translation by mourningmoor
At midnight, the music video was released, and at 10 a.m.
The advertisement for the sportswear brand <ALT> was unveiled.
L.I.T had been heavily promoted as the new advertising models, and it seemed the ad was well-crafted to match the concept of their new song.
It was clear that they intended to ride on the popularity of L.I.T.
And, as expected, they announced a fan signing event through their website.
As a result, long lines formed from the early morning at ALT stores nationwide.
Given the growth of the fandom, buying two or three sets wasn’t going to guarantee a win.
On the L.I.T Universe community, posts were flooding in—some fans had already bought over ten sets of training clothes, while others had purchased training outfits and sneakers for their entire family.
Roa, who was monitoring the Universe community from the car, let out a long sigh.
“Why?”
Hanjoon reacted to Roa’s sigh.
“It’s about the ALT fan signing event.”
Then, he turned the tablet to show the Universe community.
“It seems like you need to spend over 1 million won to have a chance at winning the fan signing event now.”
Hanjoon nodded in response.
“That’s expected. Our fandom has grown. It’s exactly twice as big as before we won the Rookie Award.”
“Youngjun ssaem said that while the official numbers show it’s doubled, in reality, it’s even more. That’s why fan event tickets are like trying to pluck stars from the sky.”
“Fan signing event spots are limited, and there are so many people who want to attend, so the competition rate has gone up. To increase your chances, you’d need to get more entry tickets.”
“We need to treat our Filaments even better.”
Listening quietly to their conversation, I turned my gaze out the window.
As the guys said, the fandom had grown.
There were more hardcore fans who were deeply into L.I.T, but overall, the fanbase had thickened.
The last fan signing event was in mid-December last year, and the youngest participant was six years old.
Recently, a fan letter arrived at the company, and the sender was sixty years old. That fan, a long-time admirer of Lim Cheol, confessed that they felt as if they had been enlightened after seeing L.I.T’s cover performance of <In the Dream>.
From six years old to sixty.
The spectrum had widened significantly.
Usually, the people who craze about idols are concentrated in their teens and twenties.
Anyway, thanks to the expanded fanbase, we gained a new schedule.
We were invited to perform as guests at the concert of legendary singer Lim Cheol.
Lim Cheol, who had taken a liking to us on <Eternal Legend>, urgently proposed the idea, and after delaying the decision due to scheduling conflicts, we quickly decided to perform at the Seoul and Busan concerts.
And now, we were on our way to the Art Hall in Songpa-gu, where the Seoul concert was being held. Our stage was in just 30 minutes.
“It’s going to feel different from Dinaple sunbaenim’s concert, right? They say Lim Cheol sunbaenim is a master of concerts. The atmosphere will be completely different.”
Roa was the most nervous.
At Lim Cheol’s concert, we were set to perform <In the Dream>, which we had performed on <Eternal Legend>, and our new song <Cotton Candy>.
After the schedule was confirmed, for several days, Youngjun ssaem and Roa tweaked the choreography of the two songs to fit the scale of the venue and the concert atmosphere.
Roa, who had officially been credited as a choreographer for <Cotton Candy>, prepared for the performance with a sense of responsibility greater than anyone else’s, even though the time was short.
He said it felt like preparing for an exam, and it seemed like he really felt like he was going to take one.
His face was full of tension.
If you complimented him on the slightly changed choreography, he would stiffen up even more from nervousness.
Knowing that, Hanjoon responded nonchalantly.
“So what? You worked hard. That’s all that matters.”
He meant not to worry too much about the outcome.
But those words didn’t work on perfectionist Park Roa.
Roa’s ears turned red, and his face stiffened.
“But what if our performance is so out of place that it ruins the concert of such a senior artist?”
Ruining it? Our stage is going to cause a sensation.
Finally giving the two of them my attention, I quietly but firmly concluded the conversation.
“Don’t be too nervous. It’s just a stage. We shine the brightest on stage.”
It was a slightly embarrassing thing to say, but it seemed to be enough comfort for Roa. He nodded with a flushed face.
And as I expected, we turned the stage upside down.
First, the people who had watched <Eternal Legend> were in craze about our <In the Dream> performance.
Lim Cheol’s fans were completely mesmerized by the five dream demons who started off somberly and ended passionately.
After throwing off our black jackets behind the trees and changing into pastel-colored jackets, we presented a stage that was completely different from <In the Dream>.
Some people looked at us with bewildered eyes, wondering if we were the same people as before.
Just by changing our jackets, we completely melted the stage with our soft, sweet cotton candy vibe.
Roa, who had been worried about ruining the senior artist’s concert with such a different atmosphere, received applause from the ahjumma fans with his trademark eye smile.
It was great to see Jaewon and Siu stepping in sync with their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the playful bickering between me and Hanjoon was also a hit.
And one more thing.
Jaewon spotted some lightsticks in the audience and, in the middle of the song, shouted “Filaments!” while pointing the mic toward the audience, which got a big laugh.
There were about a dozen lightsticks visible, and a few Filaments enthusiastically sang along to <Cotton Candy> in response to Jaewon’s gesture.
It seemed that some Filaments had bought the remaining seats and entered after hearing that we would be appearing as guests at Lim Cheol’s concert.
Though they were few, their energy was unmatched.
Even Lim Cheol, the main star of the concert, joked that it was typical of that idol and their fandom.
“That was fun.”
The kids, coming down from the stage, all said it was fun without exception.
“It was really fun. So funny.”
“Yeah. Why were the Filaments even there?”
