Chapter 979: I Am the King of Singers, But...? (14)

The next day.

The shockwave created by King Sun Wooju began spreading in earnest.

[Real-Time Charts]

#1. King Sun Wooju - Girl of the Forest

People listening to music on their way to work stared blankly at the newly appeared #1 track.

‘What is this?’

Who the hell was King Sun Wooju?

After spotting the Mission Singer thumbnail, people clicked on the song.

And then they froze.

“!”

“!!”

The voice that poured into their ears was dazzlingly clear and pure.

‘Who is this?’

People discovering King Sun Wooju during their commute immediately opened search portals to look him up—

No.

They didn’t even need to search.

All they had to do was tap the trending searches.

[Trending Searches]

#1. King Sun Wooju

#2. Seo Ri Hyuk

#3. World Cup Round of 16 Bracket

The moment they clicked the keyword, information flooded in.

‘So Ri Hyuk appeared on Mission Singer under the name “King Sun Wooju”??’

People paused the music and hurried over to MyTube and portal sites to search for the performance clip.

‘Should’ve watched this first!’

Listening to the song alone and watching the stage itself were completely different experiences.

They replayed it once.

Then again.

After watching the performance several times, they started scrolling through the comments while listening.

Wow.. the first line hits immediately

I am forty-five years old.. and my heart is pounding

His voice is seriously insane

If vocal tone is considered overpowering then Ri Hyuk is probably global mafia level

You are currently watching the main vocalist of an idol who’s been famous for acapella singing since debut

People liked comments they agreed with and downvoted bizarre hate comments while continuing to watch.

‘Was Ri Hyuk always this good at singing?’

The image of the Sunflower Mask kept lingering in their minds.

“Wow......”

Maybe it was because they kept replaying the video.

People riding buses and subways became so immersed they nearly missed their stops.

‘Wow. Time seriously disappears fast.’

Thirty or forty minutes passed in an instant.

As office workers hurried up subway escalators or stepped off buses, Girl of the Forest sung by Ri Hyuk continued flowing through the earphones in their ears.

And then—

Even people who had been too exhausted to touch their phones the night before learned about Mission Singer once they got to work or school.

“Did you see that yesterday? Ri Hyuk apparently went on Mission Singer using Wooju’s name.”

“Was he good?”

“People are going crazy right now. I think the song’s literally #1.”

The topic spread everywhere as casual conversation throughout the day.

At crowded lunch restaurants—

“That kid’s unbelievable. I guess you need that kind of obsession to make it in entertainment.”

“He was seriously incredible.”

“Think about it. NewBlack’s huge in America now too, right? Those American bastards {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} are dirty and ruthless as hell, and they still broke through all that and succeeded. You think average talent could pull that off?”

“The manager makes a good point.”

At cafés where middle-aged women met up—

“Did you see that? Ri Hyuk?”

“Ri Hyuk? What about him?”

“They’re saying his singing’s incredible right now.”

At tteokbokki shops packed with students—

“Everyone saw it right? My husband Seo Ri Hyuk displayed King Singer level vocals yesterday. THIS is Seo Ri Hyuk!”

“Are you insane?”

“Just leave her alone. So since you’re in such a good mood today, you buying the tteokbokki?”

Everywhere people went, conversations about “Seo Ri Hyuk...” kept popping up until even those who weren’t interested learned about it.

Most reactions were similar.

How good could he possibly be for people to make this much noise.......

And then they watched the video.

And immediately understood.

Okay yeah this makes sense.

Because of that, Seo Ri Hyuk’s public image across the entire country was changing.

People were beginning to view him as a vocalist capable of rivaling famous elite singers.

And eventually, the attention gathering around Seo Ri Hyuk started carrying over into anticipation for next week’s Mission Singer broadcast.

“So he only sang one song?”

“It’s a show called Mission Singer. He’ll probably sing two or three more songs next week.”

“Really?”

Posts like this even started appearing on portal trending searches.

[How to Apply for Mission Singer Audience Seating]

Naturally...

“Oh dear.”

Inside the TBC Mission Singer office, the writers blinking at the audience application board wore dazed expressions.

Click.

Every time they refreshed the page, the post they had just been reading got pushed back ten pages.

“?”

“??”

Click.

Click.

Hundreds of applications flooded in at a time, each containing personal stories, until the writing staff started looking exhausted.

