Chapter 219
Chapter 219
The video began with Ryu Cheong-woo sitting motionless under a pine tree.
[...]
The pine forest in the background was shrouded in the depths of night. The moment his glowing blue eyes vanished beneath his eyelids—
Ping—!
The screen flickered, splicing the past and future together as if in a flashback.
A dazzling day. It was the moment Ryu Cheong-woo, having just loosed an arrow, lowered his bow with a smile.
Suddenly, the cut shifted to an expressionless Ryu Cheong-woo holding a black musket, a bullet erupting from the muzzle.
Bang!
The scene slowly followed the fired bullet before transitioning into a cut where a gold coin of similar size flipped in front of Lee Se-jin’s face.
Ting—
The hand Lee Se-jin used to flip the coin transitioned into a shot of elegant hand movements performing a dance in a grand palace.
Swish.
Next, the five-colored fabric fluttering in the air turned into a faded string, revealing Park Moon-dae tying that string around his wrist like a bracelet.
Fragment by fragment, cuts that looked like they belonged in a music video were pieced together like a stream of consciousness across the screen.
Slowly, to the BGM of a classically rearranged melody of Haengcha.
People were bewildered by the sudden video, but they primarily enjoyed the excellent cinematography and the new cuts of the members.
It should have looked like a collection of B-cuts, but the exquisite arrangement gave it an air of profound symbolism.
As it progressed a bit further, some people began to notice the structure.
It was true.
The members' cuts were appearing in the reverse order of how their solo songs had appeared in the Haengcha teasers.
And it wasn't just once.
When the cut of Seon A-hyun reaching his hand above the water—which had appeared at the very beginning of the teaser—showed up, it transformed into a cut of Ryu Cheong-woo spinning and catching a musket.
The beginning and the end were connected.
The cuts continued as if the flashback were ongoing.
Whoosh!
Repeatedly, over and over.
Faster, with an incredible sense of speed.
The artistic cuts, crossing each other as if being chased or racing forward, stopped as abruptly as they had started.
Click.
The moment Cha Yu-jin grabbed the bound hands of Ryu Cheong-woo to help him up, the citizenship application held in those hands was shown in a close-up.
[Ding—.]
Suddenly, the cut froze.
Instead, it unexpectedly showed the face of Bae Se-jin, who was standing behind Cha Yu-jin.
With a lingering close-up that felt like a scene from a movie.
[...]
That face, reflecting deep thought, seemed to reveal who the subject of the flashback expressed through the numerous previous cuts actually was.
[Wahaha!]
Soon, Bae Se-jin quietly moved away, leaving behind the members who were running around excitedly with their citizenship applications.
His pace quickened. The sound of laughter grew distant.
Tap, tap, tap!
And soon, the place where Bae Se-jin stood changed.
It was the giant window from the last music video where he had looked down at the glittering city.
The vast, exotic city remained the same.
However, a document was stuck to the window—one that hadn't been shown in detail in the previous music video.
—Guidelines for Responding to Citizenship Certificate Requests (Yokai)
On the crumpled document, the words "Active Rejection in Case of Emergency" were circled numerous times in red...
Meaning the citizenship certificates were nothing but useless bait.
[Sigh.]
Bae Se-jin let out a sigh and tore the document down.
Then, as if hesitating deeply, he looked back and forth between the document and the view outside the window. In a corner outside, the sight of the still-excited members flickered briefly...
His conflict did not last long.
[...]
The theme melody of Spring out was played by a single string instrument.
Slowly, Bae Se-jin threw the document to the floor. He pulled a piece of old cloth from his pocket and began to cover his eyes.
Just like during Haengcha.
Over that, a natural and clear voice-over narration flowed out.
[If I were to be born again,]
[I want to be born as someone like you.]
The Bae Se-jin on the screen reached out toward the window with his eyes closed, without a hint of hesitation.
A slow close-up and the music reaching a crescendo.
