The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 33

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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’s Hard Carry in an Indie Band
Episode 33
We were assigned a waiting room on the 4th Floor and began unpacking our things.
“All right, grab your instruments. We need to head to the stage for setup.”
“Yes!”
The time slot we were given was from 6:20 PM to 7:00 PM, starting in twenty minutes.
We had to use this window to establish the Live Environment.
Of course, even this could change, so we needed to prepare faster than the allotted time might suggest.
Before today, with the help of Jang Deok Chul, the president of Hyunwon Sound, we’d carefully prepared our setup.
Besides, Kang Min and I had plenty of experience in this field, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
As long as we don’t have some insane situation where our time suddenly gets cut down to ten minutes.
We grabbed our instruments and rushed to the Stage.
We had to use our own instruments, but we needed to use the Amplifiers, Console, and cables the broadcast station had on hand.
First, we had to connect the instruments to the Console’s input channels and check that the sound came through properly.
It wasn’t just about connecting a single instrument—we also had to verify that the Effects Pedals used by the Guitar and Bass were working correctly.
If each of us carefully checked our own instruments, the time would be enough.
Of course, this was only the most basic stage.
Once we confirmed the instruments sounded good on-site, we still had to check the Broadcast Audio Conversion System.
After that came the Live Console Mix and equalization adjustments, and….
There was still a long way to go.
Then I heard Jo Hyun Seop’s voice from the Console, where he was sitting with a staff member.
“All right, let’s have the vocalist sing something quick first.”
After confirming the director’s instruction, I sang into the microphone.
I really liked the grip of the Hand Microphone I held in my hand.
From what I’d heard, this microphone was only used by me and one other singer among all the performers appearing today.
The other teams all used Lip-sync backing, and they had to dance, so there was no need for them to use a Hand Microphone.
Besides, unlike a Hand Microphone, a Head Microphone has poor sound sensitivity.
I’d specifically asked for one microphone to be prepared.
I’d heard this one was hastily arranged just for today.
I was genuinely grateful to Park Yun Chan.
The microphone naturally sounded good, and the director made fine Equalizer adjustments from the stage.
“Let me just check the Backing Track.”
The director played , which would serve as the Backing Track.
After adjusting the volume, the song faded down.
“Seo Ha, what’s the BPM on this?”
“134!”
“I’ll create a Click Track for the metronome—let’s check it during the In-ear Check later.”
“Thank you!”
The director quickly created the track that would serve as the metronome.
The vocalist’s prep time was shortest, and after finishing my checks, I turned to look at the others.
Kim Ji Hu was already done preparing and was readying for the Sound Check.
“Keyboard prep is complete.”
“All right, play something for me.”
Kim Ji Hu gave a brief performance and received approval without any issues.
“Guitar is ready too!”
“Sure, let me hear that Clean Tone.”
Heo Jun Sung played guitar without any effects, and the sound was very clean.
“Okay, I’ll stomp on the pedals now.”
Then Heo Jun Sung began playing as he worked the Pedalboard.
“Whoa, hold on—wait a second!”
The director stopped the performance.
At the same moment, I walked toward Heo Jun Sung.
The Distortion was too heavy.
“Can you turn down the Distortion knob just a little?”
“Huh? But we need at least this much for a live show…….”
Heo Jun Sung hesitated.
He was right—for a live stage performance, we’d normally need that level.
But we were performing broadcast audio.
“Heo Jun Sung, if we post-process that much for broadcast, it’ll interfere heavily with your Drums and Bass sound.”
“Well, can’t we just EQ it out?”
“This is a live broadcast.”
“Oh, right!”
We’d likely go into a pre-recorded tape at high probability.
Though unlikely, even if we did broadcast live, there would be a lag of a few minutes from actual transmission.
That meant we’d have more flexibility for post-processing than teams broadcasting live.
Still, with severely reduced staff, they couldn’t spend all their time fine-tuning only our audio.
To pull off a polished performance, we had to cooperate with the engineers on stage.
Heo Jun Sung immediately understood and began turning the knob to the left.
Less interference with the low-frequency instruments. We had to go with a lighter, more refined sound.
This time, we got the approval sign.
“Next.”
“Bass is ready too!”
“Drums are set up!”
“Okay, let’s check the Bass first.”
The Drums were simple—just adjusting the microphone volume—so we moved on to Lee Do Young’s Bass check first.
That went just as smoothly.
Watching this progress so well, I felt genuinely satisfied.
“All right, next is Drums.”
“Yes!”
Kang Min stamped on the Kick Drum repeatedly.
Thump! Thump! The deep sound was excellent.
Then Kang Min brought down the snare.
…….
“Huh?”
“What? Why is there no sound?”
There was no sound.
More precisely, the microphone mounted on the snare wasn’t picking up any audio.
Only the microphone on the Kick Drum caught a faint trace of it.
“Wait, is the microphone cable connected?”
“Let me check again.”
Kang Min examined the microphone cable—there were no visible problems—
but the fact remained that the top microphone wasn’t working.
It seemed to be an internal equipment issue we couldn’t diagnose right now.
“I’ll swap out the microphone.”
It was a microphone or cable issue.
