Chapter 1075: Overcooked (28)

The next day.

Just as everyone had expected, the American internet burst into flames.

[And now for our next story.]

[Grammy-winning country musician Beau Riley has sparked controversy after wearing a MAGA hat during Supernova Dodgeball.]

The country musician had dropped a nuclear bomb.

American netizens immediately began tearing each other apart.

I was watching live and thought my eyes were broken.

Not just Beau Riley. Here's a list of every celebrity who supports MAGA // Please boycott all of them.

This is why you can't trust celebrity images. What's the point of all that charity work?

FACT: Beau Riley only volunteered in poor white communities. He's never once visited areas where Black or Hispanic people live.

Racists should have their Grammys revoked.

Those condemning him.

If Beau Riley had made a statement supporting LGBT rights, would people be reacting like this? America's political landscape on social media is completely unfair.

Nobody complains when celebrities randomly start talking about environmental issues at the Academy Awards, so why is this different?? That's also a "personal opinion," isn't it? Since when did this country become a breeding ground for fascism?

There's nothing wrong with what he said. The second he put on that hat, celebrities started walking out. They're trying to destroy someone simply because they disagree with him.

Beau, we're supporting your lonely fight.

And those defending him.

"MAGA is unacceptable! Fascist bastards!"

"That's his personal opinion!"

The two sides battled endlessly.

News networks brought in commentators and panelists to defend or criticize his remarks.

Morning talk shows discussed the incident and offered their own opinions.

But among ordinary people, the overall reaction was surprisingly consistent.

[Poll: What do you think of Beau Riley's statement during Supernova Dodgeball?]

71.5% — Inappropriate

21.3% — Appropriate

7.2% — Not sure

Even people who understood his position generally felt that the setting had been inappropriate.

"Why would he say that there?"

"Exactly."

Many couldn't understand why he would suddenly start talking about domestic American politics while standing beside Canadians.

If Haley Blue had randomly started discussing Canadian politics on stage, Americans would have been equally confused.

"What is wrong with that guy?"

That was the general level of outrage.

Online, celebrities publicly announced their opposition, unfollowed colleagues who supported him, and supporters from both sides flooded celebrity social media accounts.

Offline, however, most people simply shrugged.

"Celebrities are weird."

And moved on.

If you worry about every little thing, life gets exhausting.

Because of that, most ordinary people focused on the positive stories coming out of Supernova Dodgeball.

After all, what had been the point of the event in the first place?

To inject a little excitement into everyday life.

"Did you watch Supernova Dodgeball yesterday?"

"Yeah. It was amazing."

Groups of friends spending the weekend together enthusiastically discussed the event.

And naturally, the center of attention was NewBlack.

"Did you see this one?"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Everyone burst out laughing at the endless compilation clips that had turned Wooju into the Ball Hunter meme.

"That guy's actually incredible at sports. How did someone built like that hold his own against a guy like Lenny Jones?"

"He retired from the NBA thirty years ago. He looked like somebody's grandpa."

"He was hot."

"Lenny Jones?"

"No! Not the grandpa! Sun! Sun!"

Stories about Wooju and Junghyun's incredible dodgeball performance spread everywhere.

North American viewership alone had reached fifty-three million.

Nearly fifteen percent of the continent had watched the broadcast live.

Which meant that once reruns and clips were included, nearly half the population was aware of it.

Th-This is insane!

Souffles wandering around online stared with their mouths hanging open.

Real-time rankings across multiple music platforms.

[Real-Time Rankings]

#1 Overcooked — The New Black

#2 Getaway — Haley Blue

#4 Hillbilly Road — Beau Riley

#5 Like The Sun (Sun ver.)

#6 All I Want — Moonlight

The ranking itself wasn't drastically different.

The biggest change was that Moonlight's new song, previously sitting at #2, had dropped because of the Supernova Dodgeball aftereffects.

But the actual numbers were completely different.

These trends are insane.

Is this real?

Like The Sun, which had been sitting far down the charts, had suddenly rocketed into the top ranks.

Meanwhile, Overcooked was posting numbers that looked almost unreal.

The battle for first place is definitely over.

