In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

He checked the statement again.

Below the line that said, “You earned about this much,” there was an amount written.

"No..."

An amount on a different track from ordinary royalties.

As I counted the zeros and my eyes went wide, my brothers, who had been holding their breath across from me, asked,

"What is it, hyung?"

Biju asked with a face full of concern.

"Did it come out badly?"

"Would that make sense? If it were something bad, this mister would be smiling and managing his expression."

Ri Hyuk whipped his head around and sent me a gaze full of worry.

"What is it? Is the figure weird?"

"Yeah."

"How weird?"

"It’s kinda a lot... come look."

The four of them swish moved behind me. Like they were staring at a bomb, their heads crept up over my shoulder and then—

"Whoa!"

They stumbled back at the figure.

"No, this is..."

As my brothers freaked out, I gave an awkward smile, and the youngest blinked.

"Does this make sense?"

"That’s what I want to know."

It was clearly a two-month amount.

But it showed more than all the royalties I had earned this year.

Of course, that was partly because royalty settlements in our country are extremely stingy. After distributors like Mango all go “we’re scooping this up~♡” together, only a spoonful of plankton comes back to the original creator.

Generally speaking, compared to what people think “it’ll probably be about this much,” actual royalties are about a tenth of that expectation.

But...

"I’ve literally never even imagined this."

There was an amount that rejected my common sense.

"Blue Moon alone earned at least six times more, for the same period, than the royalties of all the songs I wrote this year. Two months versus twelve."

"Well. It’s not strange. It’s a Billboard number one."

We blinked at Ri Hyuk’s words.

"Hyung, what does Billboard number one have to do with this?"

"Isn’t it like being number one on Mango in the U.S.?"

"Right. I thought that too."

"...Mango?"

It was Ri Hyuk who looked blankly at us now.

"Be honest, all of you."

"Yes."

"You don’t really know what Billboard number one is, do you?"

"Yes."

"Uh..."

Ri Hyuk wore a face like his breath had caught, then spoke calmly.

"Billboard number one... is not the same as being number one on Mango."

"Of course not. Because it’s America."

"You be quiet."

"Fine."

"...Anyway, Billboard number one— how do I even explain this. Aren’t you all singers? I’m the only one who knows this?"

Only then did we realize the huge gap between vaguely going wow, we hit Billboard number one, and the reality of that number one.

Our doctor took a deep breath.

"Okay, listen to me. The U.S. is one-third of the global music market. Just in size, it’s twenty times our country."

"Okay."

"Billboard is the chart that aggregates the stats from radio, TV, and streaming sites there. And you were number one there."

"..."

After thinking it over, my brothers and I lifted our heads at the same time and shouted,

"We hit a total total total jackpot!"

"You realized that now, two months later?"

"Yeah..."

Honestly, we’d been happy without really knowing.

We were happy like, oh my god, we hit number one on a U.S. chart! and just thought we’d achieved good results overseas.

Thinking, Hailey’s name value is amazing!

"Wow."

Junhyun’s eyes went round as he marveled.

"So that’s why everyone goes on about America America. It’s another dimension."

"I think I should start learning more English from now on."

It was the moment when success that had been vague because it was across the ocean started to feel real.

Of course, we had been hearing updates about Blue Moon’s performance.

It was staying at the top ranks on streaming sites, and we heard the music video had passed a hundred million views early on.

"But to this extent. No wonder NewBlack TV subscribers kept increasing."

"Hyung. But, you know."

Biju looked off far to the east and said,

"If the U.S. results are that level... then compared to the Souffles we saw before..."

"They must have gotten bigger..."

The puffy clouds hanging in the eastern sky looked like they were chuckling kuh-heh-heh.

After spacing out for a moment, we called our guy in charge of calculations.

"Calculator."

"What."

"Then let’s do the math. Up to a private jet."

"Hmm."

Tapping the toe of his sneaker on the ground as if pressing an imaginary keypad, Ri Hyuk unfolded his arms.

"If we hit Hot 100 number one with about four more songs, we can buy one out of our own pockets."

"...!"

We could give up the dream without regrets.

"It’s not even our country. How are we supposed to hit number one again. It’d be faster to launch NewBlack in the U.S."

"Sigh, a private jet, my foot. We should fold paper planes."

"Let’s fold them together."

