Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 367 The Shocking "Ticket" Incident

The platform did not announce the specific time for the sale of tickets for Ikeno's global concerts, which seems like a great idea, but in reality, it is not.

At least, major ticketing platforms, including Damai, were heavily criticized by countless fans and scalpers eagerly waiting to snag tickets.

Ikeno was also feeling bad.

No one expected that Ikeno's concert tickets would be so popular. The current popularity is definitely beyond expectations, and it has also caused the inexperienced team to suffer their first loss, which can be considered as a solid lesson.

"So what's going on now?"

Chi Ye had been busy filming for "Lurking" lately and hadn't had much time to keep up with the outside world. Upon learning of this situation, he immediately frowned and asked, "Has it been dealt with?"

"It's taken care of."

Coco hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

"There was an accident?"

Ikeno looked at everyone.

"...Not really."

Coco paused for a moment before giving a wry smile: "The tickets were sold in the end, but it seems like nobody really treated them as tickets..."

"What did you take it for?"

"Investment products".

Chiye: "?"

"Cough cough."

The concert organizer, Mr. Wang, coughed twice and explained, "It's like this, Mr. Chi... You know how popular you are. This is our first concert, and many fans are very enthusiastic... So scalpers... and some fans are constantly driving up ticket prices."

"Isn't this quite normal?"

When Ikeno heard about this, he didn't find it particularly surprising.

Not just in the Chinese entertainment industry, but in the global music scene, this is the case: the more popular a singer is, the more expensive the tickets become. Second-hand tickets are even more expensive, with prices increasing several times over. Many people make a living from this.

He personally loathed this behavior, but couldn't stop it.

"Well... our situation is a little different from others."

Coco touched her nose: "First, the price is too high, and second... there are too many people..."

Chi Ye didn't understand: "Can you just say it all at once? You really don't want your year-end bonus, do you?"

"...The problem is that our tickets are too expensive on the secondary market right now, they've increased about tenfold...and this is still a 'reasonable price.' Many front-row seats have already been inflated to...a very sensitive price."

Ikeno, unable to appreciate his own "strength," felt a bad premonition upon seeing Coco's expression—he knew Coco well, and she wouldn't act like this unless it was something too difficult.

"Sensitive? How sensitive can it be?"

"This morning, one of your fans spent 3.65 million to buy a 'VIP' seat in the very front row."

Chiye: "???????"

He was shocked: "You mean Duo Shao?!"

Three million six hundred and fifty thousand?!
A ticket?!

Is this a ticket or gold...? Sorry, even gold isn't this expensive.

"...Is someone plotting against me?"

As the saying goes, if you don’t do bad things, you won’t be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door.

Ikeno had done a lot of bad things, so his first reaction was that someone might be trying to get him.

After all, this price is indeed a bit outrageous.

Historically, only Wang Tianhou has ever been involved in a controversy involving a single ticket selling for "a million," which almost caused her reputation to collapse... Chi Ye's ticket is several times higher than that of Wang Tianhou...

He earned that money!

It's all the money that scalpers or "fans" who managed to snag tickets make.

This...this can't be allowed!

I'll take the blame, but you get all the benefits? What kind of good deal is that?

Isn’t this bullying an honest person?

“Not this time.”

Coco has been exhausted by this whole thing these past few days. She rubbed her temples and said, "It's mainly because, Brother Chi, your popularity is really... a bit too high, and everyone's been holding back for so long. They've finally got the concert, so..."

"Are fans selling a lot of tickets?"

Ikeno has realized a very real problem.

— It turns out that following celebrities can really make money, and even lead to wealth.

"many."

Coco nodded: "There are so many. There shouldn't have been this many, but once this trending topic came out, basically anyone who bought a ticket, unless they're rich or really like you... most of them listed it on platforms like Xianyu..."

Ikeno was bewildered.

"President Chi, this is indeed something we didn't consider thoroughly... However, we haven't received any summons from above yet. This matter is related to us, but not that much... It's just that we'll definitely be criticized in the media for a long time..."

"President Chi...President Chi?"

After calling out several times and finding no response from Chi Ye, Mr. Wang felt uneasy.

"..."

Chi Ye snapped out of his daze and slammed his hand on the table: "Holy crap!"

