The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Former Idol’s Indie Band Hard Carry
Episode 137
Band Oktatop is famous, certainly, but still a band that only those in the know really recognize.
A national MC, a national little sister, a national singer, a national athlete, and so on.
People who are so famous that anyone you pass on the street would know their names.
While Oktatop is famous for an indie band, we’re still far from reaching that tier.
Jo Hyun Seop wanted to elevate Oktatop to that level while maintaining its character and form.
From his perspective, Oktatop had been doing well on its own all this time.
But by his standards, it had only been about promoting the music itself—not about promoting the band as a brand.
There were many people in the world who knew Oktatop even now, but the number fell far short of his target.
Jo Hyun Seop was racking his brain over how to make Oktatop a nationwide star.
His concerns deepened, and meanwhile the view count on Oktatop’s clip from the home-tour broadcast kept climbing steadily.
-Everyone, Lee Do Young is cute. If you argue otherwise, I’ll kill you.
└That’s right. Lee Do Young is cute. Learn it if you don’t know.
└I agree. If you don’t learn it, I’ll kill you.
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why do you keep killing people ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└If you don’t kill, then he’s cute.
└Huh?
-Kim Ji-hun ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ high cholesterol ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Looks like the type who takes health seriously ㅋㅋㅋ Unlike someone else ㅋㅋㅋ
-This team doesn’t function without Cha Seo Ha ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Wait, aren’t these people famous? Why is their studio so small?
-Doesn’t the gap between their stage persona and their usual selves seem too huge? I’m honestly confused
-That’s strange…. They looked so cool on stage, but why did they turn into kids?
-But that genuine high school vibe is so good though….
-Wait, so all this time kids like these have been getting cyberbullying like that? Now that I think about it, people are really cruel
└For real, those trolls leaving comments without knowing anything should have their fingers broken
└How much mental anguish must those kids have gone through…. Getting insulted is mentally draining
└Now that I think about it, it makes me sad ㅠㅠ How much did they hate being attacked….
└But seeing them doing this well now makes me feel better
-In all my life, I never thought I’d get to see inside Oktatop’s rehearsal studio. Thanks to the home-tour broadcast
Following Jo Hyun Seop’s plan, the public had shown great interest in Oktatop’s appearance on the home-tour broadcast.
And there was another type of reaction.
-Wait, Oktatop didn’t join a new agency—they founded their own?
-I heard that CEO is pretty famous. Are they working together in some kind of collaboration?
-He’s the kind of elder statesman figure who created Uptown Boys
└Uptown Boys? Seriously…. So Jo Hyun Seop is actually an incredible person
-The company CEO is Jo Hyun Seop? I heard he was a big player in the industry back in the day… but isn’t he from way back? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I don’t know much, but it seems like a serious company….
-A combination of a 1990s legend and a 2010s rookie—not bad
-How to put it…. The picture is impressive. I thought it was a startup, but it’s a company with a veteran. And then there’s this crazy rookie joining it. The combination is insane
-I’m really looking forward to what they show us next
After watching the broadcast, more people came to understand who KTP Entertainment really was.
That Oktatop hadn’t just joined a company, but that the company had been established like a joint venture.
Of course, on paper it was Jo Hyun Seop’s personal company, and Oktatop had joined it properly.
But as their future moves unfold, the world will come to realize that what appears on paper isn’t the whole story.
KTP Entertainment’s music was entrusted entirely to Oktatop.
Jo Hyun Seop handles management and marketing comprehensively.
Watching the public’s heated response, Jo Hyun Seop’s mind spun with ideas about positioning Oktatop at an even higher level with his own hands.
* * *
Up until we went on the broadcast, there were definitely people cursing us out.
They said things like: we were finally going on a show, we’d changed, it was obviously going to be a luxury lifestyle observation show, and so on.
There were negative comments, but after the broadcast aired, you couldn’t find that kind of content anymore.
Instead, comments like these kept piling up.
-Wait, what happened to all those comments saying Oktatop had changed and was going on a show? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-After watching the broadcast, they’re just kids who love music. What changed?
-Luxury goods bragging~~? These kids’ only luxury is their instruments. What are people talking about?
-Trolls, come up with something that sounds plausible. Stop writing nonsense that doesn’t even stick
-Where did all the mean comments go? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Why do these bastards wait for their moment and then attack? ㅅㄲ
-I wish trolls would be a bit more careful with how they talk to kids who just turned 20
└Trolls don’t care how old their target is anyway
└Sigh, it’s just pathetic…….
-After the broadcast, I don’t see mean comments at all ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The CEO definitely did a good job picking that broadcast.
Because we showed a good image at the right time, public opinion of us was now more favorable than it had ever been since the band was formed.
“You’ve got a real eye for this.”
We received dozens of offers for other variety shows besides the home-tour broadcast.
Some were more famous or more sensational, but he chose an observation show specifically.
