I desperately want to win on the peninsula

This summer vacation, most students focused on hip-hop. YG's BIGBANG made a comeback, and their album, which is full of hip-hop elements, dominated the music charts. It was so popular that the same songs were being played everywhere, from street corners to shops and game live streams.

"BANGBANGBANB," released on June 1st, was still in the top ten on the Melon charts in August, and its listenership remained quite stable.

Because of the recent high level of discussion surrounding "SMTM", the viewership rating has soared to 4.03%, breaking its own viewership record, making it quite popular.

SMTM is a legitimate hip-hop variety show, and the contestants, mentors, and off-stage events in it all become the focus of public opinion.

As the performances began, a series of powerful songs were released, quickly dominating various music charts, and nightclubs were no exception.

Lin Qianqiao, one of the popular contestants on the show, has recently been recognized by many people when she goes out.

Younger students would enthusiastically greet them and ask for autographs. In Seoul, a city teeming with celebrities, occasionally joining in the fun is nothing unusual.

More difficult office workers might ask him about the inside story of the competition, such as whether the champion had already been predetermined.

Ment TV has a reputation that's hard to deny... it's pretty outrageous.

Therefore, Lin Qianqiao now has to wear a baseball cap and mask to cover up when she goes out, which makes her feel a bit like a debuted and famous artist.

Those rappers who have been eliminated but still have considerable fame have started performing and earning money at major nightclubs and music festivals in Hongdae, Itaewon, and other well-known places.

A large number of live videos were uploaded to YouTube, and the audience was naturally young people such as college students, which directly set off a storm about hip-hop.

Famous rappers earn money at various venues while also dealing with invitations from management companies, and many smaller companies have already started to target these popular contestants.

Those companies are well aware that as long as they sign the show when it's at its peak, and then prepare accordingly, releasing a mini-album will be enough to gain wider recognition. If it performs well, that's naturally a good thing.

Even if it's broken or bad, none of that matters. The most important thing is the appearance fee for commercial performances and gigs.

The two members of AOMG, who gained popularity from "SMTM", have recently started receiving offers for commercial performances. Since their images are not particularly outstanding, their offers were initially a bit low, but they have a hit song called "My Way".

This song immediately soared to the top three on the daily charts upon its release, so when Earthman and David Kim first accepted the order, it was only around 10 million won, with the lowest being 8 million and the highest being 12 million won.

But as time went on, everyone knew that AOMG's team had produced two monsters. Their abnormal performance not only boosted the team's popularity but also made many casual viewers aware of Jay Park's company.

Incidentally, the club organizers discovered that Earthlings and David Kim were such great value for money, with many fans willing to spend real money, and every show was packed, with some even requiring queues.

After investigation, the reason was finally found out.

It turns out that they interacted more with Lin Qianqiao and Zhou Xian on the show, and they seemed to have a very good and close relationship. Their reactions to the two on stage were also very enthusiastic and genuine, and they were showing their support and sharing group chats on social media.

This attitude has led many AOMG hip-hop fans to approve of it, so many of the fans who followed came to the show to support their friends.

Thanks to the support of these fans, the two have received numerous commercial performance invitations and their performance fees have skyrocketed, with the price of commercial performances increasing several times over. As a result, the two are now making a fortune every day.

It's no wonder everyone wants to be a rapper; the money is just too easy to make.

After a long day of running around, as Lin Qianqiao sat in the van back to the dormitory, she couldn't resist asking Li Rongzhen, who was driving, a question.

"Brother, do you have any offers for commercial performances lately?"

Lee Rongzhen gripped the steering wheel firmly and drove without moving his head as he spoke. "You know what, there are quite a few. They've all been sent directly to the company, and the prices are quite generous." Another assistant was currently traveling with Zhou Xian, leaving Lee Rongzhen to work part-time as a driver.

"How much?" Lin Qianqiao continued to ask.

"Fifty to sixty million...you want to go?" This time, Li Rongzhen reacted, glancing at Lin Qianqiao in the rearview mirror and asking curiously, "Zhou Xian is about the same as you...he's taken on quite a few jobs lately."

