The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 86

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

A Former Idol Does Hard Carry for an Indie Band
Episode 86
“Camera 2 standing by. When the Jimjilbang shot comes in, hold Slide 1 for one second, then cut to Camera 2.”
The technical director sitting at the console in the Sub-Control Room switched the feed according to Lee Jong Myung’s instructions.
“Audience camera standing by. Main, zoom in on the LED screen for 3 seconds, then audience for 1 second.”
Lee Jong Myung was executing a flawless broadcast with his exceptional skill.
The chorus of the first verse was drawing to a close.
As he focused on his work, Lee Jong Myung felt an ominous premonition flash through his mind in a single fleeting instant.
Nothing had happened yet.
He thought maybe it would just pass.
‘Right, they’re just high school kids.’
He didn’t think there was much they could do.
And most crucially, Cha Seo Ha hadn’t said anything outright.
He held on to the possibility that he’d simply misunderstood.
Just like this.
Oktop’s stage would be over in about two minutes now.
He just had to hold out for two more minutes.
Just two minutes…
“Huh?”
The technical director sitting at the console suddenly noticed something and jumped.
“Oh no. It’s a broadcast accident.”
Cha Seo Ha on the screen was crying.
The moment the second verse began after the chorus.
Cha Seo Ha stopped singing and broke down.
It was a broadcast accident.
But what a magnificent accident.
Could anything be more moving than the tears that fall while singing an emotional song?
More effective than delivering the song perfectly.
“Producer. Lee Do Young is crying too.”
“Switch the feed! Camera 3! Close-up on Lee Do Young!”
Lee Jong Myung thought he’d captured a beautiful shot.
And then, composing himself, Cha Seo Ha channeled his voice back into the microphone.
“Okay, main Camera 1, close-up on Cha Seo Ha! Tighten the focus, let those tears show!”
Lee Jong Myung directed the entire broadcast’s focus onto Cha Seo Ha.
Unaware that it was a trap set for him.
* * *
The second verse was structured as a rap.
Rap was the best device for conveying large amounts of lyrics effectively.
He hadn’t rapped much before, but that didn’t matter.
This was the part I’d deliberately gotten wrong during every rehearsal.
A warning that unexpected situations could happen in a live broadcast.
For instance, losing the original lyrics because I was crying and spitting out completely different lyrics as a freestyle…
That kind of unexpected situation.
And I began the rap, mixing my voice with barely contained sobs.
Brother, you left us behind
Are you happy there?
We remember you
And we hate
Everyone who drove you to death
I poured anguish into every syllable to make the message land.
Eyes shut tight, speaking as if improvising.
Naturally, the rhyme scheme fell apart entirely—it was just the feeling of rap conveying a narrative.
The masses’ pointing fingers
You couldn’t bear it
And the even more vicious plot behind it all
The dirty truth the world doesn’t know
Cut with scissors and pasted back together
The whole world laughing at it
Completed by someone’s death
Someone’s shameful work
The pre-written real lyrics I’d memorized flowed perfectly, without a single stumble.
Answer me
What’s the real truth?
We’re going to prove it
What’s the Real
* * *
Everything Cha Seo Ha spat out was metaphorical.
He didn’t directly target anyone or explicitly mention any incident.
And that’s all the public would ever think.
“Oh… looks like he mixed up the lyrics.”
Dampa watched Cha Seo Ha, who’d fumbled the words while crying, with a sense of regret.
The lyrics shown in the lower left of the screen were completely different from what Cha Seo Ha was actually rapping.
-But he still killed it
-If the whole rap is wrong like that, won’t that affect the results a lot?
-Wait, so all that was freestyle? Insane
-He can rap pretty well too
-But why does it hit so hard… ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-The tears got me ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-A commemorative song in the finals…? That’s meaningful but the lyrics being wrong is a problem
All the viewers watching together expressed their sympathy.
And at some point during the second verse.
“What? What! What the—! What the hell!”
Seeing something on screen he could never have anticipated, he shot up from his seat and cursed.
The chat was just as frantic.
-A broadcast accident?
-?????
-???? What’s happening?
-What just happened?
-Wow, this is a major disaster
-???? Is this real?
-Oh man, this is screwed
-??
-The greatest moment in audition program history
* * *
At first he thought Cha Seo Ha had simply flubbed his lines.
But the more he listened, the more that ominous premonition he’d felt earlier became a horrifying reality.
