Chapter 520
Chapter 520
Make... another game?
I re-read the long text message sent by the CEOs of Ruin Industrial Complex, the game company.
It seemed they were quite impressed after watching Bae Se-jin in Doll Hunter.
‘I expected this to some extent.’
Recalling the game from our last album, which received a great response, I carefully composed a reply.
An ambitious sequel following a successful first production.
[I’m sorry. We don’t have the time right now.]
Yeah. Of course not.
The reason was the same as last time.
‘Doing it once is fine, but if we keep going, people will start trying to stir up controversy.’
First, let’s define the content we tried for the last album.
—Including a game in the album.
This is a fresh, one-time event, but if it happens twice, it becomes a business. A pattern is established.
Then, a natural controversy follows.
—If people buy the album for the game, isn't it just a game and not a music album? LOL.
The "expedient" controversy. A fixed consumer base would inevitably emerge, buying the album specifically to play a unique interactive game.
‘The fact that we made it so well last time is exactly why this problem arises.’
TeSTAR already has plenty of enemies as it is. From our former agency, T1, to those bastards at the newly appeared Wonder Hall, there are endless reasons why we shouldn't give them any leverage.
I considered explaining this kindly, but I figured they wouldn't understand no matter how much I thought about it.
‘They probably haven't even realized that their own existing players wouldn't like it much either.’
From Ruin Industrial Complex's perspective, they probably thought it was a win-win: they get to make a fun game, get good reviews, and promote their upcoming new titles.
‘I heard the response from overseas was actually quite good.’
However, gamers in this country, who know exactly who TeSTAR is, would likely think we were overdoing it or feel repulsed if we kept going.
Making a game with popular idols would look like we were just piggybacking on their fame.
‘If we’re going to do it, we have to approach it with a more careful, meticulous plan.’
We couldn't just go for it with this blatant "ambitious sequel" vibe.
I sent a reply, carefully adjusting the level of rejection so the people at Ruin Industrial Complex would feel a vague nuance of "we might collaborate whenever circumstances allow."
"This should do it."
Everything was under control.
I nodded.
But in this world, there are variables that an individual cannot control.
For instance, a hit on the level of a social phenomenon.
That’s right.
Doll Hunter became such a massive hit that it shattered platform records.
It started with Doll Hunter’s overseas performance.
Doll Hunter became a hot topic due to its sheer immersion, making anyone who started it watch every released episode, with statistics showing almost no viewers dropping off midway.
And as new viewers flocked in due to word of mouth and its entry into the rankings, the rank kept climbing until...
It finally hit #1 globally that week, and media reports exploded.
‘It’s a madhouse.’
The production studio and Netplus, thrilled by the rare success, flooded the media with articles as if their lives depended on the media play.
Still, it was even more surprising that the drama’s reviews were good enough to avoid backlash.
Just as the latest comment said, it was a massive hit.
It was reported by all sorts of foreign media and news outlets, and interest poured in for the lead actors.
Especially for the actor who played the role of the crazy psychopath who gifted the protagonist his first awakening and his first death.
A compilation of overseas WeTubers' reactions to Bae Se-jin's psychopathic plot twist scene even made it onto the domestic WeTube trending videos list.
It was a powerful return to serious acting for the former child star of ten million viewers.
At the dorm, whenever Cha Yu-jin excitedly shoved the enthusiastic reactions in his face, Bae Se-jin—who had been intentionally avoiding monitoring the internet—was occasionally spotted sneaking a peek.
"Hyung! This person says they fell in love with you!"
"...With a psychopath?"
He looked somewhat dubious, but he didn't seem to be in a bad mood.
‘Of course.’
Success always tastes good, doesn't it? Even if it came from his fourth consecutive psychopath role.
Now, I could occasionally hear him talking proudly with a hint of subtle expectation.
"Uh, I have a promotional WeTube appearance scheduled with the cast this time. Ahem, if the timing is right, I’m thinking of promoting the next album a bit, though I don't know if it'll be effective..."
"Of course it will be...!"
Well, there's nothing wrong with that. It’s good if he enjoys his activities.
The problem was the people who weren't him.
As the name value of Bae Se-jin's character, the medical student 'Jung Yi-sol,' grew, a certain public opinion began to stir on the internet.
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[Why is Bae Se-jin still an idol?]
Honestly, he was treated like a talentless member in TeSTAR. If it were me, I wouldn't have renewed the contract out of spite. The members must have clung to him like crazy.
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It was the "Bae Se-jin as an idol is useless" argument.
Because of actor Bae Se-jin's overwhelming performance in the work, the claim was that Bae Se-jin as a member of TeSTAR was unnecessary.
‘They’re saying he should use that time to film another project.’
Of course, since Bae Se-jin had shown steady growth on stage and built a solid fan base as an idol, the conflict was immense.
Hmm. A total mess.
Extreme statements like these were split pretty evenly between pros and cons.
‘They’re doing this on purpose.’
After attracting attention with a fierce debate, a softer opinion would slip in.
That was the problem.
The assumption was that Bae Se-jin would naturally prioritize acting from now on and would frequently be absent from TeSTAR activities.