And the moment his hand touched it—
Thud.
The music distorted, and the perspective flipped.
Shhh.
Blackout and white noise.
Then, the screen came back to life.
Not Bae Se-jin, but a black-haired Park Moon-dae, standing in a school uniform, pulled his hand away from a window.
It was a school.
He turned around, gazed into the camera, and smiled.
The sun was setting.
[...]
It was a very familiar scene.
And then, a very familiar chime rang out.
♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-
The melody of Magical Boy.
With that, the screen melted away.
[Still enchanted]
[See you in that dream]
Leaving only those words behind.
The video ended there.
Naturally, for the next three days, the TeSTAR fandom was completely consumed by the massive lore connection bait.
"Excellent."
Releasing personal daily life content followed by official lore videos was indeed highly effective. I skimmed through the SNS posts where all sorts of theories were running wild.
Let’s see, they’re saying all kinds of things.
Perhaps because it was made to be so meaningful, the fact that people could discuss everything from Bae Se-jin’s role to the chronological order of the universe seemed to excite them even more.
‘I’m glad it seems to be entertaining, but...’
Of course, there are many fans who don't particularly like lore. Those people must have been a bit indifferent over the last few days.
So, for those fans, the moving-in and roommate game content is scheduled to be released soon. Then, within a few days, the fan community will be running more smoothly than ever.
‘It doesn't seem like there’s anything more to say about the Seon A-hyun situation either.’
This should kill two birds with one stone.
I shrugged, checked the inside of the car, and immediately closed the tab on my smartphone.
‘Well, I should probably stop looking now.’
Since I made a promise, I intend to consciously avoid looking at what’s being said underground for a while.
...Actually, when we had a brief meeting to release this lore content a bit early, related talk came up.
—T-That’s why... Moon-dae decided not to look at the internet much from now on...!
—Good job!
—Yeah. I was actually a bit worried because it seemed like Moon-dae was checking it too often.
—I have heard that moderating electronic device usage is beneficial for one's health. It is an excellent choice!
Kim Rae-bin seemed to have misunderstood a bit... but anyway, seeing this, even Keun Se-jin just shrugged with a "what can you do" expression.
I didn't know these guys were so unanimously concerned about my mental health.
‘Anyone would think I’m some kind of shut-in at risk of internet addiction.’
Anyway, that meant I ultimately had no choice but to nod in agreement.
‘I guess I’ll just spend a few days watching animal videos on WeTube.’
I thought indifferently and accessed WeTube.
Since I had disabled watch history and refused data collection, no algorithms popped up. I just intended to sort by popularity and watch some dogs.
...But of all things, this video was 5th in real-time popularity.
[TeSTAR’s Big Picture? A route discovered that plunges Americans into the K-Pop ant-hell!]
...In the thumbnail, Westerners were seen clutching their heads with speech bubbles saying "Aju-sa?" and "What's with the lore!"
It was overflowing with nationalistic clickbait to the point of suffocation.
However, looking at the WeTuber's name, it was someone I had seen a few times.
‘He’s a guy who usually puts together fairly substantial content.’
You could basically see him as someone who summarizes the overseas internet in a biased way.
"……."
Then, surely it’s okay to watch something that’s 5th in real-time popularity? Isn't it a thumbnail that even people who aren't interested would click once?
‘Judging by the look of it, it’s probably just a string of compliments.’
There’s no way I’ll take a hit. I immediately reached a justifiable conclusion and clicked the video.
I skipped the typical filler talk starting with "Hello, WeTube viewers."
Let's play the main point at 1.5x speed.
[Everyone, in my last video, I told you the reason why TeSTAR’s recognition in the English-speaking world rose.]
[It was the flow where the interest sparked by the survival audition meme led to Idol Inc., which then connected to the view count of the Spring out music video.]
He was making a fuss about how that "reminds me of the old days" comment meshed with East Asian memes and became a hot topic.