“Producer. They’re just doing freestyle—what should we do about the lyrics?”
He couldn’t answer.
“Producer?”
If it came out that the broadcast station had manipulated the editing around Lee Do Hyun’s death, dissemination of false facts and defamation would unquestionably be established crimes.
And given the severity, no staff member would go along with delegating editing authority to cover it up.
If those lyrics went out completely as they were, it would be catastrophic.
Oktop, already hugely popular, had shown tears on camera.
The public would mobilize to uncover the meaning of the lyrics they’d just exposed.
The public…
Terror flooded through him in an instant.
The terror that the entire world would curse him out.
The social condemnation and legal responsibility he’d face from the shift in public opinion.
He had to stop it.
“Switch it. Now.”
“Sir?”
“Cut the sound or switch the feed—do it!”
“Sir? Producer, suddenly what—”
“Right now!”
“But we’re in the middle of a live broadcast—”
“Get out of my way!”
The Sub-Control Room descended into chaos in seconds.
When the technical director refused to comply, I shoved him with my body, and the staff around me tried to restrain me.
A coffee cup on the console spilled onto the floor and a chair spun.
In that moment, I reached for the nearest button and pressed it.
And the broadcast cut to commercial.
I stared at the screen with trembling hands.
I’d stopped it.
I’d stopped it, but surely…
“Producer… what are you doing…?”
Wait.
What the hell did I just do?
* * *
It was the worst broadcast accident in audition program history.
Cha Seo Ha’s desperate rap had suddenly cut off.
The broadcast switched to a commercial.
-Apple Pop! Pop! Tropical! Apple Pop! Pop! Tropical!
The ad that happened to air was a beverage commercial featuring a girl group member doing a silly dance and singing a jingle.
And on the Band Community, where people had been posting live reactions to “Who’s The Real,” countless posts about the incident flooded in.
-Was that a broadcast accident?
-What? They just cut off the live stage?
-Why does Oktop always have so many incidents…?
-But the timing of that commercial is hilarious
-Right when he goes “Answer me!” and it cuts to “Apple! Pop! Pop!”
-That’s harsh treatment for Oktop, honestly
-But we’re supposed to do the text vote during the performance—cutting it off is a problem, right?
-This is seriously a massive incident
-Something must’ve happened on stage—maybe someone got hurt? I don’t see how this could happen otherwise
-Wait, could this be them pushing another team instead? Surely not…?
Countless posts were pouring in in real time.
Dozens of new posts appeared by the second until the site itself crashed.
The comments on Dampa’s live stream were scrolling too fast to read.
“I mean, this is supposed to be a live broadcast with text voting—how are people supposed to vote on something they can’t see? What were the station producers thinking?”
Dampa spoke passionately about the abrupt ending of Oktop’s stage, which he’d been enjoying.
The broadcast had helped his fame, and he was grateful for it, but this was too much.
“Seriously, do they have any sense at all? Why would they suddenly—”
He remembered explaining Lee Do Hyun to the viewers just moments before.
“Ah.”
Something happened.
The viewers saw Dampa fall silent and flooded the chat with question marks.
And Dampa resumed, speaking carefully.
“I think something must have come up internally. Let’s wait and see what happens when the broadcast comes back.”
Dampa had come to the realization that Cha Seo Ha probably hadn’t forgotten his lyrics.
He decided to watch this match through to the end, along with countless viewers, to see who would emerge victorious.
* * *
Seo Ha finished the second verse rap and moved into the chorus again.
Are you listening?
Your song
I’ve grown up like this
I miss you so much
And I checked the small monitor set up in front of the stage.
A commercial was being broadcast on that screen, not us.
Seo Ha had told me that this screen shows exactly what’s on TV.
Which meant our stage wasn’t being broadcast right now.
That bad person had fallen for it.
The audience in the hall, of course, had no idea.
They seemed completely absorbed in our performance.
It felt like they were mourning our brother together with us.
Now that it was all over, I felt strangely light.
Could my brother see me right now?
If he could, what would he be thinking?
I would never know the answer.
But I won’t stop.
My brother’s music was real.
And proving that—ever since I began making music—is the lifelong task I’ll carry with me.
I only hope the whole world will listen to the music he left behind and remember him.

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