ALL NOVEL Chapter 77
Chapter 77. Unexpected Fortune (2)
‘What is this?’
Hajin, who had been monitoring reactions to *Miro Maze* while sitting in a cozy café, was slightly taken aback.
**Real-Time Trends**
– Our Nephew: 10,841 mentions
– Miro Family: 7,932 mentions
– Myeong-dong Busking: 9,045 mentions
– Love You, Taeil: 15,791 mentions
– Miro Maze: 5,112 mentions
The timeline of the subscription account he had set up for monitoring was refreshing every three seconds.
Not long ago, *Miro Maze*, which had been considered just another large-scale K-pop boy group survival show, was now being twisted into something like “The miraculous fruit achieved by young breadwinners of a small company.”
‘Why is everyone suddenly flooring the gas pedal?’
It didn’t take Hajin long to find the ‘problematic post’ while surfing through the numerous online communities to identify the cause of this ridiculous situation. And Hajin immediately grasped the fortuitous elements that had created this massive wave.
**Coincidence #1: Utopia’s 12th Anniversary Concert.**
Utopia’s fandom, *Idea*, with its 13-year history, had a higher age demographic compared to typical idol group fandoms.
Most of the fans were working adults, who instead of actively promoting their idols on communities or social media as they did in the past, focused more on gathering funds for their fan activities while quietly savoring any new content.
‘So, under normal circumstances, this kind of post would have been buried by morning, especially if posted late at night in these communities…’
The issue was that Utopia’s 12th anniversary fan concert announcement had recently dropped. It was their first full group concert after the members’ military service hiatus!
‘Thanks to that, *Idea* was blazing hot.’
Success in re-signing with the agency, the first concert after the military service hiatus, and the upcoming 12th anniversary—*Idea* had received a full dose of the three major stimulants that drove fan enthusiasm, leading to the ‘problematic post’ generating hundreds of comments and causing quite a stir.
*Idea* members who had gathered in the comments started discussing how significant it was to them that *Miro* was debuting its third boy group. And this fire smoothly spread to the *Ender View* fandom, who were quietly shedding tears next door.
– *Miro is family.*
– *So what does that make our family tree?*
– *Since the trainees were officially titled young masters, doesn’t that make them the little young masters?*
– *But isn’t it a bit shameless to call them young masters? The youngest trainee is 17.*
– *Then are they sons…? Anyway, weren’t they born from the union of Utopia and Enderway’s capital?*
– *Let’s just call them nephews. One of the trainees is apparently a distant relative of Taeil.*
And just like that, *Miro Maze* suddenly became the youngest son and nephew of the Miro family.
Sure, that was understandable. It was a reaction within the *Miro* fandom, after all.
But then, this happened…
**Coincidence #2: The Cat’s Reward, Part 2.**
Honestly, when Hajin first saw the reward in the system window, he thought he had read it wrong.
‘It’s not over yet?’
Hadn’t everything been done, including spreading witness accounts and everything? It seemed that the kitten he had rescued that rainy day had been immensely grateful.
He wondered what kind of reward it was this time, and when he found out, he let out a dumbfounded sound.
[Witness account of Tumie Seo Taehyun and Kang Hajin? Good deeds? Something like that was posted.]
Link: http://…
It was probably from when the sighting at the animal hospital was posted.
It was written before but got buried back then.
It’s resurfacing now due to Tumie’s teaser.
When he clicked the link, a long post popped up on the monitor.
[OMG, I saw ㅅㄴㅊㅎ ㅅㅌㅎ, warning for long post]
(Photo)
Here’s proof!
So, my friend lost her cat a while ago. She opened the window to ventilate, and the cat must have slipped out.
So my friend was almost fainting, crying, and looking everywhere.
(Photo)
I’m just posting this because it’s cute; honestly, isn’t this cat super pretty?
Anyway, my friend raised this cat from when it was a kitten, so she was devastated when it went missing.
