The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 55

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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
Episode 55
Since appearing on the broadcast, Ogtop had been drawing positive reactions from people.
Both public opinion and the media showered Ogtop with praise.
The achievements didn’t stop there.
Lee Jong Myeong, the PD from K-Net Broadcasting Station.
General audiences and fans of the indie scene.
Ogtop’s friends and family—everyone had witnessed one remarkable achievement Ogtop had earned since the broadcast.
Rock/Metal Chart.
1. Ogtop – Awaken
2. Ogtop – Ashes in My Mouth
3. Ogtop – Breathing Space
4. Ogtop – Cruise!!
5. Ogtop – Shattered Island
6. Ogtop – Rendezvous
…….
Though it was a genre chart, they had essentially swept it clean.
Of course, Ogtop’s name could also be found on the real-time Top 100 chart covering all genres.
The title track, “Awaken,” had settled in at number twenty-two on the chart.
The other tracks had also climbed to respectable positions.
It was a triumph for an indie band.
Certainly, in the past, bands or solo artists called indie had charted before.
Some had even dominated the number-one spot for extended periods.
The reason they could maintain those high chart positions was that they created music the general public enjoyed—songs free of genre-based resistance.
But back then, actual band fans had turned their backs on them.
The public showed interest when they heard new music suddenly emerge into the world.
Yet to those who had been their original fans, they looked like traitors who’d suddenly abandoned their identity and turned to mainstream music.
Moreover, from the public’s perspective, while they could be called indie, they weren’t “true indie.”
Because even though their scale was small, they had a management company behind them.
Ogtop, by contrast, was “true indie”—even true indie enthusiasts acknowledged it.
They had no company, and they were at a level where they still needed parental consent to move forward.
The fact that such a band had charted with metal—a niche genre within niches—was a phenomenon.
Because of this, Ogtop was beloved by both the general public and the band scene alike.
The public was captivated by Ogtop’s outstanding appearance and fresh musicality.
As for the core fans, they had nothing to complain about regarding Ogtop having sold out.
Rather, everyone had assumed they were an idol group, so being proven real only earned them more respect.
In a sense, Ogtop charting was a natural progression.
If anything, the ranking was lower than expected.
Well, the ranking itself didn’t matter much.
We’ve achieved our goal now.
“Man, we even made it on the chart. I guess we’re finally getting real recognition!”
Heo Jun Sung had been fired up these past few days.
The band scene, just like the general public, was beginning to acknowledge Ogtop.
We’d finally shed the labels that had clung to us—fake band, idol band, and all the rest.
Of course, there were still people who simply disliked us.
But that’s something that follows even world-class artists.
We can’t escape it either.
Envy and jealousy are proof of popularity, after all.
Of course, none of that was visible in the kids right now.
We’d finally won recognition from the very band scene that used to hate us.
“It was worth dragging out that attention for so long.”
Compared to the others, Kim Ji Hu seemed quite composed, though satisfaction played softly at the corners of his mouth.
It had taken a long time.
From last year’s school festival onwards, we’d been cursed by the entire world for over half a year.
To be honest, it didn’t amount to much for me, but I was grateful to my friends for enduring it so well.
Now we needed to take the next step carefully.
We’d impressed a favorable image on the public, and we needed to leverage that by participating in audition programs and achieving good results.
While basking in happiness was nice, what we needed to do now was map out a plan for audition program appearances and the practice that would follow.
“Hey, Heo Jun Sung—your line just now was good, wasn’t it? What was that?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? It was ad-lib. Why are you critiquing me, Kim Ji Hu?”
“It’s not criticism—it’s objective assessment.”
“Ugh, your tone is annoying.”
Lately, Kim Ji Hu had been spending more and more time observing the other members.
Precisely since we’d decided to enter an audition program.
“Lee Do Young. And you need to start raising your level soon.”
“Ah, am I still lacking that much?”
“Not excessively, but we don’t know what kind of mission we’ll get.
“Right, got it.”
Lee Do Young was a bassist with a promising future.
He didn’t just play—he fundamentally explored music itself.
Because he had so much to think about and consider compared to others, his growth might appear slow on the surface, but contemplation was woven into his playing.
So right now, Lee Do Young’s main weapon was delicacy.
But he lacked intensity.
He needed that punching power so that people watching and listening would instinctively be drawn in.
On broadcast, that was essential.
There had to be a reason Kim Ji Hu was paying such attention to Lee Do Young.
“Hey, Kim Ji Hu.”
“What?”
“Going forward, take charge of Lee Do Young and give him some lessons.”
“Lessons? I can’t play bass. Ask Heo Jun Sung.”
“No, you’re the one who needs to do it.”
From what I could see, Kim Ji Hu was the perfect fit for nurturing Lee Do Young’s growth.
“What kind of unreasonable thing is that?”
At Kim Ji Hu’s protest, I called over Heo Jun Sung.
“Hey, Heo Jun Sung. In your opinion, what does Lee Do Young seem to be lacking?”
“Hmm, resilience?”
“Right. So what do you think Lee Do Young’s completed form would look like?”
“How would I know that?”
“See? You can’t picture it, right? Kim Ji Hu, can you see it?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a rough image of it.”
“That’s why you have to take this on.”
“Jeez…….”
So starting today, Lee Do Young would be receiving lessons from Kim Ji Hu.
* * *
About a month after Ogtop released their album, one day.
K-Net Broadcasting Station’s homepage, official SNS, YouTube channel—and beyond that, community forums where musicians gathered and famous secondhand instrument trading sites—
A single notice went up in every corner of the world.
