Chapter 171
* * *
After episode 2 of Self Made aired, several issues rose to the surface among netizens.
Broadly speaking, there were three.
First, the music Choe Jaeseong had made through Mol gameplay.
The video had already become popular on the internet, and it was the kind of video any gamer would have watched at least once.
This was not limited only to Mol users.
Even people who did not play Mol but enjoyed games would likely have had that video pop up in their YouTube algorithm at least once.
The public’s question was this.
—Was that really made only with gameplay sounds?
—Come on, no way. He definitely used other instruments.
—But don’t you barely hear any instrument sounds?
—He probably used them subtly.
At first, it seemed like a trivial issue, but what made it important was the matter of sequence.
—Wasn’t it made after they got an ad commission?
—A hundred percent lol. They made the music first, then layered game sounds over it lol.
On the broadcast, the song Sedalbaegil made gained popularity, the game company contacted them, and the episode ended.
The broadcast stopped there, but people knew what came after.
[What did you just say?]
[That it’s generic?]
[Is it really?]
Because the video advertisement for Mol, featuring Choe Jaeseong as its advertising model, had begun airing.
With that very music from Self Made as its main track.
That was why people were suspicious.
Had they really landed the advertisement the way it appeared on the show, or had they received a commission and used the broadcast for it?
If it was the latter, then it was a fabricated broadcast, and the very premise of a program called Self Made would collapse.
“Good grief. Everything turns into a controversy.”
“The more popular Sedalbaegil is, the more people there are who hate them.”
“I know idols get caught up in all kinds of ridiculous controversies, but isn’t this one a bit absurd?”
“Come on, Producer. There are much worse controversies out there. This is mild by comparison.”
“Is that so? Still, whether they used instruments or not doesn’t seem all that important to me.”
Producer Gang Seok-u had that conversation with the head writer, but the solution was simple.
A head-on approach.
They uploaded the full, uncut version of Han Sion and Choe Jaeseong’s work footage to M Show’s YouTube channel.
Watching it showed exactly how Han Sion had used the sounds.
For example, Choe Jaeseong had simply used the sound of a sword striking a shield as a kick drum.
But Han Sion adjusted the EQ and used it as a variety of different sounds.
He would cut the low end to an extreme and raise the pitch of the highs sharply to use it like a bright brass instrument, or carefully tweak the low-mid EQ to use it like a 909 drum kit.
It sounded easy when put into words, but it was absolutely not easy.
Unless one possessed an extraordinary sense for sound balancing, it was bound to feel off.
Most of the general public did not watch the full version uploaded by M Show.
After all, there was no reason people would find a two-hour video interesting when it repeated nothing but talk of sound, EQ, and mixing.
However...
—Hey, this is insane. This is teaching material.
—Wow, even the teachers at my practical music academy couldn’t do it like this.
—What are you talking about? Even most university professors couldn’t do this lol.
—I’m a working mixing/mastering engineer. Even I can’t do this;
—I knew Han Sion was good at composing, but was he this good at mixing and mastering too?
—What’s mixing and mastering?
—Mixing and mastering. This is seriously a matter of experience;;;
—Couldn’t it be something like perfect pitch?
Those who worked in composition or had an interest in it went absolutely wild.
Sedalbaegil were young and had not debuted long ago, but as of now, they were the ones leading the front line of K-pop.
After the success of their full-length album, the music industry’s stance toward albums themselves had changed.
Until then, the trend had been to simplify albums however possible in order to lower promotion and production costs, but the situation had changed.
News came that R&B singers confident in their vocal ability were preparing full-length albums, and Drop Out had also decided to increase the number of tracks on their full-length album that included Selfish.
They had judged that if the songs were good enough—of course, overwhelmingly good—a full-length album could bring even greater results.
And now they could glimpse the know-how of Han Sion, the captain, helmsman, and producer of Sedalbaegil, who were leading this culture?
It was something to welcome with open arms.
And they reached a conclusion.
That Han Sion, with his insane talent, really had not used any instruments at all.
Naturally, this news spread to the general public as well.
—There are still people trying to hate on Hip Sion for no reason lolololol.
—Hip Sion grows stronger the more he gets unfairly hated.
—But seriously, doesn’t he seem insane? He could’ve used at least one drum kit.
—That wouldn’t be hip.
—Agreed.
While public opinion continued like this, the company behind Mol went one step further.
They received sample sources from Han Sion and used them for a year-end carol event.
They opened an event dungeon, and in order to clear it, users had to set up a specific attack routine; once the routine was set, the attack sounds would play like a carol.
It was a struggle to shed their image as a heavy pay-to-win game and become seen as user-friendly, but...
—Don’t you kind of like Mol these days lolololololol?
—The Christmas event is generous too.
—Yeah yeah yeah, I heard they’re patching potion efficiency soon too.
—If you suddenly like Choe Jaeseong, upvote.
—Upvote.
—Upvote.
The struggle seemed to be succeeding.
If that was the first issue, the second issue was even more absurd.
Namely, whether the name “Masked Robber” was inappropriate.
—There might be robbery victims among the people watching TV... Masked Robber is a bit...
—Maybe because they don’t have a company, but doesn’t Sedalbaegil seem kind of careless?
—They do have that tendency.
—And shooting guns and receiving money is also kind of...
Needless to say, Sedalbaegil did not respond.
They merely announced that they had donated all the earnings from their busking.
Sedalbaegil’s fandom did not respond either.
People who had been fans for a long time knew that when a ridiculous issue arose, it was usually created by the fandom of a competing group.
