The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 124

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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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My Past Life as an Idol, Now Carrying an Indie Band
Chapter 124
– NewMber – Greeting (Oktatop Band Cover)
A video uploaded without any warning.
It was NewMber’s “Greeting” covered and rearranged in band style by Oktatop.
The original’s clean, refreshing synthesizer was stripped away entirely, replaced by Heo Jun Sung’s intense guitar.
Kim Ji Hu’s sharp synthesizer work kept the original’s feeling alive.
Lee Do Young’s rhythmic bass and Kang Min’s flashy drumming erased the original’s mainstream appeal and elevated the song to new heights.
The vocal part sung by five members in the original needed only Seo Ha to cover it alone.
Shot in the band practice room.
A simple production without Jo Sung Hoon’s help.
Just a few phone cameras set up and some basic editing.
Not a carefully constructed production, but rather a video that felt like friends gathering to jam together.
The original “Greeting.”
It had the clean, youthful freshness you’d expect from a rookie boy group.
And that was a color that suited Oktatop perfectly.
Oktatop singing and playing with a playful air.
Because all three elements meshed so well, despite their casual approach, the final product carried remarkable weight.
-Oh? First cover song on the channel
-Wow the song is so good
-Wait, is this an idol song? Why idol music all of a sudden?
-Wow ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Thank you so much our NewMber guys work really hard and the songs are all great. Thanks so much for the cover ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Wait the song is good though? Even if you said it was an Oktatop song I’d believe it, fits so well
-Hmm… youth incarnate. Isn’t this the next trilogy after Rendezvous and Oceans?
-Could you please release a remake? I want to listen to it all the time ㅠㅠ
The video climbed steadily in view count, starting from 100,000 right after upload and rising consistently.
And naturally, Im Jun Myung confirmed the video and the reactions with his company colleagues.
“Wow, wow! It really went up!”
“Insane, the response is really good!”
“Look at how fast the views are climbing… Oktatop’s definitely popular these days.”
“What in the world is happening……”
“Will we get famous too……”
The company employees all spoke in unison, marveling at this windfall.
And Im Jun Myung stood up from his seat.
“Then, I’ll go do some filming.”
“Yeah, do great! You have to do really well!”
“Yes!”
Im Jun Myung headed to the company recording studio.
He’d planned to shoot the guitar cover video that Seo Ha had asked for today.
It was a shoot that could be finished quickly if he just wanted to get it done.
But because a famous top artist had personally come to request it, he wanted to put maximum effort into producing the video.
A place that suited every consideration—location, lighting, and sound.
That place was the company recording studio.
Under warm stage lighting, Im Jun Myung focused all his attention and began to play.
In front of a camera held by his manager.
Though it was just a performance before a single person.
Im Jun Myung felt a strange sensation.
Impossible as it seemed, he felt as if hundreds, thousands—no, millions of people were contained within that lens.
And they were watching him.
He told himself it was naturally just the anticipation that their music might gain some fame thanks to Oktatop’s video uploaded moments ago.
He thought his heart was just getting ahead of itself.
But somehow……
This illusion that many people were watching his performance right now……
Wasn’t mere excitement.
It felt like a moment of glimpsing some possibility like a miracle.
Im Jun Myung felt his chest grow hot.
That feeling of this moment seeped entirely into his performance.
* * *
The next day, a video was uploaded to NewMber’s official channel.
– Oktatop – Fire Truck (JM Guitar Cover)
There was nothing special to edit.
Seo Ha hadn’t asked for a long video.
Just a short twenty-second clip.
He’d specifically requested to upload only Heo Jun Sung’s guitar part from “Fire Truck,” not a full cover of the song.
And Im Jun Myung faithfully delivered and uploaded it.
The domestic response was this:
-Oh he paid back the favor right away ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I came because of the Oktatop hashtag. Yeah I haven’t watched it yet but I came anyway.
-Oh so you’re from the group that did Greeting. I really liked the song!
-Why is his guitar playing so good?
-Crazy execution, has a totally different flavor from Heo Jun Sung
-The sound is a bit different though? Rougher feel?
