Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 23

Legends of Rock

The popularity of ‘Legends of Rock’ exceeded expectations, and interest in the G1 band grew daily.

“Well, that’s to be expected.”

Unlike in the past, when access to video media was limited, the world no longer solely values musical quality.

In that regard, the G1 band was bound to stand out the most in ‘Legends of Rock.’

I hate to admit it, but Park Ji-won, the core of the G1 band, had a visual explosion.

She always had a good base, but she hit the jackpot while preparing for the competition.

The hellish training during summer vacation and the intense preparation for this competition led her to lose 8 kg [approximately 17.6 pounds].

You might think it’s just 8 kg, but considering her height of 153 cm [approximately 5 feet], it’s a significant weight loss.

She went from over 50 kg [approximately 110 pounds] to 42 kg [approximately 92.6 pounds], and it wasn’t just temporary water weight.

She lost over 4 kg [approximately 8.8 pounds] of fat alone, and as a result, size 44 clothes were now too big, making it hard to find clothes that fit.

On top of that, getting her makeup done at a shop frequented by celebrities made her look like a girl group center visual [the most visually appealing member of a K-pop girl group, often positioned at the center during performances].

Ji-won wasn’t the only one whose image changed.

Young-shik, the leader of the G1 band, along with Hyung-woon and Ma-yoon, also improved their physiques, and with the help of shops and cameras, they gave off a boy group vibe.

Especially Hyung-woon, who is tall, was already catching eyes in female-dominated online communities.

Song, visuals, and buzz all came together, so it would be strange if they weren’t popular.

As proof, ‘Love,’ which they sang during their first broadcast, was still at the top of the Lemon Chart [a fictional music chart, likely analogous to real-world charts like Billboard or Oricon].

It seems touching their unique sensibilities really worked.

The second episode of ‘Legends of Rock’ this week successfully surpassed 7% in viewership ratings.

Considering that cable usually barely gets 1%, this was an unbelievable number. Naturally, advertising rates were also rising to levels rarely seen on cable.

“At this rate, there’s a high chance it’ll be extended.”

The production team, who had already planned out their schedule, would be screaming, but common sense doesn’t apply when money is involved.

“It’s good for us.”

Unlike actors who worry about image consumption, it’s more important for singers to promote their own style, so maintaining this buzz is beneficial.

“In that regard, we should also prepare a mini-album.”

Black Tiger album.

Originally, Black Tiger’s first album was planned as a full-length album.

We had decided on 12 songs and were waiting for the uncles to be able to handle playing all of them.

However, the situation has changed a bit.

The G1 band mentioned us on ‘Legends of Rock,’ and interest in Black Tiger has become too high.

Thanks to that, we had to worry about the venue bursting when we performed at Que Sera Sera [likely a small venue or club].

The YouTube channel was also growing rapidly thanks to that interest.

“A mini-album should be fine, right?”

Although I still think they’re a bit immature, I think they can manage to play about 3-4 songs if we push them.

More than being stuck in the practice room, performing on stage like this is more helpful for improving their skills.

‘If this happens, Black Tiger will be YC Entertainment’s first album…’

Actually, I’m happy about this.

YC Entertainment was started by Black Tiger, so it’s symbolically not bad.

“Should we shoot a music video too?”

I’m investing about half of the profits in coins [cryptocurrency] and keeping the remaining half in YC Entertainment.

We’re not promoting like idols, so there’s not much money to spend on activities.

A simple music video wouldn’t be too burdensome.

“It’s time to grind the uncles.”

The time has come to take advantage of the uncles’ increased motivation, properly stimulated by the G1 band.

+++++++++

“Hahaha. I never thought Black Tiger would release an album first.”

“We can’t afford to miss this opportunity.”

“Actually, I thought it would be good to release at least a mini-album if conditions allowed.”

Young-chan smiled in satisfaction at General Manager Jang Gil-san’s words.

General Manager Jang Gil-san was brought in by Jang Tae-shik to manage YC Entertainment.

He was originally working in the entertainment industry, and we wouldn’t have been able to bring him to YC Entertainment if he hadn’t been forced to resign from a mid-sized entertainment company three years ago due to internal politics.

No, originally, no matter how much Jang Tae-shik tried, it would have been impossible to bring him in.

Nevertheless, there is one reason why he came to YC Entertainment.

He saw the potential of Black Tiger.

To be precise, he saw the potential in Park Young-chan, who is producing Black Tiger.

Young-chan, who has a talent that he had never seen in his 20 years in this industry, was a mysterious being to him.

“With this guy, revenge won’t be a problem.”

No, perhaps his personal revenge might be a trivial matter.

That’s why he easily understood Young-chan’s sudden offer to release a Black Tiger album.

“The problem is the music video. You’re not just thinking of matching the basics, are you?”

“If it’s just to match the basics, I wouldn’t shoot it. We need to raise the quality.”

“Then the cost will go up ridiculously. It’ll break a few hundred million won [hundreds of thousands of US dollars].”

The cost of renting equipment and studios is one thing, but the biggest cost is still labor costs.

At least 10 staff members are needed for a day of shooting. To increase the quality, you’ll need more than twice that number.

And that’s not all.

The cost of hiring a decent cinematographer, lighting director, and editor is also enormous.

And the cost of hiring a director to lead them is even higher.

The manager wasn’t exaggerating when he said hundreds of millions of won.

“There’s a way to reduce labor costs.”

“??”

Young-chan, seeing the manager’s question, took out his phone, searched for something for a moment, and then showed it to the manager.

“A short film?”

“Yes. It’s a 10-minute short film. Just watch it.”

The manager was doubtful, but he obediently watched the video.

Watching movies was his long-time hobby, so he had a discerning eye, but he quickly fell into the movie ‘Firefly’ that Young-chan showed him.

