Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 14

14. Of Course, I’ll Do Well

“Of course, I will…”

Rembrary answered confidently but sounded unsure as he hastily changed his tone.

The composer rolled up the sheet music and tapped it against his palm, speaking coldly.

“Try to do what you can within your limits. If your skill caps at 8 points, aim for an 8-point clear. Don’t challenge a 10-point task and end up with 4 or 5.”

It was harsh, but this composer had been with Wild Animal since their debut.

He knew the members’ singing abilities inside and out.

And in his eyes, Woo Yeonwoo’s singing was terrible.

Yet, the song style he proposed to sing this time was incredibly difficult.

The original song was full of narcissism, materialism, and the immorality of coveting someone else’s lover.

Woo Yeonwoo wanted to sing this song in a choir style, using sorrowful and empty melodies and facial expressions.

His idea was to make people perceive the lyrics as irony rather than taking them at face value, matching the choir atmosphere.

It was a decent idea, but it could become utterly ridiculous if even one thing went wrong.

So, realistically, he had to tell him, ‘It’s too much for you.’

However, Rembrary remained calm despite the composer’s cold words, showing no signs of displeasure.

“I can do it.”

The composer didn’t quite believe Rembrary’s words but said,

“Alright, go ahead.”

He planned to let him try once, let him experience the difficulty firsthand, then give him a piece of his mind and tell him to quit.

“Yes.”

Rembrary nodded and slyly took his sheet music from the composer’s hand, unfolding it.

Then, without hesitation, he opened his mouth.

The composer closed his eyes indifferently.

But the moment Rembrary uttered just one word.

The composer’s eyes snapped open, staring at Rembrary in surprise.

The tone… it was unbelievably clear. Yet, it didn’t feel like a pre-pubescent boy’s voice. It was definitely a grown man’s voice, yet with a clear tone.

The composer started listening to Rembrary’s song more intently, and his expression brightened without him even realizing it.

Eunseon raised her camera, capturing the entire scene.

When Rembrary finished singing, the composer immediately gave him a thumbs up.

“Hey, you—seriously, you—what’s with you, suddenly? You’re good!”

“I told you I could do it.”

“It’s good. It’ll be great. If you do well, it’ll be a real sensation!”

Excited, the composer asked Jongwoo,

“What about the chorus? How many people can we get? The more, the better for something like this.”

Jongwoo mumbled, “Uh…” and then asked Eunseon.

“Is support available for this part?”

“Yes. The PD [Production Director] said we can get support for up to five chorus members or dancers. Just find the people and use them, and we can claim the labor costs later.”

When Jongwoo told the composer, “They said we can,” the composer wrote the number 5 on the sheet music Rembrary had given him.

Then, he asked Keshi,

“What about you? Did you prepare anything?”

Keshi explained the arrangement style he had been considering with a stiff expression.

But having heard Rembrary’s song earlier, he didn’t look too good.

“Hey, Keshi. When it comes to singing technique, you’re better. Why are you singing worse than usual? Do it properly.”

The composer, unable to watch any longer, started tapping out the rhythm before stopping to scold him.

But when Keshi kept making mistakes, he sighed and said,

“Let’s stop here.”

Keshi muttered with a dark expression,

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After the composer left.

The atmosphere immediately became awkward.

With Keshi looking noticeably stiff, everyone couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Eventually, Jongwoo took Keshi outside.

As if planning to film the scolding scene, Keshi’s cameraman quickly followed him.

Once they were alone, Eunseon finally asked Rembrary with a lighter expression,

“You sing so well, why don’t you do vocals?”

“They say I’m the visual member.”

“Haha, is it because you sing well but your face is even better?”

“That’s right.”

Eunseon laughed, finding Rembrary’s answer funny, perhaps taking it as a joke.

As they were doing that, Keshi came back in, forcing a smile.

He must have been scolded by Jongwoo.

Conversely, the cameraman following Keshi looked quite cheerful, as if he had captured some good footage.

Rembrary glanced at them before focusing on his practice again.

Somehow, he naturally spoke ‘Woo Yeonwoo’s’ native language, but he couldn’t understand or read foreign languages.

He searched the internet, wrote down the meanings, and transcribed the pronunciations as he heard them, but memorizing those pronunciations was difficult.

Rembrary mumbled, staring intently at the paper.

Even after returning to the dorm in the evening, Rembrary mumbled and memorized the lyrics.

He was humming the song in the living room when Keshi snapped irritably.

“Ugh, practicing alone? Can’t you be quiet?”

Rembrary looked at him in surprise, and Keshi stared back with a stiff face before

“Ugh, damn it.”

Muttering, he got up and went into his room.

“Was I too loud?”

Rembrary asked Jungseo, who was sitting on the sofa, and Jungseo replied indifferently,

“A little.”

Then added,

“But Keshi was just as loud.”

“…”

Rembrary looked at the door Keshi had entered and sighed.

* * *

From then until going to the practice room the next day, Keshi avoided Rembrary.

He didn’t openly get angry or irritated like the previous evening, but the friendly attitude he had at first had largely disappeared.

Rembrary wondered, ‘How insecure must he be to act like that towards me?’ So, he paid attention to Keshi’s singing for the first time in the practice room.

