I Was Trying To Debut My Baby, But I Ended Up Debuting Instead

Chapter 22

“Hyesung! Are you really an ace rank?”

“…Please check it out on the broadcast.”

Hyesung replied jokingly.

“Ah, come on! Just tell us a little!”

“Didn’t you already tell Kim Yuchan?”

‘So that guy’s name was Kim Yuchan.’

“No, guys. Kim Yuchan just speculated because his company trainee ranked the same.”

“Ah, but can’t you just tell us? We’re curious. How many kids from our school went out?”

“Don’t know. Maybe two or three per grade?”

“I should’ve gone too.”

“They say they’ll take your phone away during the retreat, Haran, you wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

As the topic naturally shifted, the class began chatting amongst themselves again. Hyesung, eavesdropping on the conversation, picked up on a few names.

‘Let’s just get through today like this.’

Hyesung let out a small sigh of relief.

* * *

Three days later.

During that time, Hyesung quietly went about her school routine. Occasionally, she wandered to the second floor where the sophomore classrooms were, hoping to catch a glimpse of Na Yeonwoo in her uniform, but she avoided going there for fear of running into Cha Joo Yeon.

‘Who knows what will happen if I meet Joo Yeon…’

The production presentation was tomorrow, and the second round of the retreat would start the day after.

So, she registered two songs from the list of first-round mission songs she saw before the upheaval in ‘Jukebox’ and practiced them little by little.

She couldn’t memorize all the choreography, so she couldn’t register it in ‘Dance Master,’ but she practiced dancing as much as she could.

Her dance stats had increased, making it noticeably easier than before. However, it was still too difficult to learn the choreography on her own. She missed Jade and Kang Min Gook so much that she felt desperate.

Over the three days, she managed to remember all the names of the classmates around her. They were all names saved in her contacts. It seemed like these were the friends assigned to Hyesung in this world.

Thanks to the conversation she had with Kim Yuchan, who sat next to her on the first day, Hyesung could act quite naturally in class since then.

“Yoon Hyesung, Yoon Hyesung, Yoon Hyesung!”

“Once is enough; I can hear you.”

“Isn’t today the day it’s released?”

“Yeah.”

“What time does M Space start? Six?”

“Five fifty-five.”

“Okay, okay. We’ll watch the live broadcast~?”

“You can just watch it later on WeTube.”

Today, the first stage at M Space will be revealed.

After that, the trainees’ profiles and self-appeal videos were scheduled to be released sequentially.

Unlike previous seasons, everything was being released in one go, from the stage to the profiles and appeal videos, instead of being spread out over several days.

At 5:50 p.m., Hyesung sat in front of her monitor, having refused her parents’ invitation to watch together in the living room, citing embarrassment.

On one side of her dual monitor setup was the live streaming page of the OTT site, and on the other was a large community page where news about eliminated contestants was posted. She held her phone, waiting for the stage to begin.

[Soon to be released!]

[Supernova Project Season 5 Signal Song]

[Chance!]

Large subtitles appeared on the screen, and scenes from the stage flashed by.

In the community, where there were more ordinary people than idol fans, posts with a negative tone began to appear.

– I was watching M Space for the first time in a while, what is this? LOL, can’t believe this made it to season 5.

– Season 1 was legendary~~ It all went downhill from season 3.

└ Season 3 was nothing, I can’t remember anything after 4.

– Can they stop making idols? It’s getting old.

└ Agreed. I’m sick of idol songs dominating the charts.

– Korea is totally an entertainment republic, so everyone tries to make a quick buck.

└ Isn’t that an exaggeration? There are still many minors, so why be so harsh on the kids?

– The idol market is saturated. Even if they come out now, they won’t succeed.

“Is this really all? Isn’t the interest a bit too low?”

Not only were there few mentions, but most were uninterested responses.

Even those few posts were soon overshadowed by comments about the next artist’s stage.

Realizing once again that this was a failing audition show, Hyesung opened SNS and searched for ‘Supernova Project.’

@granmabebe

Supernova Project again? Ugh.

@xi8nomdra

How did Supernova Project make it to season 5?

@donjo

Guys…

Sorry for intruding with a different genre,

but my beloved character is in this season.

Supernova Project Season 5’s first stage is revealed today.

In the spirit of our community, please vote for Lee Joo-ha from Q Media…♥

(For those who show proof of voting later, I’ll draw for a chance to win an SD fixed frame.)

@uuoong2

#Supernova #Supernova_Project_Season5

OMG finally the first reveal!

This time, my favorite has to debut.

My precious darling, please debut.

Han Youngwon must debut.

@triangkim

I’m outside right now,

Someone please beep me when the Supernova Project stage comes out.

Aside from a few promotional posts from trainees with existing popularity, there was little reaction here too.

Hyesung had watched season 1 by chance, so she didn’t expect such a lackluster response before the broadcast.

“…I’ll search again after the stage and profiles are released.”

[First reveal!]

Putting down his phone, Hyesung waited a few more minutes before the first stage of Chance began.

