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Chapter 103: Changing Future (3)

The music video exceeded 5,000 views in less than three minutes. In an era where personal broadcasting streamers with millions of viewers abound, 5,000 might seem trivial. But for Cherry Blossom who had just set up their fan club website, these numbers were extraordinary.

"Yay!"

While the comments section was peppered with some negative remarks as expected by Lee Dong-Min, it was still overwhelmingly positive. I hesitated to show the comments to the girls before the music video was released, but it was a different story now given the circumstances.

I selected a few nice comments to share with the girls.

(Comments)

-Wow, ‘Hurry Up!’ I like this

-This song is perfect for an alarm in the morning!

-They are bursting with fresh charms!

-Who\'s the one standing in the center? She’s kinda my type.

-Her name is Sae-Ri. She’s still in middle school, so let\'s keep the comments clean.

-This song is going to be a hit LOL. The melody is catchy and the lyrics really stick with you. Hurry~ Up!

-Awww, my Sae-Ri. Her dance is too cute.

As the views and likes on the MeTube channel rapidly increased, all of the girls were blinking in disbelief, wondering if this was a dream or reality.

Yang Eun-Bi incredulously recalled the statistics from their second album. "The views for our second album last time didn\'t even reach 50 even after an hour..."

‘Only 50 views in an hour? Wow, their second album really hit rock bottom.’

But Yang Eun-Bi’s comment paradoxically showed how incredible Cherry Blossom\'s talent and potential were, considering they managed to reach 30th place with such low views.

"Ah, I\'m about to cry. Sniff~."

Overwhelmed with emotions, Sae-Ri’s eyes began to well up with tears. Seeing them so happy over just 5,000 views made me think we should perhaps strengthen their mental fortitude in anticipation of hitting number one.

The original \'Hurry Up!\' from my previous life was a huge hit which ranked first on the music charts for five weeks. But this time, with the vastly improved skills of composer Bang Seon-Woo, who gave his all for the song, it would not be surprising if the song could continue to rank first on the charts for more than five weeks.

That\'s when a cold sensation on my neck made me snap out of my thoughts. When I turned around, I saw Sae-Ri\'s tears drenching the back of my neck. Her tears were falling like a waterfall.

"Sae-Ri, I’m glad you’re happy but can you cry a bit further away from me? This is the only suit I have since the rest are at the dry cleaners."

Sae-Ri refused to move away and shook her head with tears brimming in her eyes. Then, she clung onto me even tighter like a baby koala determined not to let go. "No, I want to stay like this until the view count stops rising!"

‘Are we going to stick together all day or what?’

“Yeon-Hee, I think we\'re good now... Can you let go of my hand? And while you\'re at it, could you take this koala off my back?"

Woo Yeon-Hee nodded but hesitated to let go, flinching as if afraid.

Fortunately, the view count continued to rise steadily, reassuring Woo Yeon-Hee who let out a sigh of relief. "Phew. We\'re good."

"See? Now let go. The views are still increasing as you can see."

"You’re right. Everyone~ it seems safe to let go now."

Following Woo Yeon-Hee\'s words, Yang Eun-Bi and Eun-Ah gradually released their grips. But Sae-Ri remained glued to me.

"No, unnie. I feel too anxious to let go."

"Sae-Ri, I’m telling you—we are okay."

"No, I’m going to stay like this."

‘Sae-Ri, are you going to buy me a new suit?’

While I was holding back from saying those words out loud, Woo Yeon-Hee managed to get Sae-Ri off me, but only after my suit\'s neckline had completely been soaked with tears.

At that moment, Yang Eun-Bi who had been watching the monitor intently suddenly started shaking my arm excitedly as if she remembered something.

"Oppa! Oppa! How many views does Petite More have? Check theirs too."

"Why bother with that? Let’s just focus on our views, not anyone else\'s.”

That’s when Sae-Ri started whining, threatening to climb on my back again if I didn\'t show them Petite More’s views. "Ah, why? Hurry up and just show us, will you? I\'m getting dizzy here!"

‘Sae-Ri. You\'re the one making me dizzy!’

I had no choice but to give in.

‘Fine, let\'s take a look. There!’

Eventually, I typed Petite More\'s MeTube channel URL into the address bar.

Click.

The page changed, revealing Petite More\'s new song, \'Masquerade.\'

[Petite More \'Masquerade\' Views 62,128 Likes 620]

"Their rate is ten times faster than ours... huh?"

