Debut or Die
chapter-158

First of all, since Kim Raebin brought up the topic of top comments, let’s talk about numbers as indicators.

“Let’s look at it objectively, as you said. ‘Present’ is ranked higher in the music chart than that song. Isn’t this an objective and cold public evaluation?”

But Kim Raebin was not deceived.

“I think it’s a matter of sample differences that arise from differences in popularity. We need to evaluate after listening to both actual songs without personal feelings…!”

“…”

That’s why he wanted to hear my opinion. I answered slowly, holding back my sigh.

“Okay… I get it. To me, ‘Parade’ is a better song.”

“I-Is that so?”

“But it is true that their song is more popular over there.”

“…!”

“It’s a nice catchy song.”

Kim Raebin clenched his hands on his knees. I went on to explain.

“But that’s because the purpose is different. In the first place, we made a song that prioritizes performance.”

“But…”

“It means you don’t have to uselessly compare it. No song is always perfect in every way. It’s hard to compare it objectively. Timing and taste… There’s also a matter of luck.”

“…Yes.”

Kim Raebin still looked timid, but he nodded as if he understood what I meant.

I smirked.

“Are you feeling shameful?”

“Yes? … Yes.”

Kim Raebin hesitated and added.

“I… I am often criticized for not being good at speaking and for not being the type that suits a community life.”

Aigoo.

“So, if my contributions are lacking in terms of production, I thought it would be right to develop other competencies that can help the group.”

“Hmm.”

Kim Raebin probably needed the certainty that he was contributing to the album even if he couldn’t perform right now.

‘Then this is the best way.’

I remembered the plan I had been preparing.

But before I told him about it, let’s correct this first.

“First of all… I don’t think you’re particularly bad at living in a community.”

“Oh, I’ve often heard that I can’t read the atmosphere…”

Yeah. You must have heard that a lot in your life.

However, he wasn’t stubborn or bad-tempered in interpersonal relationships, so there was no problem working with him.

“Is that so? Has any of the members ever been angry with you while promoting Testar?”

“…No.”

“See? It’s not a problem, so don’t worry about it.”

“I-I see!”

Kim Raebin’s expression got a little brighter.

“And the production issue… Hmm. Wait a minute.”

I turned on my smartphone and called up information on Golden Age’s new song listed on the music site.

I looked for the copyright-holder article.

“You see the composers and the arrangers here.”

“Yes.”

I explained what I had confirmed beforehand.

“The composer is an outside freelancer… The arranger is not on a team with this composer. They belong to the Golden Age’s company.”

“Um, yes.”

“Do you understand what that means?”

“Contemporary composition is a production of a multi-tasking and comprehensive nature, so placing responsibility on oneself is excessive self-consciousness…?”

An extraordinary answer came out.

“…No, I’m saying that you can make a direct comparison if you want.”

I tapped the composer on the screen.

“Actually, I got some songs from this composer.”

“…!! W-When and how did you proceed??”

“A while ago. Well.”

Cheongryeo’s words bothered me, so at the beginning of the activity, I already contacted them and received a few songs.

They were activity song candidates for a repackage album that would follow shortly after this album’s activities.

“Golden Age did well with this song, so I’m sure they’ll get another song from the same composer. And the arrangement will be done by the company again.”

“…Don’t tell me.”

“Yeah.”

Now he got it.

“If you arrange a song from the same composer, you can make the direct comparison you want.”

“…!”

“Who wrote the music of this popular composer… I wonder if their arrangement made it better.”

I made this conclusion after listening to all of this composer’s candidate songs.

‘They’re good at picking out the melody, but the structure is weak.’

To put it bluntly, it reduced the level of perfection. It seemed the rearrangement influenced the song a lot.

With his mouth open, Kim Raebin seemed to be imagining what would happen for a moment, but he suddenly came to his senses and said.

“But if you do it wrong, it can become a direct confrontation, which can make it disadvantageous to each other…”

Wow. You think that far?

I laughed. It was admirable.

As Kim Raebin said, if it went wrong, Testar could suffer losses with the frame itself.

No, looking at that agency, they could go further and try to sway public opinion by saying that Testar stole the Golden Age’s composer.

But in reality, it would be difficult for them to do that.

