The Road to Glory

Watermelon.If you search overseas, you’ll likely picture the familiar green fruit in detail, but it’s different in Korea.No matter which search engine you use in Korea, the paid music service ‘Watermelon’ comes up first.Launched on April 1, 2000, Watermelon was the oldest commercial music platform in Korea and had the most subscribers among domestic platforms.Although it may not have the same prestige as before due to the emergence of international platforms and controversies over chart manipulation, Koreans typically associated Watermelon with the ‘music charts’, just as Americans associate Billboard with music charts.Hundreds of new songs are released daily on Watermelon.Among them were songs by famous idols and popular singers, as well as by indie musicians steadily pursuing their music careers. Additionally, ordinary people would sometimes upload songs as a ‘bucket list’ item.To provide better songs to subscribers amid the flood of music, Watermelon created a Top 100 chart. The chart ranking was based on hourly usage and updated every hour.Undoubtedly, at least domestically, Watermelon’s Top 100 chart had higher credibility for music than Billboard.However, as everyone knows, controversies erupted, and Watermelon had to reorganize its chart compilation service.To prevent chart manipulation caused by bulk streaming and coordinated fan efforts, they included daily usage in the compilation criteria.They also imposed limits on daily usage per account to prevent manipulation.The attempt was successful.Chart manipulation decreased, and subscribers were satisfied.However, as the chart stabilized, the fluctuation in song rankings narrowed. While it prevented chart manipulation, it became less likely for new songs to surpass existing popular ones compared to before.Moreover, since the new chart was provided at 9 PM daily in 24-hour intervals, it differed from the previous service where new songs could enter within an hour.The higher the ranking, the more entrenched the songs became.So Kim Kyungjin expected it would take more than a few days for “Show by Show” to enter the chart.There were strong competitor songs already in the top ranks, and even without intentional efforts, there was a clear difference in recognition.Although the cable show had decent viewership ratings, compared to popular terrestrial TV shows, Soyou was a newcomer.Therefore, Kim Kyungjin doubted his eyes when he saw the chart released at 9 PM on Saturday.“Huh?”[(NEW) Show by Show (Show Your Show 3. Support Song) | JJ]Soyou’s support songs had been registered as music files at noon.That meant there were only nine hours to stream this song.While reactions were positive on hip-hop communities and Soyou’s message boards, it was impossible for just those users to achieve such a high ranking.Kim Kyungjin rubbed his eyes and checked the ranking.“Show by Show” was still at the bottom of the chart.99th. It was an extremely precarious number, but it had undoubtedly entered the chart.“No way…”Samjang’s voice echoed in his mind.-But why do I feel it won’t even take a few days?His meaningful tone sent shivers down Kim Kyungjin’s spine.What did the CEO know? At the same time, a vibration came from somewhere.“!”Startled like someone had snuck up behind him while playing a horror game, Kim Kyungjin realized it was just his phone ringing.[Laon]Quite embarrassed, Kim Kyungjin discreetly checked his surroundings and answered the call.“Laon. What’s up?”[Hyung!]As always, an energetic voice came through.[Hyung! Hyung! Hyung! Hyung! Did you see?]“What?”[Jinsoo’s song made the charts! I should text Jinsoo to congratulate him.]“…You have his number?”[Of course! We’re friends!]Kim Kyungjin realized Gillaon was a popular kid who even became the class president in middle school.Didn’t he say he woke up one day and was suddenly the class president?He didn’t know when Gillaon got Jang Jinsoo’s number.As an unpopular representative, Kim Kyungjin found this sociability simply amazing. Is this the famous charisma of celebrities?“Aren’t you envious?”Without realizing it, Kim Kyungjin asked, then immediately caught himself.The most important person should be the artist, but the manager is saying this. No matter how young Gillaon is, he’s old enough to understand everything. Plus, he’s quite perceptive.[About what?]A bright voice came from the other end.Thinking Gillaon didn’t catch on, Kim Kyungjin tried to move on.“Nothing, nothing.”[My song?]As expected, he was quite perceptive.When Kim Kyungjin fell silent, feeling hurt, an indifferent voice soon came from the other end.[It’s too early for me to be jealous. Jinsoo’s song really deserves to rise. I want to sing songs like that too.]Kim Kyungjin was still concerned.This mouth of his. Since he keeps causing trouble, it might be better to just rip it off.[Should I ask Jinsoo to teach me composing? Or maybe have Nokjin teach me one-on-one… Oh! Jinsoo replied! I’ll hang up now, hyung.]True to his character, Gillaon said what he wanted and really hung up.So typically Gillaon that Kim Kyungjin couldn’t help but smile.Then, with a lighter heart, he watched the “Show by Show” music file.As “Show by Show” climbed the ranks, interest in Soyou would also grow.“But…”As he examined the album, Kim Kyungjin tilted his head.“Didn’t it say there was no company?”It wasn’t a company name written there. However, the song information was structured like a singer with an agency.“Who is Roh Haeil?”