Chapter 7

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 7

Chapter Title: A Rival?

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After the broadcast aired, the little girl named Seo Siyeon transformed from an ordinary orphan into a nationwide overnight sensation.

Naturally, communities sprang up everywhere to talk about her, and the biggest one was the Seo Siyeon Gallery on the site at the heart of internet culture.

Though it was a small fringe gallery that had only been around for less than a week, it surprisingly drew a decent crowd, with posts regenerating actively enough to keep a steady stream of hot topics flying back and forth.

While the Seo Siyeon Gallery was buzzing with PC bang sighting stories, an incident poured fuel on the fire.

Haruka from Starlight, the idol currently riding the highest wave of popularity.

She posted a Reel on her Instagram Story comparing Siyeon's dance to her own from back in her AKB days.

Her follower count? Over 2 million.

That's the staggering number she's racked up from 7 years in Japan and 1 year in Korea.

So, getting a shoutout from a top-tier idol like this...

Naturally, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it sparked massive buzz.

Idol fandoms—mostly teens and 20s, not Singer Star's core audience—now had their eyes on Seo Siyeon as fresh bait.

It was only natural that within 10 minutes of Haruka's Story going up, Siyeon's name hit real-time trends on every community site and Twitter.

"Huh? What's going on here?"

It was inevitable that a question mark popped up over Seo Siyeon's head as she caught up to the chaos late.

Who could've predicted things would blow up like this?

The vocal exercises slicing through the basement's dank air came to an end.

Siyeon gulped down mineral water to soothe her parched throat. Her previous life's brain remembered perfect pitch flawlessly, but her 9-year-old vocal cords couldn't fully keep up yet, leaving a nagging dissatisfaction stabbing at her chest.

"For your age, that's impressive skill. Can't guarantee how it'll change with puberty... but yeah, you're a genius."

Park Hansu fiddled with a worn guitar pick and tossed out the comment casually.

He turned on his smartphone, then scowled as if he'd just heard unexpected news.

He showed me what he was looking at—an idol's Story featuring me.

"Huh? Haruka put me on her Story?"

Haruka. Top idol conquering both Japan and Korea, leader of the hottest fandom firepower in Korea right now.

Park Hansu scrolled through her flashy account and the flood of likes on his phone screen, then clicked his tongue in utter annoyance.

"Looks like this kid got charmed by your face too."

"Kid? Uncle, this unnie has over 2 million followers. Unlike some uncle who—"

He shut his mouth briefly, looking a bit stung by my words, then muttered under his breath.

"...300k. Official account."

"Ooh, still pretty high."

Truth is, 300k Instagram followers for a band in Korea is no joke.

Not even an idol band—clawing up from the bottom like that is a real achievement.

Haruka just feels out of place by comparison, making it look modest.

She was AKB's center, then challenged K-pop with a joint Japan-Korea audition and debuted #1.

And Starlight, her group now, sells a million albums in each country—a monster league.

"Tch. People might think she discovered you at this rate."

"Eh, all roads lead to Seoul anyway."

"I spotted you first and handed you the guitar."

"True... that you did."

"So, mind if I post a pic of your lesson?"

I gave him a surprised look.

Seemed he wanted to claim some credit for finding me.

Thought he wasn't the type to care about this stuff, so it was a bit disorienting.

But hey, I owed him big already, and I'd keep relying on him.

So posting my pic? Go for it.

"You're gonna make it huge. Bigger than me. Figured I'd stake a claim early."

"You're overrating me."

Even my previous life's self was clearly below Park Hansu's level as a musician.

Building his own world and genre for a band that clicks in the West and Japan? I never thought it possible in this era.

No precedents in my past life.

But this world had the irregularity: Park Hansu and Black Canary.

Honestly, I rate this uncle higher than most K-pop legend producers or idols.

"...Thanks for thinking that highly of me. But I'm not there yet."

"It's just my gut. Ignore it and do your thing."

That was the plan anyway.

Didn't want to be boxed into K-pop like before.

But first, escape the orphanage and go independent.

"Y'know, couldn't you just adopt me, Uncle?"

"Unmarried men can't adopt girls. It's the law."

"For real?"

"Dead serious."

Bummer.

Guess I'd need a woman then?

Thinking it over, to leave the orphanage, money and fame aside, I needed a guardian or protector.

Korea wouldn't let a kid live alone, no matter how rich or famous.

Middle school at least, right?

So finding that guardian was my recent headache.

"If you're cool with it, I could introduce you to someone decent..."

"Focusing on the audition first. Gotta place here to make guardian hunting easier."

Mains round should be smooth sailing.

Got songs prepped, strategies lined up. Team battle mid-way scares me... but personal stages? Confident.

"Target's top 3."

Final stage is three performers.

For buzz and career, I had to make that last three, no matter what.

But it might not be smooth.

Singer Star was up to week 2. Week 3 next, prelims end.

Mains start after.

Notice already out to qualifiers.

Groups by participant traits, judging per group.

"Potential group, huh..."

From episodes 1-2, no real threats there.

Probably spotlight on me overwhelmingly?

Average age elementary upper grades. Rare for kids that age to do music properly.

Aside from me, maybe that high school girl band has upside?

Without me, they'd probably be the buzz. They nailed live surprisingly well.

Singer Star Season 5 was Korea's hottest show right now.

Public tastes not fully fragmented yet, no pandemics here, so legacy media like this had real heat.

And I was the biggest fire among it.

My round 3 prelim edit on broadcast channel hit hundreds of thousands views, 'genius girl' all over communities and SNS.

But that didn't mean I had unrivaled skill.

"And there's that monster dude? Gotta watch him. Vocals especially are top-tier."

"I know."

In my mind flashed a tall late-20s college student's stage.

Singing rivaling top vocalists.

Handsome face to drag auntie squads.

Nerdy vibe that'd hook young women too.

Prestige uni engineering student title adults go nuts for.

For public and industry, I might have more impact.

Elementary kid writing/composing/performing herself?

Huge deal. No precedents domestically or abroad.

But this is a voting audition show.

As countless cases prove, mass appeal loses to niche fans' picks here.

High-vote aunties, female Twitter fandoms? Massive edge higher up.

This guy definitely holds higher ground over me in this show.

"Why hasn't someone like him shown up till now?"

He was monstrous enough for me to gripe like that.