The First Single Album

I brushed past Minseo's grumbling and got straight to the other reason I'd called.

"All right then! Now let me walk everyone through how to S-ming our song, and when the mass-streaming push is happening!"

When Minseo, owner of the most satisfying cry in our group, started sobbing, the viewers' attention naturally drifted toward her, didn't it?

Which is exactly why I teased her—and why I called in the first place. Promote while the crowd's big!

Mm-hm. Even by my own standards, a highly effective strategy.

Quite a lot of people have been wondering why they should even bother S-ming since earlier.

"If S-ming boosts our numbers, our song gets promoted more often."

For the company, the numbers are practically everything.

"Also—"

"Our song gets released again…?"

Hmm? What does she mean by that? The viewers already know another song is coming?

"That's right, isn't it?"

"Hnnngh…!"

"Huh? Why are you crying now?"

"Because you said there's more coming… it suddenly moved me…."

Ah. Mystery solved.

Come to think of it, she did mention her trainee days ran long, so I suppose it makes sense she'd read into it that way.

Hmm… two options come to mind right now.

First, sympathize and comfort her.

Second, keep playing the heartless T for the sake of the stream.

Oh, and there's a third. Should I pour a little fuel on the fire?

"Apparently the composer of this song is doing one more track for us."

"…What?"

The chat is heating up nicely.

"…Really? There's going to be another song of this caliber…?"

"Yep."

Since my featuring was already locked in, the composer making another track was a given anyway.

Plus, the fact that I'm featuring is under embargo—but this part isn't.

"Hnnnngh…!"

"I'm happy about it too."

I cut the teasing short and returned to the topic at hand.

"Now then—originally, S-ming works best in the dead of night."

Hm? They're closer to the right answer than I expected.

"Exactly the reasons you all just said. The Top 100 chart tends to be playing in cafés and shops, which counts as automatic S-ming. So nighttime, once the stores close their doors, is when a song climbs most easily."

Then I added one more thing.

"And if we still don't make it? Well, that just means we're not yet heavyweights who belong in the Top 100."

Meaning there was no fandom big enough to lift the song onto the charts.

Not a failure of effort or any other factor—a failure of raw base strength.

"Our… Top 100—"

Apparently Minseo's emotions had crested again. Normally she'd have the tact to stay quiet while I promoted something, but her heart was aching, and still, I said my piece.

"Wooju, you're interrupting right now. Could you keep it down, please?"

Minseo's heart probably hurt exactly as much as mine did—but right now, the explanation mattered more.

It stung a little that the viewers doubted my heart, but I swallowed it and kept explaining.

"That said, night isn't everything. The chart only aggregates until 1 a.m., and then it stays frozen like that until 8 a.m. So we're aiming for midnight for the mass-stream push."

Ah, they don't know the reason.

"Long story short: there's the Top 100 chart and the daily chart, right? From 1 a.m. to 8 a.m., to prevent manipulation via queueing, the chart switches to the daily chart's aggregation method."

I didn't know that either, but apparently it's true.

"That's why we do it at midnight. Midnight applies half 24-hour figures and half hourly figures. So from now on, play the song at least once every hour."

"There are three downloads total—an MP3 and two FLAC versions—but only one counts per hour. And to prevent hoarding, a purchase only registers if you buy it about thirty minutes after release."

I took a sip of water and continued.

"So—those of you with money to spare, buy both, hold one back, and fire it off after eleven during the push. Those of you without, just buy one after eleven. That's all."

Anything else to cover?

Ah, one thing.

"Anyone with money left over after downloading, spread some gifts around for the others. I believe the café just opened a gifting board?"

Was that everything?

I double-checked, then spoke again.

"The full details are posted in the café's announcements, so go give them a read."

Why do we have to? Didn't I already cover that?

Ah—I only got as far as "the song gets promoted more" before Minseo cut in.

So I explained my reasoning in a way tailored to the viewers' desires.

"A lot of you are asking why you should bother. Well—imagine all these fans pooling their strength, and the song actually makes the charts? Nothing else delivers that kind of group chart-watching dopamine rush. In manga terms, it's like charging up a Spirit Bomb."

"And like I said before, a company runs on results. If we do well, we get more investment. Beyond the music itself, what could you realistically expect right now? An animated music video, maybe, or 3D avatars?"

Truthfully, the 3D avatar was already in production.

Merely under embargo.

Still, good results did mean bigger investment. That much was simply true.

Seriously? You watch a VTuber stream and you don't know the difference between 2D and 3D? Isn't that caring a little too little?

"If you watch VTuber streams and don't know the difference between 2D and 3D, reflect on yourselves and go look it up. But to put it simply: 3D avatars move better."

"It'd be so nice if the 3D came out…."

Yes, yes—sobbing or not, she still kept the embargo. Admirable.

"Shall we hang up now?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah…."

That wrapped up everything on my list.

Time for everyone to get back to their own streams.

Hm… my approval rating is looking quite good today….

Thankfully, it seemed I hadn't been caught surveying public sentiment on the community forums.

…I saw nothing at all.