The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 7

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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’s Indie Band Hard Carry
Chapter 7
Because I ended up crying, the song finished without a proper conclusion.
Still, I showed everything I had to show, so it shouldn’t matter——except it absolutely does.
Damn it. I’m so embarrassed.
Why did I cry?
Lost as I was in deep immersion, I don’t even know exactly what I was thinking.
But one thing was certain: my thoughts were in the past.
A past that’s becoming the present now.
“Hey, Seo-ha. You okay?”
Lee Do-young seemed a bit startled seeing my tears and offered words of comfort.
Funny guy.
Not even knowing why I cried.
“Wow, man. If I sang like Cha Seo-ha, I think I’d cry looking in a mirror too.”
Heo Jun-sung bobbed his head.
It sounded like comfort, but it probably was sincere.
An even funnier guy.
“Do you cry on stage often?”
Kim Ji-hoo asked with concern, though his worry wasn’t really about me——it was about ruining the stage if I did it too much.
Not funny at all.
Anyway, I needed to get out of this situation fast.
“I don’t cry. Absolutely not. A man cries three times in his life, and today was the third.”
“…… Are you a bit crazy?”
“Never mind. How was the song?”
“I want to join the band. I want to lay my playing on top of your vocals.”
Kim Ji-hoo looked me straight in the eye as he spoke.
Not a trace of hesitation.
That was so like Kim Ji-hoo——utterly honest when it counted.
“Me too. I was thinking the same thing.”
“Um, yeah. Me too, kind of?”
Lee Do-young and Heo Jun-sung chimed in, racing each other.
My heart felt lighter.
It really did seem like we were destined to make music together.
From that day on, we set up the instruments each of us needed in the School Practice Room and began serious rehearsal.
The first thing we had to do was check each other’s skill level.
“Who goes first?”
“The youngest should go first.”
“The youngest?”
“Well, Confucianism is strict, so wouldn’t the last one to join be the youngest?”
Heo Jun-sung’s remark sparked a fierce clash with Kim Ji-hoo, who insisted they decide the order by mock exam scores.
I sided with Heo Jun-sung, for the record.
If we went by mock exam scores, I’d be the youngest.
Oddly enough, Lee Do-young sided with Kim Ji-hoo.
Damn. These top students apparently lack empathy.
They could empathize with my grades too, right?
After a long argument, Heo Jun-sung, taking the lead as a “senior,” picked up his Guitar.
“Watch closely.”
He fixed his gaze on me specifically as he spoke, then Heo Jun-sung seized the Guitar tone.
Wait. This tone is——?
It’s the Guitar tone from .
The song he’d demonstrated the last time at the Resonance of Strings event.
Sure, many songs share the same Guitar tone, but Heo Jun-sung’s expression made it clear he was about to play that song.
The familiar Guitar riff that emerged was , as expected.
I figured he’d pick something more flashy and striking, but this was unexpected.
He’s showing me not his current skill level, but his short-term growth. In other words, the amount of effort he’s put in.
Only days had passed, but he was definitely better than last time.
There was ease in his movements, and rather than playing from memory, he was surrendering his whole body to the rhythm.
Yes, this is playing.
I’d have liked to see more technical work, but this wasn’t bad.
I found myself genuinely impressed imagining how hard Heo Jun-sung must have practiced these past few days.
“Good. Better than before.”
“That’s it?”
“What else? Want me to pat your butt?”
“…… Would you?”
“…… Get out.”
“I’m joking. Don’t be so serious.”
Heo Jun-sung’s emotional instincts were good.
He had the vibe of an aggressive, combative shonen manga protagonist.
A band depends on harmony, but as an exception, Guitar needs some edge to stand out.
If I had to find a shortcoming, it’s that he gets excited too easily.
I’d have to correct that gradually.
We weren’t planning on staying a neighborhood band.
After that, I turned my attention to Lee Do-young.
