Chapter 1004: It Was Beautiful From Far Away.. (16)

Mask King Sun Wooju’s dramatic victory!

As the winner was decided, sighs and screams erupted everywhere.

“Ahhh, so close!”

“Honestly, I thought Ri Hyuk would win. But I never expected the vote gap to get that narrow...”

“Whew, my palms are sweating.”

A razor-thin difference of eight votes.

If just four audience members who voted for Seo Ri Hyuk had changed their minds and voted for Wooju instead, it really could have ended in a perfect fifty-fifty tie.

“I’m genuinely upset about thisㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ”

“The audience doesn’t know anythingㅠㅠ It should’ve gone 50-50 so we got a rematch”

“Ri Hyuk barely survived tooㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seriously, if he’d slipped up even a little, Korea’s Top Rapper Seo Ri Hyuk probably would’ve taken first place”

“Wooju threw a serious punch and Ri Hyuk just bulldozed through it with raw specsㅋㅋㅋ”

While comments full of regret and admiration flooded the chat—

the Crane mask on TV suddenly began removing the necklace around his neck.

“Huh?”

“Wait, that necklace is shaped like old coins?”

The Crane, dressed in scholar robes, lifted up a necklace strung with fake yeopjeon coins.

“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“So it was old coins all along??ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“That yeopjeon necklace is pissing me off visuallyㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“But why’d he take it off??”

As if answering the question, the Crane suddenly scampered forward in tiny hurried steps.

[Wooju hyung!]

[?]

[Please accept this necklace~!]

The slightly startled sunflower mask accepted the necklace.

The sight resembled a hip-hop audition show where a mentor personally places a winner’s necklace around the contestant’s neck, making viewers burst into laughter.

The Crane proudly reintroduced “Mask King Sun Wooju” to the audience.

[Everyone! This person is no longer merely Mask King Sun Wooju! From now on, he is Korea’s Top Rapper and Mask King Sun Wooju!]

The audience collapsed laughing.

As spectators shook back and forth clutching their stomachs, the Mission Singer live band suddenly launched into ceremonial music.

The electric-guitar rendition of Daechwita made viewers howl.

“Has Sun Wooju seriously lost his mindㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“Be honest, he came here just to put that necklace on himㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“I thought my bias was a heavenly idol, but apparently he’s just insane”

“The band members’ timing is incredibleㅋㅋㅋ”

Even viewers watching offline burst into laughter.

“He’s actually crazy~”

“So that’s why he came out. Just to stick the titles ‘Comedy King’ and ‘Hip-Hop King’ onto his own name.”

For some reason, it felt like Sun Wooju had somehow won regardless of the actual result.

The Crane happily bounced in place after gifting his own name both the Mask King title and the Korea’s Top Rapper title.

Then—

[Now it’s finally time to reveal their identity!]

The Crane turned around.

Viewers lounged around yawning or eating late-night snacks while staring at the screen.

[Please remove your mask and reveal your identity, Korea’s Top Rapper Seo Ri Hyuk!!]

The back of someone removing their mask appeared onscreen.

Hair soaked completely with sweat.

And the moment Wooju turned around—

that dazzling face greeted viewers directly.

“......”

“......”

Women holding spicy chicken feet while wearing plastic gloves dropped them onto the floor.

A cat lazily sitting atop a cat tower in someone’s house suddenly leapt down to stare at the TV.

Viewers sat there with mouths hanging open.

“Holy shit...”

The stunned muttering of a high school Souffle fan.

Normally her parents would’ve immediately scolded her for speaking like that, and her younger brother—who usually teased her nonstop whenever NewBlack came up—would’ve mocked her too.

But everyone was silent.

Because all they could do was stare blankly.

“Oh my...”

“Uh...”

The handsome idol brushed back sweat-soaked hair stuck to his forehead.

As he lightly shook his head, the droplets of sweat created the illusion of forming rainbows in the air.

Some viewers tilted their heads.

‘Am I the only one seeing this in slow motion...?’

The footage was clearly playing at normal speed, yet it somehow felt slow.

Sharp nose bridge.

Brightly shining eyes.

A slim jawline worthy of an actor.

And all of it combined into the overwhelmingly gorgeous face of an idol smiling mischievously while walking forward.

Gulp—

Viewers swallowed hard and began typing comments.

“I ended the wandering of my life today and finally found the place I belong. It was on top of that man’s nose bridge.”

“His visuals are brighter than my future..”

“But including personality, he probably drops to Rank 9 ideal type”

“[LIVE footage of Kim Biju infinitely screenshotting right now]”

The people who had been screaming “Wooju lostㅠㅠㅠ” moments earlier had completely vanished.

