The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 42

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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 Does an Indie Band Hard Carry
Episode 42
Heo Jun-seong had fully expected to find the community brimming with criticism of Oktatop.
But the reality turned out differently from his expectations.
Or rather, it was only half different.
-Anyone seen Oktatop on Killing Band? This is no joke.
-No seriously, Oktatop are way better than I thought?
-I hate to admit it but Cha Seo-ha’s vocals can’t be ignored
└Cha Seo-ha isn’t even the important part—that kid on piano is seriously incredible. No way that’s not a major unless they trained professionally.
-Unpopular opinion: Oktatop actually killed it this time on Killing Band
-Come on, just admit it already. They’re good at music, aren’t they?
-Damn that guitar sounds crisp
└Though they do seem to like showing off a bit
└If the guitarist in a band doesn’t show off, who does?
└What kind of idiot criticizes a guitarist for showing off?
└That’s the whole point, you moron. Why are you even complaining about it?
-What about the bassist? Their skills exploded.
└As a bassist myself, let me say: thoughtful players like that have serious potential. You watch them and realize they’re the ones playing with the most precision, and suddenly their skills jump light-years ahead.
-Wait, Oktatop’s playing is way better than expected? Why were they getting trashed this whole time?
-Honestly I never thought I’d say this but that was the best domestic band performance I’ve seen in recent videos
A fair number of people had started to recognize us.
Originally it was maybe one positive out of every hundred posts, but now it was different.
Of course, that inevitably sparked backlash as well.
-Why invite Oktatop of all people? Why not call Maruru Band or Destruction or Hwang Guk-hyeon’s band?
-Why do they only show previews of the unreleased songs instead of the full versions? Are the rest low quality? Why hide them?
-The community’s heating up over this dumbass band lol
-Did these idiots take drugs as a group? Putting Oktatop above Nabitsumo and Bullyangppa? When Jo Hyeon-u’s band just dropped an album?
-Oktatop after two legendary bandsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Leaving the gallery in honor of the band scene’s ruinationㅅㄱ
-Where the hell did all you Oktatop fanboys crawl out from? Did your company start a coordinated media push or something?
-What’s with you clowns telling people to recognize Oktatop? The company creates good songs so of course they look skilled—they didn’t even make those songs themselves, so why are you praising them?
-Skills improved this, techniques improved that—talk about being clueless. The company obviously assigns them good trainers and works them to death, so of course they improve. Why are people so dumb?
-Oktatop’s company seems pretty serious about their work
-Listen, you people saying Oktatop’s songs are good—think about it. Those are preview tracks, just parts of the album, and they’re showing the ones that highlight their band color best on Killing Band, right? So what about the rest? There’s definitely garbage mixed in there.
It was a war zone.
Everyone’s different opinions about Oktatop clashed together in argument.
Eventually they even fought among themselves, wounding each other with words too harsh to repeat.
It was true that voices recognizing Oktatop had grown in number, but because of that, things had only gotten louder.
The hatred was bunching together tighter and tighter, even as voices rose in our defense.
But what mattered was that some of the real ones were starting to recognize us.
Now was truly the time to show them what we could do.
* * *
After the Killing Band episode featuring Oktatop aired, activity in the broadcasting industry picked up as well.
At K-Net Broadcasting Station, PD Park Yun-chan ran into another PD from the entertainment division in the smoking room.
“PD Park. It’s been a while.”
“Ah, PD Lee Jong-myeong. I never see your face around here.”
“You don’t come to the station unless there’s work.”
“Come on, you’re doing well for yourself.”
The two men, seeing each other’s faces for the first time in about half a year, shared updates on ordinary station staff.
Assessments and impressions of lately popular broadcasts were exchanged.
Talk of some new PD climbing fast with scary momentum.
And then how the kids were doing, how one was graduating elementary school soon, buying them smartphones and so on……
The older men’s chatter went on without end.
“By the way, PD Park—that last broadcast you used some fun kids on, remember?”
“Ah, the band kids?”
“Yeah, lately they’ve been doing well on Killing Band and everyone’s talking about them, right?”
“Oktatop is really impressive. They’ve got the looks and the music, but they don’t even have a company.”
-“Is the indie rumor actually true? They seemed like they’d been trained somewhere.”
“Not at all. Those skills are genuinely built up among themselves.”
“How do we contact those kids?”
PD Lee Jong-myeong felt both innocent curiosity and desire welling up.
“I don’t think it’ll be easy.”
“Easy? What do you mean?”
“Lots of PDs are trying to capitalize on their story right now, but apparently it’s not working out the way people want.”
“Why?”
“They don’t show up. Offers pour in, but they seem holed up somewhere with no intention of coming out.”
“Ballsy kids. How’d you manage to contact them, PD Park?”
PD Park Yun-chan pondered how to answer PD Lee Jong-myeong’s question, then conveyed the circumstances plainly.
“I was honestly shocked that absurd joke actually came true.”
“Ha, that friend’s got some character.”
As mentioned, there were quite a few places trying hard to scout Oktatop these days.
And PD Lee Jong-myeong was no exception.
Of course, not right now.
