Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 42

14. Conquering Japan.

Like many countries, Japan was particularly generous to geniuses.

More precisely, they were enthusiastic about geniuses with a compelling story.

In this respect, I was more than enough to excite the Japanese.

-From a young age, he did factory work to overcome adversity but never gave up on his dream.

He finally decided to pursue his dream at a late age, and he surprised the world with his debut.

Even critics who were negative about the Korean Wave [Hallyu] did not hesitate to call him a genius.

At some point, people began to regard him as an unparalleled genius.-

This is how the Japanese media currently views me.

In some ways, it seemed even hotter than in Korea, likely because the music I make is far from the currently popular K-pop and deals with traditional rock.

Japan still has a strong presence in this rock music genre.

Perhaps they are considering rock as one way to break through K-pop, which is showing potential as mainstream music.

In any case, due to various special circumstances, Japan’s interest in me was enormous.

The press conference scheduled as my first event was insane.

“When they said they were preparing a press conference at a 5-star hotel, I thought, ‘Isn’t that too much?’ But it was worth it.”

As the manager said.

The number of reporters attending the press conference reached hundreds.

If it hadn’t been a 5-star hotel, they wouldn’t have been able to prepare a press conference hall that could accommodate them.

Ichiro, the president, took on the role of moderator for this press conference.

In fact, it could be said that it was a press conference for me, so I spared no effort to project a strong aura.

There was a reason for me to do this.

The Japanese have a peculiar tendency to look down on you if you are humble.

For example, if you try to converse in broken Japanese, they don’t admire your politeness; rather, they dismiss you as a foreigner who wants to be Japanese and look down on you.

They tend to greatly enjoy their position as the strong when they perceive someone as weak.

Therefore, I had to make the strongest impression possible at this event, which could be said to be our first meeting.

To that end, I had to delve into my ingrained memories and put in the effort to raise my Japanese to a level that was as flawless as possible.

“I’m Park Young-chan, the vocalist of Black Tiger. If you have difficulty pronouncing my name, you can call me YC.”

“……”

“??”

However, for some reason, the conference hall fell into a silence as if it were a lie.

At that sight, I worried if my Japanese skills were lacking, and I naturally turned my gaze to President Ichiro.

However, President Ichiro, who should have been giving feedback and helping me, was staring at me with a blank face.

Then, he met my eyes, shook his body once, and carefully continued the proceedings in a disjointed manner.

“If, if any reporters have any questions, please raise your hand.”

-Ah!

Only then did the reporters seem to come to their senses, exclaim, look at each other for a moment, hesitate, and belatedly begin to raise their hands here and there.

President Ichiro pointed to a reporter he had planted in advance who was friendly with him and began the interview.

Whether they were close or not, the reporter asked me questions with an unusually polite attitude.

“YC-sama [Mr. YC], I know you have many nicknames such as the god of Ikemen (handsome men), the god of rock, and the fallen angel. I’m curious if there’s a nickname you like among these.”

I knew that the god of Ikemen was like the Korean term ‘Namshin’ (male god), but I was taken aback by the nickname ‘fallen angel.’

That alone reminded me once again that Japan is a paradise for subculture.

But I didn’t show any signs of embarrassment and answered calmly.

“I think YC-sama is the best after all. It’s also the first nickname I was known by, and I don’t think it would be embarrassing for those who call me that.”

“Ah~.”

For some reason, not only the reporter who asked the question but also the other reporters looked at me with admiring faces at my answer.

And the reporters’ questions that followed continued with an even more polite demeanor than the previous reporter.

I thought it was strange, so I glanced at President Ichiro for a moment, but he avoided my gaze with a groan as soon as my eyes reached him.

In the process, his half-bald head, which he had been struggling to hide, was prominently revealed, but he didn’t seem to care about that.

Should I say thanks to that?

The press conference, which would normally have been exhausting due to the intense psychological warfare, came to an end smoothly.

“It’s nice that it’s easy, but… I wonder if the articles will come out properly.”

But my worries were unfounded.

Hundreds of articles were pouring out as soon as the press conference ended.

And while looking at those articles, I finally understood why the atmosphere of the press conference had been like that.

