Damned Idol Chapter 110
But what I needed to worry about now wasn't my personal feelings toward Sedalbaegil.
This wasn't an urgent problem.
What was truly urgent was the situation Sedalbaegil was facing.
The situation surrounding us was quite complex.
To sum it all up, it was a good situation, but dangerous.
Should I say it was like a gun barrel hidden within a flower garden, aimed at us?
First off, the good thing was, needless to say, the digital chart performance.
Honestly, even I hadn't expected it to reach the top of the digital charts in one go.
I had confidence in taking first place because the song had turned out so well.
But I had thought we would achieve first place around when this week was ending.
All the more so because our rank on the first day of release was twenty-first.
But my judgment was wrong, and we took first place on the daily chart on day two.
Truthfully, the process by which we took first place was somewhat absurd.
In 2017, real-time charts still existed on music streaming sites.
I distinctly remember that before long, real-time charts would disappear in Korea.
To be exact, I think they changed into various forms…….
Didn't <24HIT> come out and then get reorganized into
After that, I think something like Billboard's Hot 100 came out.
Even now they call the daily chart Hot 100, but I think the calculation method was different.
I can't recall the exact details, but the facts are certain.
The reason I remember this is because around the time the charts were reorganized, 'Han Sion Solo' was doing better than 'For the Youth'.
At the time, the For the Youth fandom was ostracizing me.
The members had made ambiguous remarks on social media and in interviews, adding fuel to the fire with political maneuvering.
The one standing at the forefront of that was Fade.
I wonder what that bastard is doing now.
Anyway, in this situation, For the Youth and my solo track were released simultaneously.
It's rare for a group song and solo song to drop at the same time, but I had appeared on some variety show.
That variety show had exploded in popularity, and the song I sang there was released unexpectedly.
So the For the Youth fandom tried to punish the 'For the Youth VS Han Sion' dynamic.
They mass-streamed For the Youth's song while boycotting mine.
They did this even though I had gone on that variety show to promote the group's comeback.
But it happened to coincide precisely with the chart reorganization.
The result?
I dominated.
I took daily, weekly, and monthly first place.
For the Youth's song remained first on the real-time chart, but on the daily chart it fluctuated between fifth and tenth place, I think.
What this showed was that in 2017, the disconnect between the real-time chart and the daily chart was quite severe.
There were cases where a song stayed at the top of the real-time chart all day yet hovered between sixtieth and seventieth on the daily chart.
This was because the daily chart only counted one play per account.
Mass streaming assaults didn't work on the daily chart.
That was why 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. was the fandom's time.
Since ordinary people don't listen to music while falling asleep, the influence of fandom firepower grew larger.
For reference, midnight to 1 a.m. reflected public interest.
The reason songs are released at midnight is because you can gauge both public interest and fandom firepower at a glance through the real-time chart.
Anyway, something interesting happened during this fandom time.
At the time, the NOP fandom was streaming in the tens of thousands, and the Drop Out fandom was streaming in the tens of thousands.
They absolutely didn't listen to each other's songs.
Because they couldn't contribute even a single stream to the other's metrics.
But then, Sedalbaegil's song appeared.
Actually, I only learned this while studying for this release, but mass streaming is quite a dull affair.
On top of that, it's something that requires passion and effort.
During the first or second week of a head-to-head release, everyone streamed with bloodshot eyes, but it was already the third week.
It was about time the fans felt exhausted.
From here on out, it's speculation, but I think that's why they tried listening to our song.
Not everyone, of course, but quite a lot.
The negative image that had formed due to
According to Choi Jae-seong, this kind of talk was even circulating in both teams' fandoms.
"They say it would have been terrible if Han Sion had given both Selfish and I'm Not Your Man to Drop Out (or NOP)."
"It's a shame he didn't give both songs to our kids, but ……"
Added to this was the genius image steadily built since Coming Up Next, as well as the tactless image (which he picked up from Choi Jae-seong) that exploded in self-content episode 1, combining to…….
"-Well, I don't think he's a bad guy."
"-Just a bit clueless, haha."
"-He seems like the extreme my-way type. Since he might give the next song to our kids too, no forced hate."
"-If he had given both songs, it would've been a Captain America-level shield acquisition."
"-True lol."
The reactions were around that level.
So those exhausted from streaming began listening to it without much thought.
And…….
Our music held power.
Like Radiohead's song, which had been driven out of England and returned to England via Israel and the US.
Resume's real-time streaming rank began to rise tremendously.
It was probably thanks to both fandoms lending a hand.
At this point, both fandoms jumped in surprise and came to their senses, but it was already too late.
It was an undeniable fact that 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. was the fandom's time.
But it wasn't time solely for the fandom.
In the end, we let the fandom's time pass at third place on the real-time chart.
When the fandom's time ends, the time of great chaos arrives from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
The general public's music consumption surges, and interest in the new songs released overnight rises.
It is the time period where rank fluctuations are most severe, the crucial timing that determines the direction of the music charts from then on.
And we.
1. Resume(New)(Hot)
Broke through to first place here.
From then on, there was no change.
Until midnight, we were first on the real-time chart.
Moreover, we immediately rose to first place on the daily chart, which symbolized the public's pick.
The fandoms of both teams seemed bewildered, but the general public was thrilled.
