Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 152



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Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 152

152. You’re not crazy, are you?

A head-on showdown between the three major entertainment companies’ rookie girl groups that many people have been waiting for.

The one who won the head-to-head match that was both a matter of pride and a matter of pride for each agency was MXM Entertainment’s ‘Breeze’.

Just four days after the release of their song, the five girls who won first place on their first music show looked around in amazement upon hearing their names.

“Congratulations on 1st place!”

The innocent sight of the Breeze members covering their mouths with their hands after seeing all the cast members giving them congratulatory applause brought a heartwarming laugh to the viewers watching TV.

“I’m so grateful to the fans who gave me such a valuable trophy from my first music show stage…”

Jin Ha-neul expresses his gratitude to the fandom that has not even been named yet.

Other contributors were then mentioned in her first-place speech.

“I want to thank and tell Producer Shin Jin-hee and Producer Sung-jun, who are like our Breeze’s mom and dad, that I ‘love you’!”

It was a lively thank you message that surprised fans who knew Jin Ha-neul’s usually gentle image.

“Thank you very much. I appreciate it.”

“Thank you for all supports-”

“Cupkun Mak Ka.”

The three-language global thank you messages from Lee Haru, Alice, and Nangpa also attracted attention.

However, there were always those who ‘disappointed with the results’ who showed up after every match.

– That’s ridiculous! Our Seven didn’t get first place? 100% MXM Entertainment paid money for Encounter.

– Seriously! The song looks so easy!

– Wait a minute, I’m gonna ruin the encore stage.

The last hope(?) for some of the ‘Seven Days’ and ‘Name’ fans who lost the first place trophy was the encore live, also known as the ‘highlight of the music show’.

As a group that chose the easy listening pop genre, it was expected that their vocal skills would be relatively low.

The fingers of some malicious fans are ready to dance on the keyboard, ready to get down and dirty.

One, the moment the lips of the Breeze members holding the microphones opened, the knives of the malicious commenters were sealed tightly in their scabbards.

– What, is this encore live real? It’s just the same as the audio source?

n At first I thought it was live AR, but when I saw the kids adding ad-libs and commenting, I realized it was a live broadcast

N This is crazy. As expected from a survival show!!! They did a great job with the encore.

N Eunhye Min’s vocals are solid and very comfortable~

– All the idiots who said they called it easy listening because they lacked the skills are hiding and shutting upㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

N ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If you say something like that after seeing this, the singers will get cursed at instead ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴ But it’s a bit encouraging. Recently, due to the controversy over some idols’ encore live performances, K-pop singers have been getting a lot of hate overseas for being just lip-syncing singers, but the 4.5 generation that debuted this time is saving face.

N How is it that they are all talented? Is a second K-pop revival coming?

The community is excited about the flawless encore live.

Nevertheless, the forces trying to suppress ‘Breeze’ claimed that ‘Breeze’s’ first place was due to votes from Japan and Southeast Asia.

– What the heck lol Seven Days and Name both have Japanese and Southeast Asian members

It was ruthlessly refuted with just one word.

one side,

The momentum of ‘Breeze’, who won the 4.5 generation rookie girl group match, continued without any sign of slowing down.

Starting with Encounter, they lifted the first place trophy on every music show they appeared on during their debut week.

“Bright,” which debuted at number 10 on the Kiwi chart, immediately took the top spot on the TOP 100 chart, which was previously held by “Seven Days” and “Name,” right after the music show.

Also, their debut album ‘BLIZ’, which has not even been officially released yet, has surpassed 400,000 pre-orders, setting a new record for the highest pre-orders for a debut album by a girl group. In light of this, experts predict that their initial sales will also set a new record for the highest ever for a girl group debut.

Following the rhythmic groove of the introduction, the chorus contains the members’ clear harmony,

The refreshing and lively charm of the five members, who walked freely around the school in their pure white uniforms and had their long black hair fluttering on the green grass playground, spread throughout society.

