The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 99

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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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The stage lighting slowly dimmed and then gradually brightened again.

It was after the fifth participant had greeted and stepped down. The air inside the performance hall relaxed slightly.

“They’re all doing well.”

Cho Yun-je crossed his arms and muttered.

It wasn’t bad.

The structure was clean, and the technique wasn’t lacking. But that was all.

There wasn’t that one strike that hit right to the heart.

The applause bursting from here and there in the audience somehow felt hollow. Cho Yun-je nodded his head and evaluated inwardly.

‘6.5 out of 10 points.’

It was a cold assessment.

Considering that score was the highest among the students who had performed so far.

“How is it? Worth listening to?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

Park Hee-jae smiled quietly beside him. The notebook in his hand was densely filled with something.

“Did you transcribe it by ear?”

“Just the important parts.”

Taking a glance, chords, tempo, and rhythm were all neatly organized without missing a single detail.

It was exactly the same structure that Cho Yun-je had grasped.

‘He has good ears even though he’s a freshman.’

Cho Yun-je looked at Park Hee-jae with new eyes.

“How was it? That piece just now.”

“Hmm, the stable structure was impressive. The way jazz style was sophisticatedly added, and it felt like film music too. But…”

Park Hee-jae muttered quietly.

“I think they could have shown more. It’s disappointing.”

An accurate judgment. Cho Yun-je chuckled.

‘When did such an interesting freshman enter?’

His evaluation of Park Hee-jae, whom he had thought of as just another passing student, was completely rewritten.

And once more, the lighting on stage changed.

The sixth participant appeared with bright light.

-The sixth participant, student Mun Ah-rin!

As her name was called with the announcer’s introduction, small gasps leaked from somewhere.

“Oh my. How pretty.”

“She looks like a magazine cover model.”

Murmurs spread throughout the audience. Understandably so, as Mun Ah-rin bathed in the spotlight looked exactly like a forest fairy taking her first step.

The beads densely embedded on her clear light green dress sparkled brilliantly following Mun Ah-rin’s movements.

When she gently bowed her head to greet the judges, gentle smiles spread among the judges as if they were looking at their granddaughter.

Mun Ah-rin approached the microphone and gave a brief introduction of her piece.

“The title of the piece is ‘PRISM’. The scene I can’t forget is from my childhood, watching sunlight pass through glass fragments. The light shattered into pieces, and it couldn’t have been more beautiful.”

Everyone nodded pleasantly at her clear voice that sounded like a nightingale singing.

“I wanted to paint that scene with sound.”

As she bowed, applause poured out. Mun Ah-rin walked toward the piano.

She sat in the chair and straightened her back.

After taking a breath,

-♪

The first note fell.

Over the melody laid low by her left hand, her right hand built slightly misaligned harmonies.

Exquisitely, so they wouldn’t completely mesh together.

The subtly twisted rhythm added another layer of momentum.

Like light rays passing through glass fragments, each bending at slightly different angles.

‘Wow.’

Cho Yun-je unconsciously covered his mouth with his hand. In case he might unconsciously let out an exclamation.

A subtle unease brushing past his ears, and as the unease surged up, it immediately connected to the next harmony.

Light overlapped, and overlapped, and overlapped again.

A rainbow appeared in the air.

Thin shadows created by passing through window glass were also cast.

From Mun Ah-rin’s fingertips, countless musical ideas arose and faded away.

‘This is good.’

Such an evaluation reflexively popped out.

It was really good. It far exceeded the level that could come from a school competition.

Apart from the dizzying completeness of the piece, Cho Yun-je’s gaze caught on Mun Ah-rin’s fingertips.

The length of breathing, the degree of phrasing, the tension in her hands.

A subtle sense of discord lingered for a moment, then disappeared without a trace as if it had never been there.

Cho Yun-je narrowed his eyes. But what he had glimpsed for an instant didn’t reveal itself again.

-♬♩♪

The piece was already approaching its conclusion.

After a precarious melody continued like crossing a dangerous bridge, her right hand drew a gentle ending.

An incompletely resolved lingering feeling cast deep shadows.

