Firstly, let's start by talking about the numerical ratio since Kim Raebin himself brought up the comments that received a lot of upvotes.

"Let's look at it objectively just like you said. Right now, 'Present' is higher on the music charts than that song. Shouldn't that by itself be an objective and unbiased assessment by the general public?"

However, Kim Raebin wasn't fooled by that.

"I think the matter is that the difference between the two samples arises from the difference in people's awareness of them. I need an evaluation that's made after someone has actually listened to both songs without personal feelings...!"

"..."

That was why he was determined to hear my opinion. I held back a sigh and slowly answered.

"Okay... I got it. To me, 'Present' is a better song."

"Is, is that so??"

"But it's true that the other song is more popular."

"...!"

"The song is pleasant and easy to the ears."

Kim Raebin clenched the hands on his lap tightly. I went on with my explanation.

"But that's because there's a difference in intent. In the first place, we made our song with performance as our top priority."

"But..."

"Meaning, you don't have to needlessly compare them. It's a matter of timing and preferences... and also luck."

"...Yes."

Kim Raebin still looked timid, but he nodded his head perhaps understanding what I meant.

I chuckled.

"Is it that agitating?"

"Yes? ...Yes."

Kim Raebin hesitated before adding.

"Am I... am I not often criticized for being poor at communication and for being the type that's unfit for social activities?"

Aigoo.

"So, I thought that if my contributions are lacking in terms of production, it would be right to develop other capabilities that could help the group."

"Hmm."

Kim Raebin probably needed the assurance that even if he couldn't take part in the performance right now, he was contributing to the album.

'Then, should I use this method?'

I recalled the plan I had been preparing.

But before I mention it, I should get the previous point right first.

"First of all... I don't think you're particularly bad at socializing."

"Uh, I've often heard that I can't read the mood though..."

Sure. He must have heard that a lot in his life.

However, in personal relationships, he wasn't stubborn or bad-tempered, so there were no problems with his work.

"Is that so? Has any of the members been mad at you while you've been active in TeStar?"

"...No."

"See? There are no problems, so don't worry about it."

"I, I see!"

Kim Raebin's expression brightened a little.

"And the issue of producing... hmm. Wait a minute."

I turned on my smartphone and pulled up the information about Golden Age's new songs listed on the music site.

It was the copyright holder's registry.

"You see the composers and the arrangers here, right?"

"Yes."

I explained the thing I had confirmed in advance with my own mouth.

"The composer is an external freelancer... The arrangers of the song do not belong in the composer's team. They belong to Golden Age's company."

"Mm, yes."

"Do you get what that means?"

"Modern music composition is an extensive production that undergoes multiple procedures, so placing responsibility on oneself is being excessively self-conscious...?"

An unparalleled answer came out.

"...No. I'm saying that you could create a direct comparison if you want."

I tapped the composer's name on the screen.

"Actually, I got some songs from this composer."

"...!! Wh- when, and how did you carry that out??"

"Well, not long ago."

Chungryeo's words were annoying me, so when we started the promotions, I already contacted them and received a few songs.

The songs were possible options to be used in the repackaged album that would follow for a short period after the activities for the current album.

"Golden Age got a good score with their song, so they will definitely get another song from the same composer. And the song arrangement would be done by their company again."

"...Don't tell me."

"That's right."

Now he got it.

"If you arrange a song from the same composer, you can directly compare them as you wanted."

"...!"

"Who better arranged this popular composer's song?"

It was the conclusion I reached after listening to all of this composer's song options.

'The melodies are drawn out well, but the song structure is weak.'

To put it bluntly, the completeness of the work was not good enough. The songs seemed like they would need a lot of rearrangements.

Kim Raebin, who seemed to be imagining the possible scenario with his mouth open, suddenly came to his senses and spoke.

"But if it's done wrong, it could become too directly confrontational which could be detrimental..."

Wow. He already thought that far?

I smiled. I was quite proud of him.

As Kim Raebin said, the layout itself could damage TeStar if it went wrong.

