Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 28
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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 28
Grumble!
“Phew.”
The Old Man, Joe Walsh, clutches his stomach and sits up.
“This is the problem when you get old.”
Cold sweat flowing all over his body, his vision blurring, his hands trembling.
Low blood sugar is setting in.
He quickly pulls out candy from his pocket and bites into it, then collapses onto the sofa placed in one corner of the spacious studio.
Crunch, crunch!
After quickly finishing one piece of candy and putting another in his mouth, he blankly stares at the drums he had been playing until just moments ago as his vision gradually improves.
‘Should I try raising the tempo a bit more…’
It was the moment his hand moved to find his work notes.
“Joe! Joe!”
The door opens without even a knock.
Joe Walsh looks puzzled at the Manager who dared to interrupt his work time. Because this Friend wouldn’t disturb his work time unless it was something serious.
“Joe! Please listen to this!”
As some song flows out from the Personal Manager’s mobile phone, Joe Walsh straightens his posture.
“What is this?”
It’s identical. No, similar. To the song he had been composing until now.
Joe Walsh looks at the Manager, then shakes his head.
‘No. This Friend isn’t that kind of person.’
“The Housekeeper?”
No, not the Housekeeper either.
Unless there was a fire, no one working in this House could enter the work space.
Then the most likely possibility is hacking.
“You know I frequently browse Sound Cloud, right?”
He knows. To find sources that might inspire Joe Walsh himself, whose mind has grown rigid with old age.
Joe Walsh also browses it occasionally.
“This is a song uploaded to the cloud an hour ago…”
It’s a song composed by someone Joe Walsh knows.
“One of my friends composed it? …I’ve never played it for anyone?”
“No. The person who composed it is Johann Jefferson.”
“…You don’t mean that kid?”
“Yes, yes. That kid who’s your fan.”
Joe Walsh recalls Johann.
Johann, who was a massive rough gem itself.
“Play it again.”
“Just a moment.”
The song starts over from the beginning.
‘…It’s different.’
Similar but definitely different.
More refined and penetrating than his own, no, incomparably more so than his own.
‘Age and youth are exquisitely harmonized.’
The main guitar riff and chords are definitely old-school like when he was actively performing, but the other sessions overflow with power, passion, and youth.
And they’re exquisitely harmonized.
“What’s the title?”
“The Moon Rabbit Looking at Earth.”
“Moon rabbit…”
The loneliness and longing felt in this song without a single lyric.
It’s a title that captures that feeling perfectly.
“Listen to this song too. This is also supposedly composed by him.”
“…My goodness.”
What is this.
If The Moon Rabbit Looking at Earth was an appetizer, this song is the main dish.
“The title is Dream – A Journey on a Ship. It seems like a song made after seeing an autistic child.”
“…Look into it.”
Whether it’s really composed by his young fan.
Whether some wicked adult is using that Young Child.
“If it’s true… if by any chance it’s true.”
‘How much does he like me?’
His own colors are fully embedded in the chords and riffs he likes. From his young self to his current aged self.
If this is fandom, it’s at stalker level.
“Contact him. Tell him I want to work together, so please get in touch.”
Folk rock still holds its place as one genre and has a thick fan base, but can’t shake America like in the old days.
A non-mainstream that has endlessly slipped from the mainstream.
The clue to revive it was right before his eyes.
“Also write some provocative comments on my SNS.”
“Huh? Oh, yes!”
‘If it’s really true, this musty old man should make the first move.’
No matter how much of a fan he is, would he readily want to work with such an old man?
It was right to make the first move while also creating memories.
‘Please let it be true.’
Joe Walsh earnestly prayed that Johann would be a young genius.
* * *
“Please take care of me from now on.”
“Me too.”
Clap clap clap clap clap!
A conference room at H&M West Coast Branch.
Branch Manager Ben Wood shakes hands with Johann, who has become the new exclusive model for children’s clothing at H&M West Coast Branch.
Originally this wouldn’t be necessary, but this exclusive contract was established because Ben Wood pushed for it.
“Full re-shooting will take place next week.”
The story of LA Dodgers’ washed-up catcher Andy Clark and Johann, which is now spreading beyond LA to all of California.
He’d like to do the re-shooting right away if he could, but there’s still time. American citizens who burn slowly due to their large population.
In the meantime, they need to decide on a concept that suits Johann.
“Is there anything you need?”
“There is.”
“Oh. What is it?”
Ben Wood is delighted by the child-like bold words.
“First, I need socks and wrist guards.”
Specifically, socks and wrist guards with H&M logos to show off in Little League, and logo patches to attach to uniforms.
This time it’s not child-like, but a request as an exclusive model.
Ben Wood’s smile deepens.
“As you saw then, my pitching speed isn’t ordinary, right?”
“Hahaha! And?”
“I’d like you to sponsor Flash and Mr. Clark too.”
Flash and Andy Clark, who made great contributions to signing this exclusive contract and made him absorb ‘Rack, Dennis Eckersley’.
