Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 191

#191.

The reason New Ent [New Entertainment] is riding high despite the fall of The Origin is thanks to HOH, a six-year-old idol group under New Ent.

New has consistently fostered idol groups since the early 2000s.

And since then, idol groups from New, especially male idol groups, have consistently held the top spot.

Thanks to this, New Ent is called one of the Big 3 agencies and has earned the title of ‘Idol Master’.

So, The Origin must have tasted the bitterness of failure for the first time in a long while.

Anyway, among them, the two groups that achieved the greatest success were ‘New World’ and HOH.

New World was an idol group that gained great popularity not only in Korea but also in China and Japan, to the point of being called the origin of the Korean Wave [Hallyu Wave, the increase of international interest in South Korea], and HOH followed in its footsteps in Korea.

HOH was a group that was making a name for itself not only in Asia but also in North America and Europe, beyond the continent.

Their popularity in Korea was, of course, unquestionable.

They gained great popularity upon debut and won the grand prize within two and a half years of their debut.

With that momentum, they continued to receive the grand prize until last year, so there was even a saying that you should just engrave HOH’s name on the grand prize trophy without asking or questioning anything for a while.

‘Their popularity is still amazing,’ Do-jae thought.

Although MOST’s popularity was soaring, the very top spot among domestic and international idol groups was still firmly held by HOH.

‘It’s understandable. Be it songs, dances… and even the members’ individual activities are all amazing.’

HOH was a six-member group like MOST, and all six members had great skills and charms.

Just as Do-jae left New Ent and came to Kingdom Ent as if by fate after seeing Big Boyz’s stage, ‘Kang Do-jae’ was once fascinated by HOH’s popularity and charm.

‘And the name that cannot be left out when it comes to such a group as HOH is…’

It was Min Jung-seok, a composer and producer, and a symbol of New Ent.

Min Jung-seok has been writing and composing songs for New Ent artists since New World, captivating the public’s ears.

In Kingdom Ent terms, he was like Director Lee Jung-yeop.

However, while Director Lee Jung-yeop was more known as a ballad composer, Min Jung-seok has been consistently making idol music for over a decade.

Min Jung-seok’s contribution to creating the genre of ‘idol music’ was significant.

‘HOH is the group that best embodies Min Jung-seok’s songs and is considered the essence of his music.’

Still, I was curious.

I wondered what kind of song he would give to the contestants he saw for the first time, who were not planned internally, and how he would distribute it….

He would have seen the contestants for the first time, just like Do-jae, so I was curious about how he worked.

In terms of composing experience, Do-jae was a junior by far.

If there was anything he could learn from Min Jung-seok, who is responsible for the music of New World and HOH, he wanted to learn it this time.

—You! Who called me with trembling lips!

The song composed by Min Jung-seok was titled . [The team name]

It was a perfectly ‘Min Jung-seok style’ dance song that came out intensely from the beginning.

—You! Your eyes are cold now!

The members of the team shone with cold eyes and did their best on stage.

“Waaah!”

“Let’s go for Jung-hoon’s first place!”

“Cold Love, fighting!”

As soon as the stage started, fans cheering for the contestants screamed.

It was virtually the most anticipated team in this group mission.

It was almost the first time that Min Jung-seok had given a song to others who were not affiliated with New Ent.

With the familiar beat and melody line, the audience was already nodding their heads to the rhythm.

The members also focused and watched the escalating stage.

—Light the fire in your frozen heart again! (ready to fire!)

However, genuine admiration was not felt in the members’ eyes.

‘The contestants’ skills are too lacking…’

That’s what they were clearly thinking.

Do-jae tried not to show his disappointment.

Since it was impossible to handle the live performance, the song was playing so loudly that it could be lip-synced, but the contestants on the stage were not even able to properly imitate the shape of their mouths.

‘Even considering that they have no stage experience… it’s a bit of a mess.’

It was visible that one or two people were trying to salvage the stage somehow, but it seemed difficult to save the stage with that level of skill.

‘It’s not just a matter of skill.’

Do-jae tried to comment as carefully as possible, but the song itself was objectively below expectations.

‘Did I expect too much?’

was a song of the same level as the songs on HOH’s albums.

Even so, if it was a song on HOH’s album, it would have been possible to elevate the song with the abilities of the HOH members.

‘I can’t see the team’s own color, and only HOH comes to mind.’

When it was the dance break time, two contestants came forward and danced with all their might.

It was the part where the biggest cheers erupted because they were the best members.

‘Since he has been making HOH music for a long time, is it inevitable even for producer Min Jung-seok…’

To be sure, even The Origin sometimes felt like a parody of HOH, so it seemed difficult for the team, which had not yet debuted, to digest this song with their own color.

‘Giving them such a song in the first place would be a problem…’

Do-jae looked at composer Min Jung-seok, who was sitting in one corner of the audience.

He was watching the stage with his arms crossed and cold eyes.

