The Idol Who Returned from Hell – Chapter 27

Author: Dawn

Four whole days had passed since the first episode of 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 aired.

Song Ji-won had been having a happy time reading posts about 〈ISL 2〉 that had caused an internet storm during that period, but.

The brief moments of happiness were far too short.

‘Something new… I need something new!’

There were limits to just gushing over text posts alone.

She was tired of rewatching the 〈HIT〉 stage video and Ryu Si-hwan’s level test scene that appeared at the end of episode 1 hundreds of times.

She’d watched it so much that she could now memorize what expression Ryu Si-hwan made at what minute and second.

It was truly a moment when withdrawal symptoms struck.

Song Ji-won’s daily routine had become monotonous.

After getting off work from her tedious job, she would thoroughly read through all 〈ISL 2〉 videos and community posts in her comfortable studio apartment.

That had become her routine.

But now she really wanted to see something new.

“Sigh…”

Song Ji-won, who had once again become a NeoTube ghost today, let out a deep sigh. (+) ^[1]

‘I’m sure last season, the self-PR videos were uploaded right after episode 1 ended.’

Self-PR videos.

Literally videos where the 100 trainees appeal themselves to win over the national managers.

It was a chance for participants who couldn’t get screen time in the broadcast to shine.

And conversely, a chance for participants who had been at the center of attention to solidify their recognition even more.

The key was how attractively they could showcase their unique weapons.

Song Ji-won scanned through the algorithm video recommendations with pitiful eyes.

All videos related to 〈ISL 2〉 and Ryu Si-hwan.

Red lines had already appeared under every thumbnail on her screen.

‘When did I watch all of those…’

Song Ji-won, who reacted to upload notifications faster than anyone, had kept searching for videos until she fell asleep.

Originally she was someone who didn’t even comment on social network platforms, but she was seriously fangirling over her current pick.

—Timestamp for those coming to see our face genius and skilled main vocal Si-hwan! [02:45~02:59] ↑6.7K

Song Ji-won’s comment left on the 〈HIT〉 stage video uploaded by KNet’s official account had received a whopping 6,700 likes and was pinned at the top.

She was happy that so many people had shown interest in Ryu Si-hwan, but.

On the other hand, she was anxious that her small personal idol seemed to be growing in real-time.

‘To shake off this anxiety, I need new videos!’

While repeating this miraculous logic in her head, when she refreshed the YouTube home screen.

[Ryu Si-hwan / High-Quality Radio Broadcast That Moistens Your Eardrums, Starting Now. ※Earphones Essential※ / #Idol Stove League Season 2 #IdolStoveLeagueS2]

“…Crazy.”

Song Ji-won stared blankly at the title of a video uploaded 14 seconds ago.

It really felt like her brain couldn’t function at all.

Then when she struggled to look up and saw Ryu Si-hwan’s fantastic face in the thumbnail.

“Earphones, where did my earphones go.”

Like someone released from petrification, her body began to move.

After frantically finding one lost earphone from somewhere in her room.

Song Ji-won took a deep breath and clicked on the video with sincere heart.

[Hello, national managers. From now on, we’ll begin a high-quality radio broadcast.]

“Si-hwan…”

The PR video that started without giving her time to prepare began with Ryu Si-hwan’s low, quiet voice.

His visual with the top buttons of his neat white shirt slightly unbuttoned.

And the sight of him strumming the acoustic guitar placed on his thigh came like a truly fatal punch.

[Ah, before starting the song, one viewer left a question.]

Ryu Si-hwan acted as if he was conducting an actual live broadcast, glancing to the side of the camera and pretending to read comments.

[They’re asking me to give a brief self-introduction. Hello, my name is Ryu Si-hwan. I’m 21 years old. Since singing and dancing are the most fun things in life for me, I ended up participating in 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉. I’ll give you a more detailed introduction later, so please show a lot of interest. Then let’s start with the first requested song.]

