Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 79

24. Challenge

Regardless, Youngchan grumbled to himself.

“…The truth hurts, doesn’t it.”

Come to think of it, unlike his past self who indulged in fleeting memories, he had never even experienced a simple ‘some’ relationship [a Korean term for the ambiguous stage between friends and dating].

He didn’t have the luxury during his school days, and as an adult, he was too busy paying off debts. By the time he could finally breathe, he didn’t have time to think about such things.

Around that time, the owner of the place he worked at handed over the business to his daughter, turning it into a hopeless situation.

After moving to a new place, he was scammed by a colleague he considered a friend. With his self-esteem plummeting, he became afraid to even talk to women.

“Come to think of it, there was a saying that if you’re a virgin until 30, you can become a wizard… No way!”

Youngchan, who used to joke about such memes, couldn’t help but flinch.

In fact, on the day he turned 30 as a virgin, he had a dream that would change his life.

Of course, it was such a ridiculous thought that Youngchan shook his head as soon as he remembered it.

He was just too embarrassed to talk about it, but he knew he wasn’t the only one like that.

“Sigh…”

He let out a long sigh and headed towards the stage where rehearsals were underway.

Black Tiger resumed their activities in Japan.

They decided to dedicate time to their Japanese fans, who showed just as much support as the locals, despite their busy schedule.

It was also to expand the influence of the Japanese branch in earnest.

Although they couldn’t handle many schedules due to concert preparations, it was enough to promote the concert and reaffirm Black Tiger’s reputation.

Thanks to this, Ichiro, the head of the Japanese branch, had a schedule so packed that 24 hours in a day weren’t enough.

He had to help with the preparations for Black Tiger’s Japan concert tour, as well as prepare for the Korea-Japan Idol Contest before summer.

“Fortunately, we’ll be working with NK again this time.”

“Hahaha. Yes, it’s a great opportunity for us.”

Ichiro looked relieved as the idol contest broadcasting agreement, which could have been the most important schedule of the week, was successfully concluded.

The reason they preferred NK was that it was the most pro-Korean broadcasting station among the private broadcasting companies.

This meant that there was less risk of schedule changes or other Japanese-style shenanigans.

Of course, this condition required Youngchan to appear in at least three episodes.

He agreed to appear in the first episode, the start of the finals, and the last episode.

For Youngchan, it was an easy task.

By then, the concert tour would be over, and if it was for the success of the idol project, he would have agreed to even more demanding conditions.

After ten days of busy schedules, Black Tiger finally began their Japan tour concert.

The first venue was the famous Tokyo Dome.

It boasted the largest capacity among the domes, accommodating 55,000 people. Black Tiger secured a total of 165,000 seats by holding three shows there.

Despite the enormous number of seats, none of the Black Tiger members or YC Entertainment staff showed any concern.

Considering Black Tiger’s soaring popularity in the local area, they felt that the secured seats were rather insufficient.

And as they expected, the Tokyo Dome tickets sold out in an instant.

It took less than two minutes, and even that was due to server delays.

On the first day of the concert, over 300,000 people flocked to the Tokyo Dome.

Even though they couldn’t get inside the Tokyo Dome, they wanted to enjoy the atmosphere from outside.

YC Entertainment, having experienced this at the Saitama Super Arena last year, had already completed preparations to welcome them.

They had prepared plenty of speakers and makeshift merchandise shops.

Thanks to this, fans who couldn’t enter the Tokyo Dome were able to continue the excitement by sending enthusiastic cheers from the surrounding area.

As expected, the Tokyo Dome concert, the start of the first Japan tour, was completed amidst a heated response.

-Over 1 million fans gathered at the Tokyo Dome!-

-Tokyo Dome falls to Korea’s Black Tiger.-

-Local popularity in Japan is hotter than in the home country!-

-Japanese fans are quiet? NO! The area is paralyzed by the crowds flocking to the Tokyo Dome!-

-Japanese piano maestro Takuya! Couldn’t help but admire YC’s piano.-

-With the emergence of Black Tiger, there is talk of a rock revival not only in Korea but also in Japan.-

The reaction was hot not only in Japan but also in Korea.

This was probably due to the fact that over 1 million fans gathered at the Tokyo Dome for three days, as reported in Japanese news.

Even considering the overlapping number of fans, 1 million was not an easy number to surpass.

Because of this, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government had to allocate additional police personnel and increase the frequency of transportation.

As it became a hot topic in this way, Black Tiger naturally received more attention than when they were doing broadcast activities.

The most unexpected thing was the reaction of classical music fans.

-I was curious because Takuya-nim [honorific title] came out on the news and praised them so much… For a moment, I thought I had searched for the wrong thing.-

└Hahaha. I know what that’s like. That’s what happened to me.

└Everyone’s similar. I also listened with bated breath, thinking that an amazing new star had appeared that I didn’t know about.

-Unfortunately, there are only two piano performance videos.-

└I found out that they play about 4 songs at the concert.

└Ah, I’m going crazy. This person’s piano sound is totally my style. But it’s hard to go to the concert.

-What’s really scary is that the piano isn’t the only instrument this person plays. The guitar is also amazing, although the style is different from the piano.-

└Yeah, they said on a variety show that they play other instruments well too.