Cafes and various stores, radios in cars and buses on the way to work, dance club practice rooms, classrooms before class starts, etc.

No matter where you are, ‘Bright’ will resonate and people will flock to sing along to the chorus.

Online it was even worse.

[A complete analysis of the reasons for the success of ‘Breeze’!]

[What is ‘Easy Listening Pop’ that captures the tastes of both the 10s and 20s and the 30s and 40s?]

Of course, experts and cornerstone experts are pouring out various analysis articles.

[‘Bright’ choreography 0.5x speed mirror version]

[One-point ‘Bright’ challenge lesson by ‘Breeze’ Medan Iharu]

YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, and TokTok are all about the point choreography challenge of ‘Bright’.

In addition, videos parodying the reaction videos of creative foreigners, the introduction of music videos, and the scene where Breeze appears with sunlight in a dark classroom were continuously being produced like a water fountain.

The whole world is literally a ‘breeze’holic.

In the midst of extraordinary popularity.

An interview article with visual art director Shin Jin-hee, the ‘mother of Breeze’ and a pioneer who made the keywords ‘visual directing’ and ‘concept’ trendy, has been released.

Q. Recently, Breeze’s debut song ‘Bright’ has become a hot topic. People around me say that they are completely captivated by the sophisticated and chill ‘easy listening pop’ charm.

A. I am surprised and grateful that you love me more than I thought.

Q. There are many reviews saying that Breeze broke the stereotypes of existing girl groups, which were full of so-called spicy tastes and visual and auditory stimuli such as ‘girl crush’ and ‘strong unnie’, and presented a new direction and trend. Was ‘easy listening pop’ a genre choice aimed at this?

A. As a visual art director, I simply asked for music that would bring out the refreshing and clean charm of ‘Breeze’ that sets them apart from other groups. I left the composing and recording entirely to producer Sungjun.

Q. Does that mean that the success of ‘Bright’ is thanks to Sung Jun?

A. If I had to give credit, I would say it’s half and half. (Laughs) Producer Sungjun recreated the image I drew into an amazing song. Oh, thinking about it, I think 60% of the credit goes to Producer Sungjun. He’s the most genius composer I’ve ever met.

At the end of the interview, there was praise for Sung Jun, also known as ‘Sungbaeji’, the composer of ‘Bright’, which caused a sensation in the music industry.

Thanks to this, after the article came out, inquiries about interviews with Sungjun also poured in.

This time, we are going to interview Sungjun as a ‘producer’ rather than as a ‘number one singer’.

The MXM Entertainment PR team has been very busy lately as calls from people looking for ‘Breeze’, ‘Shin Jin-hee’, and ‘Sung Jun’ have been pouring in all at once.

In the midst of all this, the head of the public relations team picked up the cell phone that was shaking nonstop.

Above the screen, the name of a reporter he is acquainted with floats.

Lee Jun-min, entertainment reporter for ‘The Star News’.

aka Scoop Hunter, a man called Gaeko.

And Lee Jun-min has been the first to promote Sung-jun, more than anyone else, and is known as a ‘Sung-jun fan’.

Even if it was not for other calls, the PR manager was more than happy to answer his calls.

When I picked up the phone, Lee Jun-min’s characteristically witty voice flowed out.

– Hello, team leader. You must be very busy these days.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m going to die.”

– When the Entersa PR team is busy, one of two things happens. Either someone causes a big accident, or someone hits the jackpot. But the team leader is more of the latter. Hehe.

“That’s right, I appreciate it. Hehe.”

Two people exchange laughter.

– Well, as you can probably guess, the reason I called you despite your busy schedule is because I wanted to ask if you could interview our ‘Seongbeoji.’

“Reporter, if it’s your request, I should grant it. But it’s difficult right now.”

– Did the interview order get pushed back a lot? It’s difficult… I guess it’s not the first interview…

Lee Jun-min extends the ending of his sentences.

The ‘···’ contained the hidden meaning, ‘You know I have to be the first interviewee for the sake of the article’s topicality and views, right? Since we’re close, just pull me up to the top.’

