Chapter 30

If I can't debut, I'll get a disease that will kill me - Chapter 30

The woman, who came to the audience at the request of a friend, was able to sit in a fairly good middle seat with a clear view.

‘This feels a bit awkward.’

Just as the woman, who had never attended such an event alone, felt embarrassed, the person next to her struck up a conversation.

“Who are you here to see?”

“Huh? Um… Park Munda?”

“Ah… Yes.”

The person next to her, holding a sign with the slogan ‘Let Kim Rae-bin debut’ in one hand, glanced at her from head to toe and then turned their head sharply while looking at their smartphone.

“...”

It felt strangely bad.

Feeling that she had come for nothing and wasted her time and mood, the woman began to watch the first performance with a sullen expression.

“The first performance is… ‘Rolling Couple’s’ ‘Fingerprint’!”

With the MC’s booming introduction, the stage of the mixed-gender idol group ‘Rolling Couple,’ which had failed after two activities, was briefly shown on the screen.

This was done to consider the audience who might not know the hidden hit song and to show respect to the original artist.

However, the real intention was to contrast the awkward stage of the old, unsuccessful idol group with the performances of the current participants.

“And the participants who reinterpreted this stage are… Ha Il-joon, Ji Tae-woo, Lee Se-jin, Seo Ah-hyun, Choi Na-hoon, Seok Hee-gang, and Choi Won-gil! The ‘Gigantic’ team! Please come on stage!”

The original stage video suddenly turned off, and the participants’ profile photos filled the screen one by one as the MC called their names.

Then, as the screen gradually dimmed, the stage lights came on.

- Feel the touch of our palms~

A big smile from Lee Se-jin filled the screen.

Dun-dun-dun-

With the fast beat of electronic house music, a splendid group dance unfolded on the stage.

‘Wow…’

Unlike when watching on the screen, the spatial sense of the choreography made it feel more powerful in the live setting.

For the woman, who was watching an idol performance for the first time, it was almost shocking.

‘Maybe I should have gone to some dance concerts instead of just ballad singers?’

She regretted it unconsciously while enjoying the stage in front of her.

“Thank you!”

By the time she clapped for the participants as they left the stage, she was completely excited.

‘This is kind of fun.’

Although waiting for the preparation time between performances was a bit boring, watching the performances of the celebrities with the broadcast equipment running had a unique charm.

The disappointing part was that the team’s skills varied greatly depending on the participants.

‘This team is a bit… like that.’

The second team was disappointing, but the third and fourth teams were quite interesting.

Since she had never done what is called ‘fandom’ before, she only had a vague impression of each performance and quickly forgot the details.

So far, the first team was the best, and that was the only impression that remained in her mind.

‘They said to vote for the two best teams when leaving, right?’

She put the first team in one of the slots and continued to watch the performances.

The next teams also had their own concepts and were interesting, but they didn’t have the same impact as the first team.

‘Hmm, I’m a bit tired.’

Actually, the skills of the later teams weren’t worse than the earlier ones.

It was just that after watching a series of unfamiliar songs, the initial freshness disappeared and it started to feel boring.

Moreover, the participant she was supposed to watch for her friend hadn’t appeared yet.

‘Is this the last team now?’

She tried to focus on the next team introduction while resisting the urge to check her smartphone.

“The next performance is… ‘Sun Island’s’ ‘Burning Like the Sun’!”

Then, a video from a music show from about ten years ago appeared on the screen.

‘Ah, this song.’

It was the cheer song she had heard at a baseball game she went to with a friend who liked baseball.

‘So this is how it was originally sung…’

To be honest, it wasn’t as exciting as at the baseball game. It just seemed to have a lot of high notes and was a difficult song.

She watched the vocalist singing passionately on the screen without much enthusiasm, and was startled by the MC’s booming voice.

“And the participants who reinterpreted this stage are! Ryu Cheong-woo, Lee Se-jin, Kim Yu-jun, Park Munda, Yoo Ji-ho, Kim Rae-bin, and Cha Yu-jin!”

‘Did he just say Park Munda?’

She hastily looked back at the screen, where the profiles of the participants were displayed.

‘Ah, they’re all familiar faces.’

There were many famous participants, so this was the last team.

She sat up straight, filled with renewed anticipation. The cheers from the audience around her were several times louder than before.

‘Wow, they’re really popular.’

“Now, the ‘Heroic Song’ team! They are entering the stage~”

Before she could think about how corny the name was, the stage went dark.

It was a black stage with no screen lights.

The moment a single beam of blue spotlight hit the stage,

A participant with a finger pointed skyward like a gun was revealed.

The tall, black jumpsuit with a racing suit pattern absorbed the intense blue light.

The red fingerless gloves on his hand glinted in the light.

Then, a low voice was heard.

-Yah, yah… Hero Time

[HERO TIME!]

Suddenly, the same words filled the screen.

Squeak!

The intense bass started to tear through the speakers with an obvious glitch sound.