But then, yesterday, the animal hospital called saying they found the cat!!!
(At that time, I was eating with my friend, so we just rushed out of the restaurant.)
(Also, my friend bought the cat more food when she found it, so I’m cool with it.)
But as we entered the animal hospital, suddenly there was this… glow…
It was definitely raining hard, but where was this sunlight coming from…? It felt very warm.
So I looked, and there were two incredibly handsome guys right in front of me.
Turns out, it was ㅅㅌㅎ who had found my friend’s cat.
The other guy with him was super handsome too, but I’d never seen him before.
But then, LOL, my friend and I were wearing *Boy’s World* teacher T-shirts. It was so funny, teacher shirts… But we were proud teachers back then…☆ I’m not ashamed.
Anyway, neither of us had ㅅㅌㅎ as our top pick, but my friend liked him a lot, so she recognized him immediately!!
When we were like, “OMG, ㅅㅌㅎ?!” he smiled awkwardly… Omg… he hasn’t changed at all… I’m the only one who has aged…
I now understand why there was such a *Cherry Boy* syndrome.
His looks were unreal. He’s even grown a bit taller, and his voice… It’s a bit deeper now.
He used to have a really clear voice, but now it’s subtly deep.
(Photo with Seo Taehyun)
(Photo with Seo Taehyun’s autograph)
Anyway, my friend wanted to give a reward for finding her cat, but he refused, saying he was just grateful for being remembered (but how could we ever forget him?).
So my friend and I promised to buy 500 albums and go to the fan signing event when he debuts, and he smiled so sweetly…ㅠㅠㅜㅜ
The handsome guy with him was talking about their manager and company, so I think he’s a trainee too!!
We got permission to post about seeing them online! And I took a photo with the handsome guy too, but he’s still a regular person, so if he debuts, I’ll definitely upload the picture and share this good deed story.
It was so nice to see him again… My heart was racing… Anyway, I’m so excited that I don’t know how to end this… So, yeah.
The end!
It was a witness account posted by the owner (or rather, the friend of the owner) of the cat that Hajin and Taehyun had found.
The previous sighting that was posted was a picture someone had secretly taken at the animal hospital, but this one was an actual story, posted with permission from Hajin and Taehyun, so it spread even faster.
When the post was first uploaded, it was probably buried because of its length and the lack of mentions of Seo Taehyun. But with the teaser release and the *Our Nephew* situation, the search volume increased, and the post naturally resurfaced.
What had been a comment section with traces left only by a few Seo Taehyun fans now saw a flood of new visitors.
– *Here on a pilgrimage.*
– *Our Nephew candidates have kind hearts too, huh?*
– *Typical Miro: they look like they could kill a bird with a glare, but in reality, they cherish even an ant.*
– *Damn, Kang Hajin must be super handsome if even a regular person would ask to take a picture with him…*
– *Oh, so this is that animal hospital story that was making the rounds. LOL*
– *Hey, please release the photo with Hajin now that the teaser is out, please!!!*
– *Is there a law that says you have to post five pictures of the cat or something?*
The newly growing *Miro Maze* fandom, fueled by the profile reveal and performance videos, was supported by senior fans who came to boost their nephew’s good deeds.
Seo Taehyun’s fandom, eagerly awaiting his dream debut, was pushing hard to promote *Miro Maze*.
Lastly, even casual K-pop enthusiasts, who were simply enjoying the situation, joined in.
With four groups participating, the post quickly became a hot topic and remained one of the most popular posts on various entertainment communities for quite some time.
Even when the buzz started to fade, the original poster made an appearance, keeping it alive.
**+Additional Post**
Ha, I can’t believe this made the weekly best.
I dedicate this honor to our cat, who’s probably sleeping at my friend’s house right now.
(Cat photo)
I got permission from my friend! Just in case! Hehe.
We’re laughing together while writing this.
