Chapter 156: Zero-Two's Popularity
Chapter 156: Zero-Two's Popularity
Earth Phone's launch was showing signs of sparking a massive craze.
Isung Electronics announced they would give away 100 units each of the Blackred and BTR signature phones two days later.
The U.S. subsidiary CEO personally brought the phones to the company with some staff members.
―Kim Shin: The phones you sent as gifts have arrived. We'll make good use of them.
―Vice Chairman Seon Jae-yong: Yep. If you ever need repairs, just call the U.S. subsidiary CEO anytime.
His corny jokes were piling up lately.
To the point where it made you wonder how the folks at Isung Group would react.
"Myeong-woo, Eddie. Here's the Earth Phone."
"Wow!"
"This is seriously the best gift of the year."
It turned out the 100 Earth Phones came with individual photos and signatures from each Blackred member enclosed.
"Ooh. Personal photos."
"These are super hard to get."
They were the kind only sent to fans who'd been in the official fan club for over two years and grinded to raise their tiers.
It had probably been sent because of the connection with Isung Electronics.
'Blackred's under Dream Art Rainbow anyway.'
He swapped the SIM into the Earth Phone.
He had to at least show himself using the gifted phone, after all.
That evening, internet news broke.
〈Kim Shin CEO Also an Earth Phone User〉
〈Kim Shin CEO Eyeing an Earth Phone at a Hamburger Joint〉
〈Kim Shin CEO's Phone: Blackred's Pink Jennifer Edition Earth Phone〉
News exploded across U.S.-centric outlets, Asian media, and even European presses.
Specialized online media was one thing, but who knew Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Le Monde, and The Guardian would care about my phone upgrade.
* * *
〈Isung Electronics Launches Earth Phone in Europe〉
〈Earth Phone Launch Event in India〉
〈Isung Electronics Hosts Earth Phone Fan Party〉
〈Earth Phone Pre-Orders Sell Out in France in 5 Seconds〉
The public reaction to Earth Phone was so hot it even caught Earth Resource's CEO—me—and the manufacturer Isung Electronics off guard.
〈Zero-Two Challenge for Earth Phone〉
〈K-Idols Light Up the Zero-Two Stage〉
〈Who Will Be the Last 100 Idols Standing?〉
〈Breaking! Blackred Confirmed for Zero-Two Challenge〉
Dream Art Rainbow decided to host a massive event to promote the Earth Phone launch.
The Zero-Two dance, which started as a meme from Japanese anime, had gone viral as streamers picked it up.
100 male and female idols would dance Zero-Two to celebrate the Earth Phone release—until only one remained.
Dancing like that would burn serious stamina.
"No way... what kind of planning is this?"
Stunned by the article about mobilizing 100 idols, I shot off a message.
―Kim Shin: Saw the article. Idols doing the Zero-Two Challenge?
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: We're aiming for the ultimate stage. It'll be live-streamed on Earth Channel.
―Kim Shin: Live stream?
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: Yes. Japanese broadcasters are already reaching out to buy the footage at premium prices.
Preparations for the Zero-Two Challenge were already well underway.
Classic Jeong Beom-tae, armed with overtime spirit and loyalty.
―Kim Shin: You didn't force your agency's idols to join just to promote Earth Phone, did you?
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: Absolutely not. The company came up with the idea, but the idols are joining voluntarily.
―Kim Shin: Really voluntary?
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: With the live stream on Earth Channel, they see it as a chance to get their names out to the world.
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: A lot of them miss the stages shut down by COVID.
Everyone's on board enthusiastically.
―Kim Shin: Dancing until you drop could come off as sadistic.
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: The concept was showing effort and passion... Companies will join in for donations too. Didn't realize it'd bother you, sir. My thinking was shortsighted. I'll cancel it.
―Kim Shin: It's already hit the news. Will canceling now be okay?
―Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: I'll apologize and explain directly to the press and idols. I'll take full blame for scrapping the stage.
―Kim Shin: Hold on. Let me think it over.
It was a Korean company's hard-pushing project.
Before deciding to cancel, I ran it by Oh Myeong-woo and Eddie.
"You guys know about the Zero-Two Challenge in Korea to celebrate the Earth Phone launch?"
"Yeah, I know!"
"Yeah."
Oh Myeong-woo and Eddie had naturally seen the news.
"It's healing our COVID-worn minds and souls with Zero-Two. That's the K-pop spirit, right?"
"Whoever planned the Zero-Two Challenge is a genius revolutionary. They deserve a huge award. It's gonna be the best stage ever."
"......"
After hearing them out, they said it was buzzing in all sorts of communities—even the darknet spots they'd visited.
The event would feature the leading K-pop idols.
It was a rare opportunity for them to dance to Zero-Two together and display their dreams and passion.
After chatting with the two, I pulled out my phone.
―Kim Shin: Proceed with the Zero-Two Challenge as planned.
* * *
Earth Phone's release ramped up Earth Resource's workload.
