Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 253

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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 253

Vrooom!

“Did they cheat?”

“They must have.”

“100 percent.”

Johann and the men standing in the parking lot mutter helplessly as they watch the departing vehicles, the rental cars carrying their girlfriends.

Otherwise, how could all the men lose and only the women win?

It seemed strange from the moment they mentioned the travel concept, but now that the results turned out this way, everything seems suspicious.

While the men clench their fists and tremble with anger, only Johann shows a different reaction.

‘That didn’t seem right.’

They definitely looked surprised.

“Since it’s come to this, we’ll arrive faster than them. Our brain, Mason. Search for public transportation to the hotel. You guys find the bus stop.”

“Okay.”

Mason’s hands rapidly tapping on his phone and the other friends moving to find the bus stop.

Johann watches them and blinks before heading toward a taxi parked nearby.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Entschuldigen Sie (Excuse me).”

“Huh?”

As the young man approaches, the taxi driver looks puzzled while taking luggage out of the trunk.

“I’m trying to get to the Ambassador Vienna Hotel. Which buses do I need to take?”

“Ah! You must be traveling with friends!”

The taxi driver smiles warmly at the Flashes and kindly tells them the bus number, then tilts his head.

“By any chance… Musician Jefferson?”

“Oh, you know me?”

“My goodness! To see the reincarnation of Paganini and Rachmaninoff in a place like this!”

The taxi driver, a classical music fan, gets excited.

“Welcome to Austria, the country of classical music! Oh, please don’t tell me you’re here for a concert! Please say no! I have to go to my nephew’s wedding right now!”

“Haha. We’re just here traveling with friends, so don’t worry.”

“Phew…”

The relieved taxi driver not only gave them the bus number but also detailed information about prices, nearby restaurants, and attractions, and Johann gratefully gave him a photo and autograph.

“I hope you have a wonderful trip!”

“Please tell your nephew congratulations on his wedding.”

“Oh! Hahaha!”

As the taxi driver leaves, Johann approaches his friends.

“Taking the train from the airport is fastest, but we can transfer to a bus in Vienna City Center and get to the hotel for 4.2 euros.”

And there’s a place near the hotel that sells handmade lager, which is supposedly delicious.

“By the way, in Austria you can drink fermented alcohol like wine or beer from age 16.”

Other alcohols including distilled spirits are allowed from age 18.

In other words, they can legally drink alcohol in Austria.

Flinch!

“You don’t mean…?”

“Even if it’s a result created by coincidence… Hmm. Do we really need to hurry?”

It’s just being a little late, would that be a problem?

The trip won’t start anyway unless they arrive.

And their girlfriends who left without them looked too happy when they departed in the rental cars.

“A beer for revenge wouldn’t hurt.”

A trip starting with a beer.

How fun and happy would that be?

“Ha! This guy… Deal.”

“Let’s go quickly.”

A beer that would make even getting scolded feel happy.

Fired up with motivation, they ran to catch the train.

Clatter clatter!

“Oh.”

“Ooh.”

A train station and train different from LA.

Johann falls into thought watching his friends get excited about the difference, realizing they’re on a trip.

‘The girls did plan the travel itinerary, but…’

The next few days would be his first trip with friends in his life.

Johann thinks it would be good to add one more place for memories, a place tourists wouldn’t know about, just as he’s about to enter the library.

Tap!

“Huh?”

Following Flash’s hand pointing outside, Johann’s eyes widen as he turns his head.

A bright blue summer sky with a few clouds floating by, brick houses topped with orange roofs come into view.

Houses filled with the scent of antiquity.

“Even though it’s just scenery, isn’t it nice seeing it together like this?”

Johann had said he would travel to various countries including Austria for overseas location shooting until the end of vacation.

His friends suggested traveling together to make use of their free time, and that’s how their first friendship trip was decided.

It was a trip that started without much thought, but it was more enjoyable than expected. Just walking the streets and taking public transportation was simply good.

Johann nods at Flash’s words.

“…Me too.”

‘Right, what does the place matter?’

If he could share this moment with friends, seeing and feeling the same things, that alone was enough.

“Me too!”

“Us too!”

“Huh? Huh? Me too!”

“…Take that guy’s phone away.”

“Ah, why!”

Johann burst into laughter at his friends bickering even in this distant place, and excited smiles filled his friends’ faces too.

They got off at the train station, took the bus the taxi driver told them about, and got off near their dormitory.

Vrooom!

They lick their lips at a red double-decker tour bus passing by.

“We can’t ride that one, right?”

“We’ll take it tonight, right? I remember we’re supposed to see the city night view and go to the night market in front of City Hall.”

“Night market!”

“Alcohol!”

They follow Johann who leads with shining eyes.

“Ah, here it is.”

The store name and appearance are exactly the same as what the taxi driver told them.

