Chapter 365

Chapter 365

First of all, Miry-nay’s comeback had been a massive success—when it came to attracting trolls, that is.

- To be honest with you, I think they were trying to mimic Powty. The songs feel similar

└ Huh? The opposite is true. Powty fans have no conscience, it seems T_T

└ LOL cut the crap. Miry-nay has always been going for trendy + powerful since their debut

- Seriously, though, idols from survival shows have serious charm. Powty definitely can’t compare haha

As I had expected, public opinion quickly began to heat up now that there were valid comparisons to be made. It was natural that the public found the experience more enjoyable now that there were two similar groups to compare. In addition, even though the group’s positions within the industry were similar, their strengths were different. This meant that everyone had a different opinion regarding them. In other words, there was a lot of talk going on.

What a ruckus. One thing was certain—the public were very aware that Miry-nay had just had a comeback, and it was no longer the case that they were suffering from waning interest.

This is really great use of buzz. As a result, Miry-nay was experiencing newfound momentum as they rapidly climbed the digital charts. Their release was no different from their previous comebacks, in that they had aimed for the American market, but because they had the same global-friendly image as Powty, who had become a hit overseas, their own song seemed to have been accepted as something like a pop song.

The song itself is good, too. I spent some time examining the fighting going on over the two groups, then shrugged.

TeSTAR is no longer being mentioned at all in relation to this. Because Miry-nay was from the same show as us, but were the same gender as Powty, we had naturally been wiped from the picture.

And since The House Next Door’s Grandson—that damnable show—had become a solid success, TeSTAR was being talked about for different reasons.

- These guys are the hottest trends at the moment (and I’m buying)

└ LMAO

Though the process hadn’t gone exactly as I’d expected, we had gotten close to our goal, regardless.

That’s the way I should think about it, anyway. In addition, the response from overseas audiences was surprisingly good as well. Because we had taken the global audience into account from the beginning and discussed the issue in advance, T1 had sent the variety show to NetFlux instead of its own streaming platform. It was doing well on NetFlux.

The production team had even dared to text us, which said a lot.

[#6 on NetFlux in the World! It’s all because of how amazing you are, TeSTAR! Congrats! (smiling face emoji)]

[Moondae? We promise we’ll take you to a hot spring next time. Please take this heartfelt apology from us T_T (Click to check online gift)]

Hot springs? What a load of crap. I can’t believe that we were made fools of on that show and the global audience liked every second of it… But in any case, this meant everything was going according to plan.

We’ve already started utilizing the press, too. We had contacted the agency even before the final episode had aired so that we could adjust the timing of the press releases.

[TeSTAR enters SongBoard charts and produces hit variety show… What makes them such a global success?]

[From Dotify to the SongBoard… How did the two songs from TeSTAR, the daesang idols, become a success?]

Our promotional period was nearing its end, and our SongBoard rankings were dropping very slowly, which meant that these articles would be accepted without complaint.

The fans will be happy, too. Thanks to the favorable reputation that we had gained through the variety show, which was proving to be extremely popular, this was the best timing for spreading the news gently.

Good.

A few days later, the status window appeared.

[Mission successful!]

[Calculating rewards…]

I grinned. It always felt good to learn that I’d predicted the outcome correctly. This was the way things should’ve been from the start.

That damned variety show… I sighed briefly and checked my status window again. A word appeared, one that I had been expecting.

[Gunwoo!]

Yeah. I thought you might show up once I summoned the status window, Big Moon.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

We stayed in touch infrequently, but the office he had been dispatched to had quite the heavy workload. Because I had also been going back and forth overseas, it had been a while since we’d had a proper conversation.

[Of course! Congratulations on clearing your mission!]

He’s the same as ever. I nodded, noting that the words were appearing quickly, as if he was excited.

Yeah, I expected he would congratulate me first.

[And the variety show was so fun. Munggye is so cute… and that twist! I have no idea how they managed to come up with such a story!]

I said nothing, and the status window pop-up was vibrating.

[Were you actually all in on it—]

“No,” I said.

[Sorry…]

There is nothing for you to be sorry about. It was clear to me that I would have to put up with everyone laughing in my face for the near foreseeable future. I ran a hand over my face and looked at the next pop-up. The system had finished processing completely, and I could now see the reward that I had asked for.

[Reward complete!]

Reward: Enhanced interactive power for the status window

Seeing this was very satisfying. The status window pop-up swayed up and down as if taking a closer look, or perhaps expressing confusion.

[Gunwoo, why did you want this reward, exactly? Enhanced? Did you want the categories shown to be more detailed, or something like that? I can do that for you though!]

“No,” I said. There was no way I would’ve agreed to something as difficult as setting a new record over something so small. I raised a finger. “Take a closer look. This isn’t about me.”

[What?]

“The reward is regarding the status window itself,” I said.

I had just been given a reward that would enhance the status window’s ability to interact.

Big Moon gasped.

“In other words, I strengthened your abilities as the status window, generally speaking.”

In order to make sure that the system didn’t notice, I had avoided explaining all this to Big Moon on purpose and used a vague term like interactive power.

[B-but why?]

“Because it’ll come in handy,” I said.

The system needed to be destroyed if Big Moon was going to avoid reverting to a status window. I called Goldie #2—Kwon Heeseung. He was the guy the system was currently with.

***

“Well, my bones ache.”

“Do we really have to do the W Live stream today? Can’t we do it tomorrow?”

Spacer, the group Kwon Heeseung belonged to, was close to the end of their Japanese tour—the first they had ever done—and they were feeling rather worse for wear. Of course, the one person among them who believed he’d been given another chance at life was very alert.