Replacing them one by one should resolve it.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
Suddenly, a staff member came running over from the distance.
He handed something to Jo Hyun Seop, and a devastating announcement came down.
“We’ll end the Sound Check here due to the next team’s Rehearsal.”
* * *
In the end, we had to return to the waiting room without fully establishing the Live Environment.
We’d used all our time, but it wasn’t like we had no other opportunities.
“So what do we do about our Drums?”
Kang Min asked in a deflated tone.
It wasn’t his fault, but was he actually blaming himself?
“It’s okay. We have two Rehearsal slots later anyway. Let’s try to find a solution then.”
“Will we have time?”
No. We wouldn’t.
Replacing the microphone and cable would take quite a while.
Other teams were crowding the waiting areas, and besides, there was a Strike going on.
There was no way to resolve this right now.
Did I have to give up, after all?
“Even if we don’t have time, we should try as much as we can. For now, let’s change clothes. We need makeup done later anyway.”
“Ugh.”
At the word “makeup,” Kim Ji Hu’s face went pale.
“Kim Ji Hu, you’re not doing it again?”
“Ugh, I really don’t want to.”
He knew as well as I did that it was inevitable for a music broadcast.
But even a rational person has areas where they just can’t overcome their aversion.
I couldn’t force it without good reason.
But I had one.
“Remember the Wish Voucher?”
“Oh!”
I wore quite a cruel smile, and Kim Ji Hu’s face showed clear frustration.
“Damn it….”
If you’re frustrated, what exactly can you do about it?
* * *
We decided to do our makeup right before the afternoon Rehearsal.
Until we could establish the Live Environment during the Rehearsal slot, we took a brief rest period.
We even greeted an idol group that would be sharing the waiting room with us.
Seizing a moment when everyone had fallen asleep, I checked the schedule posted next to the door.
There were many familiar names.
Colleagues I’d often seen in my past life.
They were all seniors to me, and I saw a few I’d maintained friendships with for quite some time.
“Huh?”
Then one team caught my eye by chance.
‘Jo Hyun Woo Band Rehearsal’.
So that band was on the broadcast.
Jo Hyun Woo Band—they debuted in 1997 and were still actively performing.
They were a band revered by everyone for both their experience and their remarkable skill and character.
Even in this dead band market, they were one of the rare few who’d stayed alive while maintaining public recognition.
I thought maybe we could get some help from them.
A possible approach came to mind for our live performance.
But I wasn’t sure if it was actually feasible.
Even though I’d regressed, my band experience wasn’t particularly long.
* * *
“Hey, what do we do—should we just do Lip-sync?”
“But like you said, that defeats the purpose.”
“Yeah, if we want to really prove ourselves later, we can’t have any falsehood in this process.”
As time passed, their worry only deepened.
We wanted our music to always be pure and genuine.
We wanted to produce every song with sincerity and put on a stage with no artifice.
But Lip-sync could be a fatal controversy for a band.
And that controversy could cast a shadow suggesting our music was fake.
“Director.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t we need to go say hello to the other waiting rooms?”
Back then, there was still a culture of going around to greet other waiting rooms.
“Oh, I was actually wondering whether we should or shouldn’t. You’re such an unusual case.”
It would be normal to do introductions, but there would definitely be teams who’d scoff—”Who do they think they are, coming to greet us?”
There are difficult personalities in any society.
“Let’s just visit a few places. We can skip the teams that have left the building.”
* * *
—Jo Hyun Woo Band Waiting Room
Knock knock knock.
I knocked and opened the waiting room door.
A guitarist casually scrolling through his smartphone while relaxing.
A drummer halfway reclined in a chair, on the verge of falling asleep.
A bassist touching up makeup.
And the vocalist Jo Hyun Woo, whose eyes met mine directly.
“Hello! We’re Band Oktatop!”
We greeted them cheerfully.
The moment we spoke, the Jo Hyun Woo Band members sprang to their feet.
“Wait, you’re a band?”
“You guys are a band?”
“Wow, you’re actually a band?”
“What kind of band? What’s your genre?”
Old-timers spotting newbies in a narrow industry, suddenly animated.
I had to fight back laughter at the seniors’ enthusiasm.
Of course, the others had frozen up meeting people they so greatly respected.
“Yes, we’re playing in a band with some friends.”
“I mean, a band in this day and age? Who on earth forced you into something so hard? Wait—Hyun Seop?”
“Oh, it’s been a while, Hyun Woo.”
“What’s this about? Are you getting back into entertainment, sir?”
Jo Hyun Woo froze for a moment at the combination of a high school band and Jo Hyun Seop.
After hearing the full story, Jo Hyun Woo sat back down and let out a hollow laugh.
“Wow… haha. That sounds like something straight out of a movie. An indie band on a music broadcast, no less.”
Jo Hyun Woo and his band members looked quite startled.
How could they not be—a junior band, indie at that, and high schoolers no less, were making such a dramatic move.
I probably would’ve been surprised too.
You’d probably wonder if that person was also a regressor, right?
“Are you seniors going live today?”
“Live? No, you’ve probably heard by now, but when there’s a Strike, we can’t do live performances.”
“Really? They told us we could do live.”
“Huh? How are you going to do live?”

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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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