hotmtlnovel Chapter 178
Chapter 178
The two-day joint concert came to an end, and the managers of the various groups who had received the news from Jiang Juyou immediately returned to the company for a meeting to adjust their upcoming plans.
Early Monday morning, the news that Random Entertainment was planning to expand into overseas markets spread throughout the entire company.
"What does this mean? Are we going to have an international division now?"
"How exactly are we expanding? Haven't we already been operating internationally to some extent?"
"All I know is that our company is going to add more operational positions. Wait, let me make a phone call."
Random Entertainment's direct-affiliated groups have always had their official accounts on foreign social media platforms, but the updates were mostly limited to album teasers and MV releases, with little else posted intentionally.
Among the company's groups, Timetrain has the highest popularity, followed by AIcho. The other groups have relatively low international recognition, and even the two more popular groups only have a significant fanbase within the Chinese-speaking community and Southeast Asia, with little presence beyond that.
The domestic idol market has almost been entirely dominated by Random Entertainment, and continuing in this direction would only lead to internal competition for market share. This is why Jiang Juyou made the new decision.
The reason behind this decision was the system notification she received after the first joint concert ended.
"Ding—"
She hadn't paid much attention to her level since surpassing Level 20. Now, as the company grew, her level had reached a new stage, and the reward was:
"Reward: APP update plugin."
"..."
At the time, Jiang Juyou was still in the waiting room when she suddenly heard the system notification. She was a bit taken aback, as she had moved past the stage of needing to complete tasks, and hearing the sound again felt unfamiliar.
Cong Lixia congratulated her on reaching a new stage and even clapped a few times, acting as if he were human.
Since encountering the system up until now, Jiang Juyou had never received such a bizarre reward.
She rubbed her forehead, feeling a slight headache, and couldn't figure out the purpose of this reward. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't find the right words to express her frustration.
Cong Lixia, sensing her silence, tentatively suggested, "...Perhaps Random Entertainment could start international operations."
By this point, Jiang Juyou had regained her composure. She paused and said, "...Didn't you mention something about a film and television base before? When are you going to give me that?" Jiang Juyou had been waiting for that reward, thinking the next one would be the film base, but instead, she got a plugin.
"That still requires..."
Jiang Juyou let out a cold laugh, "I see, you're just stringing me along, huh?"
"..." This was the first time Cong Lixia was at a loss for words.
To be honest, this plugin was quite useless because the Galaxy APP already had a built-in translation feature. The only inconvenience for international fans was the purchasing process, but fans often helped each other out, so the company didn't need to do much—they could handle it themselves.
This reward was truly of no use whatsoever.
Jiang Juyou scratched her temple, feeling a headache coming on, and asked, "Do I have to manually update this or something?"
"This is a plugin. You can try it out on the Galaxy APP and see its functionality for yourself." Cong Lixia spoke cautiously, worried that this reward might affect Jiang Juyou's impression of him.
Outside, the stage was filled with the final greetings, and the loud music reverberated through the backstage area. Jiang Juyou frowned, and amidst the noise, she took out her phone and installed the plugin on the Galaxy APP for a trial run.
After clicking to install, she warned, "You better make this worth my while."
Cong Lixia: "..."
The Galaxy APP didn't show any immediate changes. When she opened it, she was prompted to log in again. Jiang Juyou logged in using her artist account to see what had changed.
There were no noticeable differences except for an additional entry point in the [Post] function.
There was a small bird icon, and clicking on it brought up a blank page where she could input text or insert images and videos.
Jiang Juyou didn't type anything but instead asked Cong Lixia directly, "Where is this supposed to be posted?"
She recognized the icon—it belonged to a foreign social media app.
"After inputting content here, it will be reviewed and then posted on the foreign social media app."
"..."
She was too exhausted to even complain, "...Isn't this just unnecessary? Couldn't I just have the artists download the foreign app themselves or have the staff manage it?"
Cong Lixia's attention briefly shifted. He noticed that Jiang Juyou had used a somewhat vulgar phrase in front of him, which made him feel that their relationship had grown closer. But it was just a fleeting thought, and he quickly refocused.
"The purpose of this feature is the translation function. No matter what language the foreign fans use, the content displayed on this APP will be in Chinese. And if the artist replies in Chinese, it will automatically be translated into the fan's language."
