Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 38

13. YC Sama

“Ugh, I’m beat.”

“I’m going crazy.”

“We only asked for a little convenience, and this is what we get. Insane.”

“It’s bad enough for us, but teenagers doing this? Shouldn’t we report it as child abuse?”

“That’s just how it is in this industry.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at my uncles’ grumbling.

I knew their complaints weren’t unfounded.

The schedule was much more grueling than I had anticipated.

The turning point was our 20-minute special performance on A Broadcasting’s ‘The Live Show,’ which sparked a huge reaction.

With the response being so positive, other broadcasting stations also started requesting special performances.

Even S Broadcasting, which initially suggested 12 minutes, increased it to 17 minutes by adding 5 more minutes.

“Thanks to that, we practically had a concert tour.”

I never imagined we’d be going around broadcasting stations doing mini-concerts.

Since these schedules were arranged so suddenly, the process was more challenging than expected. Unlike idol groups who prepare separate audio tracks, we, as a rock band, had to perform live.

Of course, not all bands perform live. Due to sound and time constraints, many fake their performances.

However, regardless of public interest, Black Tiger was a rookie band, so that wasn’t even an option.

The PDs [Production Directors] in charge of the music programs insisted on live performances.

“What can we do? It’s our fault for being too good.”

The live performance on ‘Legends of Rock,’ which exceeded 20% in real-time viewership, must have been too impressive.

‘So impressive that we had to do a guitar solo at every broadcasting station.’

Of course, it wasn’t as long as 5 minutes like on ‘Legends of Rock.’

It ended with about 2 minutes of guitar solo, but since it was an impromptu performance, videos of these solos edited together are circulating on YouTube.

“Thanks to that, we definitely made a name for ourselves.”

We gained tremendous publicity not only among broadcasting station officials but also nationwide.

With such high recognition in just the first week, from the second week onwards, the main variety shows of each broadcasting station started inviting us.

The first variety show we did was ‘Reckless Challenges,’ which has now become a national program.

‘Reckless Challenges,’ hosted by the nation’s MC [Master of Ceremonies, a popular term for a TV show host], features new challenges every episode, and the challenge for the episode we were on was ‘Challenge Rock Music!’

I was worried that this challenge might have been decided because of us, but that wasn’t the case.

They had been considering this challenge idea since rock started gaining attention again through ‘Legends of Rock.’

The problem was who to have as a mentor, and after seeing us perform on ‘Legends of Rock,’ the PD immediately considered us as the first choice for casting.

However, the reason why this story didn’t fully materialize at the time was because of Black Tiger’s recognition.

Even though we were a trending band, the problem was that we were still a rookie band.

But as our recognition rapidly increased through the broadcasting station mini-concert tour, they cast us without further hesitation.

And the guest who generated the most buzz on ‘Reckless Challenges’ wasn’t me.

The one who played the biggest role and caused the most buzz was Kwak Do-hoon Uncle.

‘Reckless Challenges’ occasionally creates segments to prank the members, and this time, they created a segment called ‘Please Be Surprised.’

The production team sent the members addresses to remote warehouses far from Seoul, and the members, mostly grumbling about the rural filming location, entered the warehouse.

What the members saw then was a scene of some kind of shady deal taking place.

Although the set and content were somewhat crude, contrary to our expectations of whether they would fall for it, the reactions of the ‘Reckless Challenges’ members were all amazing.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Gulp! Is this the wrong place?”

“Oh… I’m so, sorry. W-Why isn’t the door opening.”

“I, I didn’t see anything… Ugh.”

“No, why are you telling me to come to such a far place…!!”

“Sniff, sniff… Why isn’t the door… No. Don’t come closer!”

“!!!!!…(awkward).”

They were crying and banging on the locked door, and the reason why that was possible was, of course, thanks to Kwak Do-hoon Uncle’s intimidating appearance.

“I forgot for a moment because I’m so used to it.”

In my ingrained memories, Kwak Do-hoon Uncle was often said to be the reincarnation of Hanagata Kei, the model for a famous fighting manga Yakuza [a Japanese organized crime syndicate].

It wasn’t just his appearance, but also the force emanating from his massive physique that changed the very air around him.

They were facing such a presence alone in a dark warehouse.

It would have been stranger if they hadn’t panicked.

The ‘Reckless Challenges’ members, many of whom were cowards, seemed too surprised, so Kwak Do-hoon Uncle tried to comfort them, but that only made the situation worse.

Thanks to that, this ‘Please Be Surprised’ segment became one of the greatest moments ever.

One member who was properly surprised even earned the nickname ‘National Coward.’

Anyway, after starting our variety show career with Kwak Do-hoon Uncle’s performance, we later became mentors and helped improve their musical skills.

I even wrote a song on the spot that day.

I thought it was a good cause since the song the ‘Reckless Challenges’ members would perform was being donated in full.

Although it was impromptu, the process of writing the song was more difficult than I thought.

Everyone had some experience with instruments, but they were lower-level amateurs, so I had to write the song accordingly.

It had to be a simple yet attractive song that even beginners could play with effort.

At the same time, it had to capture the atmosphere of ‘Reckless Challenges,’ so adjusting this part was difficult.

However, after testing the members’ skills several times, I saw a rough outline, and once the block was broken, a song was written right away.

