Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Fly High Breaks into the Top 10
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The adults were all huddled around staring at their smartphones, so Yeonwoo couldn’t see the video itself and could only listen to the song. In exchange, he got to watch the fairies popping out of the phone.
The fairies appeared in sync with the beat and melody—blue ones and red ones.
It was unusual.
They rarely showed up at the same time.
Normally, blue fairies would appear, and only when a dissonant note popped out would a red fairy follow.
But this time, every time a blue fairy emerged, a red fairy was clinging to it, revealing itself right alongside.
Yeonwoo could tell why with his own ears.
‘Someone messed with it.’
Someone had tampered with a perfectly good song.
Why ruin the music by sticking their nose in where it wasn’t wanted?
Taein was such a massive company that even his aunt and Ellis seemed intimidated, leaving Yeonwoo secretly on edge. But now he felt relieved.
Just looking at the number of fairies told him his song had won.
So Yeonwoo could boast to Ellis.
Auntie, we won.
And yet, Ellis’s expression didn’t brighten.
It was probably due to adult circumstances.
His aunt, Ellis, all the adults around them—they only cared about adult issues.
The company’s league was different, the idol tier was different, the fandom was this or that.
Yeonwoo couldn’t understand it.
In the end, wasn’t everything solved if the song was good?
A good song would top the streaming charts, draw more eyes when it hit number one, build a fanbase, make money, and eventually elevate HaDas’s status and grow the company.
Yeonwoo shared his thoughts with Jiyeong.
She stroked his head fondly and said,
“Number one isn’t easy. It’s a fandom battle too.”
“I’ve been number one before.”
“That was because it was Kim Beomsin…”
“Back then, Auntie said Mr. Kim Beomsin was washed up and no good.”
“That’s true too.”
“It’ll work out.”
Jiyeong nodded at Yeonwoo’s words.
“Right, it’s a song our Yeonwoo made. I just hope they don’t mess up.”
After patting Yeonwoo’s head, Jiyeong turned to watch the stage.
The debut showcase was right around the corner now.
Rehearsals were done, all checks complete.
Flip on the live, and the real showcase would begin.
Looking around, a decent crowd had gathered to see today’s performance.
BSK’s official YouTube channel live had already drawn ten thousand viewers.
No way—ten thousand before it even started?
Curious, Jiyeong checked the chat.
-This the rookie idol room trying to mess with Ladies?
-lmao so ridiculous
-No, they never did that kind of promo. The trash reporters dragged Ellis in to start a fight.
-Either way lmao thanks to it, a rookie showcase has ten thousand viewers. Cheers.
-Those girls?
-Kids got decent visuals?
-Kim Beomsin raised ‘em, so the singing’s probably solid?
-
-Supposed to be a skill-based idol group?
-Who said?
-They hyped it that way lol
-Skill-based my ass, still just idols lol
-Unnies, what do you think of the kids? I kinda like ‘em.
-Girl stanning girl idols??
-What’s that, netkama or whatever?
-Nah, legit girl I bet?
-Dudes stan male idols, girls stan female ones more anyway lol
-Male fandoms are just headcount. Girls spend the real money.
-Ugly compared to Ladies
-I think they’re prettier.
-Ladies are all mid-to-late twenties now, right? These kids look prettier cuz they’re young lol
-Still, can’t beat Ladies.
-Don’t talk shit about Ladies, you fuck.
-Ladies are early-to-mid twenties. Gtfo clueless bitch.
-Where you live punk?
-Lmao Ladies fans got scary once someone said they’re old.
-Ladies fandom invaded.
-Came to see how good they really are lol
-Gonna be flooded with hate comments now.
The chat reactions seemed mostly from people curious about the Ladies drama who’d dropped in.
“The marketing team’s gonna be pissed.”
They’d put so much effort into teasers and pictorials, editing them to perfection. But the reality was, people weren’t there for that—they’d come due to the reporters’ clickbait, mostly Ladies fans there to watch the fight.
Still, thanks to that, by the time the kids hit the stage, viewers had swelled to thirty thousand.
“Maybe getting dragged into the drama… isn’t so bad?”
Trying to see the positive side, HaDas’s stage finally began.
The intro flowed out, upgraded further by Yeonwoo’s latest arrangement, as the HaDas members started dancing.
The choreography by the hot American dance crew Jabberwockeez captured Ellis’s freedom concept perfectly.
They looked orderly from their positions, but each member’s dance was distinctly their own.
Yeonwoo watched the fairies circling him fly up to the stage, with new ones spawning around them.
They all emitted blue light in unison, dancing along with the members.
It was a sight to behold.
Amid the dancing fairies, main vocalist Dahyun stepped forward and began to sing.
As Yeonwoo watched the stage entranced, Jiyeong kept an eye on the chat even while following the performance.
Ellis was doing the same.