This explanation eased the tension in Jiang Juyou's brow.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Reducing hassle would indeed encourage artists to communicate more frequently with international fans, and the artists' thoughtfulness would increase fan affection and loyalty.
Random Entertainment did have ambitions to go global.
"Besides this, future video live streams will also have real-time translation features, making it easier for international fans to get hooked."
"Most importantly, this will open up international logistics services."
Random Entertainment already had its own logistics system, primarily used for shipping merchandise and albums domestically. However, international operations hadn't been launched yet, so international fans had to rely on a domestic address and then arrange for forwarding to their own countries.
Timetrain was particularly popular in Southeast Asia, with each comeback selling around fifty to sixty thousand albums in regions outside mainland China. If the number of international fans increased, Random Entertainment's revenue would only grow.
Cong Lixia knew that these points alone might not fully convince Jiang Juyou, so he revealed the most enticing aspect of the plugin.
"Once this plugin is activated, future updates to the Galaxy APP will no longer require additional fees."
Jiang Juyou waved her hand decisively, "Install it now!"
After installing the plugin, the Galaxy APP needed an upgrade. The domestic version remained unchanged, but the international version underwent an upgrade that rendered it unusable for six hours.
By Monday noon, fans in China who opened the Galaxy APP noticed that their favorite idols were unusually active, constantly receiving notifications about them going online and offline, but without knowing what they were doing.
Checking Weibo, they discovered that Random Entertainment had opened foreign social media accounts for all its groups, and the artists were busy interacting with international fans.
As for the reason, it was already trending on the hot search.
#Random Entertainment Thailand Winter Camp Concert#
Just as the summer camp joint concert ended yesterday, the international concert dates were officially announced today, complete with the lineup of performers.
The four-hour concert featured eighteen groups, half of which were domestic artists, and the other half international artists, including famous Thai singers, Japanese bands, and Korean idol groups.
The venue was a massive stadium with a capacity of eighty thousand, and it was estimated that around sixty thousand seats would be filled.
"I just took a nap, not a whole lifetime."
"Huh? How did our little company suddenly go global?"
"This lineup has me stunned. It feels like the walls between different entertainment worlds have been broken down."
"Performance lineup: My favorite from C-pop, my favorite from K-pop, my favorite from J-pop, and my favorite from Thai pop!"
"Weren't people mocking Random Entertainment for only dominating domestically a few days ago? Hahaha, now we're stepping out!"
"Random Entertainment's Twitter account is gaining followers like crazy—a thousand per second."
"As a fan of this nurturing genre, I'm really happy. I've never supported such a competent company before!"
"This feels amazing. Let international fans envy us too. Hahaha, Random Entertainment is about to blind them with its brilliance!"
Random Entertainment cleared all previous content on Twitter and uploaded information about the Winter Camp concert, thoughtfully including a ticket purchasing tutorial. Staff members were actively answering questions in the comments section one by one.
The international version of the Galaxy app also saw a surge in downloads. Before entering the app, it even confirmed the user's preferred language, much like the initial setup of an iPhone.
Previously, the international version was only available in English. Chinese fans would simply switch over to download the domestic version, while international fans who couldn’t read Chinese had to struggle with the English version of the Galaxy app.
This kind of multi-artist concert is extremely common in East Asian circles, especially among idol fans. Fans often see several such concerts in a single month, so there’s really nothing particularly special about them.
However, fans on Twitter noticed that the topic of [WinterCamp] was frequently appearing on their timelines. Even Chinese fans of artists not on the lineup were unusually active, frantically reposting WinterCamp content, even though their favorite idols weren’t even listed.
The most enthusiastic was Liu Yue, who hadn’t logged into her Twitter side account in a long time. Aside from occasionally posting photos of Ye Xing on her fan account, she hadn’t opened Twitter in ages, let alone logged into her side account.
Her side account was still followed by friends she had made while chasing idols abroad. Although everyone had moved on to new favorites, they were still active in the fandom, just now stanning a new generation.
After logging in, Liu Yue reposted several tweets from Random Entertainment, prompting her friends to ask:
“Long time no see!”
“Who is this? What a surprise! I thought you’d left fandom life!”
