Since the music video and digital album were released, SNS and communities had been buzzing with intense reactions. And I was in the middle of getting makeup done for the showcase while checking it on my phone.
[Han Seungbeom’s MV edited cut]
They were right all along. The Apollo concept was just a smokescreen, Han Seungbeom’s real concept is Aphrodite.
└ Beautiful……
└ Beautiful……
└ King-like……
└ Everyone, come to your senses
└ Everyone is just totally mesmerized and losing their minds hahaha
Who styled Han Seungbeom? I’ll bow five thousand times in the direction where you are. May you earn a lot of money in your lifetime, stay healthy, and succeed in everything you do.
Honestly, when I first heard the name Pantheion, I thought, ‘
Oh no, this is going to a disaster
‘. But the moment I saw the Captain walking in the intro, I immediately slapped my forehead and thought, “Yes, you are the God of the Sun, the God of Beauty, the King of all Gods, our God. I will serve you forever.”
I let out a small exhale and smiled with satisfaction as I checked the reactions of the fans, who were loving the concept quite passionately, first and foremost.
‘The reaction to the styling is pretty good.’
I originally thought that I shouldn’t be smug about the compliments on my appearance because they were meant for Han Seungbeom. However, when there were so many compliments about the concept or styling, I couldn’t help but feel quite proud. After all, I had been heavily involved in the concept direction and styling.
I’m Seo Yutae. Do you think I would just accept some nonsensical concept just because they worked hard to prepare it?
I said okay because I was confident that I could pull it off.
I nodded in satisfaction and scrolled down, and this time the reaction was to the fact that I had composed the song.
How can this be a song composed by a rookie who hasn’t even trained for a long time? I’m so dumbfounded I don’t even know what to say
.
└ It’s so funny how this same comment comes up every time Han Seungbeom’s song is released. Let’s just admit it now. Han Seungbeom is really talented at making good songs.
‘Ah…….’
When I saw that post, my conscience prickled a little.
I wasn’t a rookie, and I didn’t have a short training period either, and I had composed so many hit songs that I was practically a charts wanderer. I couldn’t believe I was being talked about like this.
— It’s not even that he’s just good at composing songs. He’s also great at dancing and singing. He really seems like a genius, someone who could succeed at anything. This is just a thought I have sometimes, but I’m a little scared that the cult leader might decide to stop being an idol and just live as a composer or producer.
└ But Han Seungbeom was born to be an idol, so no need to worry.
└ agree
— Judging by the concept, it seems like it was aimed more at the fandom than the general public, but since it’s a great song, I’m curious to see the general public’s reaction too. I love the main melody so much, I’m listening to it on repeat ^^d
— He passed the blind test without receiving any special treatment as a member, and even managed to win the title track, it’s just sooo Han Seungbeom. Han Seungbeom is being Han Seungbeom.
— Public: Easy listening is popular these days
Han Seungbeom: Pantheion, what can I do? I’m going to make the song I want to make
1
‘…..What can I do?’
I couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or criticism, but seeing that our fans had given it a lot of likes, it didn’t seem to be an insult. Pass.
— [Music Video Interpretation 1-1]
Originally, it’s the Moirai, the three goddesses of Fates, who issued the prophecy about Heracles’ birth, but since Apollo is the god of prophecy, it seems the Captain took on that role instead. Also, the deer standing next to the leader at the beginning appears to have golden antlers, suggesting it might be Taygete, who appeared in Heracles’ Twelve Labors. Among Heracles’ labors, there’s one involving recklessly handling a Goddess’s possession (to be continued in the thread)
└ I don’t understand what you’re saying
— The Captain is such a cool person … No matter what people say about the youngest, he tells him, “
You’re a member of Pantheion, and you have the ability and determination to prove it
“. If I were the youngest, I’d have been so moved that I’d bawl my eyes out on the spot. He’s the best leader ever.
└ Wow, it’s getting retweeted a lot. It’s even spreading to the Muggles, huh?
— Boygroups typically rely on on fandom support, so giving fans drug
2
is the most important thing. And they totally nailed it this time. If posts like that get retweeted and a few NeoTube videos pop up, it’s going to turn into a full-on fan recruitment party.
