Chapter 297

Miss Go Woori, a longtime Muse and die-hard ‘ Han Seungbeom fan ‘ who had played a major role in shaping the feisty reputation of his fandom long before Pantheion debuted—or more precisely, ever since Seo Yutae gained attention as the ‘ Light Source Man ‘—was seething with murderous intent at this very moment.

Tap-tap-tap, clack! Tap-tap-tap-tap!

— Han Seungbeom always acts like he’s the undisputed No. 1 1 , but now that he’s in front of a much more senior idol, he’s completely outmatched LOLOL

└ Nope, not true~ Han Seungbeom ranked #1 as center with a unanimous vote in the position evaluation

└ Tsk tsk, here you go again, denying reality. Raize was first in the second competition!

└ Fact 1 : For the Legendary Singer stage, Han Seungbeom completely stepped back. He didn’t even take part in producing, and he gave up his own parts to give more to the other members.

Fact 2 : In the position battle, they handed out scores with zero discernment between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, and the producer team got roasted for it. Even Olympic medals aren’t ranked that sloppily.

Fact 3 : In the second competition, Pantheion’s direct cam views crushed everyone else. Even Prism-sunbaenims kept bringing up Pantheion nonstop during their evaluations.

Only 1st place survives in this world. Time to face reality~

└ Is Dongsu’s ankle okay now? At first, I thought he was just emotionally hurt after getting scolded by Cha Woon-sunbaenim, so I was surprised when he suddenly said he hurt his ankle. But judging by how he only wears the brace in front of the camera, it seems like he’s fine now

— They just threw a jab, but got hit back with a straight-up uppercut. Dongsu’s gonna cry

└ They’re trying to build up Raize’s image as the one and only top group by belittling our boys. How is that just a jab? If we let it slide, they’ll think everything they’re saying is correct

└ Why am I suddenly being ignored ㅜㅜ

‘I’m such a piece of trash.’

Miss Go Woori was filled with deep remorse, having sinned again today.

‘Young Mr. Dongsu, I’m sorry.’

It hadn’t been long since she shed hot tears after hearing Jo Inchan-sunbaenim’s request to watch over the children’s growth with a more generous heart, but she ended up using all her strength to beat the crap out of some bastard who was trying to bring Pantheion down.

‘But why on earth are you using underhanded tactics in a beautiful competition that should be fair? If you’re going to hide something, why not do it properly? Why do idols always get caught so carelessly through photos? Is the sneaky act you committed really something that should be excused as part of your growth? Besides, the mouths of those who love you are too filthy to cover up your shameful actions.’

— Let’s stop with the negativity. Both Raize and Pantheion are working hard, so there’s no need to waste energy on those useless attention-seeking trolls. We’re too busy cheering for our kids! ♥

└ Yeah ㅜㅜ I usually try not to respond, but seeing them cursing without even bothering to censor the names made me worried the kids might see it, so it didn’t feel right to just stay quiet ㅠㅠ I’m going to start ignoring them from now on

She respected everyone’s right to their own opinion. However, posting such slanderous comments on a public account, without even censoring the keywords to prevent the celebrities from seeing them, was beyond what she could tolerate.

‘Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m extremely sensitive right now.’

She could feel her nerves becoming more and more frayed from all the unfair hate comments, her awful boss, and the grueling work hours that pushed her to her physical limits. But what really got under her skin was the recent surge in people talking trash about Pantheion’s skills.

‘I never expected just Seungbeom being absent would make such a huge difference.’

Even from her perspective as a longtime fan of Pantheion, their first competition performance felt noticeably lower in quality compared to the stages they had shown before. Nicholas gave a stellar individual performance, but the overall performance fell short in highlighting the strengths of the other members, whose skills weren’t quite as strong. It clearly reflected Nicholas’s tendency to act independently rather than as part of a team—a flaw rooted in his somewhat self-centered personality.

‘In any case, Nicholas will probably pursue a solo career after Pantheion’s activities end, so that flaw likely won’t matter much…….”

As a matter of fact, for a group at Pantheion’s stage in their career, that was perfectly normal.

No, considering their short experience, it was actually so impressive that you could even think, ‘ Wow, that’s what real talent looks like ‘.

However, the issue was that they were being compared to Han Seungbeom.

‘How does Seungbeom always perform on stage like he’s been an idol for ages?’

Up until now, Pantheion, under Han Seungbeom’s leadership, had received great attention as a group of idols who, despite being rookies, displayed perfect skills, much like Prism did . For those looking for any excuse to criticize them, the first competition performance, which was somewhat lacking compared to usual, served as the perfect target.

[I thought Han Seungbeom’s personality would be way more nasty, but maybe everything in SI4 was just evil editing. Still, how does he not say a single word even when his members are doing so badly? He’s the leader, isn’t he?]