No, looking at the other agency, they could go further by trying to sway public opinion by saying that TeStar stole Golden Age's composer.

However, in reality, it would be difficult for them to make that happen.

"It's okay. It couldn't even become a confrontation."

"Yes?"

"We're not the only ones arranging that composer's songs."

I turned off my smartphone screen.

"Because VTIC's unit and Youngrin sunbae-nim are also going to use the composer for their next albums."

"...!"

That's right.

Eating it all alone would give me an upset stomach. I had to draw in other people to join me.

'It was good that I got Youngrin's number during that doppelganger variety show.'

...It was a bit uncomfortable when it came to Chungryeo, but it was better to get on the same boat as him than let something foolish happen.

Anyway, both of them surprisingly agreed without any complaints.

The top-tier artists with different affiliations, years of experience, and images, got the same composer's song while being in a friendly relationship with each other, so it would be difficult to one-sidedly weave the composer toward Golden Age.

The only thing that would happen was that the composer's name value would increase.

It wasn't like I bought the composer as Chungryeo advised to prevent Gold 1's company from getting the song, so wasn't this a very conscientious act?

'That's why you shouldn't have grabbed someone by the collar without prior consent.'

//TN: Meaning that the other company started this.

They brought it upon themselves.

I crossed my arms smiling.

"Within this year, there will be several more songs by the same composer arranged by each individual. It's going to be a real sword fight."

"..."

Kim Raebin swallowed.

"Do you still want to do it?"

"Yes...!"

Good. Seems like his drive returned as the game was set. Kim Raebin's eyes were shining with enthusiasm.

"Of course, it doesn't mean that the composer's song has to be chosen as the active song. Since the song is one of the possible options, let's discuss it with the other members and choose the popular one."

"I understand!"

I nodded.

"Okay. Then go to sleep."

"Yes...?"

Kim Raebin was taken aback by the abrupt end to the conversation. I silently continued.

"We'll only get four and a half hours of sleep even if we sleep now."

"Gasp! I'm sorry! I've caused a lot of harm for hyung's sleeping time..."

"It's okay. Let's go to sleep."

After I stopped Kim Raebin from continuing, I immediately turned off the lights in the room.

Tomorrow, I had to wake up early in the morning and support Kim Raebin who couldn't move his leg, and we had to practice for the kind of performance we were going to show in Japan.

'Should I burn a tiger figure?'

//TN: Wooden tiger figures represent luck (I think) and he wants to burn one to get some luck (is what I interpreted)

I went to sleep, hoping that either the company or the members had come up with a useful idea.

It was three days before the recording of the stage on a Japanese TV show.

* * *

It was a weekday morning in August when all students were on vacation.

The high school student, who had WeTube opened on his computer while the air conditioner was blowing, found a music video still hovering at the top of the popular videos.

"..."

In fact, the high school boy had already watched the music video.

It was all because of the teaser video.

Park Moondae, 'Groom of May' had left a great impression with the last song in , and his older sister had gently coaxed him, saying that Park Moondae would appear there.

So, the high school student ended up watching the teaser and became intrigued by its huge scale.

That was how his sister succeeded in her business.

However, the high school student was desperately in denial.

'...I'm just watching it to see if the song was arranged.'

The high school student struggled, thinking that he was just curious about the other version of the final song sung by 'Groom of May'.

'But honestly, objectively speaking, the video was of high quality. Isn't it obvious that people would become interested in it since it looks like a trailer for a huge Netplus drama?'

Even by the high school student's standards, he found the music video more entertaining than the teaser.

It was because the music video was much shorter and livelier.

'The pacing is dope.'

The high school student was a bit conflicted, but clicked on the music video and played it.

'So what if I'm watching it once more? It's not a big deal.'

Fortunately, the video started right away without ads.

The music video was about Ryu Chungwoo, who was ordered to catch the 'most disastrous monster' by the king, and he traveled around Joseon looking for the yogwi, carrying the book with him.