And among all of them, he picked the one with the most subtle flavor—that was Jo Hyun Seop’s good instincts.
The elder statesman really is different.
Now that we’ve shown a good image on broadcast, we need to solidify it with a comeback.
The next album we’re releasing is a full-length album.
It’s work that takes time to produce, but we had to do it as fast as possible.
Especially with this album, the production would inevitably take longer, so we had to save on sleep and meals.
While conceptualizing this album, I found myself thinking this way.
We’re working to revitalize the band scene.
If we ever went overseas for a long time and came back to South Korea, there had to be a place for us to stand.
That way, even if we released songs after an incredibly long gap, people wouldn’t experience band music as something ‘unfamiliar’ anymore.
Not just a picture of Oktatop doing well on its own.
A picture where the entire band scene reaches a certain tier, and there’s a home for us to return to.
That’s what I wanted, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Of course, we’ve already risen quite a bit compared to before.
Odyssey, Maruru Band, Distruction.
These three teams had all climbed to pretty high ranks on music charts.
But it’s still too early to be satisfied.
So, how should we do this?
I thought through all kinds of methods and decided to approach it from a completely different angle than before.
Up until now, I’d just played dumb when people said it was all Dampa’s plan.
And I didn’t push back much when they said we were an idol band.
My attitude was just to let everything flow as it naturally would.
But this time, I decided to use a more explicit method.
A method frequently used in scenes with lower market value compared to other genres.
And it’s something done not to save the scene, but purely because they love doing it themselves.
‘Compilation Project Album Production’.
I’m planning to openly use a ton of features and appeal for people to help revitalize the band scene.
It’ll use a lot of people, but it’s definitely doable work.
It’ll just take a while.
Making good music wasn’t hard.
And we’d need some money, of course.
“CEO, are there people willing to invest?”
“Plenty.”
“As long as they don’t touch the music?”
“Not a single one.”
“Can you believe it?”
Honestly, I thought at our level there’d be at least a few people willing to just invest money without interfering.
But that was too naive an expectation.
I thought there might be one or two, honestly.
We still hadn’t reached the scale where people would trust us completely and invest serious money.
I shouldn’t compare this to my position in my past life.
“But there is this.”
“What’s that?”
The CEO showed me a document regarding sponsorship inquiries instead of investment.
“A-Jackson…? What kind of place is that?”
It was a company I’d never heard of.
“You know the Songpa Art Center, right? That’s the organization that operates it.”
“Oh, I know the center. But I’ve never heard of the operator’s name.”
Songpa Art Center.
It was a fairly famous mid-sized performance venue with seating for around a thousand.
“Their schedule has a lot of openings this year, so they’ve reached out with a sponsorship offer.”
“Hmm, that’s nice. With a sponsorship like that, we don’t even need other investment.”
We needed investment for this activity.
Album production costs were higher than before, for one thing.
And we’d always held a concert after releasing an album.
We were planning to do a concert for this activity too.
If we could get venue sponsorship, we’d save a huge expense, so it was an enormous help.
“There are lots of other sponsorship offers besides this. I’ll send you the list, so talk it over with the guys and pick what you need.”
“Understood.”
Since there wasn’t anything particularly coercive about it, it seemed there wasn’t anything that would immediately help our activities.
I’d need to look around and see what my friends and I might personally need.
* * *
A few weeks had passed since the release of the “Concentrated Life Research” home-tour edition featuring Oktatop.
Oktatop occasionally appeared on radio during that time.
We’d also made occasional appearances on late-night music programs and music programs run by educational broadcasters.
Then came a day when we were quietly making appearances like that.
-OKTOP 2nd Full Album [The Compilation] 2019.10.16.Wed
News of Oktatop’s next full-length album release was announced.
The title was ‘The Compilation’.
-Wow, a full album! An actual full album!
-Here comes the big feast. Everyone open your mouths
-Are they continuing the Youth series? Or a different concept?
-Since their first full album was metal, I hope they do another metal release
-Ah, two weeks left…. How am I supposed to wait
-Looking at the album title, is it going to be like a mixed-genre album?
-Oktatop’s been appearing on broadcast recently, and I hope they do a ton of music shows and variety shows during this album promotion
└But based on Oktatop’s personality, I don’t think they’ll do many variety shows ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└That’s true, but there’s something mysterious about it. I like that Oktatop isn’t overexposed
└I’ve been a fan of idols for many years, but this is my first time as a fan of a singer where I don’t crave variety show appearances
-A full album, seriously ㅠㅠㅠㅠ The company seems to be doing a really good job
└It’s their own company though ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Oh right ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I wonder what kind of flavor Oktatop’s full album will have as a company-scale release….
Just one post.
With that alone, expectations were growing about what concept they’d present this time.
Metal, youth, roots, mainstream appeal, trends.
Oktatop had shown many sides until now.
But this time they’d be showing something they’d never shown before—something completely new.
And not many people had caught on to what that might be.

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