Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Translator: Penny
Chapter 44
"And this week's number one is... Congratulations! NITY's 'Gradation'!"
I clapped enthusiastically beside the senior girl group as they accepted the first-place trophy.
Thanks to them, KICKS hadn't managed to take the top spot, which made me incredibly grateful and satisfied.
NITY's promotions were ending this week, so starting next week, the real showdown between Reve and KICKS would begin in earnest.
"Hyung, were you a fan of NITY Sunbaenims?"
"No?"
"Then why are you clapping so enthusiastically? You look like Dobin Hyung when he's worshipping Adora Sunbaenims..."
"Just insult me directly. You're being way too harsh with your words."
"Eden Hyung? He's right next to you, you know?"
Kim Dobin whined beside me, but I casually ignored him.
The award ceremony had just ended, and we were lined up in the hallway, waiting to greet the CP.
Across from us stood KICKS, a group with similar seniority.
I'd noticed their awkwardness since they were huddled in twos and threes in the waiting room, but now it was clear they'd grown quite distant. The once-harmonious atmosphere, forged by shared gossip, was nowhere to be found.
Watching them in this state filled me with immense satisfaction.
With time to kill before the PD arrived, I casually scrolled through Search's Weekly Quest and monitoring feeds.
-Wow, Gyeon Hajun absolutely nailed the intro! He's the only member who can pull off the killing part like that.
-Why is Eden so hyped up today? Seeing our baby kitten running around the stage in such a good mood makes me feel so proud and happy.
-Yoon Eden's fans are seriously amazing. How can they turn that face into a baby kitten? If there were a poll for "Most Intimidating Male Idol," he'd easily beat Kang Sehan for first place.
└I always thought he was around 165 cm tall because he's so cute, like a baby kitten. I was shocked to learn he's actually 180 cm!
-My Universe era feels like a past life... If you told me three months ago, when I first became a fan during Come to My Universe, that I'd be praising the stylist and Reve's stage performances like this, I would never have believed you.
└Wow, you became a fan during Universe? You're a true stan!
-They said Yoon Leader composed the song considering each member's vocal range, timbre, and singing style, and it's true—every part fits them perfectly. Especially Yuje's chorus... As they mentioned during the comeback live, if Hajun had taken that part because of the English pronunciation, it wouldn't have had the same impact. I'm so glad it went to Yuje.
-Yehyeon Hyung never fails to invent new choreography every day.
-Dobin was flying around the stage today! Our puppy 🐶💕
It seems Seo Yehyeon made another mistake during the choreography while I wasn't watching.
Since my imaginary stage already included Seo Yehyeon's choreography mistakes, it didn't really affect me.
As soon as we finished our CP greetings and clocked out, reality show filming immediately followed.
Filming in our semi-basement dorm didn't look good on camera, so we rented a private cafe near the dorm instead.
Still, Manager Hyung told us that the CEO had found a decent place and we'd be moving soon. He instructed us to start throwing out unnecessary items, packing our belongings, and tidying up the dorm in advance.
Having absolutely no faith in the CEO's judgment, we grilled Manager Hyung about whether the new place was even habitable, asking him every minute we saw him. To stop us from storming the CEO's office, Manager Hyung finally showed us photos of the prospective dorm.
Fortunately, the accommodation looked clean and decent in the photos. It seemed that strange discerning eye didn't apply to houses.
"Reve members, after discussing among yourselves, write down the content you'd like to experience here and let us know. About two or three ideas should be enough."
I nodded at the staff's instructions as they handed me a marker and a small whiteboard.
Since I was the only one banned from caffeine, I sipped my lemon tea instead of an iced Americano.
Gyeon Hajun ordered a cafe latte, Seo Yehyeon an Americano, Kim Dobin a mint chocolate drink, and Ryu Jaehee a green grape ade.
Each stubbornly stuck to their usual beverage.
Unlike the Maknae Line, who occasionally tried other drinks, I had never seen Gyeon Hajun or Seo Yehyeon order anything different in the seven years before our regression.
"Any ideas?"
"Me."
"Oh, as expected of our leader! You're the first to come up with an idea! So, what kind of reality content for Reve did our Leader Reve have in mind?"
"A comprehensive health checkup at a university hospital."
The others' expressions soured at my suggestion. Ryu Jaehee groaned, pressing his forehead.
"Ah, Hyung. Please, no."
"Why not? What could be more beneficial content than that?"
We could get our health checked while filming the hilarious nonsense people talk under anesthesia during a sleep endoscopy. It'd be a guaranteed hit!
Kim Dobin desperately grabbed my hand as I reached for the whiteboard to write down "Comprehensive Health Checkup."
"I'm scared of getting my blood drawn!" he cried.
"Dobin, you're eighteen, not eight."
"Can't we just do something normal like a picnic or an amusement park?"
"Are you really eight years old?"
"Please let go of the prejudice that only eight-year-olds go to amusement parks."
Ryu Jaehee swiftly snatched the marker from my hand and scribbled "Amusement Park" on the board.
"Write down 'Comprehensive Health Checkup' too."
"Let's vote! Everyone who wants to go to the amusement park, raise your hand!"
Ryu Jaehee and Kim Dobin raised their hands.
"Everyone who wants a health checkup, raise your hand!"
Only I raised my hand. I glared at the two who hadn't chosen either option.
"Hey, you two are old enough to know better! Shouldn't you be choosing the health checkup?"
