Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 22

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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 22

 

 

’Wow.’

Their thoughts were right.

The ratings keep climbing steadily, and the real-time reactions from viewers are explosive.

🙁 and :D.

The message window flooded with crying and laughing emoticons.

“Wasn’t it difficult adapting to city life?”

“Not at all. Larry always asked for my opinion first on whatever he did, and if I made any mistakes, he would teach me repeatedly in detail until I understood.”

“Oh! That couldn’t have been easy – is there a reason you did that?”

“Well… I suppose it’s because that’s what I think a guardian should be. Johann was a smart enough child…”

Back and forth they went.

The heartwarming scene naturally brought smiles to the faces of the MC and the Producer and Writer outside the booth.

However, Rick Bottom felt differently.

‘This is strange.’

A child who lived with a wolf pack in the Rocky Mountains and came to the city just a month ago.

Yet his vocabulary and thinking are beyond common sense.

Still, his employer Larry doesn’t find it strange.

Larry, who’s known for being a good-natured CEO, but also receives praise for his excellent business abilities based on cool rationality.

This must mean there’s something special about him that Rick Bottom doesn’t know, hasn’t figured out yet.

No, Johann is a special being. In just one month since coming down to the city, he realized the greatness of the Eagles and became a fan.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Joe Walsh even held a concert for him.

That emotion. That overwhelming feeling.

His eyes trembled as he carefully embraced the guitar, and the Producer and MC quietly shrank back watching him.

 

“At Fairmont, where student character development is most important…”

“It’s a place that teaches character comes before even a single line of knowledge. So maybe that’s why I was moved to action by his story.”

“What a truly wonderful school. Oh, look how much time has passed already.”

Before they knew it, the time to wrap up was approaching.

But…

‘It’s a shame to end it like this…’

However, he had asked all the questions selected based on the pre-interview content. He had sped up the questioning because he got carried away by the viewers’ reactions.

Failing to manage the time was a mistake as an MC.

As he desperately racked his brain, he saw the Writer outside the booth holding up a sketchbook and his eyes lit up.

“Well. Then lastly… do you have any hobbies you’ve picked up since coming down to the city?”

“Many. There’s baseball, and listening to music.”

Songs he had only encountered through others’ memories via Reading.

He couldn’t describe how beautiful the melodies were when they hit his ears directly, not filtered through someone else’s experience.

“Oh, music! Was there a song you heard that you liked? If so, could you sing a verse for us?”

‘This is it!’

This should let him time it perfectly.

‘Weren’t you not supposed to go beyond the pre-interview content?’

That confusion was brief.

This too was a new experience. A first experience.

Johann, who was about to open his mouth reflexively, paused for a beat. His meeting with Joe Walsh today flashed through his mind.

“Yes. I really like Hotel California by a band called the Eagles.”

‘I can’t sing something like Sexy Back.’

A song too explicit for a young child to hear. The image he’d built on today’s broadcast would be shattered.

Of course, liking Hotel California was sincere.

One of the songs he hummed to shake off the loneliness that briefly visited him after Wolf Mother and the Wolf Brothers fell asleep.

‘The American Dream. An ideal place I wanted to go.’

“…Oh?”

Such an unexpected song choice.

While he wondered how the child knew it, it was also endearing.

How could he not find it cute that a child young enough to be his grandson knew old pop music that he, the MC, and his peers knew.

The MC smiled warmly and waved his hand, and soon a dreamy melody began to echo through the booth.

And Johann, who had closed and opened his eyes, began to sing.

“On a dark desert highway!”

On a dark desert highway.

His longing for the ideal place he wanted to go, his yearning for the Outside World, his loneliness-stricken desire exploded.

 

* * *

 

“…See you all in part two.”

The MC, who had taken off his headset, stared blankly at Johann.

So did the Producer, the Writer, and Larry.

‘Is this… an emotion a young child can express?’

Loneliness. The struggle to break free.

Emotions that a young child could never possess seeped deep into their hearts.

Making the old man’s eyes well up with tears.

‘A genius.’

“Did this child learn to sing somewhere?”

“No.”

But he thought he understood. The source of the emotions that burst from Johann.

‘He wanted to escape the Forest that badly.’

He had been that lonely.

‘That’s why he readily followed me.’

Why hadn’t he realized this part?

Larry gritted his teeth and pulled Johann into a hug.

However, Johann just found Larry’s behavior puzzling.

‘It was the best I’ve sung so far, but…’

With who he had Absorbed, how could he have sung poorly?

However, he had expressed only emotion, excluding all the vocal techniques and skills that people say make for good singing.

Johann himself had wanted to do that, and the Absorbed being had agreed.

Saying that was right for his age.

Saying not to carelessly use his immature vocal cords.

And that led to quite an interesting experience.

