Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 182
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 182
Childhood so distant that even memories don’t remain.
To him, who was blowing on his burst fingers while swallowing tears, one being approached.
He seemed like a middle-aged man yet like a young girl, like a young child yet like an old man, and he said this:
“Child, what is it that you desire?”
“To make Father smile.”
To no longer be scolded by Father.
To no longer be forced into violin training.
To no longer hurt because of the violin.
“That shall come to pass. You have already pleased my ears.”
Tap tap!
A cold yet hot warmth that spread from his tapped head throughout his entire body.
It was a strange encounter, but a forgotten memory.
* * *
Bam! Bam ba-bam!
“Haa! Haa!”
Hot breath pours out of his mouth.
‘Whoa!’
Satisfying.
A sense of fulfillment that couldn’t possibly be more satisfying.
‘This person is really insane.’
Though he’s done Absorption Reading countless times already, his fingers still ache after performing.
The finger muscles that had grown strong from absorbing and reading countless people like ‘Rack, Dennis Eckersley’ and ‘Steel Strike, Emil Grigoryevich Gilels’, and from the fragments they left behind.
‘This definitely isn’t a technique humans can perform.’
A technique that transcends human limits so vastly that even if taught to a top-tier virtuoso violinist, it’s questionable whether they could follow it.
The perspective on music, the senses, the interpretation, even the way he splits the beat feels infinitely distant.
Yet all of this becomes understood as naturally as breathing.
Talent and perspective that are forcibly grown.
‘Wasn’t what I met back then actually a demon?’
“You didn’t really make a contract with a demon like Paganini, did you?”
Flinch!
“…?!”
Johann is startled.
Martha’s eyes are red. There are tear stains on both her cheeks.
“…Hehe. Was my performance wonderful enough to make you feel that way?”
“Hmph!”
‘Wonderful?’
It wasn’t at that level. A thirst she didn’t even know existed had been quenched.
The ecstasy of reaching some higher realm than ever before, given by collaborating with a great musician that words like genius or perfection are insufficient to describe, had stolen away all passion.
Great reverence weighs down her head and knees, and the vividly felt difference in talent makes her sink into a swamp of despair.
Having achieved a goal she didn’t even know existed, she questions whether someone like herself needs to continue making music.
‘That can’t be!’
This genius blessed by the god of music before her eyes is just beginning.
There will be countless collaborations ahead, and she’ll be able to feel this ecstasy again – how could she quit music?
“At least bow!”
“Yes!”
Johann, who smiled brightly, bows toward the audience still lost in silence, toward his family members who are only shedding tears.
…Clap! Clap! Clap clap! Clap clap clap clap clap clap!
Waaaaaaah!
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
“Uaaaaaaah!”
Shouts as if crying out to god.
‘It’s the same.’
As the scene Paganini always saw.
‘So he felt these emotions every day?’
The sense of fulfillment that comes from having the entire audience look only at him with fervor.
Johann envies it while chuckling at the chest-tightening sense of fulfillment.
He then escorts Martha Argerich backstage.
“Hm?”
“….”
Below the stairs, Siyoung Lee staring at him blankly.
Johann glances at the violin rolling at her feet and tilts his head.
“Good work.”
‘She’s broken.’
Like Icarus flying toward the sun, the wings that should have soared through the sky have been broken.
Martha Argerich clicked her tongue in pity.
But that’s as far as it goes. Since it might be better to give up rather than make music in the same era as this great musician, she withdrew her sympathy for Siyoung Lee.
‘Who would have thought choosing piano over violin in childhood would be such a relief… wait.’
Martha, recalling a certain fact, looks at Johann with horror as he has already returned to an indifferent expression.
“Kid.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell me your piano is at this level too?”
“Uh… probably?”
Since there are many musicians of a caliber comparable to Paganini.
Since his music influenced so many great musicians.
Since among them are great pianists too.
Martha Argerich turned pale.
‘Should I change careers to become an educator?’
She seriously considered it.
* * *
Swoosh!
Johann pats the back of Emily who has embraced him.
Her emotion is transmitted through their touching chests.
So his torso grows hot. His eyes sting.
“How did you… come here.”
To this distant place. To a country on the opposite side from LA.
The emotion and excitement he felt when he first saw them on stage surges up again.
An emotion that makes his heart flutter just by looking, that fills his chest just by smelling.
“S-surprise….”
“Yeah. It’s really a surprise.”
It’s a gift whose emotion wouldn’t diminish even if experienced two or three times.