The plot was nothing special.

It’s a movie about what happens when a young girl who came to the countryside from the city leaves home late one night and gets lost.

If they had tried to write the scenario in a provocative way, the movie would have flowed into the thriller or horror genre.

However, this short film that Young-chan showed only depicted the journey of a girl getting lost in the countryside and finding her way home.

If you only look at the plot, you might frown at the lack of sincerity.

But even so, the manager couldn’t take his eyes off the video.

The visuals were so great that he couldn’t even remember the plot. It wasn’t just about the beautiful visuals of one scene.

Surprisingly, these visuals flowed like water, making it impossible for viewers to take their eyes off it.

It was perfect until the end.

The last scene ends with a young girl waving goodbye to the firefly that guided her home.

A story that adults might call a coincidence becomes a story about a special friendship with a fairy when viewed through the eyes of a child.

After watching the short film that ended with lingering feelings, the manager readily admired it.

“…Amazing.”

“Yes. It’s amazing talent. I’m thinking of commissioning the person who made this to make the music video.”

“If it’s someone who can produce this level of video, it will cost more money than you think.”

He said this because he knew that there were not many people among the pros who could produce this level of video.

As if he had expected the manager’s words, Young-chan smiled and replied.

“He’s a college student. And surprisingly, this work didn’t even win an award at that competition.”

“This level of work? Are the judges blind?”

“Hahaha.”

Young-chan let out a sympathetic laugh and continued.

“So I looked it up, and it seems like it’s because they focus on the story. Also, he doesn’t have any connections.”

“Still, this doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, how much in the world makes sense?”

Society is run irrationally. Unexpected troubles also occurred because emotions were valued more than reason.

Perhaps that’s why they want the world to run rationally and reasonably.

‘Thanks to that, I got lucky.’

The director who produced the short film ‘Firefly’ is named Hong Eui-chan, and he is a senior in his fourth year of college this year. To be exact, he was a student on leave who was postponing graduation for various reasons.

He is from a local area, not Seoul, and his alma mater’s Department of Theater and Film was created when he was a sophomore.

It was just a department to fill the ranks, but when the Department of Theater and Film was created, Hong Eui-chan transferred here without hesitation.

The professor in charge of this department knew that Hong Eui-chan was unusual and pushed him.

However, Hong Eui-chan soon focused on studying alone and running around on the field rather than school classes.

He said that he went crazy traveling around the country with a camera during the vacation, and this experience created Hong Eui-chan’s unique visuals.

‘To think he hasn’t even debuted yet? Is this also a butterfly effect [a small change that can have large consequences]?’

While looking for someone to shoot a music video with good cost-effectiveness, Young-chan checked on him just in case because Hong Eui-chan’s name was not there, and the result was this.

“Maybe it’s natural?”

The reason why Hong Eui-chan jumped into the music video director field is virtually due to YC Entertainment.

At that time, UCC [User Created Content] and other personal videos such as YouTube were sprouting, and YC Entertainment recognized the potential of this field early on.

“It will be a good weapon to go to the world. Let’s do it.”

That was the internal judgment, and since then, they have made bold investments.

They jumped into several platforms, and YouTube was the biggest one.

They created dozens of channels and managed the main channel that oversees them like a broadcasting station.

“YouTube needs to be created in a different form from existing videos. Let’s find people who can shoot something lighter and easier for people to accept.”

New talent is needed for new things. Let’s pick people who can make bold attempts.

So they held a competition related to it.

Many people gathered for the huge prize money and support, and one of them was Hong Eui-chan.

“Is this person crazy? Why is he using his talent for this?”

YC Entertainment was so impressed with Hong Eui-chan’s video, which seemed to have all his talent invested in shooting music videos, that they tried to sign a contract with him as if they had found a treasure.

However, at this time, Hong Eui-chan was very eager to make movies, so the process of persuading him was not easy.

However, they gradually persuaded him over time, and when they promised to invest in the movie he would shoot, Hong Eui-chan finally jumped into this field.

It goes without saying that Hong Eui-chan shot all the music videos of YC Entertainment’s singers, and naturally, he established himself as a star director.

His visuals were so impressive that overseas pop stars contacted him directly, so you can guess his position.

Knowing that he was now a legend who couldn’t leave school and was rotting away made Young-chan happy and bitter.

“No matter how talented you are, you can’t shine unless you meet the luck to help him.”

In any case, it was fortunate for Young-chan.

He was able to use a star director who would normally cost hundreds of millions of won at a low price.

Young-chan looked at the manager, who was dumbfounded by the irrational society, and said.

“Please let this person shoot the music video. The budget will be up to 100 million won [approximately $80,000 USD].”

“Okay. I’ll proceed that way.”

However, unlike his confident answer, the manager found Young-chan three days later with a dumbfounded face.

“He says he won’t do it.”

“Yes?”

“He rejected the offer.”

“Hmm….”

Young-chan was less surprised than he thought at those words. Wasn’t he a person who said he didn’t want to shoot even in that world?

“I need to meet him once. Is he far away?”

“No. He’s in Seoul. But I don’t know if it’s necessary to meet him.”

He said that, but he gave Young-chan the address, and Young-chan had to tilt his head after checking the address.

That’s because….

“You sent the wrong address. It says it’s a chicken restaurant here?”

“That’s right. He recently started a business with a friend.”

“….Yes?”

“He said that after failing at the short film festival, he realized he had no talent, so he completely gave up. That’s why he says he won’t do it.”

“……Haa. I’m going crazy.”

Young-chan, who had been enjoying some honey thanks to the manager, lamented and got up from his seat.

“Is this karma? I’ll go meet him.”

Young-chan, carrying his laptop, headed to the address.

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────