The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 50

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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 Carries an Indie Band
Chapter 50
Heo Jun-sung, Kang Min, and Lee Do-yeong.
The explosive interplay of three musicians announced the beginning, and Kim Ji-hu’s synth pierced through with a high note, joining late but sharp.
Intense Metal sound delivered with aggressive impact.
The intro section, meticulously orchestrated, announced that this song’s identity was Metal while simultaneously hinting that it would differ from what listeners expected.
Cha Seo-ha rested her left hand on the Microphone Stand and marked the rhythm with broad movements, while the other members mirrored her in perfect unison.
The audience felt it too.
They shouted in sync with the beat, nodding their heads and stretching their hands toward the sky.
A perfect moment where audience and performer became one.
The title track “Awaken” from this new album carried strangeness in its structure, genre, and even arrangement.
Metal with a hint of youthful energy.
Minor-key progressions that somehow felt major.
Instruments that didn’t rush ahead recklessly.
But the most peculiar element was the Korean lyrics emerging from Metalcore.
On the darkened stage,
Only my shadow remained.
In that moment when I reached out,
I had turned my back.
The fusion of Metal and Korean is quite unfamiliar to traditional Metal enthusiasts.
Nowadays, even Korean Metal bands rarely use Korean lyrics.
But Ocktop hated that.
They didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing.
If fans are going to listen regularly, isn’t it better to create it in the language they use every day?
Perhaps because of that.
Several audience members were singing along with “Awaken.”
An intensity so fierce it seemed ready to pick a fight with anyone.
Kang Min’s Double Kick and Heo Jun-sung’s bass pouring out through Palm Mute.
These were fundamentally typical Metal elements that had to be maintained.
Yet the brightness that flickered through them created a refreshingly strange feeling.
As if to resolve this strange sensation, the drum frequency in the Verse’s B-section dropped by half.
They smoothly shifted into half-time, and Kang Min deftly balanced cymbals and toms with precision.
Heo Jun-sung gradually eased tension from his right hand, minimizing Pick movement, and shifted to playing primarily with his left.
And Lee Do-yeong, expanding the bass’s range and emphasizing Slide technique, created a relaxed atmosphere.
Woven through everything was Kim Ji-hu’s dreamy pad, creating an ethereal texture.
A touch of Kim Ji-hu’s strangeness added to the typical Metal progression.
This is Alternative.
Before that section ended and the Chorus arrived,
A Pre-Chorus burst through, cranking the tension to its peak.
In the shattered night,
I call out your name,
Drums, guitar, and bass played in steady, comfortable rhythm.
Gradually building tension and pace.
The instrumental members poured everything into that fierce moment before the Chorus arrived.
Every emotion channeled through fingertips plucking strings, touching keys, gripping Drumsticks.
In the moment when tension reached its zenith.
Instruments suddenly fell silent.
One beat.
Exactly one measure of silence swept across the stage.
In that fleeting moment, Kim Ji-hu tapped the keys three times, descending in semitone steps.
The transition was slick, with drums, guitar, and bass all cutting at an unusual timing, not even leaving a hint of reverb.
Wake me up
Awaken now
Awaken my sleeping heart
Piece together my scattered self
I’ll run again
Only the drums maintained the Double Kick from the intro, while other instruments offered spacious, leisurely playing.
A bright progression that didn’t fit Metal.
Of course, the underlying structure remained minor, but the Chorus itself was appealingly mainstream.
The members who had been fierce and all-in until the previous section
Found their ease again as they entered the Chorus, the tension dissolving with the mood.
Wearing pleased smiles and making eye contact with each other.
Finally, Ocktop showed a glimpse of what high school musicians should look like.
Wake me up
Awaken Now
The voice calling us,
From where I believed it had all ended,
I’ll begin again.
The Chorus’s easy-to-follow melody was perfect for the audience to sing along.
Cha Seo-ha used the narrow stage as if it were vast, leaping across it.
She made eye contact with each audience member individually and sang alongside them, savoring the moment.
About halfway through the song, Ocktop’s members realized something.
Our synergy right now is too good.
Not five individuals playing and singing separately,
But as if a single, finished piece of music were being played back.
That’s how tight their interplay had become.
They’d rehearsed countless times, but never had they achieved this kind of unity.
That strong desire they felt before the showcase started—
To perform well.
All the practice hours accumulated so far.
And the real performance before them.
All these elements converged to create a flawless ensemble.
Ocktop was definitely made for the stage.
This was their first time performing “Awaken” on stage.
Once they were actually playing in front of people, it struck them how perfectly this song fit their hands.
Typically, the emotions a performer feels on stage are transmitted directly to the audience.
The audience all shared a similar thought.
Whether the busking at Banwol Park, celebrity observation cameras, or music broadcast shows—
Or even the stages of legendary kill-it bands they’d seen before, this moment far surpassed all of them.
The sound system and lighting—
The overall stage environment was far inferior, but Ocktop’s performance was unaffected by such things.
Until now, every stage Ocktop performed had served a promotional purpose.
Of course, this showcase served the same function,
But its primary purpose was to celebrate the album release.
Because the stage was packed with Ocktop’s personal desires, sincerity naturally permeated it.
And that sincerity was being transmitted to the audience without reservation.
“Wooooow!!”
The audience’s genuine cheers were proof of it.
The brilliant ensemble moved into the second verse.
Cha Seo-ha didn’t flaunt star quality here.
Gestures befitting a global pop star,
Expressive acting or fancy choreography—
None of that was present.
She simply communicated with the audience and enjoyed the stage with her friends.
