Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Translator: Penny
Chapter 113
[Reve - 'Escape' Official Teaser]
Reve's teaser was officially released on their YouTube channel.
The video opened with the sound of footsteps echoing down an endlessly stretching, antique corridor.
The camera glided smoothly forward, eventually stopping on a dazzling jewel encased in a glass box.
Behind the glass box, the upper body of someone was visible.
Thump, thump.
The sound of a fist lightly tapping the glass box gradually merged with the rising beat.
The camera's focus, initially fixed on the jewel, slowly tilted upward to reveal the jawline of the person behind the box. A gloved hand raised its index finger and pressed it against the curve of their lips.
Shhh. A whisper accompanied the rustle of black fabric. For a moment, the black cloth obscured the screen. When it was pulled away, an empty space and a glass box covered by the same black cloth were revealed.
Gyeon Hajun, wearing a beige trench coat, approached the glass box and removed the cloth, revealing its empty interior.
An electronic-infused instrumental melody began to play as shots of the remaining members appeared.
Yuje stood before a large sheet of paper covered with pinned photos, notes, and other materials, his chin resting in his hand as he studied the elaborate diagram of movements.
Yehyeon, wearing a beret and black trench coat, aimed a pistol at Eden from behind. Eden raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, his expression calm and composed.
Catch me if you can
Aren't you tired of predictable chases?
A brief refrain played as Dobin, wearing a suit and cape, casually tossed and caught a jewel. He grinned and turned down a corridor.
Eden, in a charcoal gray trench coat over a shirt, walked with his hands in his pockets, following Dobin's exact path. The screen faded to black.
White, bold text displayed the date and time, marking the end of the teaser.
A certain Ms. Kim finally breathed a sigh of relief. The teaser, which resembled a movie trailer, reassured her.
"Hopeless really splurged this time..."
The nightmare of Come to My Universe couldn't be healed in just a year. The scars ran so deep that she and Reve's longtime fans had developed a habit of taking a deep breath before playing any teaser or music video.
First, I was relieved they hadn't recycled the overused "High Teen" concept. Isn't falling into a rut the most terrifying thing?
- Detective and Phantom Thief concept?
- Finally, they've moved past the refreshing vibe! Honestly, Reve suits a tougher concept better than the refreshing High Teen stuff.
- Holding my breath until the music video drops.
- Wow, this looks like a movie! Please let the teaser not be misleading.
- Wait, Dobin's the Phantom Thief? It suits him so well! ㅋㅋ
The other fans' reactions were similarly positive. The teaser successfully built anticipation for the upcoming music video and song release.
Having already heard about Altair's comeback, Ms. Kim wasn't even aiming for a Triple Crown this time. Instead, she desperately hoped:
"Please, let's just not get completely crushed by Altair..."
"Oh, the teaser reactions are pretty good so far," Ryu Jaehee said, his face relaxing as he monitored the feedback.
I remained uneasy, even after squeezing my brain and memories dry—and even using an item from the System—to finally recall Altair's Grand Prize-winning song.
To think they'd not only overlap our activity dates but also our concept.
If my memory served me right, Altair's upcoming song also featured a phantom thief concept.
To be precise, they weren't the cape-flapping, concept-obsessed phantom thieves like us, but rather a six-member team of thieves operating like the crew in the movie The Thieves.
Personally, I thought the concept suited their leader perfectly.
I groaned and leaned back against the sofa.
Since Altair was the latecomer, this overlap wouldn't raise too many eyebrows initially. But as the pioneers with the same concept, we needed to crush them decisively.
To ensure that later groups wouldn't feel any sense of freshness or excitement from our performance.
The song and music video were already released, making them unchangeable. That left only the performance as something we could immediately adjust.
"Can't we make the choreography even more intense here?" I muttered, watching the performance video that now seemed surprisingly relaxed despite how meticulously we'd planned it.
Ryu Jaehee brought Kim Dobin over.
"We can definitely make it more impactful. Here, where we use props in the performance—yes, right here. If we tighten up the timing in this section, making it more urgent, it'll feel much more intense. It'll make the performance even harder, though."
Sitting beside me, Kim Dobin adjusted the video's playback speed on his phone, demonstrating the changes directly on the screen.
"But the problem is, our first music show is only a week away. If we revise it now, it might be too tight for all five of us to master the new choreography in time."
Kim Dobin scratched his head, glancing at me before adding cautiously, "You know, it's not like Seo Yehyeon Hyung hasn't improved, but he's still not quite at the level where he can immediately pick up a more complex routine."
Though he didn't name names, it was clear who Dobin meant by "the member who might struggle."
Seo Yehyeon had indeed improved significantly, but while he rarely made mistakes now, he still wasn't ready to immediately learn choreography that had been revised to a higher difficulty level.
