The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 136

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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 Who Hard-Carries an Indie Band
Chapter 136
-Come on, let’s go!
-Okay!
On screen, Seo Ha and Kang Min began running through the neighborhood.
The same route we always took.
Normally it was just Seo Ha and Kang Min running, with Heo Jun Sung joining occasionally.
Lee Do Young was sometimes dragged along by force, and Kim Ji Hu had never run with us once.
The moment the running began, the camera work started to fall apart.
“What? Already?”
“Seriously? That’s it?”
The friends watching TV were taken aback.
The production crew was already exhausted barely after starting.
These younger guys didn’t know what adult stamina looked like, so they couldn’t help being surprised.
After that, a scene aired where I bought a drink at a convenience store and chatted friendly with the clerk.
Then it cut to us returning to the Practice Room after the run and selecting what to eat.
-Burger.
-Shut up, what burger in the morning?
-How about we just keep it simple with something like rice soup?
-Ah, hot food is… wait, no. Let’s… let’s eat that next time!
-How about pasta for a change?
-That works.
-Good idea?
-Hmm… but they’re not open.
-Hey, then let’s eat bibimbap! There’s a great place just ahead!
-Ugh, I don’t want to go out. Can’t we get delivery?
-They don’t deliver from there.
The menu selection came across as completely uncoordinated thanks to the snappy editing and absurd background music.
And then came the panel commentary from the studio.
-Does it usually take that long to pick a menu?
Heo Jun Sung answered the question.
-Yeah, it could be settled easily with just a burger.
-Hey, you can say that once or twice, but who wants to eat it every single time?
-But isn’t it the most convenient?
-Ah, really!
The panel responded to our exchange.
-How often are you suggesting that, exactly?
-I only recommend it once or twice a day!
-That’s a lot!
-That’s a lot?
After the panel’s reproach, my genuinely contemptuous expression and Heo Jun Sung’s genuinely bewildered face appeared in a split screen.
“See? I told you it was too much?”
“No, well… I guess…?”
On screen, we ended up having sandwiches and coffee before diving into serious composition work.
On screen, I played the song for the friends and started getting their feedback.
-Huh? Isn’t that the song you made this morning?
-Yeah, that’s right. I made it as soon as I woke up, but I’m just not happy with it.
-Wow, you really do just play around with music!
-That’s one way to put it.
Unlike the frustrating morning, the work progressed smoothly once I got feedback from the friends.
We’d been working on the song like that for quite a while.
-Right now Seo Ha is composing.
“Hey!”
“Phahahaha! Oh right, he was talking to himself, wasn’t he?”
“Ahahaha!”
“Hehe, Do Young-kun was embarrassed?”
“Ugh, don’t laugh…”
Lee Do Young’s face turned completely red, and he hid himself away in the corner.
-I hope the Bass turns out nice.
The tension on screen from the guy spread throughout every corner of our Practice Room.
-Ah, but it’s awkward.
Normally, cuts like this would be edited out since they disrupted the natural flow.
But given the scene, it was used at just the right moment.
-Hahaha! That’s cute. Is Lee Do Young the maknae?
-No, we’re all the same age.
-Oh really? He does have quite a maknae vibe.
After finishing the composition, we went through the full arrangement and moved into the evening meal scene.
-Wait? Didn’t you just eat?
One of the panelists asked with surprise at us eating again.
-Ah, after composing and arranging… hey, Heo Jun Sung, how long did we spend on that day?
-We probably went for six hours that day.
-Was there no footage to use in the meantime?
-Ah, we really just spend all our time on music.
-You’re dedicated folks…
Six hours had been edited down to about ten minutes, so it naturally looked like we were eating again right after the first meal.
And on screen, burger fragments were laid out on a small table.
-So you ended up eating burgers for dinner.
-Ugh…
I sighed at the panel’s remark.
And Heo Jun Sung, giggling, came into view.
On screen, Heo Jun Sung snatched Kang Min’s nugget.
-I’ve come up with something incredible!
-What is it?
-What happens when you put a nugget between the patty and the bread?
-High cholesterol.
-It’s a whole new world of flavor, Kim Ji Hu!
-A new world? It’ll be the hereafter.
This time the panels started howling with laughter at Kim Ji Hu and Heo Jun Sung’s rapid-fire banter, amplified by quick editing.
-Ah, this is killing me. You’re definitely real friends!
-Are those two always like that?
-Yeah, always.
-Wait, Kim Ji Hu is always picking fights with him?
The gap between how they acted when making music versus when they weren’t seemed to be why the panels laughed even at trivial moments.
Of course, it’s possible their laughter was exaggerated for broadcast purposes.
But there seemed to be no artifice in their expressions.
And so the day ended, transitioning into the next day’s scenes.
