The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 97

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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 Carries an Indie Band
Chapter 97
With Band Slam behind us, the year came to a close.
We officially became adults, and 2019 began.
It had been two years since I’d returned to the past.
When I first decided I had to form a band with my friends, everything felt uncertain.
I had no idea how these guys had even come together.
After gathering Kang Min, I leveraged broadcast exposure, and honestly, I had no real certainty about any of it.
The odds seemed favorable and I was confident, but if even one thing had gone wrong, the plan would’ve fallen apart.
But now things were different.
I had friends who trusted and followed one another.
And I had Jo Hyun Seop, who supported us like a father would.
There was nothing left to worry about.
Starting this year, the second act of Okdap would begin.
It would probably be a relentless stretch of hard days ahead.
Just like it had been in my past life.
There would be hundreds, thousands of moments when I’d be so exhausted I’d want to quit, but I couldn’t stop—not when I was curious where the path to success with Okdap would lead.
And then the first buildup for that real success began in earnest.
It was sometime late in January.
We sat on the sofa in the Practice Room with the lights off, eating popcorn and staring at the monitor screen.
“Starting it.”
“Okay.”
On the monitor that Kang Min had pressed play on, a single video appeared.
Thump-thump…….
After a familiar sound effect came a black screen.
Bricks Escape
The title “Bricks Escape” appeared, and then the screen brightened with the sound of birds chirping as the video began.
-Ah, this month’s a bust too, total bust.
The voice of a middle-aged actor who regularly appeared in noir films.
Shuffling in slippers, a cigarette dangling from his lips, he continued venting curses about whatever was bothering him.
-Hey, no smoking in here!
A dispute with a neighbor.
The protagonist was portrayed as someone in generally poor circumstances.
Scenes like this continued for several minutes.
The protagonist walking down the street, pulling something from his pocket.
It was a photograph.
Just as the camera was about to zoom in on the photo.
Bang—!
“Gasp!”
“Ah, shit, scared me!”
“Ha…. Got me good, seriously.”
“Whoa!”
A car suddenly hit the protagonist, and a loud crash sound erupted.
The guys, all except me, jumped in fright.
I’d seen this drama a few times already, so nothing surprised me.
Men in black suits got out of the car that hit the protagonist and pulled him inside.
“What? Not an accident?”
“Whoa! I guess it’s not an accident?”
“No way, could be evidence tampering.”
“Whoa? That’s scary!”
The story had barely progressed before a major incident erupted.
The protagonist’s name hadn’t even been mentioned, nor his age—a bold, unconventional development.
“The writer’s smart to go this way.”
“I’m so curious…!”
Later, I’d get used to this kind of brisk pacing, but at that moment, this speed was a bold gamble for television.
In this drama, after some incident, the protagonist gets dragged to a mysterious location.
Dozens of other people were being held captive there.
It was a drama that dealt with the mysterious and eerie events that occurred while escaping from that place.
From what I remembered, “Bricks Escape” was a ten-part series, and I recalled it being loaded with endless twists.
In any case, we continued watching episode one.
Glancing over, all these guys were completely absorbed.
“What? Didn’t he just hide something?”
“Yeah, he’s got something.”
“Isn’t that guy the mastermind?”
“Whoa, you might be right.”
Wrong, you guys.
I wanted to spoil them—like how the limp guy’s the culprit or whatever—but they were so into it I couldn’t bring myself to ruin it.
And then, a moment later.
“Oh, it’s Moon Ga Young.”
“Wow, what’s with that presence?”
“Yeah, she’s cool. Overwhelming.”
“She’s got such an aura, Ga Young….”
Toward the end of episode one.
Moon Ga Young appeared at the deepest point of the space where the captives were gathered, her expression sharp and intense.
That grim, cold expression was nothing short of commanding.
And what followed was Moon Ga Young’s icy line.
-You’ve been here before, haven’t you, sir?
With that cryptic question to the protagonist who’d been dragged here, episode one ended.
“Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!”
“What? The protagonist got brought here, right? He’s been here before?”
“Hey, isn’t the protagonist the culprit?”
