The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 81

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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 Hardcore Carry in an Indie Band
Chapter 81
While Oktop was advancing through the Semi-Final, the Waiting Room for Performers was also watching their stage.
The Maruru Band, who had just finished their performance and returned to the waiting room moments ago.
“They’re really good, aren’t they, Hyun Ah?”
“Yeah, Oktop’s skill has always been excellent.”
Min Hyun Ah, the band’s leader, and guitarist Choi Si Hyun were touching up their makeup while watching Oktop’s stage.
Then bassist Yun Jeong Ah approached them.
“So what if they’re good? They’re the ones destroying the scene anyway.”
“Hey, you.”
Min Hyun Ah shot her a warning look.
The cameras were recording everything.
But Yun Jeong Ah figured that with the next round being the Final, there wouldn’t be any malicious editing at this point, so she didn’t bother choosing her words.
“I hate them anyway.”
Min Hyun Ah felt similarly.
Oktop had skill and striking visuals.
And after the busking scene they’d built at Banwol Park became famous, Hongdae had withered.
With fewer audiences and fewer players, the artists living in that area were losing their stage.
She hated seeing her juniors perform in such poor conditions.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely Oktop’s fault, but on the surface and in terms of timing, she couldn’t help but blame them.
But she couldn’t just hate them without even talking to them.
“Seriously! I hope they crash and burn!”
“Jeong Ah. Don’t jump to conclusions without having a conversation. I’ll ask them about it later.”
After calming her bandmates down, Min Hyun Ah turned her attention back to the screen.
* * *
Oktop’s “Run” was smoothly racing toward the tail end of youth.
As the song moved into its second half, Kang Min’s drumming grew more intense.
Heo Jun Sung began revealing his original energy, and Kim Ji Hu overwhelmed the audience with razor-sharp playing.
And Cha Seo Ha’s increasingly energetic vocals and stage presence alongside it.
Lee Do Young’s presence was steadily collapsing.
No one was watching Lee Do Young.
The audience didn’t even think, “Will Lee Do Young just end the stage uneventfully like this?”
He was like an invisible person.
And Judge Jung Hyuk concluded that Lee Do Young was indeed a player with clear limitations.
* * *
It was a day not long before the Semi-Final competition.
The song “Run” that Seo Ha created.
The song we’ll perform in the Semi-Final.
Fast-tempo punk.
Most of it consisted of repeating lines, and the overall difficulty wasn’t particularly high.
There was a Slap part before the Intro and Chorus, but it was a level I could handle.
Seo Ha hadn’t finished the song as usual.
He left the Solo Part blank, having each performer create that section themselves.
And as always, that task fell to me, not to Heo Jun Sung or Kim Ji Hu.
“Hmm…….”
“Not coming to you?”
“Yeah, it’s tough. What would you have done with it, Ji Hu?”
I’d been receiving private lessons from Kim Ji Hu even before joining Who’s The Real.
Kim Ji Hu couldn’t play Bass, but he had deep understanding of various instruments and sound itself.
And since he’d been studying Harmony Theory for quite a long time, he was very helpful.
“If it were me, I’d have played it technically. Showcasing the Technician skill while doing detailed playing, you know?”
Listening to Kim Ji Hu’s words, I could start to visualize it.
That was the kind of playing Kim Ji Hu usually preferred.
“But you’re different. You have a similar delicate side to me, but how do I put it…….”
Kim Ji Hu fell into thought for a moment.
“Your emotion is much richer.”
“Me? What kind of emotion?”
“Let me give you an example. In the case of someone like Heo Jun Sung…….”
“Heo Jun Sung? You mean him?”
“Yeah, that guy’s crazy about getting attention. He’s full of longing to be looked at. You can feel it in his playing.”
“Yeah, I feel it too.”
“But in your playing, there’s a kind of desperation that comes through.”
“Desperation…….”
I’d never really thought about it before.
I just practiced every day, imagined my idol older brother, and hoped to get closer to that image.
I didn’t know that desperation would seep through in my playing like that.
“Heo Jun Sung’s desire for attention is ultimately about wanting to become a skilled artist, but you’re different.”
That’s what Seo Ha said.
Kim Ji Hu was someone who could imagine the completed version of me.
That’s why I entrusted my lessons to Kim Ji Hu instead of Heo Jun Sung.
“You don’t become a skilled artist in the eyes of the public—you have a certain image you want for yourself, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Picture that image. And then materialize it and put it into your music. How does the completed you express emotion—through what sound, what beat, what playing technique.”
I remembered the first time I heard Seo Ha play at Sound of Strings.
Back then, Seo Ha wasn’t showing his playing to Heo Jun Sung—he was speaking.
Conveying a certain emotion.
Following that memory came the day I talked with my mother to get parental consent.
My older brother in the photo was still smiling brightly.
Holding the Bass snugly in his arms.
What would my brother say if he saw me now?
Would he tell me to stop fooling around and just study?
Really……. Would he have said that?
What was my brother trying to say through music?
My tangled thoughts gradually began to organize themselves.
“Kim Ji Hu, I think I understand what you mean now.”
“Yeah? Then we’re done for today. Go write the line quickly.”