One writer staring at the monitor instinctively shrank back from the sheer intensity before glancing sideways.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

“No....”

“How are we even supposed to do the lottery draw at this point?”

“Seriously......”

This wasn’t the kind of traffic that could come from Souffles alone.

Ordinary viewers had started flooding in just to watch Seo Ri Hyuk sing, to the point the boards themselves began crashing.

The production staff stared blankly.

“.......”

“.......”

It was great that ratings were rising.

But the scale of this interest was genuinely terrifying.

Mission Singer was already a hugely popular program and one of TBC’s flagship variety shows.

But they had never experienced anything like this before.

Not even when ballad singer Yoon Chanhyuk had produced multiple legendary performances with almost godlike vocals.

“But won’t the competition after next be even worse?”

“Why?”

“Wooju’s appearing too.”

“.......”

The production team was already frightened imagining the madness that would erupt.

‘L-Let’s think positively.’

‘We’d better edit this carefully.... Screw up and we might see TBC headquarters literally burning down.’

Once King Sun Wooju’s King Singer arc ended, the next competition would immediately begin.

The staff began frantically preparing all sorts of things for the appearance of Nation’s Top Hip-Hop Seo Ri Hyuk.

And—

The impact caused by King Sun Wooju was spreading far beyond broadcasting stations and into every corner of the entertainment industry.

“Let’s begin the meeting.”

“The agenda today is King Sun Wooju, who’s currently exploding in popularity......”

Agencies with idol groups and singers immediately began moving with gleaming eyes.

“Hurry and contact TBC. We need to get our artists on while King Sun Wooju’s still there.”

“This level of buzz is impossible to miss.”

The grand strategy was simple:

Send their own singers or idols onto Mission Singer while Seo Ri Hyuk was appearing and ride the publicity wave.

“TBC isn’t answering the phone?! The lines are constantly busy!”

“I’ll go there personally!”

Managers at department-head level from multiple agencies literally rushed straight toward TBC headquarters.

‘We can’t miss this!’

As long as Seo Ri Hyuk remained King Singer, Mission Singer’s ratings would continue skyrocketing.

And if they could insert one of their own artists during that period, there was no better promotion imaginable.

While agencies scrambled desperately—

Companies preparing upcoming album releases were clutching their heads in pain.

“I think we may need to postpone......”

“Hmm......”

For at least the next month, King Sun Wooju would dominate the charts.

Of course, most artists weren’t naïve enough to expect a #1 ranking in the first place.

But when a giant storm of public attention like this was occupying the digital charts, it was smarter to avoid it entirely.

Anyone below top-tier level would simply get swept away.

One employee spoke up.

“But what if we delay to avoid King Sun Wooju and end up crashing into something even bigger?”

“?”

“I mean there’s no guarantee something else won’t appear again. In February Wooju’s Olympic piano track exploded, then Answer suddenly dropped in spring, then right after NewBlack’s White Night promotions ended, Uncle Bunny appeared......”

“That’s true.”

“Netizens are jokingly calling it Monthly NewBlack.”

The employee continued.

“At this point it’s probably better not to think about release timing at all.”

“Maybe......”

“Ugh!”

“Seriously, when the hell does NewBlack even rest?!”

While agencies agonized over album schedules—

Conversations about Ri Hyuk were also spreading among singers themselves.

“Did you see it?”

“I did. It was insane....”

“At that age too......”

Veteran singers gathered over drinks muttered among themselves while absentmindedly chewing puffed rice snacks.

“Was he always this good?”

“He was always good.”

“No, I knew he was good... but I didn’t realize he was this good.”

They had already considered him one of the best vocalists among singers in their twenties.

But this...

Unless someone possessed truly elite-level vocal skill, they honestly didn’t think they could beat him.

“Hey, would you feel confident going on there and winning? If you beat him, the publicity would be insane......”

“You go.”

“No thanks. I’d only go if I thought I could actually win.”

Many singers who had once casually thought, Well, he’s still an idol, so I probably sing better, were now shaking their heads.

Ordinary viewers still hadn’t seen Rounds 2 or 3 yet.

But professionals understood immediately after Round 1.

They could accurately gauge his level.

‘He might genuinely be top ten domestically.’

Veteran singers let out hollow laughs.

At first they didn’t want to admit it.

But eventually, there was nothing left to deny.