No matter how much streaming Moonlight's fandom did, they couldn't close the gap anymore.

That alone showed how enormous the event's impact had been.

Guys, shouldn't we just start calling this the Super (nova Dodge) Ball?

People joked that the event had reached Super Bowl levels of attention.

And honestly, it wasn't far off.

The Super Bowl averaged around a hundred million viewers.

Supernova Dodgeball had attracted roughly half that.

The level of discussion was absolutely absurd.

Every news outlet seemed to be praising NewBlack's performance.

"A Fresh and Unique Stage: A Musical Genius Reveals His Own Artistic Universe"

"9 Out of 10. The Missing Point Is Because I'm Certain They'll Deliver Something Even Better Next Time."

"A Message of Racial Harmony Expressed Through Cooking"

Not just major newspapers.

Hollywood media outlets everywhere were praising them as well.

NewBlack's total streaming numbers increase by 1,087%.

"Huh? Why is a one percent increase making headlines—"

"...WAIT."

"???"

Not 1.087%.

One thousand eighty-seven percent.

Their streams had increased more than tenfold after Supernova Dodgeball.

NewBlack's performance surpasses 30 million views on MyTube within twelve hours.

News continued arriving that made Souffles wonder whether they were being pranked.

At the same time, it made sense.

Their singers, drenched in sweat while performing Overcooked and singing about shining suns.

Even without fan bias, it was genuinely one of the best performances of the past several years.

Souffles replayed the performance endlessly, unable to get it out of their heads.

Every social media refresh brought another wave of ordinary viewers shouting,

"Wooooow!"

And they enjoyed every second of it.

Then—

A gloomy aura appeared in one corner of social media.

Hm? What's going on over there?

It was Sunshine.

Moonlight's fandom.

They were trying their best to chat among themselves.

"The boys looked amazing yesterday!"

"Seriously, their visuals were insane!"

But they couldn't hide the depression.

Even they knew this battle had ended in complete defeat.

A remake of one of the biggest hits of the 2000s.

Massive fandom support.

An overwhelming promotional campaign.

They had entered the fight with every possible advantage.

And still lost to NewBlack.

There was no reason to believe future victories would come easily.

In terms of North American fandom size, Moonlight was still close enough to threaten NewBlack.

But when it came to the general public?

The result had been a complete loss.

While Moonlight fans sat in collective despair—

"Hm?"

"Huh?"

One particular fandom stood out.

Colin Evans' fandom.

Unlike everyone else, they looked positively delighted.

Souffles immediately understood.

Is it because of the dating rumor?

After the after-party, paparazzi had photographed Colin Evans walking arm-in-arm with rising British singer-songwriter Kelly Nelson.

There was even a blurry photo of the two kissing inside a car.

"Colin Evans and Kelly Nelson Spotted in a Romantic Moment"

The dating rumor had generated quite a bit of attention for Colin.

Meanwhile, Korean Souffles were staring at the news in disbelief.

He hasn't even been debuted for six months and he's already in a dating scandal??? Is that even possible?

After looking it up, they discovered that several members already had girlfriends.

The Souffles blinked.

...And nobody cares?

Not only did nobody care.

Colin Evans' fandom was celebrating.

The North American Souffles explained.

It isn't that nobody cares!

Usually if celebrities date unknown people, fans go to the girlfriend's Instagram and send death threats.

This time the girlfriend is too famous for that.

The girlfriend in question was a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter.

That apparently changed everything.

So Colin's fans continued screaming with excitement.

And if they had stopped there, Souffles probably would have simply wished them happiness and moved on.

Unfortunately, subtlety wasn't exactly their strong suit.

Wow! Isn't this Kelly Nelson's first celebrity relationship? Colin must be incredibly charming!

That's our hot guy!

Colin always reminds me of a high-school movie protagonist.

And then they started posting comparison images.

A photo of Sun Wooju having a friendly conversation with Kelly Nelson.

Next to a photo of Kelly Nelson kissing Colin.

Doesn't this look exactly like a teen movie?

The supporting character whose crush goes nowhere vs. the real romantic lead.

Posts portraying Wooju as the handsome but ultimately rejected guy.

The attractive but charm-less Asian heartthrob.

