The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 116

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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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A Former Idol Leads an Indie Band to Glory
Chapter 116
We booked JK Hall in Hongdae for the concert.
It was a venue that could accommodate around five hundred people.
The rental cost was steep, but if we filled the seating, we wouldn’t run a deficit.
The guest lineup included Distruction and Odyssey, same as last time.
Dam Jang Party couldn’t make it due to a broadcast schedule conflict.
Jo Sung Hoon Band wasn’t able to perform that day.
They had something else they needed to do.
Another skilled band from the scene filled that slot.
This time, Maruru Band joined us as well.
Ticket price was fifty thousand won.
For a Chart #1 artist, it was pretty cheap.
We weren’t working with a management company and didn’t have many staff members.
Since there was no money to split, setting the price at this level meant no loss.
We compiled all this information and made a poster.
-OKTOP: BAND NIGHT
The concert was called “BAND NIGHT.”
Runtime: three hours.
Running from seven in the evening to ten at night, this concert would go down in history.
* * *
The moment the poster went live on social media, reactions poured in.
-Yo our Chart #1 artist is performing lol
-Only 50k? That’s it?
└Biggest perk of indie band fandom is dirt cheap tickets
-Wait, Oktop’s really got that loyalty, check out the guest list
-Maruru? They hit #1 with that one and then went quiet, now they’re debuting here?
└They put out an album……ㅠㅠ
└Released two actually but they didn’t get much response……..
-This time I’m definitely going, for real
-I also wanna see Oktop indoors instead of Ban-Wol Park ㅠㅠ
-JK Hall huh, Oktop’s pretty big
└Is it a big venue?
└Pretty well-known artists perform there often
-A Chart #1 indie band is seriously rare gotta go for sure
Over a thousand comments dropped instantly after uploading.
Fresh off the OKTOP Core phenomenon that had swept the world, people’s interest was at peak level.
Plus, a Chart #1 artist’s concert for just fifty thousand won.
For three hours, no less, with excellent guests to enjoy.
It felt like not going would be a waste.
Five hundred seats capacity.
Over a thousand comments.
This ticket reservation was predicted to be another bloodbath.
* * *
A few days later.
The ticket booking platform was announced and people erupted again.
-Oktop BAND NIGHT ticket applications available at the link below.
-[Application Form Link]
-First come, first served, 500 slots.
-Winners will receive payment account info via text.
-To prevent resale, entry will be denied if the name on the deposit doesn’t match the applicant.
It wasn’t a major ticketing site.
Just an application form on one website.
Name, contact, number of people, then bank transfer.
A Chart #1 artist was selling tickets using the same form you’d use for a neighborhood gathering.
The way Oktop used to, back when they were really small.
-Application form real?? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Wait a Chart #1 artist is selling tickets through an application form?
└This is peak Oktop, so Oktop
-Order is by deposit confirmation so get ready everyone
-What is this, course registration?
-Ah they don’t have a company so that’s why right?
└Yeah an indie band can’t exactly access ticketing systems lol
└Oh right, when you think about it that makes sense
-Something feels off lol why is a famous artist taking applications like this
It became a joke, but that kind of thing just fuels the hype.
And the competition was fierce enough to warrant it.
When tickets opened.
The five hundred-capacity application form closed in under a minute.
Once five hundred applicants were reached, the link automatically shut down.
Filling it was instantaneous.
-It closed???
-Wait I literally clicked the second it started but by the time I finished entering info it was done?
-Guys come on, you gotta change the system or something, what is this…….
-First time seeing an application form closed screen
-What the hell, unreal, how fast are these people’s hands??
-Ugh…… I can’t go, lifetime regret
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I’m going~ lucky me
└Man so jealous
-Guess I’ll have to get a resold ticket…….
-I was nervous cuz it said Chart #1 artist then relaxed cuz it was an application form but seeing it sold out hit different……..
└So you got one?
└Nope
└ㅠㅠ
Without a single marketing push from a major agency, Oktop had filled all five hundred seats in one minute flat.
For Oktop it wasn’t difficult, but for the indie band scene, it was a miracle.
* * *
Once the sold-out news spread, anticipation for the concert swelled even higher.
People who couldn’t get into BAND NIGHT were demanding behind-the-scenes footage or something.
Illegally resold tickets climbed to several times face value.
Around that time, in the Practice Room.
“Hey, what’s with selling resold tickets for three hundred thousand?”
“Over here they’re going for five hundred thousand?”
“Yeah but the deposit name has to match, so what resold tickets.”
“Jeez, you jackass!”
Resales naturally didn’t work.
Since we had no way to verify how much a ticket was being resold for, we had no choice but to take this extreme measure.
“Hey, got all the songs?”
While discussing the scalpers, Kim Ji Hu checked his email.
The guest bands’ setlists had arrived.
We’d already confirmed the songs from Distruction, Odyssey, and two other bands.
Now Maruru Band’s track list had come in.