— – How the Best Leader Protects His Members –
And it seemed that discussions about the content of the music video and song were gradually starting to surface.
Most of the Muses knew that Lee Danbi had gone through a tough time because of numerous rumors, so they seemed to immediately grasp what I wanted to convey through this song.
— Princess, you’ve been getting close care from the Captain this time, and I was really surprised at how much you’ve improved ㅠ I felt so bad every time you had dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep while practicing on the reality show, but I guess this is what you wanted to show ㅠㅠ I’m so proud of you ㅜㅜㅜ
3
As I watched the reactions, I realized that the friendly atmosphere towards Lee Danbi was gradually growing, just as I had intended. Also, the fans’ reactions toward each of the members were very positive, so I couldn’t hide my sense of pride.
— Yuuda looks so smart that suddenly I feel like there’s an 8,000-meter gap in our hearts
4
. Where did our house’s foolish puppy go? The God of Wisdom is here woah.
— Zen, you’re just crazy! What do you mean you’re dingga dingga
5
with human just because you’re Dionysus! Captain, stop with the smokescreen!!! I feel a blast of cold energy!!! Because of you, the vibe is ruined, so take responsibility! I was expecting something like this, but you really put a lot of effort into the styling!! The cold handsome man energy is so intense that every time you appear, the screen temperature drops by 5 degrees, it’s so infuriating, but I love it!
— I don’t even know what to say about you, Nicholas, it’s going to hurt my mouth if I even try haha. I’ve felt this way since the last time when you did the mafia concept, but these over-the-top concepts really suit you well.
— Woo Kangwon totally killed it with that concept. That outfit is something only Woo Kangwon could pull off….
— I’m upset because Cheong Ki seems to have had relatively less screentime in the music video ㅜ Since he’s a god who doesn’t have much contact with Heracles, it can’t be helped, but still ㅠㅠ I’ll be waiting for the next album.
Beep!
While I was checking people’s reactions for a while, a notification buzzed on my phone. Feeling puzzled, I tapped the notification, and as soon as I read the message that had arrived, I furrowed my brows.
[(Photo) Have a great showcase. ^^]
The attachment in the message was a photo of a huge screen showing the unedited footage of Agent War, along with a hand holding a wine glass. Just by looking at that photo, I could guess who had sent the message.
‘F**k, Choi Jeokhyeon.’
I couldn’t even remember how many times I’d looked at this guy and thought he was creepy. He always made sure to show off in this way, even though he knew I’d hate it. It was as if he had developed a taste for upsetting me.
He hadn’t even mentioned the showcase, but seeing those words of encouragement, it seemed like he would probably be watching the debut showcase live through that huge screen soon.
As I was blatantly showing my disgust and leaving the message on read, I felt a tingling sensation at the back of my head.
“…….”
That guy’s nephew was staring at me without even blinking, with eyes as sharp as a predator who had spotted its prey. Realizing this, I tilted my eyes upward and quickly stuffed my phone into my pocket. Lee Hwayoung, without even caring how I was feeling, walked straight up to me and asked.
“Who is it?”
“A friend.”
As I feigned nonchalance while answering his accusatory question, Lee Hwayoung scoffed and then spoke.
“Don’t lie. You don’t have any friends besides me.”
I had no idea what he’s talking about this time.
I was tempted to ask him, ‘
What kind of friend is someone who’s practically like my nephew?
‘, but since he was suspicious about that very thing right now, I had to keep my mouth shut.
“You’re always talking a lot, so why is it that you’re suddenly quiet at times like this?”
“…….”
As his intense interrogation started to get worse, a piece of news that could divert my attention arrived at a truly miraculous timing, thanks to the manager.
“It will soon be reflected in the TOP 100 chart!”
I looked up at the clock and saw that it was already striking seven.
It seemed that an hour had passed since the song was released at 6, and the chart was about to be updated.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve released a song at 6 PM on a Monday.’
Prism was a group that didn’t need to worry about domestic rankings, so they released their songs at 1 PM on Fridays, considering the calculation period of international charts. However, Pantheion, being a project group that started through a survival program, couldn’t target overseas markets in the long term and needed to focus on domestic activities. Taking into account that the members were still rookies with no experience of winning music show first place or topping music charts, we decided to release the album at 6 PM on Monday.