The one who loses to the charismatic white protagonist in the end.

People soothing their inferiority complex from Supernova Dodgeball with a different form of superiority.

These bastards...

The North American Souffles were seconds away from exploding.

Just as Colin Evans' fandom continued congratulating itself—

Flash.

A post from a Korean account appeared.

Colin's fans immediately paid attention.

"...?"

"...??"

Because it was the same account that had previously posted:

"Your favorite is objectively less attractive."

The post began.

First, I'd like to congratulate Moonlight's fandom.

In Korea, we have a saying: "The destined winner always wins."

No matter how hard others try, some people are simply meant to claim victory.

It's the perfect phrase for a situation like this.

Colin Evans' fandom nodded.

Makes sense.

Reasonable.

Then they read the next line.

For example, someone who gets hit in the crotch and still ends up getting a girlfriend.

"...!"

"...!!"

The flawless syllogism returned.

And Colin Evans' fandom immediately lost its mind.

The following afternoon.

All of us woke up late.

"Uuuugh..."

"Huuuuu..."

Ri Hyuk and I, sharing a room, performed a duet of suffering.

"Ri Hyuk."

"Whyyyy..."

"Pass me some water."

"Get it yourself..."

After dodgeball, a performance, and an after-party, my head felt like it was splitting apart.

Rolling off the bed, I grabbed a bottle of water and took a long drink.

Then I handed it to Ri Hyuk.

A goldfish-shaped monster hiding beneath a blanket extended one arm.

"You didn't drink from it, right?"

"I didn't."

"Good."

He accepted the bottle while clicking his tongue.

Then I collapsed back onto the bed.

The creature absorbed water while curled into a ball.

"You know, I didn't realize it yesterday because I was excited, but I think it hit me harder than I expected."

"Honestly, I could handle everything except the party."

"I completely agree."

Oddly enough, the most exhausting part of the day hadn't been the game or the performance.

It had been the party.

Standing around in tuxedos all night was physically tiring.

But the mental exhaustion was even worse.

American networking culture made Korea's look tame by comparison.

Conversations had been nonstop.

If the event hadn't been hosted by the First Ladies, every one of us would have skipped it.

"At least we got a lot of contacts."

"True."

Collecting the phone numbers of major American and Canadian celebrities was valuable in itself.

One thing I'd learned after coming here:

Connections mattered.

Supernova Dodgeball itself had only happened because of relationships with people like Haley Blue and Cold Brown.

Even the event's director had known Kim Bora from Sound of the Sun, which made communication easier.

"This time..."

Ri Hyuk started speaking.

Then—

Click.

The door opened.

"The adorable youngest member... has arrived..."

Wearing a chick-themed hoodie, Jiho shuffled inside and immediately collapsed onto Ri Hyuk's bed.

"Go lie on your own bed!"

"Why? It's my choice."

"Seriously..."

"I was lonely in my room."

Watching Jiho flail his arms like he was making a snow angel while Ri Hyuk argued with him made me laugh.

Soon Junghyun and Biju entered as well.

Their hair was sticking up everywhere.

Junghyun dramatically yanked the curtains open while imitating a high-school homeroom teacher.

"Are you children of darkness?"

"Kyaaaah!"

"Proper vegetables require sunlight."

We writhed like undead monsters being purified.

Meanwhile, Ri Hyuk instinctively picked up the phone.

To order room service.

Brunch hours had already ended.

It was time for lunch.

While waiting for food, we gathered around a table with dead-fish eyes and checked our phones.

"Wooooow..."

The number of mentions was impossible to keep up with.

News.

Social media.

MyTube.

Everywhere people were talking about our performance.

Biju smiled.

"It actually happened."

"Yeah."

"It really happened."

Overcooked's music video had started climbing again.

Streams were skyrocketing.

Even the hotel employee delivering lunch arrived with shining eyes.

"I loved yesterday's show."

"See?"

Our TF team leader entered through the open door.

"The reaction's crazy, isn't it?"

"...It feels like someone's pulling a prank on me."

"You earned it."

Seokhwan hyung grinned and sat down while we continued eating.

"I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"We have bad news?"