The regrettable thing is that since the competition isn’t completely over yet, he can’t loudly express these emotions boiling in his chest.
“Hehehe. Johann, I told you, didn’t I? That among your talents, the one related to classical music would be the greatest.”
Larry beaming with pride.
‘That’s not quite right though….’
Now he can absorb and review those who have reached the pinnacle of a field across generations, comparable to Paganini.
From great figures of the past to the terrifying geniuses of the present.
‘But just for today, should I keep quiet and endure it?’
Larry is so proud that he can’t bring himself to pour cold water on it.
Johann looks at Ada, who is brushing away dried tear stains next to Larry.
Rick Bottom and Sandra Sherman, whose eyes are still shaking as if they haven’t recovered from the shock.
Esa-Pekka Salonen, who has been looking at him with an expression of disbelief since entering the waiting room.
“Thank you all for coming like this. I think I was able to give more strength because of everyone.”
And he’s grateful to Martha Argerich too.
‘Without Ms. Martha, that performance would never have been completed.’
That’s why he entrusted it to her, and she almost perfectly fulfilled his expectations.
‘Paganini says he’s somewhat dissatisfied though….’
He ignores this much. Because the subjects he compares to are Liszt, Brahms, Chopin, and Beethoven.
“…Hmph.”
As Martha gets up and leaves the waiting room, Esa-Pekka Salonen follows behind her. Because he can guess what emotions she might be feeling right now.
Johann also roughly figured it out but deliberately ignored it as he looked at his family. Hoping this emotion would reach his family members.
* * *
Click! Hiss!
On the rooftop where dark wind passes, hazy cigarette smoke scatters from Martha’s mouth.
“Wasn’t it just like Paganini?”
It wasn’t just the performance that seemed to explode his entire body.
The unique fingering technique he had never taught even once.
The tuning of harmonies.
The pizzicato that felt like needles piercing.
Playing techniques that resembled no one in the modern era naturally brought Paganini to mind.
“Was it the same… Well.”
Martha lets out a chuckle at Esa-Pekka Salonen’s question.
She had dropped all her schedules and flew here because of an audio file that reminded her of Paganini.
But the performance she heard up close wasn’t at that level.
The thrill of it truly feeling like Paganini had come back to life to perform.
A world beyond her own talent that she was forcibly lifted up to appreciate.
It was a moment that felt like being soaked in drugs.
So she felt jealous, despaired, and gained strength to move forward again.
“Probably… the level of classical music will rise from now on, Salonen.”
Johann, who can not only perform but also compose.
A great white shark, no, a megalodon has appeared in the classical world where everyone was pointing fingers claiming superiority.
“Young performers will want to resemble that kid.”
Those who feel despair will break their instruments, and those who feel the difference in talent will quit music altogether.
“From now on, only those who overcome despair will survive.”
They’ll make efforts that scrape away even their souls to surpass Johann, and through this, the level of classical music will rise.
This is the phenomenon brought about by a single genius.
The indifferent ones will survive too, but they’re excluded since they always have.
“Yes. A storm will rage.”
Because Johann’s talent isn’t limited to violin alone.
In a few days, the classical world will fall into a groggy state, unable to regain composure from consecutive heavy blows, and everyone will strive with Johann as their goal.
“Great music like those from that era will emerge too.”
Masterpieces like those created by great musicians such as Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff will pour out.
The world of classical music that faded with jazz and rock and roll after entering the 1900s might dawn again.
“Don’t you think it’s really good to be alive?”
How will the classical world change in the future?
Just watching it seems like time would pass without notice.
“Hah. You’re stating the obvious.”
Martha throws away her cigarette butt and turns around.
With this, she has shaken off even the small despair that was clinging tenaciously to her heart.
“I should exercise diligently.”
“I should… start exercising too.”
To avoid being devoured by Johann and the future performers who will be evaluated as great by posterity, they’ll need to live more fiercely than now.
* * *
-About a month-long journey! Queen Elisabeth Competition Final! The glorious winner is… Johann Jefferson!
Waaaaaaah!
Amid the pouring applause, the finalists who finished the stage look at Johann as he steps forward and bows.
Someone with eyes dead from despair.
Someone with eyes of admiration.
Someone suppressing anger.
Despite the gazes piercing his back, Johann’s mind lets out a sigh.
‘It’s over.’
The Queen Elisabeth Competition that lasted about a month.
Now only one thing remains.
Only the Tchaikovsky Competition.
‘I can’t lose there either.’
Johann lifted the bouquet and smiled brightly, and the audience’s applause grew even louder.
