NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 223
Two weeks ago.
“…What? Our concert is at Gocheok Dome?”
“Yes, that’s how it is.”
Our members were speechless at the scale of the venue, larger than we’d expected.
But our surprise only grew with Han Si-woo’s next words.
“And regarding the concert lineup, we will perform all of the title tracks and most of the songs on the album. We’ll have special stages from Na Ah Ah’s time and one solo cover stage for each member…”
“……”
Of course, I had never been to anyone’s concert in my previous or current life.
Although I had watched various idol concerts through videos since debuting with Rookies…
“I didn’t think it would be like this…”
The concert’s lineup was packed tighter than I had imagined.
Seriously…, even with a stamina stat of 96, I was worried about not having enough stamina.
I wasn’t the only one thinking this; the expressions of the other members weren’t entirely filled with excitement.
At that moment, as we were organizing our thoughts about the upcoming concert…
“Alright, let’s have each member decide which song they want to perform for their solo cover stage.”
“Ah.”
The mention of solo cover stages perplexed not just me but all the members.
Until now, we had always performed together as a group of six.
Suddenly being asked to do solo stages felt a bit unfamiliar.
But…
“The genre doesn’t matter. I’ll give you a few days to think about it…”
“Um…”
Before Han Si-woo could finish, someone shot their hand up first.
“I have a song I want to do.”
It was none other than Lee Hye-jeong.
No, it wasn’t just Lee Hye-jeong.
“So do I.”
“Me too.”
“I also have a song I want to do.”
Most of the members had solo songs they’d been wanting to perform, one by one expressing their choices.
Lee Hye-jeong chose a ballad, Seo Yoo-jin opted for a solo track from the legendary SAV idol from our former agency, Na Han-na chose a dance song from a famous American singer, and Park Yoo-jung selected an upbeat theme from a 90s girls’ animation.
And Yoo Seol picked the title track from JJ Entertainment’s Tail Rose, the group she debuted with.
“Five members’ solo cover songs are decided. It’s well balanced and looks good. Now, the only thing left is…”
Shhh.
Han Si-woo and the other members’ gazes turned to me.
I was the only one who hadn’t decided on a solo song, completely different from the other members.
How could I?
Unlike them, I had debuted immediately after a month of training with Na Ah Ah.
While the other members practiced various songs through their training period, I had never solo performed on stage.
“This is overwhelming…”
Having been on stage with my reliable Rookies members, suddenly having to perform solo made me anxious.
Perhaps sensing my distress, Han Si-woo gently patted my shoulder and said kindly.
“…Ye-rin, there’s plenty of time, so take your time to think. The personal cover stage is more of an event, so you don’t need to feel too pressured.”
“…Okay.”
“You’ll do great no matter what song you pick.”
“Fighting!”
So, after a few days of scouring through videos, I finally chose my solo cover song.
The reactions from the members and Han Si-woo upon seeing my choice were…
“What?”
“Are you serious, unnie?”
“…Ye-rin, you chose this song?”
“Yes, I thought a lot about it and really want to do this song.”
It was larger than I expected.
A few days after the showcase.
We were still suffering through the rigorous preparations for the concert, but another important schedule awaited us.
“Unnie! It’s almost 12!”
“Yeah~”
Because today was the day Rookies’ last album, Graduation, was being released on the music streaming site.
With this, Rookies’ songs would be publicly released for the fourth time.
At this point, we could consider ourselves deserving of no longer being labeled as rookies.
“I was so nervous when our first album, Admission, was released.”
“Right? I’m not shaking as much anymore.”
Maybe that’s why. Rookies, releasing our last album, had a sense of stability unlike the first album.
“Our song is out!”
“Looks like it.”
At midnight, we confirmed that Eternal Rookies, the title track from Graduation, was successfully released on the music streaming site.
And one hour later.
“We charted!”
Eternal Rookies made it into the Top 100 chart without issue.
And the ranking was…
[68th place Eternal Rookies – Rookies] New!
“Whoaah-!”
“Awesome-!”
…68th place.
With just one hour of results, to be ranked 68th by surpassing other tracks on a 24-hour indicator was truly an incredible achievement.
