Episode 113
The massive stadium where the Fighters' concert was being held.
This place, capable of accommodating up to 80,000 people, was currently filled with Fighters fans to the point where not a single empty seat could be found.
[I'm here! I'm at the Fighters' 20th-anniversary concert! Hahahaha!]
[I know! I get it, so please calm down!]
The very front row of the standing area, extremely close to the stage.
A woman barely managing to calm down a large-built man who couldn't contain his excitement caught the eye.
[To get seats like this! Anna, you're amazing! Look! The very front row. I'm telling you, we can see the Fighters right in front of our noses!]
[I'm glad you like it this much...]
Having now given up on calming down her excited boyfriend, Anna looked around and took in the scenery of the concert venue with her eyes.
'To think of articles even after coming all the way here. I really am something else.'
Anna was a reporter for an entertainment magazine.
Of course, the reason she came here was because of her boyfriend, a die-hard fan of the Fighters.
But naturally surveying the atmosphere of the scene was an unavoidable occupational hazard for a reporter.
[Waaaaah! Let's goooo!]
Anna, who had been lost in thought while looking at the concert venue, shook her head again at the loud noise coming from next to her.
'He's usually such a reliable and quiet person. Does he really like the Fighters that much...'
Her surprise at seeing this side of her boyfriend was only momentary.
As the lights on the stage slowly began to brighten, tremendous cheers filled the surroundings.
Waaaaaaaah-
Fighters!!! Fighters!!!-
At the heat exuded by 80,000 people, Anna felt momentarily dazed.
'The heat is truly incredible. Well, I've always watched concerts from the press seats, so it's been a while since I've watched a concert right in the middle of the venue like this.'
The heat that had surprised Anna didn't fade as time passed; rather, it only grew larger.
Finally.
Letters rose on the large screen.
The Fighters' name filled the screen, and band equipment began to rise on lifts to the center of the 360-degree stage.
'It's finally starting.'
The title of 'Rockstar,' which is now hard to find, and the few remaining 'Rockstars,' the Fighters' Paul Ryan and Chris Ward.
What kind of amazing stage would they show us at their 20th-anniversary concert?
As she looked at the stage with a mix of anticipation and curiosity.
The figures of people finally beginning to appear on the stage.
But something was strange.
'One, two, three... wait, seven?'
Anna wasn't a fan of the Fighters, but she at least knew that the Fighters didn't have seven members.
'Ah, right. I heard a rookie band always does the opening stage at the Fighters' concert. Which band stood on the opening stage this time?'
Since it was their 20th-anniversary concert, they wouldn't have prepared the opening stage haphazardly. Probably a quite promising band would appear.
Just as Anna was thinking that, as if to resolve her curiosity, the scene on the stage began to appear on the large screen.
'Idols? Not a band?'
Seven pretty, slender men. No... looking closely, the one in the center didn't look slender.
Still, she could definitely tell at a glance that these people were an idol group, not a rock band.
'But who are they? Could they be a K-pop group? I feel like I've seen them somewhere.'
She knew the faces of almost all singers, but the faces of the seven people on the screen were vague, as if she had seen them somewhere but maybe not.
Just as she was guessing the identity of the men who appeared on the stage.
Her surroundings had sunk coldly, as if the previous heat had been a lie.
And finally, the moment a man on stage opened his mouth.
[Hello. We are Weers...]
Boooooooooooooooooooo-
An enormous amount of booing poured out, enough to shake the interior of the massive concert venue.
[Wh-what!]
Startled, Anna looked at the people around her who were fiercely booing with wide-open eyes, then soon turned her gaze to her boyfriend.
[Get out! Weers or whatever, get out of here!!]
What caught her eyes was the sight of her boyfriend, furious towards the stage.
[Jimmy! What on earth is going on?]
[It's those guys!]
[What?]
[The guys who disrespected the Fighters!!!]
[Disrespected? What are you talking about!]
Boooooooo-
The boos still continuing, a situation where they couldn't even have a proper conversation due to the extreme noise around them.
She could hear voices saying something on stage, but they were buried by the boos and couldn't be heard clearly.
'What on earth is going on? These boos...'
While Anna was looking around with bewildered eyes, the sound of the song's accompaniment began to be heard, piercing through the boos.
In that chaotic situation, the stage of an idol group whose name she barely knew began.
