Save a Failed Idol’s Life - Chapter 96
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Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 96 What I missed
Everyone checked the rankings with anticipation.
[Crunchy streaming for you, Fine Music]
[>Real-time 200]
The real-time chart was a chart that changed every moment, counting the real-time streaming amount of songs that had been released for an hour.
It was a chart that operated separately from the TOP 200(24 HITS) or BEST 200(24 HITS), which counted the streaming for 24 hours.
It was natural that the rankings were different for each chart.
<1st> Seasons pass again – First Veil
<2nd> Sugar Plus! – Maybe Pink
<3rd> Let’s not say goodbye for the second time – An Jung-hyun
I didn’t expect that much.
I thought it would be nice if we could get into the top 30, considering that rookies usually do their best in the real-time chart, where the fandom firepower is strong right after the release.
But as I scrolled down and down, I couldn’t see our name.
“Look outside the top 100.”
I took a deep breath and scanned from the first place to the bottom, and there was our name around the 60th place.
If the real-time was this much, there was no need to look at the TOP 200 or BEST 200.
How could we rank lower than the personal music that Son Seong-won released alone? Everyone was shocked and silent in the dorm.
“Well, it’s going up a little bit.”
Seon-woo kept refreshing by moving his finger down and confirmed that the ranking was going up a little bit.
After waiting for about 15 minutes, we reached the top 40.
‘I didn’t even make it to the TOP 200.’
BEST 200 was a close shave at 197th place. The difference between TOP 200 and BEST 200 was that the former counted the total streaming amount (time) and the latter counted the number of users who played the song for 24 hours.
It wasn’t a hard thing to get into the lower ranks of the BEST 200, as long as you had a little bit of fandom.
The number of users who listened to it in real time increased as the music was released, but it meant that we were far behind in the 24-hour playback.
Cold sweat ran down my hand.
The other guys must have been disappointed that they didn’t get the results they expected, too.
But I felt different. I’m going to die. I felt goosebumps on my back.
My chest was stuffy as if something had piled up on my vital point.
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Even after that, the ranking went up a little bit every time I refreshed in silence, and I succeeded in reaching 37th place in real time and 190th place in TOP 200 in 30 minutes.
‘Compared to the Climax performance, this is the best initial performance for now.’
As if it wasn’t enough to complete the quest, the status window popped up.
[Time left until the test ends (contract expires): 5 days]
I know, X.
My patience, which had been stretched tight, seemed to snap and my face turned pale.
What can I do in five days to raise it to a level that the system will recognize? I had nothing in mind.
What was the problem? Should we have just done what the company told us to do and picked up the songs that Floss didn’t use and threw away?
But I was hoping for something because the last live broadcast had more than 10,000 viewers.
No matter how hard I tried, the group that was in the four-digit range had risen to the five-digit range, so I thought something surprising would happen this time.
Now, my rank seemed to have settled down a bit, staying at 39th in real-time and 163rd in TOP 200.
‘I have to do something.’
I turned off the live stream a few hours ago, so it would look ridiculous to turn it on again now. Unless I had some good results to thank the fans for.
I couldn’t just go on air and say we failed, please comfort us.
As I checked the rank and kept a stiff face, the other members started to notice me.
“Ise hyung…”
Seon-woo, who couldn’t stand this atmosphere the most, called my name with a trembling voice.
“Just a minute. Let me think.”
If I had some leeway, I would have said it’s okay. Don’t worry too much. I’m sorry for making you worry because I can’t control my expression. I should have comforted Seon-woo.
But seeing the bright red warning sign in front of me, I couldn’t think of anything else.
There had been many twists and turns, but the results were not bad every time.
So I secretly hoped that this time, too, I could get a good outcome from the music release.
At least, Seong-won’s solo song hit a single-digit rank, so maybe the group song with him would be higher. I couldn’t say I wasn’t complacent.
‘F*ck…’
It was no joke. I had never felt so hopeless in my life as Lim Hyun-seong.
“The music rank might go up if it gets popular among the public…”
Kyunghwa tried to salvage the situation by whispering to me.
Let’s be realistic. What are the chances of an idol song that didn’t even make it to the fan pick to rise in the rank by getting picked by the public?
It was stupid to hope for such luck in this situation.
‘It’s my fault.’
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It was clearly my mistake.
I was too busy playing with the young kids and letting my guard down.
I should have asked the celebrities to promote our music and contacted a company that could manipulate the streaming rank…
I had dozens of regrets in my head when Seon-woo suddenly opened his mouth.
“Our, ac, activity… even if it ends here… the things that happened while I was preparing… I’ll never forget them for the rest of my life…”
His eyes were filled with tears, and he bit his lip to hold back his sob.
His shaking shoulders showed how hard he was trying to endure.
“If I, if I did better… it would have been, better, right…”
Then Seong-won answered with a calm and cold voice.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference.”
Everyone was shocked by his blunt words and glared at him.
“Don’t blame yourself for nothing. It’s not your fault.”
He seemed to think he was comforting me in his own way.
“Yeah… Sniff, sniffle…”
My head hurts. Even Seong-won was trying to say something nice to the members.
