Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 157

“Deciding to implement quarantine measures was definitely the right call.”

I nodded in response to Taylor’s words.

It was hard to believe that a country with such a massive economy and cultural influence could be so devastated by this flu.

“We might have to adjust the concert schedule.”

“……You’re considering that much?”

“People are what matter most.”

Black Tiger and I had become too big to be swayed by public opinion.

Even if we ignored the quarantine and proceeded with the concert as planned, no one could really say anything to us.

In reality, the losses from adjusting the concert schedule, considering the contract fees and everything else, were enormous.

However, these were fans I wanted to keep around for a long time, so I decided to stick with this decision.

Fortunately, the European leg was still only in verbal discussions, with no contracts signed yet, so we could minimize the losses there.

“The situation might improve again, so let’s keep that possibility in mind.”

“Haha, I understand.”

Despite the World Tour, which we had worked so hard to prepare, being shaken up, Taylor smiled and nodded, seemingly in good spirits.

Seeing him like that, I also smiled silently.

I hoped the situation would improve, but my wish was not granted.

Instead, things got worse, and the following year, we faced an unimaginably long and terrible nightmare.

* * *

November 2019.

An acute respiratory infectious disease caused by a new type of variant coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, first occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

A zoonotic disease [a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans] that infects both humans and animals.

A legally designated infectious disease of the first class, a novel infectious disease syndrome.

January 2020.

Started spreading beyond China to the Asian region.

February 2020.

Started spreading worldwide.

Initially named Wuhan pneumonia because it started in Wuhan, China, with pneumonia-like symptoms.

Black Tiger’s U.S. tour ended early, concluding in early December.

As January arrived, it became clear that there was no other choice.

The estimated number of flu infections exceeded 14 million, with nearly 100,000 hospitalizations. The death toll was even more horrifying.

Over 6,000 deaths were recorded, and if something like that had happened in Korea, the entire country might have been paralyzed.

Given the situation, we had no choice but to end the concert tour, even if it meant taking a loss.

“I hear the damage will double by January next year.”

“……”

Youngchan was speechless at the unexpectedly devastating impact of the flu.

However, Taylor had more to report to him.

He seemed to have an even scarier story to tell than the flu.

“……But the real problem isn’t the flu.”

“Yes?”

Taylor, seeing Youngchan’s confused expression, moistened his lips with his tongue before continuing.

“The infectious disease situation in China is alarming. I heard from someone well-informed that, in the worst-case scenario… a pandemic might occur.”

“A pandemic?”

Youngchan was horrified at the word pandemic.

A pandemic is the highest alert level among the six warning stages declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). There have only been two so far: the Hong Kong flu in 1968 and the 2009 swine flu, which Youngchan had a tough time with.

Fortunately, thanks to the system established during the SARS [Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome] alert in 2002, Korea did not suffer much damage.

Above all, after the release of the treatment Tamiflu, the crisis was averted.

However, with over 280,000 deaths, it was clear how extreme a pandemic could be.

Youngchan was horrified, but Taylor continued with terrible, despairing words rather than hopeful ones.

“And I heard it might be a pandemic on a scale we’ve never seen before.”

Taylor continued, mentioning the problem of treatments and vaccines that might never be released. Of course, there was no way to cure it at the current time.

It was even more terrifying that China, the country where the disease originated in Wuhan, was not sharing information.

This pandemic was all the more frightening because it was unknown.

“Therefore, I think it’s best to give up the European tour. Also, start using masks from now on. You should use N95 grade masks, which are used in disease control rooms, rather than regular masks.”

“N95… you mean KF94 [Korean Filter 94, a Korean standard for respiratory masks equivalent to N95].”

Fortunately, there was no resistance to this level of mask.

Living in Seoul, where there was a constant uproar over fine dust blowing in from China, wearing KF94 masks was a common occurrence.

“There might be a mask shortage soon?”

If it was said that KF94 grade masks, which only some sensitive people used, were necessary for safety, it was a natural phenomenon.

Youngchan, as if escaping reality, briefly indulged in useless thoughts before returning to the idea that it was fortunate that the U.S. tour had ended early.

Thanks to that, the European tour schedule could be naturally delayed, which greatly reduced the losses incurred by canceling the European tour.

Youngchan, agreeing to cancel the European tour as Taylor suggested, couldn’t help but sigh.

“Haa~ this is a mess.”

As the head of the Korean music industry, Youngchan, who had risen to a position not much different from that, couldn’t help but sigh.

He had no idea how much damage this pandemic would inflict on the Korean music market, which was growing and gaining global recognition.

The income sources for singers are divided into several categories.

There are albums, advertisements, concerts, merchandise, and events.

Among these, events were the main source of income for most singers.

Even 3rd-tier idols receive 5 to 10 million won [approximately $4,000 to $8,000 USD], and 1st-tier idols who have won on terrestrial broadcasts receive at least ten times that amount.

Corporate events or overseas events pay even more.

