Chapter 966: I Am the King of Singers, But...? (1)

Once babies found something they liked, they played it on an infinite loop.

But children were still human, and eventually there came a point where they got tired of it.

"Bunny... bunny...."

"Uncle... waaah...."

Even while replaying endlessly, there inevitably came a moment when watching the same video hundreds of times started to lose its charm.

And every time that happened, parents felt their hearts drop.

'At this rate, they're going to ask us to play Uncle Rabbit with them.'

'What if they start asking me to sing it instead?'

Once the MyTube videos stopped being entertaining, who would the children torment instead?

Their moms and dads.

To avoid that dreadful fate, parents desperately worked to maintain Uncle Rabbit's appeal.

Thankfully, the method wasn't difficult.

"Want to watch Uncle Rabbit's stage performance?"

"Yeah!"

Because there were NewBlack stage videos from music shows.

The moment they played footage of handsome men dancing around with animal headbands on, the kids were instantly hooked again.

'Rabbit... uncle...!'

The children immediately returned to their original orbit.

"Rabbit! Uncle! We love you!"

"Hop hop bunny dance!"

And so, among parents, there was an unspoken routine.

They would play the music video, then an Uncle Rabbit music show performance, then cycle back to the music video again.

A carefully engineered rotation system.

Thanks to that, there wasn't a single child left who didn't know NewBlack's faces.

"He's the supermarket uncle, but also the animal uncle!"

"Turns out he was Uncle Rabbit's subordinate all along!"

The children's internal lore had become slightly confused, but somehow everything had already been neatly organized inside their tiny heads.

Because NewBlack themselves had explained the lore directly.

[La la la la! Actually, the supermarket uncles here are all Uncle Rabbit's subordinates!]

And once the lore had been settled, the children continued their fangirling in peace.

Infinite repeat.

Then infinite repeat again.

In a way, they were a fandom that saw NewBlack's faces even more often than Souffle did.

"Hmm...."

From that perspective, five year old Hani, who was currently riding the elevator, possessed sharper instincts than anyone else.

'I've seen them.'

A slender figure dressed entirely in black and another person who somehow looked unfamiliar yet strangely recognizable.

Hani's eyes widened.

"Daddy."

"Hm?"

The child pointed at NewBlack.

"Kitty uncle and bunny uncle are here."

"!"

"!!"

While the two NewBlack members froze solid, the other people in the elevator tilted their heads.

'If it's kitty, then that's Ri Hyuk... and bunny is Wooju?'

The child's father, Jung Mincheol, a PD from the cultural programming department, smiled as he turned around.

"Where would NewBlack even be he—"

His eyes met the two people standing in the corner.

"T-They're here!?"

"They're really here!"

The staff members erupted in excitement.

Working at a broadcasting station only slightly increased the odds of encountering NewBlack. It didn't mean every employee actually got the chance to see global stars in person.

Soon, the two members removed their masks and greeted everyone.

"Hello."

"Oh my goodness...."

While the broadcasting staff covered their mouths in shock, the two members greeted the child.

"Hi~"

"What's your name?"

"Jung Hani."

The supermarket uncles she had only ever seen through TV and phone screens were greeting her in person, and somehow that made the child feel shy.

The little girl's eyes scanned their faces.

Jawlines smoother than a playground slide.

Eyes sparkling like dew resting on leaves.

Even their noses looked so perfect she felt like sneaking over to touch them while they slept.

"Uncles!"

If they were handsome, they were uncles.

"That's right, we're the supermarket uncles."

"Rabbit uncle, where did the real Rabbit Uncle go?"

"He went to meet the children in America."

"Ah...."

The child was happily basking in the kindness of the two members when—

'Hm?'

Hani tilted her head after looking at her father and the surrounding adults.

Their reactions resembled the way her dad acted whenever he met someone named Director Kook.

"Director Kook. Hello, sir."

"Oh, right. Hello."

'But they're just supermarket uncles?'

While the broadcasting station employees stiffened nervously at the sight of these VIPs, only the child looked confused.

Ding—

The elevator had reached the top floor.

And then someone stepped inside.

"Oh my, what is all this?"

Everyone greeted the middle aged man who entered wearing a casual button up shirt.

'Director Kook!'

It was the Director of TBC's cultural programming division, the highest authority in the department.

At that moment, the eyes of the director and the two NewBlack members met.

"Hello, Director."

"!"

The supermarket uncle had definitely greeted him politely, but suddenly Director Kook clasped both hands together respectfully.

A brand new relationship chart engraved itself inside Hani's head.

[Uncle Rabbit > Supermarket Uncles >>> Director Kook > Daddy]

Just as a world setting was being formed inside one child's head where Daddy ranked as the tiny, adorable weakest character—

"Are all of you staff members by any chance?"