“Turns out picking Ri Hyuk was the correct choiceㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“The audience truly has refined ears ㅇㅈ”

“Wow, the audience gods really had a planㅋㅋㅋㅋ This foolish mortal failed to understand their great wisdom”

“Indeed, how could a sparrow understand the will of the great roc”

“Praise the audience gods”

Even the audience onsite could be seen murmuring in shock at the visuals.

Celebrity panelists burst out laughing.

[Wow. I’ve been doing this show for over a year now, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen the audience react like this.]

[Seriously... this is kind of shocking.]

[Look at the people who were crying because Wooju lost. They’re smiling now.]

Moments ago, those audience members had been sobbing over Wooju’s defeat.

Now they were covering their mouths and grinning brightly like puppies.

As viewers laughed knowingly—

Wooju, who had stunned everyone, lifted the microphone.

[Ehehe! I’m pretty, right? Kyaaaruruk!]

Viewers instantly lost all expression.

“That laugh just dropped my affection by -100”

“[Breaking News] My mom suddenly deadpanned: ‘Why does he keep forgetting he has that face?’ Dad replied: ‘A person needs at least one flaw.’”

“That weird laugh he occasionally does is strangely charmingㅋㅋㅋ The tone is fascinating”

“‘Occasionally’? Souffles hear it every single day..”

“The greatest comedian ever produced by Gunsan (fact)”

Then Wooju gave his thoughts.

He talked about how he had always practiced vocals diligently, wanted to receive recognition, wanted to test his singing ability, and more.

As viewers watched Wooju sincerely talking about all the hard work he had put in, with the sunflower mask beside him nodding along, they found themselves nodding too.

‘NewBlack has earned the right to say things like that.’

As Mission Singer became a sensation, many viewers had gone back to watch NewBlack’s old stages.

They had been good back then too.

But definitely not this good.

And now, four years after debut, they had returned with skills worthy of proudly calling themselves winners of a vocal competition program anywhere.

[...I think it took about four years to get here. From now on, I’ll continue polishing my skills and become a singer who moves people’s hearts even more.]

People smiled deeply at Wooju’s confident declaration, as though this was still only the beginning.

‘Yeah. This is it.’

‘Celebrities need this kind of obsession.’

On variety shows, he acted silly and ridiculous—

but when it came to his actual profession, he was serious and meticulous.

Exactly the kind of personality Koreans loved.

Of course, not everyone loved it.

“Ah, seriously...”

“Aaagh!”

Fellow idols felt like dying.

Inside dorms, overseas hotels, practice rooms, and everywhere else, other celebrities sighed deeply while listening to Wooju’s speech.

Inside Street Boys’ dorm, where dumbbells were scattered everywhere—

Hanjo sat on the sofa between members doing push-ups and laughed helplessly.

“How much farther is that guy trying to go, seriously...”

“It’s easier once you give up, hyung. Once you accept you can’t beat them, your heart becomes peaceful.”

“Huu...”

“We just have to beat them with muscles instead.”

‘We’re idols too...’

While Hanjo stared blankly into the distance amidst the exercising members—

Street Boys’ rapper Rex held up the Mango app.

“Hyung. I think our chart ranking’s dropping again.”

“I know. I KNOW...”

The popular idols currently watching TV all smiled with detached enlightenment.

‘How many spots are we dropping?’

‘Probably around three spots...?’

Last week alone, Sun Wooju’s competition songs had already pushed them down two ranks.

And while Street Boys checked the charts in their dorm—

the TNT members watching the live broadcast from a leather sofa inside TJ’s practice room reacted similarly.

“Huaa...”

“Another unavoidable storm approaches...”

Among them, main vocalist Shin Jooyoung calculated quietly in his head.

“Still, if we endure a few days, it should stabilize. Competition songs usually fall after about a week. Those songs hit so hard that they’re difficult to sustain long-term on streaming charts.”

“Hm... maybe.”

“Except for the song Ri Hyuk sang earlier, the others are a little difficult to loop repeatedly. They’re too much of masterpieces.”

The TNT members nodded.

Competition songs usually stabilized in the upper ranks rather than permanently dominating the very top.

Which meant they still had a chance.

After all, their latest public hit was still holding strong at the top.

“I don’t know.”

Han Taehyun rested his chin on his hand and spoke indifferently.

“I’m not convinced.”

“Same.”

While the younger members still looked uncertain unlike the older line—

Wooju suddenly picked up a guitar on TV.

“?”

“??”

An ominous feeling shot down their spines.