But then Cha Seo-ha had a thought.
‘Wouldn’t it be more fun to show a bit of that too?’
Enjoying was good,
But adding something worth watching made it even better.
The moment the second verse began, Cha Seo-ha crouched halfway down at the front of the stage and sang.
Brazenly showing off to the audience seated directly in front.
Seductive eyes and a drooping posture.
Even the loosely held Microphone was executed with bewitching detail.
“Wow! Kyaaah!”
The front row audience let out shrieks of excitement,
And a few people who had been jumping around moments before now stood frozen, hands over their mouths.
Cha Seo-ha briefly wondered if the reaction was over the top, but as long as it was fun, that was all that mattered.
And so the second verse and Chorus rushed forward, heated by the live energy.
As the second verse came to a close, Cha Seo-ha stepped back as a spotlight fell on Heo Jun-sung.
The Guitar Solo—Rock’s defining flower.
The Chorus’s resonance hadn’t even fully faded.
Heo Jun-sung had already walked to center stage, his expression turning serious as he began.
The guitar drew in a deep breath, then exhaled a heavy note.
That note—like a short, stifled breath—slowly climbed higher,
And soon, suppressed breath burst forth as the guitar screamed.
The end of that scream wavered widely, lingering and trembling as it hung suspended on stage.
The string’s resonance barely sustained itself.
Before the audience could cry out again, Heo Jun-sung’s hands moved first.
Though his picking had stopped, the sound continued unbroken,
And the tone generated by his left hand alone slid smoothly across the frets.
The tempo gradually accelerated.
Heo Jun-sung began to showcase the climax of this solo section in earnest.
Being the spotlight was always exhilarating.
More dazzling than the original, longer than the original, Heo Jun-sung flaunted his playing.
He unleashed his favorite Tapping technique without restraint, lost in the thrill.
As the pace intensified, the audience roared with approval.
This song’s climax was undoubtedly this solo section.
A passage that perfectly showcased Heo Jun-sung’s growth.
And his growth wasn’t merely about flashiness.
His growth lay in how well he constructed a beginning, middle, end, and resolution within the part given to him.
As he finished the flashy Tapping, his Pick began sweeping across the strings again up and down,
And chords shattered and cascaded.
As the Arpeggio tumbled down like a waterfall, the band’s rhythm stirred back to life.
The moment the solo ended and everyone became one again.
The bass crept in low and the drums carefully opened the Hi-Hat.
Finally, the synth’s high note burst through, catching that quickened breath.
The music breathes again.
As though driving toward a single objective with all their might.
Heo Jun-sung returned to his position while exchanging a look with Cha Seo-ha moving toward center stage.
Within that glance existed many unspoken conversations.
Crossing the Bridge, they reached the final Chorus.
In the final Chorus, every instrument reached the peak of its pace.
Now this was truly the end.
Wake me up
Awaken now
Awaken my sleeping heart
Piece together my scattered self
I’ll run again
Cha Seo-ha’s vocals turned raw.
Her vocal cords strained under the friction, and her movements grew larger.
Fists thrust forward, a song brimming with emotion—rising once more from a regretted past.
And waiting for just such a Cha Seo-ha was a warmth overflowing from the band, as if they’d always known.
The audience felt an indescribable thrill at their perfect synchronization and unity.
After the Chorus, in the extended band-style Outro, Cha Seo-ha darted between all the instruments, keeping the energy from flagging,
And the audience, thoroughly excited, screamed without pause, matching the instrumental intensity.
Kang Min struck several measured, prolonged Crash hits,
And the other instruments kept pace, scraping their strings and tapping keys.
And at last.
With the Outro stretching long, Ocktop’s first showcase, first day, first song came to an end.
* * *
After the first song, Ocktop played several more without pause.
For the second song, they performed “Cruise!!” and for the next, the third track from this album and its most energetic song, “Ashes in My Mouth.”
The insane setlist choice raised the temperature even higher.
Once things had settled a bit, Cha Seo-ha began speaking into the Microphone.
“You guys having fun!!!?”
“Yeah!!!!”
“Woooow!!!!”
Just a hundred people.
Seven of those who had registered didn’t make it.
The roar from ninety-three voices was rivaling that of a massive arena.
Hearing their voices, she could feel how much they were enjoying the show.
Cha Seo-ha felt a genuine sense of pride.
But guilt also washed over her, and she spoke into the Microphone.
“We would’ve loved to secure a bigger venue, but as you know, we’re all students and we don’t have the budget.”
Most people understood and thought it was fine,
But murmurs began stirring in corners of the room.
“Wait, didn’t the company arrange the venue?”
“Hey, you idiot. They’re saying they don’t have a company.”
“Oh, they’re not celebrities?”
Some people who had been unaware of the truth now learned the reality.
The controversies that had swirled could have been resolved with one statement.
But because they had chosen not to reveal the truth until now, Ocktop had made it this far.
Their first full album’s showcase rode a wave of success.
The originally scheduled performance time was one hour.
But endless Encore requests meant they ended up playing thirty minutes longer.
Technically, they should have paid extra, but the venue owner, having enjoyed a refreshing performance after a long time, waived the fee.
That owner was probably an old hand at music themselves.
The audience attending Ocktop’s showcase consisted of diverse people.
Fans, of course, and people who had previously been anti-fans.
And some who came along with friends out of casual interest, who ultimately became Ocktop fans.
Kang Min’s former colleagues were there too.
Active players in the current band scene, they also had to acknowledge Ocktop after witnessing their performance.
And one other special person, who didn’t know Ocktop, also attended their showcase.

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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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