The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 110

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Former Idol’s Hard Carry of an Indie Band
Episode 110
Thanks to Kim Ji Hu’s resolve, Oktatop was able to maintain a five-member lineup.
And so the day came to return to South Korea, leaving behind what felt like a dream schedule in the United States.
“I’ve got a dream now.”
Heo Jun Sung dropped the unexpected comment while we waited for the plane at the airport.
“A dream?”
“Yeah. First, I’m gonna make a ton of money.”
“And then?”
“I’m bringing an Out-N-In Burger franchise to South Korea.”
“You’ll need to earn a lot for that.”
Lee Do Young responded supportively, while the others didn’t even pretend to listen.
During the few days we were in the United States, South Korea was quite noisy.
All because Oktatop had gone to America.
-When are they coming back from the US?
└Was it today? Or tomorrow?
-Is this just a vacation trip?
└I don’t know, only the schedule and US trip were announced
└Are they shooting a commercial?
└What indie band shoots commercials lol are they idols??? lol
-No way, a rock festival?
└It’s not rock festival season yet, so are they doing something smaller?
-Ugh I’m so curious what they went for
-They hit number one on the Sounda Chart recently, so isn’t it related to that?
└That seems to be the prevailing theory
Communities, YouTube, social media.
Even news articles about us going to America came out.
An indie band barely into adulthood receiving this kind of attention was probably a first in Korean rock band history.
I wanted to get back to South Korea quickly.
“The first Out-N-In Burger in South Korea is gonna be mine!”
“Yeah, yeah. Keep it down.”
* * *
On the flight back to South Korea, the guys were subdued.
Unable to bear the exhaustion after finishing our schedule, they all slept for the entire flight.
We arrived in South Korea in a half-asleep daze.
I wanted to get home and rest quickly, but even that wasn’t so simple.
The moment we cleared customs, collected our luggage, and passed through the gate, a sight familiar to me but strange to the others unfolded before our eyes.
“Waaaaaah!”
“It’s Oktatop!”
“It’s Oktatop! Oktatop’s here!”
Beyond the fence, quite a few fans were waiting with signs to welcome us.
Reporters with cameras and notepads were standing by.
We had to greet them looking completely disheveled, fresh from sleep.
“What the—seriously?”
“They were waiting for us?”
“What is this…?”
Caught off guard, my friends could only walk with bewildered expressions.
“Seo Ha!”
“Kim Ji Hu!!”
I waved back at the fans calling us in loud voices.
My friends waved to them as well.
They couldn’t hide their awkwardness.
It was always funny watching them feel uncomfortable.
As we walked toward the exit, reporters followed us.
“What was the purpose of your schedule in the United States?”
“Was it related to the Sounda Chart by any chance?”
Questions poured in all at once, and my friends just kept walking, unsure how to respond.
Heo Jun Sung and Kang Min looked flustered.
Lee Do Young looked overwhelmed.
Kim Ji Hu didn’t seem bothered at all.
I had to manage the situation.
“We were there for filming.”
“Broadcast filming? Content?”
“We saw you opened a YouTube channel—is this for original content?”
One answer spawned dozens more questions.
“It’s under embargo.”
At the word embargo, the reporters’ hands started flying.
It meant there was a contractual restriction on what we could discuss.
Though we didn’t know which broadcast it was, they could infer that there had been broadcast filming.
More questions came after that, but I didn’t answer them.
Giving any more information would violate the contract.
And so we escaped the chaos and headed to Seoul in Manager Jo Hyun Seop’s car.
“Fans waiting at the airport—you guys are celebrities now.”
Jo Hyun Seop, gripping the steering wheel, spoke in a pleased tone.
He seemed even more excited than we were.
Of course, my guys remained unmoved.
“Come on, we’re not celebrities.”
“We’re just an indie band, that’s all.”
We certainly thought of ourselves as an indie band.
Or rather, we literally are an indie band.
No company backing us.
Our popularity just follows good music.
Of course, the fact that many people recognize us was a pleasant thing.
My friends’ expressions, which had been worn with fatigue until moments ago, looked bright—proof of that.
* * *
The Greenroom broadcast was scheduled for the following Friday evening, local time.
After checking, I found there were only two ways to watch The Greenroom in our country: either bypass the IP restriction to watch the full version,
or watch the clips that went up on YouTube.
