterday, the press release must have come out yesterday. The group’s name is Ashcode, and if I remember right, they’re also a six-member group like us.
Hyun Jae-yi spent a long time as a trainee there, and it’s definitely the major agency PN that didn’t launch a new girl group until last year when their self-managed group disbanded upon contract expiration. Damn it….
Honestly, this is basically a mission telling me to go eat dirt. How is Music Proof, a second-rate agency, supposed to beat PN at the VMA?
Those “daughters of major corporations” I mentioned earlier are right there, so obviously we’ll fall way behind in album sales numbers.
If I remember correctly, this group had many overseas fans from the start with deep pockets, and their album sales in particular have always been extremely strong.
When I have time, I need to dig through the system to find out what kind of punishment awaits if I ‘fail’ this mission.
Assuming failure, I need to build a solid mindset of keeping going even without the Rookie Award….
“…What are you looking at, unnie?”
“Oh, you startled me…. PN’s new group is coming out, apparently. Did you see the articles?”
“Ah.”
As I waved my phone around, Hyun Jae-yi let out a small exclamation without much interest and threw herself onto my bed.
She complained before bed about how the upper bunk was too annoying to climb and the environment wasn’t good for chatting with the unnies, so I told her to do as she pleased—and now my bed is basically her bed…. I’m not saying I hate it, though.
“Do you still keep in touch with the PN people?”
“Nope. Almost everyone I was close to left when I did. Only one or two people stayed, and I haven’t talked to them in a while…. Why?”
“Just curious. If we’re aiming for stuff like the Rookie Award, aren’t these people our competitors?”
“Unnie, your ambitions are huge. I thought you were a realistic person….”
Wow, you really hit the nail on the head.
I almost lost control of my expression for a moment. Looking at Hyun Jae-yi’s current state, she seems more like she’s just blurting out random things because she’s tired, but even in that state, she struck exactly the right note….
Right. I’m fully aware that realistically, the Rookie Award is difficult.
But whatever this system or project is, it’s telling me to win the Rookie Award this time, so there’s nothing I can do about it….
“Just go to sleep.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to. We don’t have to wake up early tomorrow anyway.”
“Do you not realize what you’re saying? You look really tired.”
“Still…. What about Go unnie?”
“Who knows? She was here earlier, but I think she went to wash up.”
“I pushed back watching today’s recordings with the unnies….”
“Yeah, let’s do it tomorrow. Just get some sleep already.”
With that, I turned off the lights, closed the door, and stepped into the living room.
I guess I’ll be sleeping on the upper bunk tonight….
***
April, in Music Proof’s dance studio.
“For now this is a rough-cut track…, so if you have any arrangement ideas, tell me anytime. Okay?”
“Okay~ So what about parts?”
“We’ll figure that out starting now. Since we need to choreograph, I just put out arrangement samples early. Pick one of the two, or if neither works, we can scrap it and start over. Want to listen now?”
“Yes!”
I laughed softly at Ju Hye-rin, who nodded eagerly as if she’d been waiting, and Lee Han-byul, who nodded along beside her.
When I played the track, a bright City Pop intro came flowing out from the Bluetooth speaker connected to my smartphone.
Not too fast, but with a tempo perfect for laying choreography on top—Jazz City Pop built on the foundation of an electronic piano that sounds higher and lighter than a regular acoustic piano.
“This one is straightforward City Pop. I think it’ll look prettiest with the emotion intact and Group Choreography that isn’t too intense. What do you think?”
“With an arrangement like this, that makes sense. Jae-yi?”
“I’m thinking the same. If we mix in good large-scale movements without making it too heavy, it should work out.”
When I played the next track, Swing Jazz with a slightly faster tempo came through.
The piano breaks up into a flashy jazz rhythm, brass sounds punch in between the gaps, and drums maintaining the jazz feel crank up the excited atmosphere even more.
“This is Swing Jazz. If the last one was City Pop texture, this one is the same rhythm but reworked into Swing Jazz instead. The choreography has to be more intense, more energetic than before. The vocals are also harder to bring out in Jazz than in City Pop.”
I stared at the members who seemed to be weighing their options, then continued.
“Personally, I think this is better for winning the competition. But if we do this, we have to do it well, you know? If you’re confident, go with Swing Jazz. If you have any doubt at all, I think City Pop is safer. What does everyone think?”
