The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 135

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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 Former Idol Idol Hard-Carries an Indie Band
Episode 135
We finished the daily-life shooting, and a few days later, Heo Jun Sung and I wrapped studio recording with the fixed panelists.
I’m the team leader, after all.
And Heo Jun Sung was cast because he’d recently produced the guitar riff for Fire Truck.
The studio atmosphere was quite good.
Heo Jun Sung seemed nervous at first, but as I kept talking to him, he gradually relaxed and showed his usual pleasant side well.
When I asked after the shoot, apparently he’d forgotten the camera was even there by the end and just had a natural conversation.
A week before the broadcast aired, the next episode preview for Jitjung Tamgu Saenghwal Baekseo dropped.
Oktatop was the sole guest for that episode, and our scenes whizzed by in brief flashes.
A scene of us jamming in the studio.
A scene of us laughing while moving around.
Kim Ji Hu ignoring Heo Jun Sung’s burger lecture.
And finally.
“Alright! Let’s go for it!”
Oktatop heading toward the climax of busking at Banwol Park.
The preview cut off right there.
Fifteen seconds or so.
That short preview turned the community upside down.
-Oktatop’s going on Jitjung!!!
-Someone said a while back that SBC was filming busking at Banwol Park, and it was for Jitjung!!!!
-Jitjung really succeeded, getting Oktatop as a guest
└See, when you try it works out
└Jitjung, you deserve this
-I don’t usually watch TV, but I’m tuning in live for Oktatop
-Wait, Oktatop’s doing an observation show? The agency’s management is solid
└But technically Oktatop’s first broadcast appearance was on a survival camera show lololol
└Oh right, they did do an observation show before lololol
└It’s a cash grab ~~~
└That was already two years ago
-Insane, I’m definitely watching live
-Oktatop below the stage? They’re giving us this for real?
-Would’ve been more fun if they’d filmed this in high school ㅠㅠ
Waves of anticipation came pouring in all at once.
Everyone had seen Oktatop on stage, but almost no one had ever glimpsed what we were really like off stage.
Of course, not everyone welcomed the news of Oktatop’s variety show appearance.
The real band scene enthusiasts, the general public—they’d already come to accept Oktatop.
Both commercially and fundamentally, Oktatop had more than proven our chops.
We were the ones who’d lifted the entire band scene to a new level.
But being famous meant exactly one thing: insects crawled to the light.
Anti-fans officially began their coordinated assault on Oktatop’s broadcast appearance.
-Ugh, so this is what happens—gets a company backing and now variety shows….
-So they’re really walking the celebrity path now. Next thing you know they’ll lock in a fixed slot and shoot commercials while abandoning music lololol
-Observation shows are all the same anyway—probably just flexing luxury goods, right?
└Yeah, once they start showing off that luxe lifestyle now that they’ve made some cash, I’m gonna lose all respect
└This is hip-hop now? lolol
└All observation shows are like that these days anyway
-Oktatop’s probably gonna be the same, if you ask me. Just look at them—they’ve got that money-hungry glint already. Soon as they taste the cash, they’ll change.
A band backed by a company going on a show—what could they possibly show us?
The image they expected: flexing designer goods now that they’d made some cash.
What they imagined….
No—what they actually wanted from Oktatop’s broadcast was precisely that.
Anti-fans were hoping a distance would form between Oktatop and the public.
“Hey, did you see this?”
Heo Jun Sung found me with his phone in hand.
“What?”
“They’re, uh, talking trash about us again.”
“Oh, I saw. What’s it been, one or two days?”
But this guy—I thought he’d grumble about it, yet something about his expression looked good.
“We didn’t even flex any luxury goods. The reactions are gonna be pretty funny, I think.”
“You can’t brag about something you don’t have.”
Once the broadcast airs, our reputation will actually get even better.
Not some lifestyle flaunting expensive homes and cars, just us laughing and messing around together.
Making music in our cramped studio.
Just ordinary twenty-somethings doing something we enjoy, working hard at it.
That’s who we are.
And that’ll probably look a lot like most people’s everyday lives.
* * *
-An in-depth observation show exploring the lives of stars!
-Jitjung Tamgu Saenghwal Baekseo!
Another week passed, and the Oktatop episode of Jitjung Tamgu Saenghwal Baekseo aired.
We were all huddled in front of the TV in the rehearsal room.
“Man, I’m really looking forward to this.”
“I didn’t wanna do it at first, but now that we’ve shot it, I’m excited too.”
-Today’s guests are, oh, some really hot people right now, huh?
-Yeah, it took us forever to get them.
-Introducing to you: Cha Seo Ha and Heo Jun Sung of Oktatop!
After the fixed panelists’ introduction, a two-shot of me and Heo Jun Sung filled the screen.
“Whooooah!”
“Hey! What! Wow!”