Just those two options.
When the time came, we planned to do some promotion through social media and YouTube ourselves.
I was curious how much noise it would make once it dropped.
Oktatop’s first act was forming the band and building Oktatop’s fame.
And the second act of Oktatop, now just beginning.
That would be the revitalization of the South Korean band scene.
Oktatop and the South Korean band scene had to maintain a symbiotic relationship.
It’s fine if we succeed and become celebrities and world-class stars on our own.
But that would carry strong pop star vibes.
We’re going to spark a Korean band boom and bring the “Korean band scene”—not just “Oktatop”—to the world stage.
That second act was what we needed for that.
Our song was still sitting at number four on domestic music streaming platforms.
The three teams above us were all idols.
All from major entertainment companies with solid fanbases.
An unbreakable wall.
No matter how good our music was, we couldn’t penetrate that right now.
This was as high as the domestic charts could take us with this album.
We’d have to aim for number one next time.
* * *
We couldn’t dominate the domestic charts, but we could bring one major issue to South Korea.
-The Greenroom appearance!
-Link/thegreenroom/2844726dm1244
A week later, The Greenroom episode featuring Oktatop went live.
We posted the YouTube clip link on our social media stories.
We also promoted it through YouTube posts.
The initial reaction from Korean fans was lukewarm.
Many people didn’t know what The Greenroom was.
But the reaction after people followed the link and watched the broadcast was quite hot.
Notably Korean comments started flooding the clip video at an incredible rate.
-Wait, they’re an indie band…?
-Lol how did they manage this?? Number one on an overseas chart AND appearing on an American talk show?? Just high school kids in an indie band??? lol
-Everyone, an indie band with NO company backing is dominating overseas charts and appearing on American broadcasts. This isn’t just impressive, this is genuinely unprecedented
-Wow this gives me goosebumps, they still look so young but they’re seriously amazing
-Our boys’ English is insanely good ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└Aren’t Heo Jun Sung and Kang Min our boys too?
└Shh
-Why is Kang Min speaking Japanese???
└Guess he got confused lol
└It’s America lol why would Japanese come out instead of English lol
Most of the Korean comments were praise for our activities.
An unprecedented event.
A sense of national pride—so-called “National Pride Feeling”—was the dominant narrative around Oktatop’s historic move.
Meanwhile, the English comments were trending in a slightly different direction.
-Orchestral synth + heavy rock? Pure genius.
-Damn. This is a fucking literal stadium anthem shit.
-An absolute sensation!
-Who is OKTOP?
-The most refreshing and trendy sound i’ve heard all year. Obsessed.
-Insanely futuristic yet nostalgic. OKTOP is on another level.
-Singing the heavy track LIVE and sounding like the studio version? Insane.
The overseas viewers mostly praised Oktatop’s music and stage presence itself.
There was no way around it.
“Riot” was made solely with overseas audiences in mind.
Epic sound with narrative depth was the genre that drove the so-called Western fans crazy.
And it just so happened that this genre was starting to trend right about now.
And that strategy was working beautifully.
Of course, Korean comments on that video were overwhelmingly prevalent.
-Does Heo Jun Sung really hunt for hamburgers everywhere lol
-When he talks about hamburgers, Kim Ji Hu pinching his forehead in the back is hilarious lol
-Kang Min usually looks normal but why is he speaking Japanese there? Something feels off
-Cha Seo Ha and Kim Ji Hu’s English is seriously insane
-Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute Lee Do Young is cute
The music, the flow.
Comments from people who loved us without worrying about those details also held their own place.
The Greenroom’s view count was climbing at a terrifying pace.
And messages started coming in from fellow musicians who saw the news.
-Jo Sung Hoon: Hey man, watched your American broadcast appearance, how’d you pull that off?
-Im Hyun Taek: Dude, you could’ve at least told me you were going. I wanted to buy an album in the US
-Dampa: You went international, so how about getting us on a Live Performance special? ㄱㄱ?
I was replying one by one to my seniors’ messages.
Suddenly my phone buzzed with a vibration, and a call came through from an unknown number.
Who could it be?
“Hello?”
A voice came through the moment I answered.
-Is this Cha Seo Ha’s number?
It was a woman’s voice I’d heard somewhere before.
“Yes, that’s right.”
-…Could you help us out?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————