Right now, the only real-time feedback was the expressions of the live audience and the YouTube live chat from viewers at home.
-Good song?
-Fresh
-Song’s good but feels like I’ve never heard anything like it.
-Wtf is this melody?
-Wait, what is this? So new but insanely good?
The reactions were hot from the jump.
“Yeah, that’s it.”
Unless people’s ears were totally deaf, they couldn’t miss how special this song was.
Fly High took a cliché money chord progression and twisted it into a fresh, unheard composition—yet one that hooked the ear anyway.
Now the real test: could HaDas deliver the vocals?
Truth be told, Fly High was a tough sing even setting aside the climactic group harmony.
And they had to do it while dancing.
Without AR help, it’d be hard to even breathe.
But Ellis had gone all-in.
No MR at all—just pure live vocals.
On a showcase stage broadcast live, no less.
To pull it off, the HaDas members had spent months training vocals, choreography, and brutal endurance workouts simultaneously.
Purely to build lung capacity.
Why go this far?
-Ladies don’t even sound this good with AR…
-Better singers than Ladies.
-Kim Beomsin’s label, no surprise the vocals are no joke ;;;
-Wow…
A fledgling girl group from a nobody agency with no fandom had only one way to stand up to Ladies at the opposite end of the spectrum: raw skill.
If anything else, they had individuality.
Taein chased cookie-cutter vocals—control-C, control-V copies of the same controlled sound.
Compare that to HaDas now.
From main vocal to sub, rapper, dancer—every voice distinct, full of personality.
And unlike Ladies, their dancers and rappers could actually sing.
-Chaewon’s the dancer, right? Somin’s the rapper.
-Yeah.
-But why do they outsing Ladies’ main vocal? ;;;;
-Skills are insane ;;;
-Get why they picked a fight with Ladies now lol they’re legit good.
Ladies talk vanished from the chat.
What could you even say against a group where even the dancers sang better?
But it wasn’t over yet.
They hadn’t shown their true ace.
The flawless harmonies Yeonwoo had demanded at recording—they’d drilled them relentlessly for this stage.
Now it was time.
Everyone who knew the song watched tensely.
The climax approached.
As main vocalist Dahyun cried out “free” and raised her voice, the other four layered on top.
Stage screens and lights depicted them soaring into the sky, and the climax hit: a piercing high harmony that tore the stage apart.
Jiyeong and Ellis turned to Yeonwoo simultaneously.
They’d thought it perfect, but Yeonwoo—the song’s creator—had the sharpest ears.
Ellis wanted his approval more than the fans’ or even Kim Beomsin’s.
Yeonwoo stared holes through the stage.
Onstage, blue fairies blazed with brilliant light in sync with the five members’ high notes, shooting into the sky.
Yeonwoo felt a shiver from head to toe.
A thrill he’d never experienced before.
Unknowingly, he broke into a radiant smile.
Seeing that beautiful smile, Ellis let out a sigh of relief.
It said more than a hundred words.
* * *
After Ladies’ comeback showcase and HaDas’s debut showcase happened the same day around the same time, the trashy articles vanished like lies.
Ladies drew buzz as always, hitting music shows and variety to promote their return.
They popped up on popular YouTube channels, churning out endless shorts, uploading clips to every community they touched—showing why they were top-tier idols.
HaDas acted like proper rookies. They debuted on music shows for the first time and guested on decently popular YouTuber channels—not Ladies-level, but steadily showcasing their skills and building awareness.
But the league gap couldn’t be ignored.
Ladies had announced their first full-album commemorative concert at comeback, with tickets selling out in just five minutes.
Albums flew off shelves too, packed with member photocard variants.
Sales fueled their instant music show wins.
But that was it.
-Honestly, the song sucks, right?
-Total crap.
-Same composer as that hit digital single last time, wtf happened? ;;;
-Straight garbage ;;;
-This as the title track…
Outside the fandom, the consensus was the song sucked, so unless fans were streaming live, rankings plummeted like a lie.
Ladies fell from daily chart one in just two days, sixth on day three, eighth on four, twelfth on five.
Never in Ladies’ history had a title dropped so fast.
They rushed a second title track.
Meanwhile.
“We’ll hold off on HaDas’s second single… originally planned for a week from now.”
Ellis postponed her decision on the quick second digital single.
Why?
In just five days.
As Ladies tumbled out of the top ten, HaDas started at eighty-six and climbed fast, landing in the top ten.
Aside from those who saw the debut showcase live or on YouTube—despite being buried and mocked due to Ladies—HaDas muscled into the top ten on song alone, flipping public opinion.
[Real Skill Idol HaDas Emerges at Last!]
[Fly High’s Insane Chart Climb.]
[Fly High Cracks Top 10! Number One Possible?]
[Fandomless, Pure Song Power!! BSK Proves It with Skill.]
And everyone started paying attention.