The Challenge
In the representative's office at IG Entertainment, Kang Seong-min had been getting ready to head home when he stopped and sat back down in his chair.
On the monitor sat the Mellow real-time chart.
83. Blackout Cat – Lunari
96. Delivery Food – Lunari
The ranks had climbed again, if only a little.
"……Huh."
So it was real.
Even with support from Shin Se-young's fans, those numbers were not something you hit in a single day. They were not idol fans who ran professional streaming teams. The fact that the songs had still landed on the chart meant the viral power of the streaming community was better than expected—but more than that, it meant the combination of an unsearchable composer and a brand-new VTuber whose café membership had only just passed four thousand had actually hit the public's taste.
If he had known it would turn out like this, he would have offered promotional support. The ranks would have been higher, and he could have claimed a piece of the pie.
Kang Seong-min's IG still had not withdrawn from the virtual business. Replanning everything from scratch was a hassle, but Lunari had just proven with her own body that success was possible.
There was, however, a small problem with the venture.
"How do we even take the first step on this."
In the communities, "Muse Family = IG's virtual MCN" was already being treated as established fact. If IG launched a separate virtual division now, what would happen?
"IG had been preparing its own virtual department all along" would come to light. Which would immediately confirm that "Muse Family was separate from IG."
All the free halo effects currently flowing their way would vanish, and every new VTuber they signed would be measured against Lunari no matter what. Even if they held auditions, could anyone match the results of Lunari and Yeong-il? Lunari's growth rate on stream, chart entry in a single day—without some truly outrageous controversy, it would be nearly impossible to surpass.
So just sit on their hands? Money had already been spent.
It was messy.
The best move is still…
Using Muse Family was the rational choice. Hand over the VR equipment contracts already lined up, the motion-capture firms, the personnel poached from a major streaming-optimized MCN—give all of it to Kim Hye-min and take equity in return. That looked cleanest.
……But I can't read her at all.
Did Kim Hye-min even have the will to grow more VTubers? If she planned further recruitment there would at least be room to make a deal. From the outside she seemed interested in nothing except making songs.
Or should he just throw money at Yeong-il for tracks and manufacture a splash, the way you announce a little-sister group?
Kang Seong-min picked up his phone, put it down, picked it up again, and finally set it aside. Imagining Kim Hye-min's reactions, nothing about this looked easy.
Would simply watching the current flow be enough? The ranks could not be allowed to climb any higher. The more they rose, the worse his negotiating position became.
I should have a few days to think it over, at least.
It was a night of deepening worries.
After receiving Yu Nari's message I hurried to unblock a number from my spam list.
"……Producer Yeong-il, what are you doing blocking the company number?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know……"
It felt unfair. I simply never answer unknown numbers…… And until now every call starting with 02 had been spam.
"I'll send you my personal number and the company number—save them both. They're work lines, so there will be times you'll need them, Producer."
"Yes, ma'am."
This was my first time speaking directly with Manager Han So-yeong, yet somehow it did not feel strange. Probably because Nari had been going "So-yeong-nim~ So-yeong-nim~" nonstop. Thanks to that, even a brand-new voice did not squeeze my chest too tightly. Or maybe I had actually grown a little.
"Anyway, I called because I have good news."
"You mean the chart?"
"That's good news too, but this is about the practical side. Music payouts usually take two to three months. So our label pays advances."
"An advance? What's that?"
"Ah. An advance is money paid out early, secured against the projected revenue after release."
"Oh."
"It just gets deducted once the actual settlement comes in, so you don't need to feel any pressure."
Whoa. I was making money.
When I signed with Kim Hye-min's company I had received no signing bonus or anything of the sort. Instead I had been guaranteed half the master rights—the rights held by the sound-recording producer. At first I had not understood what that meant, so Nari and I looked it up. It turned out more than a third of the track's streaming revenue would come to me. For a composer with zero track record, the terms had been extraordinarily generous.
"How much is the amount……?"
"We measured it against the upward trend of the two tracks currently on the chart. Roughly seven million won."
"……Hiek?"
I nearly hiccuped.
Was it normally this much? Wait—was this the peak? Insane.
"That's calculated as two months' worth. Future revenue could go either way—down or up—but the odds are higher that it will keep climbing."
In the six years since I quit streaming, the only money I had made was the 1.2 million won I earned by selling Nari songs at 400,000 won apiece. The fact that tracks I wrote had actually entered the chart was starting to feel real.
"And a few external inquiries have started coming in."
"External?"
"Yes. One inquiry asking whether web-drama OST work is possible. Small production company. They want something in the same mood as Blcat. Nothing urgent."
An OST?
"And an indie label called asking if you could write for one of their artists."
"Song commissions are coming in?"
"When a name hits the chart this sort of thing happens, though the ranks are still low enough that it's more accurate to say they just happened to notice you."
Everything felt simply wondrous.
"You don't have to decide right away. I'll organize everything and send it over so you can look at it slowly."
"Yes, thank you."
"Ah, and one more thing regarding commissions."
"Yes."
"You know Kurogami Yui, right?"
Lately that name had been popping up around me with suspicious frequency.
"Before the concert, Yui's side inquired about commissioning a track. She said she would contact us again after the concert finished, but it's been quiet so far."
"……"
Kurogami Yui.
A piercing high range, a sticky mid-low register. A wild vocal like a wolf's howl. The childish speech pattern I had simply chalked up to her being a foreigner and adjusted for Japanese. I had already collected a few ideas that matched a lofty wolf……
Except the owner of that voice was actually a 155-centimeter cutie.