[Isn’t he just playing it safe cause he’s scared of getting humiliated by acting cocky in front of Prism? lol]

‘…Those jerks don’t even bother to find out the full story before running their mouths.’

It wasn’t like they gained nothing from this program. The members still had growing to do, so it was inevitable in some ways. Still, as someone who cared deeply for Pantheion, she couldn’t help but feel furious when she saw people slowly starting to belittle them.

‘They’re all just waiting with bated breath for the day Seungbeom makes a mistake.’

[“Me-meow Seungbeom!”]

While she was internally bottling up her anger, a custom alert from the Star Message app she had set up rang. The awkwardly cute aegyo made her boiling anger dissipate in an instant. She couldn’t help but smile, unlocking her phone with a silly grin.

“Aww, have our babies come? You’re such a filial son, a true filial son.”

[Baby Puppy♥ 2 : Our noona ㅠㅠ I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come often lately. These days, Seungbeom-hyung is really, really scary, so I’ve just been practicing nonstop. Since it’s the last competition, I really want to show you a great performance, so please wait just a little longer]

[Baby Puppy♥: (Photo) Seungyong Ta 3 . I didn’t get smacked in the back of the head … but who knows, I might be soon]

Once she read the message that started with a nickname she’d set specifically for him, she immediately clamped her hand over her mouth.

It was because a picture of Han Seungbeom, standing tall while looking down at the members sprawled out on the practice room floor, had been sent.

‘No way, is Seungbeom the one in charge of producing the third competition?’

The sight of Han Seungbeom, who had always taken a step back and observed the members in the first competition, returning to his original position made her feel a wave of dizziness, and she quickly tapped on her SNS.

Whoa, did everyone see Yuda’s message just now?

└ Yes, yes ㅜㅜ (Photo) It looks like Seungbeom is producing the third competition stage!!!

└ Don’t leak the message;;

The kids’ growth is good and all, but don’t you sometimes miss the taste of what you used to have? The anticipation of finally getting to see a performance directed by Han Seungbeom had her and the other fans completely thrilled, but then she suddenly wondered, what on earth made Han Seungbeom have a sudden change of heart?

‘…I thought he wouldn’t intervene in the Legendary Singer’s stage until the very end, unless it was absolutely necessary.’

And it wasn’t until a few days later that she realized the ordeal the cast were facing had gone beyond the level of ‘ necessary ‘.

***

[“The theme song for this second competition is Domination .”]

The long-awaited final competition of Legendary Singer had arrived, and as soon as she heard the MC’s bold shout live, she instinctively knew.

“…….”

‘Ah, this is why Seungbeom took the lead again.’

She then stared at the MC on the screen with cold, dead eyes. To be exact, she wanted to glare at the production team, but since they weren’t in view of the camera, she could only resent the poor MC.

— ???

— AAAAHHHHH

— DON’T

— N O

— What the f*ck?

— Domination, this is bullshit

— Don’t cross the line

— Domination: Please just leave me alone

The timeline was instantly taken over by the curses and screams of fellow fans who were watching the live broadcast together. It wasn’t like they were all that well-spoken usually, but it seemed that, at this very moment, everyone couldn’t hold back their intense emotions.

That’s how notorious Domination was, even among idol fans.

“Ah! Why is this happening!”

The reaction at the venue wasn’t much different either.

Fans holding up their groups’ slogans were either screaming with their hands clutching their heads or grumbling with deep frowns. Perhaps realizing their blunder, the production team quickly switched the screen to footage from a different camera.

“KYAAAAAAH!”

“What, what!”

The murmurs of annoyance instantly turned into gasps of astonishment at the sudden close-up shot of Nam Yihwon’s face.

‘Is this some cheap trick to calm us down by showing a handsome face? … That kind of languid look Nam Yihwon has isn’t my cup of tea at all.’

Unfazed by the surrounding reactions, she silently vowed, ‘ At least I won’t fall for such an obvious ploy ‘. But the moment she made that resolve, Nam Yihwon looked directly into the camera, as if noticing he was being filmed.

‘Ah.’

Then, resting his chin on his hand, he leaned slightly toward the camera and moved his lips.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

For one thing, he didn’t make any sound, and it happened so quickly that it was impossible to tell what exactly he had whispered. Considering that the shape of his lips wasn’t clear, it might have just been a blown kiss. However, such details didn’t matter to the audience.

‘…When someone’s that handsome, personal taste don’t even matter.’

She felt as if all her memories from just moments ago had been erased, like she had been struck with a blunt object. She had forgotten, but just because Prism was sitting on the judges’ seats didn’t mean they weren’t idols themselves, right? The cunning tactics of a top idol with over a decade of experience … was truly destructive.

The screen quickly switched to Yoo Jay, who was sitting next to him. Yoo Jay, who was unexpectedly caught by the camera while putting in his earphones, didn’t seem surprised at all by the renewed outburst of screams. He simply rolled his eyes, gazed into the lens, and flashed a relaxed smile.