"Y-Yes, we are...."

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you come with us for a moment? We currently need to keep something secret...."

"? "

The broadcasting staff blinked.

TBC production office.

"PD."

"Yeah?"

"I got a message from Ri Hyuk. Apparently their identities were exposed in the elevator."

"Exposed? How?"

Before leaving, the members had sent photos asking, 'Would this disguise work?', and the production staff had clapped in delight, saying it looked perfect.

"That wasn't a face people should've been able to recognize."

"According to him, an estimated five year old girl identified the physical characteristics of the two members...."

"Why are you suddenly talking like that?"

"Oh, I was reading it exactly how Ri Hyuk wrote it. He wrote it like some kind of police incident report."

PD Park Yeonhee burst out laughing after reading Ri Hyuk's message.

'The kid recognized them!'

The writer in charge of NewBlack asked,

"What should we do?"

"They're all employees, right? If nobody's too busy, ask them to stop by our office for a bit."

It probably wasn't necessary to make them sign confidentiality agreements like audience members, but they should at least explain the situation.

Since they were all coworkers, lengthy explanations probably wouldn't be needed.

That was what she thought while preparing to receive the NewBlack members.

Shuffle—

The group arrived at the entertainment division floor and followed the disguised NewBlack members into the office.

"? "

"??"

The production staff blinked in surprise at the unexpectedly large number of people.

Then their eyes landed on the warm looking middle aged man standing among them, and they nearly looked ready to faint.

'Why is the Director of Cultural Programming here...?'

The man politely following NewBlack into the room.

The production staff and NewBlack exchanged glances.

'You told us to bring everyone....'

'No, I mean....'

They had literally brought everyone.

And somehow that wasn't the strange part.

Normally, hearing that an idol group had dragged along a department director would sound bizarre.

But because it was NewBlack, it somehow felt believable.

While the head writer handed out small gifts to the employees and explained the situation—

The PD in charge approached the Cultural Programming Director, who was personally filling out a confidentiality agreement on A4 paper.

"Director, why are you...?"

"It looked fun, so I came. They said I didn't need to, but...."

The director glanced sideways at Ri Hyuk from afar.

"I figured Ri Hyuk would probably like this."

That was true.

Even though nobody had asked him to, the director enthusiastically volunteered to fill out the confidentiality form, and Ri Hyuk was clearly looking at him with increasing fondness.

PD Park Yeonhee tilted her head.

'But why does the cultural programming division want NewBlack's favor...?'

If it were the entertainment division, it would make sense. They had a lot riding on it.

But the cultural division...?

'It's not like they really have anything tied to NewBlack, do they?'

That was when the director whispered,

"PD Park."

"Yes?"

"Do you happen to know what NewBlack likes?"

"? "

"Next year is NewBlack's fifth anniversary, right? There's a chance we could film a fifth anniversary documentary. How did your team persuade them?"

The Cultural Programming Director was clearly eyeing a special documentary project.

"We've got a lot riding on this too. Uncle Rabbit is exploding in popularity right now, and we've got children's programs, Korean language quiz shows, and...."

"......."

"I heard H Company's parenting variety show hit record ratings too. If our cultural division could just produce one program with NewBlack...."

Ambition blazed across his warm, gentle face.

Watching the director diligently handwrite his confidentiality agreement, PD Park smiled warmly.

'So this is why he's a director.'

She realized not just anyone could become a department head.

The secret was safely protected.

"Thank you so much."

"Oh, it's nothing. Haha, if you ever have time, please stop by our cultural programming division too."

The director even handed over his business card and invited them to visit despite his busy schedule.

After taking photos with the broadcasting station employees and providing plenty of fan service, the two members crouched down in front of the most dangerous variable in the room.

Five year old Hani.

"Can you make a promise with us, Hani? You'll keep what you saw today a secret."

"Okay."

"And if you can hold it in for just seven nights starting today...."

"If I do?"

"We'll ask Uncle Rabbit to send you a special message. Can you keep your promise with us?"

The child's eyes widened.

"But how would Uncle Rabbit know if I broke the promise?"

"See Uncle Rabbit's ears?"

"Yeah."

"Those long ears can hear children's hearts going beep beep beep. He's basically on Santa Claus level."

The child nodded solemnly as if telling them to trust her completely.

Soon, the little girl disappeared while being carried in her father's arms, and the members waved goodbye as well.

"...Wait, did she come here with her dad?"

They'd forgotten to ask.

While wondering why there was a child at the broadcasting station, Ri Hyuk answered,

"I think she goes to the daycare here. Broadcasting stations have daycare centers."

"Really?"

"If a company has more than five hundred full time employees, they're legally required to operate one."

A company daycare.

