Chapter 370: Chapter 372: Online Community

A live capture of someone falling asleep was trending online.

[Shock] NewBlack’s leader, Sunmo, caught in a live broadcast drinking controversy

Those who weren’t watching the live broadcast, including my fans and the general public, clicked in surprise.

Controversy?

Was there ever anything controversial about NewBlack?

Embarrassment, maybe. But controversy? That word didn’t fit us at all. As I puzzled over this, the main body of the post appeared.

(Laughing uproariously, then blinking sleepily, I stared at a bag of chocolate.)

(Quickly succumbing to sleep.)

The shock revelation: even alcohol-infused chocolate can make me drunk.

Fans were divided: “Can eating alcohol chocolate really get you drunk?” “Our kid can definitely get drunk like that.”

LOL, that scared me.

So cute, LOL.

Hard to believe alcohol affects him that much… but then again, they’ve always been unbelievable.

Whenever something seems unbelievable, just assume it’s about NewBlack.

LOL, human plausibility.

LOL, but what’s the situation?

After a concert in Japan, he got drunk on chocolates given by the concert officials during a live broadcast with fans.

Saw the title and got scared, LOL. But that figures.

His alcohol tolerance is crazy, LOL.

At this rate, the alcohol’s probably more shocked than he is.

Alcohol: Am I getting drunk…? (awkward)

Laughter erupted everywhere at the sight of me nodding off.

Meanwhile, entertainment reporters monitoring the internet reactions began writing articles at lightning speed.

NewBlack’s Woojoo: “Got drunk on alcohol chocolate”… Netizens: “Is that alcohol tolerance for real?”

The ‘sake + makgeolli’ mixed Japanese chocolate NewBlack’s Woojoo ate: “It’s enough to get you drunk.”

NewBlack concludes Kobe concert in Japan triumphantly… Attracting ‘over 36,000’ in 4 days.

Late at night, unexpected news made people burst into laughter.

While ‘sake chocolate’ and ‘NewBlack Woojoo’s drinking broadcast’ trended in real-time searches, the news comment sections were bustling.

Mr. Woojoo, I’m truly disappointed this time. An alcohol tolerance of one drop?

The disappointment is so big, LOL.

Getting drunk on non-alcoholic drinks, imagine with alcohol… I totally understand you, Woojoo.

This is a real controversy. Make it up to us with good songs.

If you’re writing an apology, could you mention my pet hamster too? It’s a 2-year-old I’m raising.

As netizens joked in the comments section about the controversial celebrity.

Some hearts sank.

What’s this? What’s happening?

It was the older generation.

They saw ‘NewBlack drinking controversy’ trending in real-time searches on their phones.

Their hearts raced.

They remembered NewBlack from ‘Now, My Hometown,’ appearing as cute as their grandchildren.

This is serious.

The news comments demanded self-reflection, even suggesting to include a hamster’s name in the apology.

I couldn’t understand what was going on just by reading the news explanations.

People sent messages to their grandchildren.

Me: [(Link)] Me: [Seongyeon, what’s this about? Do you know?] Me: [I can’t understand what’s happening.]

Soon after, hearing that it was just about getting drunk on chocolate, they sighed in relief, realizing it was nothing serious.

And for those with no one to ask, they hesitantly typed on their keyboards.

[Reward 100 Points] What’s this NewBlack drinking issue?

The internet is abuzz. Infinite blessings to whoever explains this to me.

Also, how do I select the best answer?

#02as25ef: LOL, it’s not a controversy, grandpa. Everyone’s just joking around. #sungoat: They’re teasing him for getting drunk on chocolate that contained alcohol. ꞦÁƝỐᛒĘⱾ

Quick responses cleared up the confusion.

Meanwhile, as news about NewBlack spread across social networks, the leader’s slumber continued.

Live broadcast.@@novelbin@@

Not just my fans, but other viewers too, were sneaking in, setting a new record for the highest viewership on the Y app.

“But this is really delicious. Soba, is this it?”

“Yes, that’s the spicy one. Try this rice bowl, brother.”

“Ah, but why don’t I feel excited…?”

Despite our laughter, there was an unmistakable gloom as we slurped our cup noodles.

Our eyes met as we lifted our heads from our meal, then quickly looked away.

…

Our leader was sound asleep under a blanket on the sofa.

Jung-hyun shook Woojoo’s body, saying, “Wake up, hero!”

“Wake up, brother.”

