Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 10

4. YC Entertainment

“Relax and show them what you’ve prepared.”

“Yes!!!”

“Aja, aja!” [A Korean expression of encouragement, similar to ‘fighting’ or ‘let’s go!’]

“Let’s go!”

The kids cheered, boosting each other’s spirits.

Among them, Ma Yoon, the bassist who was quiet offstage, was particularly enthusiastic, and the reason became clear as the performance began.

– Queen ‘Another One Bites The Dust’–

‘Another One Bites The Dust’ has a killer bass riff that makes your heart pound. In fact, it’s set at 110 beats per minute, so it was once said to be the most suitable song for CPR.

Many bassists have been influenced by this song.

I also picked up the bass because of this song, and I had to blush deeply when I first played it.

That’s because ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ blatantly reveals the bassist’s skills.

-Ddun ddun ddun ddun ddah dah dah dah! Ddun ddun ddun ddun ddah dah dah dah!-

‘Oh?’

In that respect, Ma Yoon’s bass riff caught my eye.

It’s not just that his bass playing is decent for his age.

If he gets the right opportunity, he could reach a professional level.

‘I see why he chose ‘Another One Bites The Dust’.’

The drums and guitar are okay, but only at a semi-pro level at best.

In that sense, choosing ‘Another One Bites The Dust,’ which can captivate the audience with its amazing bass riff, is definitely a good strategy.

‘But that’s not enough.’

It might work for an amateur competition, but the competition these kids want to enter has so many players as skilled as Ma Yoon that you could trip over them.

‘Which means they’ll need luck to even pass the first preliminary round….’

As if my judgment was premature, a twist occurred.

“Oh, let’s go! Steve walks warily down the street. With the brim pulled way down low. Ain’t no sound but the sound of his feet, Machine guns ready to go.”

The twist was Park Ji-won, whom I didn’t expect much from besides her looks, started singing.

As a girl, her voice is a bit husky, but it’s hard to match Freddie Mercury’s aggressive and powerful voice.

Yet, she was managing to carry the song well.

‘Hahaha. This is interesting.’

Some things can be learned, and some are innate, even without teaching.

The former is technical, while the latter is something beyond that. The masters called it inspiration, and Ji-won was born with it.

People called these individuals geniuses.

In that sense, the girl in front of me could become one of them.

‘Of course, she’s still too young.’

She would have to work day and night for at least 10 years to barely catch my eye.

This isn’t a harsh assessment of her.

Excluding the legends, I haven’t seen more than ten people with that level of talent, limited to vocals.

“Hey, Oh take it. Bite the dust. Bite the dust.”

The song was heading towards its climax, and Ji-won and the kids were completely immersed in their music.

‘Well, well.’

I was momentarily taken aback to see the kids swaying and acting cool, following the affected words of some trendy guys, even though they weren’t at that level yet.

It reminded me that my past self in that world had acted the same way at that age.

‘Or was I worse?’

I wondered how the masters had endured a *chuunibyou* [a Japanese term for someone exhibiting delusional behavior, often associated with teenagers] teenager who was obsessed with his own dark dragon.

Unaware of what I was thinking, the kids showed satisfied smiles as they reached the end of ‘Another One Bites The Dust’.

-Haa, haa.-

They were all sweating, as if they had done their best. They caught their breath and looked at me with expectant eyes, and I smiled broadly at them and approached.

+++++++

Ji-won and the kids smiled at each other, seeing Young-chan’s smile. They thought their skills had been recognized.

But as soon as Young-chan opened his mouth, their smiles shattered.

“It’s so terrible that it’s hard to listen to from beginning to end. If you were trying to entertain me, you failed. Why don’t you stop messing around and play what you’ve prepared?”

“……”

The kids, who had entered several competitions and received praise each time, were surprised by his unexpected harsh criticism and just widened their eyes, speechless.

Young-chan showed an exaggerated reaction, greatly surprised by the kids who couldn’t say anything but remain silent.

“Goodness! Is this the best you can do? What do you think your music is?”

“Is the competition you’re entering a kindergarten talent show? Then you might pass the preliminaries.”

