Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 16

7. Lee Na-eun

Among those who briefly glanced at them through the window, even Park Si-young, the guitarist—a large man, though not quite as much as Kwak Do-hoon—asked with a puzzled expression:

“Hey, what’s gotten into you guys?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your skills have improved unbelievably since the last time I saw you!”

“Yeah, I thought there was something wrong with my ears.”

Seeing his friends agreeing, Jang Tae-sik scratched his chin and said,

“It’s hard to explain. You have to experience it to understand.”

“…What the hell are you talking about?”

“Woof woof woof!”

“Are you crazy?”

“Hehe. Don’t worry about it. Just follow me like a dog follows its master, and you’ll understand.”

At those words, the three couldn’t help but look at Jang Tae-sik as if he were insane.

Kwak Do-hoon, sensing their confusion, added,

“It’s something you can’t explain in words. You just have to experience it to know.”

“…..”

The three were even more curious seeing Jang Tae-sik and Kwak Do-hoon, usually enemies, agreeing for the first time in a long while.

And around that time,

The protagonist who would solve their curiosity appeared.

“Hello. My name is Park Young-chan.”

With an excited face, he greeted them happily, spending extra time with Park Si-young, the lead guitarist, in particular.

It was inevitable, since Park Si-young was the first master Young-chan wanted to meet.

‘Everyone is the same whether in that world or this one. Or maybe they’re not as stressed? They seem even younger.’

And Young-chan, knowing that he caused most of that stress, couldn’t easily hide the bitter smile on his face.

Park Si-young and Kim Il, unaware of these inner thoughts, acted as if they were meeting their childhood idol.

It was understandable, considering they were meeting someone who unleashed techniques and emotions that seemed to burst through the screen.

Especially, Park Si-young’s gaze towards him was extraordinary.

‘His technique and emotion are unbelievable, but what’s truly terrifying is something else. He reminds me of Jeff Beck.’

Among the legendary guitarists Park Si-young admired, Jeff Beck was his greatest idol.

His real name was Geoffrey Arnold Beck.

He is considered one of the three greatest rock guitarists, along with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.

A unique point is that, unlike the other two legends, he did not achieve great commercial success.

But despite that, Park Si-young idolizes him because he considers him a true pioneer among guitarists.

Most legendary guitarists tend to settle for the playing techniques they perfected along with commercial success.

However, Jeff Beck was different.

He is the guitarist who best embodies the original spirit of constantly transforming and developing his playing patterns to introduce new techniques.

Moreover, even in an era when excesses like drug use were considered normal for rock stars, he was a man of great character who only focused on music.

Park Si-young saw Jeff Beck in Young-chan because he knew that his playing technique was different from existing ones.

In fact, the reason why people could feel a deeper emotion in his playing than in Jimmy Page’s prime was because of that playing technique.

His vibrato arm usage was outstanding without being too showy, which may be why Park Si-young thought of Jeff Beck. [A vibrato arm, also known as a whammy bar, is a lever attached to a guitar bridge that allows the player to vary the pitch of a note or chord.]

Recently, Jeff Beck’s playing technique has become famous for best representing the use of the vibrato arm.

Although he didn’t tell his friends, Park Si-young had recently gained some inspiration.

He is a case of overcoming the wall of talent with his unique diligence, so it may be natural that he idolizes Jeff Beck.

Young-chan, unaware of what Park Si-young thought of him, said excitedly as he looked at his finally assembled band.

“Alright! It looks like the stage setup is done, let’s go up on stage.”

“Right away?”

“!!!”

They were surprised that he would ask them to go on stage as soon as they finished greeting, but Jang Tae-sik and Kwak Do-hoon welcomed the suggestion and followed him quickly.

“I don’t know if he’s a monster or the real deal, but I know he’s a really weird guy.”

“I’m all for it. But is it okay to have three guitars?”

“……”

Unlike Kim Il’s question, Park Si-young smiled silently and leisurely grabbed his guitar.

He knew that if he was the protagonist of that video, such a thing would not be a problem at all.

And Park Si-young’s prediction was correct.

-Da da da dang!-

“Here’s the sheet music. Please play this part like this.”

“Ah. Yes. I understand.”

Young-chan shook his head at Park Si-young, who seemed nervous after seeing the enormous sheet music.

“Please speak comfortably. I’m younger than you think.”

“Ah···. Okay.”

But his stiff attitude remained.

However, Young-chan wasn’t particularly disappointed. He knew that was his personality, and more than anything, he knew that this awkwardness would end with this stage.

‘By the way, Park Master managed to reach this level on his own?’

Thanks to that, Young-chan didn’t have much to adjust with Park Si-young for the time being. It was enough to just set the direction.

However, Kim Il’s case was different.

Unlike Park Si-young, who had overcome the wall, only his technical aspects were complete. Fortunately, he was a sub-guitarist, so Young-chan didn’t take up too much time.

In the case of bassist Moon Il-beom, it was enough to just throw him the sheet music.

In fact, it would be difficult to produce the sound he wanted even if they were together for a year, but for now, he was satisfied with just rehearsing.

He knew that was the starting point.

“This is the sheet music for Old Soldiers Never Die.(90’S)!”

To be exact, it was sheet music designed to stimulate Moon Il-beom’s inspiration.

Moon Il-beom, unaware of such a clever trick, was just frantically immersed in the sheet music with trembling hands.

After about 10 minutes, all preparations were completed.

-gulp-

As Moon Il-beom’s gulping sound cut through the silence, Kwak Do-hoon began to play the drums.

-Doo doo doo doong!-

Drums pounded with tremendous power. A thumping bass. Madly hammered keyboards. Then, a majestic guitar sound arose, followed by two guitars.

Thus, Old Soldiers Never Die.(90’S) finally revealed its outline.

Although it was still a lacking sound, Old Soldiers Never Die.(90’S), with the unique rock sensibility of the 7080s [Referring to the 1970s and 1980s], seemed enough to herald the beginning of a new rock era.

-Tingle! Tingling!-

Did they know that they would create that history?

Jang Tae-sik, Kwak Do-hoon, Moon Il-beom, Park Si-young, and Kim Il were each feeling an electric shock throughout their bodies.

“Ah ah ah~. Yeah, I’m back. Like always!”

And that thrill disappeared like a lie the moment Young-chan started singing.

From that moment on, they were the chosen ones, and in that miracle, they surpassed their limits.

‘Yeah, I wanted to hear this.’

At some point, Young-chan slowly took his hand off the guitar, but rather, the outline of the song Old Soldiers Never Die.(90’S) only became richer.

Young-chan’s vocals also changed little by little from this point.

He began to produce a voice more suitable for Old Soldiers Never Die.(90’S).

Finally, the foundation was laid to bring out all the potential of the song Old Soldiers Never Die.(90’S).