"No, this can't be allowed! How can we let them make this money... Scalpers deserve to die! And fans... are fans who sell tickets even fans? They're showing no respect for me as a singer!"

Everyone: "..."

"Brother Chi, Boss Wang and the others suggested that we respond, but personally I think... it won't be very effective, and..."

Coco was a little speechless, but right now, Ikeno's concert was no longer just a simple concert.

First, there's the issue of tickets. Once this happened, even people who weren't Ikeno fans had already entered the venue. It's safe to say that Ikeno's concert tickets are basically out of reach for ordinary people. Without some kind of trickery or technology, you won't get a single ticket, let alone any.

Secondly, with a single ticket selling for over three million, tickets to Ikeno's concerts have now become a new "luxury item."

In recent days, people have been posting photos of their ticket stubs on various streaming media and short video platforms, showing off to a wider audience, satisfying their vanity, and gaining a lot of traffic.

Many online celebrities have even spent the same high price to buy scalped tickets for Ikeno on the secondary market in order to ride this wave of traffic.

Among them, Yangzi and Chicken Claw Zhang are the most prominent. Yangzi himself just spent four million yuan, not for anything else, but simply to support his brother (and generate a lot of traffic). He even declared on Weibo that he would help one hundred Chi Ye fans get tickets, giving them away for free...

"That old man, Bi Deng, really wants me by his side."

"Zhang Xianming also posted on Weibo?"

"Ah."

"Make him delete it."

Chi Ye is currently collaborating with Chicken Claw Zhang, and is considered half of his boss, so dealing with him is easier.

However, Chi Ye himself said he was powerless to help Yang Zi and many other internet celebrities.

"...The tickets for the first two shows have already been sold out, and there's no way to change that, but the planning for the later shows needs to be changed."

As the car drove to the airport, Ikeno made a decision after thinking about it all the way—his global tour plan would cover 50 cities in 25 countries/regions across 5 continents (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America).

To be honest, this scale of concert is unprecedented in the Chinese entertainment industry, and if it were held overseas, it would be ridiculed by many as being of a "level".

It's a very simple principle: Michael Jackson's record-breaking "HIStory" tour only covered 35 countries and 56 cities, with a total of 82 shows.

But what level of star is Michael?

How well-known is Ikeno now globally?
Therefore, it was inevitable that he would be ridiculed overseas. Even the domestic entertainment industry gradually learned about this "little-known fact" after experiencing a barrage of news. For nearly a month, marketing accounts have been reporting on Ikeno's "global concert" non-stop.

It's not so much sarcasm as it is somewhat abstract.

Ikeno himself genuinely didn't understand these things before. Of course, even if he did, he felt that since the team's evaluation was fine, and those overseas countries and regions were indeed willing to help with site selection, with the Asia-Pacific region being particularly enthusiastic, there was no reason for him to belittle himself.

In such a large-scale tour, the mainland, as Ikeno's home base, naturally has the most shows scheduled and is also the first to appear.

The original plan was for Ikeno's first concert tour to be held in Asia, involving 8 countries and 15 cities, and the tour would last for about four months.

Among them, the mainland cities are: the capital, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and then Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Tickets for the current shows are for the capital city. Shanghai is still in the pre-sale stage, but the team has been preparing for so long and the contract with the Shanghai side has been signed, so the Shanghai show cannot be canceled at the last minute. However, the remaining shows in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taiwan will have to be changed.

Within China, Ikeno, a "King of Pop" who has won the Golden Melody Award five times, still holds considerable prestige and is a prime target for ticket speculation.

But abroad, even in Asia, such as Japan and Thailand, there is no such fervor.

Therefore, changing the subsequent itinerary is the best way to greatly prevent this matter from escalating and becoming more serious.

"I've thought about that before."

The group arrived at the airport to board the plane. Coco followed Chi Ye and whispered, "But what about the location? We have to decide on it as soon as possible, because overseas is not the same as domestic, and our time here is very tight."

"Japan and South Korea, let's choose the closer ones first."

Ikeno had already thought it through. His popularity in these countries was second only to that in China, which would make it easier for him to communicate with the local governments, making him suitable for use in emergencies.

