ATPnovel Chapter 336 ·The Ticketing War (2)
Chapter 336 ·The Ticketing War (2)
[Is This Stardust Ticketing for Real?]After seeing countless Already Selected Seat messages....
Watching the purple grapes disappear....
I just....
Cried endlessly....
Guys....
I think you've become too successful.
So... does that mean there's no seat left for me...?
I'm genuinely happy that our Universe Dust has become so successful... but there's no concert seat for me. ㅠㅠ
└ I couldn't even get to the seat selection screen because the server crashed.... ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ I got stuck in the waiting queue. ㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Why does every concert keep getting harder and harder?
└ Even the Fan Signing Event entry cutoff keeps getting higher....
I barely got a seat in the center of the 4th floor at Gocheok.
└ Hey, be careful. If you roll off, you're heading to the next world.
└ Ah. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Damn.
└ Even God's View at Gocheok Dome is fine. I just want to admire our Dusties from the highest place.
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You're insane.
└ Honestly, I don't care where it is as long as I get one seat.
Why is the encore concert only two days?! Why are they only performing in Seoul?! Tour Incheon, Gyeonggi, Busan, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Jeju too!!!
└ Jeju. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Yeah, please do a nationwide tour. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ I have the money. Why can't I go...?
As Dusties who failed to get concert tickets continued to pile up....
Dusty Yumin was letting out a scream of joy.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”
Her friend had secured seats in the center of the first floor.
Row 3, no less—a perfect spot if the members rode by on the trolley.
She would've been satisfied just getting into Gocheok Dome in the first place, but to succeed in getting this good of a seat.
Today of all days, she wanted to carry her friend on her back.
Clenching her fist tightly, Yumin shouted at the top of her lungs.
“I'll stream FLYB like crazy! Just make your comeback!! I'll be waiting!!”
“Come on, we're just helping each other out!”
“You're a god! I love you, my friend!”
Overjoyed that all the bitterness from the previous ticketing battle had finally been washed away, Yumin held out the reservation confirmation screen with tears practically welling up.
“Ha.... I'm so happy I think I might faint.”
“You can cry.”
“I seriously think I might...?”
One day in the first-floor seat her friend had secured.
The other day in the third-floor seat she'd managed to get herself.
Having achieved her dream of attending both concert days, color finally returned to Yumin's face.
As she smiled happily, she suddenly remembered a post on Universe from earlier that morning.
Victorious Sehyun: We'll be joining today's ticketing battle too.
Victorious Sehyun: We'll win tickets for Dusties!!
Jin Sehyun's fan community post, full of determination.
“Ah, right.”
Did our boys manage to get tickets?
Yumin's eyes sparkled as she murmured quietly.
“Maybe Jin Sehyun succeeded...?”
And then.
Not long afterward, she received her answer.
A behind-the-scenes ticketing video uploaded to Doubles' official YouTube channel.
["Anyone Who Fails Ticketing Can't Come to the Concert!" The Chaotic Universe Dust Ticketing Scene]
There, the members sat inside a PC café with determined expressions.
“Today, you'll all be ticketing.”
The final encore concert of Stardust's overseas tour.
The ticketing for 'Stardust Concert IN SEOUL' had already been predicted to be a fierce battle.
Well, I'd heard plenty about it....
But as for me, the closest thing I'd experienced to a digital speedrun was registering for university classes a few times, so I didn't really know much.
Still, maybe that experience had helped more than I'd thought.
I'd succeeded in the last ticketing battle.
Cha Seongbin smiled brightly.
“Seohan, are you going to crush the ticketing again this time?”
“Ah, of course.”
Determined to secure tickets for the Dusties, I'd sat down here with unwavering resolve.
Cha Seongbin nodded as he added,
“That's why I brought a Four-leaf Clover this time~.”
“Does that actually help?”
“I infused it with Do Seohan's energy, so maybe it'll work somehow?”
Why did you put my energy into it?
Is it some kind of talisman?
While I was thoroughly confused, a Self-Content Team staff member spoke up.
“Everyone! You remember challenging ticketing last time, right?”
“We got to witness Seohan's lightning-fast hands.”
Proudly enough, I'd been the only one to succeed back then, allowing me to give my ticket to a fan.
The staff member nodded and continued,
“Yes. Just like last time, if any of the members successfully get tickets, those tickets will be given to the fans.”
“Wow, Dusties! I'll try to get two tickets this time~.”
“I'm serious. I even made a post on Universe.”
Jin Sehyun's eyes burned with determination.
Having gone through the real thing once already, everyone looked far more confident than before.
Then the staff member spoke again.
“But since... none of you really have anything on the line this time, we felt your sense of desperation was lacking....”
“Huh?”
An unexpected accusation of lacking desperation.
Ha Junseo's eyes widened.
“I-I really... tried my best to get tickets for the Dusties.”
“Junseo hyung was simply born with slow reflexes.”
“T-That's a misunderstanding.”
“Anyway, the company has judged that your desperation was somewhat lacking.”
The Self-Content Team staff member smiled as they began herding the members along.
The eyes of the Oldest Hyungz, who hadn't even reached the ticketing screen last time before collapsing in defeat, were trembling violently.