The information Nari had sprinkled was still dominating my brain. My inspirations had gotten scrambled into a mess, so writing anything right now would be difficult. I would have to resolve that imbalance somehow before I could take the next step.
"I'm only mentioning it just in case, so don't worry about it. And you've seen the chart, right? It's climbing bit by bit. Just hit 82."
It had not fallen from 84. It had risen two whole places.
"For one more round of viral push, Shin Se-young has kindly agreed to help. She's going to upload a Blcat challenge to her personal Reels."
"Se-young-nim??"
"Yes. She's not usually the type who dances, but she said she'll even throw in a simple routine."
I was grateful, but why was she helping this much? Did our company have something on her?
Han So-yeong listed a few more promotions the company could support, then hung up.
I set the phone down and leaned back in the chair, staring blankly.
Seven million won.
Song commissions.
A challenge.
And so on.
A single phone call was shattering my world. The sheer volume of information left my head ringing.
First I saved "Han So-yeong — Muse Family" into my contacts.
From now on I would have to be more careful about which numbers I blocked.
.
.
.
A few days later.
I was watching Lunari's stream.
Before anyone noticed, the fan café that people had begun filling had successfully come alive. Right now she was continuing the conversation by looking at the funny clips and humor posts the viewers had uploaded together.
Just then Lunari's mouse drifted toward a post titled "Shin Se-young's Blackout Cat Challenge Video!"
"This! Did you guys see this? I'm not lying, I watched it a hundred times! Let's watch it again, together!"
Shin Se-young's Reel immediately filled the screen.
It had been edited to the short, punchy section that carried the song's charm—the exciting part that ran from the chorus "Three—two—one—zero—" straight into "Blackout!"
The choreography was counting 3, 2, 1 with her fingers and then shouting Blackout as if transforming?
She clearly did not enjoy dancing; the movements were stiff. Thinking back, the awkwardness when she wore the VR full-tracking suit might actually have been her natural wooden quality.
Awkward, and therefore more sincere. That was the Reel.
"Ahh she's so cute, I'm really so grateful."
Viewers were still marveling that a singer of Shin Se-young's caliber would get involved with an internet VTuber, and Lunari kept expressing her thanks over and over.
In the middle of that warm atmosphere a superchat flew in.
"Ah! Thank you! Anyone who joins in is welcome. Let's take a look!"
She hit play at once, but nothing seemed different from Shin Se-young's clip—at least until the accompaniment rolled and the moment of "Three—two—one—zero—Blackout!" arrived.
Then Shin Se-young vanished and the cut changed.
What appeared was a composite photo of a completely wasted Lunari collapsed with her head planted on the monitor.
"Eheheh, I'll kill them all. Just nod your head at what I say!"
"Why did I drink? 'Cause it was fucking annoying, why!"
"Look at me, look at me, Yeong-il~!"
Complete with vivid audio from that very night.
"Uwaaaaaah—! Get out of here right now!!"
With Lunari's frantic hands the clip ended, and one viewer was purged on the spot.
"Don't bring that stream back up!! It's sealed!! Uuugh."
She yelled, but chat was already wallpapered with laughter.
I watched the whole thing unfold in real time.
Ah, that was funny.
Sorry to say it, but it really was hilarious.
See, this is why you don't cause incidents.
If it had ended there it would have been nothing more than a funny clip moment……
The real incident happened the very next day.
A famous comedy YouTuber—an influencer who had come from the gag scene and mostly blew up on Shorts—stood in front of the camera dressed to the nines.
Suit and tie, hair slicked up, face as serious as a model's.
The song started.
"Three—two—one—zero—Blackout!"
He jumped in place and the cut changed.
The neat tie now dangled from the top of his head, the shirt hung wide open, and the socks no longer matched.
"Uooooooh, I'm wasted. This fucking world! I'm drinking 'cause it's shit, why! What're you looking at!"
The man who had been styled like a fashion plate had transformed into a complete drunken wreck.
Exactly as Han So-yeong had hoped, the challenge began to spread.
Only it was not Shin Se-young's version—it was spreading under the hashtag #DrunkardChallenge.
Shin Se-young's Reel sat at 500,000 views.
This video had already blown past 1.3 million.
"I could really go for a drink……"
Yu Nari could not accept reality.
"In the end, isn't this a good result?"
"Heheheh, there are even other challenges that just use the recording of my voice…… Uuuuheheheh."
After watching a few challenges that used Lunari's drunken rant audio as-is, Yu Nari's mind left the building.
I was pretty dazed myself.
43. Blackout Cat
72. Delivery Food
83. Broken Clock
91. This Is All I Am
All four tracks had entered the chart, and Blackout Cat had vaulted into the top 40.
The challenge effect was insane……
"Heheh, I'm completely finished. If my face gets out there I'm done for. Uuugh."
I probably shouldn't say "karmic retribution."
While I carefully kept my mouth shut so the sparks would not fly my way—
"It's, it's your fault! What am I supposed to do, uooooh"
"N-no, thank you for making such good songs…… It feels like a dream…… It has to be a dream, right?"
Yu Nari had turned into a broken doll that swung between joy and depression every time she checked the chart.
And the ranks were still creeping upward, little by little.
Honestly, I was starting to feel…… a little scared.
Just how far was this thing going to go?