True Growth and New Opportunities

"Whoa!"

"No way, is this for real?"

"Iseor-ah!"

The cafe instantly erupted into a chaotic din. Amidst the barrage of screams and cheers, Iseor somehow caught a fan calling her name from the very back and casually waved in response.

Watching this, Suyun approached the fan who had been passionately professing their love for them just moments ago.

"U-Um... how much of that did you hear?"

"...From the very beginning?"

The fan's face flushed so red it looked ready to combust. Without a word, Suyun walked over and patted them on the shoulder—a silent gesture telling them to sit back down before they died of sheer embarrassment.

"E-Excuse me, what I just said was..."

"I know, I know. It's that... 'gushing' or whatever it is that fans do, right?"

Suyun nodded to herself as she spoke. It was a culture she hadn't been used to at first. In the beginning, hearing such bizarre, over-the-top praise made her wonder if they were making fun of her, and she had even asked the other members about it. But now, Suyun was an artist entering her fifth year. She had become someone who could laugh off this kind of thing—or even fire back with an even more intense response.

Now this is what I call true personal growth...

"Actually, if you just give me a little more time, I can do it way better... I can appeal all of Group Sound's best qualities for real, instead of just half-baked rambling like that."

"Excuse me?"

While Suyun was busy marveling at her own maturity, the fan's response took things in an entirely different direction. Indeed. Just as artists evolve, so do their fans...

"Actually, the reason we gathered you all here today was as a guerrilla fan service event for our fans in Gangneung!" Assistant Manager Kim announced.

"Whoa!"

"This is seriously insane..."

"My friend was going to come up today but bailed. It really is true that the biggest fans never get the luck."

"We will review the surveys you filled out today and incorporate them into tomorrow's schedule! Please note ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that even if your suggestion wasn't selected today, it might still be revealed later when the content is released under a title like 'Gangneung Locals' Choice'! And for those whose ideas were selected, we will be giving out additional prizes and hand-signed autographs from all four members!"

"Whoaaaa!"

The fans let out a deafening cheer that threatened to blow the roof off the cafe. Before the excitement could die down, Assistant Manager Kim shouted once more.

"Now, since you're all gathered here today! A special opportunity exclusive to our Gangneung Donut Brigade! Ask the members anything! We'll answer everything except for extremely sensitive questions or trade secrets!"

Hearing this, Suyun scratched her head. She had been briefed on this earlier, but she wondered how far she should go with her answers. They had told her to keep it "reasonable," but the line of what was reasonable felt incredibly vague.

"Don't you think?"

"I mean, as long as it doesn't cause any trouble, shouldn't we just answer honestly?" Iseor replied.

"I guess so."

"The first question... is for Iseor-nim! Let me read it out."

While Suyun was talking with Iseor, Assistant Manager Kim had finished gathering the questions and was rummaging through the ballot box. As a few fans muttered things like, "Who would even write a question like that?" upon hearing the selected prompt, Iseor turned to Suyun.

"Watch how I answer this."

"Huh?"

"Hmm... *cough*! 'Who is the member you least want to be roommates with at the dorm...' Well, the answer to this is way too obvious. I'm pretty sure the other two will agree with me, too."

"Oh my! If the other two agree, doesn't that make it a unanimous vote?"

Assistant Manager Kim put on a look of exaggerated shock, but a playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips. It was as if she already knew exactly what the answer would be.

"It's Suyun. Being one-on-one with her is the absolute worst. Because if you're with her, she'll just drag her guitar over, start practicing, and give you this massive guilt trip. It's like she's silently screaming, 'I'm practicing this hard, so what are you doing?' The real problem is that we already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠practice for at least six hours a day as a band, but she spends literally every waking moment practicing except when she's eating, sleeping, or working. No joke, on our days off, I've seen her play the guitar for fourteen hours straight. And then she expects us to keep up with that pace..."

"Here we go again. Hey, practice is—"

"'Practice isn't something you do, it's how you rest. Why on earth aren't you practicing? If you practice, you get better. What do you have to lose?' ...She constantly says stuff like that! Hearing it once or twice is fine, but living with someone who nags you like that 24/7 makes your ears literally bleed. So yeah, that's why. The person I least want to be with is Suyun!"

Amidst the bursts of laughter and giggles from the crowd, Iseor and the other members cracked up. Perhaps they all deeply related.

"With all three of you acting like this, the future of our band is pitch black," Suyun grumbled.

"Who in the world would ever accuse us of not practicing enough? Even that... you know, that Japanese guitarist friend of yours, when he heard about our practice schedule, he said he felt sorry for us."

"And here I thought he was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠decent guy. I guess not."

Despite her disgruntled expression, Suyun got a feel for how she should handle these questions. Basically, she just needed to be honest while keeping it lighthearted and non-offensive.

"Next question is for Hyun-ah-nim!"

"Uh, m-me? Lately... hehe. I guess you could say... watashi has grown up a bit? I don't really watch anime much anymore. Since I've been so busy..."

"Next question is for Seoha-nim!"

"I like Kapital. Lately, their stuff pops up in Korean select shops occasionally, but since we're living in Japan right now, it's much easier to get ahold of. The piece I'm wearing right now is actually Kapital. Isn't it pretty? It's a bit of an older release, though."

The conversation flowed peacefully like that. Suyun stared up at the ceiling, feeling a bit bored. In the midst of this, Assistant Manager Kim directed a question at her.