All the stage lights came on as if they were bursting. Then, the seven participants began to move in unison.

“...!”

Their arms and legs stretched out, hitting the ground and bending their bodies, performing a sharp and precise group dance.

They were all wearing black jumpsuits with different patterns.

Cha Yu-jin, who was in the center, started singing.

-Burning, my heart

Like the sun, shining brightly

A participant behind her continued.

-Reaching the distant sky

To fly and catch it even further

Instead of the typical band sound, a heavy and intense dubstep sound filled the background.

WOB- WOB- WOB- WEEEB-!

BRMMMM--!

Then, the group dance resumed.

The participants extended one hand, moving as if they were performing martial arts.

She watched the stage with her mouth open. The participant who moved more intensely during his part caught her eye.

The choreography consisted of large and clear movements without any small details.

A potentially monotonous and over-the-top composition became powerful due to the rapidly changing formations.

-Saving the world is one

Burning, ecstatic passion

Ryu Cheong-woo, wearing a navy headband, sang the pre-chorus.

At the moment when a strange and cool choreography that seemed to be shooting something was mixed in, the chorus burst out.

-Flying! I’ll go all the way~

Until the day I shine like that sun!

The participant who kicked his legs forward and sang a clear high note had shimmering blonde hair.

A bright yellow choker suited him as if he had made it himself.

While hitting the high note, the participant was smirking.

‘Crazy.’

Is that Park Munda? The woman instinctively covered her mouth.

‘His, his photos are so bad…!’

The photos her friend showed her, claiming she had taken them, didn’t show him like this!

Such a well-performing and cute kid should be photographed properly!

The massive destruction of her low expectations was incredibly powerful.

Moreover, it’s rare to find someone with similar tastes.

‘I have similar tastes with him…!’

As she gained a new insight, the stage entered a new phase.

Park Munda sat down, and Kim Rae-bin came in to take his place.

The goggles with purple lenses jiggled near his collarbone.

-Rising like a star

Shining like the sun

‘Huh?’

Instead of the continuous high notes in the original chorus, a rap was added.

However, the remaining chorus melody didn’t disappear.

Instead, it was processed like a sample by a synthesizer and added as a clear sound over the cool dubstep beat.

With the rap added, the momentum of the high notes didn’t die down. It even felt easier to listen to.

Moreover, since the lyrics of that part were old, the direct English translation in the rap lyrics made the song more modern.

-Flying! At this moment~

Here, burning like the sun, time!

-Take your wings

and fly up

Let’s catch up

to the moon!

‘Wow…’

The woman, who didn’t know the original song well, only felt that ‘this version is better,’ but she could clearly tell that the arrangement was much better than the other teams.

Most importantly, the stage was just cool.

By the time the final chorus came, she was almost mesmerized, leaning forward from her seat.

-Flying! To the end~

This time, Park Munda and Kim Rae-bin sang the chorus from opposite ends of the stage, as if passing it to each other.

The choreography, moving like a wave, looked like a single unit.

Under the blue laser lights, the black jumpsuits enhanced the feeling of being SF comic characters.

And the final high note of the chorus.

-I will save your world!

“Huh!”

She suppressed a gasp that was about to escape her lips.

Park Munda, raising his head in the white spotlight, looked like he was about to save the world right then and there.

No, he was definitely saving himself…!

On the stage, Cha Yu-jin performed a backflip during the final dance break, landing on the stage as if from an action movie sequence.

Thud.

It was a very symbolic superhero landing.

Over the remaining instrumental, a glitchy announcement-like narration played.

-Thank you for flying Hero Air today…

The boys on stage slowly turned around.

Then, they simultaneously raised their thumbs as the song ended.

At that moment, she realized for the first time that the surroundings were filled with an incredible noise.

“Aaaah!!”

“Yaaaah!!!”

The cheers and screams that she had unconsciously ignored while focusing on the stage filled her ears.

What was even more surprising was that she was also screaming.

“Crazy!! Crazy!!”

The person next to her, who had spoken to her earlier, was also screaming as if about to jump out of their seat.

The slogan in their hand was already crumpled and being waved around wildly, failing to fulfill its original purpose.

In her mind, Park Munda’s smirk, his sustained high note, and his turning away were endlessly replaying.

At the same time, she opened her eyes wide, determined not to miss a single moment of Park Munda’s exit.

‘Vote!! I have to vote!’

And above all, she was certain of one thing.

‘Definitely first place!! Definitely first place!’

This team was the winner!

* * *

After all the performances were over, the ranking announcement began in front of the empty audience seats.

With the participants from each team lined up in front, the MC announced the next rank.

“Third place is… the ‘Heroic Song’ team, who reinterpreted ‘Burning Like the Sun’!”

“Wow?”

“No way.”

As soon as the MC’s announcement was made, the venue was filled with murmurs.

I looked at the screen with a cold, deadpan expression.

‘I knew it would be like this.’