Everyone’s eyes light up as they open the door.

Ding!

“Boss! Here…”

“Why? What made you stop talking…”

Johann and the others stop their steps and words as they enter, then quietly turn around.

“Ah, we came to the wrong place. Sorry.”

“Hey, Johann. I told you to look properly…”

“You men there. Stop, will you?”

Thud!

The faces of Johann and the others who stopped again turn pale.

The conversation that follows, drilling into their ears, and the all-too-familiar voices mercilessly shake their sunken hearts.

“See? I told you they’d be like this.”

“Wow, how do they never go against expectations? Really amazing, just amazing.”

What should I do.

His mind races quickly. ‘The One Who Became a Star’ also rapidly thinks of answers to break through this dizzying situation.

“What are you doing? I won’t scold you, so come sit down.”

“You worked hard getting here, right? I ordered beer.”

“…Oh, did you?”

Seeing the girlfriends’ expressions and each other, the men smile, thinking they indeed chose their girlfriends well, and head toward their respective girlfriends.

The girlfriends offer the draft beer they were drinking, saying their necks were parched.

“Wow.”

It was such a wonderful taste that even the taxi driver would recommend it, such a sweet taste.

“How was it getting here? We almost got in an accident on the way.”

“What? Really?”

“The buildings were so beautiful that we got distracted looking at them….”

“Oh, they really were pretty.”

“I took pictures.”

Johann and the Emilys exchanged the emotions and regrets they felt during the hour they were apart, preparing for the start of their journey.

* * *

Swoosh!

The next morning at dawn, Johann draws back the hotel room curtains and looks out at the scenery, recalling last night’s night view.

‘It was quiet and leisurely.’

The Vienna scenery seen from riding the double-decker bus had the charm of making LA, known as a leisurely city, feel like New York.

The scent of leisure and laughter carried by the passing breeze.

The scent of being satisfied with simple things and shaking hands.

The taste of beer and sausages eaten at the small night market in front of the majestic city hall reminiscent of a palace, visited after touring all the night views, seems unforgettable.

As well as the lager beer drunk upon arriving here.

“Maybe it’s because I drank without worrying about others for the first time.”

Yesterday’s trip was the first time drinking alcohol outdoors, not at home, without worrying about adults’ reactions.

Johann, who was savoring such lingering feelings, looks at Emily.

Emily, who suffered from jet lag and couldn’t sleep until dawn before finally falling asleep, now sleeps so soundly that she wouldn’t wake up even if shaken.

Scribble scribble scribble!

Johann writes on a memo pad that he’ll go for a walk, takes his wallet and phone, and leaves the room.

“To adapt to jet lag, it’s best to eat at regular meal times every day.”

When the country changes, according to the changed country’s time.

It’s now 7:30 AM when the morning sun is about to rise. It was time to eat.

“Yawn… Oh?”

“Wow!”

Right in front of their dormitory, after touring the Habsburg royal cemetery and looking around the exterior of Albertina, one of the 19th-century Habsburg palaces, Johann and his friends arrive in front of the large Vienna State Opera House and widen their eyes at the grand opera house’s exterior.

“Hey, Johann. If you were to perform classical music in Vienna, would you perform here?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure?”

Because Vienna, Austria has many concert halls that rival the Vienna State Opera House.

“…Even just this place rivals Disney Hall?”

Walt Disney Concert Hall, the main venue of the LA Philharmonic.

“That’s why Vienna, Austria is called the city of classical music.”

Austria, the country of classical music, and Vienna was the capital of such a country.

“Well… it was surprising enough that the taxi driver knew you.”

It wouldn’t be surprising for him to know Johann as a singer, but it was surprising that he knew him as a performer.

And if only the taxi driver had recognized him, they could have thought he was someone who particularly loved classical music, but throughout yesterday’s walk, quite many people recognized Johann and approached him, calling him a performer.

That sight was quite fascinating to his friends.

“I found it fascinating too.”

Thinking that such countries exist.

“Alright, men? We don’t have time! Strike your poses first!”

“Okay!”

Soon they took pictures posing as if playing their respective instruments with the opera house as the background.

“Lucy! What’s the next schedule?”

“Next we’ll tour Karlskirche, then walk to browse Naschmarkt and eat nearby!”

“Naschmarkt means Nasch Market, Nasch market.”

“Yes. Johann, please shut up. Anyway, after that we’ll go through Haydn House to tour Schönbrunn Palace and on the way back, we’ll look around Johann Strauss II Park.”

‘Oh?’

Haydn House, where the great musician Haydn composed The Seasons and other works, and the park of Johann Strauss II, the King of Waltz.

He’s looking forward to it.

Unlike Johann whose eyes are sparkling, the men’s expressions subtly distort.

“If we tour everything, it’ll be 7 o’clock, right? Isn’t that too packed?”

