SCT-Novel Chapter 146: Gocheok (1)
Chapter 146: Gocheok (1)
‘Wha- a hundred million? Did it say hundred millions??’Kang Rojun was staring intently at his phone, almost blurting out a curse out loud. An amount of money he’d never seen or heard of before was being displayed on his phone screen.
It was definitely in hundred millions.
No matter how many times he counted, the result was the same. Currently, Kang Rojun’s bank account contained not just tens of millions, but an astronomical amount of money in the hundreds of millions. Not even 100 million, but 400 million.
‘400 million… this 400 million is my money. This is insane.’
Even while staring at money in the hundreds of millions, it still didn’t feel real. Of course, he already knew where it came from. It was probably royalties from various lyrics he wrote, appearance fees, or manuscript fees from ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’ with Netflix Japan. He’d also recently heard from ‘Culture Drawer’ that the manuscript payment would be deposited within a few days.
So Kang Rojun had been somewhat looking forward to it.
But now that the hundreds of millions had actually landed in his account, he wasn’t laughing, he was just blank. Si-hoo, who noticed Rojun’s odd expression, spoke up.
“Rojun? Why? What happened?”
Not much. Just that I have hundreds of millions. Rojun answered silently to himself, but didn’t share the truth with the other members. The less said, the easier it is to maintain relationships.
“No. It’s nothing. I was just reading an article.”
Brushing off the conversation, Rojun lowered his phone and turned his gaze out the window. That’s when the corners of his mouth twitched. It was inevitable.
‘And there’s still more money coming in??’
This wasn’t the end of the hundreds of millions. The lyrics royalties would keep coming in like a pension, and there was also the recently signed movie ‘Blood Hunt’. The appearance fee for being cast as an actor wasn’t something to scoff at either. For now, his side jobs outside of his main one as a writer were bringing in the bigger income.
But if ‘Vanguard’ debuts, everything changes.
For starters, Rojun’s ‘GreenBee’ was included in Vanguard’s debut track list.
‘If it becomes a hit, hundreds of millions would be nothing.’
There were not only streaming profits, but also album sales. On top of that, ‘Vanguard’ would earn appearance fees, and there would be advertising revenues and more. Normally, idols repay all the money the company invested in them during their trainee days before receiving any income. If it takes long to pay back, it can take years.
But ‘Vanguard’ didn’t go through a trainee period.
Which means they only needed to deduct the money spent on the debut album.
In other words, it was clear their profit distribution would be faster than any existing idol group in the country.
Before he knew it, a smile had spread across Kang Rojun’s face.
‘Money isn’t everything, but, if I think about my past, it’s just damn good.’
He was imagining beyond hundreds of millions to tens of billions.
Meanwhile.
Arriving at the company, ‘Vanguard’ first held meetings with multiple departments including the A&R team and the management team. The atmosphere was distinctly different from before. The energy had always been high, but perhaps now that things were more structured? The staff’s passion had grown several times more intense.
In any case, the ‘Vanguard’ members had the longest meeting with the A&R team.
“Now that the guide tracks for your debut songs are coming out, you’ll begin recording after some practice.”
The A&R team informed them of what schedule ‘Vanguard’ would handle going forward. To summarize just the core points: practice, song recording, more practice, skin care and various management, finishing song recording, dance practice, photoshoot, and group dance practice.
There was a mountain of things to do.
However, the ‘Vanguard’ members were just as passionate as the GN Entertainment staff. After all, who wouldn’t be excited after hearing they’d perform at Gocheok Dome?
Meanwhile, Manager Kim Ki-baek wasn’t present today.
He had already gone directly to Gocheok Dome with several A&R team members. Since the showcase had been confirmed to take place at Gocheok Dome, the first step was negotiation.
“Hello, this is GN Entertainment, as we discussed.”
“Yes, hello.”
“First- may we take a look inside the dome stadium?”
“Of course.”
Manager Kim Ki-baek and the GN Entertainment team inspected the inside of Gocheok Dome, which had over 20,000 seats. It was currently a baseball stadium.
‘I’ve been here a few times- it’s really huge. We’ll have to start construction as soon as the showcase date is confirmed.’
A stage would rise in this huge space, and the performance venue would take shape. Judging by the size, even with a tight schedule, construction would take one or two months. Soon, Manager Kim Ki-baek had a complete image in his head of the ‘Vanguard’ showcase + concert stage.
