Right. That delinquent air.
Gowon strongly agreed with the comment.
The way Hanje tossed out words. The twisted things he said. The resulting atmosphere of casual insolence.
But when he became a producer, he turned into the exact opposite: a razor-sharp, sensitive perfectionist. Keeping up with the crushing standards he imposed might leave Gowon breathless, but the quality of the song—and Gowon’s own skill—kept drawing closer to the perfection Hanje had envisioned.
The video had reached the second-album era. Caught in the grip of the avant-garde concept, Gowon could not look away from the screen.
There were six people performing, yet even as the formations changed, Gowon’s gaze remained fixed on one person. Whenever Hanje moved to the center, Gowon replayed the part two or three times. Vocals, expressions, gestures....
“Ah.”
Only then did Gowon realize he had not pressed the elevator button.
After several bewildering songs, familiar ones began to appear. Starting with the third album, which Baek Hanje had taken the lead in composing, Young Ace’s songs had become hits heard everywhere on the street.
Even so, the face onscreen was still young.
Young enough to make Gowon wonder how someone that age had managed to create music with the survival of six people resting on it.
Still staring at the screen, Gowon stepped into the elevator when it finally arrived.
With his earphones in, he failed to notice the gaze watching him from outside the building entrance.
***
One week after the radio appearance, Newton released a new mini album.
Lost Heaven
The title was unlike anything Newton had used while pushing their bright, refreshing image, and the music itself was completely different from their previous style.
Of course, once idol groups gained some experience, they often tried to reverse their image by moving from youthful freshness to maturity.
But Newton was still close to being a rookie group. It was rather early for such a dramatic shift.
More than anything, the media campaign emphasizing a sexy uniform concept....
Newton Returns as the “Heirs to Peace,” Following Young Ace
A Dark-Fantasy Universe Transcends the Eras of K-Dom
Ordinary people would simply think, Ah, Newton must be Young Ace’s direct junior group at K-Dom.
But fans familiar with K-Dom’s internal affairs could not help tilting their heads.
They’re supposed to be Young Ace’s heirs, so why isn’t Baek Hanje in the credits?;
Wow... the black-tone attention bait is insane;;
The divisions are completely different now. Isn’t Gowon the one with the right to call himself Young Ace’s heir?
They did inherit the historically accurate quality of the terrible uniform concept, I’ll give them that....
The problem was that Gowon had debuted only recently with a dark, heavy concept of his own, inviting comparison—and Newton’s quality was overwhelmingly worse.
On top of that, there had been no transition whatsoever in their image change.
It made them look even more like they were awkwardly copying Gowon and chasing a sexy image.
The abrupt shift brought negative reactions, and the subtle tension that had leaked through the visible radio broadcast caused the fandom atmosphere to overheat.
Six Years Before Debut,
Then Cost-Cutting
After Only Two Years?
Stop Discriminating
Between Your Artists
And Promote Them Fairly
Company Dumps Existing Artists
The Moment It Finds
A New Cash Cow
Trucks fitted with bright electronic billboards parked in front of K-Dom’s headquarters.
The alley beside the K-Dom building had long been historically famous as a prime destination for protest trucks. This time, it was Newton’s fans, furious over the comeback promotion.
They saw the difference between Newton and Gowon, who had released music immediately before them, as discrimination by the agency.
The discussion on social media was far more unfiltered.
Troublemakers trying to frame it as entrenched artists versus a newcomer, or seniors versus a junior, kept mentioning Gowon to feed the flames.
Even so, there was a reason the situation never grew into a major disturbance and repeatedly corrected itself.
Mentally Shattered Dua @duaduadua
Fuck, I wasn’t going to use harsh language on this account, but I seriously can’t take it anymore....
How are we supposed to live with the injustice of being the established group for six years? LOL. I was genuinely horrified when I heard Newton’s comeback song, while someone else got BHJ attached from debut.... Yes, I’ve seen enough.
⤷ But Hanje Came First @howeverHeIs
Welcome, idol group whose chart ranking was lower than the <Debut Chart> mission song~ If you spent all that money and still flopped, then claim it was because Hanzel wasn’t attached... hehe. Where is your conscience... hehe.
⤷ Pretending Not to Know English @notforeigner
Could “Newt” perhaps mean “NUGU”?
One Memory @memory030315
Hasn’t Kwon Taeyoung earned enough already? Doesn’t he feel sorry for kids around twenty?ㅠㅠ Newton are his juniors too.... He won’t even look at them and just throws them away.
⤷ What @ahfotlqkf
But at that age, Taeyoung was living with six people crammed into a tiny villa, ironing school uniforms for the middle- and high-school members, frying eggs and feeding them breakfast. When the eggs ran out, he ate plain rice himself. Ask a man like that whether he doesn’t feel sorry for Newton and even Saint Kwon would start chain-smoking.
Whenever someone picked a fight over Gowon’s debut, Kwon Taeyoung and Baek Hanje were inevitably dragged into it.
Then Young Ace’s fandom opened its eyes.