And the ones who ended that issue were not the fandom.
It was the reaction of the general public.
As the issue gradually rose to the surface, the public began to mock it.
—Lolololololololol then should Take Scene be criticized for having a filming-set runaway ninja concept? lolololol.
—Tension should probably be criticized as impersonators of maritime agents lolololol.
—They’re Ocean lol.
—Isn’t Ocean Tension?
—A unit where half of them split off.
—Same difference lolololol.
—50% of Sedalbaegil controversies are Take Scene, and the rest are Tension.
—I can understand Take Scene, but why Tension?
—They’ve hated Sedalbaegil ever since their chart domination got ruined because of Coming Up Next lololol.
—Aren’t there NOP and Drop Out too?
—Nah, they’re a bit ambiguous. Anyway, Han Sion made them a number one song, so it’s not enough to be hate. More like they just think he’s a bit arrogant?
—All the Dreamings around me hate them, though.
—Flower fans hate Sedalbaegil too lol.
—Now that I look at it, there isn’t a single group that likes Sedalbaegil.
—They took everyone’s rice bowl, so who would like them lolololol.
—They steal every record there is.
—Is Sedalbaegil appearing at the year-end music festivals?
—No idea lol. Somehow I feel like they won’t.
In this way, the general public laughed at the fans of other groups who tried to pick a fight over the wording “Masked Robber,” but that did not mean they were unconditionally on Sedalbaegil’s side.
Everyone was negative about Han Sion’s remark at the end of episode 2.
This was the third issue.
—An Apple ad is kind of too much, isn’t it?
—Yeah, Hip Sion’s confidence seems excessive.
—To Apple, he’d just be some unknown singer lol.
—Wouldn’t they only call you after you win a Grammy or something?
Han Sion knew that Apple had no interest whatsoever in a singer’s name recognition, but the public’s perception was different.
That was why they thought Han Sion’s remark was arrogant.
Of course, some did say that if there really had been no results, would it have made it onto the broadcast?
—Even getting one meeting would be huge, wouldn’t it?
—They said after season 1 ends, they’re going to America in season 2. They’re probably dropping bait for what they’ll do there.
—Yeah yeah yeah.
—I totally acknowledge Han Sion’s skills, but an Apple ad makes no sense.
Everyone was negative.
But precisely because of that, people were desperately curious about episode 3 of Self Made.
Because they wanted to know how the story would unfold from here.
The important thing was that not a single viewer of Self Made had correctly predicted the result.
Even TT had not believed they would be selected for Apple advertising music.
At that moment.
Han Sion and the other members of Sedalbaegil were in California.
* * *
While Self Made season 1 continued to rise in value day after day, Sedalbaegil began filming season 2 in America.
For reference, the money they had earned had surpassed one hundred million won, and in the end, the broadcasting station raised both hands in surrender.
They said they would provide as much convenience as possible within their means, so they should reach an appropriate compromise.
Han Sion also knew that asking them to allocate one hundred million won as an additional budget was absurd.
But in that case...
“Producer.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Judging by the weather, it seems like a good day to ride a yacht.”
“...A yacht?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t something like a mega yacht be all right?”
“W-Well, the rental fee for a mega yacht is far too expensive...”
“Then shall we ride a banana boat instead?”
Sedalbaegil had gained complete control over the American schedule.
Of course, that did not mean Sedalbaegil made demands that would look unpleasant to viewers or torment Producer Gang Seok-u too much.
They would throw out an absurd demand first, Producer Gang Seok-u would yield, and then they would carry out the schedule they actually wanted as a second-best option.
And they signed a contract with Apple.
“What kind of magic did you use?”
“Pardon?”
“The I Branding team members brought in quite a lot of your songs. They aren’t famous songs, so if several people heard them around the same time, then you must have done something.”
Han Sion had no intention of revealing the secret, so he merely shrugged.
“Good music is magic in itself.”
That was what he said, but in truth, it was nothing special.
He had simply investigated the cafeterias, pubs, and restaurants frequented by employees at Apple Park, then made deals with the owners for a suitable amount of money.
It was not as though he had asked them to play bad songs, and they had listened and been satisfied as well.
However, what Han Sion had not expected was that things would proceed far faster than he imagined.
At first, he had prepared three routes: Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C.
If A did not work, he would try B; if B did not work, he would try C.
If even C failed, he had planned to send an email directly to headquarters.
But it had been decided at Plan A.
‘Well, they are the people who selected music from an LP that wasn’t even distributed online for an ad.’
Han Sion thought that and left it at that, but the other members were different.
They kept doubting whether this was a dream.
They knew Han Sion was an incredible composer and possessed genius-level talent when it came to music.
But actually landing an advertisement with music he composed after saying, “Let’s try to get an Apple ad,” was something from another world, wasn’t it?
“One of these songs will become the main track for next year’s WWDC.”
On top of that, Apple did not contract only one song.
Out of the nine songs Han Sion had made, they contracted three.
Needless to say, all of these scenes were captured by Self Made’s cameras.
And so, while Sedalbaegil was concluding the contract in California and spending a peaceful schedule—though only Producer Gang Seok-u was nervous—
“WOW! How long has it been?”
Five white men visited the hotel where Sedalbaegil was staying.
One of them was Chris Edward, whom everyone knew well.
As for the other four...
“We’re going to do a recording. What do you think, Sion? Can you handle directing?”
They were the members of GOTM, who had shared joys and hardships with Han Sion over the past several cycles.