-We’re Looking for Real Bands-
Band Audition [Who’s the Real]
-Flashy packaging isn’t necessary. Prove yourselves through your instruments and voices alone-
In an era when countless songs pour out endlessly, where does true talent really lie?
We’re waiting for live ensemble that breathes on stage—not voices layered onto predetermined tracks—and raw, unprocessed energy.
-Grand Prize: One Hundred Million Won-
Now, prove it with your playing and singing.
We await the protagonist of the “real deal” who will change the landscape of Korea’s music scene.
The notice spread like wildfire.
Some in the scene called it a low-quality program exploiting bands for profit.
Others felt their musical ambitions ignited.
And there was one small team whose modest dreams were just beginning to bloom.
Jo Seong Hoon and his members, gathered in a cramped rehearsal space.
Not long ago, they’d filmed Ogtop’s music video, and in return, they’d received several songs from Cha Seo Ha.
Until then, no matter how hard they worked at music, they’d felt like they were spinning in place.
But after receiving Cha Seo Ha’s compositions and rehearsing them, they were finally starting to get a feel for it.
“Hey, Seong Hoon—should we try going for this?”
“Do you think we’d make it?”
“Just give it a shot. What do you guys think?”
“I’m into it. Sounds like good experience.”
“Could be fun?”
Though their skill was still lacking, submitting an application was at least something they could do.
So Jo Seong Hoon Band submitted their entry.
They weren’t the only ones making moves.
In Destruction’s rehearsal space.
After clashing with Ogtop at a past band slam and losing their turn at the Killing Band, they still harbored resentment toward Ogtop.
“Hyun Taek, you see this?”
Jeong Bo Un, a member of Destruction, showed Im Hyun Taek the notice.
“What is it? An audition program?”
“Yeah, you’ll enter, right?”
“Of course.”
Destruction had come to acknowledge Ogtop’s skill by now, and they knew precisely that they weren’t an idol group.
But the fact remained that Ogtop rubbed them the wrong way.
Ogtop was soaring as if mocking their own efforts.
After the Killing Band incident, Destruction had sworn to leverage media just as Ogtop had.
They were prepared to cast aside both tradition and fundamentals to succeed, ready to do whatever it took.
The rumor that “Destruction” had submitted an application spread to other players in the scene.
Of course, that rumor also reached Choi Woo Young, a former colleague of Kang Min.
Choi Woo Young, who had recently formed a band called Odyssey.
“You think Kang Min will enter?”
“Probably will, don’t you think?”
“Should we try it too?”
“Huh? A place like this?”
…….
Ever since Skydiver disbanded, Choi Woo Young had only ever watched Kang Min from a distance.
He’d felt resentment and envy, but a single yearning had taken root deeper than either of those feelings.
The desire to apologize to Kang Min, to be close again like they once were.
But right now, that wasn’t possible.
Kang Min stood too far above him.
But what if, in this audition program, he could show strong results and prove his own music?
Then maybe he could reconnect with Kang Min.
“Yeah, even if it’s a place like that, let’s go. I really want to enter.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Well, we should mention it to the other band members too.”
And so Choi Woo Young’s band, Odyssey, was beginning to make its own move.
* * *
“Oh my! Thank you so much for the ten-thousand won donation, Madejar!”
Dampa, a YouTuber, was spending another day as usual, interacting with viewers through a live stream.
Recently, he’d been cutting back on gaming broadcasts and doing more music review live streams instead.
He also frequently uploaded short guitar cover videos.
Ever since his last review of Ogtop’s album, the direction of his content had shifted.
Today he was doing a casual interaction broadcast, reading community posts, when…….
-mainichi donated 500,000 won.
“Whoa! Uh! Oh! Wow! This is insane!”
Dampa rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the unexpected large donation and checked the amount again.
“M-a-i-n-i-c-h-i? Mainichi! Thank you so much for the 500,000 won donation!”
Then came a voice donation message.
-Hey bro, I heard K-Net’s running a band audition program. How about you make entering it a mission?
“Wow! This crazy person is giving me half a million won just to set a mission like that?”
Dampa’s expression was genuinely dumbfounded.
Normally, viewers would donate a small amount, propose a mission, and then transfer the promised payment once it was completed.
But this viewer had orchestrated things so Dampa couldn’t refuse.
What kind of crazy viewer donates that much just to set a mission like this?
Even if Dampa’s broadcast maintained a casual, informal tone with viewers, this was asking too much from his personal schedule.
“No matter how much you donate, this is seriously disrespectful…….”
-lol it does eat up way too much of his schedule
-Still, if he got 500k, he should at least submit an application, right?
-Wait, isn’t this a band audition? Does this guy even have a band?
-Chat, think about the streamer’s position before setting missions, don’t just throw them out randomly
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The guy gives half a million won and asks for this—what’s he expecting the host to do lmao
-Seriously, you gotta ask first. This crosses the line bad
-Why? Sounds kinda fun to me, why are people hating?
-But if he bombs, the 500k was basically free money, and if he gets in, that’s good too, right? Plus if he wins, it’s a hundred million
-Like he’d actually win lmao ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Various reactions flooded the chat, but Dampa didn’t even glance at them.
He needed time to think alone.
“Okay! Fine, why not give it a shot! Got half a million won, so I’m submitting an application right now! Doing it live right now!”
Dampa immediately broadcast himself filling out the application in real time.
That broadcast went completely wild.

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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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