Quite a few people wrote things like this as if it were nothing.
Oh. I see you're using TeSTAR member Bae Se-jin to devalue TeSTAR's name.
I nodded as I watched the state of the online communities.
Every indicator was pointing to one thing.
‘Let’s have a comeback.’
This was happening because the effect of TeSTAR's activities was wearing off. The impact of Doll Hunter was so great that TeSTAR was momentarily pushed aside.
TeSTAR needed to make a comeback as soon as possible and smack them over the head with results to shift the conversation.
‘Since Bae Se-jin wants to promote the next album anyway, he can do it to his heart's content.’
Furthermore, this was a good way for Bae Se-jin to carry out his schedule as an actor.
Given the current progression of Doll Hunter, there was a high probability that Bae Se-jin would appear in Season 2. Since filming would likely start within a few months, it was better to fit in team activities before then.
‘I was planning to have one more comeback before the year ends anyway... It fits perfectly with the annual plan I made while establishing the company.’
Of course, if Bae Se-jin really wanted to put much more weight on acting than team activities, it wouldn't be a bad time to start showing hints of that now.
‘Like participating only in important schedules and skipping some events to go to acting schedules.’
Honestly, since he stayed until the contract renewal, there wouldn't be any moral issue if he started pulling back a bit.
So, I actually asked him outright.
—...Why would I?
I got a dubious reaction, asking why he would cancel a schedule he could attend. Hmm, okay.
—I see your ambition to succeed in both idol and acting activities is very clear.
—Huh? Uh, no, not to that extent...
—Oooooh!
This guy has definitely grown some guts. It was a remarkable improvement compared to his debut days.
I nodded as I watched him disappear into his room as if fleeing from the younger members' applause.
Moreover, although I had said it as a joke when Bae Se-jin joined this project, his drama's success actually opened up a new route for the group TeSTAR.
For example, the PPL for instant rice and canned ham that appeared in Doll Hunter.
Did you know? Netplus doesn't usually take PPL in cash. In many cases, they handle it as a two-way promotion between companies.
Like this.
In the past few days, canned ham packaging with images from Doll Hunter began to be spotted in supermarkets.
The instant rice and ham company promoted the program they had placed PPL in on their end as well.
And the interesting thing is that this company is a fierce competitor of T1 Frozen Food.
That’s right. While unintentionally screwing over T1, we gained connections with a rival company.
"Oh~ look at this, Moondae-Moondae. This company says they want Moondae to eat some of their chicken feet too?"
"Sounds good."
The social media manager of that company is no amateur at testing the waters. For the record, if they put in an ad, I'm truly willing to eat it.
Anyway, this meant a way to gradually escape T1's "we won't use TeSTAR" sphere of influence was becoming visible.
We began to get bites from other companies, breaking away from TeSTAR's existing connections that had been biased toward T1.
‘It’s going smoothly.’
Since this was good news for Bae Se-jin, who had been anxious that his acting might hinder the team, his face brightened when I explained it to him.
‘He seems a bit too fired up... but well, someone who did well is allowed to be.’
To be honest, the case where someone did well but didn't even know it was more of a problem.
For instance... the guy who participated in producing more than half the songs for the upcoming comeback album.
"I... composed this song?!"
"......"
"Furthermore, when checking the detailed information, it says the work time was only 21 hours. Did I really finish the work in 21 hours without moving to a separate program?"
"...Probably."
"My goodness!"
Kim Rae-bin.
Steer Kim Rae-bin...
‘Let’s bring him back quickly.’
After finishing the "listening to my own songs" session I opened for Kim Rae-bin, I decided to return his memories and proceed with his stage rehabilitation as soon as possible.
Since he himself had no real objection and was just waiting for the right timing, there was nothing to hesitate about.
—I have high expectations for what kind of realization allowed me to overcome my lack of talent and disposition to stand on stage!
Steer Kim Rae-bin had originally completely concluded that he had no ability as a performer or an idol.
Still, he seemed to have a strange belief that the version of himself with TeSTAR's memories must have secured stage stats through some incredible stroke of luck.
Perhaps because he listened so intently to the members saying, "You were always good on stage," the logic in his head had flowed strangely and established itself that way.
It was a bit of a distorted thought, but I could fix that by talking it through slowly.
The important thing was the stage rehabilitation.
‘Let’s go with something light immediately after he regains his memories.’
I set a few principles.
It shouldn't be too formal; it should be small-scale.
There should be an audience, but the probability of a variable turning into a controversy should be low.
The entire audience should be friendly and watch the stage with a generous attitude.
And finally...
—The format should be freer than a typical stage.
With those criteria, the answer came quite quickly.
‘There’s already a candidate.’
This was a method I could execute more naturally since I had been in contact with the Ruin Industrial Complex side a few days ago.
I checked the KakaoTalk profile for the Ruin Industrial Complex contact once more and sent a text with a smile.
[Congratulations. I heard you're getting married.]
Their profile was a wedding photo.
It looked like the CEO couple of Ruin Industrial Complex was getting married soon.
[By any chance, do you need someone to sing at the wedding?]
TeSTAR's wedding song service.
We'll do it for free.