To be honest, the company has been extremely tempted by the offers for a long time. If we can get a few more of these commercial performances, we can quickly pay off the debts that MONSTAX has incurred in the early stages.

However, Montsax is in a comeback phase, SMTM has locked up Lin Qianqiao's schedule, the team's schedule is taking up her time, and she also has to practice, so there's definitely not enough time to squeeze out, so she can only watch but not eat...

"Let's skip those performances, I'm not really interested," Lin Qianqiao said, pursing her lips.

He was simply curious about his own worth, given the precedent of the two AOMG members, and figured his appearance fee should be higher, so he asked.

While comparing themselves to each other, they also comforted their own fragile hearts, which were still suffering from unresolved issues. When they saw the two flaunting luxury goods, gold and silver jewelry, champagne, and young models in the group chat, they felt a little sour... Lin Qianqiao and Zhou Xian sighed again and again, wishing they could join in.

Hearing that it was worth fifty or sixty million did make him feel much better. After all, when he first debuted, he only received about one-fifth of the work he does now, or even less... Some of the magazine shoots that the company pushed him to do were basically unpaid and purely for publicity.

"I definitely won't let you perform at a club. What are you thinking?"

Li Rongzhen noticed Lin Qianqiao's concerns. "Actually, the events that invite you to perform are quite good, such as some small music festivals and variety concerts where you can be a guest performer."

"Zhou Xian is currently juggling variety shows and commercial performances. He's quite popular with clients, and many shopping malls are asking him to perform for their openings. If MONSTAX's comeback goes well, you guys should have some surprises this year." Lee Yong-jin smiled after saying this, and it was easy to see that he was in a good mood.

"That's really good." Lin Qianqiao nodded.

Lee Yong-jin mentioned that there are many kinds of surprises. If MONSTAX's comeback goes well, they can look forward to winning the Rookie of the Year award this year.

Another thing is the settlement that all idols long for. Many idol groups may not be able to settle their contracts even after fulfilling seven-year contracts. But for MONSTAX now, it is the simplest thing.

Zhou Xian has become a hot commodity, with commercial performance invitations pouring in like snowflakes, not to mention that he is also in talks for several endorsements.

Once Lin Qianqiao's time limit is unlocked and the official schedule-running mode begins, MONSTAX's earning speed will be like a boulder rolling down a mountain, unstoppable.

Suddenly remembering something, Lin Qianqiao asked Li Rongzhen again, "Brother, did my Mixtape case get approved?"

"Well... the artist department has no objections, and Zhao Donglin also wants to have Zhou Xian do a mixtape. The company's opinions are largely aligned, so the management unanimously agreed."

Zhao Donglin, whose stage name is Mad Clown, is a well-known rapper under Starship Entertainment. He once collaborated with Soyou on a song called "Falling into Kindness," and earlier this year he collaborated with Hani of EXID on a song called "Fire." Hani is the female lead in the music video, and the song performed quite well on the digital music charts. His production quality is generally quite good.

In addition, he can be considered Zhou Xian's half rap teacher, or you could say he is MONSTAX's rap teacher, because he was one of the mentors in the debut battle.

Before participating in SMTM, Jooheon practiced with him, and the two had a good relationship. It seemed especially natural for them to collaborate on a mixtape, and they probably had this idea beforehand.

Lee Yong-jin continued, "However, the development department asked me to ask you if we could allocate one or two extra beats to EXY. You know she's going to be participating in 'UR' soon, and we don't have many rap tracks in our music library, so..."

"But the mixtapes I released are all leftover beats from SMTM, many of them are abandoned tracks, is that okay?" Lin Qianqiao did have quite a few beats, but she felt a little embarrassed to give them away.

"What's there to complain about? The girl group development department is hoping you'll drop a few more songs so they can send you over. You're a finalist in SMTM now. Once this tag is attached, EXY's image on the show will be elevated. Using the same beat as you is a plus, more or less."

Lee Yong-jin chuckled and explained, "To put it this way, Hyorin is a contestant who brings her own fanbase to the show, and the production team has to cater to her. But right now, EXY is still relying more on your and Jooheon's popularity, since you've achieved some success. So as long as the promotion is done well, she can gain a lot of buzz in the early stages. If she achieves the same success as you, the company's new girl group can debut with their own fanbase. So there's another reason why we're asking you for the beat."

