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Chapter 501

Spacer’s concept is similar to T-Holic’s relaxed approach. Meanwhile, ĭter’s concept is as intense as TeSTAR’s.

Articles about these look-alike junior groups from different agencies were popping up everywhere, and they were being used as fuel on SNS and community forums. It was a provocative article, even though the points to refute were clear. So, naturally, many people wanted to add their opinions, and it attracted a lot of attention.

[This journalist crossed the line… (link)]

[What do you think about Spacer being compared to T-Holic this time?]

[Is it just me who thinks this clash between male idol groups is ridiculous? It’s just concept fans vs. in-heart fans fighting each other.]

At first glance, it might seem like both junior groups are on the same level, but there is a crucial difference. It was whether or not there existed a faction with intense aversion.  For reference, the latter is Spacer.

-Do they resemble the old idols? I’ll go check it out

– I kind of miss themㅎㅎ

The current position of Spacer resembles the early to mid-debut concept of T-Holic. In other words, it’s a story from more than 10 years ago. Moreover, T-Holic had already passed its prime and repositioned itself, so there was no direct comparison to be made. On the contrary, its decent quality evoked a sense of nostalgia, serving as a promotional advantage. But what about ĭter?

-LMAO, here we go again

– F*ck, aren’t they tired of this already?  Now we’ll see articles saying, ‘Move over, TeSTAR,’ Lol

The senior idol group they claimed to succeed in the article was TeSTAR. The last year’s top idol, the one who hit a career-high in album sales just a couple of months ago, at the peak of their career. Claiming to succeed a currently active and dominant force with less than half the buzz was absurd.

Park Moondae chuckled as he scrolled through his smartphone. Moreover, ĭter has already been compared to TeSTAR among fans. Now that a proper comparison group called ‘Spacer’ has appeared, even the general public would become aware of it.

-Indeed, it does seem like this rookie idol group is conscious of TeSTAR~

Of course, the article didn’t outright claim that ĭter was benchmarking and copying TeSTAR’s concept. It simply stated that both groups were following the paths of such senior idol groups cleanly.

But it shouldn’t be too blatant.

It was a natural choice to avoid giving the impression that ‘TeSTAR and Spacer are driving public opinion.’ However, even with such efforts, it was impossible to quell the ridicule and controversy that would inevitably arise.

-Was Spacer’s performance really on par with the all-time legends?

-This is a joke. Where’s the conscience? Lol

-It’s just an article making a fuss because their junior idols are making a comeback together. Don’t be so sensitive.

–Oh, please, it’s just saying the concept is similar, not the performance. Please understand the context.

└ At this point, it seems like people just want to criticize without looking at the context.

Whether it was Spacer or ĭter, they couldn’t dare to compare their performance with the senior idols being mentioned.

And here, the tide of public opinion starts to shift slightly. People begin to compare Spacer and ĭter, who are now in similar positions.

Well, it’s about ranking which one is slightly better.

The desire to determine which one has more promising prospects and to establish a hierarchy! VS play. It was an eternally amusing thought. And naturally, based on average performance so far, ĭter had the upper hand.

-Spacer seems to have gotten lucky this time, and the new Wonder Hall rookie is really determined, so honestly, ĭter?

-At least ĭter has potential. Look at the performance of the ones who just debuted, haha

The problem is that as each person’s arguments go back and forth, the conversation tends to become more extreme, attention-grabbing, and aggressive. For example, like this!

-Honestly, isn’t it a bit much to compare Spacer’s popularity? Lol. Isn’t it embarrassing to do this with a CF song?

└It makes them humbled even more when being compared to a prodigy rookie like ĭter…

└Considering ĭter’s debut song performance, there’s a chance of them to surpass TeSTAR, yeah.

The moment when logic leaps and becomes exaggerated. Instead, they become the prey.

└?Hahahaha

└What are you talking about? Honestly, ĭter is just a lower-tier version of TeSTAR in terms of both capital and skill.

└A group that imitates a current top idol group is already saying such things. LMAO, even as a non-fan, it’s funny.

└Are you perhaps living in a different Korea than I am?