But I, the oldest one, was distracted by the countdown that wouldn’t disappear and couldn’t think of what was important.
I was ashamed. I couldn’t breathe. A burning sensation rose from my neck and my skin turned red.
“…”
I had to find out what I could do. Something I could do without the help of the company.
I wasn’t alone. I had the others to rely on.
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Think. Think. Think. Think, Lim Hyun-seong. I clenched my fists tightly.
Then, a flash of inspiration came to me. Something I had never thought of before.
‘This video changed his life too.’
‘What’s Me ○○ University Festival Fancam Views Explosion After Chart Reverse.’
‘Fancam Goddess Yoo Ji-hee’s Reverse Miracle.’
Come to think of it, did we ever meet our fans in person?
No, we didn’t. Of course, we met two people when we went to harvest corn, but that was it.
People who are maniacs about idols themselves probably know our names by now, but…
‘Our popularity is still worse than rookies.’
That’s why we couldn’t do well on the charts. It wasn’t because our songs were bad.
The chart is basically a numbers game. You win if you have a huge fandom, even if you don’t have mass appeal. Or you win if you have a small fandom, but you’re a public pick that gets played everywhere.
We were in a vague state where we had a weak fandom, and we weren’t a public pick either, because people didn’t even know who we were.
Then we had to let them know. Who we were. What we looked like, what songs we sang, what concept we had.
“Kyunghwa, I have one favor to ask you.”
As I opened my mouth after staring at the floor for a long time, they all looked at me with surprised expressions.
“Can you narrow down the list to five places from now on?”
It was time to get out of the corner of the room and stop whining. It was time to move.
***
“Are we really okay?”
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Kyunghwa, who was sitting in the passenger seat, kept checking his hair in the mirror and muttered in a worried voice.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re not okay, right? They’re probably saying that it’s good if we don’t do well, and we’ll be disbanded anyway.”
Instead of me, YI-jun, who was sitting behind Kyunghwa, answered with a relaxed attitude that was unmatched among the five of us.
“You… Just shut up for a moment.”
Kyunghwa sighed as if he was more annoyed by him and fanned himself.
We were driving towards the busy street of Hongdae in a minivan that we rented through a non-face-to-face service.
We were going to surprise five places, starting from Hongdae, to Sinchon, Gangnam, Konkuk University, and Wangsimni.
We only brought one speaker.
Of course, we didn’t tell our manager. It was the same whether we did well or not.
I accepted my situation rationally and I wasn’t so anxious anymore.
The result was already out, and all that was left was to do our best for a reversal.
I felt better when I gave up the uncertain hope that maybe a shocking and amazing result would save me from death in an instant.
In the worst case scenario, I would die anyway.
They would point fingers at us and say, what are they doing, promoting themselves on the street like that, but I was a dead man in five days anyway.
It was impossible for me to refuse to go out on the street because I was embarrassed.
“Did you all dress well?”
Kyunghwa looked back at Seong-won, Yi-jun, and Seon-woo, who were sitting in the back seat, and asked.
“Yeah… I just used my own accessories in case I lose them.”
Seon-woo held out a ring that looked like a goods ring from the group his sister belonged to, instead of a necklace pendant.
“That’s… never mind.”
Kyunghwa was about to say something, but he decided it wasn’t the time to say it and kept quiet.
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I had chosen a car with dark tinted windows on purpose, so when I entered the crowded alley, I was met with curses from all sides.
“Are you crazy? Why did you bring such a big car here?”
“Ugh, how annoying.”
Everyone was tense and nervous, so I tried to calm the members down as I looked for a place with suitable terrain to park and use as a stage.
“It’s okay. They don’t know it’s us inside.”
Seon-woo answered, rustling his opaque black raincoat that he wore over his costume.
“Yeah!”
I was glad that he sounded a bit more energetic. I took a long breath and turned off the engine after parking the car in a decent spot.
“Let’s shout our slogan once before we get out.”
Kyunghwa blushed, as if he was embarrassed.
“Okay. But we have to shout quietly so no one outside can hear us.”
It would be ridiculous if we revealed our identity by shouting our slogan, which would defeat the purpose of hiding with raincoats and tinted windows.
“Exposition, Rise.”
“Climax!”
We shouted in a low voice, but with enthusiasm.
The situation was so absurd that we all chuckled and tried to hold back our laughter.
“Don’t laugh. Pull your hats down and cover your faces properly.”
Me and Seon-woo had natural black hair, and Kyunghwa had light brown hair with a khaki tint, so they didn’t stand out too much.
But Seong-won and Yi-jun had blond and dark red hair, respectively, which made them look very conspicuous.
“Got it.”
Yi-jun nodded and pulled his hat down.
“Then let’s open the door and get out.”
As I reached for the open button and turned around, I met Seong-won’s eyes.
“…”
He had a serious expression that I had never seen before. I felt a slight trust in him.
“I’ll do well.”
He said, as if he didn’t expect an answer, and opened the door and stepped out.
“I know.”
I also grabbed the car key and opened the driver’s seat door.
My heart was pounding. It was like the moment when I first made a name for myself.
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