The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 59

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

A Former Idol’s Hard Carry of an Indie Band
Chapter 59
After a final rehearsal run-through at the Studio, we entered the venue.
The atmosphere on-site was quite good.
You could tell they’d invested money in the Studio’s production design.
Even the corridors outside the main Stage were heavily decorated.
These people are more serious about this than I thought.
The team ahead of us was performing at full strength.
The vocalist who’d asked me about shouting technique earlier in the day.
Despite the long wait, he’d sung with his throat torn raw.
In the end, he’d earned three Real marks and passed confidently.
On the way back, we’d run into each other and exchanged friendly greetings.
“All right, shall we head on out?”
“Okay!”
Only Heo Jun Sung, who’d gotten enough sleep, was brimming with energy.
Uh-oh. That wasn’t good.
The moment we took the Stage, we began tuning.
From what I could see, the instruments were in good condition.
Before starting the main performance, I made eye contact with each of them one by one.
Heo Jun Sung looked so confident he was about to burst, and Kang Min was the same.
Kim Ji Hu maintained his characteristic cynical expression.
That was his way of saying he was ready.
Lee Do Young looked a bit worn out, but he’d pull through.
“Participant number 56, Okdap.”
As the voice echoed through the microphone, the production crew exchanged some kind of signal.
“Okdap, please begin your Stage performance.”
Soon the judges’ instruction came down, and Okdap’s performance began.
The members of Okdap exchanged glances from their respective positions.
A moment later, Kang Min raised his Drumstick high in the air and shouted with his raw voice.
“Okdap! Let’s go!!!!”
At Kang Min’s energetic cry, the judges burst into laughter.
The moment the song started, Kang Min’s Double Bass Kick kicked into high gear.
Heo Jun Sung unleashed a Riff that kept pace without falling behind.
Lee Do Young kicked the bias that Bass sounds heavy and filled the floor with a resonant, metallic texture.
And Kim Ji Hu wove in the sense of rhythm alongside them.
The Keyboard, with its characteristically Percussive texture, was as cold as if using a virtual instrument.
The song we’d prepared was “Awaken,” the title track of our upcoming full album.
Originally, “Awaken” was a Metal-based song, but it had been reworked with a more accessible Arrangement.
In a good light, an easy-to-listen-to song.
In a bad light, a song whose essence had faded.
That’s what the Original Song was.
“What’s this? You went full Metal on the Original Song?”
“You made some Arrangement changes?”
The judges had seen through exactly what Okdap was planning after just four bars of the intro.
The original “Awaken” was fundamentally in a Minor Key, but the chord progression had a bright tone.
“That was a Third Interval originally, right?”
“Yeah, that’s actually the key point, but they killed it. They substituted with a Fifth Interval and the Voicing seems well done?”
“I see…. They have good taste.”
But Cha Seo Ha, in his own way, had managed to express the solemn and dark feeling that Metal brings.
And there he was, moving across the Stage in broad, sweeping motions.
He flowed through the spaces between his bandmates’ playing, immersing himself completely in the experience.
An Arrangement with clear direction and top-tier musicianship to match.
And Cha Seo Ha filling the entire Stage so that no one watching felt bored.
Okdap definitely had something on a different level than other bands.
Amid the various judges’ commentary, Cha Seo Ha began to sing.
On a stage where the lights have died,
All that remains is my shadow.
In that moment I reached out my hand,
I turned my back instead.
The lyrics were the same as the Original Song.
But a completely different tone and melody suited to the rearranged version.
Cha Seo Ha wasn’t just delivering the lyrics to the rearranged track with a refreshed melody.
Rather, he was conveying the new meaning this song had taken on to everyone listening.
Where the original song had sung of frustration and overcoming it with hope and youthful vigor,
This version felt like a desperate struggle after frustration, clawing toward recovery.
The mass appeal was definitely reduced.
There was no catchy hook, and while it created tension, the release felt unsatisfying.
The audience watching Okdap’s performance couldn’t shake the thought that this frustration was entirely by design.
The intention behind the song came through far too clearly.
As the verse transitioned into the later section, Kang Min’s Drum shifted to Half-Time.
The frequency of the Drum suddenly halved.
In that empty space, cymbals and toms infiltrated precisely, adding detail.
Heo Jun Sung filled the necessary moments with occasional Tapping.
Lee Do Young expanded the Bass’s range, filling the void left by the Guitar and Drum.
And a sharp Synth Pad layered underneath.
Its presence was subtle compared to the other instruments, but this dark, murky atmosphere owed everything to Kim Ji Hu’s playing.
All instruments moved in the same rhythm.
And the members swayed their bodies back and forth in large motions in sync with it.
The judges nodded along as they sensed the sheer amount of practice that had gone into this.
While they were lost in the pleasure of the rhythm, the music reached the chorus.