“Do-young, you need to show us your playing too.”
“Yeah, but compared to you guys, I’m still lacking a lot.”
“Potential matters more than current skill. Look at Heo Jun-sung. Just days ago, he was a mess.”
“Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”
Heo Jun-sung objected, but Lee Do-young nodded and seemed to regain some confidence.
“Okay, I’ll try.”
Lee Do-young’s song choice was by Mice.
It wasn’t a surprising choice.
Among people who play Bass, there’s probably not one who hasn’t played this song.
The Bass used in this song’s intro is made up of 16-bit with open strings mixed in, making it tricky to sync the left and right hand timing.
As a result, Lee Do-young had to painstakingly get through the playing.
He couldn’t keep up with the original’s speed, but he focused on each note, trying not to make mistakes.
Lee Do-young, continuing his meticulous playing, finished the piece shortly.
“Hmm, it’s a bit disappointing, Do-young. You need to practice more.”
Heo Jun-sung’s assessment was that it was “disappointing.”
“No, it’s not disappointing.”
Meanwhile, Kim Ji-hoo seemed to have liked Lee Do-young’s playing.
What about me, then?
“It’s very good.”
That’s Lee Do-young for you.
“Really? The tempo feels a bit lacking to me.”
Heo Jun-sung’s opinion wasn’t wrong either.
Actually, for proper band Ensemble, you do need to maintain tempo.
But Lee Do-young is still an incomplete member.
A musician who prioritizes fundamentals is far more promising than one who sacrifices detail for speed.
And once they cross a certain threshold, they grow at terrifying speed.
Heo Jun-sung was evaluating what he saw right now, while Kim Ji-hoo and I were seeing potential.
“Playing with precision is good when you look at the big picture. Heo Jun-sung, didn’t you practice that way when you were younger?”
“Yeah, thinking about it, I did.”
“Anyway, you did well, Do-young. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”
“Thanks.”
Lee Do-young, scratching his head, seemed to think it was lacking himself, but that’s only what he is right now.
He’s genuinely an artist I’m looking forward to.
But wait, I can’t leave it at praise.
“But Do-young, there’s a serious problem.”
“What is it?”
“How much do you weigh?”
“Huh?”
“Height and weight.”
“I’m 5’8″…… 152 pounds.”
“To become perfect, you need to drop to 141 pounds. Body fat percentage below 15%. Lose the fat and build muscle mass.”
“…… Does that really matter?”
“Very much.”
“Why?”
“The first gate to becoming an incredible Bassist is having body fat below 15%.”
“…… ?”
Kim Ji-hoo interjected.
“Did you trade your vocal skill for losing your mind?”
“I don’t respond to baseless negative rumors.”
“…… ?”
“Right, next. Kim Ji-hoo, your turn.”
All three of us turned our attention to Kim Ji-hoo.
“What should I show? Guitar? Keyboards?”
“Would you play Synthesizer?”
Kim Ji-hoo would become our band’s keyboardist going forward, but his knowledge of various instruments made him versatile and useful.
Since Synthesizer was his main strength, I needed to assess his skill now.
Kim Ji-hoo stood in front of the Synthesizer.
He casually pressed the keys, searching for the right sound, and once he found it, he loosened his fingers.
Shortly after, the playing began, and an unidentifiable song was performed.
Kim Ji-hoo, sketching out masterless chords with a mysterious-sounding Synthesizer.
Then he began to break apart those chord clusters.
Diverse arpeggios and tensions suddenly wove through the practice room.
Soon, Kim Ji-hoo tidied up the progression and connected it to a song we all knew well.
A song by Somrthing Doomed.
.
What an incredible progression.
This song, called the textbook of melodic speed metal, isn’t something ordinary skill can play.
And there unfolded the height of brilliance.
He even played the Guitar solo section that followed on the Synthesizer.
“Wow, you’re good….”
Lee Do-young had both hands over his mouth, lost in admiration.
