peninsula asteroid.

Chapter 1479 (This appears to be a fragment of a larger text, possibly a title or heading. The last

Chapter 1479 (This appears to be a fragment of a larger text, possibly a title or heading. The last part, "

"Take a look first... Jingyuan, you choose a few."

Chi Jingyuan picked up the documents and began to read them carefully.

Although EXO has not made a comeback in South Korea for a long time, their popularity in South Korea has declined, and they have lost some fans, but the group's foundation is still there, and their status is beyond doubt.

Their huge success in the US and Japanese markets last year has further boosted their international influence. Their confirmed comeback is a super hot topic with plenty of hype, naturally attracting various variety shows to extend invitations.

The details of each variety show in the data are very similar, and even include the ratings and online reviews of the most recent episodes, as well as the trending searches they have generated.

First, there are two variety shows that have already been confirmed for the group to appear on: "Knowing Bros" and "Golden Fishery Radio Star". These two variety shows have a wide audience and are extremely popular. They can showcase the members' variety show skills and effectively boost the popularity of their comeback.

Chi Jingyuan's gaze continued downwards, and he saw the familiar name "2 Days & 1 Night". The data indicated that its most recent episode had a national viewership rating of 11.7, firmly holding the top spot among variety shows in the same time slot, demonstrating its popularity among the people.

He remembered that although the variety show had high ratings, it had a high threshold for idols to appear, but EXO should not be included in this category.

Next up is "I Live Alone," a variety show he participated in once. Data shows that this show topped the list of most popular variety shows on the Peninsula with a 5% approval rating, making it a nationally popular program. It focuses on the daily lives of celebrities living alone, allowing fans to see their idols' real selves both on and off stage, generating a lot of buzz.

Scrolling down further, there was a name that Chi Jingyuan hadn't heard of before... "Omniscient Interfering View."

Seemingly aware that they might not be familiar with it, there was a special note added at the end: This is a new variety show that MBC piloted at the end of last year, and it is confirmed to officially premiere on March 3 this year. The core concept is to observe the daily lives of celebrities through the lens of their managers, which can both showcase the contrasting charm of celebrities and bring them closer to their fans.

The document specifically emphasizes that the variety show received excellent online reviews during its pilot run, and the production team has high hopes for its official broadcast. Therefore, they made a great effort to invite Ji Kyung-won to appear solo, demonstrating their sincerity.

It seems that anyone working in the industry knows very well which celebrities are just making ineffective appearances and which ones can genuinely bring attention and viewership ratings...

Then came the familiar invitation from "Running Man"... but the current "Running Man" is no longer as powerful as it was in the first two years after EXO's debut.

This variety show was once a benchmark for national variety shows, but it has fallen into a slump in recent years. The local ratings for the last few episodes have hovered between 3 and 4, which is quite dismal for a prime-time show.

However, their overseas influence remains enormous, with a large following in Southeast Asia. If they were to appear on the show, it would effectively solidify EXO's popularity overseas.

"Huh?"

As he watched, Chi Kyung-won suddenly asked in surprise, "Is Infinite Challenge going to be canceled?"

"Yes, March is the last month of 'Infinite Challenge'."

Agent An Chengyuan nodded, his tone tinged with a hint of wistfulness, and explained, "This show will officially end on March 31st, so the episodes airing in March are the last few episodes. Currently, the show's popularity and public attention are at their peak, so it can be considered a successful conclusion."

"If the show is canceled, the MC lineup will likely focus on emotional and nostalgic themes, and they probably won't invite any guests, right?"

Chi Jingyuan pursed his lips.

Participating in "Infinite Challenge Song Festival" brought him some great memories, and he couldn't help but feel a little sad when he suddenly saw the news that the show was going to be canceled.

“That’s true,” Ahn Seung-won nodded in agreement. “However, if you have any ideas, the company can try to communicate with the production team. They should be happy to invite an old friend like you, Kyung-won. After all, the 15 ‘Song Festival’ was the most classic one in the history of Infinite Challenge.”

"……never mind."

Chi Jingyuan thought for a moment, then gently shook his head, closing the document with his fingertips. "I won't join in the fun. Let it end quietly."

After a moment of silence, he looked up at An Chengyuan and said decisively, "For variety shows, choose one between 'Omniscient Interfering View' and 'I Live Alone,' and your company can decide the rest."

EXO hasn't been active in the Korean Peninsula for too long, and fans are really looking forward to it. Ji Kyung-won has been frequently lurking in his fan groups lately, including communicating with several of his big fans. Many of his fans want to see him on variety shows, since it's been so long since they've seen him.