The loneliness he felt in the Forest and his yearning for the outside came vividly alive and poured out through his throat.

That emotion which, thanks to the Library, he felt only a few times a year.

‘Did he feel that?’

Only then did Johann, realizing Larry’s thoughts, smack his lips and pat his back.

“Let’s be happy, Johann.”

“Yeah.”

“…Phew. Well then, we’ll be going now.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“See you again next time, kid. No, Johann.”

A genius who expresses emotions that are hard to express.

Surely they would meet again in this booth before long.

“Stay strong.”

“Yes? Yes. Take care.”

It was the moment they were leaving the booth.

“I knew this would happen.”

I knew he’d be showing off that charisma.

Everyone is shocked by the husky voice.

“…Giselle!”

The booth was turned upside down.

 

* * *

 

-Did anyone just hear this song?

└My goodness. That’s a boy, right?

└It’s wolf boy Johann.

└Oh, kid. What happened in the forest.

└At first I was pleased like watching my grandson’s antics, but before I knew it, I found myself shedding tears.

└Could he be getting abused?

└That’s ridiculous.

-I saw Billboard’s future today.

└That’s a kid… right?

└He’s more heartbreaking than me, and I’m 50 this year.

 

The radio bulletin board and LA’s communities were heating up.

Meanwhile, Johann, unaware of this, looks at Giselle Buncheon.

“When did you arrive?”

“Yesterday.”

Giselle had forced her schedule to teach Johann.

She had no choice but to actively praise her decision.

‘To think he’d be showing off such charisma while I wasn’t around.’

She almost lost Billboard’s future top male model. The dizzying feeling clouds her vision.

“You don’t have any schedule after this, right?”

“I do…”

He has to go buy baseball equipment with Larry.

“And a practice guitar too.”

Johann looks at Joe Walsh’s guitar that Rick Bottom is carrying.

Joe Walsh’s guitar is too precious to leave as decoration, yet too valuable to play without proper knowledge.

He’s thinking of learning guitar while he’s at it.

Flinch!

“You’re not thinking of becoming a singer, are you?”

“No. Not yet.”

Though he’s tempted, now that Giselle is here, he’ll be busy all week for a while.

Baseball, filming, and lessons.

In the evenings, guitar practice and studying.

It’ll be hectic.

“Maybe if another opportunity comes later.”

“What?”

“Oh, and I’m signing an exclusive contract with H&M tomorrow.”

“…Oh? How? Tell me the details.”

Johann and Giselle chatted as they headed to the sports equipment store Flash had told them about.

 

* * *

 

‘It’s been a long time.’

Performing for just one audience member.

So long ago that he can’t even remember when.

His passion for music remains the same, but if asked whether it burns as much as back then, he’d have to answer maybe not.

But today, thanks to one little fan, that passion and enthusiasm came alive again.

Probably tonight he could sleep soundly with just one sip of whiskey.

“Phew. Good work.”

“Good work, Joe. We can see each other again next time, right?”

“I’m just an old man scratching his belly while watching TV on the sofa.”

“Oh, come on! Who would say that about you!”

“Haha. Contact me anytime.”

He’d always respond to the call of these LA citizens, the beginning of their band’s legend.

“Oh, though it’ll be difficult once baseball season starts!”

“Hahaha!”

It was the moment Joe Walsh smiled and was about to leave the booth.

“Joe! Joe-!”

His personal manager bursts through the door roughly.

A friend he’s been with for 20 years now.

“I’m not deaf yet.”

“I know that better than anyone! Anyway, listen to this!”

Their band’s signature song flows from the mobile phone the manager holds out.

“…Huh?”

Joe Walsh, who was smiling fondly wondering who sang another cover, holds his breath for a moment.

‘Teens? Twenties? No, thirties.’

A series of emotions that can’t be sung unless you’re around thirty.

But the voice is a sweet tone reminiscent of a teenager.

“So this song can be interpreted this way too…”

Rather than the cold reality of the American Dream that everyone dreamed of back then, he’s expressing the narrator’s emotions looking at the American Dream itself.

Of course, there have been juniors who interpreted it this way before. But among them, this would rank in the top ten.

Perhaps because of the pleasant sweet voice, that loneliness, longing, and desperation pierce the heart even more.

“Not a professional singer.”

Raw, unrefined emotion.

Vocal technique that seems to imitate theirs.

This is America indeed. There are so many hidden masters in the field.

“What do you think?”

“A friend whose future I’d look forward to?”

If he becomes a singer, if he is one, he’d like to see him once.

“Why?”

“Nothing. Just nice to see. Hehe. Anyway! This is someone you’ve seen before too. You saw him today.”

“This guy?”

“You even gave him a gift.”

“…My goodness. Really that boy?”

