Chapter 79: A Series of Twists

The next day, as expected, the negative reviews for Li Yunzai's album increased online, especially on MelOn's message board, which was almost overwhelmed by the negative comments.

This made Bae Song-in extremely frustrated. The platform originally intended for fans to interact with Li Yunzai had now become a platform for critics to attack him. And the one who started all this was himself, which couldn't help but make him even more frustrated.

If only he hadn't opened this message board. Bae Song-in felt a wave of regret, but it wasn't a good time to close the message board or ban comments, as that would invite more critics to accuse LOEN of restricting freedom of speech. If this "charge" were to be confirmed, it would be disastrous, something LOEN couldn't afford. If it were really confirmed, Bae Song-in's position as CEO would be at an end.

Seeing the negative reviews spreading like wildfire, Bae Song-in wasn't without measures. The first thing he did was to find some well-known music critics and ask them to give the fairest reviews of Li Yunzai's album, to do justice to Li Yunzai and LOEN.

The music critics, upon receiving Bae Song-in's invitation, were naturally happy to help and also wanted to hear what made this album, which was being criticized as the "worst album of the year" online, so despised by netizens.

However, a music review couldn't be written in a short time. It took a whole day to carefully listen to four songs, and after listening, they needed to deliberate, review, and comment, finally producing a complete review for each song and rating the album (five stars being the best). A comprehensive review that covered all aspects would take at least three days to appear to the public.

Another three days, would they just be helpless during these three days? Bae Song-in tapped his head, unable to think of any good way to curb the flood of negative comments online.

"CEO, can't we also hire a batch of online critics to support Yunzai and counter the negative comments?" LOEN's planning team member Park In-eun asked, "As long as you say the word, I'll arrange it!"

Bae Song-in shook his head and rejected the suggestion. The other side could use such despicable means because they were in the dark, and no one knew who was behind the "online violence." But LOEN couldn't use such despicable methods to counter. Since LOEN was in the open, if a large number of supporters of LOEN and Li Yunzai appeared online, anyone with a discerning eye would know they were hired by LOEN, which would reduce the public's goodwill towards LOEN. Many people would point at LOEN and say, "Your capabilities are just that."

"Ah, it's driving me crazy... I wonder how the album sales are going. The sales yesterday were quite good, reaching 23,000 copies. For Yunzai, a newcomer, this is a decent performance, but it's far from enough!" Park In-eun said gloomily.

LOEN had initially produced 200,000 copies of the album and distributed them to major music stores nationwide. Previously, Bae Song-in believed that with LOEN's intense promotion and Li Yunzai's existing popularity, selling 200,000 copies of his first mini-album within half a month should not be a problem, and it might even be more. But no one expected that at a critical moment, not only did the most important part of the promotional strategy fail, but someone also deliberately targeted LOEN and Li Yunzai, flooding the internet with negative reviews of the mini-album "Yunzai in the Wind."

Can it still sell 200,000 copies? Bae Song-in couldn't help but ask himself. At this rate, in no more than two days, fans would be swayed by the negative reviews and rumors online, making it unlikely to sell 200,000 copies.

............................

"Too much bullying!!!" A wave of indignant voices came from the Girls' Generation dormitory.

Seohyun pouted, hands on her hips, looking ready for a fight. YoonA clenched her fists tightly, biting her lower lip, her beautiful eyes almost spitting fire. Jessica, looking like a true ice queen, exuded a chilling aura. Yuri, with her eyes wide open, looked as if she wanted to eat someone. Choi Sooyoung and Kim Tae-yeon also had indignant expressions, baring their teeth.

"Wow... I have to take a picture of this, it's a once-in-a-lifetime sight!" Sunny took out her phone and snapped a photo of the six indignant girls. The sweet and innocent look of the girls was gone, replaced by angry faces.

"How can these people be so despicable, how can they defame Oppa Yunzai like this!" Seohyun's face was red with anger, and she was jumping up and down.

YoonA, frustrated, grabbed her hair, "It must be some people with ill intentions trying to ruin Oppa Yunzai's reputation, and their ultimate goal is to make sure no one buys Oppa Yunzai's album..."

