Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Y App Live Launch (1)
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With the official broadcast of the drama *Hancheol's Winter* just around the corner, the pre-released OST *First Winter* had already stirred up quite a stir online after its release.
Thanks to the drama *Hancheol's Winter* starring the currently red-hot actress Ji Woo-yeon, *First Winter* was starting to gain widespread attention.
People's interest was first drawn to the fact that it was a male-female duet sung by J.Na, who had already earned public recognition for her vocal prowess.
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[Anonymous] Everyone heard the OST for Hancheol's Winter, right?
The song they pre-released with the official broadcast announcement yesterday ㅇㅇ
It's a duet by J.Na and EverPlanet's Lee Jae
This song is seriously good ㅠㅠ
It has this wistful yet fluffy vibe...
Feels like a great duet after a long time
As expected from the reliable J.Na ㅎㅎ
Ha Jaedid great too, maybe because he's J.Na's junior from the same agency
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Comments (32)
- Oh, going to listen now ㄱㅅ
- This song is good, curious how it'll play out in the drama later
└ For real... It'd be perfect if it shows up in a drama scene together
- Ha... How does J.Na sing so well? Did she coat her vocal cords in honey or something?
- As a Ji Woo-yeon fan, I've been holding out for the drama, and the OST is good too ㅎㅎㅎ
- Our Ha Jaeis so talented ㅠㅠ Less than a year since debut and he's this good, total genius idol~~
Meanwhile, due to the nature of male-female duet songs, there could be some wavering opinions within the fandoms.
However, not only our fans but J.Na's fans were mostly positive as well. It seemed the fact that they were agency Sunbaes and juniors, plus the final product being quite good, worked in their favor.
With the public's interest in the drama combined with the firepower from both fandoms, *First Winter* began steadily climbing up the charts.
The day after release, Go Eun-young, who was checking her phone, let out an impressed "Oh."
"Oh, Jae hyung. *First Winter* is already at #50 on the Lime Chart?"
"Wow, already? That's fast. Congrats, Jae-ya."
"Congrats, Jae-ya."
"Congratulations, Jae! As expected, Jae is the best!"
"Wow, our Ha Jae is doing great, huh? If it's not too much trouble, buy me an ice cream."
Amid the members' congratulations, I felt inwardly pleased. After all, no singer hates seeing a song they've sung achieve good results.
Was it the power of the drama, or J.Na's digital chart strength?
*First Winter*'s upward climb showed no signs of stopping.
A few hours later, I got a call from J.Na.
-Did you check the Lime Chart, Jae-ya?
"No, I looked once this morning because of schedule and haven't since."
-Our OST hit #1 on the OST chart. Overall chart... it's at 15 right now.
"Oh, really?"
-Yeah. Pretty good results. CEO Oh is super happy too. You did great, Jae-ya.
"It's all thanks to you, CEO Oh, and Ji-Hyung hyung... Ah, and Kwang-myeong too."
I quickly included Kim Kwang-myeong upon sensing a sharp gaze from beside me.
J.Na burst out laughing, saying she could guess the situation without seeing it.
-And, not for sure, but maybe because it's a duet? Seems like it's getting sung a lot in noraebangs too.
"In noraebangs?"
-Couples are singing it a lot. Anyway, that's good for us, right?
I hadn't expected it to get sung much in noraebangs. If I'd known, I would've suggested adjusting the overall vocal range a bit.
After wrapping up the call with some "see you later"s, a ding! sounded, and a blue window popped up.
It was the 'System Self-Evaluation Scorecard' mentioned in the quest conditions.
['Ha Jae' System Self-Evaluation Scorecard
Song: *First Winter* - J.Na & Lee Jae
Overall: For your first male-female duet challenge, you excellently supported the sound under the lead of a Sunbae with plenty of OST experience. The song captures the freshness of first love throughout. Not every element is perfect yet, but it's a great song that lets listeners fully savor those first-love emotions.
Total Score: 95 points]
[SUB QUEST completed.]
[Click the button to claim your reward. Click!]
Hmm, quest completed smoothly, I guess.
I clicked the reward claim button with satisfaction.
I obtained one each of moderate EXP, Tiger Energy Extract, and Performance Amplifier.
Anyway, it was a relief to get such good results. Hope the drama does even better.
Buoyed by the OST's success, I threw myself even harder into EverPlanet's schedules.
I hoped the next song, sung by all our members together, would get a great response too.
* * *
A few days after *First Winter* dropped.
We got new news from the company.
While we were all in the practice room getting lessons from Instructor Jung Hyun, Manager Hwang burst in with fresh info.
