Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 78

Following ‘The Old Guard Never Dies’ and after performing ‘Black Tiger,’ we finally caught our ragged breaths.

-Waaaaah!-

I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the sound of tearful cheers that shook my ears, and then greeted the fans.

“Hello. I’m Park Young-chan of Black Tiger. I’m so happy and honored to meet you all at such a large concert venue, almost a year after our debut.”

After giving a brief thank you, I introduced my uncles one by one.

Since there weren’t enough microphones, each uncle highlighted his presence with his instrument when his name was called.

‘Hmm!’

Listening to each of their instrumental performances, I was reminded of how much they had improved.

After introducing the last member, bassist Moon Il-beom, I looked at the cheering fans and slowly raised my arm.

I made the devil horn sign, the symbol of rock, and raised it high above my head.

-Aaaaaaah!-

The fans screamed and made the same rock gesture above their heads, and I grinned at the sight of the surging crowd.

At that moment, the cheers stopped as if by magic.

I wondered what was going on, but soon realized the reason and couldn’t help but smile again.

My face was being shown in a close-up on the huge screen.

I looked like a drowned rat, already drenched in sweat, but for some reason, Black Cat [the band’s fandom name] seemed to find even that appearance surprisingly appealing.

Feeling overwhelmed by the fans who were just giving and giving, I continued.

“I will now perform ‘Brilliant Struggle.'”

As I mentioned the song that was still receiving so much love even though it had been almost ten days since the end of its promotion, the fans welcomed it with fervent enthusiasm.

-Da-da-da-dan da-dan-

The intro began with the thrilling piano performance unique to ‘Brilliant Struggle.’

Soon the intro ended, and I had to step away from the microphone as I was about to sing.

“I thought I’d start over…….”

“I thought…….”

It was because Black Cat had prepared a sing-along event for ‘Brilliant Struggle.’

The sight of them shaking their light sticks in unison, as if they had planned it, was like looking at a vast night sky filled with twinkling stars.

‘……Was it this good?’

In my engraved memories, the original Youngchan had received countless sing-along events like this.

However, he never seemed accustomed to these fan events. It was something he could never get used to.

How could he ever get used to it?

So many people at the concert had prepared this event just for me.

The emotion that came from it was more intense and stimulating than any drug in the world.

So, just like he had, I simply stood there, lost in the moment, capturing their sing-along in my eyes and heart.

Fortunately, the time to repay the fans who had given me such great emotion came sooner than I thought.

As I reached the solo guitar section of ‘Brilliant Struggle,’ I gripped my guitar with a heart hotter than ever.

-Jijijijijing!-

Thanks to that, the solo guitar performance that began was able to convey even more intense emotions than usual.

Perhaps because endorphins were being released, I didn’t feel any fatigue even at the point where I should have been feeling tired from the shredding.

Rather, the faster the shredding became, the more power surged through me.

Thanks to that, I was able to deliver a solo guitar performance that was twice as long as usual.

-Jijijijing!-

When I finished the solo guitar performance, there was silence.

The silence, where not even a breath could be heard, was as if a magic spell had stopped time.

-Jing jijijijing!-

After enjoying the silence for a moment, I broke the spell by lightly strumming the guitar.

-Doo-doo-doo-doong!-

The uncles were the first to react. The ‘Brilliant Struggle’ band performance resumed, starting with the drums, and only then did the fans wake up from the spell.

Still dazed, the fans’ sing-along, which should have followed, was not heard, so I sang the remaining verses in their place, expressing my gratitude for their earlier event.

After that, we sang all the songs that had been released under the name Black Tiger.

After singing five more songs, including the encore, I brought onto the stage something that had caused a huge sensation at the Japanese concert earlier this year.

A snow-white Steinway grand piano.

-Wowwwww!-

The fans’ cheers erupted endlessly like a raging wave at the sudden appearance of the piano in the giant spotlight.

I enjoyed the fans’ cheers like a surfer riding a wave, and then sat down on the piano bench.

-Tada-da-dan dan-da-da-da-

And as the intro began, the fans’ cheers began to subside.

They recognized that ‘Snow Lady,’ which had begun to be heard as much as ‘Brilliant Struggle’ as the end of the year approached, was being played.

“who will remember me? I’m a nobody~…….”

Originally a duet that I should have sung with Lee Na-eun, I arranged and sang it as a solo version for the concert.

Following ‘Snow Lady,’ I sang ‘Snow Country,’ which was receiving just as much attention.

And to the fans who were shouting for an encore, I hesitated and began to play the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Pathétique.’

As befitting a work that is praised as the most solemn and beautiful among Beethoven’s works, it instantly gifted the fans, who were exhausted by the heat of the concert, with calmness and relaxation.

Of course, I subtly let out its unique melancholy as well.

“Thank you.”

After carefully playing the last trembling note, I broke the now cozy atmosphere of the concert hall with a greeting, and only then did the fans’ cheers and applause erupt endlessly, as if chasing each other’s tails.

Although it was only about five minutes, the fans and the uncles, who were enthusiastically sending applause and cheers from behind, all had peaceful expressions on their faces.