Jiho's eyes widened.

Seokhwan hyung waved his hand.

"Technically it's good news too."

"Then good news first."

While we diligently cut into our New York steaks, Seokhwan hyung smiled.

"You've been invited to perform on SNL."

"...!"

"...!!"

Junghyun whispered,

"That's really good, right?"

"It probably is."

Only Ri Hyuk reacted with genuine shock, lowering his knife.

The rest of us looked moderately surprised.

"D'Angelo completely lost his mind. Getting invited at all is difficult. Being invited for the season premiere is a huge deal."

"How big are we talking?"

"Think of it like promoting on Mission Singer or Living Together."

"...Ah."

Now it clicked.

"Not a perfect comparison, but that's the level."

"When's the premiere?"

"September 29. And if things go well, you might even appear in a few sketches."

One of America's most famous programs.

And they wanted NewBlack as the musical guest for the season premiere.

It still felt unreal.

"Besides that, there are way too many schedules coming in. Interviews, TV talk shows... honestly, I only came to discuss SNL because it's the most urgent."

We stared.

More major opportunities were arriving in real time.

"Yesterday's impact must've been huge."

"Looks that way."

While reviewing the constantly updating list, Biju asked:

"So what's the bad news?"

"It's not really bad news. It's just that your performance became such a huge topic that everyone started adding their opinions."

"That happened."

"Just like in Korea. Whenever something becomes hot, people start commenting from every direction."

He showed us several articles.

Hardline Vegetarians Harshly Criticize NewBlack's Performance

"...Why?"

"The dancers' costumes."

"The vegetable costumes?"

"They're upset because there were food items like sausages mixed in."

"...?"

"They think the performance promoted meat consumption."

"...??"

"Apparently."

"Ah."

Then came another article.

A conservative Southern pastor stood at a podium, gesturing angrily.

Pastor Jim Stevens Publicly Criticizes NewBlack Leader Sun

"Wow. He looks angry just from the photo."

"He does, doesn't he?"

For some reason it all felt strangely distant.

While we chewed steak, Seokhwan hyung explained.

"Yesterday, during Like The Sun, you talked about how stars are formed."

"Right. Dust gathers together and becomes a star."

"He says stars were created by God and demands that you retract the statement."

We slowly turned toward Ri Hyuk.

The translator read aloud.

"Pastor Jim Stevens states that NewBlack's Sun is merely expressing a personal opinion regarding the birth of stars. Divine providence cannot be explained through something called science..."

"Hoooo..."

"Calm down, pirarucu."

"He's calling science a personal opinion!"

Steam practically erupted from Ri Hyuk's ears.

Before he could explode completely, Seokhwan hyung showed him Twitter posts from scientific institutions.

"So scientists publicly supported you."

"...!"

Even Nobel Prize-winning scientists were among them.

Ri Hyuk's lips immediately twitched upward.

Scientists jokingly posted things like:

"We support NewBlack's theory over Pastor Stevens' theory."

While we enjoyed the chaotic spectacle that was America—

"And finally, the last one."

Seokhwan hyung turned serious.

"This one involves you, Wooju."

"Me?"

"It's proof that Overcooked is a genuine megahit."

"And it's also something you've been waiting for."

He rotated the tablet toward me.

The moment I saw the article—

"...!"

My eyes widened.

"No way...!"

A scene I'd dreamed about my entire life was right in front of me.

Los Angeles District Court.

A casually dressed man stood before a crowd of reporters.

Click. Click. Click.

Cameras flashed.

A reporter asked:

"So you're claiming that Overcooked, which Sunny says he personally wrote, was actually plagiarized from your work?"

"That's correct."

"And your evidence?"

"It's right here."

The man confidently pointed to his own head.

"The song that was in my mind was stolen by him."

"...!"

The legendary accusation that supposedly appeared whenever a truly great creative work was born.

A plagiarism claim originating entirely from someone's imagination.

Meanwhile, far away in New York, someone was desperately covering his mouth.

Kya-ha-ha! Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Item number seventeen on Sun Wooju's lifelong bucket list.

And undeniable proof that Overcooked had gone beyond a mere hit and become a full-blown phenomenon in North America.