Watching the idiot brothers fold airplanes out of spare A4 paper, I turned my head up toward the moonlit night sky.

Still, we really did succeed a lot. Sun Wooju...

"Guys!"

Manager Mingi came running among the people packing up.

"Why aren’t you going?"

"We were just talking for a bit."

"About what?"

"Hyung. Turns out Blue Moon, which we released two months ago..."

We spoke with solemn dignity.

"It achieved a truly tremendous success."

"..."

"What’s wrong?"

"You only realized that now?"

At our manager’s dumbfounded face, we let out sheepish laughs.

Lemon Entertainment CEO’s office.

CEO Park Gyuho, who had been misting his orchids, looked at the lush orchids with a wistful smile.

"They’re growing day by day..."

[spritz spritz]

Smiling with the mister in hand, CEO Park then looked at the photo carefully placed beside the orchids. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

A friendly photo taken together with the members of NewBlack.

"Ha ha ha!"

His mood lifted at once.

Hoo— he even breathed on the glass and wiped the frame before turning his gaze back to the people gathered in the conference room.

Director of Production Jo Gyuhwan and the head of the Management Division.

And TF team lead Yoon Seokhwan and Manager Hong Seoyoung.

"Right."

Seated in high spirits, CEO Park asked,

"What are the agenda items again?"

"Yes, these are the things we prepared related to the ‘Dokkaebi’ promotion. There are matters to report to you..."

As the TF team lead with the cool expression listed the items, CEO Park wore a warm smile.

"They really are competent, every time."

He thought he should raise salaries further. It was only natural, given the results the NewBlack TF team had achieved.

"All right. Push ahead as Team Lead Yoon wants."

"Thank you, sir."

"You always work hard. You said you were going to your parents’ house for the holiday this year?"

"Yes."

"I’m thinking of getting you a car..."

As the TF team lead flapped his hands in surprise, saying no, CEO Park smiled kindly and said,

"I’m not fishing or making empty offers. Team Lead Yoon deserves it."

"It wasn’t all me."

"Don’t refuse, take it. A lot will go to the other team members as well."

"..."

He did not have the ability to read trends like TJ’s Chairman Park Taejun, nor to manage an organization brilliantly like KM’s CEO Heo Gangmin.

But he took pride in being better than anyone at winning and using people.

Especially with capable people, the more you gave, the greater the return— that was his management philosophy.

"There will be better things this year. Ha ha ha!"

CEO Park sparkled like Tinker Bell, happy.

The division head and Director Jo traded glances over teacups.

"He’s excited."

"He has reason to be."

Because 2016 sales had surpassed 130 billion won. Third place in overall agency sales, after TJ and MOP.

It was now at the level where you should call it the Big Three, not the Big Four.

Of that, about 80 billion had been contributed by NewBlack.

—Should we rename ourselves NewBlack Entertainment now?

—Hyunsik isn’t even my competitor anymore. If the chance comes, should I buy his company. Oh dear, the guy changed his number.

—Who in the world licks a yogurt lid? Ha ha ha!

Those were the reasons CEO Park joked like that every day.

"Okay, okay."

Smiling contentedly, CEO Park asked,

"How is our Wooju?"

"Wooju...?"

"Yes. What did Wooju and our juniors say about this promotion? Was it OK?"

"Yes. A considerable number of the ideas were proposed by the members of NewBlack."

"Then that’s settled! Hahaha!"

As endorphins burst to the max, Team Lead Yoon gave an awkward little laugh.

Director Jo sipped his black tea and smiled leisurely.

"What else is there?"

"Since Blue Moon succeeded, it seems appearing on talk shows had an effect. Famous singers active in North America sent collaboration offers."

"Hmm..."

Reading the lineup on the documents, Director Jo uncrossed his legs.

"...That’s quite a lineup."

"Yes. But the members didn’t show much interest, so we declined."

Everyone nodded.

It was to respect the decisions of affiliated artists who were setting their own direction through self-producing.

In practical terms, there wasn’t much benefit either.

Though the collab track with Hailey Blue had accidentally hit the jackpot, NewBlack’s main stage was domestic.

Of course, there was also a backstory unknown to those gathered here.

—Goodstein? He’s trash. If you show even one wrong project file, later it’ll come out as his song.

—John Hawk? He’s the kind who’d spit because a trash can is dirty.