"A question for Suyun-nim!"

"Ah, since this is a bit of a personal question..." Assistant Manager Kim hesitated.

"No, it's fine. I use social media. I even have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a Twitter account."

"You have a Twitter account?"

Suyun knew exactly what that look meant, so she pulled out her phone and showed it to Iseor.

"Look, here's my account. See? I told you I use Twitter."

"You call this 'using' it?" Iseor looked at her with utter disbelief. Zero followers, zero posts. It was clearly a lurker account used solely for reading. Could this really be considered "using social media"?

"Of course it is. Do you have to post things for it to count?"

"Isn't that the whole point?"

"Is it? Well, anyway, I have an account. I mostly use it to search our band's name every now and then. Since Japanese fans mainly use Twitter, I have to use it to check their reactions. I ended up looking at Korean posts too, and I noticed there are a lot of people making interesting things."

"Like what?"

"Well, for example... I saw something recently where someone wrote a novel about our band."

"...Excuse me?"

A slightly high-pitched voice squeaked out from beside her. Suyun looked over. Hyun-ah was staring at her as if she had just misheard.

"What was it again? Ah, right. They turned Iseor and me into fictional characters and wrote a story. It was about Iseor and me having conflicts over band activities, getting into emotional arguments..."

A collective gasp of horror erupted from the fans.

"Suyun-nim, you shouldn't read things like that!" several fans cried out in unison.

Puzzled by their reaction, Suyun replied, "Why? It was pretty entertaining. Can't you just think of it as a play or something? The only disappointing part was that when I tried to read more, it asked me to pay. I debated whether to pay or not, but I got lazy and just left it. Maybe I'll pay and read the rest when I have some free time..."

"There's stuff like that? Let me read it too," Seoha chimed in, asking Suyun for the link.

"I had it saved somewhere... wait a sec. I think it's this person," Suyun said, pointing out the fanfiction author.

While one otaku was facing a public execution at the hands of two innocent non-otaku, the only one who could stop this impending disaster was a fellow otaku.

"S-Stop!! You... you shouldn't read things like that!" Hyun-ah stammered, panicking.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'..."

"Didn't they write it for people to read? Since we're the actual subjects, shouldn't we be allowed to read it?"

"T-That kind of stuff is strictly underground culture!"

"It's not nice to look down on something someone wrote with sincere effort by calling it 'underground culture' or whatever."

It was a logical argument, yet completely missing the point. For the first time in her five years with the band, Hyun-ah felt like she was going to lose her mind. At this rate, one person—no, two, three, who knew how many people—might end up throwing themselves into the Han River out of sheer embarrassment today...

"Hurry up and give me some ideas."

"Even if you say that..."

The staff members slumped over their desks, practically radiating a refusal to cooperate. The man wearing glasses tapped the desk in frustration, clearly displeased with their attitude. However, despite the shaking desk, the employees barely budged.

"Hey, if we don't decide on this, we can't start production. Are you guys really going to be like this?"

"But Director, we already gave you plenty of suggestions. You're the one who rejected all of them."

"What suggestions did you even give?"

"We suggested Kenshi Yonezu, Zutomayo, Yoasobi... artists like that."

At those names, the director's brow furrowed so deeply it looked as if it had been struck by an axe. While one employee made a face at his reaction, another spoke up.

"We already gave you our opinions, but you keep shooting them down, Director."

"Be realistic. First of all, it's highly doubtful we could even get them, and second, they aren't fresh anymore."

"I think that's just your opinion, Director."

"Anyway, I don't like it. Are there no other artists?"

Studio Red Rock was a Japanese animation studio... and one that aimed to break free from the rigid "production committee" system firmly established in the Japanese animation industry. Studios like Kyoto Animation and MAPPA, which operated without relying heavily on production committees, were the role models for Studio Red Rock...

"Can't we just use an artist who specializes in anime songs?"

"Then we won't get any promotional hype."

"Then what do you want us to do..."

These people were the staff of Studio Red Rock.

And the project they were currently working on was an anime adaptation of a highly popular weekly manga. Boasting a solid fanbase thanks to its gripping storyline and a well-balanced dash of romance, the manga's publishers hoped to revitalize its slightly waning popularity through this anime adaptation. Studio Red Rock, seeking to bypass the production committee system, had partnered with the publisher. Both parties shared a common conviction:

These days, music is the trend. If the song is good, the anime will blow up!

"Listen to 'Idol', 'Kick Back', 'Sakayume', 'Homura'... Do you really think the song doesn't matter?"

"'Homura' was sung by LiSA, though. She's an anime song specialist—"

"Hey! That's not the point!"

Yelling to silence the employee who was technically right, the director ruffled his hair in frustration. They were absolutely no help. When he asked them to bring him some decent artists, they behaved like typical animators and only suggested anime song veterans. They didn't seem to listen to any other genres at all, and the few outside artists they did suggest didn't fit the vibe at all.

Should I just outsource this to an agency?

The director sighed deeply, contemplating whether he should just hand the matching process over to an agency and wash his hands of the music department entirely. Just then, from the office outside the meeting room, the voice of a radio DJ drifted in as a song came to an end.

"Director."

"What!"

"How about them?"

"...Who?"

One of the employees pointed toward the office outside. The song drifting in was one that had been playing constantly on the radio lately... yet somehow, it never got old.

"Group Sound. They're absolutely killing it lately."