Chapter 97: The Techniques of an Idol Who Never Fails

Creating the song for Big Blue was largely driven by my love for the fans. Since I had to give any song I was satisfied with to Firstlight immediately, I mostly declined offers.

Except for one person.

[Park Hee-young, the Diva: Hey!]

[Park Hee-young, the Diva: I get that you had no choice in the survival show. But if you're going to write songs for other singers, shouldn't you bring me one first?]

I kept hinting around even when making the song for New Days, but this time I just got angry.

[I tried, but trot is too hard, Onee-san...]

[Park Hee-young, the Diva: You're a genius, you can do it.]

[Who's a genius...]

Ha. It's overwhelming...

Trot... How can I make it sound like trot? I'm not even sure if it will clearly be trot as a genre. And it's not just any trot, but how can I create a trot that the Queen of Events will sing with such an ambiguous mindset...

Actually, Park Hee-young is just teasing me. If I really brought her a trot song, she would probably be uncomfortable in her own way.

Park Hee-young's songwriting team is so solid.

To the extent that, even when she feels a song in her recent albums is a bit lacking in quality, she would rather modify it herself than get a song from another songwriter.

Honestly, I have a lot to say about that. But everyone keeps quiet because of Park Hee-young's character, which values loyalty. I also want to create something if I can.

I thought about a direction that Park Hee-young might accept and then sent a message.

[Onee-san, if there are any unused tracks from your songwriting team, can you let me know?]

[Even though I'm not familiar with trot, if there's a trot track... I'll try my best...!]

I sent it cautiously.

Until now, I've always created both the backing track and melody, but for a completely unfamiliar genre like trot, it was too difficult.

If Park Hee-young's songwriting team sends me a track and I add the top line, it will both maintain the trot genre and be a song from Park Hee-young's team.

I clearly declined offers from people outside of Park Hee-young and New Days' Kang Jin-young, but I didn't completely close the door, leaving room for mutual interest in the future.

After that, I used my songwriter privileges to watch Big Blue's performance from backstage.

Big Blue's fans cheered when they saw me. Feeling embarrassed, Big Blue's Park Min-ha scolded the fans.

"Hey, why are you looking at other guys? Look at me."

One fan said,

"Ugh, you're a baby, a baby!"

Big Blue, Skipper, and even the staff burst into laughter. Clearly, they have a good rapport. They're like friends.

The members, who complained about their joints creaking in the waiting room, turned into teenagers the moment they saw the fans' faces. Seeing that made me laugh. Fans and idols are gifts to each other.

* * *

In the car on my way home, I checked my status window.

['Let's Meet This Year' has achieved an A+ hit.]

'...This isn't an S hit?'

The initial sales period hasn't even ended yet, and it's already at 1.42 million copies. Plus, it's number one on the daily chart.

If this isn't an S hit, how many more hits would it need to be one...?

[(Hit Song Maker) Red Roulette]

[Presentation Skill B

Topliner B

L-grade hit production probability 0%

S-grade hit production probability 0.1%

A-grade hit production probability 5%

B-grade hit production probability 20%

C-grade hit production probability 60%]

[Red Roulette S-ticket ×1]

I immediately spun the roulette.

I wondered what would come out. If I could get something, maybe something like staying awake while composing or not needing to eat to survive?

While I was revealing my desires, a deep red potion fell.

[Creator's Sensitivity S]

[Hit song production probability increases]

[*Side effects may occur]

...Huh?

[*Trial period for side effect confirmation has started]

[7/7 (unit: days)]

Just then, a car passing by honked loudly, making me jump.

I'm not sure if it's due to my anxiety disorder, but I tend to overreact to loud noises. I've improved a lot recently, but I still can't keep my composure when I hear sudden loud sounds.

Manager Kang Young-ho, who knew this, said,

"Ah, you drive like crap and get mad."

Probably because entertainers tend to honk a lot when they drive, I was more careful about that when I was a manager.