I’d like to provide some modest financial support and costumes to these two people.
“Sponsoring Mr. Andy Clark would have a positive impact on H&M’s corporate image, so you could think of it as a kind of investment.”
“…Uhahahaha!”
Not only Ben Wood but also the H&M officials were momentarily stunned before bursting into laughter.
“Right. Let’s do that. And?”
“Um… I think that should be enough.”
“Got it. I’ll give those instructions.”
“Please take care of me for the next two years. I’ll work hard to promote H&M around me too.”
After the push and pull negotiations, the annual salary increased by a whopping $10,000.
A 2-year exclusive contract with $100,000 signing bonus and $90,000 per year.
$20,000. With over 2,000 more hamburgers worth, he planned to constantly praise and promote them.
“Hahahaha!”
Ben Wood, who had been patting Johann’s head for saying such admirable things, suddenly looked at Johann with realization.
“But you uploaded a song on SNS today… did you really compose it?”
Johann and Larry’s eyes widened.
“Well. I didn’t compose everything myself, I received a lot of help from a producing team called the Smithingtons that our management recently contracted with.”
‘Who would believe a young child composed such a song?’
Rather than engage in toxic noise marketing, it was better to obscure the truth while leaving no room for doubt.
“I’ll upload a thank you message soon.”
“I see. Understood.”
Ben Wood nodded and left, then spoke to his secretary who was following behind.
“When the thank you message is uploaded, put both songs on the playlists of all West Coast offline stores.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
Johann had now become an exclusive model. This much was necessary.
‘The songs were good too.’
Songs that stirred the seasoned heart of an aging businessman, reminding him of his younger self who once wanted to fly away somewhere.
He liked them even more because they were folk rock like he used to listen to in his youth.
* * *
-Has everyone heard this song?
└Oh, this song! The Smithingtons collaborated with an 11-year-old kid?
└The Smithingtons are verified users, right?
└11 years old? Ha, ridiculous. This person is definitely a professional.
└Not a current professional, probably an old rock singer.
└The voice sounds so young, how could it be an old person?
└If this kid is really a child, I’ll dance in my underwear in Long Beach, LA.
└I’ll play the djembe next to you!
-Good folk rock after a long time.
└Right. This is how folk songs should be.
└Come on. The Smithingtons did everything.
└It’s just a kid. Added a few words from the side and bragged about composing.
└That’s not right? The Smithingtons said they barely did anything.
└I’m telling you it’s an old rock singer.
└I liked the illustration though.
└Artists get lost.
└What are you all talking about?
└Huh? I’ve heard this song somewhere before?
The song with illustrations of a small sailboat navigating the sea and the back view of a moon rabbit looking at Earth began to slowly gain recognition.
* * *
“Good morning!”
The teachers raised their hands in greeting when they spotted Bob Lee Swagger entering the faculty office in his training clothes.
Crack!
He turned his head at the sudden sharp sound.
“…Hmph!”
Bob Lee Swagger smiled a victor’s smile when he spotted the Basic Scout Teacher looking at him with a resentful expression.
Two weeks ago, the Basic Scout Teacher had suddenly blocked his path and spouted nonsense about giving up on Johann.
He was about to ignore such ridiculous nonsense when suddenly even the Art II Teacher joined in, shouting that Johann should be given up. Saying they needed to protect his fingers because he was a child who should do art.
This led to a heated argument, but the result was anticlimactic.
Johann had chosen Art II and Reading and submitted it to his homeroom teacher.
The Basic Scout Teacher was shocked when he saw this and asked for the reason, and after hearing Johann’s answer, he barely managed to get Johann’s choice by coaxing him, insisting that practicals were absolutely not mandatory participation.
‘But Basic Scouting without practicals is like a hamburger without a patty.’
In a few months, when the fall semester came, Johann would become a fifth grader. Basic Scouting wouldn’t be among the elective subjects Johann would choose then.
“Um… Teacher Swagger.”
“Yes, Ms. Molly.”
Molly, Johann’s homeroom teacher.
‘I’m doing well too, but the real winner is this person.’
Not only did she elevate Fairmont School’s honor with the heartwarming story with Andy Clark, but Johann also signed an exclusive model contract with H&M, a giant clothing company.
In response, H&M delivered a $10,000 scholarship and enough handkerchiefs and socks for all students attending Fairmont School to use.
On top of that, Joe Walsh, a guitarist from an old band called the Eagles, even posted a love call on SNS saying “I want to see you, my young fan.”
Through this, Fairmont School learned that Johann even composed music, and 1 out of 5 students attending Fairmont School hummed “Dream – Journey on a Boat” as they walked around.
The lyrics were also good, so it was added to the cafeteria playlist and was being used as character education material.
Her personnel evaluation score had to increase tremendously.
“Is Johann doing well?”
It’s human nature to feel jealous when someone nearby is doing well. Even Fairmont School, which emphasizes character education, couldn’t be completely at ease.