Meanwhile, Heo Jun-sung, already knowing Kim Ji-hoo’s skill, simply nodded.
He really is good.
“Is that enough?”
“Yeah, that was impressive. Your playing was refined.”
Kim Ji-hoo’s actual playing doesn’t really need correction.
But his independent and cool-headed nature would likely make Ensemble difficult.
We’d think about that part once we started playing together.
This way, the traits of all three were well laid out.
The four of us gathered round in a circle in the middle of the practice room.
“Now that we know each other’s skill, there’s something we need to do.”
“What?”
“A performance.”
“Huh?”
“I’m the type who believes you can’t give your all to practice without a goal. Let’s perform exactly ten days from now, this Saturday.”
“Where?”
“Busking at Banwol Park.”
“What’s the goal?”
“The target score?”
At Lee Do-young and Kim Ji-hoo’s words, I laughed quietly.
These top students might lack empathy, but their ability to achieve goals seems solid.
“Social Media.”
“Huh? You mean we shoot video and post it on Social Media?”
“No. The goal is to make someone who sees our performance mention us on their Social Media.”
“Ah…….”
“That’s good, but isn’t the difficulty level pretty high?”
It’s probably going to be tough.
It’s common to see Busking on the street.
But making someone care enough to mention it on their Social Media is never easy.
“What do you think?”
“I like it.”
“Sounds fun.”
“I think we can do it.”
Satisfying answers poured in, and I spoke up.
“Each of you bring two or three songs you’d like to play. We’ve seen each other’s skills now, so you’ve got a sense of the variation we can handle, right?”
Everyone nodded.
* * *
Mandela Effect’s .
SUN’s .
Mice’s .
There were a few other songs, but these three were what we ultimately chose.
was Heo Jun-sung’s choice, and was Lee Do-young’s.
was Kim Ji-hoo’s.
To be honest, for a band barely just formed, it was a challenging choice.
Ensemble isn’t just about everyone following the sheet music properly.
That’s the very basics——what you’d call plain performance, not Ensemble.
Ensemble is creating a new world.
If you give 100 musicians the mundane phrase “a warm melody,” 100 different interpretations emerge.
Some will call the warmth a scorching sensation that heats the body, while others will accept a tepidness within coolness as warmth.
Narrowing the gap between those interpretations and sentiments, building one great house.
Sound generated by vibrations echoing.
Rhythm achieved by accumulated time.
A song completed by adding space to that.
Creating a world through the music born from these elements——a sublime act.
That was Ensemble.
In that sense, this song selection had an interesting point.
First, each song well reflected the owner’s tastes.
But there were elements that would be tricky for the other members to handle.
is within the difficulty Heo Jun-sung can manage, but it’s quite hard to express.
The rough-around-the-edges Heo Jun-sung tends to go wild when playing, and it can only be expressed if he completely abandons that.
Lee Do-young is a Bassist who thoroughly pursues supporting roles, but is a song where all instruments need to take a bold stance.
So far, okay.
If we close our eyes and practice hard, we can do it.
The problem is .
“Can we actually do this?”
“I think it could be fun, but maybe it’s too hard?”
A song that only tastes good if it’s absolutely perfect.
You could call it a very Kim Ji-hoo choice.
We’re an amateur band. We’re definitely going to make mistakes.
The real question is: when Kim Ji-hoo sees mistakes from Heo Jun-sung and Lee Do-young, will he cry “Wrong answer” and charge ahead alone?
Or will he create imperfection together with them?
I’m not sure.
It was something to watch.
Anticipation and worry mixed together, making the moment interesting for me.
Anyway, it’s a bit strange in this context.
“Why are you guys following so obediently?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re just following what I chose without question.”
“Well, what else can I do? I wanted to play that song too anyway.”
Ignoring Heo Jun-sung’s grumbling response, I looked at Lee Do-young, but unexpectedly, the answer came from Kim Ji-hoo.

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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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