“By myself?”
“Yeah, you can do it.”
“Okay……. I’ll give it a try!”
* * *
The Chorus of the second verse ended with Cha Seo Ha’s high note scattering and Kim Ji Hu’s Synth descending to some low point.
And then Lee Do Young, walking to the center of the stage.
“Oh? Is this a Bass Solo?”
Lee Do Young, who had shown the most reserved appearance since Round 1 and throughout.
All instruments stopped, and Lee Do Young began commanding all attention by playing an Open Hammer Fluck Slap in triplets.
A tension-filled atmosphere was created in an instant.
“Wow!! The production is so good!”
“Wait, let me listen.”
Producer Jung Hyuk leaned forward and began stroking his chin.
Until just moments before, he’d thought he’d confirmed Lee Do Young’s limitations.
It didn’t take long to realize that was a hasty judgment.
Lee Do Young simply continued playing that rhythm, occasionally mixing in high notes.
And the Double Fluck appearing at similar timing.
Every time Lee Do Young struck the string with his thumb and plucked it with his index and middle fingers, the Bass Speaker seemed to cry out.
Lee Do Young, leaning back slightly, playing with his face contorted in concentration.
Completely absorbed.
And at each point that stood out, the Guitar from Heo Jun Sung and the Synth from Kim Ji Hu appeared at perfect timing.
It was an ensemble worthy of what you’d see in overseas jazz musician jam sessions.
And the audience couldn’t calm their astonishment at this brilliant, refined playing.
Like a student with no presence in class suddenly shining at the school festival.
A supporting character who’d only been suffering at the villain’s hands awakening.
It was the feeling of intuitively grasping something that conveyed such catharsis.
“Oh, oh, ohhh!!”
“Wow, insane!”
“What is that! What is that suddenly!”
Back to steady beat, back to triplets.
Showing variations of different rhythms, then displaying a wide slide with a relaxed smile.
Then, when his left hand arrived at a certain point, his right hand began striking the strings in earnest.
Lee Do Young, knees slightly bent, absorbed in playing in a low position.
Rather than disrupting the rhythm with excessive Technician skill, he chose a method that showcased variety and refinement within the set rhythm.
Just as his older brother would have.
And it was a Solo that suited this refined stage perfectly.
Lee Do Young continued with brilliant playing.
His mind held only one thought.
‘Is this how close I’ve gotten?’
‘Answer me, brother.’
The desperation Kim Ji Hu had mentioned.
It stemmed from the longing to become a genius bassist like his brother.
Refinement, brilliance, precision, and so on.
Such adjectives were merely what followed.
Lee Do Young wanted to catch up to his brother’s skill and complete the music his brother had left behind.
That was for his family’s happiness.
It was a task he absolutely had to accomplish for his brother’s wronged heart and for his own happiness.
If his brother saw him now, he’d probably say he still had a long way to go and tell him to practice more.
So far, just as his brother had, he’d researched sound and studied the essence of music.
But today was the day to gather all that time and show it as only his stage.
Right now, Lee Do Young’s Bass wasn’t merely a rhythm instrument supporting this song.
“It’s the beating heart of living, breathing music!”
As the playing reached its climax, the focused producers surrendered without resistance.
“My, that guy?”
“Look at that…….”
“That’s something special.”
“We were completely fooled. He was deliberately suppressing his presence.”
“Excellent production, really.”
The producers, who had leaned forward, relaxed their postures and were completely captivated by Lee Do Young’s Technician skill and the emotion he conveyed.
By then the Bass Solo ended and the Guitar and Drum joined in earnest.
The music returned to its original path.
“Ah, such a shame.”
“Heh, I wanted to hear more, you know?”
They wanted to hear more of the Bass Solo.
Though it was already a sufficient length, it was such brilliant playing that you wouldn’t get tired of hearing it all day.
Returning to the main theme, the music moved into the final Chorus.
The audience screamed—screams that were almost shouts—watching Lee Do Young’s back as he exited after finishing the Solo.
For him to give more.
Not to go.
But Cha Seo Ha, returning to the center of the stage, took control again and sang.
With the biggest energy pouring out, the song was decorated as always with a band-style Outro performance.
Thus Oktop’s stage was finished perfectly, without a single mistake.
* * *
After finishing the stage, a deafening roar erupted.
Usually many people would scream toward Seo Ha or Heo Jun Sung.
But today I could clearly feel that many gazes were directed at me.
“Hey, you did great. That was brilliant.”
“Yeah, thanks, Seo Ha.”
Seo Ha gave my shoulder a few light pats.
When I turned my gaze toward the Keyboard, Kim Ji Hu was looking at me.
He gave a thumbs up lightly and offered a faint smile.
High praise.
Honestly, I was a bit unsatisfied with today’s performance, but everyone was cheering on my growth.
Suddenly, I had a thought.
At first, I’d joined this program just to clear my departed brother’s name.
But as time passed, it felt like I was growing alongside him.
Like he was guiding me in real-time and helping me grow.
What would my brother say if he saw me now?
Study hard?
Practice more?
No, he probably would have praised me, saying I’d worked hard.
Keep watching me to the very end, brother.

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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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