└ĭter fans really don’t know their place.

Mockery poured in. Unlike during their debut when they were mentioned alongside TeSTAR as rivals and positioned as a dark horse rising star, this was different. This wasn’t about ‘Did they go head-to-head with TeSTAR?’ It was about ‘Did they succeed TeSTAR?’

When you look at it that way, the evaluation criteria become very strict. Because the benchmark becomes achieving as much as TeSTAR did! Selling millions of albums, topping the music charts, and being voted the number-one idol of the year with insane recognition!

-If this is some kind of media play by Wonder Hall, it’s a fail, lol

In the end, those who want to defend ĭter have no choice but to change their stance.

–ĭter fans don’t think so. It’s just trolling… sigh

-Don’t feed the trolls. No mentioning senior idols. It’s all trolling~

–ĭter is still a rookie with just one album out. Stop talking about succession and all that, seriously.

ĭter fans started to assert, ‘TeSTAR and ĭter are different.’ They had no choice but to draw a clear line. Of course, this was the situation behind the scenes.

-Those old-timers are really annoyingㅠ

-Concept-focused idols aren’t rare, and TeST4R was the prime example. Seriously, they’re so sensitive.

Anyway, as the public opinion management seemed to work, the situation appeared to be calming down. Moreover, as another controversy erupted and a few days passed, this topic also seemed to slowly die down.

However, in the following week. When ĭter’s new song MV was released, it was like pouring gasoline on the fire again.

-???

–Hahahaha

Now, even the public could see the blatant references to TeSTAR!

* * *

It was the night we returned to Korea after the first tour. I sat at the dining table in the dorm and logged into WeTube. ĭter’s new song, ‘Shut out’, was playing as a promotional ad.

[Yes BAMM, shoot roughly

You can’t catch me]

The oriental style is impressive, the choreography is cool, and the visual quality is excellent. Once again, they pulled it out quite well. However,

–Hahahaha

-This is Present

-It’s a mix of Present and Saber

-F*ck, this blatant? LMAO

They’ve been exposed, those idiots.

Once a similarity frame is established, people tend to find similarities on purpose. But these guys really benchmarked TeSTAR, so it was obvious to see. The concept of the Four Guardian Gods, the camera work, the album photos, the costumes, and even the choreography had too many similarities. Because of this, the gossip channels were all over it.

[Wonder Hall copying another agency’s idols while leaving the legendary T-Holic alone]

[Rookie boy group from a major agency exposed for lack of originality]

Haven’t you seen how once a celebrity starts getting criticized, even trivial things from the past that weren’t an issue get highlighted and criticized anew? This was a similar phenomenon. They were analyzing every single album up to the latest one.

-Now that I look at it, the chord progression is just at the copy-paste level.

-This song wouldn’t have come out without Kim Raebin.

-Starry Stars didn’t participate in this, right? Lol

Right, they’ve got to catch that.

I nodded and opened the can I was holding. Click. It was the first beer I had in almost a week. Since it was a celebratory reason, isn’t it worth drinking?

Gulp, gulp. The carbonation slid down my throat. It was just like cider.

This is it. I put down the wheat beer can and grinned.

By the way, Spacer also benefited from this situation.

[Did Spacer succeed T-Holic? Here’s a 5-minute summary of what their latest song is all about.]

With the leakers jumping on the controversy, viral marketing took off. As a result, the song climbed even higher on the charts.

-Spacer Kwon Heeseung: Hyung…

-Spacer Kwon Heeseung: We made it to 19th placeㅠㅠㅠㅠ

At this point, Spacer didn’t care if they got some criticism; they were just overjoyed, shedding tears and snot together. They even cried when they got first place on a music show.

Honestly, I was satisfied with this. I’ve given Wonder Hall a good hit, so it’s enough. Everything went smoothly as planned, and with Spacer’s success, the company’s finances were secured, so I was thinking of stepping back.

Honestly, the rookie of Wonder Hall are just people who worked hard and debuted. Over time, even those who criticized them will realize this, just like now.