However, the answer that Lee Jun-min was expecting did not come back.

“Of course, our reporter Lee is always the top priority when it comes to interviews. He always writes many articles for which I am grateful. But the reason I mentioned for not being able to do interviews is not because of that. It’s because Sungjun is not in Korea right now.”

– You’re not in Korea?

Lee Jun-min’s voice strangely changes after hearing the PR team leader’s words.

A voice that smelled like something newsworthy.

The fact that he is not in Korea during the final stages of preparing a regular album means that he is away for work related to it or something similar to it.

– So where is Seongjun now?

*

At that moment,

The clear blue sky just above the clouds.

Seongjun, who was curious about Lee Junmin’s whereabouts, was on a plane to Washington, D.C.

‘Like Yuna said, I’m getting more and more used to airports and airplanes.’

Sungjun, now leaning back on his business class seat without feeling awkward, stretched out his legs and thought.

one side,

While the popularity of ‘Breeze’ was rapidly growing in the past week, Sungjun was filming the music video.

As this title song ‘Become I’ is an autobiographical song, the music video also contains his own narrative.

‘Thanks to that, I had a new feeling and was reminded of old memories while filming.’

As this music video was planned after much discussion with director Choi Seok-yong, the filming was as satisfactory as hoped.

By the time you arrive in the US, a rough cut of the music video that Choi Seok-yong of Wolcl has worked his magic on will have arrived.

While I was having such expectations, the lights in the cabin went out.

It’s a long journey to the United States, more than ten hours.

One by one, the passengers began to close their eyes and fall asleep to conserve energy for the long flight.

“Have a good night, brother.”

“Yeah, you too, Haesu. You worked hard.”

Oh Hae-soo, the manager who accompanied us on this trip to the US, seems to be tired and quickly falls asleep.

Seongjun also leaned back in his comfortable seat while wearing the eye mask provided in business class.

Did 10 minutes pass like that?

It was when silence fell on the plane and everyone was asleep.

Swish-

Seongjun, who I thought was asleep, quietly took off his blindfold.

And then Sungjun looks around like a meerkat.

‘Okay, everyone.’

Seongjun, who confirmed that there were no eyes on him, lifted his finger and touched the dark air.

Then, a holographic window appears that is visible only to Sungjun’s eyes.

[Guild level increased from 2 to 3.]

[The number of guild members that can be registered increases from 3 to 6.]

Thanks to Jin Ha-neul and Lee Ha-ru achieving the joint mission of ‘1st place on a music show’, they were able to level up by receiving 100 guild fame at once.

‘At the same time, the guild member garden has also been increased to 6!’

There were more updates following the level-up.

[Guild recruitable artists are unlocked.]

When the guild reaches level 3, the four ‘Subtle Girl’ members who were previously grayed out and inactive are now included in the list of available recruits, greatly increasing your options.

Seongjun, who was able to register three additional guild members, looks at the names on the list and becomes lost in thought.

At first, I thought about adding ‘Ain’ who participated in this album, but···.

‘No. First, registering the remaining ‘Breeze’ kids takes priority.’

When I pre-registered Jin Ha-neul and Lee Ha-ru, I somehow felt bad for the kids if I left out any of the other three.

[Eunhye Min (BLIZ) has been registered as a new guild member.]

[Alice (BLIZ) has been registered as a new guild member.]

[BLIZ has been registered as a new guild member.]

With this, all members of ‘Breeze’ have been registered as guild members.

After finishing adding guild members, new avatars of Eunhye Min, Alice, and Nangpyo appear in the guild background, the studio.

Then, an exclamation mark (!) appears above the head of the existing Jinhaneulga Lee Haru avatar.

Exclamation marks soon rose above the heads of the three new avatars, and the avatars who had been waving at each other gathered together.

Then a fun motion appeared.

When the avatars of the five members of ‘Breeze’ came together in one place, an interaction occurred where the exclamation marks changed into hearts.

And with this comes the message that comes to mind.