They dove into aggressive improvements to adapt the Earth Channel user experience for mobile.
Oh Myeong-woo was handling it with the designers, and energy was sky-high as the Zero-Two Challenge date approached.
"The design team has a request."
"Yeah?"
"A lot of people are using Channel 7 like SNS."
Plenty uploaded their daily lives to their channels to share with friends.
It was a good thing for popularizing Earth Channel.
"They want to add a ton of features to make it super easy to use like a real SNS."
"Yeah?"
"Posting text, photos, videos— that's not hard. Mobile UI will look slick, and we'll make desktop even more flexible too."
Alex Ferguson, who managed Manchester United starting in 1986, once famously said:
[SNS is a waste of life]
In reality, plenty of people suffered big losses or derailed their lives because of SNS.
Still, Facebook had 2.8 billion users, and tons expressed themselves through it.
Especially as Chinese-speaking users surged on Earth Channel, demands poured in.
―SNS.
―We want it. Free SNS.
―We want something other than Weibo.
―Make it on Earth Channel!
Chinese users approached SNS with fear.
Posting videos or text against the government meant harsh punishment.
Most overseas SNS were blocked; they couldn't use them freely.
Earth Channel slipped through the cracks for business, and Chinese users posted plenty.
Officially, however, those users claimed to be posting from Hong Kong, Canada, or Australia.
"We started as an OTT service, but if subscribers want it, we should support them."
They'd roll out Earth SNS this month.
No one imagined they'd get here in just a year from starting with Source Coin.
'Do we need to stick to our roots? Throw stuff in, and it'll become whatever.'
Even outside COVID times, creating things that make the masses happy felt crucial.
Then a sudden thought hit.
"How about making a messenger while we're at it with SNS?"
Internet business was already a sprawling octopus with tentacles everywhere.
Adding SNS? Might as well expand to messenger too.
If it flopped, developers wasted time—but the company was barely a year old.
Better to try and fail.
Plus, they had faith in the 600 million subscribers.
Oh Myeong-woo mulled my proposal carefully.
"Messenger? Hmm... People use all kinds. Even I use KakaoTalk for family in Korea, Line for Japanese friends, Facebook Messenger in the U.S., WhatsApp in Europe."
In real life, Oh Myeong-woo just bounced between home, office, and the burger joint, but online, he was a free spirit.
His network rivaled any reporter's.
"Social network service. Messenger fits right in. Shin, developing it your way could be fun."
That required a major overhaul and expansion of both the Earth Channel app and its website.
The thrill of something new had everyone buzzing.
* * *
Late at night, employees lingered at the office instead of heading home.
Programmers pulled all-nighters for work often enough.
But tonight was special.
〈Zero-Two Challenge Stage Starts at 2 PM Korea Time〉
It was ten o’clock at night in San Francisco.
The employee cafeteria was dead quiet today.
"Nobody eating?"
"Nah. Waiting for the show with burgers, pizza, and chicken is the rule."
"......"
Earth Resource's company culture was hard to pin down.
The shopping mall division was packed with workaholic maniacs.
Office staff gave off sleek elite vibes.
Coin division folks were mostly Wall Street types in suits.
Programmers had their own geek culture.
9:50 PM.
Oh Myeong-woo, Eddie, Lee Jong-yeop, and I gathered in the CEO office.
The CEO’s office contained a 110-inch micro-LED television from Isung Electronics.
We fired up the Earth Channel app on the TV that cost over $150K.
"Jong-yeop. Connect to Dream Art Rainbow's channel."
"Yes, sir."
We searched and entered Dream Art Rainbow's channel. The current viewer count shocked us.
"How many watching the live stream?"
The numbers were in units too big to parse at a glance.
"Sir, 110.6 million."
"......"
Were more than one hundred million people around the world really watching the Zero-Two Challenge?
Both male and female idols filled the stage.
100 groups I'd heard of back in Korea lined up on stage one by one.
"Let the dream-and-passion Zero-Two begin!"
The host kicked it off, and Zero-Two music blared.
Idols in stunning stage outfits launched into Zero-Two in unison.
Boom-chit boom-chit.
Oh Myeong-woo and Eddie gaped unconsciously, shoulders bopping to the rhythm.
And...
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
―Jo Soo-ah: Had to go to Gangneung for work today.
―Jo Soo-ah: Vaccines are rolling into Korea, and the COVID vibe's easing up a bit.
―Jo Soo-ah: What're you up to, oppa? Headed home?
The message was from my girlfriend in Korea.
We couldn't meet often with the distance, so we texted or called daily on KakaoTalk.
'This is...'
On the 110-inch screen, the idols were dancing to Zero-Two.
Their hands rested on their heads as their hips moved to the rhythm.
―Kim Shin: Swamped at the office.
―Kim Shin: Earth Resource is kicking off new ventures.
―Kim Shin: Stuck doing overtime on backlog. ㅠㅠ