++++++++

-Dangerous! Everyone there must have had the same thought as me.-

-He is a dangerous being who can even captivate middle-aged men. Even I, who have met many overseas celebrities, had no choice but to bow my head the moment I saw him.-

-The photographer said he wanted to break the lens of his camera. And he said he strongly agreed with that statement. The figure of him in the photos was great, but it was only a drop in the bucket compared to his actual appearance.-

-He reminded me of Asuka’s Daikokuju-shin (a deity often depicted as a handsome, wealthy man) from the ‘Kojiki’ [Japan’s oldest chronicle].-

-His Japanese was elegant and perfect. There was a rumor that YC-sama was Japanese at one time, and perhaps that rumor is true.-

“……”

Only after reading those articles did Young-chan realize that he had put in too much effort.

Indeed, it was a country where subculture was naturally integrated into everyday life. For them, things like Conqueror’s Haki [a powerful ability from the manga One Piece] were by no means unrealistic.

“Sigh. It’s really not an easy country.”

In fact, Young-chan had also faced developments that exceeded his imagination every time in Japan in that other world.

Since he had shown such a strong aura in such a country, it was no wonder that they reacted like this.

In reality, all the reporters who were there could not leave their seats for a long time even after the press conference was over.

Only after Black Tiger and the Korean staff had all left did they let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew~. It wasn’t fabricated at all.”

“It was a truly enchanting yet terrifying experience.”

“Syndrome, yeah. I really don’t think there’s any reason to be surprised if a real syndrome breaks out!”

Everyone who came there agreed with someone’s words.

Although it’s called a syndrome, there were some exaggerations. As with most articles, they were just using the word ‘syndrome’ for sensational wording.

But now that they had met him in person, they were all convinced.

As that reporter said, they were sure that the phenomenon called the YC syndrome would sweep through Japan.

Like that actor who caused such a huge syndrome that he shook Japan with just one drama 10 years ago, no, they were sure that he would cause an even bigger ripple effect.

And they were assured that their thoughts were not wrong.

Ichiro brought in five broadcast appearances in one day.

This would not have been possible in Korea. This is because it takes at least half a day to complete one broadcast schedule.

But Japan was different.

Recording a program only took about an hour or two.

Of course, even if they did that, it would take more than 10 hours including travel time, so it was by no means an easy schedule.

That wasn’t all there was to do.

In between, there were interviews with some of the leading magazines in Japan.

Most of the interviews were conducted by Young-chan, who was called YC-sama, but surprisingly, the person who was attracting the most attention after Young-chan was Kwak Do-hoon.

This is because of Kwak Do-hoon’s appearance, which caused a great stir in Impossible Challenges.

As expected, it was because of his appearance resembling a yakuza [Japanese gangster] from a Japanese martial arts manga, and the reaction was great even in Korea, but the reaction in Japan was different.

Above all, the fact that he had a large scar on his face due to a shard that flew when a stick broke during practice ahead of his debut in Japan further exploded the reaction.

“Ha, Hanagata Kei!”

Hanagata Kei.

Japan’s representative intellectual yakuza. He is an executive of the Ando gumi [a yakuza organization].

He always fought with his bare hands, no matter if his opponent had a gun or a knife, so he had many knife scars on his face and body.

Surprisingly, he was strong against the strong and weak against the weak. There was a saying that he was kind to ordinary people to the extent that he was kind to ordinary people, so he had many fans at the time.

Then, when it was said that the yakuza in the Japanese martial arts manga was based on this person, he gained many fans along with the unique exaggerated rumors.

In the midst of all this, it was only natural that people shouted Hanagata Kei and were surprised when Kwak Do-hoon, who already resembled him, appeared with a scar on his face.

Again, Japan is a place where subculture is strong, so there were already more than a few people who were convinced that Kwak Do-hoon was the reincarnation of Hanagata Kei.

Thanks to this, Kwak Do-hoon, who gained fame no less than YC, was becoming increasingly fierce.

“I’m already stressed out because I’m worried it’ll get worse, but these guys!”

For Kwak Do-hoon, who had developed a hobby of grooming himself, the scar on his face was a major concern.

In such a situation, wherever he went, people shouted Hanagata Kei with his scarred face and treated him as his reincarnation, so he couldn’t help but suspect that they were making fun of him on a national level.

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