#The response was good.And most importantly, it was fast.Whether it was due to the broadcast’s influence or the relatively free weekend, “Show by Show” made it onto the chart released at 9 PM on Saturday night, albeit at the very bottom.As a result, Soyou’s group chat was rowdy.[Top 100 in just one day, scary]If it had been a rookie from some agency, people might have just brushed it off, thinking “Of course.”However, the fact that the song was by a middle schooler, and that the first episode of Soyou had gone viral on SNS as a clip with many reaction videos, made it quite a hot topic. Especially with so many reaction videos being uploaded.Well, the dramatic twist and the resulting catharsis made it perfect for reaction videos.[I was one of those who said it was just singing rap<<<< but I’ve been listening to it for the 26th hour the spotlight part is too good T_T]└It hasn’t even been a day since the song was released└This is really something… How did it get so popular…[I don’t know about anything else, but I get why they used this song as the main BGM]It perfectly captures the vibe Soyou wantedNo matter what you say, I’ll do my show[The lyrics are good Jinsoo study a little bit]The eternal cliff laid out before me = verticalYou walking on the path = horizontalDashing towards the end = limitThey never meet again = vertical and horizontal can never meet ㅇㅇ└Oh, I see?At 9 PM on Sunday, the chart updated again, and “Show by Show” was there, at an even higher position.[48th: Show by Show (Show Your Show 3. Support Song) | JJ]If the song wasn’t good or only those who watched the show listened to it, it would have dropped in ranking.However, the rising rank meant that even the general public who hadn’t watched Soyou’s first episode had started listening to this song.[Look at the beautiful rising curve for Show by Show a hit is a hit]One of the services provided by Watermelon was a chart board where anyone could see the real-time streaming usage fluctuation for a specific song.Someone had captured and posted that fluctuation graph in the group chat. It was such a smooth upward curve that it naturally drew admiration.[When did Soyou start? It’s already the semi-finals?]└What are you talking aboutMany people didn’t realize that Season 3 of “Show Your Show” had started earlier than Seasons 1 and 2. There was a general perception that it typically started around Christmas.The rising rank of “Show by Show” soon drew attention to Soyou, and further, to the ‘musician’ who had showcased their talent on the show.In particular, South Korea has a keen interest in prodigies and geniuses—which country doesn’t? So the appearance of a gifted middle schooler caused quite a stir.[The PD has no fucking sense why does he only ask for shitty interviews from #56 while asking for behind-the-scenes from the others will he finally show up next episode?]From someone complaining that only #56 didn’t get asked behind-the-scenes questions, forgetting that only the first episode had aired, to[Dude is so deliberately acting poorly production quality lol]Someone simply dissing it.[#56 and I went to the same elementary school but I had no idea he was this talented he was just a gloomy kid who couldn’t study back then]An alleged former classmate.[The Show by Show song is good too but be sure to watch the performance video the stage is legit]Even the PR team was promoting just the “Show by Show” song and its owner, Jang Jinsoo.Only a few industry insiders or hardcore music fans would delve into the album details.[Who is this Roh Haeil credited as a co-composer?]└The ‘No’ surname isn’t that common└Never heard of them in this field[Didn’t I say there’s no way a middle schooler could do this?](Photo)Look at the album infoSeems like that person pretty much made it all lolThen how could Show by Show be at a middle schooler’s level lmao└I get it but damn this dude is being so salty└There’s no way it’s at a middle schooler’s level fuck, so who is this guy an unknown?└(OP) It’s not about whether they’re unknown or not, you guys didn’t believe #56’s songs were purely his own lol└So who is this industry insiderJang Jinsoo, who had been lurking in the community and group chat, as well as SNS pages, downloaded the album information photo. He immediately sent it via KakaoTalk.The result of insisting on this, even at the risk of being caught by the PD and writer.This Roh Haeil bastard wasn’t responding, so he got permission from his mother and used his name.He seriously agonized over what name to use since that person have two NuTube accounts plus his real name.With no answer from the person himself, he chose to use his real name.He should have included ‘PROD’ too.It was an oversight not to properly list the song title.Still, Jang Jinsoo felt proud.He had stubbornly included Roh Haeil’s name in the album information, upholding justice.And vaguely,he resolved to release Roh Haeil’s solo song next time.He would work harder. He didn’t know if he could surpass this song that was receiving so much love, but he wanted to create a song that would receive similar adoration.#Beep beep.Halo checked his phone.Two people had just messaged him.One was his mother, and the other was Jang Jinsoo.Surprisingly, both had attached the same content.Show by ShowJang Jinsoo (JJ)Album: Show Your Show Season 3Release Date: 2030.12.14Genre: Hip-HopLyrics JJ | Composition JJ, Roh Haeil | Arrangement Roh HaeilHalo gazed at the image with a peculiar expression.He didn’t say anything because it was difficult to express this ambiguous feeling in words.He had never had his name attached to someone else’s song before, so it felt novel. Yet, having his name inscribed on another’s work didn’t feel too bad.It seemed like he had become a good mentor, guiding his junior.