"Revise it," Seo Yehyeon said, stepping out of the room. He must have been listening to our conversation.
Whoa, what's with this confident attitude, like he's the one making the decisions? I thought. We're not worrying for nothing, are we?
Just as I was about to voice my doubts, he added, "I'll practice all night if I have to."
Three pairs of eyes turned toward him, causing Seo Yehyeon's brow to twitch. He let out a deep sigh and said with surprising resolve, "I was the one who suggested we go head-to-head, so I have to take responsibility for my words. I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't prepared for this."
Seo Yehyeon, seemingly embarrassed by his own words, awkwardly brushed his hair back. His gaze landed on me, who was covering my mouth with a look of genuine emotion.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm just really touched right now."
"It's nothing special..."
I responded sincerely to his muttered, somewhat awkward reply.
"No, it just suddenly reminded me of when we were working on One Chance. Back then, Hyung was against it, but now he's actively supporting me. Our team has really grown..."
"Ah, about that time... I'm sorry... I mean..."
Seo Yehyeon's voice gradually faded as he clenched his jaw.
I hadn't been expecting an apology, but when he suddenly offered another one, I was momentarily bewildered. Still, I nodded to accept it.
It's already over, and he wants to apologize again? Whatever. What can I say?
After getting Gyeon Hajun's approval, I looked around at the members and said earnestly, "Dobin, you talk to the Director and discuss modifying the choreography. We'll start practicing as soon as the revised version is ready. If it still doesn't work after a week of practice, we'll have to revert to the original choreography. So, Yehyeon Hyung, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Got it?"
Everyone nodded resolutely in response.
"No 'good fight, though we lost' bullshit. We're going to win, no matter what."
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing their thunderous reply, I grinned with satisfaction. Now they're finally getting their heads in the game.
"Did you take care of what I asked you to do?"
"Yeah... I'm sorry for disappointing you, Yeonho..."
That idiot will never understand why I'm disappointed. Cha Yeonho sighed inwardly and gently patted KJ's slumped head.
With this, one immediate crisis had been averted. Glancing at the system window, Cha Yeonho breathed a sigh of relief as the danger level had dropped to the 70s.
Every time he checked the system, the Status Window had been glowing red with a score of 90, straining his eyes and mind to the breaking point.
Seeing his friend's dejected posture reminded him of KJ's near-catatonic state back then. He tightened his grip slightly on KJ's head. KJ flinched and straightened up at the touch.
Even after resolving this, the danger level is still in the 70s... It must be Yoon Eden's fault.
At first, Cha Yeonho was certain Yoon Eden had regressed. But the reactions he observed when subtly probing him...
I'm pretty sure it was another member, not Yoon Eden, who went into acting.
Was Yoon Eden deliberately trying to confuse him, or was it possible that he wasn't a regressor at all? Perhaps the regressor was actually someone else—a supporter helping Yoon Eden realize his potential within the agency.
Driven by anxiety over maintaining a 90-point danger level, Cha Yeonho had resorted to clumsy tactics and suffered a humiliating counterattack.
The memory of Yoon Eden tapping his forehead mockingly before the regression resurfaced, and Cha Yeonho unconsciously rubbed his own forehead.
Adjusting the angle of his phone screen so KJ (real name Kwon Jeongjun), who was leaning against him, could see comfortably, Cha Yeonho played Reve's newly released music video.
Another song I've never heard before.
I'd never really paid much attention to Reve, but I was certain they couldn't have released this song before my regression.
Even Cha Yeonho, who had been confident of winning this year's Grand Prize, felt a sense of crisis listening to it.
If the song had been this good, I would definitely have remembered it.
Reve's music video was exceptionally well-produced, like a short film.
It took a typical crime action and mystery plot and elevated it with sophisticated visuals, intense action scenes, and a meticulously crafted twist, making it anything but predictable.
The scene where Eden, whom we thought was Dobin's ally, used the escape route he'd shown Dobin to subdue him and seize the jewel, and the revelation that Yehyeon and Dobin were working together, were so gripping that even I temporarily forgot my guard and watched with genuine fascination.
One phantom thief against four detectives.
While the six thieves' concept didn't exactly overlap with theirs, it still fell within the same genre of crime action.
Worse, their music video's quality rivaled Altair's, which had been backed by massive capital investment.
It was too early to concede defeat, but...
"I don't think we can be so confident about winning this," Cha Yeonho muttered.
KJ responded with his usual confident smile, "What's wrong? Getting scared already? You never know until you see how it plays out. Our song's pretty good too, you know. Don't worry so much, Yeonho."
"Yeah, you're right."
Cha Yeonho chuckled softly and closed the YouTube app, about to play the next video.
He wanted to protect his friend's smile for as long as possible this time. To do that, he needed to deal with this damn risk factor somehow.
Starting with whatever was causing it in the first place.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny