Chapter 194: The Long-Awaited Third Album
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194: The Long-Awaited Third Album
There were two main factors that caused the anticipation for their third album to skyrocket.
First, Closer’s fans were extremely fixated on the word “last.”
The word “last” always carries a certain weight, but now, with their fanbase at its largest ever, the excitement for Closer’s final album was piercing the heavens.
Second, our company, Bitdam, was in charge of their production.
Both my teacher and I had already received high praise for our work on their previous album. Of course, only a handful of people knew that RKRO was now working at Bitdam under the name Mini, but even so, many people placed their trust in our team as if we were a religious cult.
Finally, the release date was just around the corner.
The premiere was set for 8 PM tomorrow, and I felt ten times more nervous than Doah.
“Oppa. I told you to stop looking at the forums.”
Doah stood behind me in her pajamas, holding a mug.
I glanced at her sheepishly and clicked the mouse, closing the window I’d been staring at.
“Ah, I think I’m going to lose my mind.”
“You did a great job, so what’s the big deal?”
“I just… ugh, I don’t know.”
It wasn’t like there was anything I could do at this point. We had already finished and submitted everything; there was no way to make changes now.
Doah set her cup down and gave me a tight hug.
“It’s okay. We’re going to be a huge hit. I promise.”
“I hope so.”
“Come on, let’s eat.”
I was slowly getting used to the meals Doah prepared.
“Today’s menu is… drumroll please!”
Doah tapped her stomach like a drum and brought out a plate.
“Kimchi fried rice!”
“…Didn’t we have kimchi fried rice yesterday too?”
“Yeah, but we had some leftover ham and green onions, so I made it again.”
“Oh, okay.”
Who was I to complain when she was cooking for me? I had no intention of being picky about the menu.
“Ah, Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“You have to taste it and compare it to yesterday’s. Got it?”
“What’s different?”
“I watched a different video today. What was it called… something like ‘The Dark Recipe’? I followed that one.”
It definitely looked redder than what I’d eaten yesterday.
Doah wasn’t a naturally gifted cook, but she enjoyed making food while following videos like this. Since she usually followed a recipe, her failure rate was low, but the occasional disaster was truly agonizing.
“…How is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
You always had to start with “it’s delicious.” What it actually tasted like wasn’t that important.
“Compared to yesterday? Is this one better?”
“Yesterday’s felt a bit more… homestyle? Today’s tastes more like something you’d eat at a restaurant.”
“Ooh… I see.”
Doah scooped a large spoonful of fried rice into her mouth and nodded in agreement.
“This version has some chemical seasonings in it.”
“No wonder. It tasted familiar.”
“As long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters.”
For dessert, we each grabbed an ice cream bar we’d bought together at the supermarket yesterday and turned on the TV.
Unless we were settling in to watch a specific movie or show, we often just put on the news for some background noise. As it happened, a segment on the metaverse was airing.
Scenes from VRWorld, a place Doah often streamed from, flashed across the screen.
[Building relationships over the internet has already become commonplace in our world.]
[What’s interesting is that the methods for doing so are becoming more and more realistic as technology advances.]
[While previous generations communicated through text-based chats, we now have avatars that can reflect our voices and even our facial expressions.]
[Online spaces will continue to consume the demand for offline spaces in the future.]
Doah sat beside me, blinking quietly.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked her, the one at the very forefront of this industry.
“That the kids in the next generation might not actually need to make friends at school.”
“Come on. They’ll still need to have some.”
“But if technology develops a little more and we get real full-dive VR, they won’t have to, right? They could just sit there with a gorgeous avatar on.”
“I read somewhere that we’re still a long way from that.”
“Who knows. Ten years ago, we never would have imagined something like VTubers would even exist.”
She had a point.
Ten years ago, I never would have thought I’d become a hardcore fanboy whose brain melts over a 2D avatar. I might have believed I’d be an otaku who enjoyed the hobby, but the young Han Taemin would have never believed he’d fall in love with a VTuber.
“So, what if… just hypothetically.”
‘What ifs’ always feel detached from reality.
“What if we had a kid, and they became a teenager.”
“Okay.”
“And they got a girlfriend inside that virtual world.”
Doah’s expression was already starting to sour.
“And?”
“They spend ten hours a day with that device on their head and never leave their room.”
Even as I said it, the thought didn't sit well with me.
“What would you do?”
Doah’s eyebrows moved slowly as she thought, then she said just one thing.
“Well… as long as it’s not a guy, I guess that’s a relief…”
So open-minded, Kim Doah.
I often thought it would be incredibly moving to watch Closer-related events with Doah.
But just as the audience and the actor can’t be in the same place, the viewer and the streamer—Doah herself—had to maintain that distance during important moments.
In the end, I found myself working overtime that wasn’t really overtime. I bought the beer my teacher had asked me to get and trudged up the stairs.
“I’m here.”
“Hey! Hurry up! It’s about to start!”
Watching things on a beam projector like this felt awkward at first, but after spending a fair amount of time here, I’d gotten used to it.
“What rank are you predicting on the charts?”
Just as salesmen have sales figures and students have grades, we had the music charts. My teacher, in particular, had hit number one several times, so he surely had a goal in mind.
“That’s the idols’ report card, not mine.”
“But you use it on your resume when you’re pitching, don’t you?”
“If it does well, you just ride the coattails. What of it?”
As I sat down and took out a can of beer, the screen went completely black, like the lights dimming in a movie theater.
About two seconds later, the calligraphy logo of YM Entertainment appeared.
Both my teacher and I held our breath, our eyes glued to the screen.
Ting, ting, ting.
The animation style wasn't overly otaku-ish. A watercolor-toned background depicted a railroad and a traffic light.
“Ooh…”
The song aimed for a catchy, addictive melody. This has the vibe of an anime movie’s ending theme, doesn’t it?
I found it a bit unexpected, but there was nothing wrong with the quality itself, so I just kept watching the video in silence.
No. It would be more accurate to say the quality was overflowing.
During the highlight chorus, there were scenes of colors bleeding across a canvas. The moment we saw it, my teacher and I stared at each other, our jaws dropped and utterly speechless.
Just how… how on earth do you even make something like that?
The three-minute song flew by in a flash, and the chat was flooded with praise in every language imaginable. Most of it was in Korean, of course, but I saw English, and… what was that unfamiliar script? Spanish, maybe?
It felt incredibly strange to think that someone on the other side of the planet was watching a Korean VTuber.
[Hello, everyone!]
After the song ended, the screen showed the group shot from the final scene of the music video, with colorful fireworks blooming above their heads.
And there was our Doah, bent over and making a V-sign.
They usually use their avatars for things like this, but I guess not today.
Starting with Jennifer, the other members began to greet the audience one by one.
[Hi everyone!]
[Luhai luhai~ Hello, everyone~]
[How did you all like it?]
Closer announced that today, unusually, they would be doing a radio-style broadcast. With just that one illustration on screen and only their voices, it somehow felt more poignant.
They began to talk about the song.
The first thing they mentioned was our company, Bitdam.
[Ashblock-nim led the team, and many other producers helped out.]
[That’s right! Mini-nim, who worked on our Summer Records, also joined us!]
What the. Kim Doah, why did you mention my name?
“Wow, Taemin. You’ve really made it as a fan.”
My teacher raised his beer can with a grin, and I smiled as I clinked mine against his.
“I guess so. But this MV’s aesthetic is killer, isn’t it?”
“Right? I thought they’d just go with 3D modeling again, but they brought us a masterpiece of art instead.”
Art.
Yes, “art” was a much better word for it.
If this wasn’t art, what was?
[First of all, thank you so much to all the producers, and we send our infinite gratitude to our art team as well. How could you make it so, so beautiful…]
On its first day of release, our song managed the incredible feat of debuting at number six on the music charts, surpassing several famous idol groups.