Unsurprisingly, the audience erupted in explosive reactions again, and SNS was no different.

— Wow, Prism’s visual……

— Forget the legendary careers, it’s their faces that are the legend

— They shouldn’t just be sitting there judging, they should be standing on the stage

— Do you have to be that good-looking to lead the golden age of boy groups? My heart is beating fast

— I won’t be swayed. My very being is sworn to love Pantheion for life. They’re old enough to be called Uncle, I must not fall for the handsome faces of the seniors who debuted when I was in kindergarten. But, if the visual is that of an Oppa, maybe I can make an exception

— RH: I wasn’t sure what kind of cold, handsome guy you’d like, so I prepared all kinds

— It would have been perfect if Yutae was there too. I miss you so much, Yutae-ya

In the blink of an eye, the real-time trending topics on SNS were taken over by keywords like “ Nam Yihwon “, “ Prism-sunbaenims “, “ Face Economy “, “ Too Handsome “, “ Jay “, and “ Sexy Adult “.

‘What am I going to do if I find watching the judges more entertaining than the contestants?’

Watching that, it began to hit her that Prism had truly entered their second golden era with their appearance on Legendary Singer . Fans who had drifted away, unable to forget the taste they once loved, were coming back, while new fans were flocking in due to their ruthless visuals, seniority, and untouchable skills. It was all too clear to see.

However, the individuals responsible for it had already walked a path of such a dazzling legacy and were still holding that position to this day, so despite the overwhelming reactions from the public, they remained completely unfazed and only showed a calm attitude.

[“Alright, the cast, please make your entrance.”]

Following Cha Woon’s comment, the cast appeared one by one, and finally, Pantheion’s turn came.

[“Two, three! Hello, we are Pantheion!”]

Everyone was wearing black leather outfits that matched Prism’s concept. As she clapped enthusiastically like a seal at the rare appearance of Pantheion, she noticed something was different about Han Seungbeom, who was standing at the center.

“Huh? Something…….”

And the moment Han Seungbeom’s face appeared in a close-up, she couldn’t help but let out a scream out loud.

“Black hair, crazy!”

Han Seungbeom had dyed his hair black.

You can support this translation through Buy Me a Coffee or Wishlist!

Translator’s Corner:

Eulyong Ta is a combination of [Lee] Eulyon g and Ta (打), which means strike or blow in Korean. The term would roughly translate as “Eulyong Strike” or “Eulyong Smash” in English.

It used to describe the infamous photograph (click the Photo) of Eulyong standing over the fallen Chinese player , which was playfully hailed by the Korean tabloids as “proud” and “remorseless.” The photograph eventually gave way to at least 200 derivatives and parodies and well exemplifies the ongoing war between the Korean and Chinese netizens.

(Anyway, for the note, it wasn’t unprovoked. During the second half of 2003 East Asian Football Championship match, Chinese forward Li Yi kicked Eulyong’s right shin after he completed a pass. Recently recovering from an ankle injury, Eulyong became upset and slapped Li on the back of his head, prompting the tackler to overreact and roll on the ground. The game came to a brief stop and the referee gave Li a yellow-card warning for simulation while Eulyong was given a red card and escourted out of the game for inciting violence.

The Koreans were very pleased with this, you know, that’s why it became a meme for them. This is what Do Yuda is referencing here. ↩︎

I have zero interst and knowledge in sports, especially football, why this story expecting me to recognize sports meme …..

Anyway, you guys will love this arc 🙂

Oh, right. I’m sorry for having another thing to complain again … but I already said before, even on my About page, I don’t allow for re-translations . If you want to translate this story to your language, please just translate directly from the original. I changed a lot of things, especially the formatting and sentence structure, so it’s really obvious if you translate my translation, not the original … you don’t even put any effort, but just purely MTL everything, judging by the amount of comments saying you forgot to delete the “Here’s the translation of” part ….. if you’re going to MTL it, just MTL the original ????? Why use my translations then act like you figured out all the things I explained on my tl notes on your own ….

I mean, must be nice translating on site filled with ads. that won’t allow you to read if you don’t click on the ads. with that level of efforts …. you even managed to translate 260~ chapters in a month ^^ Yes, this is a targeted complaint ^^ Should I just geo block all IPs from a certain country ….. Please don’t try to excuse it with “I want readers on my country to read the translation too”, you’re being rude to a lot of readers here who read this with Google Translate feature ….

No but argh it’s so annoying … I spent a lot of times checking cultural references and internet slangs used, but people just mtl-ed it and claimed they did it on their own ….. This story is seriously going to give me trauma on picking up bromance project …. can people please be normal with idol novels ….

Anyway, I’m sorry for another rant T_T This arc is very happy one, let’s be happy after this ^^ (me happy too since i saw a lot of new readers appearing on the old chapters comment lately. reading people’s thoughts always fun….)

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.