“There’s lots to eat in between, so keep your complaints to yourself.”

“Okay.”

Then there are no complaints.

After touring Karlskirche like that, they headed to Naschmarkt.

* * *

Buzz buzz!

“Cheap, it’s cheap!”

“Definitely 15 euros each!”

Johann and his friends, who arrived half by bus and half by rental car, are surprised to see Naschmarkt full of people.

The men look at their girlfriends.

“Didn’t you say it was a market?”

Generally speaking, a market should be full of the scents of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and ham, bread, etc., and they should be happily wondering what to pick up and eat, but a familiar yet different scene unfolds.

Stalls scattered with clothes and leather, glass crafts, dreamcatchers, and people passing between them.

It was a flea market.

“Saturday is vintage & second-hand market!”

A place that operates only once a week, and only until 2 PM.

A place that closes at 2 PM but starts preparing to pack up from 1 PM.

A place where if you can’t visit today, you don’t know when you can come again.

“So we’ll browse here and then have a meal….”

Everyone slept in a bit late due to jet lag, so it’s already 12 o’clock.

The girlfriends, who know that the men won’t complain as long as they stuff something in their mouths first, wondered why they didn’t adjust the schedule, but there was this reason.

“The women will do all the driving today too!”

If they travel by public transportation, the women will handle the payments too.

“Then you have no complaints, right?”

“Yeah.”

There were complaints, but they disappeared.

It was the moment they stepped into Naschmarkt with smiles on their faces.

“What?! It’s Johann!”

“Huh?”

Johann’s eyes widen as he turns his head.

A golden retriever, no, a young man of the same age running toward them.

“See! I told you it was Johann!”

“It really was… Hello, Johann.”

“Norman? Philip?”

They were classical music geniuses Eugene Victor Norman and Philip Dupon, whom he met at the Queen Elizabeth Competition and has kept in contact with until now.

“How are you guys here…. Right, wasn’t Ms. Ulrich a professor at Vienna University of Music?”

Sybil Ulrich, Philip’s teacher who teaches violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

“Yeah! There’s that too, but Vienna has many concerts in the summer!”

“By the way, this guy ran away from home to get here.”

“It’s not running away! I told them I was coming!”

“…You only left a text saying you were leaving to find music, so Teacher Garel contacted my master.”

Christopher Garel, Norman’s teacher who teaches violin in Munich.

“And right then I got a call saying I was at the airport with no taxi fare, so come pick me up. At 6 AM.”

“…That’s so like you.”

Being hopeless is just like Norman.

“I just forgot to bring money, that’s all…”

Johann shakes his head and suddenly remembers.

“Let me introduce you to each other. These are Norman and Philip, who became friends at the Queen Elizabeth Competition. And these are my friends. You’ve seen Emily, right?”

“Yeah! Yeah! Hi, Emily! You’ve gotten even prettier?”

“Thanks. You’ve become even more like a puppy?”

“Hehe, really? Wow! So you’re Johann’s friends! Nice to meet you! I’m Eugene Victor Norman! Just call me Norman!”

“Oh, yeah. Flash Thompson. You can call me Flash.”

“Ma, Mason Moon.”

Flash quietly whispers to Johann while watching Norman greet his friends.

“This friend is the one who went to Music Chapel with you, right? He’s quite… puppy-like?”

“You can call him a dog.”

Golden retriever. He wouldn’t be hurt even if called a dog.

“He’d probably like it even more.”

“Huh?”

Philip, who finished greeting, speaks to Johann who glances at the confused Flash.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, I had a schedule so I had to come to Austria, and I thought it would be nice to travel with friends while I’m at it, so we all came together. But didn’t you say you were going to France?”

Because of that, he hadn’t mentioned going.

“I was going to. If not for that guy.”

“Ah.”

“Hehe.”

Philip’s expression, which had darkened, returns to normal.

“But a schedule? Were you performing in Vienna?”

“That’s not it… Well. I’ll tell you about this part later.”

When Johann points to Norman, Philip nods.

“Then since you came to travel, you came to this Naschmarkt.”

Naschmarkt, one of the tourist courses for tourists.

“That’s right. What about you guys?”

“Saturday’s Naschmarkt has many treasures!”

At Norman’s sudden interruption, Johann looks at Philip again.

“You can get rare LPs there.”

LPs of great musicians that are no longer sold.

That’s why Philip also tends to drop by once a month.

“Aha.”

He understood.

“Hmm…”

When Johann looks at his friends, they shrug their shoulders or nod.

“Then shall we move together?”

“Would that be okay?”

“This is a chance to become close. You’re all friends too.”

“Wow! I made friends! Nice to meet you, friends!”

Smack!

“Ow! Why!”

“Don’t hug other people’s girlfriends.”

“Gasp! That’s not allowed?”