She couldn’t help but worry whether he might be being ostracized by the baseball team, or whether he was feeling dejected after reading such feelings.
“Johann? Puhaha!”
What was this person talking about?
“Teacher!”
Bob Lee Swagger twisted his lips toward the homeroom teacher.
“You’ll know when you watch tomorrow’s friendly match.”
The Alessandro Hawks, rivals of the Fairmont Little Pumas.
Tomorrow, Saturday, there was a friendly match against them.
* * *
“Alessandro School is a school in Silver Lake?”
In the moving car, Ada, wearing a red trench coat, turned on her mobile phone to search.
“It’s a school with many Hispanic kids?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s a public school. The school rating is 8 points.”
“Hmm.”
Larry, looking at Johann, held back his words.
Silver Lake, an area with a high proportion of Hispanic and Armenian populations.
Even if the school rating was 8 or 9 points, if the Hispanic ratio was high, it couldn’t be considered a very good place. School ratings, which heavily weighted students’ academic ability assessments, could be raised by taking multiple tests.
Content that Johann, who wanted to show and tell only good things, hoped they wouldn’t know about.
“The kids will probably be a bit rough.”
Johann looks puzzled at the carefully crafted story.
“More than a bear?”
“No, that wouldn’t be right.”
How could anything dare to compare?
Ada and Larry’s stiff expressions relax.
“Johann.”
“Yeah, Ada.”
“If they piss you off, pretend to throw a wild pitch and nail the ball into their head.”
“Ada-!”
A cry of absolute refusal echoed through the car.
“I heard that’s just how things normally are, but what do you think, Flash?”
“Uh, um…”
“I’m sometimes someone who doesn’t understand either, so it’s okay.”
“Phew. Of course…”
“Why throw at the head when it’s protected by a helmet.”
If you were going to throw, you should aim for the neck or wrist. That would look more like an accident.
The wild 70s and 80s were quite savage compared to the current 2000s. As time had passed, baseball’s approach had changed significantly, so one had to act cleverly.
“No, no. You can’t do that.”
“Can’t I even act surprised and apologetic?”
“No. Absolutely not!”
Throwing a ball at an opponent’s body out of anger was absolutely taboo. Such behavior violated the spirit of sportsmanship.
“What if the other side does it first?”
“That’s… um…”
“Got it.”
It seemed he didn’t need to hear any more.
Johann nodded and slipped his feet into his baseball cleats, while the pale-faced Fairmont Little Pumas members kept their distance.
Their spirits had been completely broken when they showered together on the first day of training. After seeing those scars, no member could dare harbor any thoughts of challenging him.
Their hearts had already been somewhat broken by his insane stamina and fastball anyway.
Johann, who had been tapping the ground with his spikes, suddenly remembered something.
“But why are we rivals with the Alessandro Hawks?”
Even though Orange County was part of LA’s metropolitan area, the distance between schools was too far.
“Usually you’d have rival relationships with nearby schools, right?”
“Well…”
The rival relationship between Fairmont School and Alessandro School had surprisingly deep history.
In the early 80s, the principals of the two schools were friends.
Their friendship led to exchanges between the schools, but the problem was the significant income gap between Orange County and Silver Lake.
The 80s were an era when white supremacy ran rampant, incomparable to today.
“Back then, our seniors not only looked down on and ignored the Hawks students for being people of color, but crushed them with a cruel score.”
That was during the golden age of the Fairmont Little Pumas, when they dominated the AAA League.
“Ah.”
He understood what that meant.
Angered by such disrespect, the Alessandro Hawks kept proposing friendly matches, and that relationship had continued to this day.
“Though it eventually reversed.”
It was their own doing. Now he understood the club members’ fearful reactions toward the Alessandro Hawks.
“You never reconciled?”
“…Right?”
‘The rivalry will continue then.’
Johann shook his head and walked at the front through the corridor, entering the baseball field within the Fairmont School campus.
“Wow!”
“Johann, fighting!”
“Dominguez! Crush them-!”
The six-tier stands packed with parents and friends from both school baseball clubs.
Johann spotted Larry, Ada, Johnny, Emily, and Giselle waving their arms enthusiastically and waved back, then froze momentarily as he looked across the field.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the Alessandro Hawks players who were warming up first and glaring in their direction.
“So… those guys and us are rivals?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Those guys and us?”
The Alessandro Hawks players looked at least 2 inches (about 5cm) taller than the Fairmont Little Pumas members. In a sport where size was a weapon, especially in little league sports, 2 inches was a huge difference.
And as if that wasn’t enough, there was also one monster beyond normal specifications mixed in.
“That one? The monster you mentioned?”
“Right. 12 years old. One year older than us.”
Despite being only in 5th grade, he looked at least 6 feet (183cm) tall.
“Position is pitcher. Overhand.”
He was even the third batter.
“…He really is a monster.”
A ball that would come crashing down like a meteor from at least 7.5 feet (228cm) high.
Even Johann couldn’t help but be appalled.
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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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