"-Lololol wow, this is the developer's power lol"
"-Ah, of course lol. No matter how much a player flies or crawls, it's over in front of a developer edit."
"-Wow, but I'll give you this. The song is freaking good."
"-Did Sedalbaegil always sing this well? It doesn't feel Korean at all, but the pronunciation is freaking clear."
"-Is Iion crazy? How does someone with that face sing like this?"
"-Damn. This is composed and arranged by Han Sion too. Seriously, a genius has appeared in the idol industry."
"-I cursed him, calling him a genius director after watching Coming Up Next. I repent."
"-If you go to Sedalbaegil's official channel, there's a song-making behind-the-scenes in the self-content!"
"-Nah, the national rule is to watch Yang Seok-hun's critique video first."
"-Ack lol that's hilarious. Since we're on the topic, I gotta go watch it again lolol"
Honestly, we had luck on our side.
Even if left alone, we would have reached first place according to the timeline I had planned, but rising this fast was luck.
However, what called forth that luck was us.
No matter how tired they were of repetitive streaming, the Drop Out and NOP fandoms didn't need to listen to our song that much.
It would have been more appropriate for them to simply think "Oh, a new song came out," listen, and turn it off.
The fact that they didn't meant our song was good.
That was what produced this result.
Up to this point… it was the 'hopeful scenario.'
A flower garden.
Didn't I say so?
That a gun barrel was aimed at us from within the flower garden.
The ones holding that gun were not Ryan Entertainment or M-Show.
It was the Drop Out and NOP fandoms who had guided us to the flower garden.
The fandoms, having belatedly realized their mistake, seemed to have anticipated the result.
If we took first place in the third week like this, the final destination of all this buzz would ultimately become 'Han Sion.'
As expected, comments like these were already being posted.
"-Hey, isn't Han Sion the winner of the fun battle?"
"-True lol. While raking in royalties sweetly with two songs for Drop and Nop, his own group finishes in first place haha."
"-Can we say the dog chasing chickens looked up at the roof?"
"-The fandom is swarming in and launching mass harassment."
"-Then I'll say the fighting dogs looked up at the roof."
"-Crazy lololol"
There were even comments that made Choi Dae-ho sit on pins and needles.
"-But why isn't there a single article about Sedalbaegil's music chart first place?"
"-Because articles about NOP and Drop Out sell better lol."
"-Are they blocking the articles?"
"-Is Choi Dae-ho the president? Blocking articles?"
"-Nah, it's possible. Entertainment reporters are looked down on by reporters from other desks, so they have a bit of a stick-together mindset."
"-What are you talking about lol there are tons of articles. If you search Han Sion, there are plenty saying he composed songs for Drop Out and NOP."
"-Other than that, there are too few articles about Sedalbaegil."
"-Huh? You're right?"
"-There's even talk that Sedalbaegil is in Ryan's bad books and can't go on music shows."
"-Really?"
"-Yeah. We'll know whether they can go on music shows or not despite taking first place."
Since we were in a state where we couldn't appear on any music shows, if public opinion formed like this, it would reveal that something was fishy behind the scenes.
I may have let something slip, but anyway, in this situation, the Drop Out and NOP fans made a decision.
To tarnish us.
Since they couldn't drag down the music that had already become the public's pick, they would tarnish that trophy.
What they chose was…….
"-Isn't this a bit too much?"
"-Right, the gap between the live and recording is too big."
"-Looks like Han Sion touched it up like crazy. It's almost like he recomposed every single voice?"
"-Yeah. It might be the era of tuning, but this seems excessive."
They latched onto the difference between our digital track and our live performance.
At first, the general public scoffed.
"-What, don't your oppas get tuned too? Lolol"
"-Maybe not this song, but didn't NOP use Auto-Tune in their last album?"
"-Yeah. The refreshing charm from when they sang Boy Scout completely vanished, so I left the fandom."
The public took it as forced antagonism by the NOP and Drop Out fans.
But there was something completely unexpected here…….
The existence of YouTubers sharpening their blades of revenge against me.
"I don't know if he made such remarks to show off his false genius, but I hope other aspiring composers and arrangers don't take them to heart."
"It's an impossible story."
When I made noise with Wepple's Flowers Bloom, composer YouTubers had lashed out at me.
'BalanceQQ', who had stood at the forefront, had fallen into ruin.
Because it was belatedly revealed that he was the arranger of Flowers Bloom.
But other composer-related YouTubers hadn't fallen to ruin; they had merely lost face.
Moreover, Sedalbaegil's fans had swarmed in and left many comments.
"-Is this the place that sucks up views with nonsense while knowing jack shit?"
"-Hansubcom Hansubcom Hansubcom Hansubcom"
"-What's Hansubcom?"
"-Composer under Han Sion."
"-Lololol forced meme, no no no."
"-It's funny lolol."
I didn't do it, but there still seem to be people leaving malicious comments using my name as bait.
They had caught onto an angle.
Of course, they didn't approach this as hastily and rashly as before.
They poured their heart and soul into analyzing the Resume live performance from the self-content and the digital track.
And they reached a conclusion.
That this would work.
They began thrusting their gun barrels, riding on the backs of the Drop Out and NOP fandoms.