“Ah! Liu Yue is Chinese, right? I want to buy tickets, can you teach me?”
“Spill it, which group are you stanning now?”
“So many people are coming back today, even Sister Shumu reposted this.”
“Don’t tell me you and Sister Shumu started this company.”
“What’s going on with Chinese fans today? They’re going crazy on Twitter, it’s scary TTTT”
Indeed, Chinese fans abroad were going wild today.
“Hahahaha Random Entertainment is here to shake up the international entertainment scene!”
“Please, I really want to see a 500-yuan concert. Finally, no need to deal with scalpers!”
“My pride as a Chinese person is bursting right now!”
“Oh, wow, this scale of a multi-artist concert is definitely a first for you guys.”
Random Entertainment’s decision to hold the Winter Camp concert in Thailand caused a huge reaction domestically, even more so than the Summer Camp concert.
“Damn, this hits hard.”
“They said they were fresh blood, and they really delivered with this logo.”
“Who’s their visual planner? They’re amazing.”
“This is the first time I’ve truly felt that Random Entertainment operates independently... the other teams need to step up their game.”
“This group really feels like they’re outshining the others.”
“Hahahaha, it’s so weird, I love it!”
The international social media accounts also updated with this post. As Random Entertainment’s first group aiming for the international market, the announcement garnered attention, especially after the earlier buzz about the winter camp.
The name Fluoxetine trended on Weibo, along with the four letters FLXT.
They received even more attention than AIcho did at their debut, especially with this logo-filled post, which attracted many from the fashion industry to share it.
Random Entertainment had a knack for making every group they debuted a hit, each with a unique approach. Even their temporary groups, managed on behalf of others, were carefully crafted. Just when people thought they had seen all the possible debut strategies, Random Entertainment would add something new to the mix.
Regardless of what would happen next, the post they released tonight had successfully piqued everyone’s curiosity.
While the domestic audience focused on Random Entertainment’s new group, a song had suddenly gone viral on TikTok. The cyberpunk concept swept through TikTok, with everyone using the same music for their transformation and dance videos—Neon Light.
Now, if you opened TikTok, you’d hear this song within a few scrolls.
The catchy, pulsating beat combined with the sound of sirens gave off a feeling of escaping during an apocalypse.
First, the background music went viral, followed by the transformation videos. It seemed like someone had uploaded the choreography from their performance to TikTok, and now every dance video featured Neon Light. The trend even caught on domestically.
“Ugh, why does our little neon light have to make a comeback every winter?”
“Didn’t you add it to your playlist last year?”
“It goes viral for a segment every year. A couple more times, and the whole song will be on TikTok.”
“This song is blowing up overseas. Out of ten videos, ten will have this BGM...”
“Why? How did it suddenly get so popular?”
“Even as a fan, I find it baffling.”
The overseas promotion team: “...”
Five women sat in a meeting room, watching the videos on their computers, feeling a headache coming on.
Their original intention was to promote the upcoming concert, so they had created an official account and uploaded Random Entertainment’s most popular performances over the years, along with some concert footage.
Especially the official recordings from the summer camp concert, which hadn’t been released to the public yet, were edited and used to promote the winter camp.
Well, the variety concert didn’t make waves, but the song *NeonLight* sure did.
Just as people online have been saying, this song seems to go viral every now and then, but it’s usually only within the country. This time, however, the fire has spread overseas.
The source of the audio is still the video they released, and the performance of the show’s theme song has garnered tens of thousands of likes on TikTok. What’s even more popular are the influencers who brought this song to fame—several of their videos have hit millions of likes, which shows just how much the song has been trending lately.
The more likes it gets, the more people chase the trend by making videos, creating a snowball effect. As a result, even more people are listening to the song.
Fans abroad have noticed that this song seems to be connected to that company called Random Entertainment. It’s like falling into some weird loop—so many recent events seem to be tied to them.
“I’ve noticed that the international fan community seems really interested in our company lately.”
“Let’s make some recommendation posts. I’m great at this—I have accounts on a bunch of fan forums.”
“...”
“Why are you looking at me like that? I used to follow Western celebrities... okay, and K-pop and J-pop too... fine, I’ve been getting into Thai entertainment recently.”