[This oriental steampunk universe set the hearts of many Western fans aflutter. And what was thrown into the mix right then was the new K-pop variety show, K-NOW.]
[It’s said to be made by the Aju-sa production crew, and it was even a Netplus original variety show with great accessibility. Naturally, Americans who became interested in the TeSTAR-Aju-sa line flocked to watch this program.]
It wasn't exactly "flocked." It was just that people who had become interested enough in K-pop to watch Aju-sa had migrated over.
Just as I thought it was a very obvious story, the next part was actually quite useful.
[But it didn't end there. K-NOW became a bigger hit locally than expected!]
Oh, this is true.
I had heard that the Aju-sa production crew's Hellfire K-Pop Camp had established itself quite successfully in the US.
Even so, it was just "doing well for a Netplus original" and wasn't at the level of a truly popular channel, but it meant it was being talked about by the general public on the internet.
Of course, this WeTuber skipped all that.
Still, his next words were quite sharp.
[The hit variety show drew in a diverse audience, and this is where the veterans who had followed the TeSTAR-Aju-sa line because of the memes played an active role!]
[Because they actively recommended Idol Inc. and TeSTAR to these ordinary Americans and general viewers.]
"……!"
Oh, this is new.
‘Was there such an analysis?’
I thought we just benefited from overseas recognition thanks to the variety show, but it seems there were movements within that as well.
[Viewers who were impressed by K-NOW eventually watched TeSTAR’s music videos or Idol Inc., becoming new K-pop fans!]
[It can be seen as a clever and impactful move that not only captures the interest of existing K-pop fans but also grows the K-pop pie itself.]
I’d bet this quarter’s settlement that no one on the production crew intended this, and the company didn't consider it either.
Because even we didn't plan that far ahead.
However, the WeTuber seemed completely convinced of his theory.
[Then, just how far does TeSTAR’s big picture go?]
[Even just yesterday, a new lore video for TeSTAR was uploaded. This video connects the chronicle of TeSTAR’s activities so far.]
[In the end, indicators have even emerged showing that an influx is occurring all the way back to their debut song, Magical Boy!]
[※ Based on the video production date ※]
...Is that so?
The graph attached to the video was a bit exaggerated, but it was true.
[And last Monday, TeSTAR wrapped up their current promotions and entered a hiatus. What kind of move will they surprise us with in the next album?]
[That’s all for today’s video.]
Hmm.
I rubbed my chin.
There’s a lot of exaggeration and hype, but even after stripping all that away, there are some points worth considering.
‘The next album will be important again.’
Not that it ever wasn't, but this time too, we need to pick a title track that can properly digest this interest into a fanbase... a song that will work well both domestically and abroad.
It’s good to keep growing without a slump, but there’s no time to catch my breath.
‘Should I look into it more specifically?’
I can't afford to deviate from the needs of existing fans just to make new ones. The more data, the better.
So, it was the moment I reflexively opened an internet tab to start a detailed search.
"U-Um, M-Moon-dae. Are you searching for something?"
"……! Just a bit."
Seon A-hyun continued in a small voice.
"Y-You said you wouldn't... O-Oh, no. If you want to see it, you can. But I hope you don't look too much..."
"……."
"B-Because we promised..."
Fine.
"Okay."
"Y-Yeah!"
I turned off my smartphone. And I sighed inwardly.
‘Is there nothing to do?’
Since it’s the hiatus soon, there’s no schedule to check. My hands and feet feel itchy for some reason.
It was then.
Buzz!
My smartphone suddenly vibrated, and a text message arrived.
"……?"
[202X 1st GED Exam Candidate Notice and Precautions]
Ah, right.
Come to think of it, I had applied for this to coincide with the hiatus.
‘I guess I’ll just go take it.’
I indifferently put my smartphone back down.
For the record, I didn't know until then that the guys sitting next to me had also caught a glimpse of this text.