“We gave up meat for a late-night snack…! Without you, Bijoo gets gloomy, and when Bijoo is gloomy, we all are.”

“No, I’m not gloomy…”

“Just eat. He’ll wake up when it’s time.”

We turned our heads away from our leader, who we watched over like somber cats.

Then, Lee-hyuk, who had been speaking, glanced at his watch and said.

“He’ll wake up in about 10 minutes.”

“Really?”

“If I estimate the time roughly, that’s about right.”

The members nodded in agreement with the main vocalist’s calculation.

Jung-hyun smiled warmly.

“Then, I’m relieved.”

“I thought I wouldn’t wake up until tomorrow morning. Brothers, let’s enjoy our meal now. Together.”

“The ramen is super delicious~ Super delicious~”

The fans would laugh seeing us quickly become cheerful, making ramen ASMR.

10 minutes later.

Swoosh.

“Huh? He’s awake!”

Woojoo, who had been lying on the sofa, slowly sat up like a revived mummy, blinking his eyes.

Then he opened them wide and said.

“I wasn’t asleep.”

The members burst into laughter at his wide-eyed insistence.

After recovering somewhat from the hangover outside the camera’s view.

I slipped back into the arms of my younger siblings, who were on the Y app.

“Hello, everyone!”

“Woahhhhh!”

“That’s right. I’ve returned. Thank you, ‘Woojoo, a single drop of alcohol’…?”

I narrowed my eyes at the unusual nicknames of the soufflés while my siblings laughed.

“Did anything else happen while I was asleep, besides you guys finishing all the snacks?”

The members prepared my share of the late-night snack with sheepish expressions as the comment section buzzed.

“Brother, you’re trending in real-time!!! >ㅇ< Kyaa”

“I’m watching the W app at a café, and the couple next to me is talking about you.”

“[Breaking] The whole nation knows now [Congratulations]”

“I’m proud… sometimes sad, but proud.”

“Say hello to Ariella.”

“WJ, your tolerance is smaller than my toenail.”

I muttered to myself, staring blankly at the comments.

“News?”

“Here.”

Lee-hyuk pushed his phone screen towards me with a pleased smile.

“Trending?”

“I captured it! Did I do well?”

I felt dizzy.

Taking a deep breath, I faced the live camera and said.

“This is all my careless mistake, everyone. I focused only on conversational Japanese…”

“I didn’t even notice ‘Jongjong’ written on the chocolate.”

“The director gave it to me as something precious, so I ate it without suspicion, but I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Yes.”

The younger ones said sternly.

“We will forgive you.”

“Hey! What do you mean ‘we’ will forgive?”

My dumbfounded expression made the younger ones laugh uproariously.

Of course, my mood soon lifted when they playfully chanted ‘Woojoo time~’.

After a Q&A session with the fans about today’s concert and our activities in Japan.

“Shall we play Newcademy then?”

“We have to move at dawn tomorrow, so there isn’t much time left until the live stream ends, but let’s try to get your help!”

“I’ll give it a try.”

With the help of fans who boasted they had conquered the game, I decided to play Newcademy.

Due to concert preparations, I hadn’t had the chance to play properly.

After turning on my laptop, I entered the site link and typed ‘NewBlack’ as my player name.

Ding!

A notification window popped up with the distinctive Windows error sound, saying, “No, not that.”

[The nickname is already in use.]

As we stared blankly, the chat began to fill with ‘LOL’ from the viewers.

Ri Hyeok suggested, “Let’s do it in English. Us.”

I typed ‘thenewblack,’ but no matter how many times I tried, it said the nickname was already taken.

The youngest member proposed, “How about adding some numbers?”

I typed ‘NewBlack123,’ but it was rejected.

From NoBlack to Sunwooju and the lackeys, the viewers had claimed all sorts of variations of our name.

Bijoo suggested with a laugh, “How about ‘OneShot’?”

“Haha! That’s good. Let’s go with that!”

Ding!

“…It exists.”

“…”

We were NewBlack, but we couldn’t use any keywords related to NewBlack in any way.

After much thought, we settled on ‘Children of LemonEnt.’

“Now, let’s start with the early routes…”

The scene flowed with Jiho approaching the protagonist lying on the grass.

As planned, we took the B route. Daegil’s route.

‘Surviving NewBlack Academy’ was a story about an unidentified mastermind trying to resurrect the Demon King at the academy.

And by persuading the five loyal members of NewBlack, the protagonist would eliminate the Demon King and become the new ruler.