“The sight of you swaying and indulging in such ridiculous performances… Did you all take cold medicine or something?”

“Why do you think you have sheet music? Is it just for decoration?”

“Especially the bass! Why can’t you even imitate this amazing bass riff! Don’t you know how important the bass is in ‘Another One Bites The Dust’?”

“Aren’t you sorry to the drummer? It’s one thing to be offbeat all the time, but why are you so weak? My landlady hits harder than you.”

“Guitar! I have nothing to say to you. If you’re going to play like that, you might as well sell it. If I were you, I wouldn’t even think about picking it up out of shame.”

“And vocals. Do you think you sing well? Why are you imitating something you can’t do? I told you to sing, not imitate! Ah! That was a bit funny.”

As Young-chan’s harsh words continued, Ji-won and the kids’ faces turned pale.

Upset by the sight of their seniors, the freshmen protested to Young-chan.

“Aren’t you being too harsh, mister?”

“Most bands aren’t even comparable to our seniors.”

“Hmph! Anyone can talk.”

“You’re showing off too much just because you know a little about music.”

Young-chan smiled broadly, as if he found the freshmen’s protests really amusing, and then went up to the stage where the sophomores were.

Then, he approached Young-shik, the drummer who was at a loss because of the freshmen’s remarks.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played the drums… Can you move aside?”

“Yes? Yes!”

Young-chan sat down in Young-shik’s seat, who quickly moved aside, and started playing the drums as soon as he grabbed the sticks in front of him.

-Doo-doo-doong! Ttang!-

It was ‘Another One Bites The Dust’.

And Young-shik’s face was filled with astonishment as he listened to his drumming skills.

It was the same for the freshmen, as well as Ji-won and the kids.

Even those who were ignorant of music could tell that there was a world of difference between Young-shik’s and Young-chan’s drumming.

It was the same instrument, but it was so different just because the person had changed; it was dumbfounding.

“Hoo-yoo~. That’s a bit disappointing. I need to practice a bit when I have time.”

“!!!”

Young-shik was just astonished at Young-chan’s words, even though he had made a sound as if Queen’s drummer, Roger Taylor, was playing there.

But the really shocking thing was the bass.

Young-chan got up from the drums and approached Ma Yoon, took the bass, and immediately played it.

-Ddun ddun ddun ddah dah dah dah!-

-Jjwaaaaaak!-

The moment Ma Yoon heard Young-chan’s bass sound, goosebumps ran all over his body.

That’s because he realized that the sound he had vaguely hoped for since he first picked up the bass as a child was this sound.

Young-chan said quietly to Ma Yoon, who was surprised and didn’t know what to do.

“I don’t know if this will be poison or medicine for you. But if you don’t run away, you can grow.”

“……”

The choices of humans who face an unimaginable, insurmountable wall are divided into two.

Run away or somehow endure.

And most choose the former.

That’s because they instinctively know that every moment of the latter is painful.

The feeling that you are more insignificant than a grain of sand arises from time to time, and the feeling that your self-esteem is disappearing is a pain that is hard to imagine.

But if you succeed in enduring and enduring to the end, it is possible to improve your skills at a frightening speed.

This is what Young-chan told Ma Yoon.

‘This is only possible if you are at a level to recognize that.’

Young-chan, who had briefly shown Ma Yoon an endless, giant wall, then showed the guitarist, Hyung-woon, an absurd wall.

And finally.

Young-chan, who approached Ji-won, who was looking at him with half-loosened eyes, said.

“You… it’s better not to. If I show you, you’ll just imitate it awkwardly.”

-gulp-

Young-chan chuckled at Ji-won, who was trembling like a rabbit in front of a lion, and said to the kids who were staring blankly at him.

“I’ll give you two more weeks. If you don’t improve by then, you better be prepared.”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering!”

“Yes!!!”

Young-chan chuckled at the kids, who seemed to have come to their senses and were on high alert, and then looked at the freshmen who had said something to him.

Amidst the group of rabbits who didn’t know what to do at his gaze, Young-chan revealed his white teeth and said.

“I don’t do music ‘a little bit’. Got it?”

“Yes… Yes!”

