The Hit Song of This Life Is Revenge - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The audience had already tasted a brief moment of ecstasy and disappointment.
The expressions remaining on the faces of those in the crowd were delicate and complicated.
Baek Song-ha’s stage was over.
The audience’s expectations had stalled right there.
‘Just as much as we practiced.’
If they could only feel exactly that much.
The formation had their backs turned to the crowd.
As darkness fell over the stage, Lee Jae-i closed her eyes.
The breath she inhaled settled like fog at the bottom of her chest.
Her teammates let out their breath as well.
“Whew…”
Even without looking, the cord connecting their hearts pulled taut.
A silent conversation woven with tension and encouragement.
Amidst it all, Jae-i listened closely to a single voice floating back to her.
‘Don’t worry about how it’ll look on the broadcast monitor, just focus on the stage. Though I know you’ll do great.’
Kang Ki-baek’s encouragement had been blunt, but his voice lingered in her heart for a long time.
‘The feeling of someone truly believing in me…’
Confidence sprouted in the direction that sensation pushed her.
Graphics resembling submergence in water made it look as though the stage had been swallowed whole.
Jae-i slowly lifted her eyelids.
When the ripples stop, the intro begins.
Right now.
Chut-.
A single transparent note floated up.
The kick sound swelled from the floor.
Before the rhythm even began, her heart chased the tempo first.
‘One, two, three.’
The hi-hat lightly sliced through the air, and as the notes piled on one by one, they turned around in sequence from the left.
Spotlights clicked on simultaneously, one by one.
By the time everyone had turned around, the waves cleared and the stage transformed into brilliant sunshine.
. The theme of the stage they prepared today was the brightest part of life.
They had to convey that feeling to the audience.
To make someone enjoy themselves, a mindset of simply putting on a show was not enough.
Standing in the center, Jae-i was the first to step forward toward the camera and the audience seating.
Jae-i’s grip on the microphone tightened a fraction more.
With a vibrant smile, she parted her lips.
“Ha-hi.”
The first lyrics scattered into the air, drifting toward the audience seating.
At the clear, crisp tone, the audience’s anxiety shifted into anticipation.
Then, trailing a beat behind, Kim Se-jin attached the next line of lyrics.
“Ha ha-hi.”
The pitch was accurate, but Se-jin’s voice sounded a bit stiff, laced with lingering tension.
‘No. It needs to be softer.’
Jae-i lightly caught the beat and took Se-jin’s hand.
Though Se-jin flinched at first, Jae-i could feel the tension melting away from her teammate through the shared warmth.
The choreography required them to drift apart for Yeon Eun-soo’s entrance.
Just before letting go, Jae-i threw a glance, and Se-jin looked back at her.
A smile was spreading across her lips.
‘Right. Enjoy it just like that.’
Swallowing her internal cheer for Se-jin, Jae-i turned around.
The fine beats fragmented, and Eun-soo surged to the front of the stage with the remaining two members.
After two lines of lyrics, a long, extended intro section followed.
This unconventional arrangement was the precise reason Judge Choi Du-o had selected the song.
‘This is as far as my advice goes. Discuss any ad-libs or additional staging with your team.’
Matching a group dance with razor-sharp precision wouldn’t guarantee a win here.
They would only lag behind Baek Song-ha’s stage, which was already structured like a professional dance crew.
So, instead of ‘precision of movement,’ they chose ‘the visualization of song.’
The viewers watching through the screen would also have expectations for a stage advised by a stage director.
Jae-i had emphasized immersion to her teammates throughout the entire practice period.
Don’t just show off; make them get sucked in.
While the audience’s eyes remained fixed on the three members’ dance, Jae-i and Se-jin stepped off to the side of the stage.
And now, as the notes overlapped.
“From here, to here.”
The teammates at the front of the stage belted out the lyrics in unison.
It was a section absent from the original song, but boldness was necessary.
The moment they focused solely on dancing, their shortcomings would be exposed.
A line was drawn straight across the screen behind the stage, spanning the exact distance between Jae-i and Se-jin.
Then, like a highlighter, the lighting spread along it, tinting the stage with yellow afterimages.
At that exact moment, a harmony erupted.
“High-light!”
Se-jin’s voice, layered over Jae-i’s, no longer held any stiffness.
The teammates gathered naturally through choreography that glided backward.
A straight line formation fell into place on the precise beat.
‘We did it.’
Along with the silent exclamation inside her, a thrill shot down from the crown of her head.
Movements that had repeatedly faltered and misaligned during countless practices locked perfectly into place on stage.
They moved their bodies as if connecting each other’s shadows with their fingertips.
Then, their shoulders opened at the exact same angle on the next beat.