The wide grounds of Banwol Park filled the screen.
-Oh, this place? That famous one.
-Where is this?
-Is that the Busking spot?
-Busking?
The panels’ reactions suggested half knew and half didn’t.
People who knew about Oktatop might not know about the Banwol Park Busking.
We’d never promoted the Banwol Park Busking even once.
Though it had been mentioned on broadcasts a few times.
But it wasn’t anything close to a major promotion.
From the perspective of casual audiences, keywords associated with Oktatop were youth, Oktatop Core, the kids who destroyed that audition show, idol band, and so on.
Not many people thought of Banwol Park.
Which meant we’d get promotional value for Banwol Park from this broadcast.
-Wow! Is this Busking? There are so many people watching?
-Yeah, quite a few come. There were especially a lot that day.
Then the Busking scene followed.
We performed with all our might as we always did.
As the energy grew hotter, the crowd’s excitement rose with it.
In the very front of the Audience seating.
People who genuinely wanted to enjoy the performance, or our core fans who’d come to see us.
And in back, passersby casually watching the Stage.
Looking at it that way, it felt like a small version of the Sky Wave Music Festival.
-We support Oktatop’s youth.
And so our VCR Footage was finished with a message of support displayed in the subtitle style unique to legacy media.
The Busking footage was a bit short, but it was enough.
Afterward, in the studio, at the production team’s request, Heo Jun Sung played the Guitar riff from “Fire Truck,” and
the broadcast wrapped up on that heartwarming note.
“Wow, that was fun.”
“Hey, seeing it like this, it’s actually more fun than I expected?”
“The broadcast station did a good job with the editing.”
“Hehe, that was fun!”
These guys had been adamant against going on broadcast when the boss first suggested it.
But now that it had aired, they seemed quite satisfied.
That made sense because it wasn’t a broadcast that heavily relied on image consumption.
There was directorial flourish in emphasizing certain scenes, but no manipulation of creating falsehoods.
It was a moment where the friends’ prejudices about broadcasts were genuinely broken.
* * *
“Boss! Look at this!”
ST Studio.
Park Min Ji kept showing Jo Hyun Seop scenes from the Focused Life Research Whitepaper that had aired yesterday.
“How many times are you going to show me?”
“It’s fun.”
On the screen was a scene where Jo Hyun Seop appeared.
It was a brief moment, but Jo Hyun Seop was definitely in yesterday’s episode, and Park Min Ji had replayed the scene over and over.
“But boss, your instincts are really good. To put it on a Variety Show right away like that.”
“The timing is right now. Well, it’s actually late.”
“Timing?”
“Yeah, everyone listens to Oktatop’s music, everyone wears the Oktatop Core. But most people probably don’t know who Oktatop is or what they look like.”
“Huh? Really? Is that even possible?”
“People don’t search as much as you’d think. Music and clothes can seep into daily life, but looking up information about strangers is surprisingly inconvenient.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, that does seem true.”
“Once music and fashion have seeped into the public consciousness, that’s when we need to make them recognize who we are.”
“Is that what this is about?”
“It’s basic practice in artist development. Stockpile good music and show the public a good image. It’s hard to break through with music alone these days. Though, of course, it’s not easy.”
Park Min Ji found it strange that the shop owner, who usually just complained about various things, was saying such things.
But thinking about the public’s reactions, it made sense.
The clips from the Focused Life Research Whitepaper Oktatop episode that were uploaded to YouTube.
Many comments had been left on the video, and Park Min Ji had checked most of them.
There were lots of different responses, but among them were comments like these.
-I’ve only heard Oktatop songs before, seeing them for the first time and they look like idols
-Wait, Heo Jun Sung? That original artist Fire Truck performance was so cool, why’d they cut it the editing completely botched it
-At first I was like what do these guys do, then I saw the Busking scene and realized that’s the group I hear singing on the street these days pretty handsome though
-Hmm… Kang Min that guy seems suspicious somehow…
└What do you mean?
└Hmm… I think I was mistaken
-Banwol Park? Do they perform there often?
└Yeah Oktatop busks there every Saturday
└Every week?? They busk?? Why???
└Who knows lol probably just fun for them
└A #1 artist just busking like that…?
-Wait I was just thinking oh they must be idols without really thinking about it and then suddenly it said they busk and I was like oh they’re not idols? How do regular band members look like that
-Wait Oktatop Core? Did these people wear it directly?
└Monster Music Video check it out
└Check it out
There were definitely people who already knew about Oktatop.
But there weren’t a few people who’d confirmed their faces or even their existence for the first time through this broadcast.
Jo Hyun Seop had deliberately forced through the Oktatop Variety Show filming at this very timing.
And his goal had been achieved decisively.

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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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