—Ayla May? Whenever I did something, she tried to imitate it. She’ll nag you to put out a song similar to Blue Moon.

—Wow. Is your company inbox a trash collector?

The reason the collaboration offers were declined.

It was also thanks to help from a certain pop star who, as an industry insider, gave his evaluations of the singers who had offered to collaborate with NewBlack.

"By the way."

CEO Park shifted the topic.

"The variety shows going out as part of the promotion this time are no joke. Should I make a few calls?"

"I think it’ll be fine. I can handle all the contacts at my level."

At Team Lead Yoon’s remark that he could now talk directly with CPs too, CEO Park smiled.

As the meeting was wrapping up,

CEO Park asked the TF team staff who were heading out with the file binders,

"By the way."

"Yes, sir?"

"The showcase invitation method is a bit unique this time. How does that work?"

"Ah, that?"

The second week of January, a few days before the Golden Disc Awards.

While other fans chatted about the first awards show of the new year, the Souffles were buzzing with excitement.

"Something... something’s coming!"

Next week the special album would be released.

News flew in that NewBlack was traveling all over the country, as if preparing something out of the ordinary.

—I’m in Haeundae and NewBlack spotted me and came over (warning: scary)

—Guys I saw NewBlack!!!!!!!!

—Real-time at Jagalchi Market, NewBlack eating Jagalchi crackers.metube

Reports of sightings of NewBlack came from various places like Busan’s Jagalchi Market and Incheon’s Sorae Port.

They didn’t know the details, but it seemed they were filming a choreography video for “Dokkaebi.”

And on quite a large scale.

—NewBlack collaborates with Korea Tourism Organization and Cultural Heritage Administration... "Promoters of Korean culture"

—[Investment Focus] Lemon Enter currently unlisted... "Blockbuster if listed"

—NewBlack comeback on the 16th, “Dokkaebi,” to appear on variety shows... "Surprise guesting teased"

They were doing collaborations with public institutions, and there were also teasers that they would appear on several variety shows.

"Awesome..."

The Souffles marveled.

"How good must the song be?"

Lemon Enter wasn’t stupid. There was no way they would carry out this level of promotion if the song’s quality wasn’t good.

As expectations quietly rose—

at the same time, in idol communities and on social media, the Souffles were walking around with their noses in the air.

"Ahem. Ahem."

Every time they cleared their throats, gentle smiles followed from everywhere, like, you’re here?

Because of the news about the Lunar New Year Special Idollympics.

—[Oh! Focus] ’17 Lunar New Year Idollympics not held... Idollympics PD: "Not canceled. It’s due to scheduling."

The story was that the Idollympics, held every holiday, had been canceled.

They said with words that it was due to scheduling and not a full cancellation, but the mood was essentially that it was canceled.

—Nice lolololol

—Ahh, satisfying

—(that meme of a middle-aged man in an ad who feels refreshed.jpg)

—Finally gone, nice

—It sucked all this time, let’s never meet again

—Look at them still unable to say it’s canceled lolololol

—Now that’s soda-pop justice

Meanwhile, everyone knew why it was canceled.

Because last year, as the friendships among idols who appeared as guests on Weekly Jusehan became a hot topic, TBC realized that the Idollympics weren’t bringing any benefit.

Of course, other idol programs had sprung up to replace the Idollympics...

—Way better than the kids getting hurt

—NewBlack did a big thing

—Where are the Charcoals, come out so we can praise you

—Ppyu

—Good job

—Today is a happy day... I will eat chicken

—Looks like they were shocked by last year’s Idollympics ratings lololol thankfully they’ve come to their senses now

But not everyone was favorable.

—lol it’s kinda something. NewBlack blew up thanks to Idollympics too, feels like they’re kicking the ladder

—Now there won’t be any more cases of getting buzz from Idollympics.

—Wasn’t it at least a lifeline for the small-and-mean ones? Hm...

Comments kept piling up.

Other idol fans reacted with disbelief.

—You’d think NewBlack made the Idollympics get low ratings lolololol are they that omnipotent..?

—(the opening of PD Shin Murok’s Festival of Song influenced by NewBlack TV.gif)

—Do they not see idols tearing ligaments and getting injured every year on Idollympics??