Of course, not everyone can be a 1st-tier idol, so small local festivals don’t deviate much from the event fees of 3rd-tier idols.

Recently, things have improved as they have been invited to events in nearby countries such as Japan and China.

As a compromise, it is difficult to bring in expensive 1st-tier idols, so they bring in 2nd or 3rd-tier idols who are not much different in terms of skills or visuals to perform at events.

Of course, the condition is that they have to perform on stage with famous 1st-tier idol songs other than their own, but 3rd-tier idols rather welcome this.

For them, who lack decent songs and concepts and cannot shine properly despite their skills, it was better to sing these famous songs.

The best thing was to make the K-pop fans who came to the event aware of their names.

Thanks to this, the number of idols who have recognition as 3rd-tier idols in Korea but have recognition as 2nd-tier idols or higher overseas is gradually increasing.

It had taken a considerable amount of time to build up these favorable conditions, but the pandemic was sure to destroy everything at once.

That’s why Youngchan sighed.

“The big entertainment companies will be able to withstand it, but….”

The other entertainment companies were sure to go bankrupt.

Just as any ecosystem cannot be made up of only big fish, these major upheavals were not good for the music industry.

There was a high possibility that it would transform into a market of only a few, losing the diversity of music.

“I’ll have to look at the situation and think about it.”

It was still unknown whether things would go as Taylor said.

Therefore, Youngchan thought that even if it was a pandemic, it could pass like the swine flu.

He thought that if they defended well like then, it might end more mildly than expected.

-Black Tiger Announces End of ‘World Tour’ with U.S. Tour!-

-Decision Made Out of Concern for Flu and Wuhan Pneumonia Epidemic!-

-Black Cats [Black Tiger’s fanbase name] in Europe Show Great Anger and Disappointment.-

-What is Wuhan Pneumonia that Even the World’s Best Band ‘Black Tiger’ Worries About?-

-Scientists Fighting to Uncover the Identity of the New Coronavirus ‘Wuhan Pneumonia’!-

-No Cure for ‘Wuhan Pneumonia’ Confirmed. Only Prevention is the Method!-

The fear of Wuhan pneumonia spread rapidly.

The danger of ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ was spreading among people faster than expected, and the impact of Black Tiger’s world tour was significant.

People gradually began to realize what kind of infectious disease it was that made them stop the tour, even at a huge loss, which they had continued even during the terrible flu season.

Thanks to this, the Black Cats in Europe, who were the last in line, were greatly disappointed, but their disappointment did not last long.

Rather, YC Entertainment launched a campaign to inform fans of the dangers of ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ by disclosing the losses incurred as a result.

In the process, knowing that masks would be sold out, they also shared how to make masks from clothes that were not worn at home.

It wouldn’t block it as perfectly as KF94, but even that level of mask could prevent infection to a considerable extent.

“If we do well, we might get a challenge to film and wear masks?”

Taylor thought that if a challenge came out of this campaign in a situation where there were already many complaints about masks that were hard to get, it would be good for their image.

“Korea is thorough.”

“Wow~ amazing.”

“Are they already doing this much?”

“It’s close to China, though.”

“If we do well this time, can we get through with minimal damage again?”

Black Tiger’s uncles let out exclamations that were hard to tell whether they were admiration or something else as they looked at the quarantine stations installed at the airport.

The sight of dozens of quarantine personnel measuring people’s temperatures in outfits that looked like they were from a laboratory in a movie was certainly impressive.

Unlike the uncles who were looking at the scene with a slightly curious look, Youngchan’s eyes were serious.

“It’s more rigid than I thought.”

It wasn’t even past January yet, but if it was this much, Youngchan couldn’t grasp how bleak the atmosphere would be after February, when the official announcements began.

“It’s an emergency situation.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t know it was an emergency situation.

However, the feeling he got when he was in the relaxed atmosphere in the United States was completely different from the tense atmosphere in Korea, which was close to China.

Realizing that it was more of an emergency situation than he had thought, Youngchan could only think of going to the company as soon as possible.

As February arrived, the fear brought by ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ began to feel more real.

Fear comes from ignorance, and in that respect, ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ had become as big and grotesque as a monster in imagination.

Of course, the entertainment industry, which had been watching the situation, was in chaos.

All performances and events began to be canceled quickly.

Bands that were preparing for a performance the next day lost the stage they were about to stand on overnight, and the same was true for other idols and singers.

In March, ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ officially began to be called ‘COVID-19’ instead.

Although many people still called it ‘Wuhan pneumonia’, people gradually became accustomed to using the name ‘COVID-19’ on television.

Around that time.

Several social changes occurred.

It became difficult to find people who didn’t wear masks on the streets, and new words such as ‘mask fraud’ (magikkun) and ‘mask victim’ (mahaeja) were also created.

These words were created because it was difficult to tell whether the other person was beautiful or not because the mask covered their face.

Of course, since most people were ‘mask frauds’, there was even a separate trend of ‘mask makeup’ [makeup focused on enhancing features visible above the mask].