October 10th, Music Bank studio, Red Velvet's waiting room backstage.
The usually noisy waiting room was quiet at this moment. Red Velvet's members were scattered in various corners of the waiting room, those who had already put on their makeup were silently reviewing their parts and hand movements in the dance, making their final preparations before going on stage.
This was a very important comeback, their return to the music show stage after more than a year.
Even though they had always been active, no comeback meant no exposure, and their schedules consequently kept decreasing.
After all, they hadn't reached the level where they would still have plenty of schedules even without a comeback.
Now, this comeback was not only Jiang Shu's chance to prove himself, but also an opportunity for the market to re-evaluate the Red Velvet brand.
"Red Velvet, prepare to go on stage."
At this moment, a staff member walked in, and the announcement to go on stage brought everyone's attention back.
The five members of Red Velvet got up one after another and walked towards the stage.
Studio.
Even though Red Velvet hadn't had a comeback for over a year, their fan loyalty was still very strong. Besides Red Velvet fans, there were also many music critics and media personnel present.
From the trailer released for "Psycho," it was clear that this was a dark-themed song, a completely different style from Red Velvet's previous works.
Moreover, this song was another one produced by Jiang Shu. In the current public opinion environment where Jiang Shu was once again being criticized for "wasting his talent and catering to the market," these music critics and media personnel came to get firsthand information.
If it was still a market-pleasing style, then they would continue to guide the public to criticize Jiang Shu for wasting his talent.
If it was a song that combined artistry, then they would guide the public to praise it.
Either way, they wouldn't lose out.
The lights dimmed, and a somber prelude flowed out.
Before the music even began, the air in the entire studio seemed to solidify into heavy lead, pressing down heavily on every nerve.
The giant screen suspended high above now only displayed the dark red characters "Red Velvet," like still-wet bloodstains subtly pulsating.
The stage was pure darkness, thick, viscous, and bottomless, swallowing all details. This overwhelming dark atmosphere made people instinctively hold their breath.
"Da..."
The sound effect of a drop of icy water falling into an infinite abyss, like a cold bullet suddenly piercing through viscous time and space.
In the still deathly pure blackness of the stage, a non-natural, fluorescent blue light very slowly spread out from the ground.
The next second, several sharp, knife-like pale white light beams suddenly cut through the darkness without warning, suspending in mid-air with a "cha" sound, sharply freezing on the five motionless figures at the core of the stage.
This was DM Entertainment's consistent style, treating the first music show stage as a concert opening, emphasizing their willingness to spend money and provide the audience with a full visual experience.
Immediately following was the heavy sound of a pendulum, coming from an unknown source.
One swing, then another, slow, muffled, dragging the grating sound of steel chains rubbing, mechanically, mercilessly hitting the eardrums.
The next second!
Five spotlights suddenly exploded! Light and shadow on the stage spun, cut, and reassembled wildly, twisting into a frenzied kaleidoscope that made people dizzy.
"Boom!!!" A bizarre bubble sound shattered the stage's equilibrium.
All the noise below the stage vanished without a trace, as if cut off by a sharp blade.
The music critics' expressions, which had been conversing just a second ago, instantly froze, their smiles not even having time to fade before being completely frozen at the corners of their mouths.
On the stage, the rhythm had already begun.
It was no longer precise drumbeats or smooth bass lines, but countless broken, distorted electronic sound effects presented to all the audience in an utterly bizarre musical fashion.
The melody leaped in a mysterious way amidst the strangeness, suddenly erupting with breathtaking tension at the most improbable musical nodes.
"This combination?! Are they crazy? Can it still be combined like this?"
"This... This is completely different from the preview! A smoke bomb? Or...?!"
"This song... This song... Siba!"
The shock of the music critics below spread like a plague, and even a few incredulous gasps were heard.
The entire song seemed to dance in an ineffably strange corner, every turn so unexpected.
Whenever they thought it was stable, ethereal and mysterious nodes would quietly emerge, performing the beat in a strange yet, upon closer listening, very reasonable way.
The audience didn't have the same peculiar feelings as the music critics; they were just there for the excitement. They didn't care about the artistic merit of the song, but they could tell whether it sounded good or not.
This song, "Psycho," undoubtedly lived up to Red Velvet's comeback after more than a year.
The song's tone was mysterious and oppressive, but Park Soo-young's sweet voice among the five members of Red Velvet managed to pull back this oppression and darkness, serving as the highlight of the entire song.
And Sun Shengwan's high notes pushed this dark-themed song to its peak.
When the final defiant notes fell.
Clap!
Clap clap clap!
In a certain corner, a single, isolated applause exploded with extreme suddenness.
The next second.
Boom!!!
A passionate wave of sound, powerful enough to overturn the entire studio, erupted without warning, sweeping through the entire space like a tsunami.
The audience seats at this moment all transformed into shouts and roars that were almost cathartic.
"Red Velvet!!!"
"This stage is divine! Divine!"
"Wendy's voice is practically piercing my soul!"
Amidst the deafening shouts at the scene, online social platforms completely transformed into another realm of frenzy. Countless trending topics like "RedVelvet Psycho God-tier" shot up the hot search like rockets.
"God-tier comeback! I declare, this year's only divine song has been born!!!"
"Everyone stand up, welcome the Hair Queens back to the palace!!!"
"Where are the people who cursed Jiang Shu for catering to the market before? Siba, get out here and take your beating! Siba, what is this? This is true music!!!"
"Even I, who doesn't understand music, can tell that this song is something else. It's good to listen to, and it also gives me a feeling of being incredibly awesome."
"Wendy's high note, it cut me open like glass, it's too exaggerated, truly a two-in-one singer!"
"Nonsense, isn't my Lily the two-in-one singer?"
"Get lost, nobody, don't try to piggyback on Wendy!"
"Are you comparing popularity to vocal ranking? Then isn't my Yuan Shen the two-in-one singer?"
"Isn't it my Karina?"
"Liu Yuan fans, that's enough, two people combined can't even produce one high note and they're still arguing?"
"Crazy, ah, aish, crazy! I watched it on my knees! Red Velvet is art itself!"
"Chairman Jiang is too amazing, is he always this exaggerated when he makes a move?"
"The styles of these two songs by aespa and Red Velvet are too different, how did Chairman Jiang's mind write them?"
"Wuwuwu, Red Velvet is back!!!"
