Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 151

Music Monster Overnight! Episode 142

-Want to watch ‘Squid Game’? It’s trending among young people!-

-Averages 80 minutes per episode. You have to dedicate a whole day to barely finish it! But you can’t stop!-

-YC Film continuing its upward trend with ‘Squid Game’ after ‘King of Arrogance’?-

-An unusual atmosphere is building worldwide around ‘Squid Game’!-

Squid Game Junkie.

This word, a combination of English and Korean characters, has been trending among young people recently.

It’s another way of saying they binged ‘Squid Game’ the day before, playfully expressing how they became ‘junkies’ because once you start watching, you can’t stop until you finish the last episode.

In the original timeline, ‘Squid Game’ was a drama where each episode lasted about an hour. However, with ample production costs, a lengthy production period, and an excellent cast, characters that had been cut from the original concept were reintroduced, and ‘Squid Game’ delivered movie-like length and quality in each episode.

In other words, watching ‘Squid Game’ was like watching about 13 movies in a row.

There’s a reason why they call viewers ‘Squid Game Junkies’.

While the term ‘Squid Game Junkie’ was popular in Korea, a similar term was trending in the English-speaking world.

-Squid Game Zombie-

This term was coined because many people who watched ‘Squid Game’ moved around looking like zombies from sleep deprivation. It was popular among college students and has now spread among teenagers and those in their 30s.

In the end, with tremendous promotion and higher-than-expected quality, ‘Squid Game’ became a huge hit just two weeks after its release.

-‘Squid Game’ viewership reached 950,450,000 hours in the last two weeks!-

-An unprecedented record-breaking streak that even N Corporation has never achieved!-

-The heat is getting hotter and hotter!-

-‘Squid Game’ achieves ‘671,760,000’ hours in its 3rd week!-

-Is the Korean traditional game ‘Red Light, Green Light’ becoming popular through ‘Squid Game’?-

‘Squid Game,’ which reached nearly 1 billion hours in just two weeks, significantly increased the number of users flowing into YC Film.

In fact, it is on the verge of reaching 200 million users, following N Corporation, which has already exceeded 200 million.

Depending on how well ‘Squid Game’ performs in the future, rumors are spreading that it might catch up with N Corporation.

Some experts say that the reason why a company that was established just over two years ago can achieve such results is because of the subscription plan called ‘Half Ads’.

This is a subscription plan that costs only $3 in the US. Subscribers simply watch two or three 10-second ads per episode.

Considering that many say N Corporation costs more than $10, YC Film was unmatched in terms of cost.

In addition, unlike in the past, they are buying huge amounts of content from various countries around the world, so it seems that the amount of content will soon be on par with N Corporation.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, at the center of this success was ‘Squid Game,’ which is challenging the throne of ‘King of Arrogance.’

Thanks to ‘Squid Game,’ Korean traditional games are receiving a lot of attention.

This happened because the mastermind behind ‘Squid Game’ repackaged the games he used to play with his neighborhood friends as a child into this deadly competition.

The title ‘Squid Game’ was also taken from a children’s game, and the game that left the most intense memory for viewers was ‘Red Light, Green Light.’

‘Red Light, Green Light’ was the first game that the participants faced in ‘Squid Game,’ and it instantly transformed the loose atmosphere of the beginning into a tense and thrilling experience.

The rules of the game were simple.

The rule is that you have to reach the finish line within a certain amount of time while the robot, who is the tagger, turns around, covers its eyes, and says ‘Red Light, Green Light.’

Instead, you must never move when the tagger finishes saying ‘Red Light, Green Light’ and turns around. At first, the participants laughed and scoffed at the rules.

“What kind of ridiculous game is this?”

“Ugh. Shit! I’ll do it because they said they’d give me money……”

Most people were dumbfounded and laughed at the fact that they were using a game that even kids these days don’t play as the first challenge.

However, their laughter soon turned into tears and fear.

-Tat-tat-tat!-

-Aaaagh!-

This is because being ‘out’ in ‘Red Light, Green Light,’ which they used to play as children, was now enforced by shooting.

The madness that unfolded afterward was truly terrible.

As the time was counting down quickly, people who were running around in a hurry made mistakes and lost their lives to the bullets fired by the tagger robot.

The ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game, which seemed to mix childhood innocence and nightmares, was definitely enough to attract the attention of viewers both domestically and abroad.

Another game that is attracting attention is the Dalgona [Korean sugar candy] game.

It is a game made by engraving a specific shape on a snack made by melting sugar, and you have to carefully break it out with 침 (saliva) to create the shape.

It was a Dalgona game where you would get one more or receive a prize if you succeeded as a child, but this game was different.

-Bang!-

Failure was death, and success was the qualification to go to the next stage.

Of course, the shape engraved on the Dalgona candy was important, and since this shape was random, luck was also an important factor for the participants.

In addition, several games received great attention overseas, and overseas viewers wanted to try them themselves.

-Ta-da! Did you see? It’s the tracksuit the male lead was wearing! The number is 77!-

└Oh! Oh my god! It’s exactly like what I saw in the drama! Did you make it yourself?

└No way! I’m not that 금손 (golden hand [meaning someone with exceptional crafting skills]). I bought it from the YC Store.

└YC Store? Isn’t that where they only sell goods from YC Entertainment?

└YC Entertainment is where ‘Squid Game’ was made. I went there just in case, and they even created a ‘Squid Game’ corner.

-Haha! There are several tracksuit numbers. In addition to number 77, there are 231, 452, 666, and 999. If you want, they will make it on the spot with a different number.-

└Really? I have to buy number 231. I cried so much when Woohee died for Lee Hajeong, who became her friend in ‘Squid Game’.