Speaking of which, Manager Kang Young-ho's voice...

"Bro, have you ever sung 'Protect Me' at a karaoke?"

"Yeah, I like that song. How did you know?"

"...Just a guess."

It seemed fitting.

I put on headphones to block out the outside noise and checked my status window again.

[During the trial period, hit song production probability increases (temporary)]

[L-grade hit production probability 0% (+0.00%)

S-grade hit production probability 0.1% (+0.9%)

A-grade hit production probability 5% (+5%)

B-grade hit production probability 20% (+10%)

C-grade hit production probability 60% (+35%)]

...Is this a cheat item?

But I can see that there might be side effects.

The anti-anxiety medication I'm taking relaxes my tense body and reduces sensitivity. But this potion seems to have the opposite effect.

Anyway, for L-grade hits...

[L-grade hit production probability requires an L-ticket]

The system must have read my mind. It immediately informed me. Haha.

After that, while listening to Firstlight's music, I suddenly noticed some parts that bothered me.

'This part could have been pronounced differently.'

'Ah, this is the explosive part, it's a bit disappointing...'

Feeling such regrets, I played 'Let's Meet This Year' next.

Listening to it, I realized the power of experience.

I had my own idea of the finished product, but the Big Blue members already understood the vocals better than I did. More accurately, they understood the flow of the vocals.

Having recorded countless songs and listened to music for at least 10 more years than our members, the Big Blue members came into the recording studio with the start, highlights, and ending already in their heads.

When I record with our members, it still takes a long time, one by one. This is because, while the members are repeatedly singing during the recording, I keep finding compromises with the recording members.

Thinking that I understand the song best because I composed it was arrogant.

I listened to our upcoming mini 3rd album's title track, whose recording and mixing were already complete.

'I want to modify it.'

I usually wouldn't say anything because I find it hard to voice complaints outside the recording studio, but the parts that didn't sit well with me kept bothering me.

Yeah, what's the point of being young if not to grab and modify it? I'll have to apologize to the engineer...

Just then, a message came in.

[Min-jo: Hyung Hae-won! Let's have a dinner party later!!!!!!!!!!!]

Even though it was a text, Min-jo's urging was loud. Checking the group chat, I saw they had already set a time for the dinner party.

Well, who knows when we'll hit the daily chart again. If we're going to celebrate, we should do it today.

I asked Manager Kang Young-ho,

"Bro, are you free for dinner later? The kids want to have a dinner party."

"Whenever else are we going to do it? Ah, I'll say we're taking promotional photos, so the CEO can come too."

He's a genius. Haha.

* * *

We decided to have the dinner party at a skewer restaurant near our dorm.

When I came out of the studio and entered the restaurant, the members and Yang Yi-hyung were already there.

"Who knows when we'll hit number one again, so we're having skewers?"

To which Shin Ji-won replied as if it was obvious,

"Just because it's free doesn't mean we want to eat it."

"Rich kids' mindset."

I said, sitting down. Since we have minor members, we started early to return to the dorm quickly for the second round.

We set up cameras for the promotional photos and noisily ate skewers.

I counted the ginkgo skewers the members had eaten and said,

"Because of you guys, ginkgo trees will go extinct."

"Exactly. They're already endangered."

An-ju-won, who doesn't eat ginkgo, chimed in. Then Han Hyo-seok said to me,

"Bro, write a sad song about endangered species."

"Are you sure you're drinking cola? Not alcohol?"

"Bro... aren't endangered species sad?"

"Well, they are sad, but it's absurd."

But after hearing it, why does this nonsense sound so sad? Is my sensitivity heightened...?

* * *

Even though I didn't drink, I felt relaxed and enjoyed the party as if I had. It was quite fun even without alcohol.

The next morning, I woke up to find Yang Yi-hyung sleeping on Shin Ji-won's bed, and Manager Kang Young-ho on the