So although Ji Kyung-won is indifferent to variety shows, he doesn't mind since his fans are eagerly anticipating them. So he can actually appear on as many shows as he wants, and it doesn't matter what kind of variety show he appears on.

Upon hearing this, An Chengyuan immediately smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll contact the production team right away."

Not only Ji Kyung-won, but other EXO members, including members of the CBX subunit, have also been allocated a lot of individual schedules and variety show invitations this time.

It's clear that the company is really going all out for this return to its home market.

After finalizing the variety show arrangements, the focus of the meeting shifted to the comeback album.

This comeback album is EXO's fourth full-length album, and the title track has been confirmed as "THE WAR". The two title tracks are "DNA" and "Power".

"DNA" is a new song co-written by Ji Kyung-won and PDOGG Kang Hyo-shin. It is also an ambitious work of the company. The finished product has been certified by the SM Music team. Whether it is rhythm, dance or style, it can be called a masterpiece of K-pop dance music.

The choreography, designed by Ji Kyung-won and his professional team, is also very distinctive. Both the company and the group themselves have high hopes for this song.

"Power" is a new lead single that was changed after the album was delayed and a meeting was held.

In their early days, EXO built their unique worldview concept with the premise of superpowers. Although it was a bit childish, it was also a unique attribute that EXO had and that fans loved to talk about.

...Even the derogatory nicknames given to them by their haters originated from this.

However, in recent years, perhaps because they have been in the industry for a long time, or perhaps because Lee Soo-man, who originally proposed this idea, has matured, the concept of EXO's superpowers has not been featured in their recent albums, causing fans to forget about it.

However, the song "Power" once again uses superpowers as its core concept, referencing anime styles such as Dragon Ball. The song and music video showcase the superpowers of each member of the group, strengthening and officially launching the unique EXO worldview concept, which can be regarded as an attempt to return to the original intention.

It's a very interesting song... Anyway, Chi Kyung-won really likes it.

The tracks included were all carefully selected by the company, and some, like "The EVE," are very distinctive and on par with the main tracks.

Unlike last year's comeback, this album is specifically designed for the Korean domestic market. From song selection and style to stage design, everything is tailored to the preferences of local fans, aiming to regain popularity in the local market and solidify our position there.

However, the company has already made preparations for the Japanese version. SM is very optimistic about several songs, including "DNA". If the album is well received in Japan after its release, SM will quickly translate it into a Japanese version and release it simultaneously in the Japanese market, continuing the good results achieved in Japan last year.

As for the Chinese version... due to the complete severance of the mainland market, SM has essentially given up on the mainland market and abandoned the strategy that EXO used to have both Korean and Chinese versions for every album. There have been two consecutive albums without a Chinese version.

Chi Jingyuan was actually somewhat powerless in the face of this environment and decision-making.

In the past two years, due to the inability to carry out activities in mainland China and various restrictions, EXO's popularity in mainland China has declined sharply. However, even so, they still have a group of very loyal fans. EXO and he himself are still the most well-known K-pop boy group and male idol in mainland China.

He couldn't control the group's affairs and didn't know what to say, but Ji Kyung-won planned to give back to his fans in mainland China with his solo album.

In the past two days, besides discussing EXO's comeback, he has also been communicating with the team specially set up by the company about the preparations for his solo 2nd performance.

The members already knew many of the album-related details at the meeting, so the atmosphere was very relaxed.

After saying only a short while, An Chengyuan's tone suddenly turned serious, breaking the relaxed atmosphere in the meeting room:

"According to information obtained by the company... Wanna One will also be making a comeback soon, and the comeback time is very close to ours."

The moment those words were spoken, the meeting room fell silent, and the other members all showed expressions of surprise.

Even Chi Jingyuan, who had been calm and somewhat lazy, raised an eyebrow, narrowed his eyes slightly, and a hint of amusement flashed in them.

It's important to understand that the culprit behind EXO's loss of domestic fans and decline in popularity is Wanna One's debut and rise to prominence.

The fans on both sides are also very opposed and hostile. Many Wanna One fans are fans who switched from EXO to EXO. These fans who switched sides and turned against EXO are often more extreme and cause more damage to EXO. It is no exaggeration to say that the two groups are completely head-to-head competitors.

In fact, this antagonism is even more severe than the rivalry between EXO and BigBang, or between EXO-Ls and VIPs, since EXO and BigBang have completely different styles and different fan bases.

Like EXO, Wanna One is a standard idol boy group with a highly overlapping audience, making the competition even more intense.