The moment they acknowledged that he sang vastly better than they themselves did, it felt as though their perspectives suddenly widened.

Someday, they might truly witness Seo Ri Hyuk becoming Korea’s greatest vocalist.

And just like them, there were others staring blankly at King Sun Wooju.

“....”

“....”

Namely, the TNT members sitting inside a music show waiting room.

“We got pushed down.”

“We did.”

The TNT members grabbed their heads while staring at their song dropping to #2 on the real-time chart.

“AAAAAAAH!”

“We were actually hopeful this time because public reactions were good...!”

“We finally got a monthly #1 before enlistment too...!”

Leader Gu Sunwoong screamed while clutching his hair as main vocalist Shin Juyoung and the others rolled around dramatically.

The younger members were no different.

‘Sun Wooju!’

Han Taehyun sighed helplessly.

“I know that guy’s expressions better than anyone. I thought something felt suspicious when he kept dodging the question about whether anything was coming out.”

“Ha... Sun Wooju seriously......”

“I want revenge, but there’s literally no way to get revenge.”

“We need to be careful. If we’re unlucky, we’re about to get stepped on next.”

As youngest member Seok Jihoon rubbed the back of his neck, someone asked—

“But since it’s a competition show song, won’t it only last a week?”

“No. That’s the Round 1 song. Next week the Round 2 and Round 3 tracks are coming too.”

“.......”

The future suddenly looked bleak.

Of course, the fact that a boy group-related song was receiving this level of mainstream popularity at all was extraordinary.

Still—

Disappointment was disappointment.

“Ugh!”

Ji Hanbin grabbed the Tosam plushie sitting on the sofa and shook it violently.

“Your owner made our rankings drop, Tosam!”

....... ℴ

“Ugh, evil Sun Wooju.”

He tossed the plush back onto the couch.

Its glossy little eyes stared at him silently.

Ji Hanbin squirmed dramatically on the sofa before getting up to leave the waiting room.

“Seriously, Sun Wooju......”

SMACK!

His shin slammed directly into the corner of the table.

“AAAAAGH!”

Clutching his leg, Ji Hanbin screamed in pain.

Meanwhile, everyone else lazily muttered “You okay?” without even looking up from their phones.

Only Jang Hanbyeol slowly turned his head with a strange feeling.

‘What is this... this sense of karmic retribution?’

His gaze drifted toward the sofa.

‘M-Must be my imagination.’

Ji Hanbin writhed around groaning in pain.

And behind the person who had just been badmouthing Sun Wooju—

The Tosam plushie sat there smiling brightly.

This was insane.

An actual explosion-level hit.

“Wow.......”

Even though everything was happening on the opposite side of the planet in Korea, the heat of it was strong enough for us to feel it all the way here in Brazil.

Jiho spoke up.

“Hyung, did you see this? Senior Choi Seorin posted on Instagram.”

“Really?”

A first-generation idol singer.

And the original singer of Girl of the Forest.

@Katherine_choi

I heard that Girl of the Forest appeared on Mission Singer yesterday. NewBlack’s Ri Hyuk...

She wrote a long heartfelt post saying it brought back old memories and that he sang the song beautifully.

Ri Hyuk added—

“She even sent me a DM. Asked if we could have a meal together sometime.”

“Ooooooh!”

Biju’s eyes sparkled.

“She must’ve been really impressed by the performance.”

“More than that....”

Ri Hyuk stared into the distance.

“Apparently her daughter is a hardcore Tosam fan.”

“.......”

“She asked if Tosam could come too if possible....”

“I see....”

If time allowed, we’d definitely have to meet them later.

Junghyun stared mournfully into the distance.

“No matter where we go, people keep looking for Tosam.”

“Seriously.”

Even here in São Paulo, Brazil, Tosam’s popularity was absurd.

Little kids would point at bunny dolls with sparkling eyes shouting, “Bunny! Bunny!”

Maybe that was why—

[Billboard Hot 100]

#43. Uncle Bunny

...It happened.

The English version of Uncle Bunny entered the Billboard Hot 100.

“Ha... hahaha... hahahahaha!”

The younger members and I grabbed onto each other and burst into tears.

“WHY IS THIS SELLING SO WELL?!”

“WHY IS A CHILDREN’S SONG DOING AS WELL AS OUR ACTUAL CAREERS?!”