But Keshi was surprisingly good.

Since he was cast in the musical, he was also practicing dancing. When the dance instructor taught him the moves, he followed along well, and his singing also had clear emotion and delivery.

“I don’t understand why he’s being so sensitive towards me when he’s so good.”

Eventually, Rembrary directly asked Jungseo, unable to watch any longer.

It wasn’t like he was feeling inferior because he wasn’t good.

It felt unfair that he was taking it out on him when he was good himself.

Jungseo replied unexpectedly calmly.

“His skills themselves are excellent, but he often makes mistakes on stage.”

“Doesn’t everyone make mistakes?”

“The probability of him making a mistake is about the same as him not making one. His mental state is weak.”

“Mental state?”

“Mental strength.”

“Ah…”

“That’s why he fights with Taein often too.”

“Ah, I see…”

Rembrary nodded and muttered worriedly.

“I hope he doesn’t get too jealous of me.”

“!”

* * *

The arrangement was completed on Thursday.

After listening to the arranged music, Rembrary nodded, liking it.

Rembrary had actually explained the arrangement thinking of the choir from his world, but since it was unfamiliar music, the composer arranged it in the style of a choir from this world.

However, it wasn’t too different from the melody he had imagined, so Rembrary decided to go with it.

Because the competition was on Monday, there wasn’t enough time to rearrange it.

After a couple of hours, the people in charge of the chorus arrived, and Rembrary explained to them one by one the feeling and melody he wanted.

Eunseon’s camera captured all of it, and Jongwoo watched Rembrary with complicated eyes.

And finally, when Monday arrived.

Rembrary went to the broadcasting station with Keshi for the rehearsal.

Since it wasn’t a live broadcast with text voting, the stage was set up in a studio within the broadcasting station, and access was strictly controlled.

Even with Eunseon present, Rembrary, Jongwoo, and Keshi had to go through identity verification for about 5 minutes at the entrance.

Especially Jongwoo’s verification process was more 까다로웠다 [difficult/strict] than Rembrary and Keshi, whose faces were known.

“Do we really have to go this far when the broadcast hasn’t even started yet?”

Jongwoo complained, repeatedly taking out and putting away his ID card, and his expression turned completely ferocious when he saw a famous singer and manager simply greeting and walking inside.

Eunseon felt unnecessarily guilty at the sight and apologized.

“I’m sorry. Well, the investment talks went smoothly, and the 사전 반응 [pre-broadcast buzz] is good… It might be less like this once the broadcast starts later.”

Finally, the verification was completed.

Rembrary followed the group inside.

As they entered, a staff member who had been waiting in advance came and told them the waiting room.

“Keshi-ssi, this way, and Woo Yeonwoo-ssi, you can use this one.”

But surprisingly, they had different rooms.

“Huh? Are they separate?”

Jongwoo hurriedly chased after the staff member and asked.

Since he was the only manager, it would be difficult to respond immediately in case of an emergency if they used different rooms.

The staff member frowned, looking busy, and replied.

“Yes. Keshi-ssi said he has five dancers, and Woo Yeonwoo-ssi is bringing five chorus members, so they can’t be in the same room.”

As the staff member left, Jongwoo felt troubled but put them in separate rooms first.

Since Jongwoo went to the room with Keshi first, Rembrary entered the waiting room alone and looked around.

Perhaps all waiting rooms look similar. The interior of the waiting room was similar to the waiting room Rembrary had first seen when he came to this world.

A long sofa, a TV hanging on the wall, unidentified machines attached to the corners of the ceiling, several vanities with large mirrors, a cold floor, a flat coffee table in front of the sofa, and so on.

As he was looking around, the door opened, and the five people who would be doing the chorus arrived simultaneously.

As they were exchanging greetings, Jongwoo returned.

However, before Jongwoo could say anything, a voice came from the machine attached to the corner of the ceiling.

“Sing Survival contestants, please come to area A2 now.”

Rembrary was briefly flustered by the unfamiliar area name, but thanks to Eunseon’s guidance, he was able to go to the area the voice had called for.

When he got there, the contestants were gathering one by one, and Kim Murok PD was standing in the center holding a small, opaque box.

“From the next competition, we’ll go in reverse order of the rankings, but since this is the first time, we’ll draw lots.”

After all the contestants had gathered, Kim Murok PD briefly explained and then had the person standing closest to him draw a lot first.

As a result, Rembrary drew last, and after drawing, his performance order was also last.

“Not good…”

Jongwoo muttered and asked Keshi, whom he had brought with him from area A2.

“What about you?”

“Twelfth.”

“You’re fine.”

Is the last order bad? Rembrary alternated between looking at the smirking Keshi and the relieved Jongwoo before looking at the slip of paper in his hand.

20 was written in the center of the slip of paper.

As he was looking at it, Eunseon asked.

“It’s the last order. Will you be okay?”

It seemed like a question asked out of genuine concern, but even in this situation, the camera was still rolling.

Rembrary glanced at the camera and answered with a smile.

“I think it’s a good thing for the other participants.”

“Wow, you’re so kind…”

“Yes. Because after seeing me, they won’t even remember the other participants’ performances.”

“?!”