-Aren’t people ashamed of themselves…? Honestly, ĭter just worked hard. It’s not plagiarism. This is too much.

So, when the agency with the real fault is being criticized, it should end there.

Actually, it’s true. What would those who just debuted know? If the agency gets its act together and changes its course to avoid further entanglement with TeSTAR, that’s enough.

-Congratulations

I was planning to just reply to Kwon Heeseung’s text and end it there. Really. But then… an unexpected support arrived out of nowhere.

“…Hu.”

Take a look at this YouTube video.

[Are these guys supposed to be our MZ version…? We’re the MZ generation too! (Burning emoji) Clip]

Right. T-Holic themselves mentioned Spacer on their show… And they did it in a very positive light.

Are they crazy? But soon, a reasonable cause came to mind, so I checked.

-Are the T-Holic sunbae-nim not planning to renew their contracts?

-VTIC Shin Cheongryeo Sunbae-nim: Do you want to know?

So, it was true.

Coincidentally, T-Holic’s contract renewal was just 3 months away. In other words, they were causing some minor trouble on their way out.

They must have been pretty fed up… Well, considering they invested a fortune in ĭter and even created a dedicated planning team to change their direction, there must have been quite a few frustrating moments when T-Holic was on the decline.

It’s been a while since the T-Holic members’ schedules have been focused on individual activities. Now, they’ll probably sign contracts with the places they want and only come together for group activities.

That’s not a bad ending either.  I nodded.

In fact, these guys even contacted us.

-T-Holic Ha Jintae Sunbae-nim: Moondae, do you want to appear on our variety show again? Haha. We can even have a group appearance with your agency’s artists!

“…”

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s okay to go that far. Won’t Wonder Hall try to crush you?

I don’t understand why they’re doing this, whether it’s to ruin someone’s reputation or for revenge by spreading dating rumors or club stories. They must have something to rely on… Anyway,

“I decline.”

A group appearance by the agency? What kind of scheme are they planning…?  We already have a lot to do here. This is just the preliminary work that’s been finished.

Suppressing ĭter was just the first step. Now, even if they release something simultaneously with TeSTAR, as long as they can’t beat us in any aspect, it will be concluded as ‘falling short of expectations.’

The ‘vs. TeSTAR’ frame has disappeared, and the ‘TeSTAR’s successor’ frame has been attached.

ĭter would be compared to Spacer, not us, based on ‘how successful they are compared to their senior idols.’ They couldn’t blatantly benchmark us for references anymore.

Good luck.

I’m curious to see how the competent folks at Wonder Hall will navigate this hellish difficulty. Well, even if not immediately, a way out will naturally appear over time.

I hate to admit it, but given Wonder Hall’s knack for getting things done, they wouldn’t miss the opportunity. And even the moments when we were criticized could be used as part of the group’s narrative… However,

It will take at least a year to make it look natural. By then, we’ll be at a level where they can’t even compete with. Moreover, with T-Holic acting like this… it might take even longer for public opinion to turn around.

I shrugged my shoulders. Anyway, after dealing with ĭter, what TeSTAR was planning to do next… I guess I should start with that story. As everyone knows, TeSTAR originally had a nickname.

-T1’s Son.

It was meant to be sarcastic, but it was also a plain fact. We debuted through a survival program supported by T1 and received full backing from that network. But now, it’s almost like we’ve severed ties. It means there’s nothing left for us, not even scraps. We’re rather in a vague state where we can’t come to any broadcasting platform.

LeTi Platform? It’s still in its early stages, and they already have a direct son, VTIC.

So, it’s time for us to find a new family too.

I checked the message from the management staff of the agency.

-Yes. There’s a meeting at MBS tomorrow. (greeting emoji)

It wasn’t for nothing that I appeared with Cheongryeo on MBC’s old program. This was all to build connections. That was the deal I made with him.

“There’s a PD on our side I’d like to introduce to you.”

Now, there’s nothing holding us back.

The son of the public broadcast.

Let’s give it a shot.

these Chs are commissioned if you want your series to be translated you can contact us at discord for your favorite series.

Reed chapter first at Utoon.net