“So you’re the one who’s been circling around the domestic entertainment scene!”
The posts they put together quickly made their way back to the domestic fan community.
**Title:** “I’m Shocked by the Flex Level of This Chinese Entertainment Company.”
“Fellow fans who’ve been keeping up with the scene lately will probably relate—I keep seeing this one company popping up everywhere. It even caused a frenzy among my Chinese fan friends, making me think they were switching fandoms.”
“After talking to my Chinese fan friends, I finally understood why they were so hyped.”
“This entertainment company built an entire building just to house their idols and trainees, all to prevent sasaeng fans from harassing them... I’m shaking. The flex is unreal, especially considering it’s in Beijing.”
“What I imagined: a five- or six-story building.”
“Reality: a sixteen-story building with over a hundred rooms.”
“Only in mainland China... I’m shaking.”
**Comments:**
“An entire building???”
“I know about this! Their photocards are famous. My Chinese friend even gave me some from their company!”
“Insane, an entire building?”
“Even the trainees get to live there?”
“I know which company you’re talking about—it’s Random Entertainment. My friend said they’re super rich. They even gave out money at their concerts.”
“I asked my Chinese friend, and she said this company is known in the fan community for treating both their artists and fans really well.”
**Reply:** “How so?”
“I have one of their photocards, and every single one is ridiculously expensive.”
**Reply:** “Why? Are they rare?”
**Reply:** “Because they’re ridiculously gorgeous!!!!”
“I heard from a fellow fan that my bias is going to perform at their variety concert, and they’ll have special photocards from this company. My friend told me I have to buy them because they’ll be hard to get later and super expensive.”
“Now I’m curious—how good can they be? Aren’t they just based on the idols’ selfies?”
“It’s because their photocard production process is unique and impossible to replicate. [Image]”
**Reply:** “I’m speechless...”
**Reply:** “Wow...”
**Reply:** “Daebak...”
**Reply:** “I’m freaking out!”
“But the fact that they built a whole building for their idols and trainees is what really blows my mind.”
“This company is currently the top player in China’s entertainment industry.”
“Our idol economics class recently did a case study on this company. They’re seriously loaded.”
“Quick question: Can a 290-month-old child become a trainee?”
This post was also shared back in the domestic fan community, where fans agreed that Random Entertainment is basically dominating the domestic entertainment scene right now.
Previously, they only had a strong presence in the idol market, but now several top-tier studios have partnered with Random Entertainment. Every film and TV project they invest in becomes a hit, and they’ve even expanded into the video platform sector. They’re like an all-around powerhouse.
Outside of forums, there’s been a lot of buzz about Random Entertainment on Twitter too. The winter camp event that five girls worked hard to promote is finally gaining some traction on Twitter.
GIFs from the concert are being wildly shared by Thai fans.
“My Chinese friend said this was the best concert experience of her life! I really want to go!”
“The winter camp is happening in Bangkok? How did I not know about this?”
“My bias isn’t performing, otherwise I’d go. I just spent all my money on a recent concert.”
“Less than 3,000 baht??? Mom, I’m going!”
“Ye Xing is so handsome... I just found out his name yesterday, and today I already want to marry him.”
“Chinese celebrities are so good-looking, and they’re so tall too.”
“Is FLXT the group that performed in white shirts and barefoot? If they’re coming, I’m buying a ticket right now!”
“I just got out of K-pop and now I’m falling into C-pop... I can’t believe this.”
Two days before the domestic ticket sales opened, the number of locked tickets on the international version skyrocketed. Random Entertainment’s low ticket prices have finally been promoted, and along with that, the hype for concert merchandise has spread. Fans are even more excited about the merch than the concert itself.
Especially for the groups that have international recognition, their merchandise has been shared widely by their fans. People have even figured out how to place orders and know about Random Entertainment’s limited-time, unlimited-quantity policy.
Liu Yue, seeing Random Entertainment’s recent buzz on Twitter, sent a message:
“Liu Yue: [Thumbs up]”
“Liu Yue: Other companies have been trying to achieve what you’ve done in just a few months. You’re amazing [Thumbs up]”
Random Entertainment’s career fans: I’m so proud, I feel like I’m about to burst.
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9,000 words today! Making up for the previous days I missed!
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