Top Star by Luck

Chapter 제111화

If a butterfly in Texas flaps its wings incorrectly, a typhoon can form on the other side of the world.

…Or so it is said.

But that’s not necessarily true.

It’s physically impossible.

It just means that even when everything seems set, a minor variable can cause a meaningful change.

This incident was like that.

“You’ve been away for a long time.”

Bojana Olson.

A man spoke to her as she returned to her private studio in Hollywood after a long trip.

“How many countries did you visit?”

“Thirteen countries, switching one every week.”

That’s right.

Bojana Olson had traveled around the world to brainstorm music and produce her own music video.

She claimed she would merge resources shot from all over the world to create a stunning music video.

To the man, it seemed like a pointless endeavor.

“The time and energy just for flights must’ve been insane. Was it really necessary to put that much effort into a single music video?”

Of course.

These days, every music video was like a major company project.

Even if one reckless musician tried to show some creativity, it couldn’t compare to what several industry veterans with decades of experience could create together.

‘It’s admirable, but business is business.’

The man spoke as if trying to dissuade Bojana Olson.

“There are plenty of professional companies in Hollywood. Isn’t it safer to leave a music video to the experts?”

At his overly negative reaction, Bojana Olson shrugged her shoulders without even looking his way.

“It’s fun.”

It’s fun.

And because it’s fun, she would do as she pleased.

That was exactly what she meant, in the simplest way.

“…That’s it?”

“It was a good chance to clear my head since there’s nothing else to do while traveling. When you have time to think, musical ideas come more easily. Oh, here’s a souvenir.”

“Thank… No, wait. That’s not what I meant to say.”

The man looked at her with an expression of even greater confusion.

“The company is already planning to invest a ton into your new album. They’re just waiting for you to bring the songs.”

That’s right.

EV Records, the label Bojana Olson was signed with, had been keeping a very close eye on her potential.

‘A rookie who lands on the Billboard charts with their first album isn’t exactly common. But.’

The man glanced at Bojana Olson’s innocent face as he thought to himself.

‘Someone who produces such chaotic tracks and still achieves good results—that’s even rarer.’

The reason EV Records was focusing on Bojana Olson was simple.

It was her potential.

A person who could only achieve a score of 50, even with excruciating effort.

Versus someone who could potentially score 1000 but casually put out a 50.

Those two could never be the same.

To the company, Bojana Olson was clearly the latter.

‘She might even hit number one on Billboard. Or maybe she could become the next world-class diva.’

That was accurate.

By the near future Lee Min Ki had experienced, Bojana Olson had already succeeded in hitting number one on Billboard.

But at this point in time, she was still lacking.

She had raw talent, but there were many areas where she needed to hone her skills.

EV Records understood this and wanted to do everything they could to harness her monstrous talent.

“Ah, why do you keep nagging me? You’re annoying.”

Bojana Olson had no intention of listening to them at all.

“If you’re just going to scold me like a mom or dad, get out of here.”

“This studio is provided by our company.”

“Then cancel my contract.”

“Ugh…!”

It was overwhelming confidence.

Of course, it made sense.

EV Records valued Bojana Olson’s potential highly.

She also had the same assessment of herself.

‘Any other place would treat me just as well.’

It’s incredibly hard to persuade someone who knows their own worth precisely.

As he hit a wall, unsure of what to offer next, Bojana Olson casually said,

“I’m joking. Where would I even go? I like it here.”

As he stammered, speechless, Bojana Olson smirked and added,

“Besides, it wasn’t completely fruitless.”

“Fruitless?”

“Didn’t you see my SNS? I saw something interesting when I was in Korea.”

A moment later.

Bojana Olson opened her travel suitcase, pulled out a laptop, and began typing on the keyboard.

Turning the screen to face the man, she said,

“This is something I filmed this time. The editing’s a bit rough, but I did my best, so don’t criticize too harshly. Just evaluate the structure.”

A moment later.

A messy yet stimulating video began playing on Bojana Olson’s laptop.

The man, who hadn’t expected much, watched it quietly for a while.

“This is…”

He spoke in a surprised voice.

“Traditional costumes from around the world?”

That’s right.

The video Bojana Olson had shot was of people in traditional costumes from various countries.

“Cool, right?”

They were all dancing the same choreography.

But the foundation of that dance was inspired by one person.

“I met someone interesting in Korea, and they had a good vibe.”

It was Lee Min Ki.

Wearing a hanbok, Lee Min Ki had performed an elegant dance in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

He had simply thought of it as a fun scene for a music video that would inevitably go viral.

But Bojana Olson’s perspective was different.

“I was feeling stuck, but then I saw him and thought, ‘This is it!’ So I scrapped everything else.”

She decided to redo the entire video based on that concept.

As the video played, the man covered his mouth and focused intently on the screen.

‘It’s rough.’

It was rough.

Perhaps because the filming techniques were amateurish, the camera shook all over the place, and sometimes it was even placed directly on the ground.

But that somehow made it feel more alive.

‘I have to admit it. There’s definitely a charm here.’

Despite its unfinished state, it was addictive.

Like the harsh smell of pork stew, it had a charm that overcame initial resistance.

There was no cinematographic beauty.

Instead, it felt raw and vivid.

Yes.

The video matched its title, [Treatment]—just watching it felt like a kind of emotional healing.

This was Bojana Olson’s new music video.

“Isn’t it fun?”

Bojana Olson laughed and said,

“Let’s just check for legal issues and release it quickly. I can’t wait.”

[Boyana Olsen - Treatment (official music video)]

[Released one week ago]

Bojana Olsen’s new music video was uploaded.

Incredibly, the music video was released even before the song itself.

But the impact was truly extraordinary.

[The song is good.]

[The MV is even better.]

