Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 230

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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 230

It’s different.

When one hand rises, the sound of flowers singing grows louder.

When it falls, it becomes quieter, and when it sweeps to the side, it stretches out long.

Just moments ago, spring felt simply warm, but with the touch of conducting added, it sparkles more colorfully, gently, and brilliantly.

Like singing joyfully while holding the morning dew.

Like all things growing.

‘I think I understand!’

What it means to tune.

What it means to lead.

‘Was Leonard Bernstein living in this kind of world!’

The joy and thrill of an ignorant person who has realized the truth.

As both arms spread to the sides and fingers close together, the space becomes quiet.

“Huu. Huu.”

“Haa.”

Under the satisfied yet astonished gazes of the orchestra members, Johann whispers softly.

“Amazing, right?”

“…Maddeningly so.”

“I feel the same way.”

That’s why it’s regrettable. Having to end it here.

‘I can’t do that.’

It’s already a rudeness I’ve committed. One more piece should be fine.

‘Since I think I’ve caught the feeling…’

“Wait a moment.”

Johann pushes aside Bradley Cooper, whose face is flushed red and breathing heavily, and grins at the orchestra members.

He asks with his eyes if they still have energy left.

Instead of answering, they lift their instruments.

“You all know Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, right?”

Fate, the Fate Symphony.

Beethoven’s masterpiece that Bradley Cooper mentioned.

As the orchestra members’ expressions became serious with gleaming eyes, Johann raised both arms up and then struck down forcefully.

Ba-ba-ba-bam!

An intense flash shot through the darkness of night.

It was a massive light that swayed back and forth, gradually approaching closer to us.

Crack!

‘Leonard Bernstein…!’

Stage side entrance.

Through the slightly open gap, the baton in Gustavo Dudamel’s hand breaks.

He doesn’t even realize it and trembles with awe.

‘Those fingertips! The swing of his arms! His gestures! That smile!’

The great master, Leonard Bernstein.

The mischievous, eccentric master who died long ago has appeared here now, conducting Dudamel’s own orchestra.

He’s wielding the members who should be his, who should follow only his conducting.

Yet those members are rejoicing and feeling happy under Johann’s conducting.

A terrible sense of betrayal and defeat.

His teeth grind audibly.

But…

“This really leaves me no choice but to acknowledge it…”

That is a disaster.

That is a messenger sent by God.

A disaster that can never be resisted by human power.

“Hmph! But I can’t lose!”

If he had the personality to retreat and flee in fear, could he have seized the position of principal conductor of the LA Philharmonic at the mere age of 35, or even younger?

He burned with the desire to challenge while looking at the genius who defied providence.

* * *

Dazed…

Bradley Cooper, sitting at an outdoor table at the cafe, stares at the blue sky with unfocused eyes.

“Here’s your coffee.”

‘…How can you be so fine?’

Was what he just experienced an illusion created by his earnest heart?

With such vivid emotion, was it false?

Bradley Cooper’s eyes shake with confusion.

But Johann, seemingly unaware of this, just stretches.

‘Ah, that was enjoyable.’

Honestly, it wasn’t completely satisfying.

There was no baton, and since they hadn’t practiced together, there were many mistakes.

But it was enjoyable.

The joy of dominating and leading dozens of instruments to follow the mental image he had drawn.

The thrill when the notes in his mind matched perfectly with the real notes.

At that tremor penetrating his entire body, both Johann and Leonard Bernstein couldn’t help but smile.

‘I knew conducting was this fun, but…’

The joy of conducting that he knew thanks to ‘The Last Romanticist, Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff’.

But actually doing it was more enjoyable than he imagined. Enough to seriously consider it.

“It really wasn’t a dream, right?”

“Huh? Haha. Do you understand a bit now?”

The feeling of a conductor, the talent, the joy.

“…Sufficiently. No, overflowingly.”

Gritting his teeth, he bows his head.

“Thank you!”

Thanks to you, I learned about conducting.

What a conductor’s gestures mean, why they must be done.

Now I feel ready to understand Leonard Bernstein.

Johann, who made his eyes, which were no different from a blind person’s, open in just a few minutes.

‘To think he was such a genius!’

He knew he was a genius who made the world buzz, but honestly, he didn’t know it would be to this extent.

Since he hadn’t seen it directly, prejudice about how well an 18-year-old could perform had clouded his vision.

Even though the world acknowledged him, and countless artists recognized him too.