“Exactly. Our fandom is truly the strongest in the world.”
Now, this “It was fun” has become a daily occurrence.
It’s certain that the kids are happiest on stage, and they shine the brightest on stage.
Even though they were out of breath and drenched in sweat, their faces were full of smiles.
Returning to the waiting room, we each took a bottle of water and sat on the sofa.
Now, all of today’s schedules were over.
“Good job, guys.”
Hyerim took out some red ginseng and handed each of us a pack.
“I ordered Honglujung lunch boxes for dinner. Let’s eat at the company.”
“What about Gyuhyung hyung?”
I wanted to go back and rest soon, but the black bear was nowhere to be seen.
“Team Leader Lee just went to talk to someone for a bit… Oh, there he is.”
As soon as Hyerim finished speaking, Gyuhyung returned to the waiting room.
He looked slightly dazed.
“What’s wrong?”
Gyuhyung shook his head once and quickly approached.
“Ichan-ah. This…”
Gyuhyung held out a business card.
“It looks like you guys might be going to Japan…?”
“Huh?”
At the mention of Japan, the kids who were drinking red ginseng rushed over.
Then, they all huddled together and looked at the business card.
にじテレビ 藝能局長 浅野長? (T.N.: Niji TV Entertainment Bureau Chief Asano Cho?)
What’s this? Niji TV Entertainment Director Asano Naga…koto?
“He’s close with Lim Cheol, and he’s the director of Niji TV’s entertainment department.”
“And?”
“He said he wants to invite you guys and asked if we could come to the company tomorrow.”
Finally, it’s here. The opportunity for overseas expansion.
* * *
While working on this promotion, I expected that an opportunity for overseas expansion would come.
It’s just that it came from a somewhat unexpected place, so it was surprising.
I thought it would come from watching the so-called <Idol Olympics>, but it didn’t.
Well, the Japanese <Idol Olympics> started a bit later than ours, and the third episode has just aired.
After returning to the dorm, I opened my laptop while the kids were asleep.
Then, I clicked on a document I had completed yesterday.
It’s a document I started working on the day I talked to Noah.
Two people whose hearts don’t beat in sync.
But it’s not the work of the Demon King.
I tried to align my thoughts based on these two facts, but I couldn’t find an answer.
However, one thing is certain.
There’s something lurking in this world that I don’t know about.
It became clear that to protect myself and the kids in this uncertainty, I needed to regain my strength.
So, I created this.
<Circle-Level Magic List>
For several days, I dug through my memories and organized the magic I could implement at each stage. I thought that would help me understand exactly where I stood.
For example, if healing magic is perfected, it’s 2nd Circle; if all types of defensive magic and telekinesis are perfectly implemented regardless of range, it’s 3rd Circle; if higher-level attack magic is perfected, it’s 4th Circle; if teleportation becomes possible, it’s 5th Circle—that kind of thing.
After organizing the summonable magic circles and implementable magic by circle, I assessed my current level.
I’ve definitely surpassed 3.5 Circles recently, but I’m not sure about 4th Circle.
When I went to Hawaii, I was around 2.5 Circles, but in two months, I’ve surpassed 3.5 Circles. I’m probably around 3.8 now.
Given that I can use fairly high-level telekinesis and intermediate-level attack magic, it seems about right.
This sudden rise in circles is due to consistently cultivating my internal energy with magic.
Kang Ichan didn’t have a proper place to store mana.
He could only absorb and use as much mana as his stamina could handle at any given time, over and over.
As a result, some days he would suffer from overload, even having nosebleeds and fainting.
But now, he can handle more mana than his stamina allows.
He’s created a mana hole near his dantian.
He connects the mana hole to his heart and stores the mana absorbed by his heart in the mana hole.
So now, he’s absorbing and storing high-concentration mana directly.
3.8 Circles. Now, he’s just barely laid the foundation to be a veteran mage.
But that’s not enough.
He needs to reach 5th Circle faster.
Only then can he at least prevent the kids from getting hurt right in front of his eyes.
To do that, he needs a bigger issue, a bigger stage.
A bigger stage, meaning overseas expansion, is the answer.
The stepping stone will be Japan.
* * *
Niji TV’s Director Asano.
He’s quite famous, so Producer Pyo’s shoulders were bouncing with excitement.
Although it was slightly different from the pre-written scenario, the conditions were very good.
A special appearance on Niji TV’s popular program, participation in the New Year’s Cherry Blossom Festival, and a photoshoot under Niji TV—all in a 2-night, 3-day schedule.
I wanted to shout “Okay!” right away, but I decided to play hard to get as Ichan suggested.
We heard that due to the recently aired <Idol Olympics>, Niji TV’s competitor, Akato TV, was also trying to cast L.I.T.
[Since they’re really eager, let’s play hard to get once. Say the schedule doesn’t work and it’s difficult. Then they’ll add more conditions.]
Ichan overheard Director Asano talking to his secretary, but it was still a gamble.
[What if that information is wrong?]
[Trust me and play crazy just once. We’ll get the best conditions for entering Japan.]
Alright. I trusted a 20-year-old kid’s words and played hard to get.
And it really did yield satisfying results.
Niji TV added the condition that they would support the production of L.I.T’s Japanese single album. In other words, Niji TV would invest in L.I.T’s activities in Japan.
Now, Niji TV had no choice but to roll out the red carpet for L.I.T’s journey to Japan.
They had to get their money’s worth.
It seems like Kang Ichan is a lucky charm.