“It’s fine. There won’t be any confrontation.”

“Yes?”

“We’re not the only ones who arrange songs from that composer.”

I turned off the smartphone screen.

“Because VTIC unit and Youngrin sunbae-nim will also use that composer for the next album.”

“…!”

Right.

If I did this alone, I’d get indigestion. I had to attract people to join me.

‘I’m glad I got Youngrin’s number during the doppelganger variety show.’

…I was a little uncomfortable with Cheongryeo’s side, but it was better to burn it all at once to prevent any nonsense.

Anyway, they both said okay without hesitation.

– Ah, that would be fun. Good idea^^

– Thank you for introducing a good composer. It will give momentum to my work on the new album.

Top tiers with different affiliations, years, and images got along well with each other, so it would be difficult to unilaterally tie that composer to the Golden Age.

It would just increase the composer’s value.

As Cheongryeo advised, the Gold 1 company didn’t buy the composer, which meant we could buy their song. Isn’t this a very conscientious act?

‘So, why are you grabbing someone by the collar without consideration?’

It was their own consequence.

I smiled and crossed my arms.

“Within this year, there will be four songs by the same composer arranged separately. It will be a real battle.”

“…”

Kim Raebin swallowed.

“Do you still want to try?”

“Yes…!”

Good. It seemed his motivation had returned now that the game was set up. Kim Raebin’s eyes were shining with enthusiasm.

“Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the composer’s song will be used as the activity’s song. Since it’s one of the candidate songs, let’s discuss it with the members and choose a popular one.”

“All right!”

I nodded.

“Yes, then go to bed.”

“Yes?”

Kim Raebin was taken aback by the sudden wrap-up. I spoke quietly.

“Even now, I only get four and a half hours of sleep.”

“Gasp, I am sorry! I’ve caused a lot of damage to hyung’s bedtime…”

“It’s fine so let’s just sleep”

I stopped Kim Raebin and immediately turned off the light.

I had to wake up early tomorrow morning and practice the performance I would show in Japan with Kim Raebin, who was uncomfortable with his feet.

‘Should I bring him a tiger doll?’

I fell asleep, hoping that anyone could come up with a good idea, whether they were the footwear companies or the members.

It was three days before the recording of the Japanese broadcasting stage.

* * *

It was a weekday morning in August, when all students were on vacation.

A high school student, who played WeTube on his computer while feeling the wind of the air conditioner, found a music video that was still at the top of the popular videos.

[Testar(TeSTAR) ‘present’ Official MV]

“…”

In fact, the high school student had already watched the music video.

It was entirely because of the teaser.

Park Moondae, the Groom in May from <The Singer I Made>, had left a huge impression on the high school student, so his older sister gently persuaded him, saying that his final song would come out here.

– Hey, hey, look at this

– What’s wrong with you? Go away

– When are you going to give me 100,000 won~ I’ll call the bet off, so hurry and watch. Here’s the song Park Moondae sang in My Singer.

-…

– It f*cking went viral and got a lot of views. You should watch it too

So the high school student eventually watched the teaser and was intrigued by its enormous scale.

That was how his sister successfully introduced them to him.

But the high school student was in denial.

‘… I only watched it because I am curious about the arrangement.’

The high school student tried to think that he was just curious about the other version of the final song sung by ‘Groom in May’.

“To be honest, objectively, it’s a high-quality video. It’s like a trailer for a huge drama on Netplus, so it’s bound to be fun.”

Even by the high school student’s standards, the music video was more fun than the teaser.

Because the music video was much shorter and more exciting.

‘The sense of speed was amazing.’

The high school student was a little conflicted, but he clicked on the music video and played it.

‘There’s nothing harm in seeing it once.’

Fortunately, the video started right away without any ads.

[Chakghopsa, Chung, comes out and follows orders.]

The music video was about Ryu Chungwoo, who was ordered by the king to catch the ‘most harmful spirit’ and he went around Joseon looking for the spirit with his <Ghost Record>.

Acting as a spirit, each member interacted with Ryu Chungwoo and gave clues to the ‘most harmful spirit’ or got eradicated.

– The day I finally found you

A parade

Let’s end it here

In particular, it felt great when intense choreography scenes and dynamic story scenes intersected each time they entered the chorus.