—These are the types who’d blame NewBlack even if they themselves tripped

—(Wooju suddenly falls when Junhyun gazes at him from far away.gif)

—That one is Junhyun’s fault, yeah yeah

—Anyway it’s just so good that’s all I’m saying ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I waited for this day

As the fans who had suffered from the Idollympics were freed, a festive mood spread.

The Idollympics, where they shivered in the stands from dawn and got scolded by staff, and idols got injured— that was over now.

While everyone rejoiced—

"..."

there were Souffles who were sad.

"Why am I the only one who can’t see NewBlack!"

They were fans who were upset because they hadn’t managed to meet NewBlack despite hearing news that they had come to the region where they lived.

"Everyone else saw them..."

As they swallowed their disappointment looking at sightings and clips being posted, a notification popped up that there was another new video on NewBlack TV. It wasn’t the comeback teasers that had come out over the past few days.

[NewBlack invites you to a special showcase!]

In the video, the members, with colorful hair and hanbok-style outfits, were smiling brightly.

And then—

"What are they holding...?"

There was something strange in the members’ hands.

When they clicked the video, the identity was revealed at once.

—Two, three!

—Hello! We’re NewBlack! Waaaaa!

They were the NewBlack members, waving huge dokkaebi clubs in their hands and going waaaa.

Flash flash.

Noisy lights blasted out from the dokkaebi clubs.

—Ah.

Wooju grinned and raised the staff.

—A lot of you must be curious what this is. This is a custom-made special cover for the Royal Staff.

—Like a paid game skin!

—Gold, appear! Abracadab—! Yes, as you can see, it does not appear. Please keep that in mind.

At the explanation that it was a dokkaebi-club cover for the Royal Staff, the fans watching the video burst out laughing.

Wooju clapped his hands again to gather attention and smiled.

—The reason we posted this video is that we’re holding the special album comeback showcase on the 16th!

—Waaaaa!

—In that spirit, we’re going to invite about three hundred fans.

—Three hundred?! Who’s that supposed to satisfy!

When Ri Hyuk, wearing a sign that said "Spokesperson for the Souffles," protested, Junhyun blew a vuvuzela and booed.

Wooju smiled.

—In that spirit, it will be broadcast live on the Y app.

—Will the servers crash!

—We heard they won’t this time... um, Ri Hyuk.

—Yes.

—There’s no need to speak so harshly. You’re hurting my feelings.

—You asked me to express it vividly.

—As the Souffles facing me do, please say it in a cute tone.

Looking sullenly at the handsome face smiling with his eyes, Ri Hyuk jerked his chin at Junhyun.

[bwwwooooo]

As the vuvuzela’s strong wind shook Wooju’s hair, viewers burst out laughing.

—Okay, continuing the explanation right away... (hahaha!) The space where we’re holding the showcase is a bit small, for one.

Wooju rummaged in his pocket.

—And also because the invitation method for this showcase is unusual.

—What now! A sales ploy?

—Not a sales ploy. We went around the country and scattered these invitations.

It was a so-called treasure hunt.

Holding up a mini-sized dokkaebi club in his hand, Wooju said,

—We scattered invitations nationwide in various sizes. Some big ones are a meter long, and some small ones need a magnifying glass to see.

—If you find this admission ticket, you can come!

—There will be hints in the video soon, so please keep watching!

When the explanation of the treasure hunt ended, the members waved to the viewers.

As they checked the homepage link that the video pointed to for ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) more details and hints—

"Is this kind of fair...?"

Three hundred was an unfortunate number, but for fans who had always lost course registration and online ticketing, it was welcome news.

Because it came down to pure luck.

That started it— fans grabbed their clothes and set out to the places said to have tickets.

"Hm?"

In the comments, something odd began to flow.

—Oh awesome

—Is this a NewBlack concert????

—Sounds fun. I should definitely participate

—Whoa it’s near my house; I gotta look

—If I find this ticket can I see a NewBlack performance???

—A chance to see NewBlack in real life ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

As ordinary people went ooh and aah, the Souffles blinked.

"Why are you guys... wait a second."

Their bias, renowned as an overwhelming public pick.

An event that was obviously interesting.

At the sight of muggles buzzing, their minds started to go blank.

"...Crap, our competitors are muggles!"

Souffles all over the country rushed out of their homes.

At the same time, the general public moved in droves.

"We want to see them. We want to see them too."

"Aaaah! Get out!"

It was the moment the legendary treasure hunt began.