“All right! So this time we've added one new rule!”
“A rule...?”
Jin Sehyun swallowed nervously.
“Out of Stardust's seven members! If more than half fail the ticketing... there will be a punishment.”
A punishment.
I was suddenly worried about what the Self-Content Team had prepared this time.
Especially since the staff member's eyes had been sparkling almost suspiciously brightly ever since earlier.
Carefully testing the waters, I asked,
“Could you at least give us a little hint?”
“It has something to do with the concept of your third full-length album.”
“Our third full-length album? What could it be?”
Ha Junseo frowned.
“Uh... hmm....”
Our third full-length album wasn't exactly known for being full of hope.
Kang Siwoo cleared his throat and wrapped things up.
“Ahem. Everyone, pour your soul into this.”
An instinctive feeling washed over me.
This time, we absolutely had to succeed.
“Honestly, ticketing also depends on luck.”
This time, Jin Sehyun had prepared much more carefully than before.
Standing in front of the members, he began lecturing everyone on the ticketing theory he'd crammed.
“You have to pray to heaven for luck, but what we can do... is maximize those odds.”
“So that's why you've opened multiple windows?”
“Yes. If one crashes, you immediately switch to another.”
Ha Junseo eagerly absorbed Jin Sehyun's ticketing tips.
“So you leave multiple windows open and refresh them one by one.”
“Hey, there's even a practice ticketing website.”
“It's set up just like our actual ticketing page?”
“They probably made it almost identical.”
Click. Click.
Ha Junseo stared fixedly at the screen while rapidly clicking his mouse.
“Whew....”
“You made it to the payment page?”
“I just click bank transfer here...?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Meanwhile, beside him, Kang Siwoo was practicing ticketing with the expression of someone whose family was on the verge of ruin.
“Did... you succeed?”
Seo Ian asked cautiously.
The only response was a deep sigh.
“Haa.... I failed....”
“No, you'll get it during the real thing!”
“Did you succeed?”
“No!”
While everyone was burning with determination,
I brought out another game similar to the visual reflex test.
Cha Seongbin looked over curiously.
“What's this?”
“It's a reflex game. It's fun.”
Tap. Tap tap.
One hand flew across the keyboard.
The other busily controlled the mouse.
Just as the name implied, it was a game that tested reflexes.
Whenever a red ball appeared, you gathered it into a basket.
Whenever a blue ball appeared, you clicked it as quickly as possible to send it to your opponent.
In other words, both hands had to work simultaneously.
After hearing the explanation, Cha Seongbin's eyes widened.
“Th-That looks difficult?”
“Youth really is wonderful.”
“Hyung's young too...?”
While Ha Junseo added that ridiculous comment, the first round ended in just fifty seconds.
Rolling my stiff wrist, I smiled.
“Ah, my hands are all warmed up.”
Ticketing?
At the end of the day, it was my concert.
How could I possibly fail to get even one seat?
Baseless confidence welled up inside me.
“I'll definitely get a ground seat.”
“Seohan, do you even know what a ground seat is?”
“Nope!”
Anyway, ticketing time was drawing closer....
Gulp.
Swallowing nervously, I stared straight at the monitor.
“......”
An almost suffocating silence had filled the room for a while now.
Kang Siwoo glared at the monitor as though he intended to destroy it.
Ha Junseo's hands had been trembling nonstop.
Cha Seongbin broke the silence.
“Hey, you know if we fail, we can't attend the concert, right?”
“...Does that mean only one or two of us will end up on stage?”
“The rest of you can dance underneath the stage~.”
Taking a deep breath, I gripped my mouse.
Maybe because there was a camera filming right beside me, I felt even more nervous.
It felt twice as nerve-racking as course registration.
I tightened my sweaty grip around the mouse.
I hadn't only prepared with the reflex game.
This time, I'd faithfully followed Jin Sehyun's instructions for proper ticketing.
Four browser windows open across the screen.
Eyes locked on the refresh button.
On another monitor, the Navyism clock displayed the official server time.
Finally, five minutes before ticket sales opened.
Even the chatty hyungs fell silent.
Then.
Beep.
The signal marking the exact time echoed through the room.
Faster than anyone else.
Click click click.
I frantically spammed the refresh button....
“Reserve! Reserve!”
The moment the reservation button appeared in my sight, I clicked it without hesitation.
“Aaaah!”
A scream erupted from somewhere behind me.
There wasn't even time to check whose scream it was.
In the silence, the only sounds were frantic mouse clicks.
“I-I got in!!”
Queue number 510.
A fairly safe position.
Swallowing hard, I watched the queue number steadily decrease.
I'd heard that concert ticketing servers could crash at any moment, so you couldn't let your guard down until the payment actually went through.
So far, nothing had gone wrong.
Then the seat selection window appeared.
Calmly, I clicked the first seat that caught my eye.
[This seat has already been selected.]
“Ugh!”
[This seat has already been selected.]
I started clicking every purple grape I could see.
Then, finally.
“I-I got one!”
The instant I secured a seat and pumped my fist into the air—
404 Not Found.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
I died a glorious death.