Cherry Blossom looked disappointed. Despite how good Cherry Blossom\'s new song was, I had already expected it to be overshadowed initially given Petite More\'s reputation, fan base, and media coverage.

‘That\'s why I didn\'t want to show Petite More’s new song to them.’

But thankfully, a notable metric caught my eye.

"Guys, you won in likes!"

[Cherry Blossom \'Hurry Up!\' Views 6,820 Likes 658]

"Really? Oh my gosh, you’re right!"

"Why do we have more likes even though the views are ten times less?"

I answered Woo Yeon-Hee\'s question with a laugh, "Because they like you guys?"

Woo Yeon-Hee made an excited expression and playfully hit my arm while saying, "Oh, come on. Oppa!"

“I’m serious. The reason there are so many likes is because the song is good. Once we start our broadcasting activities, we\'ll quickly catch up with Petite More in terms of views."

‘Right. This is just the beginning.’

But there was something that made me feel uneasy—Petite More\'s song had changed significantly from what I knew of before in my past life.

\'What\'s this? Their song sounds much better than the same one in my past life.’

The original \'Masquerade\' in my past life was a somewhat lacking hip-hop dance track. It managed to hold the first place for four weeks but that was purely as a result of a strong fan base and the song started plummeting soon after.

The song had an almost nonexistent hook, inscrutable lyrics, muddled enunciation, and difficult English rap parts. It was a song you couldn\'t possibly sing along to in karaoke.

‘This isn’t right.’

Although the basic melody was similar to the one before the regression, the song\'s overall vibe was entirely different. This level of change wasn\'t just a matter of different music arrangements; it indicated a shift at the producer level.

Many things were different from my past life. A small ripple disturbed my previously calm state of mind.

\'What exactly is happening with Petite More right now?\'

***

A day passed and it was time to release the songs on the music charts.

In the meeting room of Singer Division 2, Lee Dong-Min was chuckling over the MeTube views.

[Petite More \'Masquerade\' Views 212,128 Likes 1,920]

[Cherry Blossom ‘Hurry Up!’ Views 45,320 Likes 4,564-

"I\'d say this is a good start. No, actually, it\'s beyond expectations."

The initial rapid increase in views had settled into a more steady growth rate. The gap with Petite More, which was once a tenfold difference in views, had now narrowed to fivefold.

And of course, we were still leading in terms of likes.

Han Myung-Ho said with hopeful anticipation, "Mr. Lee, with these numbers, we might actually stand a chance. Don’t you think so?"

Lee Dong-Min nodded in agreement. “How are the girls holding up mentally?"

"Not bad at all. They were especially over the moon this morning."

The negative comments on the music video on the first day had almost vanished by this morning.

"Hehe, all the comments were praises. It\'s been a while since we\'ve had such a response to one of our music videos."

The positive response to the music video allowed us to show the comments directly to the Cherry Blossom members without any need for filtering.

Lee Dong-Min smiled contentedly. "This is the first time since I joined the company where I\'ve seen such a good response to a music video from Singer Division 2."

At that moment, Han Myung-Ho frowned as he read an article about Petite More.

"What\'s this about now?"

[Petite More to fully release their fifth mini-album today!]

[Another music video from Petite More, ‘Princess of the Night,’ now available! (Link)]

[Petite More\'s comeback stage set for April 25th on MBS Show! Music Center]

Things had changed. Petite More did not only change their title track but was also now pre-releasing another music video.

In my past life, \'Princess of the Night\' only existed as an audio track with no music video produced. It seemed like the change had been made at least a month ago considering the preparation time needed.

"Team Lead Han, bring up MeTube!"

"Yes, sir."

Han Myung-Ho displayed the \'Princess of the Night\' music video on the large LCD screen at Lee Dong-Min\'s command.

As expected, the basic melody was indeed the same as the one in my memory but the arrangement and the styling of the music video were completely different. After all, the quality of a song could vary greatly depending on who did the arrangement.

The song was ridiculed as a clumsy hip-hop piece in my past life, but it now seemed decently polished. No one spoke a single word during the entire 4 minutes and 30 seconds of the music video.

When the music video ended, Lee Dong-Min grumbled, "How much money did they pour into this music video?"

Han Myung-Ho also frowned and chimed in. "If one mini-album has two major music videos, the production cost must have hit at least 50 billion won, don\'t you think?"