“Wow…”

In the group shot, Hyesung immediately spotted herself.

Though there wasn’t a close-up of her face, she was performing the stage quite like an idol.

“It feels different seeing it like this.”

The center Kang Haein, flanked by Han Youngwon and Hyun Nana, dominated the individual shots.

Even Lee Joo-ha and Na Yeonwoo, who were in the back row, appeared on camera, though not as much as Hyesung would have liked.

But considering that Na Yeonwoo wasn’t even ace-ranked before the upheaval and wasn’t shown at all, this was an improvement.

As the song ended, a few trainees who caught the director’s eye received ending shots.

After Kang Haein, Han Youngwon, and Namgoong Seol, the camera lingered on Na Yeonwoo.

Her black hair, lit by the spotlight, glowed blue, and her star-like eyes sparkled.

“That’s it! Whether it was Youngmin’s direction or the director’s keen eye, I’m satisfied for the first time in a while.”

After capturing a few more key trainees, Hyesung’s face appeared on screen.

Thinking it wouldn’t be used, she had let herself be casually filmed during the shoot, but Hyesung ended up with the final ending shot.

“…What the hell!”

The screen faded to black with a group shot from the Jimmy Jib, then a preview of the pre-release began.

[This is Lee Jooha from Q Media.]

[They’ll probably scrutinize me more because I’m representing my company.]

Lee Joo-ha’s greeting was paired with Minty’s comment to the rap trainer.

[(Murmuring trainees) Wow, amazing. Snowy?]

A brief scene of Lee Joo-ha performing Snowy’s song passed by.

[Have you had any experience as a trainee at a company?]

With Strawberry Killa’s song playing in the background, Hyesung’s entrance to the stage was shown.

[It says here you’re from D&F.]

[Looking forward to seeing if your skills match a major company.]

Then, Hyesung, confident from , raised her head proudly.

“These bastards are crazy.”

She hadn’t expected such sensational editing. Hyesung was shocked at how provocative it was.

[A clash between top-tier girl group agencies!]

[Q Media vs D&F?!]

Brief footage of actual Snowy and Strawberry Killer stages flashed by for 0.1 seconds.

[Who will carry on their legacy?!]

With unnecessarily solemn captions, Hyesung and Lee Joo-ha’s faces filled the split screen.

Other trainees’ class evaluations passed by briefly, and the screen turned black again with the program logo flickering.

Then, a dramatic caption flew in.

[Supernova Project Season 5]

[First broadcast next Friday!]

“…I’m doomed.”

Hyesung was now terrified of the first broadcast.

* * *

After the Chance stage video was released, Hyesung was troubled.

She was exhausted from dodging questions from her parents and older brother (who had become her younger brother), who asked what was going on, and from dealing with the non-stop notifications from friends who had seen the ending and teaser.

The fact that Hyesung got the ending shot was probably due to the four-leaf clover effect activated during the shoot.

“An unwanted effect…”

The fact that she got the ending shot right before that ridiculous teaser drove her mad.

“Scary, so scary…”

She was so worried about the future that she felt chills.

Before the upheaval, the teaser had hyped up two trainees from major agencies with ominous interview clips, but now they seemed to be dragging Snowy and Strawberry Killa into it.

Both groups were the most prominent and highly anticipated among the rookies in their 1-2 years since debut.

Since Lee Joo-ha had chosen a Snowy song herself, they edited Hyesung, who came from D&F, to look like an ex-trainee of Strawberry Killa, with whom she had no connection.

“How am I supposed to hold my head up now!”

[Over 100 people are watching you. Your star quality has improved by ☆! Current star quality: ★]

Her star quality suddenly increased by 0.5 stars.

Apparently, star quality wasn’t about charm or talent but increased with any kind of attention, even negative.

Especially the word ‘watching’ instead of ‘noticing’ felt like a death sentence, suggesting she would be severely criticized for any mistake.

“Stay the same, don’t increase… Why is this happening to me…”

Terrified, Hyesung buried her face in her desk.

She wanted to check the public’s reaction, but she was too scared to look it up, fearing the backlash for her exposed face.

“The production presentation is tomorrow… My face will be in the news articles…”

She could already guess the headlines.

[(My Star News) Yoon Hyesung, confident head tilt. Anticipated overwhelming skills…]

[Supernova Project Season 5’s Yoon Hyesung, stern expression, “The absolute monarch does not smile”]

“Aaaah!!! How do I raise my visual stats?! I can’t even practice my face!!”

Afraid of being judged on a microscopic level, Hyesung screamed in her room.

Actually, Hyesung was lenient about her appearance, thinking she looked fine, but from the public’s perspective, she looked ordinary and less appealing as an idol.

And imagining her face side by side with Lee Joo-ha’s, filling half the screen, made her feel bland and blurry, like a student who could be in a high school dance club.

“Lee Joo-ha had 3 stars, but is there really that much difference…?”

Even though it was only a 0.5-star difference, the gap felt enormous.

“I need to watch that ending shot again… just once more.”

Mustering up her courage, Hyesung checked the video uploaded on WeTube.