Releasing the album on Monday was the best way to ensure that all the results would be included in the music program rankings without losing any points, and 6 PM was the time that could attract music consumption from office workers finishing work and students heading home from school.
‘The showcase was scheduled for 8 PM to match that as well.’
As I quietly reviewed the schedule, Do Yuda, who had been nervously biting his nails, was shocked when he saw me sitting there so calmly.
“Hyung, why are you so calm when it’s a song you created? Aren’t you nervous?”
“Even if I get worked up about it, the results won’t change.”
I responded in a blunt tone and quickly added, “Leave your nails alone
“
. Do Yuda, looking utterly frustrated, grabbed his head and screamed.
“This hyung is so rational, it’s starting to scare me! I’m losing my mind over here!”
“It’s been reflected!”
The manager’s voice cut through his screams, and Zen covered Do Yuda’s mouth, while the rest of the group gasped and jumped to their feet. Even though the showcase was just around the corner, it seemed they couldn’t help but be concerned about the charts.
The manager tapped his phone a few times as if to meet the members’ stares, then his mouth dropped open in surprise when he saw the screen.
He raised his trembling gaze and said, “The entry ranking is … 13th.”
“…….”
“Huh?”
The members were completely stunned by the manager’s words and let out a collective gasp.
“Top 100? Not real-time?”
“Yes.”
That’s understandable, as no matter how well-timed the release was or how solid the fandom had already become, it was still extremely difficult for a rookie male idol to enter the upper ranks of the TOP 100 chart.
‘Conquering all the charts in just one hour after the song’s release … is just a story from back in the day.’
The TOP 100 chart, which had been reformed due to public complaints about fandoms manipulating real-time charts through mass-streaming, now reflected 50% of the recent 24-hour and 1-hour usage. As a result, becoming a
Muggle Pick
, song that’s listened by the general public, was important to achieve a good ranking.
6
Although the influence of fandom streaming was stronger than on the 24Hits chart, which 100% reflected the 24-hour usage, male idols with relatively lower mainstream appeal still couldn’t avoid facing difficulties.
A rookie male idol group entered the top of a chart that was almost as unchanging as concrete, where just making it onto the chart would typically be cause for celebration. This meant that the fandom was already very large and that the general public was also showing interest in our group.
Well, the hype from the survival program’s popularity and the issues surrounding Lee Danbi probably had an impact as well.
‘Soon, we’ll be at the top of the real-time chart as well. The real challenge is staying in the top 100.’
“Wow!”
“Whoa! Whoa!”
“Are we a hit?”
I looked back at the members’ reactions full of joy and surprise, and Lee Danbi, whose face was unusually flushed, clenched his fists and shouted at me.
“Hyung, I think we’re going to do really well!”
His voice was so bright I almost mistook him for Do Yuda for a moment, and I replied with a smile.
“Yeah, because we’ve been working hard.”
“…And it’s all thanks to you, hyung.”
Noticing that he was too excited by my reaction, Lee Danbi turned his gaze around shyly, nodded, and responded in a small voice. Then, the members, who had been happily watching us from the side, rushed over and hugged Lee Danbi and me as if they wanted to crush us.
“Please include us too. Two people rejoicing together is cheating.”
“Am I a little upset? Am I kind of sulking?”
“We’re off to a good start, so let’s do our best this time during our activities.”
“Ouch, it hurts…….”
While I was being swept up by the members who were noisily sharing their joy, the manager tapped me on the back.
“Seungbeom-ssi, you have a guest.”
After finally breaking free from the members’ embrace, I followed the manager and found Jay waiting in front of the waiting room. It seemed like he had come to watch the today’s showcase.
“…….”
It was different from when we were on Survive IDOL.
Jay stood there looking like someone who had been robbed of something. He was staring down at the outfits that I wore; chosen to match the Pantheion’s members, outfits that didn’t match Prism’s concept at all.
The sight of his face, gritting his teeth in a mix of anger and sadness, made my chest tighten. As I tried to force myself to speak, Jay shook his head as if to say he had made a mistake, stopping me. Then, with much effort, he finally opened his tightly closed mouth and spoke.
