Chapter 633
Chapter 633
TeSTAR launched into a whirlwind of promotions, packed with remix tracks.
"No way..."
A TeSTAR all-fan swallowed hard as she scrolled through the posts flooding her social media.
Even though this was her personal InHeart account for networking and not her fan account, unusual related videos kept popping up every time she swiped through Reels.
Most of them were edited with a bit of strange distortion for the sake of national pride or humor, but they weren't exactly making things up out of thin air.
And the view counts and comment reactions were...!
"I-it’s good."
It was overwhelmingly good!
Originally, a concept this overtly sexy might have faced pushback from certain demographics, but thanks to the two factors of 'doing well abroad' and 'secret agent action scenes,' the reception was strangely soft.
Furthermore, TeSTAR kept the momentum going by occasionally performing the old-school hip-hop remix they had showcased at the Glastonbury Festival.
Some clever Korean music broadcasts even created and aired WeTube videos with cross-edits combining the two remixes.
These were then exported back to the US, where short-form InHeart Reels racked up massive view counts.
Videos capturing these English reactions and attaching them back into Korean posts created a rapid-fire back-and-forth exchange.
In just three days, social media users sensed it.
This was no ordinary occurrence.
The taste matched, and the timing was perfect.
The familiarity provided by the 'Dreamland' image, combined with the curiosity sparked by being 'hot on the internet,' lowered the barrier to entry in the US more than ever before.
TeSTAR had reached the stage where interest breeds more interest.
In the midst of this, the hip-hop version's 1.5x speed-up audio started trending as a challenge on TickTackTok, driving the hype even further.
'...?? They're even fighting amongst themselves!'
Indeed. Some Americans were even getting angry, calling it an act that ruined the song.
As they fought, more of the general public in the English-speaking world grew curious and started lurking to see what the fuss was about.
It was all buzz. In a controversy like this, TeSTAR didn't lose a single grain of profit.
The success of the hip-hop remix was also fully tallied into their performance metrics. Ultimately, the digital chart rankings gained even more traction.
'Wow.'
This wasn't even something TeSTAR had planned.
It was interest and goodwill earned purely through performing well.
The stats and choices TeSTAR had built up over time became a 'plus-alpha' beyond their plans, increasing the success rate of this challenge. It became a wing that allowed their momentum to surge even more firmly.
A few days after that frantic whirlwind.
"Phew."
She was finally about to check TeSTAR’s actual Billboard results.
'Ah, my heart is racing.'
She took a deep breath, her finger holding the mouse trembling slightly.
TeSTAR’s ranking.
The initial prediction was #26.
"In reality..."
The all-fan clicked the post with a trembling hand.
Click.
[Bad Feelings / TeSTAR — #18]
"...!!"
It was a staggering result.
The fan scrolled down the comments, barely able to breathe.
Even non-fans were excited, leaving comments left and right.
A 'reverse run' up the charts is always fun.
Moreover, the unique nature of the situation made it even more entertaining, making people curious about the ending as if it were a sports match or a dramatic narrative.
Reactions were already coming in from people around her!
Seeing a school friend who knew she was a fan tag her account, she grinned with joy and sent a DM.
"..."
Reading her friend's reply gave her a strange feeling.
When the timing is perfect?
"Ah."
She re-read the reply and realized.
"She thinks the ranking will drop next week..."
The innocent premise behind telling her not to miss this week—the brightest week with the best results—was exactly that.
But just because there was no malice didn't mean it didn't sting.
The ranking could go even higher!
'What about TeSTAR? They say the public reaction is coming in...'
She began searching fiercely again.
Billboard points, Billboard totals, longevity, ranking reflections...
And she found out.
"..."
Remixes.
So, it meant TeSTAR could release more remixes here to somehow pull the ranking up further...
'Th-then I think they’ll get hate.'
Wasn't TeSTAR currently thriving because of their 'cool remix promotions'?
The image they had built already blocked any room for people to say, 'Even if they call it a remix gimmick, it’s only possible because they have a fandom.'
She had an ominous gut feeling that the moment they started churning out remixes just for the sake of results, their momentum would collapse.
She intended to support TeSTAR no matter what choice they made, but she started to feel like this... might be a bit difficult.
"Sigh..."
She was about to let out a short sigh when she suddenly shook her head.
"No, wait, this is a good thing!"
There was no need to worry ahead of time about maintaining the ranking or whatever!
'Let’s just focus on TeSTAR!'
She decided not to look too deeply into communities for a while and just live on her fan account.
She resolved to only enjoy the fun content TeSTAR provided.
This was the mental management method of an all-fan who had been with TeSTAR since their eventful early days.
'Right... Um, I should re-watch that swimming variety show with Cheong-woo and A-hyun!'
However, the following week.
[Bad Feelings / TeSTAR — #9]
"...?!"
The ranking had actually gone up.
And by a significant... no, an incredibly high margin!!
"Whoa, how!?"
Crazy!
After shouting out whatever came to mind in her joy, she quickly regained her composure and scanned the comments. She truly wanted to know the reason!
And soon, she discovered something like a clue.
Radio airplay?
She immediately searched for related content. It was a WeTube video by a music critic.
[Billboard’s Airplay points.]
[This is a score given based on how much a song is broadcast on US radio. If we were to look for the most similar category in our country, it would be the broadcast points on music shows.]
Ah!
[US radio stations tend to play music with quite conservative tastes. Because of this, it’s difficult for unfamiliar genres or languages to get points on the radio...]