"Tsk tsk, they've come here with their eyes on us."

Chi Jingyuan couldn't help but laugh and speak.

EXO's fourth full-length album was originally scheduled for release at the end of last year. At that time, a lot of preliminary work had been completed and promotion had begun.

Wanna One was also teasing their comeback at the end of last year, and at the time it felt like they were targeting EXO.

Then the Jonghyun incident happened, which caused SM Entertainment to fall silent and EXO's comeback was postponed.

Wanna One is quite interesting. They started by hyping up their comeback, but after the Jonghyun incident, since they were under different companies, there was no reason to postpone it. However, at the end of the year, they only released a compilation album, saying it was to thank their fans.

Then there was no news for a while, and now EXO is going to release a new album, and suddenly there's news that they're going to make a comeback again.

"Is this another compilation album to thank the fans?"

Chi Jingyuan looked up at An Chengyuan, his tone carrying a hint of playful curiosity.

"It's said that this is an official mini-album."

An Chengyuan shook his head slightly, his tone somewhat solemn.

"Oh, are they taking us for pushovers?"

Park Chanyeol frowned, his tone full of displeasure. Anyone would feel annoyed if they were being chased and targeted like this: "Recently, when I was browsing the internet and looking at the community, I actually saw a lot of people talking about 'one bullet, one bowl'... Ugh, they can even come up with such a nickname. Those idiotic fans have no shame at all."

"Do they really think they can overpower us?"

"This is also a normal business strategy."

The head of the propaganda department spoke up, calmly analyzing the situation:

"Wanna One was indeed very popular last year, even comparable to our XO, but in other aspects, they still have a considerable gap compared to our EXO, especially in terms of national popularity and overseas popularity. So they deliberately chose to make a comeback at the same time as us in order to take advantage of our popularity to boost their own popularity and status."

"If they surpass us in results, it will be very meaningful for both publicity and hype; we could even directly promote it as 'Wanna One surpasses EXO and successfully reaches the top.'"

"Even if their results are not as good as ours, casual viewers and fans will not feel that they lost badly. After all, we are a senior group and a top-ranked group. The fact that they can compete with us head-on is itself a way of elevating their status."

The propaganda minister's words hit the nail on the head: "It can be said that no matter what the outcome, they are guaranteed to make a profit; it's all benefits."

"..."

Upon hearing his words, the other members also showed expressions of resentment and dissatisfaction.

Ji Kyung-won's expression was a bit strange... When EXO was in the US, they deliberately tried to piggyback on Justin Bieber's fame. Their strategy was almost identical to Wanna One's, constantly promoting the idea that the two were rivals competing head-on. This led many uninformed people to believe that EXO was an artist on the same level as Justin Bieber.

This left Justin Bieber with a lot of unspoken grievances. He already has a bad temper, and it's said that he smashed a lot of things in private.

I never expected that after returning to the peninsula, I would also have to experience this kind of treatment of being deliberately targeted and harassed.

What is this? Will the instigator have no descendants?

"There's really no good way to deal with this strategy. No matter what we do, it will be linked to the other side. The company believes the best way is to achieve a significant lead in performance and win by overwhelming force."

However, Ahn Seung-won's tone lacked confidence: "Given Wanna One's current popularity, achieving a crushing victory will be quite difficult. Therefore, the company has decided that in subsequent promotions, we should try not to mention them proactively to avoid increasing their exposure. However, the company will increase its promotional investment and resources accordingly to fully guarantee our comeback success."

"..."

Chi Jingyuan shook his head and shrugged... Even Justin Bieber was helpless, so they didn't really have any strategy either.

He actually takes competition in stride, but this kind of forced competition is indeed a bit off-putting.

But let them come if they want.

They then discussed in detail some promotional strategies, the filming schedules for some variety shows, and several interviews and cover shoots.

As the meeting drew to a close, An Chengyuan seemed to suddenly remember something, his expression turning serious. He looked at all the members and reminded them:

"By the way, the MeToo movement has recently started to affect the entertainment industry. Everyone needs to be extra careful about their words and actions, and make sure not to make any mistakes."

He looked at the EXO members with some concern, focusing particularly on Ji Kyung-won, Kim Jong-in, and Park Chan-yeol… The MeToo movement is an anti-sexual harassment movement that spread from overseas to the Korean Peninsula. It started in the political arena and has now spread to the entertainment industry, gaining increasing attention.

"What are you saying, bro?"

Feeling the gaze of his manager, Chi Jingyuan felt somewhat displeased and looked down upon.

"How could this have anything to do with us... what does it have to do with me?"