“Yes! Wolf boy, Mowgli Johann Jefferson!”

“Oh…?”

A name that even an old man like himself, whose only pleasure besides occasional performances is watching TV, has heard of.

“Huh…”

He suddenly understands why he sang Hotel California this way.

Why he’s so lonely, why he yearns so much.

The old man’s sensitivity makes his nose tingle.

Is this what they call coincidence, or fate?

Joe Walsh felt destiny today.

“Let’s go home for now.”

Suddenly, he felt like writing a song.

 

* * *

 

Rocky Management’s Directing Studio.

In the empty classroom, Giselle in leggings and a crop top stands in front of the whiteboard, looking at Johann.

‘Pfft!’

Johann, likewise wearing leggings.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

He likes the elasticity that supports his leg muscles.

He feels regretful that if he had clothes like this when he was in the Rocky Mountains forest, he could have reacted more nimbly.

“Okay, good.”

Giselle, flustered at not seeing him embarrassed, soon hardens her expression.

The lesson starts now.

“Are a model’s poses subjective body language that changes with the model’s emotions at any given moment, or are they objectively determined?”

“…Objective?”

“Right. While there are many gestures humans can express with their bodies, the poses that can actually be called poses are surprisingly few.”

That’s how creativity works.

“That number is roughly a hundred.”

From the moment the profession of modeling became known to the world until now, the number of poses that can beautifully showcase both clothing and oneself.

“These hundred or so poses are the basics.”

After mastering all of these, you must gradually make changes to create your own unique poses. Only then can you say you’ve entered the world of modeling.

“If you can’t achieve this, you can never become first-rate.”

“Oh.”

Knowledge that wasn’t established during the active days of ‘The Talking Mannequin, Ines de Fressange.’

Johann’s eyes become serious, and his ears open wide.

“Of course, first-rate models aren’t the only models.”

There are naturally more models in the world who haven’t become first-rate than those who have. Even if they’re not first-rate, they’re still active as models.

“But all models aim to be first-rate.”

Starting with their diet, they thoroughly manage every aspect of their daily lives to cultivate themselves.

They endure such difficult times that thoughts of quitting cross their minds dozens, hundreds of times every day, all while aiming to be first-rate.

This is the world of modeling.

“What’s the reason for this? Why do they work so hard?”

“…To increase their own value?”

“No. It’s because the number of spotlights is limited.”

Modeling is one of the professions with very few opportunities to show yourself to the public.

But even within that, the models who are remembered by the public are extremely few.

That’s why models try everything to get into that circle.

“Once you get in there, everything changes.”

Everything, including wealth and fame.

And above all, the attention and love of countless people pours in.

Only then can you say you’ve achieved the dream of becoming a model.

“So how do you become that kind of first-rate model?”

“…I need to study.”

“Right. The era of taking photo shoots based on individual model’s emotions is over.”

As the number of models has increased, so have the clients’ options.

An era where the word ‘muse’ can no longer be used as easily as before.

That’s why you need to have knowledge.

“Due to the economic recession’s aftermath, clients’ generosity has decreased, so you need to immediately produce the poses clients want, and captivate clients with expressions and emotions beyond that.”

“Hmm. Won’t this recession calm down by the time I become an adult model?”

This is America, which has overcome two great economic depressions.

“That’s the important point of this lesson.”

When this wind, colder than winter air, passes, quite a number of models will become complacent.

“What if you, fully prepared, appear then? No, from now until then, you as a model will continue to be in the sight of clients and the public, but when that time comes?”

“…That would be thrilling.”

Johann and Giselle twist their lips into smiles.

“Since you seem to understand, try following the poses I show you.”

Including the emotions.

Johann closed and opened his eyes, then stared intently at the pose Giselle was taking.

 

Meanwhile, outside the classroom.

Larry, who had been watching the heated atmosphere, turns around.

‘That kid is working so hard too…’

Johann, whose talent is so vast and great that it can’t even be measured.

Johann, who could easily be arrogant, is working so hard to improve himself – can he become complacent just because he’s become family?

Larry came to an answer about the concern that had been troubling him earlier.

“Johnny, remember that producing team called the Smithingtons?”

“How could I forget them?”

A producing team with incredible skills but unable to make it big due to meeting the wrong label. They’re only mentioned by bands and singers active in LA, but their skills are truly remarkable.

“I want to recruit those guys. What do you think, Johnny?”

“…I’ll need to look into loans.”

It’s a gamble. They may have met the wrong label, but there must be reasons why they still haven’t made it big.

Still, it’s tempting.

“Let’s recruit the unemployed too.”

The cream of the crop talents from major record companies and management firms who were forced into retirement due to the economic recession.

“Let’s try it one step at a time.”

Larry and Johnny’s eyes began to burn with determination.

 

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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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