Chapter 84
‘Empress of the Ice’ wasn't exactly an unpopular manga.
That was why the budget assigned to Mah Studio, the production company selected for the project, was large enough to hire an A-list singer.
The company was also backing the project, and even internally, the quality of each scene completed so far had been extraordinary, so they had originally planned to commission a fairly famous Japanese singer for the tie-up.
“…What do you mean, a singer I've never even heard of?”
But things changed somewhat when the original author became involved.
Since the original author had enormous contractual authority, the production team had no choice but to accommodate any unreasonable demands from that side.
They might have been able to cut ties if the author had made an excessive demand, but all they wanted was for the opening tie-up to go to an internet singer named ‘Mikansei.’
“Maybe it's because the author is young…”
“Yeah. Honestly, I've never heard of them.”
Although Mikansei had a song barely hanging on at the bottom of the Billboard Japan chart, the employees had never heard of them because they had become popular mainly through TikTok.
From the perspective of the original author, who wasn't even college age yet, Mikansei was a fairly famous internet singer, but to the employees, all of whom were over thirty, they were someone they had never heard of.
That was why they thought Mikansei's fee would be cheap.
Because they were a newcomer with only one song to their name.
However, after digging through Mikansei's channel, finding the company, and contacting them through the company's rudimentary website…
“What…? Why are they so expensive?”
They quoted a fee more expensive than hiring an S-tier singer—in other words, a top-tier singer with immense popularity in Japan.
When the production team protested that it made no sense, the other side simply said they wouldn't do it if the price was a problem and stubbornly refused to budge, leaving them completely at a loss.
Besides, Bluesky Entertainment had never intended to give the tie-up work to the already busy Seo Siyeon in the first place.
They had simply quoted an absurdly high fee to tell them to get lost.
However, even when Mah Studio tried to turn to another singer, the original author's wishes were so strong that they couldn't do that, either.
“…What else can we do? We’ll pay them and hire them.”
They would end up spending a huge amount of money, yet they had no guarantee that the result would be good.
Mikansei had released only one song so far.
I wasn't going to deny that ‘Happiness Theory’ had been a hit, but it wasn't the first time a singer like that had vanished after a one-hit wonder.
“I just hope they can make something on the level of Supercell…”
“Do you think Supercell is easy to match?”
In the end, they met with an employee and finalized the contract in writing, but they never saw Mikansei's face.
“Ah, ahh, what a shame… I wanted to see Mikansei’s face.”
As they watched Akane, the original author of Empress of the Ice, who had tagged along to the contract signing in hopes of seeing Mikansei's face, look disappointed, the employees let out a deep sigh inwardly.
It took less than a day for that sigh to turn into cheers.
Because in less than a day, the demo version they had been sent was shockingly good.
“……This isn't even the finished version, and they just threw it together overnight…?”
The melody line itself sounded familiar.
Since they were making a figure-skating anime, they had watched countless figure-skating performances, so it wasn't difficult for them to recognize the melody.
“…The Dance of Death? It’s sampled.”
Unlike the original, however, it had stripped away all the classical instruments, such as the cello and violin, and filled the sound entirely with synths.
A high-register lead synth seemed to race through it all, throwing off sparks.
A steady bass beat and metallic hi-hat sounds supported it from behind.
Even setting aside all the musical elements and looking at it on its own…
“The song just fits the work unbelievably well?”
That was the only way they could express it.
It was fundamentally a good song, but as if it had been made while imagining the scenes in the manga, it had the power to make listeners picture the protagonists racing across the ice.
“…And this came out in less than a day?”
“Yeah. They said they’re going to revise it because they aren’t satisfied with it.”
“…Tell them to do whatever they want. This is beyond our comprehension.”
They made something like this over a long period?
Well, that was possible. If they had designed it through meticulous analysis over a long period, they might have produced a song that fit the work this perfectly.
But they made something like this in less than a day?
That was already beyond the realm of common sense—beyond anything they could understand.
“Perhaps this tie-up will cause a seismic shift in the music industry.”
* * *
“…I’m screwed.”
