Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 177

Music Monster Overnight! 168

Standing before their unease, the manager calmly dispelled their misunderstandings.

First, he showed them his YC Entertainment employee ID to confirm his identity, explaining that he wasn’t trying to harm them, but that his superior was simply interested in talking to their bassist.

-Thump!

Despite this, they remained wary, so the manager took out three 100 euro bills and placed them on the table, saying,

“Instead, I’ll cover your drinks for today.”

Upon seeing 300 euros, their attitude toward protecting Leon changed instantly.

“Oh my, you didn’t have to go this far.”

“What are you doing, Leon? Why aren’t you getting up?”

“……Don’t you think you’re going too far?”

“Too far? Too far for what! Are you going to die? He said he’s from YC Entertainment. If you go talk for a bit, our team’s amp might get changed.”

“You said you needed to fix your bass. If there’s money left over from the public funds, we’ll add it to that, so hurry up and go~”

“……Okay.”

There might be differences in degree, but musicians everywhere were bound to be poor.

The reason was simple: maintaining a band required too much time and money to be just a hobby.

If they had the skill, it might be different, but they were an amateur band, so they were practically performing for free.

If they were a band with some fans, they might get tips, but they didn’t have the charm to attract such fans.

In this situation, the sudden appearance of 300 euros was enough to change their attitude.

Leon looked at the manager, who was more than a head taller than him, and was about to say something, but reading the room, he cautiously followed.

It was because the manager’s appearance felt even more imposing up close.

The manager, seeing that Leon looked more naive than he expected, asked,

“You look young. How old are you?”

“I’m 25 years old.”

“……You’re not as young as I thought.”

“Is…… Is that so?”

“…….”

Perhaps due to nervousness, Leon gave a strange answer, and the manager didn’t say anything else, taking him to the person who had given him this task.

“……Oh!”

The place they arrived at was more secluded than he had expected, and Leon, who had been anxious, ended up sitting across from someone, exclaiming in surprise.

However, he tilted his head and rubbed his eyes, unable to understand his current situation.

“……Is this a dream?”

He even resorted to denying reality.

This was especially true because he was a huge fan of Black Tiger and the music YC had created.

It’s a common fan’s desire to meet their idol, even in a dream.

Moreover, the fact that the meeting place wasn’t a big city like Berlin made him deny reality even more.

He knew that his town was a small city close to the German countryside, and the probability of meeting YC in a small-town club was extremely low.

If he didn’t know better, he’d say it was close to zero.

He was now in a reality that had defied such impossible odds.

It wasn’t strange that he was denying reality.

“Heh heh heh.”

Youngchan couldn’t help but chuckle at his innocent and bewildered reaction. However, knowing it was rude, he stopped laughing and extended his hand.

“I’m YC.”

“……Le, Leon.”

Barely managing to introduce himself, Leon shook Youngchan’s outstretched hand with trembling hands, his eyes constantly darting around.

It wasn’t because he had snapped out of denying reality by shaking his hand.

The assumption that the person in front of him might be a look-alike of YC had also been shattered, making it even more so.

‘Who am I…… Where am I?’

Leon was about to lose his mind for a moment, suddenly placed in a situation he had desperately wanted, and Youngchan chuckled and asked him.

“You seem to be from Asia. If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?”

“Uh…… I heard from my mother that I’m Korean.”

“Then do you know how to speak Korean?”

“Well…… I can speak a little. My mother said it’s important to have an interest in my heritage.”

“You have a wise mother.”

This might not make sense in Korea.

However, in countries with diverse races, it was often important to have an interest in one’s heritage from a young age.

This was because it helped establish one’s identity.

Afterward, Youngchan shared trivial stories with Leon, which allowed Leon to gradually break free from his nervousness.

By the time he could even drink the beer that the manager had brought out, Youngchan finally began to ask Leon what he had been curious about.

“I saw you playing the bass earlier. How long have you been playing it?”

Leon blushed and said,

“A little over two years.”

“Is there a reason you started playing the bass?”

“Well, it’s because I don’t have any musical talent.”

“…….”

Youngchan was momentarily speechless at Leon’s words that he had no musical talent. Leon didn’t find his reaction strange.

He just thought Youngchan was being considerate, so he told him about his past circumstances.

Was it because he was one of the few Asians in this neighborhood?

Because of this, he had to be very careful from a young age. It wasn’t just good people like the older guys he was in a band with in the village.

He grew up experiencing discrimination, neglect, and contempt, which made his already introverted personality even worse.

So, he naturally spent more time at home, and it wasn’t surprising that he came into contact with music during this time.