Thus the night in Brussels deepened.
* * *
“Hello!”
“Ah, hello.”
Norman and Philip greet Larry and Ada while sending admiring glances toward Esa-Pekka Salonen and Martha Argerich.
When Johann looks at Larry, Larry chuckles.
“Right. Let’s all go together.”
“Wow! As expected of Johann’s father! Bold like Johann!”
“Shut up for a bit…. Ahem. Then we’ll impose on you.”
“Impose what….”
‘He’s made some interesting friends.’
Even in this competition.
Whether to say it’s like Johann or not, as a parent, it’s a sight that only brings laughter.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Larry Jefferson, Johann’s guardian.”
“Haha. I’m Christopher Garel, who has long ties with Salonen here. I’m currently teaching violin in Munich.”
“I’m Sybil Ulrich, the teacher of this lacking fellow Philip.”
“Philip’s teacher is at Vienna State University of Music… Oomph?!”
“Sorry, Mr. Jefferson. This kid’s mouth is rather free-spirited.”
“Haha. No problem. I’m glad Johann has made such a lively friend? Ah, if you all haven’t decided on a restaurant separately, please come with us.”
“Hmm. Would that really be okay?”
“It’s fine. Johann….”
Larry strokes Johann’s head.
“He’s so tight-lipped that I don’t think he’ll tell us how he spent the past month. Could I ask you a favor, Norman?”
“Don’t worry! I’ll tell you everything down to what underwear Johann wore when….”
Smack!
“Ow! That hurts, Johann!”
“Welcome to falling into Norman’s swamp, Johann.”
“…Puhahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
They burst into laughter and headed to the restaurant they had reserved.
Leaving behind the other people expressing various emotions, the other finalists and their associates who couldn’t join this group.
* * *
Gulp!
Larry smiles bitterly at the taste of bourbon whiskey burning hot down his throat.
“I really was… a parent who knew nothing.”
Larry looks down at the floor, toward the dormitory where Johann, Norman, Philip, and Emily are chattering noisily, filled with regret.
Why didn’t he realize until now that Johann had grown this much.
Why did he only think that Johann would handle everything well on his own.
Why, why, why!
What torments him even more is that he failed to notice the kind of family Johann wanted, that he wanted more family.
“Supporting him isn’t all there is to being a parent…. Just believing in him wasn’t everything…. A child needs a mother figure….”
How pathetic. His past self, who had consoled himself until yesterday thinking he was raising Johann well, feels like an idiot.
“Sigh. Should I start dating now.”
Or should he join a marriage agency or ask his mother Melanie to introduce him to women and start meeting with marriage in mind.
But why does Ada’s face come to mind at this moment.
“Pathetic. Loser bastard.”
Larry buried his head on the table, berating himself.
Knock knock knock!
“…?”
Who could it be at this hour.
Larry approaches the door nervously and opens it in surprise.
“A, Ada?”
Is it because he was just thinking of Ada.
His eyes can’t help but go to Ada’s skin exposed outside her loose sleeveless pajama dress.
His face burns hot.
“Huh?”
“Oh, no? Why?”
“Just… I started thinking a lot.”
“Ah.”
Larry realizes.
‘You were having the same worries, the same self-reproach as me.’
“I… was drinking, would you like a glass?”
“…Yes.”
Unlike usual, Ada carefully entered Larry’s room, and the door closed behind her.
For quite a long time.
* * *
Queen Elisabeth Competition, the long-awaited winner is pop singer Johann Jefferson!
Queen Elisabeth Competition conscious of public attention?
No matter how earnestly one explains to those who haven’t heard the performance, it would be nothing but insensitive letters and dead word arrangements, just indecipherable hieroglyphs.
The return of Paganini?! Only those who witnessed it on site were the winners!
He wasn’t a pop singer but a musician!
Technique, a giant of virtuoso emerges!
Johann Jefferson, he was a young master!
Queen Elisabeth Competition DVD release begins!
Johann Jefferson to compete in Tchaikovsky Competition piano division?
Tchaikovsky Competition organizers confirm it’s true!
What a terrible accident! Tuning hammer found inside piano!
Johann Jefferson sensed something wrong after striking the keys.
Passed preliminary rounds 1 and 2! On to the long-awaited finals!
Ah! Rachmaninoff! Paganini!
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini that made all audience members shrink back!
His technique reached the heavens!
Birth of a great musician! His name is Johann Jefferson!
It was the moment Johann’s name was etched across the entire world, and people worldwide watched LA with anticipation for Johann’s next move.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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