I Became An Idol To Pay Off My Debt

Once the song selection was completed, Han Si-woo gathered us to start the announcement about the final competition.

“Some of you might already know, but… my Idol Academia final competition will be live broadcast.”

“…….”

The words “live broadcast” made the participants’ faces harden.

Even professional broadcasters hesitate when it comes to live shows.

The fear of potentially messing up during the live broadcast made us uneasy.

“However, it won’t be a full-time live broadcast. Out of the total running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes, 1 hour will be pre-recorded video, and only 1 hour and a half will be live.”

“Ah….”

Thank goodness it’s not a full live broadcast, I guess.

“1 hour and a half live… that seems doable?”

But just like that, my thoughts were shattered by Han Si-woo’s next words.

“The venue for Na Ah Ah’s final competition is… Jamsil Indoor Stadium.”

“……Huh?”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard.

But of course, we were going to perform where? …Jamsil?

Paaat.

But it wasn’t a mistake, as the screen showed the very sight of the Jamsil Indoor Stadium.

As all the participants, including myself, stared blankly at it, Han Si-woo continued.

“Just so you know, the Jamsil Indoor Stadium has a total capacity of 11,000 people. We plan to issue a total of 10,000 tickets to fans.”

“…….”

Upon hearing that, one thought went through my mind.

“Will we even sell them all?”

Sure, Na Ah Ah is a hot topic right now, but still, we hadn’t even debuted yet.

This isn’t a first-tier idol concert; why do we have a venue for 10,000 people…?

Historically, female idols attract less passionate fans compared to male idols.

I worried whether I would have to face an empty audience when Na Ah Ah debuted.

“No, even if 10,000 people come, that’s a problem. Can I really perform in front of that many people?”

The Na Ah Ah set has a capacity of a few hundred people.

Having performed in front of several hundred, the sudden jump to 10,000 made me shake in my boots.

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one worrying; all the participants wore faces of concern.

Sensing the atmosphere, Han Si-woo paused to smile gently at the participants.

“Haha, it seems all of your faces are painted with worry. It’s understandable; performing in front of a large crowd can be daunting.”

“…….”

“As someone who has performed at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium, I’d like to offer some advice.”

Han Si-woo was a star from Korea’s top male idol group.

For him, the Jamsil Indoor Stadium was just a mid-sized venue.

“There are a ridiculous number of people.”

“…….”

“When you’re on stage, you’ll understand what it feels like to be overwhelmed.”

…But it seemed Han Si-woo was also feeling the pressure of performing for 10,000.

His expression scrunched up while he described the Jamsil Indoor Stadium.

However….

“I can promise you one thing….”

His face lit up, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

“This performance will leave you with an experience you will never forget for the rest of your lives.”

“…….”

“I know this may sound cliché, but you are truly the lucky ones to have your debut stage there.”

…Lucky ones.

Right, performing in front of 10,000 people.

Few people get to experience that in their lifetime.

“…….”

Han Si-woo’s words didn’t relieve our burden.

But they did ignite a fire in our hearts.

“This final competition won’t have a midterm evaluation. Unless otherwise requested, there won’t be any trainer intervention either.”

No midterm evaluation, no trainer interference….

Essentially, it meant we could do our own thing, but it also acknowledged that we had some stage experience.

“During this last stage of my Idol Academia, show us your dreams freely. Now, let’s shout out our slogan and disperse.”

Whisper.

As Han Si-woo extended his hand, my hand unconsciously shot out in response.

“…….”

At first, I felt awkward with just my hand out in the air….

Tap.

“…!”

Soon after, Lee Hye-jeong placed her hand on mine.

Next was Seo Yoo-jin. Then the rest of our team followed suit.

A glance sideways revealed Yoo Seol’s team gathering their hands too.

Now that we arrived at the final competition, the hearts of the participants were filled with desire for our last stage.

“When I give the signal, shout together: one, two, three!”

““Show me your dream!!””

“This concludes our opening filming! Participants, please return to your practice rooms and start rehearsing!”

In six days, the countdown to Na Ah Ah’s final stage began.

*

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The atmosphere in our practice room, Team 1, wasn’t very good.

It wasn’t because we weren’t close.

By now, no participant in the Na Ah Ah final didn’t know each other.

In fact, besides Lee Hye-jeong and Seo Yoo-jin from this team, I had quite a history with the other members as well.

So what was the reason for our gloomy mood?

It was simply because….

“Um, the song we picked is… the legendary ‘Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption’ by the Gnews sunbaes….”

“…….”

The song we were supposed to showcase at the final was literally the worst of the worst.

If it had come up in another event, maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad; but it just had to land us in the final…

With a live broadcast adding pressure, and the audience being 10,000 people, one mistake could lead to becoming a meme for life, ruining our future activities.

What’s worse, we couldn’t change the already selected song or express our dissatisfaction openly.

Even though their prime was somewhat behind them, Gnews was still a top male idol group and our idol sunbae.

If we openly showed that we didn’t like the song, we could face backlash from Gnews fans or the viewers.

