Chapter 22
[Just standing here was like a dream...... Thank you so much... Sob!]
The job seeker replayed the clip that she had watched hundreds of times.
M8's first #1.
With the music charts and music video views rising every day, fans had hoped for a 'maybe' win, but who would have thought it would actually happen?
Just like the other members who were taken aback, she was also shocked.
When Yeonwoo, who received the mic, burst into tears, her tear ducts also burst.
"Guys. Let's just walk the path to #1...!"
The impression she got when she watched the video a second time was different.
'Yeonwoo crying is really so pretty!!'
Yeonwoo, who usually shows off his innocent charm without mercy, was crying like a bunny, but how cute was that sight. It was a regret that she couldn't see this sight with her bare eyes.
'If I had known the interview would be this bad, I should have gone to a workshop.......'
The job seeker bit her lip in bitterness.
'Well, even if that's not the case, there's a higher chance that the winning ticket wasn't selected.'
When she went at the first fan signing event.
According to the stories of people she met at the fan signing at the time, the fan signing cuts are estimated to be around the early no. But looking at it, it's probably not even close to that now.
That's how much M8's recognition and popularity have increased.
'It's good for our kids to be famous, but I don't want to not see them again....'
The fan dilemma applied to M8 without exception. She sniffled and scrolled through SNS.
- Sungjun held back tears and secretly cried alone during the encore. His emotional control is amazing ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└And he spoke so beautifully ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Yeonwoo's crying face ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ My heart hurts ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠ But it's so pretty that I watched it 300 million times
- Eden hugging his smaller hyung like a big puppy..ㅋㅋㅋ Yoohyun, it must be hard to raise a puppyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Sehyun has a really strong impression, but he cries a lot ㅠㅠㅠ Why is he crying so cutely? It makes me want him to cry for the rest of my life
- Yoohyun is so excited while standing alone in a daze among the members who are crying during the encoreㅋㅋㅋ He's so cuteㅋㅋㅋ
└He's just arrogantㅋㅋ First of all, just looking at his face, he looks like he's got a lot of sass
'As expected, as he gets more popular, there are more and more sarcastic comments.'
She clicked her tongue and replied.
[You're saying arrogant to the person who greets the seniors and fans with a folder greeting ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
└Yeah, you don't even need to look at the face to see that it's shamelessㅇㅇ
└FR Among the members who are busy crying, Yoohyun is living alone in societyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The replies to that comment were increasing in real time.
'This should be enough.'
She now started collecting gifs their her active days to cleanse her eyes and mind.
'Ha....... Honestly, 2 weeks of active days are too short. When are you coming back?'
Aren't you going to appear on variety shows or something?
She suddenly felt depressed when M8, who had been her multivitamin for a while, ended their active days.
The job seeker scrolled down with a somewhat empty heart.
-Hey, but doesn't Mpal do Ourverse Live? They only have an official YouTube channel, nothing else;
-TP's list of things to promote: fandom name, Ourverse live, self-content, cheering stick, SNS account, variety show, goods, behind-the-scenes, reality show, selfie, fan meeting. Oh my god, there are so many of them that I'm suddenly getting mad. Do some of that fucking TP work.
└It'd probably be faster if you went to TP.
"That's what I'm saying!!"
She pounded the bed indignantly. If you're going to work like this with these precious kids, just give them to me.
Oh, that's better?
She was thinking along the flow of consciousness, and was exchanging various curses about TP.
As soon as she saw the message that popped up at the top of her phone, she jumped up like she was struck by lightning.
-Wow wow wow wow wow ㅅㅂㅅㅂㅅㅂ It's announced in the Mpal community has opened on Ourverse!!!! They're going live in 30 minutes!!!!
"Wow!! That's the fcking TP!!"
She quickly logged into Ourverse, which she had downloaded in advance.
A new name appeared in the very first space.
[new artist: M8]
After clicking frantically, she finished signing up in the blink of an eye and reached the live schedule notice in an instant.
[M8's first Ourverse live: First 1st place party on a music show!]
Live...... ! She willingly waited for 30 minutes, which felt like 30 hours, with the Ourverse app on in case she missed even a second.
And finally, the live broadcast started. Five baby birds staring blankly at the camera lens appeared on the screen.
Sungjun, who received the staff's sign, belatedly led the chant and greeted them.
[G'day mate! Hello, this is M8!]
- Amazing liveㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Guys, congratulations on your first place!!!
- I love you Yoo Hyun-ah
- ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
The live comments were going up faster and faster.
'Yeah, it's not like a sh*tty company. So, how can a company like TP not know what's important right now?'
Various foods and cakes were prepared in front of the members.
Since it was their first live, they were probably too nervous to eat anything anyway, but they still wanted to.
The members blew out the candles on the cake and took turns saying their thoughts on first place.
Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly and showed off his dimples that were deeper than the inner core.
[I couldn't speak my thoughts properly during.......]
[It's okay, hyung! You were cute!]
[Who said who was cute? The one who cried the most....]
[Hey~ Why are you talking like Sung-jun hyung didn't cry? I saw you secretly crying behind me.]
[!]
Now the live became a full-fledged debate over who cried the most.
- No guysㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋMmangjinchangㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[*A new slang 엠(M)+엉망진창(messy)]
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSo cuteㅠㅠ
Yoohyun was drinking strawberry latte peacefully alone with a straw in his mouth.
"Ah, the kids are so cute!"
She suppressed the urge to pound the wall and focused on the live.
