The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 39

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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 Is Hard-Carrying an Indie Band
Episode 39
Kim Min-sang, the producer of Killing Band, recalled that day’s meeting.
In all his years, he’d never seen a lunatic quite like that one.
Was his name Cha Seo-ha?
Just a high school student, yet brazenly confident beyond measure.
At first he’d seemed genuinely peculiar, but the more they talked, the more his bright and daring nature came through.
He was a kid who knew how to charge headlong toward his goals.
Kim Min-sang had been like that once.
There was a time when he’d worked day and night planning and producing broadcasts.
He’d rushed forward without hesitation for his own success.
In the end, he’d failed to land a job at a proper broadcasting station, and ended up here after doing web entertainment planning solo or with colleagues for a while.
He wanted to make music entertainment.
That dream hadn’t changed even now.
He wanted to create a program filled with his own romanticism, but reality wasn’t kind.
Even YouTube content didn’t guarantee the creative freedom he’d imagined.
He’d often thought that working alone, even if it meant earning less, made him happier.
Now, if results didn’t materialize, there was no future to speak of.
That was when he’d met Cha Seo-ha.
That kid had taught him something.
That to achieve goals, to realize dreams, process was necessary.
Even if you took criticism along the way.
Or even if you had to set aside romance for a moment.
He’d learned that for the sake of dreams, you couldn’t be picky about means and methods.
Right then. He’d bring in the money.
He’d pull in the views, draw attention.
He’d willingly become a cynical adult, shelving romance for now and devoting himself entirely to marketability.
Using Okdap, the ones rehearsing in that studio right now, as a tool.
The Studio, located within the Dango Music Building.
There, the members of Okdap were tuning their instruments ahead of the imminent shoot.
“Why’d they suddenly change things?”
“No clue, me either. The producer just suddenly showed up with a proposal sheet and said we’d do one more shoot.”
“Who are they anyway?”
“Dunno, don’t care.”
“Seems like they’ve been getting some buzz lately though?”
“What band are they?”
“Who knows?”
The staff was too busy with the shoot preparations to pay much attention.
They didn’t feel any particular affection for the project.
Killing Band was already dead anyway.
The fate of this content was already written by the two episodes that had been uploaded so far.
Compared to the previous two teams and Jo Hyun-woo’s band, what could a bunch of unknown high school kids possibly do?
So Okdap quietly prepared their own vision in the staff’s indifference.
* * *
After finishing instrument tuning, we waited for the signal in the waiting room next to the Studio.
“Now that I think about it, you really landed something incredible when you said you’d get a gig.”
“Well, it just worked out. Jo Hyun-woo recommended us before, actually.”
“The timing’s perfect. This is exactly the right show for us to be on.”
“By the way, when did you have the meeting? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You guys were so focused on writing the song. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
To be honest, I’d also kept it hidden because I was afraid they’d be disappointed if the booking fell through.
“Anyway, if this content blows up, that should help with the Lip-sync Controversy, right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“We’ll still get plenty of hate though. Being the third after Navi Z and Bad Onion and all that.”
“I gotta say, it’s a funny picture when I think about it.”
If my friends’ expectations were right, I thought this broadcast appearance would probably spark the biggest uproar yet.
Not just any band YouTube appearance—the slots before us were held by two of Korea’s most fundamental bands.
How many people in the scene would want to slot in after us?
For the single reason that we’d taken that opportunity, we’d be placed right on top of a blazing fire.
….
I was already thrilled.
“Okay, Okdap, get ready to go on!”
“Yes!”
“Come on, huddle up.”
“One! Two! Three!”
“Okdap!!!”
* * *
The members of Okdap took their positions.
The standby signal rang out through the Studio.
Cha Seo-ha delivered his introduction to the microphone.
“Hello, we’re Okdap. We’re truly honored to be invited as the third guest on Killing Band. Without further ado, let us play the first song.”
And Cha Seo-ha, staring straight into the main camera.
“Cruise!!”
At the same moment, Kang Min’s crash cymbal rang twice and the song began.
Cruise!!, which always got a great response as the opening track.
Heo Jun-seong’s intense guitar and Lee Do-yeong’s bass—no longer just the delicate single-tool player, but someone who could run alongside the others—carved through the music with precision.
Kim Ji-hu’s synthesizer became the wind, adding a refreshing quality.
In Banwol Park, in the rehearsal rooms.
We’d practiced this song so many times we were tired of it.
Those hundreds of repetitions, tedious as they were, had created perfect harmony among the members.
“Whoa.”
“They’re really good?”
The production crew, who’d seemed indifferent until moments ago, began to look surprised one by one.
Good looks—you can tell at a glance.
They’d watched music broadcasts and celebrity observation cams, so they already knew the stage manner was quite good.
But this was….
“The live energy is incredible.”
Seeing it in person couldn’t compare to video footage.
“Senior, we’re gonna get some good shots here?”
“Yeah, they’re all doing great. Especially that singer—he’s really polished. Tighten the zoom.”
“Yes, understood.”
It was fun to film.
The musicians weren’t conscious of the camera at all.