“You idiot, why would the culprit hit himself with a car?”
“Oh, right, that’s true.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! I don’t get it!?”
That was exactly my reaction the first time I watched episode one of this drama too.
I’d watched it with trainee friends back then, I think.
“Hey, put on episode two.”
“Yeah, of course, I’m starting it right now.”
So we immediately played episode two of “Bricks Escape.”
That night, we plowed through all ten episodes until the sun came up.
* * *
After that day, all the guys talked about was Bricks Escape.
Kim Ji Hu watched the drama so many times on the Practice Room computer that he seemed to have done a full binge multiple times over.
Lee Do Young and Heo Jun Sung would occasionally muse, ‘Wait, what if that scene back then meant this?’ searching for hidden meanings.
Kang Min said it was fun, but since it wasn’t a 2D anime, he watched it casually.
That guy’s actually insane.
The OTT drama “Bricks Escape” was released simultaneously in 220 countries worldwide, not just Korea.
And with its release, the drama became a global sensation.
If you searched YouTube in English for “Bricks Escape Moon Ga Young,” you’d find countless reaction videos from foreign viewers.
-Bricks Escape Ep.01 Reaction Mash up.
Overseas YouTubers conducting reaction content with a timer running side by side.
They showed excellent focus throughout episode one.
Naturally, the biggest reaction came at the final scene.
-You’ve been here before, haven’t you, sir?
The moment that scene aired, the YouTubers had explosive reactions.
-Oh, my Godness!!!
-Wait, What?
-Who that girl?
-S**t!
-It’s not the first time?
Murmurs continued, and as episode one ended, the YouTubers let out shrieks.
That video recorded a million views, and the comments section was flooded with remarks in countless languages.
This drama was going to do well.
Of course, there was no zero chance the future could change.
But it would be hard for the fate of a drama that had become this globally popular to be altered.
And this wasn’t just my prediction—the momentum was already building that way.
“Bricks Escape” was holding the overwhelming number one spot on the OTT platform.
It was also ranking first across various rating sites with high scores.
When a drama becomes popular, the actors’ popularity naturally follows.
Nam Yu Min, the lead actor, was obvious.
Moon Ga Young had a major supporting role, and though she dies in episode eight and exits the cast, she leaves a tremendous impact.
Because of that, Moon Ga Young gained popularity second only to Nam Yu Min.
This was the future I knew, and that future was already becoming reality.
All of it happened just a week after the drama aired.
And this momentum was helping us.
Moon Ga Young was the lead actress in the music video for a song on our next album.
There was still some time before the song’s release.
We seized the break to launch Okdap’s official YouTube channel.
-OKTOP official
The world was buzzing with the drama “Bricks Escape,” but
that was independent of our popularity.
The success of that drama didn’t diminish our own following.
Evidence of that was the solid view count on our first uploaded video.
-Okdap Autumn Vacation Vlog.
A twenty-minute video posted under that title began immediately with scenes of us playing in the water.
It started with Heo Jun Sung and Kang Min seriously messing around in the water, followed by Lee Do Young and Kim Ji Hu.
Those four splashing, running, and chasing each other lasted quite a while.
And then came shots of my back.
I was watching my friends with a warm smile on my face.
I’d been genuinely amused watching them at the time, so much so that I didn’t even notice Jo Hyun Seop filming from up close.
Then the friends came running, grabbed my arms and legs, dunked me in the water, and all four of them ended up getting caught and meeting their end by my hand.
Next came Heo Jun Sung charring all the meat, Kang Min stealing the tongs and showing off excellent grilling technique.
Kim Ji Hu offering unsolicited advice and Lee Do Young eating contentedly followed.
Even without doing anything special, the video exuded the feeling of youth.
The power of youth really did have a more intense force than anything else in the world.
The video contained nothing but us just messing around.
The editing looked like it had been done by someone who’d just learned basic cutting and subtitles.
The audio quality was terrible.
But that very roughness amplified the video’s true strength.
The video’s technical quality was poor.
Yet it aligned perfectly with what we were trying to do.
And it wasn’t just my opinion either.

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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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