Chapter 80: Complete Withdrawal

Although there were calls from groups like TVXQ, Girls' Generation, BoA, Shinhwa, and Super Junior, in reality, the album by Lee Yunjae received no attention due to a few critical reviews by music critics.

"Too much!" Bae Song-in angrily threw a music magazine onto the table. There were several other music magazines on the table, each featuring a critical review of Lee Yunjae's new album, with the final sentence, "It seems LOEN's curse of new artists failing cannot be broken," adding insult to injury.

No matter how the reviews criticized Lee Yunjae's album, Bae Song-in only laughed in anger, but the last sentence made him so furious that smoke seemed to come out of his nostrils.

For a long time, every artist LOEN launched ended up failing, which became a curse for the company and a laughingstock for other agencies. Whenever LOEN launched a new artist, some people would predict how long the artist would last before failing, similar to the five-year curse of S.M. Entertainment.

Bae Song-in had always been dedicated to breaking this LOEN curse, but had never succeeded. This time, he finally "caught" Lee Yunjae, hoping that he could break the curse and bring glory to LOEN. However, an unknown幕后黑手 attacked, and once again, the onlookers had a good laugh. Adding to this, the low-quality music magazines launched a barrage of criticism against Lee Yunjae, with the final sentence being a direct insult to LOEN.

Just as Bae Song-in was fuming, the office door quietly opened.

"President... You're really angry!" It was Lee Yunjae, who walked in with a smile, showing no signs of distress from the flood of negative comments online. Instead, he seemed quite relaxed, as if the outside world had nothing to do with him.

"Hmph, you're not worried at all. Look at what these music magazines are saying about your album!" Bae Song-in, somewhat angrily, slammed his fist on the music magazine.

Lee Yunjae walked over, picked up a magazine casually, and sat down on the sofa to read. After a few minutes, he chuckled and threw the magazine into the trash can.

"You're still laughing! Don't tell me you don't know about the flood of negative comments online. Now it's happening in real life too. These unscrupulous music critics really deserve to be torn to pieces!" Bae Song-in, losing his composure, spat as he spoke.

Lee Yunjae shrugged nonchalantly and said, "President, do you want me to be as angry as you? That would just play into the hands of those who are waiting for the show. One angry person is enough..."

"You seem to be heartless. Don't you care that others are defaming you?!" Bae Song-in's eyes were as wide as lanterns, staring straight at Lee Yunjae.

"I'm not heartless. I've done my best. I believe in my abilities and the quality of the songs I've written. I'm confident and don't care what others say. They have the mouths and the power to speak, what can I do? I can't fight them all with words! Besides, I believe the company will handle this well!" Lee Yunjae said with a light chuckle.

"You don't care... Does that mean your friends are all more worried than you? Girls' Generation, TVXQ, Shinhwa, BoA, Super Junior... All S.M. family, past and present. It seems you had good relationships in S.M. and made many friends!"

Bae Song-in sighed, and a faint smile appeared on Lee Yunjae's face. True friendship is seen in times of difficulty, and although it wasn't that serious, the spontaneous help from his old friends made Lee Yunjae feel a warm sense of gratitude.

"That's because the friends I made are all so outstanding, and they've all become big stars!" Lee Yunjae joked.

Bae Song-in rolled his eyes, "Alright, stop being cheeky. Let's discuss what to do about the current situation. It's been two days, and this can't go on!"

"Hasn't the company taken any measures?!" Lee Yunjae countered.

"Of course, but we need to wait a few more days before we can counterattack. Who knows what will happen in these few days!"

Given the situation, Bae Song-in had to be truly vigilant. Initially, he thought the opposition's power was limited to the internet, but now it had spread to real life. Although it was just some low-quality music magazines, they couldn't be ignored.

Lee Yunjae nodded, and his serious expression lasted only a few seconds before he smiled again, "But no matter how bad it gets, my songs will still make it to the KPOP-KOUNTDOWN singles chart!"

The KPOP-KOUNTDOWN singles chart is an authoritative singles chart in South Korea, listing the top 30 songs loved by fans, based on download counts from major music websites, including LOEN's MelOn.