"...I'm the same age as you, Eden."
"I'm only a year older than you."
Seeing Gyeon Hajun and Seo Yehyeon react so strongly to the age discussion, I shrugged.
"So, Hyung and Jun, what do you guys want to do?"
"Maybe a rural experience, or... uh..."
I wanted to accommodate everyone, but I had to reject that one, Jun-a.
A rural experience? It would be exhausting for us to film, and viewers wouldn't find it particularly entertaining. It's supposed to be a "healing" experience, but it ends up being a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
Only Kim Dobin, the country mutt, seemed to have some romanticized notion of rural life, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. The rest of the members remained indifferent.
Seo Yehyeon, who had been sipping his Americano like he was posing for a magazine cover, finally spoke up.
"Let's go to the beach. The beach."
"Oh, that sounds good!"
"I'm also in favor of the beach."
"Ehh, you can't even go in the winter ocean! Why not just go in the summer?"
"We'll just dip our feet this time. We can go again in the summer."
With majority approval, "Beach" was written on the freshly erased whiteboard.
"What about the cooking competition?"
"Wow, Jun's using his cheat code again?"
"Exactly! Uuuu! It's The Winner is Always Jun, after all."
"The Winner is Always Jun?"
"It's short for 'The winner is always Gyeon Hajun.' If Hajun Hyung's a judge, fine, but if he's a participant, it's like Gordon Ramsay showing up at an amateur cooking contest!"
Even if Gyeon Hajun were a judge, the judging criteria would be: Grilled Chicken Breast vs. Tornado Omelet vs. Ramen vs. Soy Sauce Egg Rice. It's a truly pathetic showdown that makes your heart sink.
At least the frontrunner was my Tornado Omelet?
After that, we had extreme sports experiences, bungee jumping, rock climbing, hiking, hospital health check-ups, horror movie screenings, songwriting, composing, and producing experiences, rock band experiences, and more.
But none of them received more than two votes and quickly fizzled out.
"Wow, only one idea in 30 minutes? Seriously?"
"Yeah, we should have at least two by now."
"Let's do a comprehensive health check-up! We can take care of our health and get content at the same time—two birds with one stone!"
"Eden Hyung, you're still not giving up?"
Detected: Stubborn insistence on an idea without considering other members.
Original Intent Score -1
I flinched, my body trembling from the sharp, stinging pain.
"Alright, youngest member. And to my beloved other members, I'll give up the health checkup. Just give me some good ideas."
I'm so heartbroken. How much did I even insist on the health checkup?
"What kind of content can capture both fun and emotion?"
"You can't catch two rabbits at once. You have to give up one."
"I can't give up my dream of becoming the star of a YouTube video with ten million views."
"That's such a Dobin-like dream."
As the meeting dragged on, the production team added a time limit. In the end, what we came up with was...
Sea, Cooking(?)
"What's the question mark after 'Cooking'?"
"It's a cooking-themed content, but we haven't decided on the specific dish yet... Ahahaha..."
It seemed most likely that this would turn into a hilariously terrible cooking competition.
After filming wrapped up, the main writer called us over.
"We need the characters to be a bit more distinct and stand out. Of course, the Reve members are already quite charming, but when we review the footage, there isn't a single character who really pops on camera."
In other words, we needed to decide on our variety show personas.
Even before the regression, Reve had never been known as a particularly entertaining group, so our past memories wouldn't be much help.
With the writer's final words—that they expected us to have clearly defined characters by the next shoot—we dragged ourselves home, utterly exhausted.
It was truly fortunate that this filming location was near our accommodation.
Surprise QUEST★
▶ Let's create a concept!
- Objective: Craft an image for your fans that goes beyond your true self. Research what kind of persona they desire and create a concept that aligns with their expectations.
- Reward: 10 Original Intent Score, Random Ticket
- Deadline: 3 days
※ Failure to create a suitable concept will result in a penalty!
I raised an eyebrow at the identical quest, word for word, from before. But when I saw the changed deadline, I panicked.
A penalty for failing to create a concept within three days?
The nightmare of coughing up blood and the grueling aftermath flashed through my mind.
But I couldn't come up with a concept for the fans, no matter how hard I tried—that's why I gave up back then, too. So I decided to ask the members for help.
After all, I'd contributed so much to the group. We should be helping each other out, right? Besides, we needed to decide on our variety show positions anyway.
Now was the perfect time, before the cameras in the dorm started rolling.
Without hesitation, I scrapped the Christmas commemorative song plans, grabbed the notebook we used for meetings, and shouted, "Guys, let's have a meeting!"
I scribbled out the "11th Meeting" and changed it to "12th Meeting."
"Wait, why is this already our 12th meeting? What have we even done?"
"I don't know. The last meeting I remember was about which chicken brand to order."
"What's today's meeting about? Pizza brands?"
"Dobin, are you out of your mind? Pizza during our promotion period? A carb and fat bomb like pizza? Do you want people to say you're not managing yourself properly?"
"Y-yes, Yehyeon Hyung, calm down... You sound exactly like Eden Hyung right now..."
"No, there are things you should say and things you shouldn't. Aren't you being a bit harsh?"
"What's harsh is you saying that to my face, and Dobin thinking of me when he sees you."
Clap! Gyeon Hajun's clap brought the dragging argument to a halt. He cleared his throat and began the meeting.
"Today's topic is concept selection."
📝 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