With the choreography scenes inserted in between as if to heighten the atmosphere, Ryu Chungwoo finally met Kim Raebin in the cave.

Kim Raebin attempted to identify the ‘most harmful spirit’ by using the lanterns floating all over his cave.

At this time, his part in the song intersected together, and it gave a very strange feeling that Kim Raebin of the story was performing the part while looking directly at the camera.

Lanterns in the cave shone with all sorts of neon lights.

As if to give a warning.

– Now, he appears

Warning again warning

Approaching with one’s life

Slow and thrilling

Amidst the flickering lanterns that created a strange light, the camera swiveled around and focused on Ryu Chungwoo.

– Me

The song stopped.

And there was a very brief cut scene of screaming and running.

[Argh!]

[Ugh…]

It was a four-footed beast.

The beast, whose shape was difficult to see due to the scene passing by in an instant, turned into a child when the sun rose.

Above it, the current figure of Ryu Chungwoo in the cave was crossed.

Ryu Chungwoo realized that it was the ‘most harmful spirit’.

Again, the tune exploded.

– Even if you lower my head, you can’t escape

Look carefully

I’m thrilled

For several tens of seconds, including the final dance break, the choreography cut that reached its climax was driven without a story.

And it wasn’t until the climax of the song was over that the story cut appeared again.

[…]

Dark night. Ryu Chungwoo, who was staring at the camera, turned his back and disappeared into the forest.

With the sound of the taepyeongso, the song ended.

[present]

And the ending credits rolled.

Along with unfamiliar background music.

– Lying down late at night

Think about it. Maybe

From the beginning, I

I don’t think so

It was a song about parting. At first glance, it sounded like a love song, but after knowing the story, it became very meaningful.

It was Ryu Chungwoo’s solo song, ‘Truth’.

There were a lot of fans and WeTubers who find and analyze all kinds of content in the music video and the teaser from beginning to end, but the high school student didn’t know that and was not interested in it.

He just admired the video and thought it was amazing.

‘It even has a stinger.’

In fact, another scene came out after the end credits.

It was about the true identity of the king who strictly ordered Ryu Chungwoo in the first music video scene.

[How can you fall for that~]

It was Lee Sejin with fox ears on his head.

The stinger ended with Lee Sejin, who had been laughing wholeheartedly, crushing his huge tail decoration and lying down on the throne.

Not knowing that the fans had shuddered at the shock and cuteness of this ending, the high school student just licked his lips.

‘Isn’t this made by Netplus?’

While trying to think that it would have been better if real actors did it instead of the idols, the high school student couldn’t find any awkwardness in the video, let alone any flaws.

‘…It’s good.’

The boy eventually admitted once again and slipped out of the music video screen.

No, he tried to get out, but he couldn’t move it back, probably because it was lagging.

‘Ah, seriously.’

The high school student got sick of it and continuously tried to press the back button, and he accidentally checked the Internet page that his sister had opened because of the address that was quickly skipped back.

It was the trace of his sister’s Internet, which usually didn’t have any remains left because she browsed incognito.

“What’s this??”

On the blue SNS page… There was a gif of Park Moondae looking back in a classroom.

Magical Boy MV Behind Cut (1) Park Moondae

(revised GIF)

#ParkMoondae #BlondeMundae #GoldenMundae #MagicalBoy

Wearing white summer clothes in front of the bright red, yellow, and purple sky, Park Moondae’s black hair turned blonde when he looked back.

This gif was really well done.

“….”

For your information, the account introduction on the profile was ‘a blood union that only loves Gold Moon Puppy’.

‘This and that look the same.’

The high school boy grumbled, but he concluded that black hair was easier to look at than fierce blonde hair.

‘Is this from a music video, too? F*ck, I feel corrupted.’

The high school student searched for ‘Testar’ on WeTube, expecting to throw sarcastic comments.

However, something caught his attention before the ‘Magical Boy’ music video.

It was a video that was uploaded yesterday.

[Testar visiting Japan broadcast cut]

‘Huh?’

The thumbnail was a Japanese comedian with his mouth wide open.

‘Ah, I can’t stand this.’

He’d watch it for the gukkpong. The high school student snickered and clicked on the video.