└I’m number 452. I’m going to buy Lee Hajeong’s number! Her pain and sadness hidden in her venom still squeeze my heart.

└Keke. I’m number 999!

└You guys really don’t know. Of course, you have to buy the 666 tracksuit! How charming is Mi-hyun’s character! Really crazy acting and crazy beauty!-

-Mi-hyun was really amazing! When she showed her cold eyes, then became like a child, and then showed her seductive eyes. I thought my eyes were wrong!-

-Ah! They also sell ‘Dalgona’ that comes out in Squid Game! The price is $5 and the shape is random!-

└Oh my god! I’m going to buy it right away!

└I looked it up and there’s also a ‘Dalgona’ making set. But it’s harder than I thought! It’s better for your mental health to just buy it.

-No matter what anyone says, the most impressive part of ‘Squid Game’ was when YC appeared as the son of the mastermind!

└I 100% agree with this! The moment YC appeared, all the tension and conflict shown in front of me disappeared!

└Someone said it was the dark version of ‘Jin’ from ‘King of Arrogance.’ I don’t think so. Dark version my ass! It was the appearance of the Demon King!

As if they had already predicted such viewers’ wishes, the YC Store had everything they wanted.

Not only the tracksuits worn by those who participated in the death game, but also the costumes of the supervisors who monitor the participants were prepared in the ‘Squid Game Corner.’

In addition, the Dalgona making set, which is creating a Dalgona making challenge on SNS [Social Networking Services], and the random Dalgona product from the drama, which sold more than expected, were very popular.

As much as that interest, many stars were born from ‘Squid Game.’

Among them, there were quite a few who were already stars but were re-examined or recognized as global stars.

Lee Na-eun, Kang Ah-young, and Lee Yeon-hee of ‘Blue Rose,’ who were originally singers, were among those who benefited.

The first and most attention was paid to Lee Yeon-hee.

‘Blue Rose’ was already a world-class group that was breaking all the records set by the world’s top girl groups.

It was only natural that one of the members of such a girl group would receive attention when she surprised the world with an unexpected move.

Since it was time for ‘Blue Rose’ to make a comeback, the attention on her was growing.

If Lee Yeon-hee received the most attention, Kang Ah-young, who played Mi-hyun, was the one who remained the biggest topic until the end.

The amount of screen time itself did not deviate from the supporting role level, but the setting of multiple personalities and the fact that one of those personalities, Mi-hyun, was a mentalist, could not help but attract attention as much as the male lead.

Lee Ha-jeong was not as prominent as Mi-hyun’s character because Mi-hyun’s character was so strong, but her solid yet fragile contrasting charm was enough to shake the hearts of viewers.

However, the biggest topic was YC, who played the role of the mastermind’s son who made a cameo appearance in the last episode.

Overlapping with ‘Jin’ from ‘King of Arrogance,’ it is a situation where people are saying that the Demon King has appeared! Or the appearance of a true mastermind.

Thanks to this, viewers who watched ‘Squid Game’ until the very end could not let go of their tension.

The aftermath of the huge success led to the Squid Game director and actors being invited to a famous American TV show.

And in that place, the Squid Game director shared news that Squid Game fans could not help but welcome.

“The production of Squid Game Season 2 started several months ago and filming was recently completed. I think it will be released sometime next year.”

“Hahaha! You can look forward to it. In Season 2, YC will have a bigger role as you all want.”

The fact that the production of Squid Game Season 2 had already started, filming had finished, and it would be released next year was exciting news.

In addition, the fact that the director said that the role of YC, the mastermind’s son, would be increased was something that could not help but be welcomed.

* * *

“I don’t know if I’m a singer or an actor……”

It wasn’t for nothing that I was grumbling like that.

After finishing the All Stadium Tour, my schedule has been continuing at a grueling pace that exceeds the activities of most actors.

Not long after the tour ended, I joined Squid Game Season 2, and as soon as filming was over, I had to join the filming of the second series of ‘King of Arrogance.’

It’s no wonder I’m complaining.

However, despite this, I stopped complaining when I received a report that the number of YC Film users was increasing due to the success of Squid Game.

If things continue like this, I thought it might be worth challenging the throne of N Corporation.

And I was quite confident about that.

Although it’s not as big as ‘Squid Game,’ many of the works that have been hugely popular in webtoons [Korean digital comics] have finished filming and are ready to be uploaded to YC Film.

Among them, ‘Zombie School’ is receiving the most attention as a drama that will be most popular overseas.

It is a work that depicts the escape of students trapped in a school surrounded by zombies, and it properly reveals the tension that the zombie genre provides.

In particular, it is a work that revives the tremendous movements of Korean zombies that surprised the world a few years ago, so there are already talks within the company about whether the promotion for this should be done at the ‘Squid Game’ level.

However, I don’t really like zombie movies, so unlike ‘Squid Game,’ it doesn’t really appeal to me.

“But there must be a reason why experts say that.”

Anyway, if you put aside the zombie genre, ‘Zombie School’ was definitely an attractive work.

This is because it was a work that interestingly depicted the unique freshness and conflicts of teenage boys and girls.

In particular, Ji-young, a member of New Daisy who plays the role of using the Korean bow, which is said to be the strongest in the world, as a weapon, was really attractively drawn.

I can say that it definitely shows a different appeal from guns.

That’s why I allocated a budget equivalent to ‘Squid Game’ to the promotion team.

The heat of ‘Squid Game’ will not easily die down, but it is true that it is cooling down, so ‘Zombie School’ will definitely play a big role in filling that gap.