"Alright, I'll pick two songs that suit her. I probably won't need to write the lyrics." Lin Qianqiao nodded.

However, this was the first time he had heard that the company was going to launch a new girl group. He guessed that Seol-ah was also on the debut list. After all, birds of a feather flock together, and it's not hard to guess that she was with EXY.

Lee Yong-jin replied, "Just give them the music, that's enough. Don't worry too much about other things." He was just a messenger, and as long as he could get the job done, he didn't care about anything else.

"Okay..." Lin Qianqiao agreed and then there was no problem.

However, he just thought of a rather interesting idea: to directly share the beats from the ammunition depot. For example, EXY could freely choose any beat he liked or that suited him to sing, and only needed to modify the lyrics.

Anyway, that's all Mixtape does; sharing is more important than anything else, just have fun.

Thinking about it that way, it does feel pretty good; I don't have to worry about how to choose bullets from the music library anymore.

Because he did have some featured songs that haven't been released yet, mainly because he was doing solo work throughout the show.

However, since this section contains tracks featuring female rappers or female vocalists, it would be a bit of a shame to abandon it. EXY could use it for a spin; it's not bad.

About ten minutes later, Lin Qianqiao was driven back to her dormitory by Li Rongzhen.

Back in his room, Ren Changjun was still lying on the bed scrolling through his phone when he saw Lin Qianqiao return. He greeted her and said there was a late-night snack in the kitchen, so she could go eat if she was hungry.

As expected, Zhou Xian was not in the room; his bed was empty. He was probably extremely busy and would likely finish get off work around 2 or 3 a.m.

Lin Qianqiao changed into a dinosaur-themed pajama set and left the room, placing the laptop on the living room table and turning it on.

Then I went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and saw some leftover pizza. This must be what I was talking about for a late-night snack. I took it out and heated it up in the microwave.

In the living room, Lin Qianqiao put on her headphones and started browsing through the music library to categorize the tracks. The tracks from the finals had already been handed over to AOMG for processing, and now she would handle the remaining beats herself. Since she could still make use of them, she decided to write some outlines to facilitate future use, which could also be considered as writing an instruction manual.

Lin Qianqiao ate her pizza while tidying up, and time passed by without her noticing.

After finishing her late-night snack and writing some instructions for Beat, Lin Qianqiao tidied up her desk and went to wash up. When she returned to her room, Ren Changjun was already asleep.

Lin Qianqiao yawned, walked to the bedside, lay down, and scrolled through his phone to digest his food. Then he saw Kim So-hyun's message. It had been more than an hour since she left the message. She must have been busy and didn't notice it. Anyway, there was a read receipt function, so he didn't reply to the message so late.

After all, children need sleep. What's interesting is that she's only 16 years old this year but has already been in the industry for seven years. She even celebrated on social media a couple of days ago and asked Lin Qianqiao to pay more attention to her future activities.

I thought there was something special about it, but it turns out he got the endorsement for Pocari Sweat. This brand prioritizes actresses with a youthful image when choosing spokespeople, and the photos turned out really well. No wonder Kim So-hyun asked him to pay more attention to her; she's got the hang of being vain.

But I must say the photos turn out really well. One is a white off-shoulder dress, and the other is a sporty outfit. Whether it's the image of a sweet and graceful girl walking on the beach, or the image of a youthful and energetic girl sitting on a surfboard, both are presented perfectly. It's really quite good.

She has recently been busy with the movie "Pure Love" and has already joined the cast. It's clear that "School 2015" brought her good results, and it can be said that her hard work has finally paid off.

Besides her, Sana Minatozaki has also been extremely tired lately, probably because she's close to her debut.

He even said he might not be able to watch SMTM anymore, but he would definitely finish watching it. Poor little puppy friend, he feels a lot of pressure even before entering the workplace.

Lin Qianqiao scrolled through his phone for a while, then realized he was really sleepy. He put his phone next to his pillow and soon drifted off to sleep.