Kang Rojun exited the meeting room and headed toward the participants’ dorm. His expression was calm, but his mind was filled with thoughts.
'I’ve got two lyric writing projects and 'Rental Lover' filming. I also decided to write new content as a writer, right?'
On top of that, he couldn’t afford to neglect the 'Produce That 100!' schedule. Additionally, there was the Japanese conversation practice with No. 58 and composition study.
'Why are there so many things to do? It's a mission, but I'm glad I built up my stamina.'
He wasn’t really complaining. If anything, Kang Rojun preferred being insanely busy. No, perhaps the right word was that he enjoyed it. In the past, when his face was disfigured, he couldn’t work even if he wanted to. A hectic lifestyle was something Rojun had dreamed of. Now, it simply came with more glamor.
He entered the dorm building. The participants were nowhere to be seen. They were probably all immersed in training. It seemed No. 58 had also joined them right away. In particular, Teams 2 and 3, to which No. 58 belonged, must be especially busy. That’s because, like Team 1, a surprise performance was scheduled for them soon as well.
In any case, instead of heading to Room 105, Kang Rojun went to his usual go-to restroom.
'Let’s start with singing ability and dance first.'
He began experimenting with the stats that had exceeded 20 points. After lowering the volume, he sang a few songs and moved his body around. The change was definite. Even though it felt like he was doing things roughly, his form looked anything but ordinary.
“It feels like my throat is cleared up, and my body’s more fluid. Definitely better than when my stats were in the tens.”
His brain had also evolved. He had absorbed more knowledge. Singing or dancing, watching a video and copying it was no longer that difficult. He also stumbled much less. While part of it was due to accumulated experience, the stat enhancement must have played a big role. It was hard for Kang Rojun to objectively assess himself, but to the eye, he seemed quite good even among regular people.
Compared to his former self, who had no rhythm or pitch, it was a massive improvement.
Then Rojun took out his phone and accessed the ‘AI Simulation’.
He checked the ‘Rap’ stat.
With recent enhancements, it had surpassed 10 points. Soon, Kang Rojun, after manipulating his phone, played a song.
It was 'Witch', the rap track composed by No. 58 and written by Kang Rojun. Nodding his head slowly to the beat, he opened his mouth. He performed 'Witch'. Though there was still a bit of awkwardness, one thing was certain.
'It works, I can rap now too.'
His rap skills had also improved quite a bit.
A few hours later, around noon. Tokyo, Japan.
Near the bustling Tokyo Station, inside a large two-story cafe. Although tourists were scattered about, most of the customers were Japanese.
The cafe was almost full.
Maybe because of the crowd, the atmosphere was quite noisy, with a wide range of age groups present. However, over 70% were in their twenties or thirties. Many of the tables were filled with groups of women. Japanese was heard in every direction.
While drinking their beverages, the cafe-goers chatted excitedly.
“Isn’t it way too hot today??”
“Totally. I can’t even go outside.”
Everyone had a phone in their hands. They chatted while staring directly at their phones. What stood out was.
"I'm so excited for 'Produce That 100!'."
“Same here. Watching it on YouTube in clips isn’t enough anymore!”
“Who’s your favorite?”
“Of course No. 1! Isn’t he yours too?”
“My No. 1 is also No. 1! He seems like a tsundere, but his face is insanely handsome! No. 58 and No. 15 are cute too.”
Multiple tables were simultaneously discussing the Korean show 'Produce That 100!'. And not just casually, it was intense. A clear sign of the explosive Korean Wave in Japan and the show's growing popularity there.
“Sigh- when are the 'Produce That 100!' guys coming to Japan?”
“They’re really coming to Japan?”
“I saw it on YouTube. Was it the PD? He said there would be a Japan performance.”
At many tables throughout the large cafe, the same action was observed. They all stopped talking and focused on their phones. It wasn’t just one or two tables, more than half were doing it.
“Did it drop on Netflix??”
They were all accessing the same platform, Netflix Japan. The reason was simple.
“'Produce That 100!' drops at 1 o’clock, right?”
That was the official launch time for 'Produce That 100!' in Japan. To be exact, going forward, 'Produce That 100!' would be uploaded every Monday at 1 PM on Netflix Japan.
Soon, more than 70% of the Japanese customers in the cafe began-
“It’s up! 'Produce That 100!' is live! Thank you, Netflix!”
“Whew- I’ve been waiting forever, let’s watch from episode one!”
“Is No. 1 in the first episode??”
Watching the officially launched 'Produce That 100!'.
And the next morning, Tuesday, September 1st.
While Korean media was filled with articles about ‘No. 1', 'Produce That 100!', and 'Rental Lover', news from Japan also spread.
《[IssueTalk] 'Produce That 100!' Sets Off a Storm in Japan, Hits No. 1 on Netflix Immediately After Launch!》