Skating had been no use at all.
The idea of feeling a sense of speed on one's first time skating was practically impossible from the start.
I had no choice but to drag my exhausted body back to my room after spending the entire day toddling around while holding the instructor's hand.
I had simply become a child who had gone ice skating.
“…A sense of speed. A sense of speed, huh.”
I wanted to feel the exhilarating speed of racing across the ice, but if that wasn't possible, anything that let me experience high speed would do.
The first things that came to mind were skiing and snowboarding.
I rejected that idea. In the end, it was bound to turn out just like skating.
If anything, they were obviously harder to learn than skating.
If I mastered them and could race downhill at a crazy speed like an expert, the sense of speed would be incredible, but…
I didn't know how long it would take to get to that point.
And when I mentioned that concern to Yuina, she said:
-How about a roller coaster?
A very clear answer emerged.
“Let’s go right now.”
* * *
The most famous roller coaster in Korea is T Express, but the most thrilling one is considered to be Draken at Gyeongju World.
Since Gyeongju was too far away to travel back and forth alone, I told the company about it and decided to bring a manager along this time.
“…Oh, it’s been a while?”
“Indeed.”
Kim Jun-hyung, who had originally been my dedicated manager, had been helping with Blooming and NOIRIS-related work after I entered my hiatus and he no longer had anything to do.
I occasionally saw him while going to and from the company, but I didn't see him nearly as often as I had before.
Still, Kim Jun-hyung's expression was just as impassive as it had been in the past, so he wasn't difficult to deal with.
“…Have you ever been on a roller coaster?”
“Uh. Um. No?”
“If you ride Draken right from the start, it might be quite frightening.”
“Aw, I’ll be fine.”
I looked it up and found that the height requirement was 135 centimeters. Since I was over 140 centimeters tall, it was an amusement park ride I could easily ride.
Kim Jun-hyung was still clearly worried, but I had been a man in my previous life.
I was someone who had always ridden Viking ships and roller coasters at amusement parks.
I had even ridden Draken in my previous life. I didn't know how it would feel in Seo Siyeon's body, but… surely it wouldn't be that different from my previous life?
Honestly, even if it was a little frightening, the thrill throughout the ride had been incredible.
Wouldn't it be even stranger if making my body a little smaller suddenly kept me from riding a roller coaster I had always handled just fine?
It didn't take long for that arrogant thought of mine to be shattered.
The moment I got out of the car and saw Draken's towering tracks, anxiety washed over me.
Since it was a weekday, there was no line, so we were able to board almost immediately, but the moment I sat down and the ride started, sweat began trickling down my face.
I gripped Kim Jun-hyung's collar with all my strength.
And when we paused for a moment before descending after the first climb…
“Kiyaaaaaaah!!”
I became certain I was fucked.
In a ride that lasted less than three minutes, I experienced nothing short of hell.
“Haa… huff. H-ha, haha…!”
I couldn't even remember why I had decided to ride it in the first place and put myself through such misery.
Fortunately, I didn't vomit or anything, but the lingering remnants of fear in my head felt strangely unfamiliar.
‘Fuck, why the hell did it stop before going down?’
“Are you all right?”
“…Aren’t you scared?”
“It was quite fun.”
I used to be like that in my previous life, too.
Was a little girl's body really just unavoidably this weak?
“Did you accomplish anything?”
“…Probably.”
But at least I had definitely felt the sense of speed.
Enough that I wanted to get to work immediately on the drive back.
The moment I got into the car, I licked the gelato I'd bought inside the park and opened my laptop.
There was a small table in the car where I could set my laptop, making it very convenient to work on the way there and back.
And how long had I been lost in my work with my earphones on?
“…What time is it now? Huh?”
It was already long past the time when I should have arrived at the orphanage.
It was past ten o'clock at night, yet I was still in the car.
The car was stopped, and Kim Jun-hyung was asleep in the front seat with an eye mask on.
He noticed that I had woken up, took off his eye mask, and opened his mouth.
“You seemed immersed in your work, so I didn’t disturb you.”
“…I-I’m so sorry…”