Each member, who played the role of yogwi, interacted with Ryu Chungwoo and gave him clues about the 'most disastrous monster', or were eradicated.

In particular, the rushing feeling was great when the intense choreography and dynamic story scenes intersected with each other every time the song entered the chorus.

As the occasional choreography scenes heightened the ambiance, Ryu Chungwoo lastly met Kim Raebin in the cave.

Kim Raebin tried searching for the identity of the 'most disastrous monster' using lantern lights floating all around his cave.

At this moment, his own part of the song overlapped as Kim Raebin in the story scene looked directly at the camera and immersed himself in the part, giving a very peculiar feeling.

The lanterns in the cave shone like neon signs. As if they were warning lights.

While the flickering lanterns created unusual lights, the camera twirled around and focused on Ryu Chungwoo.

The music stopped.

Then, there was a very brief cutscene about the past with people screaming and running.

There was a four-legged beast.

The beast that was hard to identify as the scene passed by in an instant, turned into a child when the sun rose.

Above that, Ryu Chungwoo's current appearance in the cave overlapped.

Ryu Chungwoo realized that he was the 'most disastrous monster'.

Once again, the music burst out.

For tens of seconds including the final dance break, the climax of the choreography scene came out without the story scene.

And it wasn't until the end of the song's climax that the story scene appeared again.

On a dark night. Ryu Chungwoo, who was staring at the camera glaringly, turned his back and disappeared into the forest.

With the sound of a taepyeongso wind instrument, the song ended.

And the ending credits rolled. Accompanied by unfamiliar background music.

It was a song about parting. At first glance, it sounded like a love song, but after knowing the story, the song was full of meaning.

It was Ryu Chungwoo's solo song 'Truth'.

There were a lot of fans and WeTubers, who looked for and analyzed all kinds of easter egg connections by watching the music video and the teaser from beginning to end. However, the high school student was not aware of that nor was he very interested.

He just thought with admiration, 'The video is great'.

'There was even a post-credit scene.'

In fact, another video appeared after the end credits.

It was the true identity of the king who appeared in the first scene of the music video with only his legs visible, who had sternly given the order to Ryu Chungwoo.

It was Lee Sejin with fox ears on his head.

The post-credit scene ended with Lee Sejin snickering with his huge tail loitering around while lying down on his throne.

The high school student, who wasn't aware of the fans, who got shivers from the shock and the cuteness of the ending, just smacked his lips.

'Shouldn't this kind of thing be made by Netplus?'

Even though he thought that it would be better with real actors rather than idols, the high school student couldn't find any awkwardness, let alone any flaws, in the video.

'...They did well.'

The boy admitted it once again and exited the music video screen.

No, he tried to exit it, but the page was stuck as if it was lagging, and clicking the back button didn't work either.

'Ah, seriously.'

The high school student was getting fed up with it and spammed the back button one after another, and accidentally ended up on an internet page his sister had opened as he skipped back to that address page.

It was an internet trace left by his older sister, which usually wouldn't stay there as she browsed through incognito mode.

"What the??"

On the blue social media page... there was a GIF of Park Moondae in a classroom looking back.

Black-haired Park Moondae, wearing a white summer school uniform stood in front of a bright red, yellow, and purple sky. When he turned around to look back, his hair turned blonde.

The GIF was very well done.

"..."

It should be mentioned that the account's introduction written on the profile was 'A blood alliance to love only golden Moon Puppy'.

'He looks the same either way.'

Even though the high school boy grumbled, he still concluded that black hair was better to look at than blonde hair.

'Is this also a music video? Seems freaking dull.'

The high school student made sarcastic remarks while searching for 'TeStar' on WeTube in case there was something to expect.

However, there was something else that caught his eye before the 'Magical Boy' music video.

It was a video that was only uploaded yesterday.

'Oh?'

On the thumbnail, there was a Japanese comedian with their mouth wide open.

'Ah, I can't stand this.'

He was out for patriotism. The high school boy snickered and clicked on the video.

//TN: The following illustrations were a part of the original chapter