[Would you all like to hear a special song that can only be heard here today? Of course, only if you have time...]

Sun Wooju began strumming the guitar.

The delicate melody rang out, making the TNT members leap to their feet.

“STOP!”

“NOOOO—!”

“Please stop.”

The clear-eyed madman began playing guitar while calling Seo Ri Hyuk over.

Then the two singers’ special stage began.

Wooju grinned and winked.

[This song is called .]

The TNT members froze and looked at one another.

“Night Sea? You know it?”

“I do.”

Jang Hanbyeol spoke.

“That song, right? It got some attention back in 2014.”

“He sang it on the radio.”

“Oh, seriously?”

The TNT members forced awkward smiles.

“Well... that doesn’t necessarily mean the song itself is good—”

A beautiful low voice immediately flowed through the high-end television speakers.

If I wander through memories long faded,

the rusty gate sways like a tail.

When I carefully remove my shoes and cross the threshold,

I see your lap.

Plop—

The TNT members collapsed to the floor screaming.

“HEY! SUN WOOJU! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! SERIOUSLY!”

“Did you really... HAVE TO... TAKE EVERYTHING?!”

“Sunwoong hyung, leave. If you want to live.”

“Thank you...”

Night Sea had always been considered a masterpiece.

But it had never received attention on this scale before.

Now two king-level vocalists stood shoulder-to-shoulder on a variety program currently pulling over twenty percent real-time ratings.

And the moment they heard the Night Sea stage—

every singer instinctively realized it.

‘It’s about to reverse-chart.’

And that was exactly what happened.

[Mango Real-Time Chart]

#1. Wooju & Ri Hyuk — Night Sea (Original Ver)

Following the fireworks reversal of 2016—

the Night Sea reversal of 2018 had officially begun.

And the singers’ reactions to all this could be summarized perfectly by one group of handsome boys.

“We are genuinely fucked...”

“We’re not exactly some weak group either. How many activities are those hyungs even running at once?”

“You just have to accept it now. Being fucked is our permanent state.”

The six handsome boys quietly chewed snacks with tragic expressions.

To summarize yesterday’s Mission Singer in one sentence:

“I came, I saw, I conquered!”

And now those glorious results came crashing toward us.

First—

the ratings!

“‘Mission Singer’ Hits Again Thanks to NewBlack — Peak Ratings Surpass 23%, Highest Moment Belongs to ‘Mask King Sun Wooju’ Stage”

Peak ratings had reached an unbelievable twenty-three percent.

Absolutely monstrous numbers.

Even the production staff looked wildly excited.

Ri Hyuk [What is this.]

Ri Hyuk [Why is there a chocolate fountain in the waiting room?]

Ri Hyuk, who had gone to the station for another Mission Singer recording, sent us photos.

Apparently the production staff had prepared small catering gifts as thanks.

“TBC is seriously ecstatic right now.”

“Really?”

We got the behind-the-scenes story from Seokhwan hyung.

“Originally things were a little tense between us and TBC, right? Since Producer Gu Jaeyoung transferred over to our side.”

“Right.”

“They were still kinda bitter about it, but I think this completely smoothed things over. They’re already asking if you and Ri Hyuk can do a special year-end stage together. I’ve never seen a broadcasting station this desperate.”

Adjusting his glasses, the Math Ghost grinned while showing me piles of proposals and casting offers.

“And it’s not just TBC. These are all from other stations too.”

“Whoa...”

There were offers asking if we’d appear as panelists on famous competition programs.

Others asked whether we were interested in returning to Masterpiece Group as guests.

They were offers that naturally brought smiles to our faces.

It really was enough to be called “the rediscovery of NewBlack’s vocals.”

“What do you think?”

Seokhwan hyung asked.

“Interested?”

“No.”

Maybe we’d appear briefly on shows we already had connections with, like Masterpiece Group, for a celebratory stage or something.

But—

“It’s best to leave right after hitting your peak.”

“True.”

The evaluation of our vocals had already risen as high as possible.

Just like Jiho said, now all we had to do was stay still and maintain the image of being king-level vocalists.

“Maybe again a few years from now. But for now, I think this is the perfect place to wrap up the whole vocal storyline.”

“Got it. I’ll tie things up cleanly.”

The fact that multiple broadcasting stations were desperately sending us love calls showed just how nationwide yesterday’s Mission Singer craze had become.

Even acquaintances too busy to usually monitor our appearances had suddenly started flooding us with messages.

Though I had no idea why so many of them were opening conversations by cursing at us.

Probably because of Night Sea climbing the charts.

“Hyung! Night Sea hit number one!”

“Kyaaaruruk!”

