Debut or Die
Debut or Die - Chapter 14

After the most hectic and optimistic discussion of the past two days, I talked to Seon Ahyun during a short break.

“Are you tired?”

“N, no—”

Seon Ahyun shook his head with a nervous face. He seemed nervous because he was worried that he would be scolded if his condition wasn’t good enough.

Could I approach him this way? I opened the conversation as gently as possible.

“Then, is it because you were worried about the feedback during the choreography evaluation?”

His apology came right away.

“…I, I, I’m sorry… I, I will work hard….”

This guy really looks like a sunfish. My heart becomes magnificent. (t/n: Sunfish means extremely fragile, while my heart becomes magnificent is an expression when you feel touched by something.)

“You don’t have to be sorry for me. And please don’t misunderstand about this.”

Let’s try to explain the saying, ‘The choreographer has a personality problem, so he motivated people by attacking them.’

“The dance trainer didn’t say that because he really thought I was better than you. It must have been meant to provoke you.”

I sat next to Seon Ahyun and kept talking to make the atmosphere more relaxed.

“I think he was disappointed because he thought you could do better. Because he was originally a strong talker.”

“….”

Seon Ahyun couldn’t answer, as if he couldn’t say something stupid like, ‘No, you’re better than me.’ to me. Do you also think my words are plausible?

“D, do you really think…I, I can do well?”

“Hmm?”

Are you asking me?

He must have calculated it and asked because I couldn’t say, ‘The choreographer is the choreographer, but I don’t think so.’— no, it must not be it.

I crossed my arms and spoke calmly.

“Why would I lie?”

“….!”

Seon Ahyun swallowed his saliva and asked back in a slightly anticipated voice.

“T, t, then… H, how can I d, do it well….”

“…Are you asking for my opinion?”

“Y, yes!”

Seon Ahyun nodded eagerly.

‘Are you asking for advice from a beginner who started his career through auditions?’

I tried to hide how cold I was feeling by coming up with a theory based on Seon Ahyun’s status window.

“I think you are thinking too much.”

Seon Ahyun seemed shocked.

“U, u, useless….”

“It’s not that your thoughts are useless. I think you’re even thinking about things that you don’t need to think about. How about clearing your head?”

Let’s add a more specific example.

“Just think ‘I’m going to make this happen’.”

“….”

Seon Ahyun seemed to be lost in thought. What a contradictory response for someone who has just been advised to clear his mind.

Anyway, the words that came out immediately were positive.

“O, okay… I will do it.”

His face showed his determination, so it didn’t seem like he was saying empty words.

But he seems to be burning with passion more than I expected? There was also strength in the shoulders.

Besides, he even mumbles something—it was probably something like ‘I can do this’.

“….”

Hmm, did I have any talent for advice to this extent?

As soon as I started having doubts, the status window popped.

[‘When I heard it, you’re right (C)’ activated!]

-Target: Seon Ahyun

-Effect: Activation of characteristics by successful persuasion

I see. It looks like the probability of this 35% was shown.

I didn’t know I could use it this way—but it seemed quite useful due to the nature of this program.

Of course, this is assuming that it opened through 35%.

First, I turned on Seon Ahyun’s status window to see exactly what had changed.

[Name: Seon Ahyun]

Vocal: B- (A)

Dance: A (EX)

Visual: A+ (S+)

Talent: B (A+)

Characteristics: Grit (A)

!Status abnormality: Lack of self-esteem deactivated.

Status abnormality deactivated?

Earlier, the pop-up said that some characteristics were activated. Is that the effect?

Let’s check the characteristics.

[Grit (A): To make one’s mindset. Burn up the concentration and press the negative state.]

– When activated, one status abnormality (highest priority) is canceled.

Isn’t this characteristic a fraud?

If I had this characteristic, I would have deactivated them and withdrawn from the audition if I couldn’t make my debut.

I was so angry that I couldn’t think straight.

After some time had passed and vocal practice continued, I was able to sort things out calmly.

Anyway, can Seon Ahyun use his skills as it is in that status window?

Just in time, Mudie praised Seon Ahyun’s vocal.

“Ahyun, you just made the right sound!”

“T, thank you…!”

Even when I just listened, it sounded better than when he practiced. It’s probably starting to sound more and more like his B stats.

‘Hmm.’

It was good that Seon Ahyun came to his senses, and the stage quality improved. But I shouldn’t let him come out by himself too hard.

‘Even if our positions don’t overlap, it’s difficult for me if he eats all the buzz by himself.’

I guess I’ll have to come up with a stage quantity that can appeal individually.

It was necessary to contribute to the quality of the stage and, at the same time, be able to eat the impact alone.

“So, horror? If you do well, I think that direction will be good. What are you going to do?”

After the team members were excited about Mudie’s question and discussed the arrangement direction, I raised my hand.

“I have an opinion on the arrangement of my part. Can I say it?”

“Oh, Moondae~ Where is it?”

“This part.”

I put my finger on the lyrics.

“The bridge.”