“……”
Splendor and explosive. No, violent cheers and screams could be heard. The ‘Vanguard’ members standing on stage amidst tens of thousands of screams.
‘This would truly be an unprecedented debut stage.’
Just like that, a whole week melted away in the chaos. During that time, the guide recordings for Vanguard’s debut songs, ‘GreenBee’, ‘Windveil’, and ‘Flying Bell’, were completed. This time, Kang Rojun didn’t involve himself with the guide recordings, and once they were done, the tracks were distributed to the members.
Meanwhile, online articles were flooding the internet. Of course, many were related to ‘Vanguard’.
《’Vanguard’ YouTube channel surpasses 4.5 million subscribers / photo》
《[Star Talk] Idols announcing debuts or comebacks as soon as the new year begins, ‘Vanguard’ still silent》
《Is ‘Vanguard’ debut day still far off… Fans frustrated with quiet GN Entertainment》
There was also a lot of news about other idol groups.
《’Polaris’ comeback teaser revealed, surpasses 100,000 views right after release》
《Big Star Entertainment says, “We’ll push forward NEOS’s comeback”》
《[Big Issue] Hit song maker ‘Pineon’ teams up with Big Star Entertainment this time》
《NEOS set to comeback soon, is Pineon’s song the title track?》
Having just finished his daily mission, Kang Rojun left the gym and focused on the Big Star Entertainment headline among the many articles. It caught his eye because of the familiar composer ‘Pineon’.
“Whether it’s Indian or Pineon, they went to Big Star.”
Rojun chuckled to himself, assuming the composer switched over right after GN Entertainment revealed their plans.
‘Eighteen points, twenty-eight points. Somehow those numbers sound like curse words when put together. Even combined they don’t make fifty points. Well, do your best, I guess.’
He didn’t really hold a grudge. It was nothing more or less than mild interest. Then, after checking his Coins, Rojun headed not to his private studio but to the practice room this time.
Upon arrival, he began by enhancing his stats.
Then, starting with dance and rap review, he practiced by copying along while watching videos. About an hour later, breathing heavily, Rojun stood close to the mirror.
He was checking his face.
“Yeah, okay.”
His visuals were still ridiculous, and lifting his phone, he played a track.
-♬♪
The melody composed by Rojun and the lyrics written by Rojun were sung by the guide vocal. It was the already completed guide track for ‘GreenBee’. At first, Kang Rojun just quietly listened to the song.
Then.
“Whew-”
After a light breath, he began singing ‘GreenBee’. He hadn’t studied the vocals for ‘GreenBee’ yet. In other words, he was singing purely with his own vocal ability and the power of his raised stats. He sang not only the first verse but up to the second, even covering all the other members’ parts. Since Rojun made ‘GreenBee’, it was easier than other songs.
After singing it a couple of times, Kang Rojun came to a conclusion.
‘Wow- I’m good. I’m at the level where no one can say I’m behind regular idols anymore.’
Kang Rojun’s ‘Singing Ability’ stat had already passed 70 points. He felt it even in the 60s, but now his pitch, tone, rhythm, and breath control were clearly above the basics.
‘I’m not entirely sure, but from this range, I should probably start comparing myself to the upper-tier singers among idols and artists.’
A stat of 60 to 70 meant he could sit at the top among trainees. But there were tons of main vocal idols who could sing. He had to beat them all, and go even further to challenge the upper tier of professional singers.
‘My basic skills are also improving, and if I keep raising my stats and then add learning on top… it’s definitely possible. Not just domestically but worldwide.’
Kang Rojun’s growing raw skill and knowledge would only push his stat scores higher. In time, even that would be enough to compete with legendary idol main vocals, but Rojun had one more card to play.
Learning powered by ‘AI Automation’.
Once all abilities were organically linked and combined, idol main vocals would be a joke.
And so, Kang Rojun continued experimenting, moving on from ‘GreenBee’ to the other debut tracks ‘Windveil’ and ‘Flying Bell’.
‘Maybe because I wrote the lyrics myself, the words just roll off my tongue.’
After repeating his practice until he was satisfied, Rojun picked up his phone. It was time to study the vocals of ‘GreenBee’, ‘Windveil’, and ‘Flying Bell’. With his objective clear, learning was no longer a choice but a necessity for Kang Rojun.