Thinking that sounded like a great welfare benefit, something suddenly crossed Wooju's mind.

"It'd be nice if Lemon had a daycare too."

"...Oh? That's actually not bad."

Lemon Daycare.

A place that would probably become the greatest daycare center in the nation, where the original Uncle Rabbit occasionally appeared to perform live.

Then—

"But we don't have the space...."

"Yeah, we really don't."

Lemon Entertainment didn't have enough employees yet, and there wasn't any extra room in the building either.

Which meant if they really wanted a daycare—

"The only answer is growing the company bigger."

"Let's work hard."

Until Lemon Entertainment became large enough to build a daycare center....

They quietly engraved that goal into their hearts.

That was when—

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

PD Park Yeonhee, the director of , approached alongside their assigned writer.

"I ended up talking with the director for a while."

"No, not at all. If anything, we caused extra trouble for everyone...."

"It couldn't be helped. A kid recognized you."

Even thinking back on it now made them laugh.

As everyone gathered around the table prepared in the production office, PD Park spoke.

"I know it's inconvenient hiding your identities, but please bear with it just until next week's first broadcast episode airs."

"Understood."

"After that, you won't really need to be overly careful anymore. We just want the surprise reveal for the first episode. You know how our program works, right?"

The members nodded.

-TBC Mission Singer.

A competition program where singers concealed their identities and fought solely through skill.

However, the core identity of this show wasn't really 'Who is this singer?'

Instead, it leaned more toward the concept of singers performing through alternate personas.

They would promote themselves with identities separate from their real selves, and viewers would cheer for those personas.

Because of that, there wasn't much need to seriously hide their identities, so stage names usually leaned heavily into 'Please recognize who I am~' territory.

-Sad Yoonlieri.

For example, that had been the nickname used by Yoon Chanhyuk, a ballad singer from their company, during his six win streak.

Apparently it came from the role of Salieri that he had played in the musical .

Anyone familiar with musicals could immediately tell, 'That's Yoon Chanhyuk!'

At that point, someone might ask what made this different from simply revealing identities outright in a regular survival show.

But according to senior singers—

-"It feels mentally easier. Even if you lose, it feels like you lost a little less."

-"People can't see your face. All those people who kept calling me a visual singer suddenly can't say anything once I cover my face and sing. The satisfaction of crushing them with pure skill? There's definitely some of that."

-"If you're a singer whose vocal ability wasn't properly acknowledged because of your appearance, whether positively or negatively, it's beneficial."

Apparently, that was part of the charm.

"As you probably already know, let me explain the rules again."

"Okay."

"There are four rounds in total."

The system itself was simple.

Starting from the quarterfinals, contestants advanced through one on one matches until the finals, where the last survivor challenged the reigning champion.

But unlike ordinary survival programs, had one major advantage singers loved.

-The winner of Round 1 survives to compete again in future episodes.

As long as you won once in the quarterfinals, you earned another opportunity to return for future competitions.

"We need to minimize singer turnover as much as possible. If we eliminate people immediately, we'll run out of participants too quickly."

"Ah, that makes sense."

"It also creates some unique dynamics. Even now, two of the remaining four contestants are long term survivors. One of them has been around for over a month already...."

Contestants who weren't quite strong enough to reach the final round, but were consistently skilled enough to remain near the top.

That created all sorts of interesting situations.

The most famous example was musical actor Jang Jaerim, one of the show's long term survivors, who had earned the online nickname 'Newbie Slayer.'

-"Kuhahaha! Foolish challengers seeking to face the champion! Defeat me first!"

That was basically his role on the show.

After listening to the explanation, Wooju spoke with a disappointed expression.

"So if someone reaches the champion match and loses, they're eliminated immediately."

"Right. Otherwise there'd be no tension in the broadcast. It would turn into a show entirely about whether the champion falls or not."

"That makes sense."

"You've watched the program, right? We give contestants a choice. Whether they want to challenge the champion or not."

There had even been episodes where contestants declared, 'I will not challenge the champion,' resulting in an episode focused entirely on the champion's performance.

If the day's mission or assigned song heavily favored the reigning champion, contestants would strategically wait for a better opportunity.

Sometimes those strategies succeeded, leading to a championship win in the next appearance.

Other times, contestants hilariously lost in the very first round during the following competition.

That unpredictability was part of what made the show entertaining.

"Now then, let me explain today's filming schedule. First we'll shoot the VCR segment...."

It was still long before the main broadcast recording began, but Ri Hyuk, as a new contestant, already had plenty to do.

"Then I'll go film first."

"Alright. I'll stay here and talk with the PD for a bit."

After waving goodbye to Ri Hyuk as he followed the production staff out—

Wooju glanced sideways to confirm the door had closed before smiling and lifting his drink.