It seemed that, since this was Rookies’ final album title track, the firepower was concentrated.
With such a high rank, securing number one on the Top 100 site within the week seemed very likely.
Thus, Rookies had dominated the music streaming sites all year with all our activity tracks.
“Now that we’ve confirmed our charting, let’s hurry up and sleep. Next week we’ll have to juggle music show schedules and concert practice, so it’ll be tough. We should sleep while we can.”
“Yes~”
We nodded in agreement with Yoo Seol’s words.
However, just as we were getting up from the sofa to head back to our rooms.
“Oh? But I just realized we have the concert ticketing tomorrow.”
“Oh, really?”
We briefly chatted as Seo Yoo-jin looked at her phone.
“How many tickets are being released online?”
“Since we’re doing concerts over two days, that’s 15,000 tickets a day, totaling 30,000 tickets.”
“Thirty thousand tickets?”
Considering South Korea’s population barely hitting 50 million, 30,000 people coming to our concert…
“I’m worried if we can sell all the tickets…”
As I wore a serious expression, suddenly…
Hehe. What are you talking about, unnie?
“…Hmm?”
Park Yoo-jung patted my head and replied.
“You’ve never done ticketing, right?”
“Uh? I guess that would be the case.”
“Don’t worry too much. All the tickets will sell out.”
As Park Yoo-jung said this, the other members nodded in agreement.
“…Tomorrow’s probably going to be a battlefield, huh? I hope at least some fans can succeed in ticketing.”
“That would be great.”
Naturally, I didn’t know much about ticketing either, so I didn’t completely understand what the members were saying.
And the next day.
As the members had said, a cyber battleground opened up online.
In a building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Where the famous game roll’s matches were held at roll Park…
There was a PC bang at roll Park that not many people knew about.
Directly operated by the game’s production company, Liot Korea, it boasted facilities better and faster than anywhere else.
There, a cyber warrior was praying before heading into battle.
“…Our Father who art in heaven… Uh, what was next? Anyway, please God…”
Yoo Chang-seon, whose only religious activity had been going to church to eat choco pies during basic training, was boosting his energy by praying to all the gods at once.
“God, please let me succeed in ticketing just once… and Buddha, fighting!”
This was all to succeed in ticketing for Rookies’ concert.
The time was 5:51:23 PM.
Only 8 minutes and 37 seconds left.
With a Naver clock open in one place, Yoo Chang-seon checked his fingers.
“…I can do this.”
Even though he hadn’t been in the idol scene for long, he had ticketing experience.
He had never missed a single class registration and had also succeeded in ticketing for the finals when the roll cup was held in Korea.
However, this battle was undoubtedly going to be a stronger opponent than any he had faced before.
Still, Yoo Chang-seon prayed and vowed.
“I will definitely succeed.”
“Damn…, if I fail this time, I’ll have to buy resale tickets.”
To buy resale tickets, he’d have to break into his military savings.
Yoo Chang-seon was determined to do his best to avoid such misfortune this time.
With a burning will, time passed…
And as the clock approached six o’clock, the familiar BGM from Naverism played.
Ding ding~♪ Ding ding ding~♬ Ding!
Before the beeping sound went off, Yoo Chang-seon pressed down on his fate-laden finger.
Not being greedy, he aimed for a slightly unpopular seat.
Boom!
“…Huh?!”
I made it…!
That was the first hurdle passed.
But I couldn’t let my guard down yet.
I had to successfully pass the payment screen, the second hurdle, to confirm my reservation.
“Damn it… if I fail this time…!”
With swift yet calm finger movements, Yoo Chang-seon glided through the payment screen.
[Processing payment.]
“Please… really, please…! I don’t want to break into my military savings…!”
As if mocking him, the computer screen froze, and the cursed loading circle spun.
Now, all that was left was to pray.
Clench.
Yoo Chang-seon tightly shut his eyes and clenched his fists.
After a few seconds…
Whisper.
As he slowly opened his eyes, he was greeted with…
[Payment completed!]
“Allah Akbar.”
It was the confirmation screen indicating he had successfully completed ticketing.