The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 14

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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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[ SYSTEM – V1.0 ]

> This song is no longer a ‘sketch’.

> It will be registered as a ‘completed song’.

> Would you like to give it a title?

It was a notification I’d never seen before.

【Mercury】 didn’t have this kind of window pop up. Maybe that was because I was just transferring an already completed song.

‘A title, huh.’

After thinking for a moment, I scribbled this at the very top of the staff paper.

[ Fracture ]

A crack.

There couldn’t be a more fitting title for this song.

A melody born from dissonance. It held an ominous yet chillingly beautiful quality.

It was unique, but the completion level was somewhat lacking.

Even to my ears, the song had a strong raw feeling.

‘Sometimes rough and ominous melodies are more memorable.’

The public doesn’t always want smoothly refined music. This level would be fine to use as is, but it would also work excellently as ‘source material’.

Source material.

It’s like seasoning you put on top of a song.

Sometimes you take a phrase from a famous song from the past, someone remixes it, or adds arrangements to use it in a completely different direction.

These days, rather than creating entirely new songs, they often used this method of editing and utilizing various usable ‘sources’.

‘The problem is what to do with this.’

After thinking for a moment, I turned on the computer.

A familiar logo appeared on the screen.

‘Sound Place. Soundplace for short.’

A space where anyone could freely upload music, and anyone could listen.

It was a place where amateurs, professionals, and even world-class artists could all throw their songs under the same conditions.

Some would disappear buried with a dozen views and one or two likes. Others would suddenly catch someone’s ear one day and become the starting point of a worldwide hit.

For amateurs like me, it was both a land of opportunity and a kind of portfolio.

‘I need to create a new account first.’

I used to upload songs here when I was very young.

It was when I was in middle school or high school. I quickly lost interest after being disappointed by the terrible view counts.

‘I should have the ID and password I used back then somewhere. But I’ve completely forgotten them.’

Can’t help it. That’s too long ago for the current me.

I skipped the profile and photo entirely. When I reached the name input field, I hesitated for a moment before typing this.

‘YULE.’

It doesn’t have any special meaning.

When you pronounce Yun-seol quickly, it sounds like ‘Yul’.

I dragged the song file to the upload window.

Before clicking the mouse, I looked down at Nuri once. Her small eyes sparkled as she looked up at me.

“Right. This is just the beginning.”

[ Upload Complete ]

As soon as that notification appeared, I immediately turned off the computer.

It’s music released by a newcomer anyway. No matter how excellent the content, it means it’s in an environment where it’s hard to properly shine.

Maybe after building up several songs and proving my skills.

Just uploading this one thing wouldn’t make the world buzz or cause a commotion about some unprecedented genius appearing.

‘It’s more comfortable to just forget about it.’

That was the lesson I learned from past experience.

So I couldn’t predict at all.

What would happen afterward.

***

“Damn it. I’m really going crazy.”

At the Vtunes office, Min Chan-hyeok had been losing sleep for days.

His greasy hair was roughly pushed back with a headband, and he wore a t-shirt with a completely stretched-out collar.

Scratching his head and staring at the screen with bloodshot eyes, he looked like some mad scientist from a movie.

-Ring ring ring!

“Hup.”

Min Chan-hyeok was startled by the ringing phone, then gulped and answered it.

“Yes~, boss. I was actually going to contact you first. Haha. What perfect timing.”

-How’s the progress?

“Well, about that. Um. It’s almost done.”

-Almost done? Then can I see the results within a month?

“A, a month? That seems too tight…”

As Min Chan-hyeok trailed off, an angry shout immediately followed.

-Are you kidding me right now?! It’s already been 6 months!

“Ugh.”

-Our company’s star singer, Lee Ha-in’s comeback has been delayed 6 months! Do you know she’s already had a 2-year hiatus?

“But we gave you several songs as title track candidates, and you rejected them all saying you didn’t like them…”

-I can’t let her make a comeback with mediocre songs!

Yes, you’re right.

Everything you say is correct, boss.

Min Chan-hyeok finally managed to hang up after tearfully saying “yes, yes” repeatedly.

Along with shouting to somehow produce results he could be satisfied with within a month.

“Ow. My ears hurt. He’s got good lungs for his age.”

Min Chan-hyeok muttered while picking at his ear.

Though he said that, Min Chan-hyeok was equally anxious inside.

“Sigh. I guess I need to do some digging.”

Digging.

Long ago, it referred to hip-hop DJs searching through old records for samples, but now the meaning had expanded to discovering promising songs or finding usable source material.

Now it was no different from a daily routine for most composers.

Min Chan-hyeok opened Soundplace.

He skimmed through songs by beatmakers he occasionally dealt with and looked through portfolios of industry notables, but nothing immediately caught his fancy.

“Isn’t there some hidden gem source somewhere? Something amazingly good that others don’t know about, like a restaurant only I know.”

Naturally, good sources get used by multiple places. They become familiar and stale accordingly.

His finger was starting to hurt from all the scrolling.

Among countless tracks,

Min Chan-hyeok stopped his finger on an unfamiliar title.

> Fracture – by YULE

17 views.

17 likes.

‘What kind of numbers are these?’

Doesn’t this mean everyone who listened to the song gave it a ‘like’? Even if it’s only 17 people.

‘Did they buy accounts to manipulate the like count or something?’

These days people even buy individual followers with money. There was nothing stopping them from buying fake plays.

Though the number 17 seemed too modest for that to be the case.

‘Should I give it a listen?’

Min Chan-hyeok clicked without much expectation.

-♩♪♬♩….

As the first measure began to resonate, Min Chan-hyeok’s eyes widened.

His fingertips stiffened and wouldn’t move.

It was rough music, constantly uncomfortable somewhere due to dissonance, and strangely twisted.

And yet.

It grabbed his ears and wouldn’t let go.

It was as captivating as it was ominous. Min Chan-hyeok listened to the entire song without stopping it.

Nearly a minute passed in an instant.

“What is this?”

Min Chan-hyeok listened to the song once more. This time he closed his eyes and concentrated all his nerves on his ears.

‘Usually when amateurs use dissonance, it just becomes messy noise.’

This song was different.

The dissonance was intentionally structured. It exploded at precise points, then was resolved and transitioned into beautiful melodies.

While shaking up the listener,

The song’s structure ultimately converged into a somehow refreshing sense of satisfaction.

‘…There aren’t many who can pull off something like this.’

Min Chan-hyeok pressed his forehead.

This was definitely not the work of a newcomer.

This level of song density. And technique. Even the confidence melted into the song.

‘Did someone create a sub-account? I know all the decent composers out there. Who else has appeared in the meantime?’

A few composers who could create songs in this style flashed through his mind.

They were composers who were somewhat experimental and also good at bringing out trendiness.

But even among them, it was hard to find someone who could craft songs this delicately.

‘What exactly are you, YULE?’

He stared intently at the composer name, but that didn’t provide any answers.

‘There’s no introduction in the profile either. Oh my, no email address either?’

All YULE had left behind was just one song.

‘Fine. Going for the mysterious approach, I see.’

It didn’t matter either way.

But he wanted to secure this source before other guys might snatch it up. Already, various ideas about how to utilize this were bubbling up rapidly.

Min Chan-hyeok opened the message window without hesitation.

He wrote his business briefly but concisely.

[ Hello. This is Min Chan-hyeok, producer at Vtunes.

I listened to your uploaded 【Fracture】. I would like to contract it as a song source. If you leave your contact information or email address, I will convey the specific details. ]

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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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