Looking it over, they were all older songs.
Not songs made by the company, but tracks that really captured Maruru Band’s identity.
I’d been curious what they’d prepare, and the result was solid.
This stage wasn’t just a joint concert.
It was a chance to show the whole world what “authentic” beats “packaged.”
Or more specifically, to make their company see it loud and clear.
* * *
And then.
Concert day arrived.
The area outside JK Hall was already teeming with people.
Fans dressed in the OKTOP Core style.
Leather jackets and suede outers despite the warming weather.
A long line stretching out.
Five hundred excited fans radiating heat outside the Hongdae venue.
“Ahhhhh!”
“It’s Lee Do Young! It’s Lee Do Young!”
“Ha, hey everyone……!”
Lee Do Young, arms full of bottled water, headed into the venue.
Fans immediately recognized him and let out screams.
He looked embarrassed, gave a shy greeting, and slipped into the venue.
“That’s strange.”
“Seriously weird, why’s he carrying the water in himself?”
“It’s an indie band.”
“Cognitive dissonance band.”
It was probably the same feeling as going to an idol concert only to see the artist carrying water bottles themselves.
It felt inevitably odd.
* * *
“Wow, Ji Hu. There’s a huge crowd outside.”
“Yeah?”
Lee Do Young set down the water and filled me in on the situation outside.
He looked thrilled.
He put the water in the Waiting Room, sat down, and started practicing Bass.
“Hey, go talk to them.”
Then Cha Seo Ha approached.
Gesturing toward Maruru Band with his chin.
“Me? Why?”
“You’re the right person for it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Without answering, Cha Seo Ha headed toward Distruction.
Guy’s always got demands.
I surveyed one corner of the Waiting Room with reluctance.
Maruru Band.
The company hadn’t even assigned them a stylist, so all five were checking their own clothes and instruments.
While the other guests were loudly goofing around,
they stood noticeably apart.
Right person for it, huh….
“Yo, can I trash-talk you guys today too?”
“That’s tired, hyung.”
Kang Min and Im Hyun Taek were joking around.
“What, it’s fun.”
“You old guys don’t know how to dial it back.”
“What? You wanna die?”
Their banter made everyone laugh.
As I was about to go talk to Maruru Band, I noticed Choi Woo Young messing with a synthesizer nearby.
“Did you customize this?”
“Yeah, plug this in and you get more sound options.”
“Can I try?”
“Of course.”
My hand moved before I could think.
I pressed the keyboard a few times, and the tone was definitely different.
“Wow, how much was this?”
“Around eight hundred?”
“Hmm…….”
“Dude, Kim Ji Hu’s totally serious about this?”
Heo Jun Sung’s snickering came from behind, but I ignored it.
I had something Cha Seo Ha asked me to do.
After naturally moving around a bit, I walked toward Maruru Band.
“You guys ready?”
When I spoke, Min Hyun A looked up, slightly surprised.
“Oh, well… sort of.”
Her answer was listless for someone who’d been a monster of the Hongdae Scene.
Until last year, this band was known by everyone who mattered in the scene.
But now they didn’t quite fit with this group.
Wearing clothes someone else picked out, singing songs someone else chose, they’d lost their own color completely.
Their look felt strangely familiar to me.
“…Actually, I was trying to go to medical school until pretty recently.”
The words came out before I realized.
“…Pardon?”
“My whole family’s doctors, so I figured I had to be one too.”
Min Hyun A and the members behind her widened their eyes.
“People were trying to force me down a path they’d decided was safe.”
“…….”
“But if I’d kept going like that, I almost forgot who I actually was.”
I looked around the Waiting Room.
Loud, chaotic.
Excited about work that didn’t even pay.
But everyone here had that alive look to their faces.
“Being here is what feels real to me.”
I felt oddly self-conscious after saying just that.
“You guys should show the real Maruru Band today, not what the company told you to do.”
Min Hyun A stared at me for a long moment.
Then she slowly opened her mouth.
“Both Cha Seo Ha and you are….”
She paused, choosing her words.
“Pretty funny kids, aren’t you?”
“Compared to those two over there, I’m not funny at all.”
I glanced at Kang Min and Heo Jun Sung, who were over the moon with excitement.
“Heh….”
Maruru Band laughed at my words.
“Thanks.”
And the lightness gradually returned to the members’ eyes.
“Do well out there.”
I turned and left, leaving just that behind.
When I got back to our group, Cha Seo Ha was watching me closely.
“Did it go well?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“Don’t ask me to do stuff like that again.”
“Huh, why? You’re good at talking.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“But their expressions changed, so you must’ve done fine.”
Looking at Maruru Band when Cha Seo Ha mentioned it, their faces had definitely shifted.
I was annoyed I’d dumped my family stuff on people I barely knew,
but if it helped someone, that felt like enough.
He’d done the same for me, after all.
“Still, don’t ask me again.”
“Got it. Got it…….”

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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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