"Y App Live? What's that?"
"Oh, you haven't heard yet? It's been circulating in the company for a few months. So..."
Manager Hwang started explaining 'Y App Live' to us. To me, who knew the world five years from now, it was all familiar stuff.
Y App Live. A new internet live streaming platform developed by Waver, our country's major portal site.
Unlike platforms like Paprika TV where anyone could freely open channels and broadcast, Y App Live only allowed stars approved by Waver to stream.
'No better fan service than this.'
The advantage unique to Y App—real-time communication with fans via live streams—drew positive reactions from both artists and fans.
Now that Y App was here, we'd get to see Sunlight fans more often through live streams. I smiled contentedly.
Then, Park Su-rim, having heard Manager Hwang's explanation, raised her hand.
"So, we're doing live streams like on Paprika TV, right, Manager?"
"Exactly. Waver approached us first to join their live channels, so we're jumping in right for the beta open period."
"Wow! So Sunlights can come in and leave comments and stuff?"
Manager Hwang nodded with a smile at Teddy's question.
"Fans can participate in real-time by leaving comments, from what I hear. And something extra like stars? But I won't know the details until it actually opens."
Stars. A kind of token meaning 'You are my star,' which fans could send by tapping the screen during broadcasts.
Later on, along with viewer count, the number of stars received during a broadcast would become a measure of an idol's popularity.
So, when exactly does it start? While Manager Hwang was chatting with us about Y App, I casually asked.
"Manager, when's the beta open period?"
"Ah. Scheduled for next Monday."
"Then we should decide what kind of broadcast to do soon."
"Yes, exactly. Since not just us but most other groups are expected to join, it'd be good to differentiate with unique content. Our content planning team is discussing it, but since it's a broadcast you'll lead yourselves, feel free to share any directions or ideas. We'll actively reflect them."
Meaning they'd give us as much autonomy as possible.
Manager Hwang was really flexible and great in that regard.
With a "I'll be in touch soon," Manager Hwang left the practice room.
Meanwhile, Instructor Jung Hyun, who had been giving the lesson, crossed her arms and watched us with interest.
"Live broadcasts, huh. Sounds fun."
"But what should we even do? We've never done live streams..."
"What are you worried about, Su-rim? Your fans would love it just seeing your faces."
Hmm. She nailed the core. I nodded unconsciously at Instructor Jung Hyun's words.
She's right. Our dear Sunlights would be thrilled no matter what we do, just as long as our faces show up.
'So adding some fun on top of that would make it even better.'
Then, Instructor Jung Hyun fiddled with her laptop and spoke up.
"Take a break and discuss what to do among yourselves. Starting now... about 20 minutes. I have something to do too."
"Yes~"
Thanks to Instructor Jung Hyun's time, we gathered in a circle in the middle of the practice room.
But Park Su-rim, who usually led conversations actively, was unusually quiet today.
After pondering silently for a bit, she finally spoke.
"Anyone here watch a lot of live streams usually? I don't know much about them. Not sure how to even talk about it."
"I watch game streams sometimes."
"Na, I don't."
"Me neither, except live music broadcasts."
"I don't either."
"We don't really have time to watch, do we?"
Excluding Go Eun-young who occasionally watched game streams, no one had any experience with live broadcasts.
Then, Go Eun-young shrugged as if wondering what the big deal was.
"Lives aren't that big a deal. Just be careful with words, chat casually, thank the fans. That's it, right?"
She's right. Lives weren't much different from regular broadcasts. Just that you couldn't take back what you said, so caution with words was key.
'If it were everyday Y App use, casual talk streams would be fine...'
But as Manager Hwang said, since this was our debut Y App live, we needed something more special.
Still, no ideas came to mind. Hmm... What did S-T do back in their prime?
As I racked my brain, Kim Kwang-myeong's whiny voice came.
"Can we eat something first? I'm hungry."
"Should we order food?"
"Jae-oh hyung's buying? Then chicken for me."
"Whoa. Hearing chicken makes me want the chicken nuggets Su-rim hyung made."
"What am I supposed to make here?"
The moment I heard their chatter, a flash of inspiration hit me.
I tapped the floor with my hand to grab their attention.
"I got a good idea."
I explained the idea that popped into my head, and everyone went "Oh," impressed, with positive reactions.
Right away, we passed the idea to Manager Hwang's side. As expected, it got approved immediately.
Over the next few days, with help from the content planning team, we fleshed out the idea and prepared for the live broadcast.
And so, broadcast day arrived. Everything was perfectly ready.