Although the album sales were poor in real life, the celebrity effect and the excessive negative news online made many people curious about Lee Yunjae's album. They wanted to hear how bad this album, which had been causing a stir for days, really was. With this mindset, more and more people downloaded the album on MelOn. Despite poor sales, the download counts kept increasing. In just over two days, the download counts for the four songs had exceeded 700,000, and the number was still rising. This week, it might not make it to the KPOP-KOUNTDOWN singles chart, but next week, with this trend, it could even enter the top ten.

Moreover, as more people downloaded and listened to the songs, they started leaving comments on the message boards, defending Lee Yunjae.

Bae Song-in's face also showed a rare smile, "Perhaps this is a case of extremes leading to the opposite. The overwhelming number of critical reviews and comments online might have piqued the curiosity of the fans. From another perspective, things aren't that bad. At least your album is getting more attention, which is a form of promotion, albeit a negative one. Just make sure it doesn't have a negative impact on you!"

"The fans are just being misled, and someone is taking advantage of the situation. Let them have their fun for now. Once I start appearing on music shows like Music Bank, Music Core, and Inkigayo, more people will see my performances and hear my songs. Rumors and defamation can't withstand the test of time. Eventually, they will be debunked!

Moreover, no matter how many defamations there are now, in the end, I will gain the recognition of all the fans. When that happens, I will be the biggest victim, and in this society, the underdog often gains sympathy. At that time, I will benefit greatly!

Let them have their fun now. The bigger the commotion, the more I will benefit in the future! I believe in my abilities, and in the face of strong abilities, any defamation is just a weak and ineffective attack!" Lee Yunjae said with conviction.

"Fox... Why do you seem so much like a cunning little fox! You can remain calm and see opportunities in this crisis. Is your thinking different from others?!" Bae Song-in marveled.

If it were another rookie, they would have been anxious and at a loss, but Lee Yunjae remained calm and saw the opportunity amidst the crisis.

"Crisis and opportunity coexist... That's the truth," Lee Yunjae sighed. His calmness was entirely based on his confidence. With extreme self-confidence, no crisis can break a person; instead, it becomes a valuable experience.

At that moment, a LOEN employee rushed in, not even knocking. Bae Song-in glared at him, "What's the matter? Did you see a ghost?"

The employee caught his breath and said nervously, "President, it's really bad! The albums we sent out have been returned by all the music stores. Now, all the music stores in Seoul, and even throughout Korea, are taking Yunjae's album off the shelves!"

"What...?" Bae Song-in jumped up from his chair, shocked by the sudden news.

"What happened? How did it get so bad?!" Bae Song-in felt a wave of dizziness and sat back down.

The employee explained, "Perhaps it's because of the excessive criticism of Yunjae's new album online, which led to a lack of interest. The critical reviews by real-life music critics further discouraged fans from buying the album. With these factors combined, the music stores decided to take the album off the shelves..."

Lee Yunjae was silent for a moment, his relaxed expression replaced by a serious one, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. "It could also be that the retailers are taking advantage of the situation to make a quick profit! Since they've returned the albums, let them be returned. Store them in the warehouse for now... In a few days, they'll be the ones crying, and we'll see who's begging who!"

PS: Some readers commented that the father and mother's story is too dark. I can't reveal much, but I can say it's not dark, and everything you see is fake... The plot may have a bit of melodrama and some warmth... I will humbly accept and discuss the suggestions and opinions in the reviews. However, if there are negative comments, I will respond in kind... I'm not a saint, and I don't write to be insulted... The main reason for the hiatus in "The Top" is: 1) After finishing "Cool Korea," I planned to write "Vampire Artist," but the editor's recommendations were strong, so I continued. 2) Many readers said "The Top" was too dark, which was frustrating... Actually, writing "The Top" earns me 1500-2000 per month, which is attractive for me, but I still decided to stop due to the overwhelming negative comments, which made me uncomfortable... This has directly led to the lack of recommendations for this book... It's frustrating...

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