Choi Wongil, who was standing next to me, could be seen with his mouth wide open.

Thank you for the part Wongil-ah. I will use it well.

* * *

Season 3 of <Idol Inc.> was burning on the Internet with ridicule and criticism that it would fail.

At this point, only the profiles of the participants and the first stage were revealed. Although the production presentation has not yet been held, the Tnet broadcasting company’s website has already begun recruiting an audience for the first team match.

Although it was due to a problem in the order of filming, thanks to the overflowing buzz, there was quite a bit of competition in selecting applicants for the audience.

And here, a person broke through the competition rate (27:1) and came to the audience proudly!

‘I won’t get caught, right?’

Now that she sees it, she doesn’t have confidence.

While swallowing saliva, a small bag that was easy to carry and a camera were hidden in her backpack under a cardigan covered with a smoke screen.

There was some reason why she had to come to the audience and hide the camera.

Because she had a hunch as soon as she saw <It’s Me>, the first stage of this season’s Idol Inc.

This might work!

‘This atmosphere—I’m sure they’re being criticized right now, but when the broadcast starts, all of this may turn into interest. As long as the kids who come out are fine!’

Then the value of the pictures she takes now will be soaring!

It was half a gamble. However, the original soaring stock gamble was dominant in her mind. Furthermore—.

‘…If there’s someone really good, it’s good for me to be fansite master early on.’

At the same time, her (former) idol was destroying her pride by getting into social media in a dirty way, so she wanted to use this chance to clean up her own account.

So today, she had to take as many pictures as possible because she didn’t know which participant would explode at the stage.

She calmly waited for the filming to begin.

Filming began after the MC, who changed from a public broadcast announcer to a talent, came out on stage and delivered a few words of advice.

“In this stage, the two teams that covered the songs of senior idols from the same agency will compete. The winning team will receive a huge benefit. The benefits are…please watch the show!”

Even though people vowed on oath not to reveal spoilers until the show aired, so many people were talking about it on the Internet that they didn’t want to say anything except on the stage.

“Idol Inc. Season 3, the long-awaited first team battle begins now! Shine Your Star!”

After they announced the voting method, the first stage began immediately after the stage setting check.

The first stage was two teams that covered idol songs of QuZ Entertainment, which is famous for producing popular idols.

‘I think it’s kind of boring?’

It wasn’t bad, but overall, it just wasn’t as good as the original song.

Although she secretly took a few shots, she had no expectations. The important thing was the team with some of the participants mentioned on the internet.

After the second team match, which was boring, a team that was worth seeing came out.

It was a match with Cha Eugene, who had the most cuts on the stage of <It’s Me>.

“Heol, Cha Eugene!”

“They’re all good~.”

Since it was a team with many familiar participants, the cheers were also different from the early stages. There were already people holding placards.

Above all, he performed well on the stage.

‘Wow, I think they’re really good at this?’

People would believe it if they had already debuted because they have good skills and had good arrangements.

It was a stylish and cute digest of an old song with an overly sexy concept that was consumed like a top goal meme on the Internet.

In addition, not only Cha Eugene but also participants in charge of rap from the same agency stood out.

‘Both of them will make it.’

She diligently left data centered on the two. While cleverly avoiding the eyes of the security guard who wandered in the middle.

It was interesting in a different sense because there were many familiar participants in the next team against this team.

‘Maybe this will be the last one to be aired on TV?’

She found it both exciting and disappointing.

Now, from the next team on, it didn’t seem like it would be fun at all.

Since more than half of the participants worth watching in the previous team match were present, it seemed like the next team would be boring.

And sure enough, the next stage wasn’t very interesting.

Maybe it was made up of the participants who weren’t chosen, but the absolute evaluation method was only used to judge one team, and she can see why they weren’t chosen.

It was the worst stage ever.

“What the hell?”

“My legs hurt.”

Now there were even people sneaking out from behind.

They were tired and their legs hurt, so they didn’t want to see backstage.

In that distracting atmosphere, the MC exclaimed.

“The first team match is getting hotter and hotter. The turn now—these are the participants who covered the song of LeTi, the agency of VTIC, a global trending group that recently won the Daesang!”

The MC didn’t even mention ‘MallangDalkom.’

That means they want the audience to take the bait.

But the effect was great.

“VTIC?”

The audience started to get excited.

VTIC was the hottest male idol at the moment.

People who were about to go out stopped for a while when they said that they covered a song by an idol who sold 1.2 million copies in the first week.

The MC shouted cheerfully in the atmosphere where some expectations were returned.

“Then the first team to go on stage, October 31!”

The name of the team that came to her mind was the name of the ice cream shop.

It wasn’t a name that caught her ear all at once.

Originally, it was common for the participants to have a poor sense of their own, so everyone leaked the team name without much inspiration.

‘That’s enough. What VTIC song did they cover?’

“The song that the participants covered—ah, they debuted as flower fairies, right? This is 〈Into the New World〉 by the girl group ‘MallangDalkom’ who was active as a national girl group!”

“… !?”

People were bewildered.