But not now.

‘This kid, no, this person!’

Bradley Cooper grabs Johann’s hand tightly.

“There’s a movie going into production next year.”

Not Leonard Bernstein’s biographical film whose production timeline is uncertain, but a movie with confirmed production.

A work that will be his directorial debut, where he’ll hold the megaphone himself as a director, not a producer.

“It has source material and is a musical film that’s already been remade several times. The person to handle the soundtrack has already been decided.”

A very famous singer who’s also an excellent actress, and the female lead of this movie.

“Wow.”

You really seem to live a busy life.

“So?”

Why are you telling me this?

“Could you help with soundtrack production as her, Lady Gaga’s, collaborator?”

‘Make my directorial debut even more perfect!’

Flinch!

“Oh…?”

The great singer-songwriter, the great performer, Lady Gaga.

An entertainer he had always wanted to work with someday.

‘Working with that person?’

This should be interesting.

Johann’s eyes sparkled.

“I’ll look at the script first.”

“Huh?”

“I have to think about my career too.”

“…Uhahahaha! Right! Of course!”

It was a perfectly reasonable thing to say.

At this half-permission, Bradley Cooper smiled brightly.

* * *

“I explained in the first lecture that installation art is art that installs works in specific spaces to encourage viewers to experience them directly, right?”

Professor David Paul’s clear voice rings out.

Installation art, one of three subjects Johann is taking as a first-year first-semester major.

“Representative artists include….”

“Marcel Duchamp.”

“Donald Judd.”

Before Professor Paul could even finish speaking, students began naming artists one by one. Besides these, the names of various other artists like Nam June Paik and Jean-Michel Othoniel were mentioned.

“Among these, Nam June Paik’s TV Buddha is a work that expresses the past Buddha facing his modern self through a camera….”

The image of Buddha looking at another version of himself on TV is a work that evoked various interpretations including narcissism, self-reflection, or self-awareness in the modern media environment.

Everyone in the classroom gasps at the image of TV Buddha displayed on the screen.

‘It really does seem like self-reflection?’

‘Buddha and narcissism….’

The moment of deep thought is brief.

“And recently, another artist’s work, a debut piece by a new artist, has amazed the world.”

As Professor Paul’s gaze reaches Johann, everyone’s eyes turn toward Johann.

Johann’s eyes widen.

Click!

Afternoon Chase appears on the screen.

“The combination of modern digital art and Renaissance sculpture, perfect harmony. Greek mythology installed in a place where God and spirits dwell. The catastrophe brought by God’s mercilessness.”

And the magic of time.

The light that enters through the stained glass and reflects off mirrors attached to the backs of leaves to illuminate the statue gave time to the work.

Such a long afternoon.

What could be the intention behind this? Why was it done this way?

“Now, everyone prepare to take notes. Hearing an artist explain their own work directly is never a common opportunity.”

‘Oh.’

Johann stood up, licking his lips at the sight of Professor Paul looking mischievous yet full of anticipation and his classmates holding writing instruments with gleaming eyes.

“Really?”

At the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, one of UCLA’s few lawns.

Emily’s eyes widen, then fill with curiosity.

“So what did you say?”

She’s curious too. About Johann’s intention in creating Afternoon Chase.

‘Knowing Johann, he probably made it just because it seemed fun….’

Still, he’s a college student now, an adult.

He must have matured more than a few months ago.

“I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“I just explained whatever came to mind.”

Plausibly.

So he doesn’t really remember what he said.

“…As expected, you just did all of that because it looked fun.”

“Of course.”

A sculptor simply sculpted. He simply took on a new challenge to pursue evolved art and make it his own.

What other intention could there be?

“If you put in other intentions, the work just becomes messy.”

“Attaching those mirrors?”

“Because I thought it would be prettier that way. Because I thought it would work.”

‘Pietà was the same.’

He received a commission and did his best.

That’s all.

“It’s just that for that beauty, all elements of art went in – countless calculations, creativity, stubbornness, and so on.”

“Okay. Don’t say any more.”

She expected it, but knowing the truth makes her head spin.

Emily quickly changes the subject.

“What did you decide about working with Lady Gaga? Are you going to do it?”

“Yeah.”

He’s going to do it.

“The original is A Star Is Born.”

“Oh, that work?”

The story of a woman from the countryside who comes to Hollywood dreaming of becoming an actress and meets a star in decline due to various scandals, leading to success.