Wake me up
Awaken now
Wake the sleeping heart,
Stitch me back together,
I’ll run again.
The dark atmosphere and momentum absent from the Original Song.
Hearing this chorus, the judges were certain.
“They really committed to this direction.”
There wasn’t a single section that offered mass appeal.
Cha Seo Ha scraped his throat raw as he sang.
Simple but momentum-filled Bass and Drums that sounded like they could destroy the world.
And a Guitar that seemed to encroach on the vocal’s territory.
Even a Synth line that hadn’t existed in the original.
Okdap was deliberately showcasing authenticity.
It felt like watching the golden age of the British Black Label that dominated the seventies.
Okdap’s performance continued at a world-class level.
The judges were gradually being drawn deeper into their music as time passed.
It was around the second chorus, when the tension was becoming momentum.
All instruments suddenly stopped playing.
Then came Kim Ji Hu’s Lead Solo at a very low volume.
He played it with flourish, emphasizing the mid-to-high register.
The sound was too quiet to hear exactly what he was playing, but that was all by design—to draw focus.
And then gradually, the volume increased.
Just as the judges could make out what the Lead Solo was, Kang Min’s Drum joined in.
Basic 8-beat combined with sparse, majestic tom fills.
Meanwhile, Cha Seo Ha rested both hands on the Microphone Stand, hung his head, and gave himself over entirely to listening to the music.
And then the Bass slid in naturally with a Slide.
Three instruments were slowly coming together to create what could be called music when Heo Jun Sung held his Pick high and walked toward the front of the Stage.
“Wow, crazy!”
“A solo. It’s a solo.”
As soon as Heo Jun Sung walked forward with a mischievous expression, the judges anticipated the next part,
And Cha Seo Ha gave them confirmation by shouting into the microphone.
“Guitar!!”
A few quick bursts of Sweep Picking.
Heo Jun Sung announced the start of his solo while giving off the vibe of casually strumming the strings.
Immediately, the playing transitioned into elaborate Picking.
Heo Jun Sung’s expression and movements were raw—
Like a mindless beast, yet his fingertips were full of precision.
It felt like the heart was about to burst.
The judges’.
And Heo Jun Sung’s, performing the piece.
The Picking stopped for a moment.
Heo Jun Sung shook the Tremolo arm and removed his right hand entirely.
Then he cried out with his raw voice.
“Yeah!!!!”
With a mischievous grin, he took another step toward the judges and threw his Pick off the Stage.
Then he turned back, took his place, and unleashed Technical Legato, pushing the display of brilliance to its limit.
Heo Jun Sung executed cleanly the technique that’s known as a measure of skill.
Perfect Two-Hand Mute.
His noise control was flawless.
So absorbed was he in playing that he stared at the ceiling with his mouth open, intoxicated by his own performance.
When the speed of the playing reached its peak, he thrashed his head wildly, as if he could no longer contain the urgency to play.
“Hah, hold on…….”
“Wow, unbelievable….”
The judges were past being amazed.
They were already thinking they should mark him as passed.
Along with wondering where these kids had come from, they were even imagining a future so distant it might not come to pass—that maybe they’d win first place.
Amid all these thoughts, Heo Jun Sung finished his solo, and the judges thought the song would now return to the main part.
At least, not until Kim Ji Hu took over with his solo.
Suddenly, Kim Ji Hu’s right hand began darting frantically across the Keyboard,
And the judges let out a shriek at the unexpected Synthesizer Solo.
“Wow!”
“Man, these crazy bastards!”
“Are these really high school kids?”
Unlike the passionate Heo Jun Sung, Kim Ji Hu approached his playing with composure.
He played the main melody frantically with his right hand while his left never stopped applying Note Bending in between.
Kim Ji Hu adding humanity to the mechanical sound with the bending.
But such things don’t suit Kim Ji Hu.
Precision.
A surreal performance as if a machine were stamping it out.
That’s what needed to be shown.
While continuing to play similar lines with his right hand, he pressed the Transpose button wildly at just the right moments.
A solo that kept changing keys.
Then he boldly pressed the Octave Change button, creating an impossible solo.
Was this performance realistically possible?
The guitarist had given an excellent performance.
But this synthesizer player was achieving a level no human should be able to reach.
The judges had no words left.
Once Kim Ji Hu’s performance ended, the song finally returned to the main part.
Wake me up
Awaken now
Wake the sleeping heart,
Stitch me back together,
I’ll run again.
The final chorus erupted, and “Awaken” raced toward its end.
The Guitar and Synthesizer, which moments ago were so assertive, had merged into one, now playing the same music.
The pleasure of music finding its place is always a joy.
And Okdap knew how to deliver that joy.
After the chorus came the Outro of the song.
Right when I thought it was truly over, something caught Cha Seo Ha’s eye.
‘What’s that?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————