“Handshakes are fine.”

“Okay! Nice to meet you, friends!”

Flash and Mason look at Johann, who stopped Norman while saying thanks.

Ignoring Norman who shook hands with everyone, they entered the Naschmarkt like that.

“Wow! Pretty bowls! Pretty earrings!”

Norman moves from stall to stall like a fish in water, his eyes sparkling. The girlfriends, realizing his harmlessness and similar tastes, also move together with sparkling eyes, giggling.

“Yeah. That should be fine.”

It’s a harmlessness that would be safe even if thrown among the girlfriends.

“Ah, sorry for calling him ‘that guy’. You said Philip, right?”

“It’s fine. For that guy, being called ‘that guy’ is already a huge compliment.”

“Wow…”

The men pat Philip’s shoulder sympathetically and turn their heads, their eyes sparkling.

“Oh, stamps. Are there medals next to them too?”

“What? Where!”

The men instantly find something interesting and move.

Philip looks at Johann with confusion.

“Aren’t you interested in bowls and paintings?”

Antiques like bowls, paintings, and sculptures filled with the scent of old times. These were items that should interest Johann, who’s called an avatar sent down by the god of art.

“Ah, there’s nothing really valuable.”

The ‘Appraiser’ says so, and the fragments of many artists he’s absorbed and read also say so. They were all items worth exactly what the stall owners were shouting – under a hundred euros.

“Ah, should I buy that painting? I could get 800 euros for it.”

“…You seem to know a lot about antiques too.”

“I used to treasure hunt at flea markets when I was young.”

The Rose Bowl Flea Market in LA, where he could find countless treasures from paintings by Ralph Albert Blakelock, the American Romantic painter called the American Van Gogh, to paintings by Manet.

“Well, there’s that too, but I prefer learning new knowledge… Hm?”

Johann, who discovered something, walks to a stall.

“Welcome!”

“Hello!”

Johann pauses at the sight of an elderly man in his 80s and a young girl about 5 years old greeting him brightly, then smiles warmly.

“Your granddaughter is pretty. Did she enter Volksschule?”

Volksschule, meaning elementary school in German.

“Haha. She’ll enter next year.”

His granddaughter, now his only remaining blood relative.

That’s why he brought out the antiques that had been gathering dust in the attic, to buy her a nice outfit, shoes, and a pretty bag.

“Ah…”

“These are things our family has collected since long ago, so please take a look.”

Who knows. There might be tremendous treasures hidden.

“Haha.”

Johann laughs at the cheerful words that lighten the solemn atmosphere and looks at the item that caught his eye, while Philip, who followed behind, smiles softly.

“An old viola.”

A viola that’s quite worn with paint peeling off here and there.

‘…Wait, could it be?’

It’s an item that Johann, who’s well-versed in instruments and antiques, is examining.

With a hopeful thought, Philip whispers.

“Could it be a viola from a famous family?”

Names of world-renowned instrument makers like Amati, Guarneri, Stradivari, and Rugeri flash through Philip’s mind.

“No. It’s not that.”

Both the ‘Appraiser’ and ‘Great Teacher, Nicolao Amati’ say that’s not it.

But one of the memories he’s accessed so far flickers and tickles at his mind.

‘What is it. Who is it.’

Even while using Absorption Reading on ‘The One Who Became a Star’, it doesn’t come to mind immediately, which means it’s definitely from someone he didn’t absorb but just read – and only briefly at that.

“Hmm… I’ll buy this.”

His instincts scream at him to purchase it.

‘The body, bow, and strings all seem decent. There’s a case too…’

Even if it has no particular meaning or value, this viola must have meant something to someone among the people he’s accessed. It would be fine to keep as a collectible.

“One hundred euros for everything including the case.”

“Here you go.”

Though his budget for today is one hundred euros, Johann, who quickly calculated and was about to lift the covered case, hesitates.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Wait a moment.”

‘It’s heavy.’

There’s no reason for it to be heavy, yet it is.

It’s not very heavy either. Just subtly heavy.

Johann sets the case back down on the street stall and picks up the viola, puzzled.

“The viola is the right weight… Huh?”

There’s nothing in the storage compartment for strings and such either.

Then Johann looks at the case and his eyes widen.

‘It’s thick?’

It’s slightly thicker than the viola cases Johann knows.

‘To think they just paid more attention to protecting the instrument…’

Both the case lid and fixtures are ordinary. You can’t say they paid attention to protection.

‘This means the bottom panel is thick… What could it be.’

Johann examines the case from various angles.

That’s when it happened.

Click!

With the sound of something shifting, the bottom panel lifts up.

“Oh, it was a double structure. So that’s why it was heavy… Musical scores?”

Musical scores that have yellowed with age, with hand-drawn staff lines and notes.

His heart begins to pound.

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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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