“If we want to gather a lot of equipment, we should take Daegil’s route.”

“The opinions are divided. Some say the A route is better. For now, let’s try to play as much as we can without your help.”

“And.”

Our youngest spoke confidently, “This game is based on us, right? If we, who know ourselves best, play it.”

“Maybe we can clear it more easily?”

Ri Hyeok agreed, smiling triumphantly.

At his words, the chat fell silent for a moment before the viewers started laughing again.

“Let’s start by finding Junhyeon.”

Leading the protagonist, who had turned into a black goat in prison, we headed back to the academy.

To avoid becoming a black goat carriage after catching the eye of a wicked merchant, we chose the option ‘run into the merchant.’

Upon arriving at the academy, the protagonist muttered.

“Meh-eh-eh… Meh-eh-eh… (I’m cold and hungry)”

And at that moment.

“Oh dear. What a pitiful child. You must be cold and hungry.”

Junhyeon, wearing a straw hat, looked down at the black goat with sympathetic eyes.

“Meh-eh-eh… (Do you understand me?)”

“Of course.”

“Meh-eh-eh… (How?)”

“I once had a black goat friend. I’m quite familiar with the goat dialect of the northern region.”

Junhyeon nodded as the character looked up at the sky with a distant expression.

The character asked.

“So, my friend. What can I help you with?”

▷ Meh-eh! (Tell me about NewBlack Academy.)

▷ Meh-eh-meh! (How do I become human?)

We were deep in thought.

The option to keep an eye on Jiho felt awkward since we had only played through the A route.

After careful consideration, the person in question said, “Let’s go with option one.”

“Okay. Option one.”

As we pressed option one, the character smiled warmly.

“Sorry. I don’t know.”

“Meh?”

“I thought it was vacation and didn’t go to school, so I got expelled. Sorry, but I’m not a student here anymore.”

The first option turned gray and disappeared, leaving the second option highlighted.

“Is it number two, as expected?”

“Then, let’s start with how to become human…”

The character flashed a warm smile.

“I don’t know either.”

“What do you actually know?”

“I haven’t played many games, but I’ve never seen an NPC that doesn’t give any information like this.”

“But this does feel a lot like me.”

As the protagonist revealed a strange sense of satisfaction, the 2D figure, Jung-hyun, spoke.

“However, there are those who might know the answer.”

“Tell me! (Please!)”

“But you have to get past me first.”

The screen flickered, creating an effect like being attacked by a Pokémon hidden in the bushes.

Dramatic music played.

“Suddenly?”

As HP and attack options appeared,

We diligently examined the choices, scratching our cheeks before turning our gaze to the chat window.

We exchanged warm smiles.

“Games are not for playing alone but with others, right? Don’t you think so, everyone?”

“That’s right!”

“Communication is more important than gameplay.”

The chat continued with exclamations and sighs from the players.

We then politely asked,

“Please, help us.”

Tips for effectively subduing Jung-hyun soon followed.

Following them exactly, the 2D Jung-hyun waved his hand, saying, “Good game!” and disappeared.

“Phew.”

We shook our heads.

Already feeling drained.

“Hey, but didn’t the New Academy’s Jung-hyun say he would tell us who knows the answer?”

“Huh?”

We burst into laughter as the 2D Jung-hyun left without doing anything.

Nevertheless, having successfully entered the academy, we listened to the players’ solutions and played the game.

“Rihyuk’s weakness is his Adam’s apple! If you hit it, he can’t recite history! Click on the Adam’s apple in the illustration!”

“Aaaaah!”

“The players say to press it twice a second!”

We clicked furiously on Rihyuk’s Adam’s apple with the mouse.

“Wang Jiho’s money attack is divided into bill and coin phases.”

“Do we have to avoid both?”

“Coins hurt if you get hit, but it’s okay during the bill phase. If you get hit by bills, HP and MP are restored.”

“Money really is the best…”

After dodging the youngest’s money attack, we tempted him with even more money.

“Studio! Aaaah! I don’t want to go!”

“Die! Die!”

“You go to the studio!”

“…”

The earnest clicks of the mouse by the younger siblings seemed to carry genuine emotion as they turned their gaze towards the empty air.

With the help of the players, we solved the mysteries of the New Black Academy.

Even when dealing with the occasional mobs,

“Ah, you have to choose carefully here.”

“They say I can’t help because it’s random.”

The critical moment of choosing the Bijou apple came.