Yoohyun, who couldn't stand the seemingly endless argument, stepped in to mediate.
[...Actually, we have a surprise for our fans today.]
Only then did the live barely get back to the main topic.
[Yes, we're going to announce our official fandom name!]
[Drumroll!]
Eden made a loud sound effect and picked something up from under the table.
[Ta-da!]
The slogan Eden pulled out was written in cursive.
[SOUL]
Yeonwoo smiled brightly which closed his eyes and added.
[When we, who are mates, are with our fans, who are souls, we become soulmates. We wrote this with the hope that you would become our soulmates.]
- Heol ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- It's almost a confession, isn't it? It's so sweet
- Wow, it's such a cringey thing, but when Yeonwoo says it, it suddenly becomes a romance genre ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
"Ha, look at how our child speaks so beautifully. Are you crazy, really?"
The job seeker was simply touched.
And her heart swelled with anticipation for the future of living as 'Soul'.
***
'Fortunately, the response is good.'
After the music show, we returned to the office building and started preparing for the live broadcast that was scheduled.
After a brief script review, we arrived at today's daily quest while waiting.
[Daily quest arrived!]
[Communicate with fans through Ourverse!]
[0/10 times]
The meaning of 'communication' that the system was talking about was clear.
After the 1st place impressions and fandom name announcements that were stated in the script, it was finally time to read the comments.
I picked up one of the tablets that the staff had brought to monitor the comments.
-Hey guys, eat somethingㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-I love youㅎㅎ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
-Yoo Hyun-ah, what's your favorite food???
"What food do I like the most?"
I seriously thought about my answer.
If I answered without thinking, it would be like saying that my comment lacked soul and that it would actually shorten my life.
Before I could open my mouth, various reactions came out from around me.
"Rice."
"Yoohyun likes sweets."
"Huh? Yoohyun hyung likes everything he eats."
What on earth do you think I am? I thought about it carefully and made a decision.
"I like meat."
- You're cuteㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋYou just eat everything well
-You eat like that but your height isㅋ
-Oh my goshㅋㅋㅋㅋThere are many kinds of meat, Yoohyun-ah
Tiring-
[1 time / 10 times]
The number of daily quests counted.
'This is how it is.'
As expected, it was a quest related to comments. After reading the other comments, it seems that it doesn't matter if the questions aren't related to me. It's okay for me to read the comments and for the members to answer them.
I thought I could succeed without a hitch if it went like this....... There was an unexpected variable.
"Our roommate? Um......."
A person steals my gaze beyond the camera that was filming.
The manager was sending signals with all kinds of hand and foot gestures
'What are you saying?'
It was probably telling me to check my messenger, but I tried hard to ignore the exact same movements and continued the conversation.
He hadn't been seen for a while, saying he was wrapping up the work he was doing at the Japanese branch.
I guess he's decided to go all-in on M8 now.
- Only read the comments we sent! Don't read any other comments.
That's what the manager had told us before the live. Of course, there was a precedent where a top-tier Clicker made a slip of the tongue during a live and the controversy grew, so it's true that we have to be careful....
[Guys, you guys are really handsome..]
[Yoohyun's eyes are brighter than my future]
[Eden, you're always so cuteㅠㅠㅠ]
Isn't this a monologue, not a communication? It's very embarrassing for the person in charge to read it.
The manager mostly selected comments that only required reactions, not responses.
'...In this day and age, manipulation.'
He worked with the TP CEO for a long time, so it was worth knowing what the character was.
Who chose the person who was managing the concept of mysticism as the general producer of Idol.
Of course, it was not that I didn't read the comments sent by the manager.
However, the system did not respond to comments that did not require a specific answer.
In the end, I personally scanned the comments until the live ended.
***
The live ended in an instant.
[Daily Quest Success!]
[Successful Communication with Fans on Ourverse!]
[10th / 10th]
Of course, the daily quest was also successful.
I had to concentrate my mind because I couldn't answer every single question carelessly, but it was also fun.
'I think this is the first time I've talked about myself this much since I was born.'
Of course, I'll have to take care of the aftermath.
After the live ended, the manager called me aside after sending the members out.
It was dirty and fatal, but it's true that I disobeyed my boss's orders.
But there's nothing I can do.
'If I had to choose between dying young because I didn't have enough lifespan and getting scolded by the manager, I'd definitely choose the latter.'
"Yoo Hyun-ah."
The manager took me to a corner of the studio where we filmed and lowered his voice in a serious tone.
I quickly made a move.
"I'm sorry. I think I was nervous and my judgment was clouded. I'll be more careful in the future."
I lowered my eyes as much as possible and bowed.
The eyes of the rookie development team and the filming team that had been left behind to clean up after filming gathered at my apology.
The manager who suddenly became the center of attention looked around in confusion.
"Oh, yeah. I'm glad you know."
Perhaps because there was nothing that could cause trouble during the live, the manager's speech ended shorter than expected.
With a stern expression on his face, the manager left after telling me to be careful in the future.
As soon as the door closed, the rookie development team that had been left behind jeered in the direction the manager had left.
'We really get along well in this kind of situation.'
I barely managed to keep my expression from collapsing for a moment.
***
On the way home after finishing the live.
The members, exhausted from working on a schedule that had continued since dawn, fell asleep one by one as if they had made a promise as soon as they got in the car.
And when they opened their eyes again.
"M8's first entertainment content~
"....Here?"
It was an abandoned amusement park with the lights off.
The filming started unexpectedly as a summer vacation... no, a horror special.
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