They did not tolerate negative remarks about their leader and youngest member.
Naturally, Newton’s fandom could not even begin to compete in numbers with the fandom of living legends.
And Gowon’s fans had survived a competition show.
They were no less formidable when it came to colorful verbal attacks.
Go One Way (Streaming Playlist Pinned) @go1wayyyy
Flop-idol personality trait: five people gang up and try to intimidate a rookie who debuted a month ago.
Go One Way (Streaming Playlist Pinned) @go1wayyyy
Flop-fandom personality trait: their censored fave can’t dance, sing, or even compete visually, but somehow it’s everyone else’s fault he never got popular.
The vicious fighting continued across social media and online communities throughout Newton’s entire promotional cycle.
But in the end, Newton’s fans could only suffer a crushing defeat.
The reason was obvious.
Newton’s comeback results were disastrous.
It was an undeniable fact that their digital ranking was lower than Gowon’s, so even while fighting keyboard battles, the moment anyone brought up the numbers, they could only tremble with fury.
The entire period left Newton’s fans with nothing but rage-induced illness.
***
Recent Idol Boggle Updates So Funny That Even Non-Fans Subscribe
ARTIST Gowon
Gowon, did you sleep well?♥
ARTIST Gowon
Hello. This is Gowon ^^*~
ARTIST Gowon
Thank you for sending me a Boggle message.~
ARTIST Gowon
I went to sleep at midnight and woke up at seven thirty in the morning.
Chicken.
ARTIST Gowon
Hello~ This is Gowon*^^*
ARTIST Gowon
Thank you· for the Boggle message.
ARTIST Gowon
I also believe chicken is a good food.
ARTIST Gowon
Please enjoy it ^^*
Why do you only use ^^?
Try another emoticon LOL.
ARTIST Gowon
Hello. This is Gowon· ^^
ARTIST Gowon
Thank you for sending me a Boggle message!
ARTIST Gowon
How about this one? ㅠㅠ
ARTIST Gowon
I am not actually sad ><
The “hello” and “thank you” parts are different every time, so it looks like he types them himself.
The occasional · typo suggests he uses a twelve-key phone keyboard.
Looks like he learned texting etiquette from someone at least fifty years older than him.
The face of the male idol nicknamed “Grandma Gowon Boggle.”
(Photo)
Yes, this is the face.
...Wow....
Gowon
??? Lv.?? (▲1)
??? -
Gowon truly was something else.
Two slots remained concealed.
Since Stamina was selected out of Mental Strength, Recognition, and Stamina, the two hidden behind question marks must be the other two.
But recently, one of the concealed slots had begun to stir.
And now it had finally gained a level.
The one resting peacefully as though hibernating during the break was probably Mental Strength, while the one slowly creeping upward had to be Recognition.
The boy had recently caused an unprecedented sensation through the Boggle messages he sent to fans.
Division Five had trusted that Gowon, being so cautious, would not treat Boggle carelessly either, and had let him use it freely—only to encounter an entirely unexpected situation.
Still, since it was not going viral in a negative direction, they had decided to watch how things developed.
...And if it had been going badly, this thing would’ve warned me on its own.
He meant the status window floating before his eyes.
Q2-3. Consistent Growth Is the Shortcut to Your Goal
A break has arrived.
But you cannot simply rest forever.
A rookie singer still has a long road ahead.
Raise your abilities and be reborn as the perfect idol.
Requirement: Reach Vocals and Dance Lv.100
Success: MAX LEVEL increase (100→120)
Failure: Comeback Scenario cannot be initiated; Quest Scenario forced termination.
Time Limit: 349h 05m 13s (D-15)
Gowon
Vocals Lv.82
Dance Lv.94
Vocals were not actually much of a problem here.
“Gowon, do you want to become a singer?”
“...Yes.”
“Then let’s hammer vibrato into you before the end of this week. You’re the main dancer, main rapper, and main vocalist, so you should at least be able to do this much, shouldn’t you?”
“.......”
All I had to do was call him in and make him practice.
Gowon followed even training that could fairly be called brutal without complaint. Considering his growth rate, reaching the target Vocals level within the remaining period was entirely possible.
The problem was Dance.
Once he passed Lv.90, his growth slowed dramatically.
Across yesterday and today combined, he had gained only a single level.
One level every two days... That makes the remaining time a little tight.
The person currently assigned as Gowon’s trainer was skilled, but did not exactly have a pleasant personality.
Hanje could not tell whether that person was causing the slowdown, or whether gaining levels simply became more difficult as the stat rose.
...Damn it. Do I have to check for myself?
“If you don’t keep growing like a weed, the world is going to be in serious trouble....”
At that moment, the status window suddenly began to shake.
“...Huh?”
Time Remaining: 108h 43m 01s (D-1?)
Time Remaining: 74h 88m 04.094792831842s (D-4???)
D-3
D-2
“What the hell? Why is it doing this?!”
You can’t suddenly go berserk like this, you bastard!
Emergency Situation Detected
The current quest will end early and transition to an emergency quest.
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