When Anna turned her head to look at the stage, a performance that felt quite alien to the surrounding scenery was unfolding there.
Like most K-pop idols, a similar-sounding song sung to synchronized dancing that felt like it had been heard somewhere before.
At first, she thought this stage would be the same.
But strangely, her eyes were drawn to the stage.
Why was that?
Was it because their appearance, focusing on their stage as if completely unrelated to other people's reactions, caught her gaze?
Or was it because of a certain member who had been catching her gaze since earlier, giving a quite sharp impression for an idol?
There was nothing particularly special, but for some reason, her eyes kept going to him.
'Wow...!'
She let out a blank exclamation.
What was that just now?
The refreshing voice that struck her ears was still ringing in her ears.
Anna now began to focus on the song and stage, which she could hear more clearly than the fans' boos.
The massive stadium.
The constantly changing reactions of the 80,000 audience members there.
And the singing voice that made it impossible not to pay attention to the stage.
A feeling as if something massive was rolling in.
It was felt on the skin before it was heard with the ears.
If this was the meaning of seizing the initiative, she thought they had sufficiently, no, perfectly fulfilled that role.
The high note just now was that amazing.
A K-pop idol group with a main vocalist who has this level of skill?
Anna racked her brain, but no distinct group came to mind.
But the face of the member who had shown the surprisingly high note just now was vaguely familiar.
'American Idol runner-up Eugene Kim.'
The name that instantly came to mind.
And if it was the group Eugene Kim belonged to, she had heard of it.
Was it a group born from a Korean audition program?
'Weers! I just remembered now. And the incident between Eugene Kim and Paul Ryan. So that's why the fans did that just now.'
After recalling the name of the group that had surprised her, Anna smiled with excitement.
'No matter how this stage ends today. I think I can write a very interesting article.'
The reporter's instinct gradually blooming. She didn't know why Weers were performing at the Fighters' concert, though.
Anna looked at the rookie group from a small country with sharper eyes than before.
In the meantime, having overwhelmed the stage with a solid vocal line through the chorus, they began to show flashy synchronized dancing centered around the performance members.
And one member who had kept catching her eye since earlier.
'I think it's the member who grabbed the mic and greeted us first... My eyes keep going to him strangely.'
The reason he kept catching her eye wasn't because he showed any particularly unusual behavior, but rather because it felt like the stage was centered because of that member.
Anna herself didn't exactly know why she felt that way about a group she was seeing for the first time on stage.
Before she knew it, Weers' first song ended.
And.
[......]
Silence.
It was a brief moment, but the boos coming from here and there stopped.
[Wow...]
Anna unknowingly let out a short exclamation.
She had seen the stages of many singers until now, but showing one's skills to the audience in such a hostile atmosphere was truly not an easy task.
Just as Anna was gradually raising her evaluation of the group called Weers on the stage.
Get out-
Just get lost-
The boos started again.
Compared to the fierce momentum at first, it felt somewhat dampened, but it was still enough to turn the atmosphere of the concert venue hostile again.
Anna looked at those people and spoke in an annoyed tone.
[People are going too far, isn't continuously booing too much?]
[Well... I don't know? Still, they're the ones who messed up first...]
At Anna's words, her boyfriend answered hesitantly.
[It was just something said on a broadcast for fun, and didn't Paul Ryan start it in the first place?]
[That's...]
While Anna's boyfriend was squirming.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the audience changed.
[Huh?]
Suddenly, a Weers member on stage began to walk slowly toward the audience.
And the voices of the excited audience at the front of the stage grew louder.
[I told you to get off the stage right now! Can't you hear me?]
[What are you gonna do if I come closer?]
[We didn't come all the way here to see your pathetic stage!!]
The Weers member, who had come right up to the angry audience, slowly opened his mouth.
[I'm sorry, but we can't leave right now.]
Kyaaa-
The moment his face was shown directly on the screen, small cheers from female audience members here and there could be heard.
Of course, that sound was soon buried by the even louder boos.
But the voice of the Weers member speaking on stage could be heard clearly.
[We will finish the stage given to us. Because that's why we came here.]
Toward the audience shouting for him to get out as they looked at him.
[We will do our best to show you the next stage as well. And we will prove that we have the right to stand here.]
Sunwoo Rin said without a flinch.
[So please watch.]
***
[If you want to shut them up, it'd be faster to just go down from the stage and beat them up one by one.]