└I saw them in person and the atmosphere was crazy. They’re not exactly handsome, but it’s like they have a different image quality all by themselves.-

└That’s why they’re so popular with teenagers.-

Perhaps because of this reaction from the classical music world, a Japanese entertainment program invited Japanese pianists to review YC’s piano.

And most of these reviews were full of praise.

YC’s immense popularity made them cautious, but the parts they found somewhat lacking were a matter of taste, so there were no lies.

This burning popularity led to enthusiastic responses not only at the Tokyo Dome but also at the Sapporo Dome, and they were able to successfully complete the five major dome concerts in Japan, including the Osaka Kyocera Dome, Fukuoka Yafu Japan Dome, and Nagoya Dome.

Having successfully completed their Japan tour, Black Tiger left behind countless fans and moved on to China.

Thus, Black Tiger encountered China, a vast market with a massive population.

* * *

“Master! Master!”

The first to greet us upon arriving in China was the G1 band.

Among them, Park Jiwon clung to me, crying as if she would burst.

“I missed you so much.”

“…We saw each other last week, didn’t we?”

Not only did we see each other, but these guys filled the opening stage of the last concert in Japan, the Nagoya Dome. Afterwards, we drank expensive alcohol and partied all night at the after-party, but I couldn’t understand why this guy was acting like this.

I was dumbfounded and turned my gaze to the other members of the G1 band, and they had similar expressions to mine.

-Thwack!-

“Ugh!”

At that moment, a familiar hand struck my back. Surprised, I turned my head and saw Uncle Park Siyoung clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

“Tsk tsk. I don’t know if you’re just insensitive or clueless.”

Uncle said that, looking at Jiwon who was still clinging to me.

“You’re really asking for trouble.”

“Hehehe.”

“???”

Confused by the incomprehensible situation, I was bewildered and soon pulled the clinging girl away. Jiwon looked up at me with tearful eyes as if I was being too harsh, so I stared at her for a moment and nodded.

“You’re starting to look like a celebrity.”

I wondered if she was hitting her prime as she lost weight while preparing for ‘Legends of Rock’? But it seemed not.

Seeing how she could hold her own even among most girl groups, there was a reason why she was popular even in China.

As I was thinking that, Jiwon clapped her hands and giggled.

“Ehehe. You’re saying I’ve become prettier.”

“…”

I don’t know why I suddenly didn’t want to say yes.

I made an effort to shake my head and moved to meet with Kowloon Entertainment, which I had sought cooperation with for activities in China.

Kowloon Entertainment, which we joined hands with, was not famous, but it was not a small place—at the level of a small and medium-sized entertainment company.

In Korea, it is at least beyond the level of a mid-sized entertainment company when simply considering its size.

However, unlike its size, there were no so-called A-list celebrities among the affiliated entertainers. The most famous one was an actor known for supporting roles.

Even if they were famous, they were barely B-list due to the limitations of supporting roles.

The other affiliated entertainers were mostly C to D-list. Instead, there were many of them to match the size of the entertainment company, and they did not discriminate against any field.

It was an entertainment company that barely avoided a deficit structure.

However, surprisingly, there were many entertainment companies of this type in China.

Even though China has a large land area and many local broadcasting stations, it was difficult to understand.

Nevertheless, the reason why these entertainment companies exist is none other than for the succession practice of China’s wealthy.

In order to become a wealthy person in China, connections are most important, but that much competence was needed.

The problem is that unlike the first and second generations of conglomerates, the third generations, who are causing many problems now, have no desire to create that competence.

They are only interested in playing and eating.

So, after much deliberation, they set up and entrust entertainment companies to them.

It is a business that looks 괜찮은 [gwaenchanheun – Korean for ‘okay’ or ‘decent’] on the outside, and it is a field that the third generation is interested in due to the Korean Wave [Hallyu – the increase of global popularity of South Korean culture since the 1990s].

Above all, it was good for inflating performance.

First of all, it is good for raising name value because it appears a lot in the media.

Kowloon Entertainment was also one of those entertainment companies.

The difference is that it is connected to the Zhangjin Enterprise, one of China’s top 20 groups. The president of Kowloon Entertainment is the grandson of the chairman of this Zhangjin Enterprise, and he was more interested in the Korean Wave than I thought.

The reason I know him is that the guy in my memory owed him a lot when he entered China.

When he had to withdraw due to the Korean Wave ban, he handed over the Chinese branch he had built to this person, and since then, Kowloon Entertainment has grown into one of the leading entertainment companies in China.

However, from the fact that he bought the Chinese branch that was about to go bankrupt, it was clear that he was a good person.

He was one of the few businessmen in China worth working with.

“I’m Jang Woong. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“I’m sorry. My name is Park Youngchan.”

“Hahaha. What is there to be sorry about? Thanks to you, we’ve been having quite a bit of fun.”

He must have been talking about the G1 band. Currently, the G1 band is expanding its activities beyond local broadcasting stations to the entire continent.

Of course, from this year, if they have some success in China, I plan to send them back to Japan.

I couldn’t bear to see them being hit the hardest when I knew that the Korean Wave ban would occur in two years.

Perhaps that’s why?

Jang Woong was showing great positive interest in the Black Tiger concert tour.

Since the share was divided harshly, it didn’t make a lot of money, but anyway, Black Tiger’s fame was rising unusually in China, so it was good to get on board.

For me, it was good for a friendly entertainment company to grow, so I decided to accept most of the conditions he offered.