"can."

Coco nodded, and after holding back for a while, President Wang finally couldn't help but say, "President Chi... I have a question."

Chino glanced at her, already distrusting this person's work ability... Although this kind of thing is indeed due to "his" high popularity, did you really not have any expectations beforehand?
In response, Mr. Wang stated that he really did not!

She's been in the concert business for half her life, but she's never seen a singer with such outrageous and terrifying popularity... Compared to the so-called top-tier singers of the past, and Yu Yan who set a Guinness World Record on Weibo, Chi Ye is like a primary school student.

—The latter has never held a concert, but can it compare to even a hair's breadth of the sensation that Ikeno has caused now?
Not even worth a single hair!

Noticing Ikeno's disapproving gaze, President Wang felt a chill run down his spine, but forced himself to continue, "It's...it's about the songs...didn't we say before that we'd sing local songs in the respective countries...?"

“You said you would write it yourself… but now the deadline has been suddenly moved up. Even if we communicate as quickly as possible, it may be difficult to make it in time. In that case, we will only be able to sing Chinese songs.”

Chiye was silent.

Coco's expression changed—oh right, she was so busy talking to Chi Ye that she forgot about it.

"Brother Chi, how about we..."

"...Don't worry about the song."

Ikeno remained unfazed: "Three years ago, when I had nothing to do, I listened to music, and at that time I also tried writing some songs... 'Stay With Me' was the inspiration and prototype I had at that time, so..."

"So you still have stock?!"

Coco's eyes lit up.

"Not really... I'll try my best to figure out the song. You guys go and take care of other things first."

Ikeno can't exactly say, "Wait while I see if there's a suitable song I can copy, can he?"

Being too direct is not good. Let's be more roundabout. Anyway, everyone in China knows he is a musical genius and has even created "Stay With Me". Three years ago... three years ago, "he" was still living as a slave in Yuenna. Apart from "him" himself, who knows what happened back then?

Ok……

Thinking of this, Ikeno subconsciously glanced at Coco.

He noticed that Coco was also looking at him, her gaze filled with a hint of doubt, but not much.

After all, too many impossible things had happened to Chi Ge, and she hadn't even slept in the same bed with him back then... It's just that Chi Ge's scheming is too deep... Every time she looks back on the past, she feels this way.

"Then it's settled. We'll definitely do our job well this time, Mr. Chi."

Mr. Wang was afraid that Chi Ye might cancel the cooperation with them if he was unhappy... Honestly, if they could successfully manage a concert of this scale, then the future of China would be theirs.

After Mr. Wang patted his chest and gave his assurance, the matter was settled.

4 month 10 number.

While the Ikeno concert team was still urgently communicating with Japan and South Korea, the controversy surrounding the Ikeno concert had already reached a major climax.

On this day, another "fan" successfully "got out of trouble" and posted their successful transaction information on a second-hand trading platform on their Douyin account.

Tickets for Ikeno's global concert - Section A, 1934 (VIP section), sold for 204 million yen.

It's less than the 3.65 million that caused a sensation before, but note that 3.65 million isn't scary, because if there's only one ticket at that price, it only proves that the Ikeno fans who bought the ticket are too rich, but there's no "value retention".

However, the two million, and the millions of "transactions" that have been reported over the past ten days, are not many in number, but they are definitely not few, and they are not due to price, but because of location.

Some tickets were in less desirable locations, so people tried to sell them for millions of dollars, but they just couldn't sell them. After all, some fans are indeed rich, but they're not stupid.

However, if you have a good seat, like the ticket this fan posted today, which is in the second row very close to Ikeno, there is a chance that you can see Ikeno himself within ten meters and see his face.

So, it wasn't long before it was bought by someone else for two million.

What does this tell us?
This proves that the tickets for Ikeno's concert are indeed "circulated goods"! It's not an isolated case, but rather a highly liquid "RMB"!
After the video was released, the fan who sold two million copies overnight became an "explosive hit," and the video was pushed to the top of Douyin's trending topics and hot lists.

The explosive event of #IkenoTickets# turning tickets into "investment products" has shocked the entire Chinese entertainment industry, and its development has completely exceeded everyone's expectations.

(End of this chapter)