[That's because it's you. Normal people don't act like that.]
[Shut up.]
Paul Ryan and Chris Ward could be seen watching Weers' stage from behind the stage and talking.
However, Chris Ward's expression as he looked at the stage looked extremely excited.
[Crazy bastards, actually coming to our concert. Right?]
[If they provoked me, they must have that much guts.]
[Fun. It's beyond what I expected... I feel like I've met some interesting guys for the first time in a while.]
[Wait.]
Paul Ryan said hastily after seeing Chris Ward's mischievous expression.
[What crazy thing are you planning to do this time to make that face?]
[Paul, have you ever seen me lose a bet?]
[Haa... Here we go again.]
But seeing Chris Ward already fallen into his own world, he soon let out a sigh.
Paul Ryan realized that he wouldn't be able to stop his prankster friend this time either.
[Hey Paul! Chris! Why are you two hanging around here? We need to start getting ready to go up...]
[Oh! Andy, just in time! Come here for a second.]
[Uh... huh? Chris! What! What are you doing?]
Andy, the Fighters' bassist who came looking for the two at just the right time, was grabbed by Chris Ward's hand and dragged away.
[What bet, when you were planning to do this from the start. Boring.]
However, Paul Ryan, who said that, kept watching Weers' stage carefully for some reason, even after Chris Ward left.
***
The third song ended.
Now only the last song of the opening stage remained.
Even so, the unfriendly gazes and reactions were still felt.
I looked at the 80,000 audience members and thought.
'Is it a failure?'
Since performing the first competition in National Idol, I hadn't counted, but I had stood on stage nearly 100 times.
But standing on a stage with no audience response like this was a first for me.
Of course, this was much better compared to the boos at first. Still, it couldn't be considered a successful stage.
Our stage failed to captivate the proud Fighters fans.
'Another way? Or a helpful Trait...'
I briefly thought that if I had the help of the Status Window, maybe I could solve it.
But I soon shook my head.
And I looked at the members next to me.
'Everyone is amazing.'
Honestly, I thought at least one of them might succumb to the pressure and make a mistake or fail to show their skills.
But the members next to me right now, although they looked more tired than usual, their eyes were shining just as brightly.
I couldn't rely solely on the Status Window with these kinds of members beside me. As I had said, I had to do my best and prove it to everyone.
Because that was why I came here.
I made eye contact with Eugene Kim.
Feeling that we were thinking the same thing, I smiled as soon as our eyes met.
Right, if we can't overcome this stage, there would be no advancing into the US in the future either.
At least under the name Weers.
[The final stage is the second title track of our 1st full album, Challenger.]
For the final stage, with the song we were most confident in.
Thinking that, I waited for the music to start.
But.
'What?'
The accompaniment that should have flowed out when the signal was given didn't come out.
Two seconds, three seconds, tense moments passed. Could it be a stage accident?
When I had that thought, I felt a strange energy.
'Where is everyone looking?'
The audience's gazes weren't directed at us, but were all heading towards the back of the stage.
And when I looked toward the back of the stage following the audience's gaze.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeng-
The sound of a guitar could be heard.
The guitar of the Fighters' guitarist and the rockstar of the era, Chris Ward, was vibrating fiercely.
And the solo performance that followed.
The performance of the guitarist representing America was unfolding right before my eyes.
Normally, I would have watched blankly, but this stage right now was Weers' stage.
'What is this situation?'
My mind instantly became dizzy.
Looking around, our members and even the audience had bewildered faces, not knowing what this situation was.
Then.
Thump thump thump thump-
Boom boom boom-
Drum and bass sounds were added to Chris Ward's guitar performance.
The Fighters' drummer and bassist, and even the guitarist. Three of the four members, excluding the vocalist, gathered on the stage.
Waaaaaaaaaaaah-
Only then did the bewildered audience cheer in unison.
The Fighters, who shook the concert venue just by appearing.
Feeling that sound with my whole body, I looked at Chris Ward.
Why on earth was he doing this, and what did he want from us?
Just as I thought that and looked at Chris Ward.
bam- bam- bam- bam-
A familiar sound ringing through the concert venue.
It was none other than the melody of 'Challenger', the title track of our group Weers and the last song of the opening stage.
The moment that melody was heard, Chris Ward was looking exactly at me, speaking with his eyes.
'What are you doing, not starting quickly?'