The Hit Song of This Life Is Revenge - Chapter 7

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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 hit song of this life is revenge.
Episode 7
The moment she stepped out the door, the wind swept through Lee Jae-i’s hair.
Her feverish forehead cooled down in an instant.
Strangely, she felt like something wonderful was going to happen today.
It might not be a groundless premonition.
“Wow, it’s beautiful.”
She looked up at the sky without thinking.
A clear, deep azure that seemed to stretch on forever.
The cloudless view painted her vision like a sprawling canvas.
She was on her way to buy a new SIM card.
The intense sunlight made her squint slightly, but the cool breeze caressing her arms whenever she stepped into the shade felt refreshing.
Jae-i intentionally began walking only beneath the shadows of the roadside trees.
Tap, tap, clink.
As she strolled along, the low, scraping sound of clashing metal caught her ear.
Turning a corner into an alley, the noise became much sharper and clearer.
A small crowd had gathered in one spot.
‘What is that?’
In the center of the huddle, a man who looked like he had just crawled out of a dense thicket caught her eye.
He wore a faded, washed-out T-shirt, and his hair was tangled into practically a single mass.
Next to him stood a cardboard sign that read, [Please Help Me].
The man was singing, using an old tin can to beat out a steady rhythm.
‘His pitch is a bit of a disaster, though…’
While he certainly didn’t lack confidence, he was constantly veering out of tune.
Wishing his rhythm were at least a bit more precise, Jae-i suddenly remembered the ukulele inside her bag.
‘Maybe I could help him keep time?’
As she rummaged through her bag, debating the idea, her eyes locked right with his.
“[I know that instrument!]”
He shouted, pointing at Jae-i’s half-zippered backpack, and the eyes of the crowd instantly shifted to her.
The man gestured, inviting Jae-i into the middle of the alley.
Jae-i blinked, hesitating.
‘Out of nowhere?’
Her fingertips, which had been resting on the ukulele, recoiled slightly in embarrassment.
The scrutiny of the crowd, the cramped space within the alley, and the man’s beckoning hand.
Everything felt overwhelming, yet a quiet whisper echoed from deep within her heart, urging her to give it a try.
Just then, a couple standing beside Jae-i stepped slightly to the side.
A burst of courage leaked through the small opening that appeared before her feet.
‘Should I actually do it?’
Taking a steadying breath, she slowly took a step forward.
“[I’m Mark. And you?]”
“[I’m Jae-i.]”
“[Jae-i! This is a magic tin can.]”
That tin can was exactly the problem.
Appearing thrilled by the sudden collaboration, Mark quickly began tapping his palms against it to set the tempo.
Jae-i nervously turned the ukulele over in her hands.
Glancing around, she saw expectant gazes directed at her from every angle.
Her heart began to thud against her ribs.
As her fingertips grew slightly damp, a strange flutter of excitement bloomed alongside her anxiety.
‘Yeah, why not? There’s nothing to be ashamed of.’
Her biggest regret before her death had been never properly singing in front of people, so in a way, this was an opportunity.
If that was the case, there was no reason to hesitate.
She gently plucked the first string of her ukulele.
Following the man’s beat at first, she subtly shifted the tempo at just the right moment to take control of the rhythm.
For the first few measures, she repeated a simple chord progression to establish a harmonious atmosphere.
Right around the time the onlookers began nodding along, Jae-i opened her mouth.
“[Hello, it’s a beautiful morning.]”
She wove the melody as if naturally greeting the crowd.
Her bright, unforced vocal color resonated clearly through the air.
With a radiant expression, she moved on to the next lyric.
“[It’s the same sunlight, but today marks a fresh start.]”
Jae-i knew precisely how to capture the audience’s ears.
The melody was neither cliché nor jarringly unfamiliar.
A pleasant rhythm settled along the pavement, and she stacked her notes gracefully on top of it.
As emotion poured into her vocals, the surrounding atmosphere shifted.
No one had instructed them to do so, but the onlookers had begun tapping their toes to the beat.
She carried the notes forward without any unnecessary embellishments.
There was no artificial bending or dragging of the sound.
Yet, that very simplicity allowed the music to sink deeper and more profoundly into their chests.
The crowd was utterly captivated by her, and standing at the epicenter of their attention, Jae-i grew increasingly confident.
‘I’m actually doing this.’
This wasn’t just a moment of performing a song.
It felt as though her voice transcended their hearing and connected directly to their hearts.
That quiet realization powerfully heightened Jae-i’s senses.
“[With this flutter in my heart, I know it’s going to be a perfect day.]”
Jae-i’s final line concluded with a refreshing smile.
The sheer vitality carried by her luminous voice painted the surroundings with brightness.
In her past life, such confidence would have been entirely unimaginable.
Twenty-two years old.
It was an age where one could get away with anything and still receive cheers.
‘Who cares if I’m a little bold?’
Though her exterior was young and fresh, a lifetime of weathered seasons was neatly stacked within her heart, making such a polished finish possible.
Exclamations of awe erupted from the spectators.
A person stepped forward and dropped a bill directly into the tin can with a crisp snap.
Mark caught the excitement, standing up entirely to thrash his tin can like a drum.
Matching his energy, she immediately gripped the strings again without even pausing to catch her breath.
By now, several people in the crowd had pulled out their cell phones.
Camera lenses pointed her way, and Jae-i met them with glittering eyes.
The clinking tin can was soon overflowing with paper currency.
Smiles spread across the faces of the audience, and pure ecstasy washed over Mark’s features.
When the performance concluded, Mark lifted the cash-filled tin can with one hand.
“[I’ll give all of this to you. In exchange, could you perform with me at Big Spot? Just for half an hour.]”
She needed to go buy her SIM card, but for some reason, the proposal was incredibly tempting.
The recent cheering and the expressions on people’s faces had given her a thrilling rush.
‘Half an hour should be fine, right?’
When Jae-i nodded, his face lit up with a brilliant smile, and he led the way.
* * *
Taking advantage of a brief lull, Kang Ki-baek took a sip of his coffee.
He was currently browsing Nutube videos.
His search terms were ‘rookie female singer’ and ‘discovering new talent.’
Just in case, he had already scrolled through several pages, but the videos filling his screen failed to spark his interest.
Setting his coffee cup down, he closed the Nutube window.
As a natural consequence, the algorithm adjusted to his search history and pulled up a regional news article.