With the fans showing no regrets, I was able to happily conclude the start of my first concert tour.

The thought that the concert had ended well didn’t seem to be just my own.

Articles were being uploaded non-stop even before the fans had left the concert venue.

-Recreating the thrill of the Saitama Super Arena, which is still receiving endless love in Japan, in Korea.-

-Black Tiger, a treasure trove of great songs. They reveal their true worth on stage!-

-YC’s solo guitar performance lasting nearly 5 minutes! It made listeners lose their minds.-

-The so-called YC’s sincere mode! He showed it throughout the nearly 4-hour concert.-

-The real thing was at the end! YC stands in front of a snow-white Steinway grand piano.-

-The YC version of ‘Snow Lady’ could only be heard at the concert.-

-Touching yet beautiful. YC presents a classical performance for exhausted fans.-

Naturally, search terms related to the Black Tiger concert began to line up in the portal site search rankings.

Then, around midnight, the search term ‘YC classical performance’ rose to number one.

Wondering what was going on, I learned the reason through a YouTube link sent by my manager.

One of the fans who attended the concert had edited and uploaded the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Pathétique’ to YouTube.

Although the video quality was shaky and not good to watch, there was no problem in capturing the sound of the piano.

That’s because the concert hall at the time was so quiet that it could be described as being as silent as a classical performance hall.

This video on a YouTube channel with fewer than 10 subscribers had already exceeded 100,000 views.

And the comments were as numerous as the views.

-No, teacher. Why would you upload this? It’s already hard enough to get tickets.-

└I’m thinking the same thing. The server crashed suddenly at the time, and I was so nervous.

└Tomorrow, or is it today? I can hear this live.

└I’m so jealous. The person who bought the ticket must be a hero.

-Wow! This is crazy. Who is this pianist? Does anyone know?

└ㅋㅋㅋDid you go abroad or something?

└Yes. I was in Europe for two years and came to Korea for the year-end holiday. I was surprised when I saw it because it was a trending video. Who is it?

└It’s Park Young-chan, the vocalist of a band called Black Tiger. For your information, he is the CEO of YC Entertainment, which has become one of the top 4 entertainment companies.-

└Adding to the previous answer, he is not a piano major. Surprisingly, I heard that he used to work in a factory until two years ago.

└The usual Korean factory worker class!

-ㅋㅋㅋI’m speechless…… I’m a piano major. This person is crazy. What should I say? It’s not very technical, but that’s why it’s even better? I don’t even know what I’m saying, but I’m in a mental breakdown.-

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋI’m also a piano major. I can relate to what you’re saying so much. Is this the difference that can be created by talent?

└Earth administrator. The bug is too severe. Please fix it.

I chuckled at the fans’ comments, who were throwing 드립 [Korean slang for ad-libs or witty remarks] everywhere, and then put down my phone.

I wanted to stay up all night, but I couldn’t because of tomorrow’s performance.

I counted the things I regretted about the concert in my head and then fell asleep.

* * *

Black Tiger’s concert at the Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium was successfully concluded.

However, the concerts in Korea were not over.

After that, concerts of the same scale continued at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium and the Gwangju World Cup Stadium.

Perhaps because they had already rehearsed the concert once, the process of preparing for it was definitely easier than the first time.

Black Tiger and their fans, who spent the last day of December 2013 at the concert at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium, were able to maintain an even stronger relationship and bring it to a close.

Not long after the new year began, Black Tiger went to Japan.

Was it because they had achieved tremendous success in Korea? Or was it because the YC performance challenge craze had not yet subsided? Or was it because of Young-chan’s piano, which had recently become a hot topic again?

Whatever the reason, Black Tiger’s popularity in Japan was several times greater than when they had visited in the past.

What was particularly different was the age range of the fans.

The age range of the fans, which was somewhat even but mainly in their 30s and older, had widened to include teenagers.

Young-chan was embarrassed to hear the word ‘oppa’ [Korean term used by younger women to address older brothers or male friends] in Korean from girls who were young enough to be his nieces.

“Ahem. Oppa.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that word.”

However, unlike Young-chan, his uncles, especially Kwak Do-hoon and Moon Il-beom, welcomed the title of ‘oppa’ very happily.

Jang Tae-shik, who was the only one being called ‘oppa’ by Lee Ah-hyun, was very ashamed of his friends and apologized to Young-chan on their behalf.

“I’m sorry to show you such a dirty sight. But what can I do? When you’re old and lonely, you naturally become like that. So, before you become like that, meet a woman and do that.”

“Pardon?”

Young-chan looked at his uncle, wondering if he had misheard, but he continued as if he hadn’t said anything wrong.

“I’m not telling you to play around promiscuously. I’m telling you not to invest too much in work during those good years. Isn’t it a very precious time that you can’t find again once it’s gone?”

“……Yes. I’ll think about it.”

“Okay. That’s enough.”

Young-chan could guess why his uncle had said that.

Because he had been like that himself.

He had also spent all his youth immersed in work, so he knew better than anyone the emptiness of it.