Her hands lifted from the keys.

“…”

“…”

Even knowing it was over, everyone maintained silence. Only then did Cho Yun-je realize he had forgotten even to breathe.

Clap clap clap clap clap!

“Waaaah!”

“Whew!”

Thunderous cheers poured out belatedly. People continuously let out exclamations.

“Wow, that’s insane.”

“A student composed this?”

“This is no joke.”

The judges could also be seen moving busily. Someone whispered with the person next to them, someone else flipped through the sheet music again.

‘…10 points.’

Cho Yun-je muttered inwardly.

It was a piece so good it gave him chills. He could clearly feel that the audience had fallen into a cauldron of excitement. Understandably so.

Wasn’t there once a university song festival where someone intuited the grand prize after hearing the first measure?

It would be a similar feeling.

The moment he heard Mun Ah-rin’s piece, Cho Yun-je desperately realized. That he would probably keep mulling over this piece.

And that through countless repetitions, he would become disappointed in himself for not being able to surpass this piece.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come.’

Cho Yun-je got a headache from his drastically raised standards.

On stage, Mun Ah-rin caught her breath and stood up. As she bowed with a slightly relaxed expression, another wave of enthusiasm poured out.

“Waaaaaaah!”

Clap clap clap clap!

Receiving all those cheers, Mun Ah-rin smiled brightly.

The spotlight shone even more brilliantly on her beautiful figure.

With a bit of exaggeration, she looked like a goddess who might appear in dreams.

‘If she looks like this to my eyes, that says it all.’

Cho Yun-je was someone with an admittedly sky-high aesthetic sense. For him to have such impressions while looking at Mun Ah-rin, whom he didn’t even view favorably.

Glancing to the side, Park Hee-jae had his mouth wide open.

He looked exactly like someone completely smitten with Mun Ah-rin.

Joy, overwhelming emotion, ecstasy and deep feeling surged.

‘…Even if she’s a close senior, do people usually get this moved?’

Cho Yun-je tilted his head.

Well, she seemed to have good hearing. If she was emotionally sensitive, it was entirely possible.

-Now we will proceed with the judges’ Q&A session.

The spotlight fell on the judges’ panel.

The first person to pick up the microphone was the man sitting in the center.

He slightly adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.

“Student Mun Ah-rin. ‘PRISM’—even the title was very impressive.”

He took a brief breath before continuing.

“It was interesting how you musically expressed that refraction of light. That part where the rhythm subtly twists—I was amazed at how exquisitely you expressed the visual imagery.”

His finger pointed to a specific section on the sheet music.

“I’m curious whether this was thoroughly calculated, or if you instinctively knew what level wouldn’t sound uncomfortable to the ear.”

In response, Mun Ah-rin carefully gripped the microphone.

“It wasn’t a piece that took long to compose. Rather than calculation, I think I composed it following my heart.”

Her answer drew exclamations of “Oh my.”

“You’re a genius.”

“Indeed you are.”

The sound of the judges quietly exchanging words was clearly audible through the microphone.

“Even though it’s such a structural piece, the melody doesn’t feel difficult. This requires some innate sense to achieve.”

Pleasant praise continued.

“We have high expectations.”

“Thank you!”

Mun Ah-rin bowed her head deeply. All the words that followed were also praise directed at Mun Ah-rin.

The announcer took the microphone again.

-Yes, we’ll conclude the Q&A session here. Student Mun Ah-rin, thank you for your hard work.

Clap clap clap!

Applause erupted once more. When Mun Ah-rin gave her final greeting, even louder cheers burst forth than before.

“Thank you. Thank you!”

The smile spreading across Mun Ah-rin’s lips grew even deeper.

After Mun Ah-rin exited, people began to murmur.

“Isn’t the grand prize already decided?”

“No need to see more.”

“Will that piece from earlier be officially released? When will we be able to hear it?”

Everyone was still caught up in the lingering impression Mun Ah-rin had left behind.

-Next, our seventh participant is waiting. Please welcome them with applause!

Step, step.

Seol walked out.

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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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