"50 billion? From what I see, I bet they easily spent 100 billion won. The scale of the music videos is just different."

Kim Mi-Hye and Park Jin-Sung, the assistant managers of the publicity division also looked troubled.

"TK must be really going all out this time. Launching two music videos at once..."

The lavish sets and fashion that reminded one of New York Fashion Week were undeniably buzz-worthy. We had to admit that Cherry Blossom\'s \'Hurry Up!\' couldn\'t match Petite More’s videos in terms of freshness and vivacity despite ‘Hurry Up!’ being more fresh and vibrant.

But no matter how good \'Hurry Up!\' was, it could easily be overshadowed the moment the buzz leaned heavily in one direction.

A chill ran down my spine. I felt like I was standing in front of a cliff. But in such times, one had to do whatever it takes to survive.

"Mr. Park, how much can we stretch the publicity budget?"

Park Jin-Sung, assigned exclusively to Cherry Blossom by Sung Min-Suk, had a stern expression as he spoke. "As much as needed. Mr. Kang already ordered full support to be given to Cherry Blossom’s comeback."

The atmosphere in Singer Division 2 lightened up a bit.

"Alright. Then let\'s give it our all so we don\'t fall behind TK Entertainment."

"But we need to at least perform well on the music charts to avoid backlash. That way, I have something to say to the higher-ups. Right?"

"Of course, that\'s a given."

Assured by my confident expression, Park Jin-Sung nodded with a pleased look.

As we got back to work, the time to check the music charts arrived. It was 5:50 PM and there were only ten minutes left until the songs were released. The high tension engulfed the room.

Unable to focus on his work, Lee Dong-Min set his tablet on the table. "Phew. I just can\'t concentrate. What do you guys think will be our entry rank on the charts? Shall we make a bet?"

Surprised by Lee Dong-Min\'s sudden suggestion, Han Myung-Ho boldly declared, "The song turned out well, so I\'m betting on a top 20 entry."

“Phew!”

The staff of Singer Division 2 blew a whistle at Han Myung-Ho’s remark. If the chart entry rank was 20th, it was a given that Cherry Blossom would end up in the top three eventually.

"Ah, what!? This song did turn out really well!"

When Han Myung-Ho protested, Lee Dong-Min just smirked. Then, he turned to Kim Mi-Hye and asked, "Assistant Manager Kim, what rank do you see us at?"

"I\'d be thankful for even 30th place."

If the chart entry rank was 30th, the result typically ended up around tenth place.

Everyone took turns predicting a good rank, and then it was my turn.

"What do you think, Assistant Manager Jung?"

At that moment, all eyes turned toward me.

"What rank do you think, Assistant Manager Jung?"

We would find out in three minutes, but with rumors of my foresight and ability to tell the future, everyone seemed curious about my prediction. I tried to recall my memories amidst hopeful and anxious stares. The original ‘Hurry Up!’ in my past life had an entry ranking of 15th. Then, exactly three days later, it took first place. Such was possible due to a massive marketing push by Ace Entertainment.

While that marketing push was absent this time, I trusted the significantly improved song, choreography, and lyrics and called the same rank. "I’d say 15th without being greedy."

The staff were startled and their eyes widened.

"I-if the entry is 15th, that means Cherry Blossom is going straight to first place!"

"Yes. I think they will reach first place."

A commotion broke out and staff murmured they\'d have no more wishes left if that really happened.

Lee Dong-Min smiled and patted my shoulder. "If that happens, I\'ll treat everyone to barbeque until we\'re sick of it tonight. It’s all on me."

"You promise?"

"What? You think I’m not capable of paying that much? I am Lee Dong-Min, after all!"

‘Indeed, he did say he made quite a bit of money in his younger days.’

Though there wasn’t a single analog clock in the room, the ticking sound seemed to echo in my ears as if it were a hallucination.

And then the time turned 6 p.m.

With a ding, the song was uploaded to the Melang chart. Everyone waited with nervous expressions for the ranking updates.

"It\'s up!"

The moment we saw the initial entry rank of ‘Hurry Up!’ on the chart at 6:05 p.m., everyone’s jaws dropped.

"Wow!"

"Can you believe this?"

Lee Dong-Min, Han Myung-Ho, and even I couldn\'t help but open our mouths wide in surprise.