Caught in this frustrating position, the first to speak up was our oldest member, Lee Hye-jeong.

“This song is definitely… a bit challenging.”

“…….”

“I think it might be a bit excessive to go with the original version straight. What does everyone else think?”

“…….”

Everyone likely agreed that going with the original version was unrealistic.

Hero and Demon King.

Continuing with such an outdated storyline that even fantasy novels have stopped using is impossible.

But rearranging it is hard too since the original image is so strong, raising the difficulty level of the arrangement.

“On the bright side, even though it’s a bit cringy, the song itself isn’t bad. The melody is alright too, and it has some decent vocal skill… plus, it’s a popular song that many people know…”

As Lee Hye-jeong said, ‘Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption’ isn’t intrinsically a bad song.

It’s just that the concept and lyrics make it tough to listen to without cringing, but the melody was composed by a very famous composer.

Therefore, it had a considerable fanbase among Gnews fans, with many overseas fans loving the track.

A good song… if you don’t know the lyrics, so to speak.

Moreover, the song was very much regarded as Gnews’s black history, so it had a decent level of recognition.

But no matter how much Lee Hye-jeong tried to polish it up, the aura of a terrible song couldn’t be hidden.

In fact, her awkward attempts at encouragement only worsened the atmosphere; no one could say a word when suddenly…

Swish.

“…Uh.”

“……!”

In the midst of this heavy silence, someone timidly raised their hand.

…It was me.

“I have… an arrangement idea.”

“……!!”

As I mentioned my arrangement idea first, the other participants looked at me with eyes that seemed to find a lifeline from a bottomless pit.

They knew from past competitions that I had come up with quite good ideas.

In a situation as hopeless as this, they expected I could solve their problems.

However, instead of meeting their expectations with my arrangement idea, I put forth a condition.

“But there’s a catch.”

“…A catch? What are you….”

I made my first deal with the team members.

“I want to be the center for this stage.”

“…!”

Until now, I had never outright stated that I wanted to be the center.

All the team members looked at me with surprise, but… my demands didn’t stop here.

“And one more thing… Originally, ‘Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption’ splits parts evenly between the hero and the demon king, right?”

“…That’s true.”

The story revolves around the conflict between the hero and the demon king.

To facilitate that, the six Gnews members divided their parts evenly, creating a confrontational format.

“I want to take the demon king’s part all by myself. The other six will take the hero’s part.”

“That, that’s…!”

The moment I announced I would monopolize more than half of the parts, the team members turned pale.

To reassure my team, I shook my head.

“Of course, there won’t be any excessive part monopolizing. Since this is the final, I promise fair part distribution.”

“…….”

“Center and demon king side. If you only keep this, I’ll share my arrangement idea. I’m not just making this suggestion for myself. If you listen to me, we will definitely be able to present a good stage.”

“…….”

I promised a good stage, but the silence from my teammates dragged on.

Then soon….

“Oh, come on, what are you all worrying about!”

Seo Yoo-jin stepped up, looking frustrated.

“Since this song is already picked, we have no other choice! We need to do something!”

“…….”

“Has anyone here not teamed up with Ye-rin? Every time we were in a pinch, Ye-rin saved the team. Let’s trust her this time too!”

As the formerly arrogant Seo Yoo-jin shouted, Lee Hye-jeong, who had been lost in thought, opened her eyes and slowly spoke.

“I agree.”

“…!”

“I can understand what everyone is worried about. But, Ye-rin has never hogged parts just for herself. I trust her this time too.”

Lee Hye-jeong’s sincere words made the other participants gradually express their agreement.

“I also… agree. The reason I’ve made it this far is that I teamed up with Ye-rin often… I believe in Ye-rin’s ability.”

“Ugh… I agree. I’ve never lost out by following Ye-rin.”

“I also agree.”

“I agree too!”

As the whole team expressed their support, I felt warmth spreading in my heart and spoke.

“Thank you all for trusting me.”

“Of course! So, Ye-rin, what’s your arrangement idea for this stage?”

“The direction I’m thinking for this stage’s arrangement is…”

I shared what was in my head with the team.

And their reactions were….

“…It’s difficult, but doable.”

“Indeed, it’s a solid concept with established demand, yet oddly no team has attempted it so far.”

Though skeptical, they remained positive.

Admittedly, the concept I proposed had a fairly high level of difficulty.

It would have been hard to attempt this with participants who were at lower ranks in the early seasons.

But the remaining participants were already seasoned veterans in the competitions.

“This final competition… feels feasible.”

“Let’s start with the arrangement, arrange the rest for choreography.”

Our team began to shake off the gloomy atmosphere and comfortably divided roles to start working.

“Yoo-jin and Hye-jeong will handle the arrangement, right?”

“Then the choreography will be mine…”

“Where did I put the tablet PC with the choreography video?”

As I looked around at my teammates, I remembered Han Si-woo’s words.

“This stage will leave you with an experience you’ll never forget for the rest of your lives.”

An experience never to be forgotten…

Our final stage that would deliver such an experience was heating up and beginning.

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