Chapter 152: Absorption (8)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The overseas viral campaign for 'Kisera', with the Rebuilding of their tracks already complete and even their music videos finished, had already been underway for about a week. Around the time Kisera's music videos were nearly finished, to be more precise.

As planned in advance, the targets were content and video platforms popular overseas, such as 'TilTok', along with various social media platforms.

It was mostly Reels and Shorts videos.

Of course, there was no immediate response. If a single day's work was enough to get a reaction, that would be a miracle. Even at this very moment, an enormous number of videos were being poured onto the platforms Kang Jae-ha was targeting. Just standing out among them would already be a huge success.

Kang Jae-ha waited without any impatience.

For now, what mattered was continuing to upload videos and firing off as much ammunition as possible to create the spark for something to go viral.

'If the moment and timing line up, it'll catch on.'

He wasn't leaving it entirely up to luck. The Korean Wave and KPOP were expanding their reach overseas these days, and then there was Kisera's unique concept and killer songs. Kang Jae-ha had factored all of it into his calculations.

Meanwhile, viral campaign or whatever, the members of 'Kisera' were simply fascinated that videos of themselves had been uploaded to 'TilTok', content and video platforms, and the like.

"Wow! Look at this, foreigners left comments on our video!!"

"No way!"

"Oh! Another one!"

"We're getting more views than I expected too??!"

The views were only hovering around 100, and there were just three or four comments at most, but the girls were genuinely delighted. Before the Rebuilding, they had never experienced anything like this. Foreigners? Overseas fans weren't even in the picture. Even each and every domestic fan was incredibly precious to 'Kisera'.

At that point, their two official music videos went live.

-Kisera - 'BBlink!' Official MV

-Kisera - 'Starlight Error' Official MV

Of course, as soon as they went live, Leon Entertainment also began putting out promotional articles for 'Kisera'.

《Leon Goes All Out to Launch Rookie Girl Group 'Kisera'!/ Photo》

《Rebuilt Rookie Girl Group 'Kisera', Leon Unveils Official Music Videos Produced With Meticulous Care》

The response when Kisera's music videos were unveiled to the world wasn't bad.

-Oh!! Kisera finally!! I've been waiting!!

-Did they completely replace the members? The song seems good

-They changed the concept too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ so much better!

-They dropped the foreign member and made the lineup entirely Korean ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ that's actually pretty unique in today's idol market

-The song's fucking good?? These girls are gonna blow up

But it was still minor. The response was definitely positive, but it wasn't explosive. Even compared to other girl groups' music videos, Kisera's firepower this time was on the weaker side. Well, this was the bitter reality of being Unknown that every rookie had to endure. The pre-Rebuilding 'Kisera' had flopped, so they were practically complete rookies again.

Around the 30th, 'Kisera' could be found in the waiting room of a broadcasting station's Music Show. They were due to take the Music Show rehearsal stage in about two hours. In other words, their first sortie.

Today was effectively their official debut stage.

The funny thing was, all five 'Kisera' members, already in their stage outfits and full makeup.

"No way! No way!!! Look at this!"

Were bouncing up and down as they stared at a phone. Ha-rin, Jay, Nia, Riv, and Sion were all equally excited.

"This one from our TilTok videos! It passed one million views!!"

"That's insane!"

"One million??!"

One of the videos uploaded to TilTok for their viral campaign had surpassed one million views. It was a clip edited down to just the Hook from the title track 'BBlink!'. Naturally, the members themselves appeared in it as well.

"Whaaa- one million?! Our video got one million views......"

Of course, one million views on TilTok wasn't difficult for an idol group with even a modest level of overseas popularity to reach. But for 'Kisera', whose recognition both overseas and domestically was practically zero, it was nothing short of a miracle.

The five girls quickly pictured Kang Jae-ha's ever-impassive face.

"Th-this actually worked??"

"It really happened just like Manager said! He said our concept stood out and the song was good, so one of them was bound to blow up, but I still wondered if it really would."

"Let's read the comments! The comments!"