└It’s because the tone setting is different. The driver value seems higher here, reverb is lighter and the gate is less engaged too?
└What is that……
-Wow so cool, idols really are different. Seriously so handsome
-You’re handsome, would you be the 6th member of Oktatop?
└Please don’t be disrespectful to other groups;;
-Why is he so good ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Compared to other videos they’d posted before, this one had remarkably strong early momentum.
Oktatop’s fans came and left comments calling him a thoughtful young man.
Among them, many were surprised by Im Jun Myung’s unexpected guitar skills.
Early momentum gave the short video about 80,000 views.
The number was climbing steadily, though at a slower pace.
But the real start of the hot topic wasn’t here.
A few days after the “Fire Truck” cover went up.
DK Entertainment, NewMber’s agency, began detecting a strange phenomenon.
David Allen – Jiggie (JM Cover)
The view count of a foreign artist’s guitar solo video that Im Jun Myung had uploaded days before “Fire Truck” began skyrocketing.
One early morning.
“Jiggie’s” view count, which had been stuck at around 4,000, jumped to 120,000 in an instant, then leaped to 2 million by morning.
And the next early morning, it was at 9 million.
Not long after, it easily crossed 10 million.
And people began illegally reposting the video everywhere.
YouTube’s algorithm system was truly mysterious.
The source of this explosive growth in views was not South Korea but overseas.
And as if to prove it, comments in English poured in endlessly.
DK Entertainment’s employees began translating and reading every comment.
-Wow, didn’t know there was such a great artist in Korea.
-Who? A Korean boy band?
-Challenge. Your excellent playing.
-This man’s playing and background, the atmosphere of his playing overwhelms me.
-Oh Lord, thank you for bringing me to this place.
-This is something I really want to challenge myself with.
-In Allen’s original, the guitar was overshadowed by the vocals, but hearing it this way, it’s an excellent performance.
-You, cute Korean artist, yet everything is overwhelming.
-Found the original. Your playing makes everyone who tries to challenge it move
“Challenge? What are they talking about?”
DK Entertainment’s employees began focusing on the word ‘challenge’ that appeared frequently.
Though they couldn’t quite grasp the context from translating the comments.
When they switched the keyword search to ‘Challenge’ from the original comments, they quickly figured out what the challenge was about.
There had been observable trends like the Ice Bucket Challenge in the past.
But it was around this time that the challenge phenomenon began spreading widely.
And Im Jun Myung had latched onto the wave at its starting point.
– Jiggie Guitar Challenge
– Video search results: 16,231 videos
Guitar challenge videos for the song “Jiggie” were already pouring in like a tide.
And following that trend came another video.
– Fire Truck Challenge
– Video search results: 38,911 videos
Oktatop’s “Fire Truck,” which started later but was getting far more views.
* * *
“I’m the original!!!!”
Heo Jun Sung was shouting at the top of his lungs in the studio.
“Geez, shut it down!”
The “Fire Truck” guitar challenge was riding a wave overseas.
Naturally, the original wasn’t our music, but Im Jun Myung’s performance.
Videos of people cleanly playing that short riff were being created around the world.
“I’m not letting this slide, you little punks.”
Heo Jun Sung pulled a guitar from the corner of the studio, striking what he thought was a cool pose.
“Hey, Kang Min. Hold the camera steady!”
“Y-yes!”
In front of the phone camera that that idiot Kang Min was holding.
“I’ll show you what the original artist’s playing looks like!”
Most short-form videos didn’t credit who actually created the music.
Right now, some of the people participating in the “Fire Truck” challenge probably thought it was just a challenge with that title.
With no idea it was a song by Oktatop, an indie band from South Korea.
For now, that was fine.
Once this hot challenge trend dies down, that’s all that matters.
The transition from challenge to dedicated short-form music will happen in a heartbeat.
And then people will find who created the song.
Then, Heo Jun Sung.
The whole world will know that riff is yours.
“Hey! How was that just now?”
“Uh, kind of not cool enough.”
“Again! Do it again!”
There’s no need to get all fired up about this.
This isn’t the time for that.
“Hey, what are you filming for? Come practice. The festival’s almost here!”

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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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