She didn’t know he could naturally pull off this kind of clever acting too.

Song Ji-won couldn’t hide her ecstatic emotions watching Ryu Si-hwan naturally communicate with virtual viewers.

And before that initial emotion could even fade.

[On that rainy day, you said to me.]

Ryu Si-hwan’s voice, which had been low, instantly changed tone and sang a sweet ballad.

〈At the End of the Day〉, probably a famous ballad that almost every Korean citizen would have heard.

It was a ballad song that appeared in numerous competition programs and was considered “a song that good singers must sing.”

Living up to that reputation, it naturally wasn’t an easy song, but Ryu Si-hwan delivered a perfect live performance while even playing guitar accompaniment himself.

‘It feels like my eardrums are melting!’

Song Ji-won, who had been wandering around looking for new fuel in a haggard state just moments ago, was overflowing with vitality.

It felt like just watching this video automatically recharged her HP.

[Yes, that was the first requested song, 〈At the End of the Day〉. I’d like to play every song to the end if I could, but due to time constraints, I’ll only do the first verse briefly before moving on. Please understand.]

“Of course I understand, Si-hwan! Please sing one more song instead of taking time for comments!”

Even though she was alone at home, Song Ji-won shouted at her phone screen with desperate tone.

Whether her earnestness reached him, Ryu Si-hwan sang two more songs in succession without any intermittent comments.

Each was an amazing song choice.

〈Sudden Shower〉 was a masterpiece sung by Lim Hyung-beom, one of Korea’s greatest eternal singers.

〈Twilight〉 was the representative title track of Choi Jung-hee, a first-generation female diva in the music industry.

Both songs boasted tremendous vocal ranges, and if sung incorrectly, they could become eardrum terrorism rather than an eardrum shower.

Ryu Si-hwan appropriately controlled the dynamics and created truly pleasant sounds.

Not too forceful, not too quiet, exactly the kind of intensity radio listeners would enjoy.

The lyrical guitar performance perfectly harmonized, raising the completeness even higher.

Song Ji-won focused on Ryu Si-hwan’s voice in a daze, even forgetting to breathe.

During this sacred moment, even the tiniest sound could be a disturbance.

[The PD is already signaling that I need to wrap up. Then, though it’s really regrettable, I’ll end my radio time with this last song.]

Ryu Si-hwan’s fingers, which had been playing a slow melody, suddenly flew around in flashy movements.

The sight of him nodding his head along to the cheerful beat looked both cute and sexy, as if he was getting excited too.

The moment she internally realized it was a familiar song.

[I can’t breathe, I can’t hear anything, only my heart beats in the darkness]

“…An acoustic version of 〈HIT〉.”

〈HIT〉, the theme song of 〈ISL 2〉, was performed with guitar melodies.

Usually these theme songs reappear as remix versions in the debut group’s album after the survival ends.

So to taste something special like an acoustic version, you’d have to wait a distant amount of time.

“What kind of sense is this really…”

Song Ji-won could only admire Ryu Si-hwan’s final song choice repeatedly.

First setting the mood with calm radio-exclusive ballads.

Then finishing with 〈HIT〉 that preserved the essence of 〈ISL 2〉 while also raising excitement.

Plus flawless live performance and guitar skills. It really made it impossible to stop smiling.

[Yes, this concludes the radio broadcast I prepared today. Though it was short and regrettable, I think it was a good opportunity to introduce my name to the national managers, so I’m very happy. I have many other charms I couldn’t show you here today, so please definitely watch 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 to the end and look forward to Ryu Si-hwan growing even more. Thank you!]

Ryu Si-hwan’s self-PR video ended like that, with him perfectly delivering his closing remarks with a gentle smile.

Song Ji-won, who had completely lost her mind staring at his face, shook her head once and returned to Earth.

First, what she needed to check was the YouTube video’s view count and likes.