A half-hearted attempt just ends up sounding contrived.
Even though I think the Swing Jazz arrangement is the best choice, there’s a reason I prepared an extra City Pop version.
“Think it through carefully. I’m asking you guys because I can’t quite nail the feel either, and we have to finish both the dancing and singing together in less than two weeks.”
That’s right….
We’re given just 12 days. Just over ten days.
What we’re preparing for is a music competition variety show on public broadcast LBC called .
It’s not that old of a show. When the previous Remake Competition program went on hiatus, this aired about a year ago, and if I remember correctly, after this program fully established itself, the existing competition program that was supposed to be renewed was completely discontinued instead. It was pushed out.
The format itself is simple. Each episode has a set theme or era, and you just prepare a remake song to match that theme or era.
If there’s a characteristic, it’s that the audio quality is really good and… raw, you could say?
Idol contestants are sometimes positioned more as a place for verification of skills—it’s kind of “all or nothing.”
has four to five teams appearing per episode, and rankings are determined by audience and panel voting.
Since the audience with voting rights is decided about a month before the contestants are even finalized, it’s hard to expect fanbase buffs, so idol participants usually receive low rankings unless they perform really well.
For us, who added our names to the contestant list just two weeks before filming due to a previous participant’s circumstances, there’s no way to get votes except by “absolutely performing well.”
So there’s this reason why both the Swing Jazz that’ll sound contrived if we slip up and the overly safe City Pop both have risks….
“I want to try Swing Jazz. Anyway, most of the people coming won’t have even heard of us before, so if our first impression is safe, wouldn’t they not want to vote for us?”
Go Hyun-seo raised her hand and stated her opinion. I nodded lightly and added more explanation to what Go Hyun-seo said.
“That’s right. We’re fill-ins to begin with, and besides, the audience members are often people who don’t really like idols…. If the Group Choreography doesn’t work at the start, you, Jae-yi, or even Hye-rin could be fine. Anyway, even starting with a Solo Dance from the dance line should work.”
“Hmm~ If we go with this arrangement as is, what about vocals? The original is almost straight, but you’ve broken up all the rhythm….”
“I have to dump all the hard parts on you. You can handle it, right?”
“Wow, you’re too much!”
“You majored in Applied Music Vocal. Live up to your name.”
“I mean, you’re not wrong, but there’s not much I can say….”
“Right, so live up to your major.”
“Fiiiine….”
Even so, I shouldn’t dump everything on her. I need to distribute it appropriately.
But Kang Sua has real strengths in Jazz and R&B vocals, so giving her more of the parts would be good both in terms of quality and her individual appeal. She knows that too, which is why she’s grumbling about it.
“But then let’s give the bridge to Han-byul. For the opening and other parts, either I or you can sing, but this bridge part is really just for Han-byul, isn’t it?”
“I was going to bring that up anyway. Han-byul, what do you think? All the instruments drop out in the background except the keyboard, so you can just sing it however you feel.”
I pointed to the bridge section with my finger on the lyric sheet I’d distributed earlier.
The theme we received is the somewhat vague keyword , so it seems like any stage that captures 80s music is fine.
There’s no reason to let Lee Han-byul sit idle when she got good reviews during the Monthly Evaluation with , an 80s song. We need to fully utilize that sensibility.
In the rough arrangement, I deliberately stripped out almost all the instruments for this part. If she matches with the keyboard for the live session that day, it’ll create synergy just like during the Monthly Evaluation.
“Okay… I’ll try. Oh, no—I want to do it!”
“Excited?”
“Yeah….”
Lee Han-byul nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed from before.
I knew she would be like this. Lee Han-byul is more ambitious about singing than she looks and has good instincts—she knows what songs and parts suit her.
Her personality is a bit timid, so she struggles to voice what she wants to do first, but we can help her with that.
The Rookie Award?
That’s something I won’t know about until at least the fourth quarter.
With the strongest competition candidate not even debuted yet, the best effort I can make for the Rookie Award is only appealing to the team and members’ skills!
Rewriting the Top Girl Group Scenario with My Own Hands
Author
: Nam Seo-rang
Date of Manufacture
: January 5, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Corporation
Editor
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 4F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACES Media Corporation according to a contract with the copyright holder,
and the content may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and author.
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UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260102083.0034

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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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