'...! I see.'
There were reasons why it was hard to maintain a ranking on the charts for a long time. She nodded.
But.
This time, her idols were the exception.
They had secured a certain amount of those airplay points. How was that possible?
'Why the exception...'
After pondering for a moment, a realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
"Limestone!!"
The US giant had used TeSTAR’s song as the OST for their ride!
'Their Dreamland must be an incredibly familiar amusement park over there, right!?'
Moreover, a theme park was a space of dreams and fantasy. In that context, non-English lyrics were accepted as a sort of concept, and prejudice or burden disappeared.
It was an image effect.
As they received the public's choice, that popularity was reflected directly in radio play.
"Wow."
The fan felt a slight thrill.
Even though she couldn't deduce everything perfectly, she could tell just from the clues.
TeSTAR had chosen Limestone as a partner to serve as a bridge to the English-speaking public, creating a sense of familiarity that made it easy for radio stations to play their music.
The Limestone movie OST probably showed a similar trend, but now, the ripple effect of the song itself was several times more powerful and starting to become visible.
In the second week of their remix promotions, TeSTAR succeeded in another 'reverse run.'
Very impressively.
"Whoa..."
The all-fan swallowed and let go of her mouse.
It was the beginning of a great summer season that would come to mind even when she looked back at the history of her life as a fan.
*
"Hola!"
Cha Yu-jin walked with a cheerful stride.
He exchanged a light greeting with a hotelier he met in the hallway and, with unhesitating steps, reached the last room at the end of the corridor and tapped his key card.
And when he opened the door...
"Heeeey! I'm here!"
Inside the suite, a viewing was already in full swing.
It was an interview with an English-language media outlet that TeSTAR had just appeared in.
[Cha Yu-jin: Thank you so much for all the love and support! We’re going to keep doing what we want to do, so we hope you look forward to it.]
Cha Yu-jin grinned as he watched himself on the connected smart TV.
The team tradition of everyone staying in the same room once a week when they had overseas schedules was still being well-maintained.
The members welcomed him vigorously.
"Yu-jin, you're late! Come here quick~"
"Sit down and watch TV... Um, but what’s that in your hand?"
"I brought this!"
Cha Yu-jin raised his hand. What he was holding firmly in one hand was a fairly fancy-looking bottle of champagne.
It was to celebrate the current team promotions, which were showing an insane upward trend.
To think this method actually worked!
Cha Yu-jin, who had shouted a hearty 'OK' to the remix promotions while listening intently to the complex rules of Yut Nori, gave a wide grin.
[You know something with bubbles is perfect for a day like this.]
"Ooh~"
As he handed over the champagne, he thought it was secretly fun that his team understood all his metaphorical speech.
Having done so many English interviews this time, their ears had definitely opened up.
Exploding flashes and overflowing questions.
Even the variety of questions had increased, and the quality had improved.
Because of this, even his dear artist friends could now understand English quite well!
'Maybe I should try to coax them into using Spanish.'
He entered the living room with a whistle, painting a beautiful future plan with his teammates.
Following their interview video that had just ended, gossip news was being broadcast.
[TeSTAR, the Billboard reverse run of the indefinable K-pop artists!]
Hmm. Impressive.
Cha Yu-jin shrugged as he accepted the champagne and cheese crackers.
[I never thought the day would come in my life when I’d be in a rank I could count on my fingers on the Billboard Hot 100.]
"Wasn't your only goal to be a K-pop singer?"
"That's right. Billboard isn't my goal. But this feels good!"
"Of course it does~"
Champagne glasses clinked. Cha Yu-jin chuckled and lay down on the floor, leaning his back against the sofa.
Yes. It felt good.
Even at the leader's words, that feeling didn't dissipate, though he regained a bit of composure.
"VTIC sunbaenims hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 before, right?"
"Yes."
They had hit #1 mainly by pushing with their massive fandom, but in a way, that was an even more incredible record.
'It’s a declaration that this many people are willing to spend money.'
Park Moon-dae thought so and nodded, and seeing that, Cha Yu-jin also shrugged.
'Well, he’s probably thinking something brutally refreshing.'
He was right.
"But we already beat them in the one-week streaming record."
"Gasp."
"R-really...?"
"Yes."
The TeSTAR members, huddled together with their heads touching, seemed excited for a moment upon seeing the record, but they soon regained their professional composure.
"Still, let's not expect too much. Let's not get dragged around either. We do what we've always done."
"Of course."
Naturally, Plan B was also finalized in preparation for enlistment this year.
However... Cha Yu-jin thought.
'Somehow, I have a good feeling.'
And his instincts were always right.
"We'll have to see how far it goes."
*
High above the Pacific Ocean.
"Hmm."
Cheong-ryeo sat in his private jet and looked out the window.
The world above the clouds was blue and clear.
Of course, it wasn't something worth looking at for long.
"Kong-ah."
[Woof!]
On the tablet PC across from him, a call was connected to his family.
Perhaps now accustomed to video calls, the dog on the screen recognized him through sight and sound alone.
'Smell should be the most important thing for a canine's perception.'
Is it an animal's instinct for different functions to develop depending on the situation they face?
Just like his rival.
"I'll be back soon."
[Awoooo...]
The video call soon ended.
Cheong-ryeo rested his chin on his hand and gazed out.
'How far will they go?'
A ruthlessly hot summer was racing toward its peak.