The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 44

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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 Carries the Indie Band
Chapter 44
What’s the point of calling it a studio album if there’s no music video?
Unless something goes wrong, our album will do well.
Our videos from variety shows and music broadcasts had already surpassed a million views, and we were just an indie band.
The Killing Band video, uploaded just days ago, was already approaching three hundred thousand views.
At this point, we’d done everything we could manage.
We could do more, but then we’d never get the album out.
After bringing up the music video with my friends, I spent some time thinking through the logistics.
For starters, we couldn’t produce it ourselves.
Buying a camera and editing software would strain our budget too much.
Even if we had a camera, no one knew how to shoot professionally.
I’ve filmed plenty of music videos in my past life, but I was always the subject, not the cameraman—so I’m no better off than the rest of them.
And even if we pulled off the shooting somehow, the editing phase would be another problem.
We needed someone who could help us.
Someone affordable, ideally.
Free would be even better.
A particular person came to mind—someone we could ask to help with the music video.
I wasn’t sure if he’d agree to work with us, but it was worth reaching out.
After finishing our usual busking set at Banwol Park, we took photos and had brief conversations with the crowd of fans that came rushing toward us.
It was like a short fan meeting we held every week.
As I was packing up afterward, someone approached me.
“You worked hard out there.”
“Oh, it’s been a while.”
It was Cho Seong-hun, the guy I’d met last winter when we were both busking in the freezing cold at Banwol Park.
In my past life, he was a solo singer, but this time around he seemed to be preparing for a band instead.
Or maybe he’d always dreamed of being in a band and I just didn’t know about it.
One thing I did know for certain: he was currently a university student majoring in broadcast videography.
Cho Seong-hun and his band members were setting up their stage as our set ended.
Though most of the audience had left, they didn’t seem to mind and continued their preparations.
“Hey, guys, let’s stick around and watch their set.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
We often stayed to watch other performers if they came after us.
Sometimes because we were too lazy to walk back to the studio, or the weather was too nice to leave.
Sometimes just out of curiosity about the other band.
Sometimes to pad the audience count if there weren’t many people.
Usually those were the reasons we’d watch another busking set.
But today I had a special purpose.
Build a genuine rapport with Cho Seong-hun so that he’d agree to film our music video.
That was today’s goal.
Soon the stage began, and Cho Seong-hun’s band’s music started filling Banwol Park.
How much would he sing?
The prepared song seemed to be an original composition.
A tasteful roughness and a tasteful romanticism.
A song with zero commercial appeal, yet brimming with the ambition of an indie musician.
Hmm, the sensibility really appeals to me.
And then Cho Seong-hun began to sing.
“Oh? What—this guy’s got a good voice.”
“He sings really comfortably, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, there’s real feeling to it.”
“His voice is so gentle….”
So he sang well back then too.
In his past life, Cho Seong-hun was a ballad singer with considerable skill.
To be precise, he was just good at singing.
Whatever song he was given, he could deliver at least an average performance—but no better.
He lacked the discernment to choose songs that perfectly suited him.
I heard that later he even tried composing his own music, but he had no talent for it whatsoever.
He was a good singer, but he never earned a reputation as someone who was good at music overall.
He even ended up joining the wrong agency, which eventually cut his career short and forced him to switch to video production as a profession.
The agency had been secretly bulk-buying his albums to manipulate the charts.
The public grew suspicious of the artists dominating the charts, and eventually everything came to light.
The artist himself wasn’t at fault, but the public didn’t much care about that distinction.
I’d thought it was tragic—he had such a beautiful voice and sensibility, only to have his dreams crushed by a corrupt company.
I hoped things would go better for him this time around.
After performing about five songs in a row, Cho Seong-hun finally began to pack up his equipment.
“Hey, want to go talk to these guys?”
“Talk? Just like that?”
Everyone looked confused at the sudden suggestion.
Heo Jun-seong and Kang Min didn’t have a problem with it.
Lee Do-yeong and Kim Ji-hu hated anything awkward.
In the end, I sent Lee Do-yeong and Kim Ji-hu home and headed toward the stage with just Heo Jun-seong and Kang Min.
Cho Seong-hun’s band was just about to leave for home after finishing their busking.
“That was a great performance.”
“Oh, thank you. We always enjoy watching you guys too.”
Heo Jun-seong, Kang Min, and I greeted Cho Seong-hun as we approached the stage.
We’d crossed paths a few times since that winter, but only exchanged brief nods.
Cho Seong-hun’s band members onstage couldn’t take their eyes off us.
Wow, celebrities….
They’re actually talking to us?
Oh no, I messed up earlier—they definitely saw that….
The members looked visibly nervous.
Cho Seong-hun was no less tense.
After a brief exchange of greetings, we didn’t leave.