“Ah seriously, this is too unfair. Wooju hyung! Please make Overcook the greatest song in history!”

Just like Jiho said, I was beginning to think we genuinely needed to make Overcook into a legendary masterpiece.

After crying together dramatically for quite a while, we wiped our tears.

“...Anyway, let’s focus on the schedule.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Our Brazil schedule wasn’t much different from Argentina.

“Tio coehlo!”

“Uncle! Uncle!”

“Bunny!”

In front of excited children, we performed ventriloquism with the Tosam plush alongside interpreters.

We did interviews with local media.

Then held a two-day concert for one hundred thousand people at Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo FC’s massive home stadium.

And after finishing the NewNiverse “Foodie Special” shoot—

“Huoooooh.......”

At long last, after more than a week in South America, we finally boarded our flight home.

Unlike when we came here, this time the NewNiverse production team was traveling with us.

“Is preparation going well?”

“Yeah. Pretty smoothly.”

I chatted with PD Gu Jaeyoung, whose table was piled high with variety show scripts and meeting documents.

“You guys just focus on practicing the food. We’re handling everything else. Even the restaurant sign design is done.”

“Seriously?”

“Want to see?”

“Yes!”

The logo was adorable.

Five colorful-haired goblins against a black background.

[Goblin Restaurant]

But then—

“What’s the rabbit on the moon?”

“Tosam.”

“Hmmmm.......”

From the moon floating above the goblins rampaging below, Tosam was staring down at us.

“Couldn’t Tosam maybe be looking up at us instead?”

“That’d be difficult. He’s on the moon.”

“Well, if it’s difficult, I guess it can’t be helped.”

Tosam looked way too cute to complain anyway.

Little kids would probably love the sign.

“And this is the interior design. We incorporated the ideas you guys mentioned during the last meeting......”

Maybe because they already had experience from Around the World by Dice, everything was being prepared unbelievably quickly.

It really felt like all we needed to do was practice cooking.

As we listened to PD Gu Jaeyoung’s explanations and gave feedback on various ideas—

“PD-nim.”

“Yeah?”

“Where exactly are we opening the restaurant? Has the location been decided?”

The most important question.

Where exactly would we be running the restaurant?

Since it had been decided they would operate in Korea, choosing the location mattered enormously.

But—

“We still haven’t decided on the place yet.”

“?”

Wouldn’t securing the venue normally be the very first thing?

PD Gu Jaeyoung explained with a complicated expression.

“We originally did try scouting locations.”

“Yes.”

“But a bit of a problem happened.”

“?”

“We contacted a bunch of regions asking about possible venues, same way we did during Around the World by Dice.”

“Yes.”

“But things ended up becoming... way bigger than expected......”

“??”

And after hearing the explanation—

We burst out laughing.

Lemon Entertainment.

Step. Step.

Down the hallway leading toward Lemon Entertainment’s main conference room—

A group of men and women walked forward wearing solemn expressions.

The visitor passes hanging from their necks all read the same thing:

[Gangwon Province]

“Today is extremely important.”

The department manager spoke gravely.

“You all understand we need to do our best, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We absolutely must bring the NewBlack restaurant to our province.”

As the Gangwon provincial officials walked forward with determination—

A group of dark horse rivals appeared from the opposite direction.

‘Those people are from Jeju Province...!’

‘They look strong!’

The Jeju officials stiffened upon seeing the Gangwon officials before bowing politely.

People flooded into the conference room one after another.

Soon afterward, representatives wearing badges labeled Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang entered as well.

Displayed on the conference room screen was a single phrase.

[NewNiverse Restaurant Project Attraction Briefing]

Everyone’s eyes gleamed as they stared at the screen.

‘We have to bring this to our region.’

‘A restaurant opened by the nation’s top idols... this must happen in our province.’

‘We won’t lose this.’

No matter which region succeeded in attracting the project, it would become an unbelievable tourism goldmine afterward.

A fierce bidding war had erupted over the NewBlack restaurant project.

Of course—

At the center of all this, one middle-aged man sat sweating coldly from the crown of his head.

‘Again.......’

CEO Park Gyuho rubbed his temples.

‘Things are getting bigger again.......’

Somewhere in the distance, he could almost hear a certain five-member group gleefully rolling another giant snowball downhill.

CEO Park Gyuho closed his eyes while maintaining a gentle smile.