“But why Roh Haeil?”Halo muttered briefly, wondering why it wasn’t just ‘Halo’ instead of ‘Roh Haeil.’If Jang Jinsoo had heard it, he would have been upset. But it didn’t really matter.There was something more important.On Monday morning, Halo received an email containing the freshly arrived album files.Roh Haeil Spring Again Album_Final_1215 revision_reallyreallyfinal_thisisthelastoneforrealThe songs had been completed more clearly and just as he had imagined.After pestering Kang Yeongmin with revision requests all weekend, Halo immediately uploaded the six tracks to the channel that had been quiet for a month.He also uploaded the instrumental audio files for his first album, which many had requested in the comments.Although the video length wasn’t long, the large number of files took some time to upload.While the files were uploading, Halo checked out his channel, which he had neglected.In contrast to the noisy Soyou frenzy in Korea, Halo’s channel, where 99% of subscribers were from overseas, was as serene as the Pacific Ocean.“Hm?”Or not.The first thing that caught his eye was the subscriber count.He hadn’t checked since winning the bet, but the number had been steadily increasing.But what was strange was the number of comments.While the ‘like’ count showed a steady upward trend, the number of comments was unusually high.Halo clicked on the video titled ‘Struggle,’ one of his four videos.And then,“!”He was startled.-AMEN AMEN AMEN AMEN AMEN AMENThe familiar, frenzied comments.-O Sun, the world has fallen into darknessHe wasn’t surprised by the worship itself.In fact, such praises were familiar to him.They reminded him of the fans who had followed him since his debut, often being called ‘hooligans’ or ‘fanatics.’What surprised him was that their actions were truly identical. The fans also called him the ‘Sun,’ and similarly used titles like ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Lord.’Moreover,-The blank channel art is a critique of the society created by the media, a romantic duel solely to prove the musicSuch glorification was also familiar.-The Sun remains unanswered todayWhile the channel was inactive, what on earth had happened?Halo scrolled down to check.And just like in the past, he found comments descending into arguments.People disagreeing with each other and eventually exchanging addresses in the final comments.Clicking his tongue, Halo reread the comments.What should he say?Unlike before, all he had publicly shared was his music. Yet the fans were exhibiting the same behavior, which secretly pleased him.This meant he was truly being recognized for his music.Still, he hoped they wouldn’t cause any problems like in the past.Actually, he didn’t care what they did, except that he didn’t want to be dragged into it and insulted himself.He was fine with being insulted, but only for his own actions.Fortunately, these were just a small minority.Their numbers seemed too small to be of any real concern.“But what about this misunderstanding?”What did concern him was something else.The fans were not only arguing among themselves, which was the cause of the fights, but they were also constantly trying to deduce his identity.They suspected he was a specific singer deliberately hiding his identity. It was just a misunderstanding.He had no intention of hiding himself.He simply didn’t reveal himself because Roh Haeil’s image was quite different from Halo’s music.He had planned to reveal himself once Roh Haeil became more similar to his true self.“Well, it’ll be fine.”He didn’t dwell on it too much. Their earnest discussions and completely wrong answers were rather endearing, and he believed this misunderstanding would eventually be resolved.As he was reading the comments, the six tracks from his second album and the instrumentals had finished uploading. Halo decided to leave it at that.The reactions in the comments were mostly similar.Requests to release the songs officially.Guesses about who he might be.And common nicknames.By accident, among praise comments, he unknowingly hit ‘like’, and when he scrolled down, among normal comments, an official statement caught his eye.“Oh, this is…”A love call from a music distributor – if blind praise and pleas for information about how to contact can be called a love call – was there.It seemed like he left such comments in the comment section every day instead of separately announcing his email address.“A distributor…”Although he had reservations about record labels, he knew he would have to sign with one eventually.Instead of immediately choosing from among several love calls, Halo entered his email on the channel page.“I need to think long-term.”Halo pressed ‘Enter’ and shut down the computer.It was almost time to go to the gym.#While the domestic scene was bustling with Soyou’s activities, overseas remained quiet.Although it’s always a place where incidents occur, the expanse of the ocean, incomparable to the land of Korea, appeared tranquil, unaffected by most storms, like an angle of calm.But appearances can be deceiving.If only visible icebergs had been the concern, the Titanic might not have sunk.The sky was eerily quiet and serene before the typhoon arrived.Hi everyone, I've fully translated this series. If you love the series and wanted to binge read until the end, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. Instead of buying the advanced chapters one by one, you can buy them in one bulk (with discounted price too)!