What had once been just two or three comments had now grown into hundreds. Naturally, all of them were from foreigners. The comment section was awash in English. Starting with their leader Ha-rin and her long blonde hair, every member of 'Kisera' was overwhelmed with emotion.

"They say our song is good......damn, I think I'm gonna cry."

"No, no! We still have to go onstage!"

"There are so many comments saying we're pretty too!"

"Hearing that from domestic fans already makes me feel like I'm bursting with joy, but doesn't it feel several times better hearing it from overseas fans??"

"Yeah, totally."

A major breakout was usually preceded by some kind of sign. Perhaps this moment was one of those signs for 'Kisera'. Then, with their hearts pounding, the girls headed toward the Music Show stage.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"I'm charged up to 10000%!"

For now, they had gotten their domestic debut underway.

Several dozen minutes later.

Kang Jae-ha was watching 'Kisera' tear up the Music Show rehearsal stage. From an out-of-the-way corner, wearing an impassive expression. Once that rehearsal ended, the live broadcast would begin soon after. Fortunately, the faces and movements of the 'Kisera' members were overflowing with energy.

The song 'BBlink!' reverberated throughout the entire set. While thinking of Choi Ri-na, who had created the song, Kang Jae-ha raised his phone.

'Let's see-'

He swept through content and video platforms including 'TilTok', as well as various social media sites. A faint smile touched the corners of his lips despite his otherwise blank expression.

'Not bad.'

The overseas viral campaign was slowly starting to get bites. Compared to the beginning, the views on Kisera's promotional videos had risen noticeably.

'From 100,000 and 200,000 views all the way to one million.'

Compared to the mere 100 or 200 views they had been getting at best, whether it was 100,000 or one million, those were considerable numbers. Of course, it was still hard to call it a breakout hit.

"The pace is fast."

Kang Jae-ha was confident. In Kisera's unique concept and appeal. And in Choi Ri-na's killer songs, good enough to melt anyone's ears.

'If the Shorts and Reels keep going like this and hit 5-10 million views, they'll skip the domestic charts and go straight to the overseas charts.'

Skipping the domestic music charts and jumping straight onto overseas charts. That was the core of what Jae-ha was aiming for. Kang Jae-ha then opened Youtube. To check the two 'Kisera' music videos that had been uploaded not long ago.

He had wondered if it might have happened, and sure enough, the number of English comments had exploded. There were easily hundreds of them.

By then, the English comments had increased so dramatically that Korean comments were almost nowhere to be seen. Nearly all of them praised 'Kisera' or raved about the songs. Those English comments must have flowed in through the overseas viral campaign Kang Jae-ha had been aiming for.

'There are comments curious about Kisera too, but I'm seeing especially a lot saying the songs are good.'

In other words, the songs 'BBlink!' and 'Starlight Error', written and composed by Choi Ri-na and sung by Kisera, were clicking with overseas listeners as well. They had probably heard the songs in Reels or Shorts, gotten hooked, and then wandered over to Youtube as if bewitched, so in that sense, it was only natural. Of course, some might also have been drawn in by the looks and charm of the 'Kisera' members.

But ultimately, the essence of a singer was the music.

If the songs or performances were no good, interest quickly faded. But 'Kisera' was steadily accumulating foreign fans.

'If things go well, we might see a 'Kisera' song on either 'Spotimy' or 'Maple Music' before long.'

'Spotimy', 'Maple Music' were the world's largest music-streaming platforms, constantly battling for first and second place. Among the various overseas charts, aside from 'Billboard', 'Spotimy' and 'Maple Music' were the strongest.

Kisera had to ride this tailwind and land on either the 'Spotimy' or 'Maple Music' chart.

'Even the very bottom rank is fine, they just need to get on the chart.'

If they entered a powerful overseas chart before a domestic one, the quality and quantity of their Media Play would change by 180 degrees. For example, something with the feel of 'The first girl group to be reverse-imported into Korea from the overseas charts!'