"We can't just stand by and do nothing. What can we do to help Oppa?" Yuri rubbed her chin, her black eyes spinning, then looked at Sunny and said, "Sunny, you always have the most ideas. Come up with something quickly!"

Sunny was taken aback, then pouted at Yuri, "You always say my ideas are bad, so why are you asking me for help now!"

"You little miser!" Yuri glared at her.

"Taeyeon, what can we do now? What can we do for Oppa Yunzai?" Jessica asked Kim Taeyeon, who was always their leader when they were at a loss.

Kim Taeyeon tilted her head, thinking for a long time before saying, "Don't look at me, I don't have any good ideas either. This is the first time I've encountered something like this. We can't fight back against these biased and false negative reviews online. The only way is to let the fans listen for themselves and let Oppa Yunzai's songs win them over."

"Then let's mobilize the fans to listen... If Oppa Yunzai's songs really win the fans' hearts, they will definitely stand up for Oppa Yunzai and give him fair reviews, unlike now, where it's almost one-sided!" YoonA's eyes lit up as she said this.

"Right, that's a good idea. Why don't we all go on Twitter and call on the SONEs to listen to Oppa Yunzai's songs?" Seohyun suggested, and her suggestion was immediately agreed upon by everyone.

Although the number of Girls' Generation's hardcore fans, the SONEs, was only about 60,000 to 70,000, it was still a force. They got to work immediately, and the nine members took turns posting messages on their Twitter accounts: "Fans, please rationally view the rumors and defamation about Li Yunzai online. Whether it's good or bad, go to MelOn and download and listen to it yourself. Don't blindly follow the rumors and miss out on a good album. We bought the album as soon as it was released, and we all agree that it's a very good album. Although there are only four songs, they are all very catchy and great! If you think it's good, buy a copy to support Li Yunzai. Li Yunzai won't let you down!"

Originally, the SONEs had gradually believed the rumors and were too lazy to listen on MelOn. The overwhelming negative reviews made it hard for them to want to download and listen.

But when Girls' Generation stepped forward, and the nine members strongly recommended Li Yunzai's album, even if the SONEs didn't buy it, they would at least give Girls' Generation a face and go to MelOn to download and listen. Immediately, all the SONEs who saw the Girls' Generation's tweet logged into MelOn and downloaded the four songs.

At the same time, TVXQ also collectively posted a tweet: "We don't know why there are so many rumors about our good friend Li Yunzai online. Let me make one thing clear: for a singer who created 'Spell' and made TVXQ famous, would his first mini-album be bad? We bought a copy as soon as the album was released. Without further ado, we can only say one thing: every song is a classic! We sincerely call on the Cassiopeias to listen to it. If you think it's good, buy a copy to support Li Yunzai! Sincerely, TVXQ."

The Cassiopeias, like the SONEs, had been misled by the negative comments online. Under the overwhelming negative reviews, no one would have the desire to listen. But seeing TVXQ's sincere words, even with the severe negative comments, they would log into MelOn to listen.

Moreover, among the "old" Cassiopeias, there were also former fans of Li Yunzai. Originally, after seeing the negative reviews, these Cassiopeias were somewhat disappointed in Li Yunzai, but seeing TVXQ's call and their high praise for Li Yunzai's new album, their desire to listen was rekindled.

First, there was Girls' Generation, then TVXQ, followed by the Asian pop princess BoA, who also praised Li Yunzai's new album, calling it a rare good album.

Then, the leader of the legendary idol group H.O.T., Moon Hee-suk, also called on fans not to believe the one-sided defamation online, saying that only by listening with their own ears could they judge.

However, while Li Yunzai's friends were coming to his support, in reality, music critics who criticized Li Yunzai's album appeared. This time, it wasn't online critics but real music critics, though not very famous, they were still well-known in the industry.

Thus, a situation of extreme contrast emerged. Online, fans were continuously downloading Li Yunzai's new songs from MelOn. But in reality, the calls from TVXQ, H.O.T., BoA, Girls' Generation, and others did not have much substantial effect. The fans were thoroughly misled by the music critics, and few people went to music stores to buy Li Yunzai's album.

Third update, please follow and recommend...

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