"Then shall we continue our conversation?"

"Yes."

"I was so excited after hearing your idea, Wooju."

The PD smiled brightly as she finally brought up the real topic.

They had come today to support Ri Hyuk's appearance, but—

"Regarding your previous proposal...."

Wooju also had business with this program.

By sometime after noon—

The survivors from the previous competition's first round gradually arrived at the waiting room.

"This place is starting to feel like my own room now."

Musical actor Jang Jaerim smiled.

The moment he sat down on the sofa, he opened his tablet and searched for the nickname 'Luxury Supporting Actor Jangjorim.'

-Jangjorim somehow only bullies weaklings while getting crushed by strong opponents..

-He looks like he'll win, but the second he faces someone strong he loses instantly lol

-Isn't Jorim actually the real winner??? He's lasted longer than some actual champions

-It's weird how he never gets eliminated lol

A playful grin spread across his handsome face.

'Attention really is nice.'

Even comments saying he would never win only amused him.

He had an easygoing personality.

Unlike the days when he constantly played tiny supporting roles in musicals without receiving attention, now people recognized him everywhere.

'Still, it does feel like it's about time for me to leave.'

He enjoyed the attention that came from staying on the program for so long, but it was nearly time to begin preparing for his next musical.

His manager spoke.

"Jaerim. Earlier you said you wanted someone strong to go against, remember?"

"Yeah. It's about time I lost anyway. There are more and more hate comments telling me to stop showing up... and if I'm going to lose, shouldn't I at least lose beautifully?"

There were two ways to leave.

Either challenge the champion and lose, or get eliminated in Round 1.

'I don't think I'm good enough to actually win the whole thing.'

The current champion, ballad singer Yoo Jaechan, was simply too powerful.

The problem was that Jaerim himself also had strong enough vocals that mediocre singers couldn't easily defeat him.

So his ideal scenario was losing to a reasonably skilled opponent.

Of course—

'I don't want to get completely crushed either.'

He envisioned a dramatic, bittersweet loss where he gave everything he had, only to narrowly fall short.

"But why?"

"Oh, the managers just drew lots earlier. Judging by the staff's reaction, I think the person you're up against is pretty strong."

"Really?"

Just as he grew curious about who his first round opponent would be—

A staff member wearing an intercom headset knocked and opened the door.

"Mr. Jangjorim."

"Yeees~"

"Please get ready. We're starting the VCR filming."

"Okay!"

Jang Jaerim placed the mask over his head.

Now he would film the hallway encounter scene with the new contestant challenging him.

"Let's head out."

Following the staff member into the hallway, Luxury Supporting Actor Jangjorim walked forward proudly.

"We'll film the two of you walking toward each other from opposite sides of the hallway. Feel free to ad lib your lines."

"Got it~"

"Rolling immediately."

From the far end of the corridor, he spotted the other contestant.

'An idol?'

Several faces flashed through his mind.

'Among male idols known for singing well... Street Boys' Yoon Giwon, Daydream's Cha Sunghoon... who else was there?'

After thinking for a moment, he shook his head.

'Well, it's not like Seo Ri Hyuk would show up.'

A top tier vocalist often called the strongest singer among current idols.

A member of the group that had once even defeated Cha Woohyun and taken first place.

The musical actor laughed at himself.

'What am I even imagining?'

Why would NewBlack come on a program like this?

Thinking that, he confidently strode forward.

Through the eyeholes of the Jangjorim mask, he saw a cloaked figure approaching from the opposite side.

'A flower...?'

Someone wearing a sunflower-like mask shuffled forward in an oddly unimpressive manner.

[Kuhahaha!]

The Jangjorim mask boomed with a voice altered through modulation.

[Another adorable rookie challenger has appeared! So you're the contestant foolish enough to challenge the great Luxury Supporting Actor Jangjorim! Hmph!]

[Yes.]

Even through the voice modulation, the voice somehow sounded remarkably clear and elegant.

[I am today's challenger.]

The figure began dramatically removing the cloak.

'Hm?'

An ominous sensation suddenly crawled over him.

Through the mask, Jangjorim spotted dolls resting on the stranger's shoulders.

Strangely familiar dolls.

[Whew. Perhaps because I have my younger brothers sitting on my shoulders, my shoulders feel so heavy. Is this the burden every leader must bear~? Kyaaargh!]

'W-Wait a second! That laugh and that build are...!'

[Allow me to introduce myself properly, sunbaenim. I am the challenger stepping forward today on ....]

The cloak slid gracefully downward, revealing the glittering nametag across his chest.

[King of Singers Sun Wooju, at your service. Kyaaargh!]

'It's Seo Ri Hyuk....'

Behind the Jangjorim mask, the musical actor wanted to cry.