Choosing the golden apple grants an extra life, but picking the poisoned apple makes the gameplay much trickier.

We turned our gaze to Bijou.

“Uh…”

“Bijou, I’m counting on you.”

“I believe in your apple-picking Sharingan!”

“Hmm…”

Bijou was engulfed in thought.

On the screen, the 2D Bijou wore a red cape over his head like a kerchief, smiling brightly.

The character’s protagonist cautiously began,

“Considering the blue hue at the stem and the glossiness and coloration… it’s the apple on the right.”

“The right one.”

At the click of the mouse,

A square-shaped sound effect played, and the smiling face of the happy 2D Bijou appeared.

“Congratulations!”

“Enough!”

“Poison apple!”

“What?”

As we blinked in surprise, the cheerful twinkle in Bijoo’s eyes suddenly changed.

It was like a character from a comic who always smiled suddenly wore a terrifying expression.

“Farewell.”

We looked back at the illustration of Bijoo’s retreating figure with dumbfounded expressions.

The person in question frantically waved his hands in denial.

“That’s not me! Brother!”

“…”

“Don’t look at me like that. That’s not who I am.”

At that moment, a handsome young man wearing a red cape hesitated on the screen before turning back.

“…Not that way, this way.”

As Bijoo passed by the protagonist, we turned to look.

“Is that really you?”

“No, it’s not!”

Meanwhile, someone had placed the protagonist in a glass coffin.

It seemed to be inspired by the Snow White tale, as the figure in the glass looked like a princess.

Jiho said,

“Ah, I get it. Now the prince will come and wake her up with a shout!”

“A kiss, I bet.”

“Is it really the prince’s turn now?”

While we were discussing this, the comment section buzzed with Soufflés writing, ‘Here it comes…!’

What’s coming?

Soon, footsteps approached, and a figure dressed as a prince appeared…

“Greetings.”

“If I may, I’d like to share some kind words.”

…At the CEO’s entrance, we all held our breath.

▷ Listen more to the conversation.

▷ Stand up, hit your forehead, and run away.

Exchanging glances with my siblings, I chose the second option without hesitation.

Slap!

As the sound echoed, the CEO chased after us, shouting, ‘How insolent…!’ The illustration showed him pursuing us furiously!

“We’re being chased!”

“Get away!”

“I’m so sorry, CEO!”

The next dawn, we boarded a plane from Osaka to Tokyo.

It was for the Yokohama concert preparations and other promotions.

“Woah—!”

Just like at Kansai Airport, we had to fight through the crowd to escape.

To avoid a repeat of the last mishap, we shouted as soon as we got into the car.

“U!” “Bi!” “Jung!” “Ri!” “Ho!”

“Seok!” “Min!” “Won!”

Even the managers joined in the roll call, then we all clapped our hands.

Jung-hyun asked,

“But Jiho, why are you ‘Ho’?”

“Because I’m Jiho.”

“Ah, I see.”

After watching the younger ones exchange this incomprehensible dialogue, I waved to the fans outside the car.

The vehicle started immediately.

Looking at the broadcasting vans parked around the airport, Seokhwan clicked his tongue.

“So much attention, yet no one invites us. They don’t want to call us, but they want to watch.”

“Exactly.”

Every day they broadcast our news, but still, no broadcasts invited us.

Ah, there was one place.

Since our last visit to Japan, a man claiming to be our father’s rival, Hashimoto Kenji, kept sending love calls.

We still hadn’t responded.

And then,

“The offers keep coming even here.”

“Where? The tourism board?”

“Yes. There.”

The Japanese Tourism Board was tempting us with a substantial offer.

They requested us to upload a ‘Japan Exploration!’ series on MeTube, featuring us enjoying ramen and wandering the streets of Osaka and Tokyo.

However, we saw no real benefit in this and the company declined the offer upfront.

Despite our success with offline promotions, like our one-day cafe event, we were still unable to make any TV appearances.

Today, we were in the midst of executing an idea we proposed to overcome these promotional challenges.

“Hey, look, we’ve got an account now.”

A new channel, ‘NewBlackTV: World,’ had appeared on MeTube.

It was our third channel, designated for content in other languages like English and various international segments.

And it was here that our very own Japanese variety show would soon be uploaded.

I glanced around at my siblings and asked,

“What if we want to promote but TV won’t have us?”

“Then we’ll create our own TV show!”

We chanted in unison, our voices harmonizing as the studio for today’s shoot drew nearer.

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