And a love story.

A classic masterpiece that Johann and Emily had also watched during movie time in 5th grade.

“Quite a few kids became couples after watching that….”

“It helped me make a decision.”

A movie that touched the emotions of little kids who didn’t yet know what love was and made them act.

Not only that, but a movie that was remade twice.

The script Johann received from Bradley Cooper was all over the place, but it was proof that the artistic value was solid.

“I see…. Huh? Wait. Lady Gaga only has a mansion in New York, right?!”

As Emily’s eyes sharpen, Johann frantically waves his hands.

“No, no! I found out she recently bought a mansion in Hollywood Hills!”

“…Suddenly?”

“Yeah. The reason was kind of ridiculous, but I guess that shows how desperate she was.”

“…?”

Johann chuckled and got up.

“It’s about time.”

Time to go to the next lecture.

“Ugh…. I don’t want to.”

It’s only been a little over a month since entering university, but lectures were always unpleasant to attend. It seemed to be because studying was something she could never get along with.

Johann comforted Emily and walked her to the Economics department.

* * *

“Phew.”

The blonde woman, Lady Gaga, the great performer following in Madonna’s footsteps, wipes away beads of sweat as she looks around the house.

A house much smaller compared to her New York apartment.

“…I really am something.”

She did something ridiculous.

The house of Frank Zappa, one of the most innovative musicians of the 20th century who created music in various styles, and one of the greatest geniuses.

“I ended up purchasing this thinking I might be able to receive the energy of that great person…”

The female lead of A Star Is Born and overall soundtrack producer.

It was a position she couldn’t help but covet, so she hastily accepted, but she began to worry if it was too rash a decision.

Especially the pressure of having to create dozens of soundtracks that would be completely different from all the songs she had composed and sung so far weighed on her, ultimately leading her to purchase this house.

“And Mr. Cooper noticed this feeling of mine.”

That’s why he must have tried to attach Johann Jefferson, the genius of the century, as a collaborator.

While his decision was understandable, it was also somewhat bitter.

But she was equally excited about it.

‘Can you really give me a starting clue?’

Ding dong!

“Ah, he must be here.”

She put down the rag and headed to the entrance.

‘The house isn’t that big?’

The land was just slightly larger than the house he used to live in with Larry.

“So this is where Frank Zappa composed countless songs.”

Looking with the eyes of ‘Seon-gak National Master, Doseon’, this was where the most powerful energy flowed strongly among the energies that started from the mountain ranges surrounding LA and flowed through Hollywood Hills.

A place where one could succeed just by sleeping there.

“But…”

As strong as the energy was, if the person staying there wasn’t equally strong, their body would be harmed instead. If their body and mind became weak, they would quickly be consumed.

“No, wait. It’s Lady Gaga, isn’t it?”

She was a genius who overcame all kinds of misfortune, ultimately achieved tremendous success, and was evaluated as a great singer-songwriter and great performer. There was no way she would be consumed by this level of energy.

That’s what he thought until he opened the door and saw her face.

“Nice to meet you! You know me, right?”

‘…This person is about to die?’

Her complexion was bad, as if she was one step away from being consumed by the energy.

* * *

Clink.

Lady Gaga sets down her juice.

“I’ve been thinking for a long time that I’d like to work with you at least once, and now we’re doing it?”

Johann’s songs had greatly impressed her too, and she had been very curious about what kind of person could create and sing such songs.

That’s why she was puzzled.

‘His presence is incredibly faint?’

Those commonly called geniuses possess something called an aura that others don’t have. An aura that overwhelms others just by facing them.

But she couldn’t feel anything like that from Johann.

She wondered if he was really the genius who composed the songs she had heard.

“…Please take care of me. You can just call me Gaga comfortably.”

“Please call me Johann comfortably too. But you didn’t hire a separate housekeeper for the house?”

“I don’t want to be disturbed by anyone right now.”

That’s why she was only planning to keep security guards outside.

“Ah.”

‘She must be under a lot of stress?’

And she seemed more ordinary than expected.

Due to her provocative stage productions and bizarrely fashionable outfits, he had thought she might be a unique person, but she was more ordinary than expected.

‘I should get straight to the point then.’

There didn’t seem to be room for ice-breaking.

“How much composing have you done? What about the concept?”

Flinch!

“…Not yet. Nothing.”

Johann furrows his brow.

‘That Lady Gaga still hasn’t?’