“The song came out this fast?”

“I’ve heard that sometimes inspiration strikes and it comes out in less than 5 minutes? I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this!”

“It’s different from that! This isn’t just a rough outline, but a complete score with detailed parts. Tell me. Did you make this in advance and bring it with you? You’re churning out this crazy song on the spot?”

“You’re a real genius! YC! Let’s be friends from now on!”

“Wow! It’s so addictive! But it’s so easy?”

“I really want to play this. So much!”

“Can you show us once?”

Among the ‘Reckless Challenges’ members, there was a famous singer who also composed music, although in a different genre, and he immediately recognized the value of this song.

I smiled at him and, at their request to play it, performed it on the spot with my uncles.

-Reckless Guys!-

The title was a homage to ‘Reckless Challenges,’ and the content itself contained their sincerity within their incomprehensible challenges.

They could never have felt it if they had done the challenge half-heartedly; only by giving their all did their challenges always come with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure.

Was it because it was a song that contained their sincerity?

When the performance ended, all the ‘Reckless Challenges’ members were busy wiping their eyes.

Even the member who said he couldn’t understand why the members were crying, saying that men don’t cry, was no different.

“Thank you for writing such a great song.”

The nation’s MC, who had been wiping away tears for a while, suddenly came up to me and bowed, and I was surprised and waved my hands.

At my reaction, he continued, his eyes red.

“It was really, really comforting. I will definitely master this song and make sure that the emotion I felt today is conveyed to the viewers, no, the nation.”

From that sincerity, I felt that he was indeed the nation’s MC.

After all, in my ingrained memories, this person was also famous for his endless good deeds.

In fact, the guy in my memories regretted not being able to build a close friendship with him due to his overseas advancement.

After the broadcast of the national variety show ‘Reckless Challenges,’ Black Tiger quickly solidified its national recognition.

And this became the starting point for creating a phenomenon in the third week that no one had expected.

Of course, it would be an exaggeration to call it a proper phenomenon, but the fact that the word ‘phenomenon’ came out was a great thing in itself.

Because of this, our activities were forcibly extended.

Many CFs [Commercial Films, or advertisements] started coming in.

Although most were short-term, ranging from 3 to 6 months, and some were strange, there were many that didn’t significantly damage our image, so we signed all of them.

The only disappointing thing was that most of the CFs revolved around me rather than the entire Black Tiger.

The increased schedule wasn’t just CFs.

From next week, I had to shoot pictorials separately for several famous magazines.

That meant that unlike my uncles who were eating comfortably, I had to manage myself rigorously. This process was very difficult, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t bear.

In my ingrained memories, the guy had schedules and management that were several times more packed than this.

Compared to that, this was a piece of cake.

Of course, my uncles seemed to think differently as they watched from the side.

“He’s a real workaholic! How can he not look tired?”

“Be honest. You used to work separately, right? Otherwise, how can a beginner handle this so skillfully?”

“I know. I’d usually just let it go, but I don’t understand this?”

“Ah, he’s so tough.”

“You’re really a crazy guy in many ways!”

“Hahaha······.”

I gave an awkward smile at my uncles’ unique admiration and brushed it off.

Anyway, thanks to the memories of the guy who had reigned as a top star for 20 long years, I was able to quickly produce results that the advertisers were satisfied with.

CFs that would have originally taken all day could be finished in a short amount of time, and I was able to distribute my stamina by adjusting when to exert effort and when to hold back.

In that way, we filmed over 10 CFs. Among them, 4 CFs were broadcast on TV, and thanks to that, the rapidly depleting company funds could be replenished.

++++++++++

“All 50,000 copies are sold out?”

“I’m also dazed. I thought it was possible, but I never thought it would sell out this quickly. I thought it would be around the end of our activities at best… I think the syndrome phenomenon that the media has been talking about for the past few days is related to this. At this rate, it looks like 100,000 copies are possible.”

“100,000 copies? Are you saying we’re printing 30,000 more copies?”

Youngchan tilted his head at the manager’s words that he would not only sell the 50,000 copies but also fill 100,000 copies in the end.

However, the manager had his own reasons.

“Surprisingly, not only in Korea but also overseas, the number of people buying is increasing.”

“Black Tiger is inherently far from K-pop….”

What is the most common image that comes to mind when you think of K-pop? It was idol.

Beings who have everything from singing and dancing to looks and star quality.

Some criticize them as terrible results of controlled autonomy and that they are supplies that seem to be mass-produced in factories, but if you have ever looked at the process of becoming an idol even once, you would not dare to say such a thing.

They are not beings who can become just because they want to, and even if they manage to seize the opportunity and become trainees, they have to survive the fierce competition from then on.

Even if they win the competition and become idols, it is not the end. Rather, that was the beginning of the real game.

The idols that K-pop puts forward were flowers that bloomed at the end of the sacrifices of countless youths in such fierce competition.

It had to be seen as a completely different level from idols in other countries.

It was no wonder that people were so enthusiastic about seeing K-pop idols.

But Black Tiger was as far from such idols as heaven and earth. In fact, it was difficult to be recognized as something classified as K-pop at this time.

Youngchan, who had ingrained memories of owning one of the world’s leading entertainment companies, clearly knew the difference.