Eventually though……
“The person managing those kids is Jo Hyeon-seop, right? The one who made Uptown Boys back in the day?”
“Yeah, it seems to be unofficial, just a personal favor he’s doing.”
“A personal favor……”
PD Lee Jong-myeong’s mind began to spin.
For a moment there was silence, then it scattered into the air with the cigarette smoke.
“Anyway, thanks for the info. It’ll be a headache trying to scout those kids.”
PD Lee Jong-myeong narrowed his eyes and took a long drag on his cigarette.
Then he thought about it.
The time to raise his reputation again was drawing near.
Using Oktatop.
* * *
“Why’s the traffic so bad?”
“Are we gonna be late?”
Choi Woo-young, a former bandmate of Kang Min, had recently joined a band.
After being kicked out of Skydiver and wandering for a while, he’d considered quitting music, but he couldn’t.
Riding the bus with his new bandmates on their way somewhere, he was puzzled by traffic as congested as a weekday rush hour despite it being a weekend evening.
Then he overheard a conversation from the back seat.
“The traffic’s always packed on weekends now.”
“Why?”
“You know, Oktatop? They do free shows every weekend at the park near the next stop.”
“What, seriously? Why would celebrities do free shows every weekend?”
“Huh, now that you mention it… I heard they’ve been doing it for quite a while. Why though?”
“I’m curious. Wanna go watch?”
“Cancel our plans?”
“Is it that awkward?”
“A little.”
“It’s kind of a shame though.”
Choi Woo-young was headed to Banwol Park.
In his mind, Oktatop was a fake band.
He hated TM Entertainment for stealing Kang Min and debuting him as an idol.
And he hated Oktatop too.
He hated Kang Min even more for throwing himself at them so readily.
Then he’d seen that Killing Band episode where the fakes had appeared.
After watching the video, his impression was simple.
Oktatop was extraordinary.
He couldn’t dare compare himself to their level.
Of course, it was partly thanks to their company’s good management, but even accounting for that, Oktatop was remarkable.
So he wanted to see it firsthand.
What their actual performance was like.
How much Kang Min had grown.
He wanted to go to Banwol Park and check it out in person.
“Hey, we’re here. Let’s get off.”
At his bandmate’s words, he pressed the stop button and got off the bus.
Let’s see how good they really are.
Choi Woo-young and his bandmate got off the bus.
There were so many people.
He’d been to a foreign band’s concert once before, and the atmosphere was similar.
The crowd stretching from the bus stop to the park was impressive.
“Wow, there are really this many people?”
“Yeah, way more than I expected……”
He’d heard the performance at Banwol Park was busking-style.
No matter how famous Oktatop was lately, was this possible?
Before he’d even reached the park, he could hear voices from far away.
“Hello everyone!”
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
“Wooooooahhh!”
The performance had started.
“Come on, let’s run. We’re gonna miss it.”
He started running through the crowd with his bandmate.
The first song was Cruise!!.
Even from a distance, the ensemble was superb.
The vocals were just as impressive as they’d been on Killing Band.
He reached Banwol Park listening to Cruise!! flowing from afar, but couldn’t get a clear view of Oktatop.
“What……”
The crowd was packed solid.
It looked like at least three hundred people.
When Skydiver was active, no matter how famous we were, barely anyone came to see us.
Fifty people would’ve been called a miracle.
That day never happened.
Skydiver had a reputation back then as the most talented band in Hongdae, but it was only gossip that circulated within the scene.
But Oktatop…
Even being rejected and trashed by the band scene, they were receiving the greatest love of all.
What did it even mean to be hated by the scene then?
The way those kids performed with sincerity seemed to send a message that they didn’t care about the world’s noise at all.
We’re doing just fine on our own.
They seemed to be creating an entirely new band scene themselves.
To have that kind of power……
“Woooahhh!”
The crowd’s cheers made my mind reel.
From a distance, Oktatop’s performance was truly outstanding.
Every member was elite.
The vocalist looked like a celebrity.
The guitarist exuded wonderful passion.
Most people naturally watch the vocalist, but the guitarist constantly drew your gaze with that passion.
A guitarist who knew how to command attention.
Brilliant.
And the bassist, dripping with youthful freshness.
He played with delicacy and composure instead of flaunting his presence.
That’s how a bassist should be.
The keyboardist, much younger than me, was playing at a level far beyond my own.
Where did such precision even come from?
No explanation was needed—they’d reached that level of mastery.
And Kang Min, performing alongside these brilliant members.
I hated it.
I hated TM Entertainment so much.
I hated Oktatop.
And Kang Min—there was no point even mentioning it.
He was a traitor.
“Damn……”
Kang Min, you always beat me to everything.
All this time, I’d been deliberately avoiding the source of that hatred toward Oktatop.
It was envy.
I envied Oktatop and Kang Min so much.
Meanwhile here I was, rotting away after years of struggling, unable to achieve what they had…
Choi Woo-young suddenly felt pathetic, judging whether Oktatop was real or not.
The brilliant music of Oktatop filling Banwol Park and the cheers of the crowd that followed.
Buried somewhere between them.
Unable to draw close, capable only of watching from afar.
A cruel scene if there ever was one.

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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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