[Did she just pull off a masterpiece?]

[Weirdly addictive.]

The song was, of course, great, but even more than that, the video was exceptionally stimulating.

Just watching it made you want to dance without realizing it.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Bojana Olsen is on fire.]

[She’s a genius.]

But it didn’t stop at being positively received.

In modern media society, good content naturally tempts followers.

[I tried the Treatment dance too (feat. Nordic style).]

[Gypsies dancing the Treatment choreography.]

[Treatment flash mob in Akihabara!!]

Several derivative videos began popping up.

All people needed to do was play the Treatment video in the background, wear traditional clothing, and dance to the same moves.

The choreography itself was simple.

It was just a refined version of shuffle dancing, which made it easier for people to replicate—its biggest strength.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[The lines are alive.]

[This happened in just a week?]

And so, the view count achieved by Bojana Olsen’s new song after one week was—

[Views: 12.32 million]

It had far surpassed 10 million.

But it didn’t end there.

For already famous singers, early views make up a large proportion.

However, for moderately known singers, the view count tends to pick up momentum later.

[Views: 14.56 million]

[Views: 19.95 million]

[Views: 20.51 million]

In just one month.

In one month, Bojana Olsen’s new song reached an astounding 20 million views.

And.

Thanks to the massive success of her new music video, someone reaped the trickle-down effects.

“...The world.”

It was none other than Lee Min Ki.

Holding his phone, he muttered in disbelief.

“The world is truly…”

The song’s success was undeniable.

He knew it would succeed, so even though it blew up beyond expectations, it wasn’t particularly surprising.

It was only half as touching as what others probably felt.

But there was another reason why Lee Min Ki was so shocked.

‘This isn’t the Treatment video I remember at all.’

That’s right.

The concept had completely changed.

The Treatment video he remembered originally featured Bojana Olsen traveling across the globe, eating at local restaurants, chatting, and having fun.

Especially drinking.

In Korea, she drank soju. In Vietnam, beer. In Japan, sake. In Singapore, more beer.

She had really enjoyed herself.

So much so that he thought the title Treatment referred to how she washed away the pain of life with alcohol.

The lyrics reflected that too.

[I don’t know about tomorrow, yesterday won’t change, so let’s drink today~]

But why?

Why had the music video suddenly changed?

Why were they all dancing together in traditional clothing from different countries?

‘The ao dai looks really nice. So she went to Vietnam too.’

The likely culprit, Lee Min Ki, felt utterly dumbfounded.

‘Now that I listen closely, the song itself feels slightly different too.’

Originally, the song had a calm vibe, like sitting by a campfire in the evening, enjoying the sound of insects.

But now it was much livelier.

While the main melody line remained intact, the beats were refined here and there.

It was as if the song had been adjusted to match the music video—not the other way around.

At this rate, surpassing 50 million views seemed inevitable.

However.

What seemed even more unstoppable was something else.

[immigrant_power]

[Followers: 894,591]

[+43,811 (4 hours ago)]

Lee Min Ki’s SNS follower count was skyrocketing.

‘This is insane.’

The incredible surge gave Lee Min Ki goosebumps.

The original bet with JC was to reach 1 million followers in 3 months.

Apologies, but at this rate, it would take less than a month.

“Hm.”

Beside him, Manager Park Han Mo nodded with interest and said,

“It seems your appearance in the video, particularly in the hanbok, garnered significant attention.”

“…Right?”

“With Hallyu content gaining worldwide popularity, it makes sense. Southeast Asia has a huge population, after all. Even relatively unknown celebrities can surpass a million views just by appearing on a show in Southeast Asia.”

It was true.

By this time, the Hallyu wave was already monumental in countries like Thailand and Malaysia.

“Actor Lee Min Ki has just become the next beneficiary of this trend. It was only a matter of time.”

Even Korean groups that few people knew domestically could easily achieve tens of millions of views if they were popular in Southeast Asia.

This time, Lee Min Ki had become the recipient of such global attention.

‘Wow, there are so many languages in the comment section that I can’t understand without a translator.’

Sneaking a glance at his SNS, he saw that every post had turned into a melting pot of different languages.

The heart symbol (♥) next to the comments gave him a general idea of what they meant.

[ㅋㅋㅋ When in Rome, follow Roman law. Why are they all using their own languages?]

[Write in Korean, or at least English!]

[He can’t understand what you’re saying anyway.]

Fights like that broke out often.

Haha, what a mess.

Still, thank you for the love.

Fans, regardless of race, gender, income, age, or whether you dip or pour sauce, are all welcome here.

As Lee Min Ki stared at his phone, unable to stop smiling, Manager Park Han Mo spoke up again.

“Truly, you are very lucky, sir.”

“Am I?”

“To an almost strange degree. It’s as if the heavens birthed Lee Min Ki into these chaotic times. That’s what I think.”

“….”

“Impressive indeed. I, Park Han Mo, will humbly serve by your side like a remora fish. I will be your Han Xin to your Liu Bang, your Zhuge Liang to your Liu Bei. Please make good use of me.”

Listening to him, there seemed to be no end.

Such over-the-top flattery was Park Han Mo’s specialty.

The key was that he delivered it with no tonal change, as if stating a fact.

Whether he did it intentionally or unknowingly, Lee Min Ki wasn’t sure.

‘Still, it doesn’t feel bad.’

Lee Min Ki let out a soft laugh and said,

“Hey, hold my phone for a second. Point it at me and record.”

“Huh?”

Manager Park Han Mo took the phone, looking confused.

“This is a video app. What are you planning to do?”

“Well, let’s see.”

Lee Min Ki stretched his neck with a slight cracking sound, then smiled gently and said,

“The fire’s already burning, right? I might as well pour some fuel on it.”