When she refreshed, even though only 5 minutes had passed since the video was uploaded, the view count was already exceeding 4,000.

Likes had also already reached 300.

Song Ji-won quickly joined the likes army and scrolled down to the comments with a pleased smile.

—Si-hwan, starting today you’re my exclusive eardrum boyfriend ↑322

—Perfect Ryu Si-hwan who sings well, dances well, and shows great charm – let’s definitely debut!! ↑189

—[03:30] Wow, singing HIT’s intro like this feels so different yet so good. I urgently need a full version of HIT sung by Si-hwan ↑166

—Sihwan’s voice is so smooth I just know he’s gonna be a finalist ↑39 (+) ^[2]

Korean netizens who left gushing comments at light speed, plus it seemed foreign fans had already flowed in too.

With the success of 〈ISL 1〉 and the 〈HIT〉 stage video being designated as a hot clip, many overseas K-pop fans drawn by YouTube’s algorithm had probably come.

Thanks to that, Song Ji-won’s favorite was spreading his name far and wide.

Song Ji-won quickly liked the best comments and carefully left her own comment too.

“Let me see how the other kids did…”

After watching all the other trainees’ PR videos like that, she visited the community where 〈ISL 2〉 buzz was most actively burning.

Kang Eun-young had actively recommended that having noisy conversations like this was more fun than fangirling alone.

As expected, since the population was enormous, post regeneration was increasing exponentially.

Most were about the trainees’ PR videos that were surprisingly released today.

—Did you guys watch all the PR videos?? Sorry for being a free rider but can someone tell me who did well? I don’t think I can watch them all hehe

└You just need to list them in order of view count… You’re a real free rider lol. If you like fun stuff check out Seon-woo’s, if you want to see quality that’s insane go watch Si-hwan’s, those two videos are exploding in popularity right now

└Why is it so funny how you scold free riders but still tell them everything one by one lmaooo ultimate tsundere

└I saw they desperately needed help so I couldn’t help myself. Ah and there was one kid I discovered with insane visuals, try wathing Chae Ha-ru’s once go go

—I came from the post above and Kang Seon-woo is really pathetic but so cute lol. When that kid who looks like he wouldn’t know cute face (aegyo) at all poked both his cheeks I almost died laughing

└Ah I was the same lol. I was already cracking up when he started trembling from the beginning saying he had to do aegyo

└He looks like he’d love black more than anyone but actually passionately loves pink, that gap moe is insane

└I don’t find anything cute about it? But I could see he was trying so hard and that was so funny lol. I should go vote for Seon-woo

—Wow but what’s the quality of god Si-hwan’s high-quality radio broadcast… I naturally thought he’d just belt out a few lines and say that’s it~ but he sang four whole songs with such care, I was shocked

└With that handsome face singing so damn well, I didn’t know he could play guitar too, isn’t this a new type of cheat character really

└It’s like a character starting the game with initial stats of 999 lol. Even if he’s good, isn’t he too good at everything

—I was naturally drawn in by Ryu Si-hwan’s beautiful face, got hit once, got hit twice by his insane voice, and got hit a third time seeing the veins on his hands holding the guitar. Taking questions.

└If you got hit three times, you don’t seem to be in a state to take questions? lmao

└Wow so exactly like me LOL. I was listening with my mouth open then casually looked at the screen and almost got a nosebleed seeing those veins on his pretty hands hehe. I’m on my way to vote right now

“There’s so much talk about Si-hwan…”

Song Ji-won, who had thoroughly read community posts for a while, was filled with pride.

It seemed like people around the world all had similar eyes.

Like that, Song Ji-won spent happy time saving various photos of Ryu Si-hwan until she fell asleep.

And the next morning.

Song Ji-won, who unconsciously opened YouTube on her boring commute, couldn’t hide her shock at seeing Ryu Si-hwan’s self-PR video view count.

“I-It increased by 100,000 views overnight?”