“Hey! It’s that sort of laziness that brings about a decline in popularity!” Kwon Heeseung said.

“Oh god…”

The Spacer members groaned, but accepted this to be true and began to move.

We don’t have anyone in our group with a terrible personality anymore. Heeseung repressed the urge to shake his head.

Though some of them just don’t get along with each other! Spacer was a bigger group than TeSTAR. This remained true even after Chae Seodam, the man who had given Seon Ahyeon nightmares back in his school days, had dropped out. Having more people on the team meant many more times the chance of conflicts occurring unless the team was properly managed. It was proving… difficult.

Still, we got to this point somehow! While Spacer was not nearly as popular as TeSTAR, who had debuted from the massive hit that had been the Relisted season of Idol Inc., they still had a strong fandom, as one might expect of a group formed on a survival show. And Heeseung was certain he was doing a great job as the group’s spiritual leader, as he liked to think of himself.

“Now, everyone, let’s do this!”

“Okay…”

With a comeback approaching, everyone was tired. But as true professionals, they completed the livestream with skill.

“See you soon!”

“We’ll be back next time!”

After doing a simple mukbang, the members all scattered to their respective hotel rooms.

“Oh gosh.”

Congratulating himself on a successful day, Heeseung thumped himself on the shoulders and was about to sink into long overdue sleep when his phone rang.

[TeSTAR Moondae👍]

“No way.”

This was rather sudden. Of course, depending on the person, some people preferred to communicate with spontaneous calls like this one. But he was certain that Moondae was not that sort of person.

He’s very calm, collected, and deliberate. This wasn’t to say that he hated Park Moondae. Even though the guy could be scary at times, he was a good person.

“It’s best to back away when the situation gets that bad, instead of fighting.”

“Don’t say something like that, even by mistake.”

“Just have them stay in separate rooms.”

Moondae sometimes inquired about how he was doing and what concerns he had without being prompted, and when Heeseung asked for advice, Moondae never turned him away. He seemed to be a very kind person to the people he considered his own. Kwon Heeseung rubbed his nose.

Well, that’s been true since the Idol Inc. days. He thought back to the way Park Moondae, who had been the only non-trainee at the time, had smoothly ignored Choi Wongil’s shenanigans while taking care of those around him. It never ceased to amaze him. Choi Wongil had even apologized to Heeseung through Moondae recently—so it wasn’t a stretch to say that Moondae was a very generous person.

And even when he found out that I nearly said something completely ridiculous on live radio, he was pretty forgiving about it.

“If something happens, all we have to do is deal with it.” Though the problem is, sometimes dealing with it is not possible.

That this was true gave him chills.

I never expected him to tell anyone about his situation… Wait, don’t tell me he did that because of me? Since I nearly went public with our little… clique? Or perhaps he was trying to set an example of the proper way to go about telling other people. His timing was perfect.

My goodness. He’s amazing. Heeseung’s mind drifted down this flight of fancy, blinded by admiration for the top-tier idol who had come from the future. In truth, Moondae was something like his role model now. It wasn’t simply because they were both idols who knew some of the future.

He is actually the type of guy who deserves respect as an idol. The way he’d taken on the least desirable role in TeSTAR’s recent variety show, despite his incredible personality, showed this. He was such a coolheaded guy that playing that role must have been hard for him.

- Do the puppy dance! Do the Munggye Moondae dance! (video)

- Moondae, Munggye, and the six thieves LOL (screen capture)

I guess an idol has to be good at variety shows, too, if they really want to be top tier! He’s living proof of that! Thinking of the cute, humorous posts that had appeared even among his own fans, he nearly laughed. His phone continued to ring.

“Oh, I nearly forgot.”

The phone had continued to ring as he became lost in thought. He quickly tapped at the screen before it was too late.

“Hello, Moondae!”

“Hey,” the typically calm voice rang from the phone’s speaker.

“What’s up?”

“I had something I wanted to check with you,” Moondae said.

“Okay!”

It seemed they were going to get straight down to business, whatever it was. So it’s something urgent! Park Moondae asked a question that he hadn’t been expecting.

“What did you say your current mission was, exactly?”

Moondae was referring to the missions they had to do as a price for returning to the past. Moondae had finished his, but Heeseung still had some left.

Why is he suddenly asking about this? Heeseung answered immediately, even though he didn’t particularly like saying what his mission was out loud.

“Uh… The group has to make a self-produced album.”

Ugh. He had no idea why he was drawn to such things.

Or did he say that I’m only feeling that way because it was assigned as a mission? Whichever it is, I don’t like it. An album that involved teamwork from the entire group was usually made after they’d been around for longer. He had ensured that every member had contributed to the creation of the album in some way, but now that it was about to be released, he was frankly worried.

“To be honest…” he began, honestly revealing his concerns. He trusted Park Moondae from his past experiences speaking with him.

“Yes, right.”

Park Moondae sounded calm, but slightly amused at the same time.

Amused? Why?

Park Moondae continued slowly, “I might be able to help you with that.”

“What?” Heeseung said, blinking.

A few seconds of silence passed.

“Oh my god!”

Something suddenly appeared right before his eyes.

[Status abnormality: Make It Work]

- Perhaps there is nothing like teamwork for an idol, after all?

: Failure guaranteed unless the team releases a collaborative work within the given timeframe.

The words were gray and translucent, and sparks flew from them. They glitched out and soon vanished, but he had seen them for sure.

“Th-that just now…”

“I showed it to you briefly,” said the voice over the line. “Your mission, that is.”

Heeseung clamped a hand over his mouth.

Oh, god!