‘A young Asian girl?’
That single, short line made his fingers freeze.
Normally, he would have skipped right past it, but this time was different.
His finger was already clicking on the article.
A video was attached beneath a brief summary.
The moment he hit the play button, the screen flickered to life.
On a concrete sidewalk, the silhouettes of a heavily bearded man and a delicate woman holding an instrument appeared.
Though the video quality was poor, Ki-baek recognized her instantly.
‘Lee Jae-i.’
Whistles pierced the air from all directions, responding to her effortlessly soaring high notes.
Her talent alone was more than enough to turn the middle of a bustling city into a grand stage.
The video lasted barely two minutes.
Even though it was a mere one-line article, public commentary was already piling up underneath.
└Is she a professional singer? Her vocal volume is on a completely different level from an amateur.
└What agency is she with? This news marketing angle is pretty fresh.
└Didn’t the person who filmed this video direct it themselves?
He let out a quiet breath.
The raw energy transmitted through the monitor made his heart race.
Was it excitement? Or anticipation?
An indescribable thrill seemed to ripple through him.
One of the comments even had a shorter snippet attached.
Ki-baek clicked it without a second thought.
— With this flutter in my heart, I know it’s going to be a perfect day.
Ki-baek’s eyes locked with Jae-i’s as she offered a radiant smile.
Before he knew it, he covered his mouth and let out a breathless chuckle.
Her face was completely different from when she had been drooling on the airplane.
A dazzling, brilliant smile.
If the word ‘refreshing’ could take a physical form, it would look exactly like this.
‘I have to get Lee Jae-i on a festival stage.’
The conviction struck him before he could even vocalize the thought.
He immediately opened his email inbox.
‘I can’t just sit around and wait.’
Ki-baek began typing out a message requesting a meeting with her.
Just as he finished polishing the sentences and was about to press the send button, his phone vibrated.
It was an unfamiliar number.
“This is Kang Ki-baek.”
— Hello.
It was Jae-i’s voice, the very one that had been singing through his screen just moments ago.
— I’m Lee Jae-i. Do you happen to remember me?
A silence stretched for a few seconds, as if time itself had ground to a halt.
Ki-baek quickly collected his thoughts and arranged a time to meet her.
“Then, I will see you there tomorrow.”
He hung up the phone and looked down at his screen.
A clean, rectangular notification window caught his eye.
[Email sent successfully.]
“…Well, then.”
A smile that completely contradicted his sigh spread across Ki-baek’s lips.

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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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