“Do well at work, Seungbeom-ssi.”
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Translator’s Corner:
The “what can I do here” is 어쩔, short for 어쩌라고. Basically “what do you want me to do / There’s nothing I can do about it”. It’s a buzzword so MC don’t understand the meaning. ↩︎
Drug here is 뽕
(this character is also used to mean “mulberry tree”). It’s a slang term referring to heroin, you see at first it used to refer 필로폰(philopon), but eventually it just a slang for all drugs. Nowadays, it used to refer to a of being pleasantly intoxicated and enjoying something. Like, you know they are feeling good with the contents provided as if they are high on drugs. ↩︎
No I’m ????? too, they’re calling Lee Danbi 공주 (Princess)????????? ↩︎
The literal translation is “a distance of 8,000 meters has suddenly appeared in my heart”, basically means an emotional distance. ↩︎
Dingga-dingga (딩가딩가)
is the onomatopoeia for guitar strumming. Basically it means goofing arond/having fun. Mamamoo has a song with this title. ↩︎
Muggle means “General public / non kpop fans”. You know how in Harry Potter, “muggle” is term for common people outside the magic society. That’s the idea. ↩︎
Ah I’m going crazy Idk how to capture the nuance in the last sentence perfectly in English. So the words said is 잘하고 와요, basically “
Do well and come (back)
“. It’s usually used to say to someone who’s going to leave for work so they will take care on their job then come back to home. AAAH I HATE ENGLISH.
Okay kids, sit down for chart history lesson. So long long time ago, chart is just … chart. Well, if you release song and it did well, it entered the chart right away. Then starting from early 2017 (I remembered this clearly because THEY ALWAYS REFORMED THE CHART IN TIME WITH RED VELVET COMEBACK), the charts at that time Melon, Bugs Genie, Mnet, Soribada, Naver Music, and Monkey3 changed their streaming calculation. So, only songs released between 12:00 – 18:00 are reflected on the charts in real time. This meant that anything that was released outside of this time period would not count towards the chart until 13:00 the next day. That’s why now, almost all groups who took domestic charts in consideration released songs on 18:00 KST (Korean Time). Back then, most singers released song at 00:00. So you can imagine how the young me wake up just to watch Red Velvet comeback … but next.
Because it released at midnight where most people were sleep, the charts were target for fandom “mass streaming”. When people wake up, all they see in the charts were songs from that new album because the fans streamed all night. That’s why they complained, and now the system has changed. After this system, most artist then released at 18:00 because it’s time when people left work or student left school. Buuuut … did thing change? No LOL fandoms were still mass streaming as soon as midnight came, so even thought the first day charts were low, they skyrocketed in the second days. It was only about one day late. Imagine how tired the public were keep seeing idol songs that they dgaf charted because they have dedicated fandom.
So, in July 2020 (AGAIN, THIS IS THE SAME WITH RED VELVET IRENE SEULGI – MONSTER RELEASE, IMAGINE HOW TIRED I WAS OMG STOP SABOTAGING RV???), MelOn aka the biggest and most relevant Korean chart, abolished the real time chart and created “24h Hits Chart”. This chart refreshed every hour but the count is based on the last 24h. The thing is this chart has another problem. It’s really really stagnant. There’s really no change. If you’re not popular with general public, just cry in the corner, you would never be able to chart. They created another charts “Recent 24 Hits” which basically only counted songs from the latest 4 weeks release. But still.
So, again, in August 2021 (Guess what .. IT’S RED VELVET COMEBACK TIME AGAIN FOR QUEENDOM. WTF PROBLEM THEY HAVE WITH RV. The reason I knew all about this was because I need to study new system everytime RV made a comeback ffs), they changed the “24 Hits” and “Recent 24 Hits” to create the “Top 100 Charts”. This is what MC’s talking about. The Top 100 Charts calculated 50% 24h usage + 50% past-hour usage. A mix of the old realtime chart + 24h chart. However, from 1:00 in midnight until 7:00 in the morning, the chart will be 100% 24h usage since most people were sleeping. 1:00 – 7:00 time is called the “zombie hours” because it’s the time where fandom is doing their mass streaming party to make sure their idol’s song can appear on chart even though only for a moment. Because even 1h – 2h being on chart is important to get digital score points for music show ranking.