Not long after, Kisera's debut stage after their Rebuilding.

-♬♪

Officially aired nationwide.

Meanwhile, the Drama Bureau of terrestrial broadcaster LBS.

PD Do Jin-deok, whose face was flushed like he'd been drinking, was in the Drama Bureau Director's office. Two middle-aged men were with him. The Drama Bureau Director and a CP.

The Bureau Director and CP had just heard something rather shocking from PD Do Jin-deok.

"What??"

The Bureau Director furrowed his brow and asked again as if checking whether he'd heard correctly.

"You're ditching 'GOO Production', when you were right on the verge of signing, and switching over to 'MEG'?? Hey, Do PD. This is way too sudden, what's all this out of nowhere."

"What am I supposed to do? 'MEG' suddenly contacted me. It's not like I engineered this."

"'MEG' approached you first? No, more importantly, you bastard, the terms 'GOO Production' offered. You're turning those down? Are you insane??"

The broad-faced CP who had been listening cut in.

"Exactly. You'd have to be insane to reject terms like those. You're really going to throw away an offer where they'll invest and even give you Jeon So-hee?? Why??"

Until they heard the reason, the Bureau Director and CP naturally went ballistic. In a bad way, of course. PD Do Jin-deok, seemingly unfazed by any of it, flashed a triumphant smile.

"I'm not some Nutjob. Would I ditch 'GOO Production' for nothing?? MEG's terms are far better."

"......What are the terms."

"'MEG' said they'll finance the entire thing on their own with purely domestic capital, and on top of that, they're offering Moon Ji-a and Yoon Da-yeon as an added option."

The Bureau Director and CP blinked for a moment. Of the two, the Bureau Director spoke first.

"Huh? R-really? They seriously said they'd give you Moon Ji-a and Yoon Da-yeon??"

"Yes. I personally went to 'MEG' headquarters and even reached a verbal agreement. But hey, should we still go with 'GOO Production'? If you reaaaally insist that we work with 'GOO Production', Director, then I guess we have no choice. I'll contact 'MEG' and tell them it'll be difficult."

The Bureau Director abruptly grabbed PD Do Jin-deok's arm as he pulled out his phone.

"Hey now. Why are you so damn impatient. But you're serious, right? MEG is investing alone and giving us Moon Ji-a and Yoon Da-yeon."

"I'm telling you it's true. Have you spent your whole life getting conned or something."

"You punk, who in this industry hasn't gotten conned. Anyway, whew- those terms are incredible, aren't they??"

"Right? Then don't we absolutely have to go with 'MEG'?"

"Of course we do, we'd be morons not to."

"Then should I push the contract through immediately within this week?"

"Yeah, yeah, do it. Hurry up and lock it down before 'MEG' changes its mind. Still, I never expected us to end up connected with that hotshot 'MEG' like this."

As the Bureau Director rubbed his chin, PD Do Jin-deok brought up a concern.

"But the problem is 'GOO Production'. I've already more or less told them, but they're raising hell."

"All they ever did was lord it over us with their Abuse of Power and push us around, they probably never dreamed they'd be the ones getting rejected."

"Can't you shut them down at your level, Director? They keep calling me."

"Fine, I'll give them a call."

The Bureau Director pulled out his phone and continued.

"But did 'MEG' ask us to keep it secret that we're working with them instead of 'GOO Production'?"

"No, they didn't say anything like that. One of MEG's directors even said it was fine if word got around. There shouldn't be any problem."

The Bureau Director nodded and called someone at 'GOO Production'.

Not long after, rumors began spreading everywhere throughout not only the Drama Bureau but the entire LBS broadcasting station. Namely, that the investor for 'The Cooking Teacher of Joseon' had suddenly changed from 'GOO Production' to 'MEG'. That was only natural in the entertainment industry, where both true rumors and completely baseless ones spread faster than light.

Which soon meant.

"I heard 'The Cooking Teacher of Joseon' is going with 'MEG' now?"

That word was quickly spreading outside the broadcasting station as well.

*****

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