-Swish.
Starting with ‘GreenBee’.
-[AI analyzing…… Analysis complete!]
He completed the learning for all three songs: ‘GreenBee’, ‘Windveil’, and ‘Flying Bell’. A sharp tingling sensation hit his wrist three times in a row. One would think he’d be used to it by now, but Rojun still didn’t like the faint pain.
-[Applying…… Application complete!]
Perhaps because Rojun had written the lyrics for all the songs, the Coin cost was cheap. ‘GreenBee’ was the cheapest. In total, the three songs cost about 55 Coins. Then, Kang Rojun began singing the learned debut songs in order once again.
-♬♪
Since the songs were dance tracks with rap sections, Kang Rojun was left breathless.
“Ready for launch.”
A deepening smile on his face was filled with fierce confidence.
With his morning tasks complete, Rojun joined the members and headed to the cafeteria. They had spent the entire morning in vocal classes and debut song practice with their trainer.
“Ha… I’m screwed.”
“You too? Same here. You heard we’re doing a test with the producer present before the official recording, right??”
“Yeah, and that’s why I’m saying I’m screwed.”
“Did everyone get scolded hard?”
“Si-hoo hyung didn’t get scolded?”
“Of course I did. Severely.”
They all looked noticeably defeated. Well, it was natural since they were learning new songs. Soon, they turned their eyes to Kang Rojun.
“Rojun hyung, how about you? Are you really okay doing it alone?”
Kang Rojun shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, not bad I guess??”
Si-hoo, who had been shaking his hand, jumped in.
“Hey, hey. Who are we even worrying about? This is Rojun we’re talking about.”
“Ah- right. He’s Rojun hyung. Didn’t he already perfectly copy all the songs??”
As the members kept throwing questions, more groans filled the air, and Kang Rojun suddenly remembered something he’d forgotten.
‘Ah- right, there was a pre-recording test, wasn’t there?’
Meanwhile, at a major media outlet.
The entertainment department office resembled a chaotic marketplace. Although there were quite a few empty seats, just the dozens of reporters who remained made the place noisy. One was loudly taking a phone call, another typing like crazy, and another was practically yelling in an argument.
The new year had just started, and this timing was always full of issues, so the chaos was even worse.
Among the entertainment reporters, one female reporter stood out. Her short hair was disheveled, giving the impression she hadn’t gone home for days. She was furiously typing on her keyboard when a male reporter with a towel around his neck and brushing his teeth with one hand approached her.
“What are you writing?”
Without looking away from her monitor, the female reporter answered coldly.
“‘Vanguard’.”
“Huh?? Got some scoop on ‘Vanguard’??”
“Nope. GN is keeping everything so top secret, nothing’s leaking out. I’m just writing that ‘Vanguard’ opened their official Instagram account.”
“They opened their Insta?! Then hype it up a bit! Damn- I’m a little late.”
“Then you should fire off a follow-up clickbait post, sunbae.”
“Forget it. More importantly, what’s the reaction to ‘Vanguard’ Insta like?”
“What do you think, it’s hot. They opened it ten minutes ago and followers are already flooding in.”
The male reporter whistled as he pulled up Vanguard’s social media on his phone.
“Damn- the firepower of ‘Vanguard’ is insane. Are you telling me these guys haven’t even debuted yet?? There aren’t many photos yet. But wow… Rojun, his visual is seriously insane. How does someone get born with that face??”
“Sunbae, you’ve never seen Rojun in person, right? I saw him at the ‘Rental Lover’ production presentation, and in real life, he’s just a god.”
“Now that you mention it, we hear about Rojun doing writing and lyrics stuff, but nothing much on his acting side since ‘Rental Lover’. GN is really slacking. How could they waste that monstrous face?”
And then.
“Hey, hey! Rojun from ‘Vanguard’ just dropped a big one!!”
A chubby reporter in the back suddenly stood up and shouted. The male and female reporters quickly glanced at each other and then opened the internet. Sure enough, an article about Kang Rojun was trending on the main page of the search portal.
《[Exclusive] ‘Vanguard’ Rojun confirmed to appear as an actor in his self-written work ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’… First to debut in Japan as an actor》
It was the first big announcement from GN Entertainment, which had plenty more to reveal.