The guys gasped and grabbed me and Heo Jun Sung, shaking us wildly.
Not because we’re good-looking or anything—just the fact that we were on a famous broadcast.
“Hey, hey, you’re gonna tear my shirt, man.”
-Yeah, hello. I’m Heo Jun Sung.
Heo Jun Sung’s face was clearly tense.
-Haha!
-Ahahaha! Hello.
-Nice to meet you.
Laughter erupted at Heo Jun Sung’s awkward demeanor.
And the guys were laughing just as hard.
“Haha! Jun Sung, you were really nervous, huh?”
“Why’d you break down that bad?”
“Man, you guys try being on camera with so many lenses pointed at you.”
-Next, could we get a greeting from Cha Seo Ha as well?
-Sure, everyone watching Jitjung, hello. I’m Cha Seo Ha, singing in Oktatop. Pleased to meet you.
A concise, polished greeting.
In the streamlined wording and pace, there was a sense of composure that didn’t match the face.
Maybe I should’ve played dumber.
“Wow, Seo Ha’s really composed.”
“Did you take some kind of academy course?”
“Dude, don’t be annoying.”
“Wow, good job, Seo Ha!”
Before the pre-recorded VCR segment, the broadcast did an interview section.
-Actually, there’s a rumor about Oktatop in broadcast circles.
-What’s that?
The panelists chatted among themselves, while on-screen me and Heo Jun Sung looked curious about what the rumor was.
-Apparently casting them is really difficult. Seems like they don’t just go on any show.
I answered the panelist’s question.
-Well, it’s not quite like that. Usually we can’t do appearances because of schedule conflicts. We prioritize music production and performances first, you see.
-Ah, that explains it…. I was wondering why casting them was so hard when they don’t even go on broadcasts much.
-By the way, didn’t you recently get signed to a company?
-Actually, we didn’t get signed—if anything, you could say we founded one.
-You founded a company?
“Cha Seo Ha really speaks cleanly, huh.”
Behind Kim Ji Hu’s murmur, my voice came through.
On-screen, while Jo Hyun Seop is listed as the founder and CEO of the company,
we discussed it together and started it; since I’m technically self-employed, I haven’t made equity investments yet, the CEO handles operations, and Oktatop handles music production, I explained.
-So Oktatop is an indie band, then?
-That’s right. Because capital and music are separate.
-Oh, I see….
-We’ll never invest outside funding into our music.
-Wow, that’s cool.
Then a more playful question came up.
-Eh, but honestly, if I were you I’d take big money, get investment backing, and make music that sells better. Don’t you want to do that?
The tone was definitely joking, but to me it felt like a question that really touched on something fundamental.
-Sure, making a lot of money would be nice. But for us, making music in the direction we like is more fun than that.
-Oh, an artist.
“Seo Ha, Jun Sung didn’t get a word in edgewise.”
“If Cha Seo Ha didn’t talk, would that idiot get a chance to say that much?”
“Man, this won’t do.”
-Alright! Now let’s take an in-depth look at the daily life of an indie band, Oktatop!
With the main fixed panelist’s line, the screen transitioned to the pre-recorded VCR segment.
“Wow, they’re really pushing the indie band angle hard.”
Lee Do Young reacted to what the panelist said.
“The CEO asked them to.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s cool that they did this much for us. The broadcast turned out great.”
That’s not all there is to it.
It’s just that the CEO has pull and that show was kind.
In reality, there are quite a few places that say don’t talk nonsense that breaks the flow.
-Mm…….
-Hello, Cha Seo Ha.
-Oh, huh! Oh, hello.
“Ahahaha!”
“What, you really broke like that?”
My surprised expression was zoomed in on,
and it was even released as a still-frame image.
I knew it would happen.
I really looked ugly as hell.
“Pfahahaha! You really looked ugly as hell.”
“Shut up, Heo Jun Sung.”
On-screen, I folded my blanket in the darkness, stretched, washed up, and got straight into composing.
-Whoa!
-No way, seriously?!
-Wait, you make music the moment you wake up?
All the panelists reacted with skeptical expressions.
-Yeah, he’s really like that. The guy’s a music-making machine.
Heo Jun Sung answered in my place.
-Really does that?
-Yeah, we’ve been a band for two years now, and this guy’s probably got a thousand songs.
-A thousand?
The studio and panelists were shown in a wide shot, with a large subtitle reading “1000 songs??”
It’s actually more than that.
That’s just what I showed them.
Then came another scene of composing.
Moments later, the rehearsal room door opened and Kang Min appeared.
-Oh, what, did you pull an all-nighter here?
“Man, I’m really pissed off.”
“Kang Min’s using regional dialect and even with standard speech I get heated. Total con artist.”
“I’m kind of irritated too….”
The moment Kang Min arrived, the teasing kicked off,
and that scene that drove the filming crew to death began.

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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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