Chapter 28: Idol Talk
└They know it too lolol Just sneakily shading them.
└Fist got knocked out. T_T No reason to watch anymore.
└Live stream dropped. T_T Real-time. They even did online voting. T_T
└Fr lololol My mom asked me to vote earlier too but I gritted my teeth and played dumb cuz of Fist lololol
└Not just Fist level—even Rocket Punch would've lost to Rakwon honestly lolololol Agree?
└Agree
└Black Label, right?
└Who's that? lolololol
"Who's that? What a joke. What's the point of dancing and singing your hearts out if no one even knows you. The era that fails to recognize Black Label's true worth is cruel. No, the world is cruel. They're a group with truly outstanding talent."
"Their visuals are plenty good too."
It's just bad luck with timing. Lying on his dorm bed, Seo Hyun-woo scrolled through the community reactions.
└Exactly, exactly. The beat's insanely addictive. Played it once for my mom and it's stuck in my head nonstop lololol
└Ban it for CSAT... for real. I'm at the study room rn and can't stop listening...
└Lmao you're doomed.
"Lmao what?"
Black Label.
"Bye."
Annoyed, he set down the phone that felt like it might crack under his grip and let out a sigh. Not one of relief from securing the round of 16 intact. Just frustration, like mountains beyond mountains blocking every view no matter how high he climbed.
"Even pre-awakening 350 should've crushed them on pure skill."
If anything, the current 350 might be more polished purely on track quality. No blatant pandering to the masses back then.
"This sucks."
He wished 350 would come down with stress-induced enteritis right now and spend days shuttling between the toilet and bed. He clung to that slim hope and cursed away, but the odds were vanishingly low.
He let go of the smartphone he'd been clutching like a lifeline. He'd won the bet with Choi Jeong on who'd advance, but hadn't considered his own mess.
"Hey, System."
He called out experimentally. Empty dorm. They'd slapped some soundproof panels on the walls calling it a composer's spot, but he could hear footsteps outside clear as day. Not great insulation.
"System."
Not that it cared anyway. No response, as expected. It only popped up on its own whim—infuriating.
Two could play that game. Time to piss off the System too.
"Yeah~ you. Lamer than basic AI."
…….
"You're a goblin."
Player cannot send malicious messages!
"Didn't send a message. Just muttering to myself."
He sat up. Time to troll harder.
"What, pissed off? Mad as hell?"
Mad? Then what?
"What can you even do besides spam messages?"
[…….]
Player and this System are not hostile!
Player and System are in a 'cooperative relationship'!
Do not provoke the System!
"Good point. Cooperative relationship, yeah."
He scratched his nose bridge.
"Speaking of, I've been meaning to ask about contribution points."
The points earned by spreading Black Label's name far and wide.
"This like some honorary medal?"
Like mileage you hoard but never use—zero practicality.
No choice then.
Player request received…….
Shop updating…….
The endlessly loading System finally popped a massive window. Damn thing. Hiding this trump card?
Shop major remodel in progress…….
Fine, excused. He waved it off. Thought it'd only sell potions, but meds too? Straight-up "Shop" window, no frills. He browsed calmly.
Beats for sale. File names in the listings didn't inspire confidence.
"Meh. Not really feeling it."
Contribution points were a pain to farm but spent easily. The shop stocked not just composer beats but all sorts of items.
Ah, that morale.
Ooh, nice. He glared at the invisible System. Why hide this? Emergency beats and performance boosters available. Dig deeper and who'd know what else. But he stopped mining the goldmine. Gear wasn't priority one. Had to scout the unpredictable 350 first. Know thy enemy to pick the right cheat key.
***
G&X Entertainment.
"This."
In Management Rookie Development Team 2, Deputy Manager Choi Yu-jeong tapped the monitor with her pen.
"Not an idol show after all."
3rd-4th tier idols—dig and you'd find teams gaining traction. Even "flops" had tiers. Same 3rd/4th line, but like CSAT grades, low 3s vs high 4s varied by fandom size and hook visuals.
Idol survival shows boomed; PDs churned variants. Not trainee debuts, but re-debuts for prior flops. Those succeeded too, and now with fierce competition, even they couldn't cut it. Enter Supreme Beat Contest for the desperate. But they got crushed. Fist was proof.
"Fist had some fandom though, right? I heard their debut album sold decent first-week."
"Yeah, momentum wasn't bad."
The employee moused into search: 'Supreme Beat Contest'.
Read the blurb: "K-pop, bands, trot. Music masters nationwide clash beats regardless of genre."
Hong scrolled but felt zero buy-in.
"'Regardless of genre' my ass—still rides genre hype. Trot's popping lately."
"Yep. Popped hard. Saw the online vote tallies?"
Choi Yu-jeong scoffed, opening the broadcaster app.
"Scary part: shows participant count and vote share. How many voted Fist? Ah, here."
She tapped.
"20,000. Rakwon... tons. Here."
Graph: Rakwon voters.
"80,000."
4x gap. Choi gaped.
"We live in this scene, so we know Fist but Rakwon's new to us. This normal?"
"Their industry's same. Elders know Rakwon, not Fist."
As Hong and Choi chatted, PR Team Leader cut in.
Still.
Choi thought it absurd.
"Worse: predictable fanbase. Rakwon—elders. But those steps..."
She held up her phone. Tedious even for youth.
"No way elders did all that?"
"Think all 80k elders? Nah, Deputy Choi?"
PR Leader joked it overboard. Like Choi, he raised his phone—app installed, vote cast for Rakwon.
"People like me voting Rakwon. My mom's a fan now too."
Hong eyed PR Leader shocked.
"Not originally. Got hooked this show."
PR Leader rubbed his face, phone in hand.
"She's got looks and basics."
"So? Next opponent's Black Label."
PR Leader's head drooped.
"Already stressing that."
Company support? Nah. Rumors if juniors snooped. Swallowed the worry. Logically back the in-house fighter Black Label. Should've greased PDs by now for post-show momentum.
"Team Leader!"
Office door swung. Development Team 3 Leader waved PR Leader over.
"Hurry up. Nemesis comeback meeting. Yeah?"
PR Leader grabbed materials, waved.
"Coming. Let's go."
Headache choices ahead.