The members and I danced happily as Night Sea reached #1 on Mango and created another reverse-chart miracle.

Jiho spoke.

“Wow, there really must’ve been insane attention yesterday. Hyung, did you see this?”

“What?”

“Apparently even Japanese TV programs talked about Mission Singer.”

“Seriously? In Japan...?”

Jiho showed me his phone.

Celebrity panelists were currently watching my Round 2 youth-rock performance of I’ll Sing It For You.

A music critic wearing a fedora stroked his beard thoughtfully.

[It’s certain. It strongly carries the atmosphere of J-Pop. In his rock vocals, you can hear a singing style similar to Japanese band vocalists.]

[You’re right!]

[It’s exactly the kind of vocal style you hear from young Japanese singer-songwriters.]

The music critic spoke with complete confidence.

[And... watching Wooju’s gestures and movements, it almost feels like watching Sakaguchi Ryohei himself. You can really tell he studied Sakaguchi-san’s performances intensely.]

[Definitely! If Sakaguchi Ryohei had existed in the Heisei era, it probably would’ve looked exactly like this!]

I blinked at the comparison to a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter.

“Uh...”

Technically, it was praise.

But—

“That wasn’t even remotely my reference...”

The way they talked as though singer-songwriters only existed in Japan left me slightly bewildered.

I did one rock stage and suddenly it became, Ah yes, the spirit of J-Pop bands...!

They were even freeze-framing my guitar-playing motions and analyzing them compared to famous musicians.

“No... when you wear thick stage outfits and play guitar, everyone’s hands end up looking like that.”

“My similarity with hyung: we’re both human. It’s that kind of comparison.”

Junghyun’s comment made me burst out laughing.

Then I smiled warmly.

“Well, it happens.”

I decided to simply take it as proof that Korean reactions had become big enough to draw overseas attention.

Anyway—

while enjoying the various reactions pouring in from chart rankings, MyTube videos, portal casts, and more—

“I’m back.”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAH—!”

We welcomed back our main vocalist, who had just finished filming the third round of Mission Singer.

As we waved banners enthusiastically, his cat-like eyes curved upward and the corners of his lips twitched.

“Good work.”

Biju brought out a special dessert he had made for Ri Hyuk.

Junghyun massaged Ri Hyuk’s feet.

Jiho did absolutely nothing.

And I showed warm concern.

“How was it??”

Seeing us stare at him with sparkling eyes, Ri Hyuk turned his head slightly before grinning.

A satisfied smile spread across his sharp jawline.

“Well... I became Mask King again today.”

“WAAAAAAAH!”

“That’s our pride and joy of the New씨 clan!”

We showered our beloved third-born with praise when—

Ri Hyuk suddenly said,

“But...”

“?”

“I keep getting this weird feeling.”

“What kind of feeling...?”

Ri Hyuk frowned slightly as though something bothered him.

“I feel like this might be my last win. It feels like the contestants are getting stronger and stronger... and I’ve got a bad feeling I’m going to meet someone insanely strong next round.”

“Isn’t that just your imagination?”

“I was gonna ask Junghyun hyung for a prediction or something... no, never mind. That’d just make me anxious.”

I patted his shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry.”

“Why?”

“Because no matter who appears, you’ll win. After all, you’re Seo Ri Hyuk, the light and salt of NewBlack’s vocals...!”

After delivering that cringe-inducing line and dramatically turning my head aside, Ri Hyuk coughed awkwardly while smiling in satisfaction.

“Well... obviously.”

“Kyaaruk!”

“Hahahahaha!”

While the youngest member stared at us with an expression that clearly said These hyungs are so embarrassing and immature—

I asked,

“Oh right. Will your voice be okay for tomorrow?”

“Totally fine.”

Ri Hyuk smiled and nodded.

Tomorrow was the final day of Souffle Week.

And we had prepared a very special piece of content for Souffle.

#1 in buzz.

#1 in views.

Blood pressure maxed out among antis.

Thanks to their biases achieving legendary success through Mission Singer, Souffle fans floated around in blissful happiness.

‘As expected, idols are coolest when they’re doing their actual job...’

‘Our boys sing so well~ Hehe.’

Then—

‘?’

‘??’

A new piece of content suddenly appeared for Souffles and NewBlack TV subscribers alike.

A livestream notification.

[* LIVE] Who Is NewBlack’s Strongest Vocalist?!

Inside Lemon Entertainment, employees clapped as audience members while the five-member group performed the Uncle Rabbit dance, tempting viewers to hurry in and join.

“!”

“!!”

The effect was overwhelming.