It was clear that the stage was not satisfactory to him either.

‘I thought I would be able to see a slightly different style of song and stage… it’s a shame.’

Do-jae thought so and focused on the stage again.

The members on the stage would know best that the on-site reaction was not very good except for the reactions of a few fans.

However, they were trying their best until the end.

Do-jae thought that he wanted to give them high marks for that alone.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

After one song ended.

The team bowed and left the stage with expressions of mixed emotions.

Do-jae and the members gave a big round of applause to the contestants who had done their best on stage.

And the next to come on stage was the team, which Hee-min belonged to.

As you can tell from the song title, it was a slow-tempo, lyrical song.

Yoo Young, who composed , [The team name] was originally someone who showed prominence in emotional songs.

Most of the emotional songs among Joo Yuri and popular girl group’s numerous hit songs were composed by Yoo Young, who was good at writing beautiful melodies.

‘What kind of song will it be…’

It wasn’t that important to Do-jae that Hee-min was in this team.

He just hoped that it would be a stage where he could learn something and get inspiration.

Of course, the other members’ hearts were a little complicated.

But anyway, their desire for Hee-min to show off his skills and survive on this stage did not change.

Louis felt the same way.

It was because he didn’t want Hee-min to make difficult requests to the MOST members or dwell on the past anymore.

“Kyaaak!”

“Jung-joon! Jung-joon! Jung-joon!”

“Jun-ah! Devour the stage!”

“Mommy! Jun-ah, Mommy’s here!”

The team had Jung-joon, who was currently ranked first, so the response was great even before the stage started.

The team, wearing white clothes and holding hand microphones, looked down at the stage with trembling eyes.

“Lee Hee-min! Let’s do well!”

“Waaah! Tommy, fighting!”

Hee-min, who was originally good at dancing, was forced to join the team after losing the game.

In fact, it happened because he was trying to avoid the team that Do-jae composed.

However, Hee-min thought it was a good opportunity to show a different side of himself as a vocalist.

He was also keeping in mind that many people would pay attention because he was with Jung-joon….

Hee-min clenched the microphone tightly, glanced at the MOST members for a moment, and then looked away.

It was time to swallow his resentment and focus on the stage.

Soon, a calm melody flowed onto the stage with sound effects as if stars were pouring down.

—Do you know where this road begins?

—I’ve been walking towards you since when-

Jung-joon, who was standing in the middle, started singing, and the contestant standing on his left took a step forward and continued the song.

“Wow…”

Gyu-sung, who was standing next to Do-jae, exclaimed.

It was because he could feel that it was a ‘good song’ just by listening to the first verse.

It was a song with a melody so beautiful that he wanted it as a vocalist.

‘The song is very… good.’

What impressed Do-jae was not only the melody.

The lyrics, which Yoo Young wrote himself, were also written to match the story of the team.

It was metaphorically revealing the steps to debut, comparing it to a man walking on the road to his loved one.

‘I can feel that it’s a song for the contestants.’

Furthermore, when Jung-joon, the main vocalist of this team, sang, Do-jae even found melody lines that he couldn’t see in Yoo Young’s other songs.

‘This part was arranged with that friend in mind. It’s optimized for his voice.’

Do-jae was also able to recognize it right away because he had heard about the team members and revised the song a little to suit the atmosphere.

It was also a part that Do-jae’s ears were so sensitive that he could catch.

‘It’s so good…’

Do-jae was sincerely immersed in the stage.

Of course, the contestants’ skills were inferior to those of Gyu-sung, Do-jae, and other vocalists who were already active.

However, perhaps because of the sincerity contained in the lyrics, the contestants’ voices sounded more desperate than anyone else.

Even if it was a little technically lacking, it was becoming a good song with sincerity.

—At the end of summer?!

It was when Do-jae was falling into a good stage to the point where a smile naturally appeared on his face.

“……!”

The expressions of Do-jae, of course, the members, and those around him all hardened.

The reaction of the audience turned cold in an instant.

Hee-min had made a mistake in his part.

But the problem didn’t stop at the out-of-tune sound.

Hee-min, who was embarrassed, stopped singing.

Then, the sound of the contestant who was about to sing the next part also shook severely.

The stage, which was going well, was falling apart like rolling down the stairs.

“Oh dear…….”

“What should I do…….”

Pitiful exclamations erupted.

Of course, more people were coldly evaluating Hee-min’s skills.

Fortunately, Jung-joon, who was the next part, calmly put the stage back on track.

‘Amazing…’

He was quite a solid vocalist.

There was no doubt that Jung-joon, who was already in first place, would gain more fans.

And Hee-min, who had revealed his lack of skills in front of MOST at an important time, closed his eyes tightly, turning pale.

It was a moment when he bitterly regretted his overreach.

And no one knew that today was the day that would change not only MOST but also the Korean music industry a lot.

“Two of the five teams have just finished their performances. The next stage is the team! The popular group MOST’s……!”