They were simply focused on their own roles.
And that passion came through the lens and reached the viewers.
And sure enough, the vocalist was the main attraction.
He seemed like a professional who’d been performing for over a decade.
A high school student, they said—how much must he have practiced?
And the expressions and gestures of the other musicians playing alongside that vocalist lifted up those watching.
It was thick with the feeling of how much fun this ensemble was.
Making eye contact, sharing genuine smiles.
Getting swept up in the thrill when an unplanned gesture accidentally matched.
There are things that just don’t happen no matter how much you rehearse.
If the members don’t genuinely connect, the ensemble becomes awkward no matter how much you practice.
How on earth had these kids created such perfect harmony?
The production crew fell into reverence at a sense of awe that seemed utterly beyond measure.
We Cruise, We Cruise tonight!
Flying across the endless sky
We Cruise, We Cruise tonight!
We never stop, driving wild and free
The refrain’s repeating lines were sung along by the other members.
It was a moment when group singing seemed to naturally emerge, the kind you’d expect in a live venue.
Killing Band’s format was shooting-only, with no audience present.
Yet Okdap performed as though this were a massive concert hall.
The filming crew, the lighting crew, the sound engineer at the console—all were overwhelmed by Okdap’s brilliant performance, watching in awe. But that joy didn’t last long.
“What’s the point if the footage is good? There won’t be any traffic.”
“Man, what a shame. This looks like it’d be a legendary episode.”
“Who even watches band content?”
When this content was first planned, everyone had wanted to work together to revive a culture.
But after seeing the results of the first two episodes, which were far worse than expected, the energy had already drained away.
“This one’s really a shame though.”
After finishing the Cruise!! stage, Okdap went on to perform Rendez-vous and Your Time.
Then came a talk segment with Okdap.
“Wow, that was so fun, you guys!”
Cha Seo-ha, having sung three songs in a row, shouted into the microphone.
“You’re not tired, right!?”
“No!!”
“Not at all!”
“Let’s go right now!”
“Let’s go!!!”
The other members of Okdap shouted back with equally powerful voices.
“Good, excellent.”
Cha Seo-ha grabbed the microphone stand and continued talking.
“We’ve finished the five songs we prepared, so… uh, wait, what do we do?”
Cha Seo-ha turned to Heo Jun-seong, who stood beside him with his guitar slung over his shoulder.
“We don’t have any more songs, do we?”
“Yeah, we don’t have any more. What do we do?”
Okdap looked flustered.
Kang Min, sitting behind, expressed despair by even dropping his drum stick.
Lee Do-yeong pulled at his hair, wondering aloud what they’d do now.
“Ah, ah, yeah, what should we do?”
Kim Ji-hu tried acting along with the others, but it fell flat.
“There’s no choice. Let’s do an Album Preview medley!”
At Cha Seo-ha’s cry, all the instruments erupted through the Studio at once, and Cha Seo-ha began pouring raw shouting into the microphone like a madman.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you so much! We appreciate it!”
“Thank you!”
The Killing Band shoot was over.
Okdap exchanged pleasantries with the crew and cleaned up.
When I’d first heard that proposal from that Cha Seo-ha kid, I’d only intended to exploit the buzz.
I already knew he had decent looks and could perform pretty well.
For me, these kids’ main purpose was stirring up public opinion.
Performing CPR on Killing Band, which had barely gotten off the ground before dying.
But this isn’t just CPR anymore.
If the traffic flows right, this’ll be a video that goes down in our channel’s history.
I could tell that much even without editing yet.
“Um, producer!”
“Ah, Seo-ha, good work.”
“Yes, you worked hard too. Actually, I wanted to make one suggestion.”
“A suggestion?”
A proposal from this kid—I was both terrified and excited.
“I watched the channel videos straight through, and I noticed there weren’t any teasers?”
“Teasers?”
“Yes, like announcements saying who’s coming on next and when. If you promoted it ahead of time through channel posts or SNS, I think it’d help a lot.”
“Ah, we’ve actually been discussing that internally too.”
The Killing series had started less than a year ago.
Since we’d started it casually and didn’t know how long it would last, with irregular shooting and upload schedules, we’d never posted advance teasers.
Recently, as the series had been gaining popularity, it officially became a regular content series.
And internally, people were already suggesting posting teaser announcements.
“Do it starting with us. Honestly, if anyone in the band scene fan community sees that teaser, they’ll rush to spread the word about us being on there, right?”
He was right.
“I mean, people will say, ‘Who do these kids think they are, showing up on Killing Band right after Navi Z and Bad Onion?'”
My chest was pounding.
“It’ll naturally end up being promoted.”
“Right, it’s not difficult, so I’ll make sure to post it.”
“Thank you. Well, I’ll be going then. You all worked really hard today.”
“Yes, take care on your way home, Seo-ha.”
Just a high school student.
Sure, the kid knows music and looks good, but still—he’s just a high school student.
Why does talking to him feel like I’m speaking with someone much older?
Cha Seo-ha heading toward the other members.
His back, entering my view, felt like some great, indefinable presence.

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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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