“…Did you not start at all, or did you start and then scrap it?”

“The latter, but closer to the former.”

Since she had ultimately returned to square one, it was almost the same as not having started at all.

‘No wonder her complexion is bad.’

She was in a situation where she had to do music in a completely different genre from what she had been doing. In such a situation, only songs that didn’t satisfy her were coming out, so she must have been driven to the point of clinging to superstitions like this.

Time pressure must also be making things difficult for her.

“…Follow me. I’ll let you hear it.”

The studio she guided him to was a small space with only minimal recording equipment set up.

In that place, there was a display stand with LPs and CDs, and even a small sofa.

‘Does she also rest here?’

A rest area prepared together within the work space.

This was almost equivalent to meaning she had no intention of resting properly from the start. This was also evidence that she was being pressed.

“I don’t like any of them, but the one I like most is this song.”

Click.

She clicks on a file in her laptop.

Strum! Strum!

‘Huh?’

The sorrowful melody of an acoustic guitar that suddenly pierced through and moistened his heart.

It was the moment Johann’s eyes widened as he leaned his ear toward the speaker.

“Wow.”

This was crazy. Enough to make even ‘Eagles, Joseph Fiddler Walsh’ and ‘Rock and Roll Architect, Richard Wayne Penniman’ covet it.

‘Lady Gaga’s characteristic husky, powerful low notes are heavily conveying the narrator’s anxiety!’

Overwhelming vocalization and technique that showed why Lady Gaga was considered one of the best pop singers of the 21st century.

That’s why it was regrettable. He understood why she had scrapped this song.

‘Can you tell me?’

Lady Gaga clenches her fist while watching Johann, who had closed his eyes and was lost in appreciation.

It was definitely well-crafted.

So much so that it was incomprehensible why she didn’t like it.

If it weren’t for her current situation, she would have included it in her next album.

‘That’s why I feel like I’m going crazy!’

Because she couldn’t figure out where she went wrong.

“I listened well.”

“…!”

Lady Gaga looks at Johann earnestly.

Johann scratches his cheek.

“The narrator, the female lead Allie, why is she afraid of the male lead Jackson Maine approaching?”

“Well, obviously because Jackson is a successful star.”

“Just that?”

“Then what else is needed…?”

“It’s a remake.”

That was content already used in previous remakes.

To avoid being told it was the same as previous remake movies, they needed to go deeper.

‘No, this person already knows that. She’s just not acknowledging it.’

More precisely, she didn’t realize that she had already gone deep.

‘I understand. This kind of thing is hard to notice without a third party’s perspective.’

That’s why he just needed to tell her. The problems that the masters of music had pointed out.

“I know that, but…”

“Where are you in this?”

“…What?”

Johann clearly gazes into her bewildered eyes.

“This isn’t Allie.”

Esther Blauvelt, Vicky Lester, Esther Hoffman.

They’re the heroines of the original and remake works, not her who is Allie.

“You already know. That you’re ugly.”

“Hey!”

“And that the Allie you’re going to act is also ugly.”

Implicitly, unconsciously, she thinks that way.

But she had been turning away from it somehow.

“You didn’t like it because of the conflict that arose from there.”

She desperately tries to understand it simply, saying the protagonist is pretty, that’s the only reason a successful star would court a country woman.

“All that conflict is embedded throughout the song and lyrics.”

That’s why she didn’t like it.

That’s why she couldn’t immerse herself in the heroine.

Because she turned away from herself.

Crash!

Lightning strikes inside Lady Gaga’s head.

Something hidden within solid rock becomes visible.

“I, I am…”

“All success starts from accepting yourself.”

She must acknowledge it. That the heroine she will act is definitely not a pretty person.

“…Don’t you often get called a son of a bitch?”

“Wow. Did you just curse at someone who came to help?”

“If you dig into what others are trying to hide, you should be prepared for this level of cursing.”

‘It’s not my fault though?’

Johann shrugged his shoulders, and Lady Gaga picked up her mobile phone.

“Mr. Cooper, it’s me. I think we need to change, no, add to the heroine Allie’s character setting.”

It seemed like killer songs would come out.

Such things were flowing out from the slightly cracked rock crevice.

‘There was a reason she’s called an avatar sent down by the god of art.’

They had met for barely 10 minutes. In just 10 minutes, all the problems that had been tormenting her for the past few months had been resolved.

She burst into laughter, finding it absurd.

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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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