“It seems like you’re not ready for class yet, so let’s end it here. From now on, practice like you’re going to die!”

“Yes!!!”

Young-chan barely held back the laughter that was about to burst out because he found the kids’ pure appearance cute, and turned around.

“Hoo-woo-woo~.”

Only when even Young-chan’s footsteps could no longer be heard did some of the kids finally let out the breath they had been holding in.

“Hoo. Hoo. That was so scary.”

“Oh, when he spoke to me, I thought my heart was coming out of my mouth.”

“What the heck is he? I thought he was just good at guitar, but his drumming and bass skills are insane.”

“His vocals were really crazy too.”

When Young-chan disappeared, the freshmen chattered as if their tension had been relieved, but the situation of Ji-won and the kids who were still on stage was different.

They were instinctively feeling it.

They had just faced the most important moment in their short lives.

Among them, Ji Ma-yoon was facing the most difficult moment.

He was at a crossroads of whether to run away or somehow endure and face it.

“Gritting!”

Surprisingly, Ma Yoon’s choice, who was carefully stroking the bass while grinding his teeth, was the latter.

It wasn’t that he chose it because he didn’t know the rugged path he had to take. Rather, he knew it all too well, but Ma Yoon decided to endure because he loved music more than that.

Soon they started playing, and the performance that started like that was definitely different from before.

The drummer’s drum sound was more powerful than before, and the guitar sound also flowed out a little brighter and stronger.

The bass was also starting to face a new change, and Ji-won, the vocalist, no longer obsessed with imitating.

Was it because of the appearance of such seniors?

The freshmen were also swept up in the heat, and they stared at them with admiring eyes before immersing themselves in practice.

+++++++++

The moment I heard the first bass riff, I couldn’t help but raise the corners of my mouth.

“I don’t need to listen anymore.”

I could tell from the first note.

Imprudently, these little brats had grown in a short period of two weeks.

Perhaps that was possible because of their effort and talent, but more than that, their young age could not be ignored.

It is only in their teens, when they are not yet physically or intellectually hardened, that such foolish growth is possible.

Among them, the arts and sports are so severe that there are many who were ordinary when they were young but suddenly show their talent.

These kids were like that now.

Ma Yoon was now at a level where he could make a living as a professional, and Young-shik’s drumming was at a level where he could aim to be a professional.

In particular, Hyung-woon’s guitar, which I didn’t expect much from, had made considerable progress.

He was now better than Ma Yoon was two weeks ago.

But the one who changed the most was Ji-won.

“Yeah, you have to do this much.”

Finding one’s own voice as a singer is not as easy as one might think.

That’s because speaking and singing are clearly different areas.

But paradoxically, it was important to sing as if you were speaking.

What this means is that you have to be able to sing naturally.

And to do that, you have to take out unnecessary force.

If you give strength, the volume will definitely increase, but the sound you can make will be narrowed down by that much. That means there will be a limit to expression.

This soon creates a vicious cycle.

You will try to give strength to create the expression you want by force, and that will soon create another limitation of expression.

Above all, it is something that is done by force, so the vocal cords are bound to be severely overworked, and naturally, vocal cord nodules will occur.

Occasionally, singers with long careers say that they are only now starting to take the strength out of their bodies, but this is not because they are old and lack strength, but because they have realized the same principle as before.

However, vocalists called geniuses have already naturally mastered this since they were young.

They had already found the answer early on through inspiration on how to become a greater vocalist.

The problem is that even such geniuses often walk the wrong path.

Rather than a voice that suits them, they tend to lean towards a voice that the audience likes, that is, a stimulating voice that requires them to overwork their vocal cords.

Of course, the hoarseness that comes from the calluses that have formed while spitting blood in those processes certainly goes well with rough rock.

But in my eyes, who have reached a realm that is not unprecedented, but close to it, it was nothing more than a pathetic act.

It’s like trying to run when you can’t even walk, using all sorts of illegal methods, and eventually the cartilage is ground down and the bones are broken.

Anyway, Ji-won was getting out of such a pathetic act and finding her own voice quite a bit.

If this continues, she will be one of the top female singers in Korea in at least 4 or 5 years.