In this way, MelOn chart becoming a measure to know an artist’s popularity on the general public. Because only well known idol (with popular songs) that can enter it. There are other charts too, but some are heavy on fandom mass streaming and the other is not really trasparent with their count (Vibe, I’m judging you). MelOn provided listerners with graphs of 5 minutes chart, 1h chart, and 24h chart so fans can predict the next hour chart.
Debuting (1 hour after song released) straight into the top chart is hard because the chart is counted from the last 24h, you know? Meanwhile you just have the past “1 hour” to compete will all the other songs that already have the advantage of 50% points from their 24h chart. If a song is good, climbing the ranking is possible. But debuting like this only can be done by a popular artist. And Pantheion is rookie.
Anyway, sometimes I saw new gen of kpop stans bashing of RV because they don’t have many PAKs (Perfect All Kill, means #1 on all charts, both 24h, daily, and weekly), BUT KIDS THAT’S BECAUSE BACK IN THE DAY, THEY HAVE MNET CHART. That useless company whose hobby is messing up RV’s career has a long-standing beef with Mnet, and in their peak year, Mnet chart basically sabotaged almost every RV release from reaching all-kill by keeping their song on #2 when all charts are #1 … omg the hardship I went through back then really hard. Well basically, in 2019, Mnet got exposed for their survival show manipulation and chart manipulation, so their chart got kicked out of the all kill measurement and they discontinued their chart. SIGHSS. Mnet bish … robbing awards was one thing, but manipulating chart just because you’re pretty with the company … hope your station burn …. (I dgaf about the new group nowadays, but I’m really not playing about Red Velvet).
Okay that’s the story. This is why, oh lemme check the chart now. First place Home Sweet Home by Bigbang, second APT Rose, third Whiplash aespa. HSH is November release, while APT and Whiplash is October release. And this is already December, so can you imagine how unchanging the chart. If I remember correctly, for this year, the whole May – late August MelOn chart #1 is Supernova by aespa. That’s the whole 4 months. It only got dethroned later when the current band most beloved by the public DAY6 made a comeback, then got dethroned by UP by Karina then got dethroned by APT by Rose of Blackpink. Basically, everyone is public’s pick.
That’s why charts are usually the playground for girlgroups and famous solo artist. I think NCT lowkey did damage to boygroup reputation by making the public think boygroup song is “noisy”. In their defense, they have good vocals to support it, but other groups followed the trend and umh … yeah. It’s really hard to fix boygroup music reputation, I don’t think they will give them chance unless the agency did some trick, like mediaplay. Top boygroups from 3rd gen who’s already familiar with the public still can chart, but new group is hard hard hard. I’m actually surprised how well RIIZE can chart high consistently everytime they made a comeback, but I guess not only they’re known among the general public, their local fandom is (too) strong too. Among 4th gen, I think only TXT able to enter MelOn every comeback? And that’s because their song is more to the easy-listening type. Even new boygroups from big company like JYP and YG can’t chart after this chart reform, so you can imagine how hard it is for an unknown from unknown company.
Aaand this is why now most boygroups have a lot of members, like 7 at minimum, where girlgroups can survive just with 4 members. Because boygroups relied on physical sales a lot. More members = more people that can attract fan = more album bought. Meanwhile girlgroup, once liked by the general public, can continue well. Girlgroups got invinted a lot to local events you see. Like university event, military event, etc etc. So even the muggles want to watch them, meanwhile boygroups are mostly just attracting their fans.
Pantheion’s success level in this chapter was like how succesful Wanna One back then, since they got all kill as soon as they debuted. And Wanna One was POPULAR POPULAR. The whole country basically watched their survival show back then and they appeared on national news.
Omg that’s so long. Isn’t this even longer than the actual chapter … Okay guys based on the popular demands (2 comments), I will change Pantheon name to “Pantheion”. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. Please love Pantheion a lot.
Now I’m going to edit the last 50 chapters …. fighting me … I brought this upon myself…