20. First Single Album
Between spilling the story of the recording and sharing behind-the-scenes tidbits about all the different songs, quite a lot of time had slipped by before I knew it.
"Our rank at 10 o'clock was #126, right?"
Thanks to our members cheering us on and the viewers' grinding efforts, we'd managed to claw our way up to rank 126.
"We were #135 at nine, so let's push just a little more."
The same viewers who'd dug in their heels at first and refused to stream had started working hard around nine o'clock once the goal came into view, and the mood had grown so feverish that a stray poke got people chat-banned way more often than usual.
Which meant they were that invested. Good for me, I suppose….
"At 10 o'clock the shops start closing, so the 11 o'clock rankings usually swing a lot harder. And hey, we've got the mass-support push, remember?"
"Yes, streaming is a free-for-all, but please don't muddy the waters."
"Right! Anyway, let's all put in the work!"
Weren't they taking this a little too seriously? They seemed even more hyped than me, the one who'd actually sung the thing.
And that feverish atmosphere carried on right up until the 11 o'clock chart dropped.
"Alright, if you look at the 11 o'clock chart, it says rank 109, right?"
Wow. Could this actually work?
Feeling that chart-in wasn't far off anymore, I turned my eyes to the chat.
Maybe the viewers could feel it too, because the energy pouring out of them was even hotter than before.
"No complicated settings right now—just play the song once on the music app. Tap the three dots, check AAC, then play the song, and it counts toward the rankings."
"And here comes the mass-support push! If you haven't downloaded it yet, do it now! It's only 700 won—less than the minimum donation amount."
Riding the momentum, I started pushing hard and fast.
Yep, that's the spirit. Donate away.
"Take that money and go throw a gift in the fan cafe. Quick, now."
"A goal reward, you say?"
Hm… a goal reward would be nice, wouldn't it? A song, huh… Should I?
"Then, if we break into the Top 100, I'll do at least a one-hour singing stream."
Seeing a better reaction than I'd expected, I realized I didn't feel all that bad about how rarely I sang, actually. Premium content is premium precisely because it's rare.
Though, come to think of it, had I sung anywhere besides my debut broadcast and Melt?
…Calling it "premium" when there's barely any of it might be pushing it.
Well, I'd succeeded at the encouragement goal, so that was a win, wasn't it?
And with this kind of payoff, I decided singing was best saved as my ultimate weapon from now on.
Muttering that thought—knowing full well the viewers would gag if they heard it—I let another one slip out.
"Seeing everyone's morale spike like this, I'm almost thinking I should've saved it for just a little later."
Such a shame. If I'd said it with ten minutes left on the clock, they'd have worked like demons—the effect would've been even better.
"Oh, me? I've been sending gifts from my burner phone this whole time."
Between all that encouragement and back-and-forth, suddenly only one minute was left.
I kept refreshing the music app on my computer. A tiny clock glowed in the corner of the screen.
"Wow… I'm actually so nervous right now?"
Hm… well, it wasn't that I wasn't nervous….
Though excitement outweighed the nerves by a wide margin, sure….
"Okay, okay! Focus! We've got thirty seconds left! And there might be spoilers, so I'm not looking at chat."
Right on cue, the chorus of Our Story, looping in the background behind me, kicked in—and my own voice rang out.
The viewers had locked onto the stream, and the chat barrage was burning even hotter than before.
"Five! Four! Three!—"
"Midnight!"
I refreshed the music app, let the midnight chart load, and began scrolling down slowly. As I descended, the numbers climbed higher and higher, and in the dead silence, the only sound was the whirr of the mouse wheel.
60… 70… 80… 90…
Our song wasn't anywhere through rank 90. Expected, but still….
A flicker of anxiety made me pause the wheel for a moment. Suppressing the urge to glance at the chat, I turned it even more slowly.
95… 96… 97… 98…
And then
99.
"We've hit #99!"
The dopamine flooding my brain made me shout before I could stop myself.
The chat speed was on par with my debut stream.
Or no—was this even faster?
Everyone was drowning in that rush of success. Watching the chat, I let the momentary dopamine settle, and once I'd calmed down, coherent thought came back online.
"Hm… so we actually did it."
Sure, I was happy we'd pulled it off, but honestly? I hadn't thought we would.
"Well, most of you have probably never streamed before, and you still worked so hard. Thank you, truly."
Wait—hadn't this song blown up a while after its release, not right away? I couldn't remember the details, but I definitely never heard that it charted on release day. Which meant this time was faster than before.
My influence, presumably?
That secret truth, known to me and me alone, put me in an inexplicably good mood.
"Ah, that's the second million won today! Wait, is it the first today? Anyway! Thank you!"
"Yes, thank you for the 100,000. What did I tell you? I said it'd be fun."
…Why does everyone in my chat have a nickname like that?
"Yes, thank you for the 10,000. If you want us to climb higher, you all need to keep those streams looping."
"Then shall we set a date for the singing stream and call it a night here?"
Wasn't that a little harsh?
"Come on, there's nothing left to do. And we've been at it since before the song dropped until midnight—that's a long stream."
Hm… "go tease," huh….
While I mulled it over, still watching the chat, one message caught my eye.
"Sorry? Teri-nim is crying?"
For real?
Why are these people forcing me to cry?
"Folks, sorry to everyone who'll clip and stitch together chart-climb reaction compilations and such… but if they were fake tears, that'd be even weirder, wouldn't it? Besides, it's better to have at least one member keeping a cool head."
No, that was a fair point—but I did understand them, in a way. Seeing your own song climb the charts could stir up emotions.
Just, evidently, not in me….
"And this time, I won't tease her. If I did it now, I feel like she'd genuinely spiral."
After a moment's deliberation, I'd decided it was too risky. Things had been borderline even earlier, after all.
Ring ring. Ring ring.
"One moment, please."
Who could it be?
I checked the caller name, and my resolve evaporated on the spot.
I take back everything I said about not teasing anyone.
Desperately fighting the corners of my mouth as they tried to curl upward on their own, I answered the call.
"Hello?"
If they're the ones calling me first, that's a different story!