[Guild member combination set effect occurs.]

[In addition to the guild member individual missions, ‘Breeze’ group missions are opened.]

‘Oh, a group mission?! It’s not an individual mission, it’s an additional mission?!’

Seongjun covers his mouth.

I almost let out a gasp when I first saw the mission.

If that were the case, it would have been a huge nuisance on the plane while everyone was asleep.

Anyway, if you add a group mission to the individual missions of Seol Hye-yoon and the six Breeze members, the rewards you can obtain will increase.

After all, it was the right answer to first bring in the remaining Breeze members as guild members.

Next, we checked the main characteristics of the three people.

As expected, Eunhye Min was the ‘vocal’, Alice was the ‘visual [mixed race]’, and Nangpyo was the ‘timbre’.

Sungjun smiled as he thought that he would have to help her stand out in the future.

‘Okay, then what’s next?’

I closed the guild window and then opened the item window.

Eventually, what he summoned was a music box shaped like a gramophone.

And the wind-up was the reward that ‘Breeze’ got for achieving the mission to win first place on a music show.

‘Now, what kind of information can we get this time?’

With anticipation, I put the spring in the back of the music box and turned it.

however.

“···uh?”

Suddenly, my vision goes completely black.

A staff drawn on top like a highlighter.

That’s what appears whenever inspiration strikes.

Immediately afterwards, sinker bells appeared on five brightly shining lines.

Little fairies wearing musical note hats flapped their fairy wings and danced freely across the musical staff.

‘Cute guys… but why did they suddenly appear?’

This was the first time that the staff and sinkerbell appeared on their own without my conscious thought.

Suddenly, there was a time when I felt a sense of discomfort.

♪~ ♬~

A melody began to form in time with the movements of the sinkerbell.

The melodies they produced were each played by a different instrument.

And this melody was the sound of soft ‘stringed instruments’.

‘It doesn’t look like a guitar…. A harp? No, it’s a ‘lyre’!’

Seongjun, who has figured out the identity of the instrument, listens to the melody.

The melody that was heard digging into the ears was a melody that even Sungjun, who had studied a lot of music through [Encyclopedia of Popular Music], was hearing for the first time, but it was an extremely captivating melody.

It’s just like… heaven!

‘I want to hear more… more.’

It was at that moment when Sungjun, unknowingly drawn to the melody, was trying to focus a little more on the sound of the lyre.

♪~ ♬~ ♪♬♪♬♪♬♪♬♪♬♪♬?!!!!

The melody that had been flowing leisurely suddenly began to rush in like a torrent.

At the same time, the musical staff that had been decorating my eyes began to swirl and become tangled.

‘What the heck···!’

It was the first time I had experienced such a strange phenomenon.

Seongjun sensed something strange and tried to close his eyes and cover his ears, but his body did not move as he wanted.

And then, the melody pierced Sungjun’s eyes and ears.

‘Kwaaah!’

The melody that flowed in pushed Sungjun’s eyes and ears away and felt like it was trying to nestle in there.

A burning pain, or rather, a joy, enveloped Sungjun’s eyes.

The storm of unidentified melodies began to consume not only my sight and hearing, but also my mind.

‘Ahhh… I’m losing my mind…’

I’m getting more and more confused.

Seongjun clenched his teeth at the thought that if he let his guard down even for a moment, he might really lose his senses.

Sungjun opened his eyes wide, enduring the pain.

As tears flowed down his face, a music box came into his sight.

Kkirik kirik-

Just a moment ago, the spring he had wound was making a creaking sound.

And then soon.

Stop-

“···uh?”

As soon as the spring stops moving, the ‘sound’ that had driven Sungjun to the brink of madness disappears without a trace.

“······.”

And Seongjun just stood there blankly for a while.

It wasn’t for recovery from pain.

Just before the spring stops.

It was because of the whisper I heard softly in my ear.

that···

– You… aren’t crazy?

It was Orpheus’ last voice, mixed with laughter somewhere.