-Haa…haa-

Unlike last time, the kids who finished the stage carefully organized their breathing and watched my reaction.

It seems that they are naturally looking at my reaction because I left such harsh criticism last time.

The freshmen, who had been momentarily mesmerized by the seniors’ performance, were also the same. They swallowed their saliva and carefully looked at me.

In such a gaze, I nodded slightly in a relaxed manner.

“It’s a little more listenable.”

One would expect them to be upset by my light evaluation, which was harsh, but the kids’ reaction was not like that.

“Yeah! We did it.”

“We did it.”

“Ah~ I think my legs are giving out. Hahaha.”

“Don’t hold me. I think I’m going to give out too.”

The kids showed their joy.

Ji-won, who was full of energy, was jumping around, but in the case of the other kids, they couldn’t control their bodies even in the midst of joy because their fatigue and tension had been relieved.

I chuckled as I watched the happy guys.

Because I have to teach these guys now that I have proven their potential through this work.

‘The problem is that there are only 3 months left until the competition.’

The reason why this is a problem is that I can’t stand to see the guys who have received my teachings fail to reach the finals and fall out.

That was not allowed by my pride as a producer who competed for the world’s best in that world.

‘Okay, I’ll teach you as hard as you want.’

Was it because they felt my will?

I got up as I watched Ji-won, who was smiling brightly with a tired face, suddenly tremble.

That’s how several months passed.

“Finally, the vacation is over.”

Luckily, the little brats followed me well.

“Now, I just need to show them the direction.”

They are still infinitely lacking in my standards, but in terms of domestic standards, they are good enough to be called musicians.

“By the way, I didn’t know that YC Entertainment’s first musician would be these little brats?”

Young-chan signed a contract after seeing the potential of Ji-won and others.

If Young-chan helps and luck follows a little, it was not unreasonable to aim for not only the finals but also the championship.

Just being a teenage band that has advanced to the finals will be a hot topic, but what if they win the championship?

They will suddenly become a hot potato in the music industry.

If that happens, the current contract will definitely be a contract that everyone admires.

“I can’t let the bear do the trick and the Chinese make the money.” [A Korean proverb meaning to not let others profit from your hard work.]

Young-chan muttered and nodded as he watched the video uploaded to the YouTube channel today.

“YouTube is also taking its place better than expected.”

The videos that I also named the ‘Sincerity Series’ following the meme were all boasting high views.

The first ‘Bohemian Rhapsody Sincerity Version’ was looking at 10 million, but what was surprising was the second sincerity video that followed it.

It had already exceeded 10 million views for a long time.

The second cover song was Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

It was a hot reaction like this because I felt sorry for singing it in front of the kids, so I took a new video and uploaded it.

It may be because I arranged the song as it was in the original song for more than 8 minutes, but the biggest interest was in the guitar.

People were going crazy over the crazy guitar solo performance that made even Jimmy Page in his prime look inferior.

“Is there such a great guitarist in Korea?”

“It’s like Jimmy Page has been reincarnated!”

“You crazy bastard! Why are you suddenly reincarnating Jimmy Page who is alive and well!”

“Does that mean he has crazy guitar skills?”

“I think he’s even better than Jimmy Page?”

“Wow~. I’m seeing a guy who says this to Jimmy Page for the first time in my life.”

“Oh, the smell of school lunches.” [A sarcastic comment implying the previous statement is naive or childish.]

Such words were going back and forth from Korea, so there was no need to say what the reaction would be overseas.

Interest in the guitarist was increasing day by day, but Young-chan did not reveal that he was the guitarist.

Even now, contact is coming from time to time to invite him as a guest, but if that fact is revealed, it is obvious what will happen.

Of course, it would be of great help to the growth of YouTube, but if I gain this much fame, the plan will inevitably go awry.

“Now I need to find my uncles.”

The reason for finding the masters who guided him to the world of music is one.

It is to get his band back.

Last time, he couldn’t go to the world together because of his lack of ability, but this time it was different.

Now he has become a great music monster.

In the end, they had to go alone because they said that they could not go with them at the level of a music monster, but now the situation has changed.

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