Now that the teaser and official profiles are out, I thought it would be okay to post these photos!
(Photo with Kang Hajin and Seo Taehyun)
(Photo of Kang Hajin holding the cat and smiling)
(Photo of Seo Taehyun petting the cat)
As expected, the handsome guy was a trainee. Hehe, the intuition of a former teacher…
There were comments accusing this of being an advertisement, but seriously
, I swear on my honor as a former teacher and the cuteness of our cat that it’s not!!!!!!! Don’t misunderstand, please!!!ㅠㅠㅠ
(Animal hospital receipt)
(Bank transfer history for the animal hospital payment)
My friend was so upset, LOL.
She asked me to post these together.
But my friend and I ended up voting for *Miro Maze*, hehe. LOL.
I think I’ll go from being a teacher to a *Destiny* (what viewers of *Miro Maze* are called). ^^
Guys, their real-life visuals are seriously amazing. This is no joke; they even appear in my dreams sometimes.
Please, I’m begging you, invest in this stock while you still can.
Everyone, please give lots of love and attention to *Miro Maze*’s Kang Hajin, Seo Taehyun, and also the adorable trainee Dan Haru♡
—
– *LOL, did you really end up becoming a Destiny?*
– *Writer, how is Kang Hajin in person???? I was shocked by his profile picture.ㅠㅠ*
└ (Writer) *He’s gorgeous. Don’t believe that profile picture.ㅠㅠ He has a wolfish look, but his face and Taehyun’s blend together beautifully.*
└ *Are they close? I’m a *Cherry Pro* (fan of Seo Taehyun) and wondering if I should add Hajin to my list.*
└ (Writer) *I’m not sure about that, sorryㅠㅠㅠ, but just their visuals together make it worth it for me.*
– *But isn’t it strange? Do they usually take photos with regular people like that? LOL.*
└ *Right? Feels like a viral marketing scheme…*
└ (Writer) *Even after I posted proof shots, people still think that? LOL, maybe you just want to believe that. If you don’t like it, just move on~~!*
└ *Miro? Viral marketing? Miro? Seriously???*
└ *LOL, calm down, the comment above is full of frustration.*
└ *If Miro knew how to do viral marketing, Utopia would’ve already built a 20-story building, and Enderway would have furnished it.ㅠ Without Seo Taeil and Choi Yeonwoo, they would’ve gone bankrupt 183 times by now.ㅠ*
└ *Please, stop bashing Miro, you’re going to make them cry… But honestly, the Miro staff are good people… They work hard these days…*
└ *They may be lacking, but they’re good-hearted… That’s Miro’s name…*
Occasional viral marketing suspicions or trolling comments were quickly dealt with by the seasoned *Idea* and *Ender View* members.
The hot post led to spin-off posts, which attracted even more newcomers.
Seeing the opportunity, Seo Taehyun’s fandom started aggressively promoting *Miro Maze* by linking Taehyun and Hajin together, while the fans of other trainees also started pushing their favorites more actively.
‘And the result is what we see now.’
Seeing the overwhelming increase in buzz compared to before, Hajin placed his phone on the table. If this trend continued, *Miro Maze* would almost certainly be a huge success.
The editing and composition by the production team had been proven, and the trainees’ skills were guaranteed.
Ji Suho had also caught onto this fact and was planning additional content to keep the buzz from dying down, working overtime to make it happen.
But here was the problem.
‘There’s nothing left to hook them.’
Whether it was for fan engagement or attracting new fans, there needed to be something to catch their attention, but *Miro Maze* had only released two sets of profile photos, two performance videos, and a teaser less than a minute long.
Hajin knew that PD Kwon, whom he was familiar with, would never let this opportunity pass by without releasing more teasers or even an early preview of the first episode.
Yet, the production company behind *Miro Maze* was doing nothing, letting the buzz slowly die down.
And Hajin knew the reason why.
He even knew how to solve it.