It was the result of their efforts to make a highly structured routine look entirely free-spirited.
The waveforms on the graphic spread along the trajectories of the five girls.
Near the end of the intro, a bright light illuminated Jae-i’s face.
The single note that started kept its resonance alive without breaking.
Just as the reverb rippled out to the edges and bounced back off the walls.
“A life you call boring. But I see, shine your light.”
Jae-i poured out her refreshing vocals.
The members executed the choreography tailored to the lyrics.
When it came to the choreography, Eun-soo’s opinion had been absolute.
‘It’s not about dancing well; you have to express it accurately. Like you’ve actually discovered something right here. Got it?’
As the phrases she had heard countless times flashed past, Jae-i adjusted the angles of her shoulders and legs to match.
It was still an unfamiliar segment to the audience.
Yet, even without seeing their expressions clearly, the sensation of the shadows in the crowd shifting was unmistakable.
If they had grown accustomed to the beat, the timing was flawless.
Before transitioning to the chorus, the formation scattered across the stage.
“From here, to here.”
The lights traced lines across the stage, following the paths of the five girls.
With a chorus, the choreography swept the audience in as they gathered in the center once more, a single spotlight dropping over them.
“The highlight of your life.”
As the backing tracks layered over one another, the atmosphere shifted into that of the familiar song.
A tremor rippled through the audience seating, spreading like a silent wave.
It wasn’t an illusion.
The expressions of the teammates completely transformed as they felt the stage and the audience gradually becoming one.
“Troubles, ha-ha-ha-ha. Just laugh them off. Because right now is the brightest.”
Pure joy was melted into Se-jin’s voice as she delivered the lines.
As if cutting her off, Jae-i threw out the next lyric.
“High-light.”
The moment the line famous from commercial films filled the space, the shadows in the audience seating stirred in unison.
“Wow!!”
At the roar of the crowd, Son Hyun-joo, the producer watching the stage from behind the audience seating, let her lips curl up sharply.
She had doubted whether they could surpass Baek Song-ha’s impact.
Peering over the swaying shoulders of the audience, Hyun-joo let out a chuckle.
‘Pure drama…’
The people’s reactions intensified as the song pushed into outright, exhilarating fun.
It was a reaction akin to people attending a concert of their favorite artist.
The camera director was frantic, trying to capture footage of the crowd.
The wide-reaching lyrics reached Hyun-joo’s ears as well.
“You’re ready, right? The moment to climb high-high.”
And the next part erupted from the audience seating as well.
“Highlight!”
Even after the intense hook passed, the people remained locked onto the stage.
The song reached its climax.
The lights shining on Jae-i and Se-jin narrowed, focusing tightly on them.
“Ha-ah-ah-.”
The high notes stacked up to a dizzying height.
Sounds that felt as if they would burst the air overlapped along each other’s breath.
When notes soared this high, it was bound to feel precarious, but the perfectly blending harmony piled on anticipation instead.
Just how much better could it sound?
The two voices supported each other effortlessly, showing no sign of shaking.
Furthermore, the blend of their vocal colors sounded incredibly charming when mixed.
It offered a sense of stability, as if their voices were weaving a single pattern.
“High-life!”
The cleanly dropping lyric brought a rush of pure satisfaction.
To think she was genuinely enjoying a stage as a producer.
Hyun-joo snapped back to reality and brought the walkie-talkie to her lips.
“Catch them in an ending close-up.”
– Understood.
As the song headed toward its final stretch, the emotions deepened.
By the time the final formation locked into place, Jae-i’s face was caught in a tight close-up on the monitor.
Her expression showed her smiling while catching her breath heavily toward the camera.
‘Great visuals.’
It was a shot where even a caption reading ‘Perfect Live’ wouldn’t seem excessive.
This kind of naturalness was far more appealing.
Hadn’t she seen enough people acting pretty to last a lifetime?
The moment the final beat dropped.
The five trainees froze in the center of the stage, their hands resting on each other’s shoulders.
It felt as if her nerve endings were coming alive.
Because this was a stage that would be talked about for a very long time.
‘I have to bring out that part perfectly.’
Hyun-joo began editing the sequence in her head.
The lingering afterimage of the first stage had already faded to a blur in her mind.
However, there was one person who couldn’t enjoy that stage.
Following the contours of Jae-i’s figure displayed on the waiting room screen, Baek Song-ha embedded dense malice into her gaze.
Her fingertips grew colder at the sound of the audience’s applause.
Staring at the smile in the ending shot, Song-ha slowly pressed her lips together.
‘First place.’
The heat spreading inside her dispersed like steam in her mouth.
‘Is mine.’
That brief sentence felt less like a resolve and closer to a warning.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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