It seemed like we had something on our minds, but he couldn’t quite tell what.
“If you’re not busy, would you like to grab hamburgers with us?”
“Hamburgers?”
“Yeah?”
“Just like that?”
* * *
An awkward silence hung in the air inside the fast food restaurant.
Cho Seong-hun looked like he couldn’t quite figure out what was happening, while the other session members couldn’t decide whether to focus on eating their burgers or observing us.
Heo Jun-seong wolfed down his burger like he was trying to hide something.
Kang Min looked ready to die from boredom eating burger after burger.
Honestly, me too….
“Wow, it’s strange to be eating with someone so famous.”
“We’re just musicians too, like you.”
But anyway, why did you suddenly suggest eating with us….”
“Oh, it’s nothing much. I just wanted to get to know you guys. Musicians talking about music and hanging out together—that’s fun, right?”
“Oh, absolutely! Definitely! We’d welcome more musician colleagues to talk music with.”
Cho Seong-hun reacted like a delighted child.
From there, we sat and talked at length about the music we’d been liking lately, the direction we were pursuing, and the future of the band scene.
This guy is naturally introverted.
Yet because of his gentle disposition, he gets along well with anyone.
He just lacks a certain boldness or entrepreneurial spirit.
I know exactly why that is.
The conversation flowed from topic to topic until we started talking about our respective struggles.
“We’d like to become as famous as you guys, but it’s not easy.”
“It’s tough. To be honest, we got really lucky.”
“With your skill level, luck would naturally follow. You’re all incredibly talented.”
This feels like I’m talking to an overeager fan.
I decided to bring up our own issue.
“Actually, we’re preparing an album right now.”
“I know. I listened to all the preview tracks from Killing Band. They were amazing.”
“Right? I especially loved the second track.”
“I liked the last one best.”
“I preferred the third track. But honestly, they were all great.”
The other musicians with him also chimed in with praise for our preview tracks.
“The thing is, for a proper studio album, we really should shoot a music video, but our team doesn’t have any expertise in that area. It’s been pretty challenging, honestly.”
“A music video?”
“Yeah. I wish I’d studied video production beforehand. Haha!”
Suddenly, Cho Seong-hun and his members exchanged looks.
“Would you like us to help?”
Nice timing.
“How so?”
“We’re all Broadcast Videography majors. Making a music video is nothing for us.”
“Whoa, really?”
Did I react appropriately?
“Wow, insane! That’s perfect! You guys shoot video?”
“Yeah! It’s such a… wait, no. Ahem, you’re really incredible. To major in video, and then meet you guys like this. What a coincidence.”
Kang Min is definitely crazy.
Heo Jun-seong reacted more appropriately.
“Sure, we’d be happy to help. Just being part of someone famous’s career is an honor. Is everyone on board?”
“I can skip classes to shoot.”
“I can skip housework to go.”
“Of course I can. I’ll skip a date with my girlfriend if I have to.”
“I’ll just move into the shoot location, honestly.”
Why do all musicians seem to have a screw loose?
Anyway, I was grateful for their willingness to help.
“We can’t promise anything right away, but we’ll definitely do our best to help your band too.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Just put our names in the credits. It helps with our portfolio.”
Even that modest request was something to be grateful for.
“Since we’re on the subject, let’s exchange contact info and follow each other on social media.”
“Sounds good.”
We continued talking long after that, and by the end of our conversation, we’d sketched out the basic concept for the music video.
* * *
As time passed, the response to us only grew stronger.
I’d never seen Killing Band succeed before.
Of course not—in my past life, that content flopped.
Views: 873,208
The episode we appeared in was more popular than I’d expected.
In just two weeks, it hit 870,000 views.
It ranked among the highest-performing videos currently on the Dango Music channel.
So this was how well content could do when it worked.
The band market may be struggling, but good music certainly wasn’t being ignored.
Views and comments weren’t the only indicators of the response we were getting.
President Cho Hyun-seop had been complaining to me frequently lately.
He said there were so many inquiries coming in that he couldn’t handle it all, and that he wasn’t even our manager, so this was too much….
There were broadcast offers, but more than anything, we were getting love calls from agencies.
Most of them had reached out after watching Killing Band, he said.
After all, it’s incredibly easy for an agency to sign five complete young musicians and develop them as a group.
I understood that appeal, but we turned them all down.
Right now, connecting with an agency wasn’t the priority.
“Lights! Move them over a bit.”
“Roger that!”
Shooting the music video was far more important.
The title track for our next album—we hadn’t even settled on a name yet.
The song’s central theme was Regret, and its main story was about Overcoming.
The genre was Metal-based Crossover Rock.
Or in simpler terms, Alternative Metal.
But we’d added a lot more mainstream appeal to it this time.
“Alright! Scene 3-5, ready! Action!”

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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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