Then, 7 years ago.

He heard Black Tiger’s music, and his unremarkable life changed afterward.

No, to be exact, his life was still flowing by without much happening, but apart from that, his attitude toward music changed to a level where there was something special.

Then, 3 years ago, he suddenly ended up in a band after a conversation he had with the older guys in the neighborhood during a drinking session.

“I played the guitar at first.”

But he had to put down the guitar before long. It was because his skills simply weren’t improving. After that, he also played the keyboard, but eventually, he ended up with the bass.

The bass was the most important instrument in the band, but it was also the least popular.

The most important thing in a jam session is to be in sync. The drums set the tempo of the song and are responsible for the rhythm. Some songs have solo performances, but most of the time, they serve as the foundation of the song rather than being at the forefront.

It’s like the frame of a house.

Guitars and keyboards are like furniture. Unlike the invisible frame, they stand at the forefront like well-visible furniture, making the band’s music stand out.

Then what about the bass?

The bass can be seen as the electrical and plumbing of a building. It’s something that needs to be installed along with the frame.

Without electricity and plumbing, the furniture can’t do its job.

Not only can you not use TVs, computers, and lights, but you also can’t cook food.

That’s how important the bass was.

No matter how skilled the members are, without a bass guitar, it feels like each part is playing separately.

It tends to become a guitar and keyboard versus drums structure, so the bass is an essential presence from the drummer’s perspective as well.

The bass plays such an important role, but there weren’t many people who played it.

This is because it’s an instrument that can’t do much on its own, and it lacks the presence of flashy guitars, keyboards, and even drums.

But because it was needed, Leon, the youngest and least skilled member of the band, had no choice but to take on the bass.

Anyway, he ended up playing the bass against his will, and although the band’s music was still a mess, Leon was having a happier time than ever.

Being affiliated with something, but also the fact that he had become a member of the band itself, was a very happy thing.

“Hmm.”

Youngchan thought for a moment at Leon’s story and asked,

“Do you ever think about how you’d like to change the band’s music? Like, do you ever write your own songs?”

“Yes? No. I’ve written a few songs, but they were all bad.”

“If it’s okay with you, can I listen to what you’ve composed?”

“……Now?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t a difficult task. The song he composed was in the cloud. But the thought of letting YC, whom he considered his idol, listen to that messy song made him feel scared.

However, he couldn’t dare refuse, so with a face that looked like he was dying of embarrassment, he played the song he thought was the best among the songs in his cloud.

“…….”

Youngchan didn’t say anything while listening to the song that was about 3 minutes long. He just closed his eyes and focused quietly.

His attitude was so serious that Leon unknowingly swallowed hard and became filled with tension.

At the same time, he was also a little happy.

It was the first time he had seen someone listen to his song, which all the older guys said was a mess, so seriously.

-Gulp, gulp-

He emptied the nearly empty beer and faced the excitement-filled tension.

* * *

“He was a really crazy guy!”

I knew I should rest after returning to the 숙소 [sukso – Korean for lodging or accommodation], but I couldn’t.

That’s because I had encountered a guy similar to me, so I couldn’t help it.

“Of course, he was quite different.”

Unlike me, whose inspiration was always running wild, he seemed to be grabbing onto and clinging to inspiration that popped out for a moment, like any other composer…… but that inspiration was something you couldn’t easily see anywhere.

Even I wouldn’t easily encounter that level of inspiration.

“He didn’t seem to know how to handle that inspiration…….”

He instinctively felt like something was important, so he grabbed onto it, but he literally just grabbed it and didn’t know how to use it.

So, he must have created a monstrosity like British food with that amazing ingredient.

“It’s like eel jelly, you could say?”

Eel, known as the best health food and gourmet ingredient in Korea and Japan, is a highly sought-after dish simply by grilling it and adding salt.

But the British did the terrible thing of making jelly out of that eel. They made a dish that was nauseating just to look at, let alone eat.

Leon’s music was like that.

“It was really terrible…….”

No, to be honest, I felt so terrible that I was even sad at the time.

Perhaps there was a huge criticism when he played his song to his team.

“……Was this how Uncle Park Siyoung felt?”

I remembered that after the guy in my memory learned the basics of composition from my uncle, my uncle was greatly surprised by the ‘Yesterday’ he made.

The guy, who had learned sheet music for less than ten days, had arranged Yesterday to that extent and brought it to him.

That’s how I see Leon now.

Although it seemed to be a different kind of talent than mine at the time, Leon was definitely a guy with enough potential to grow into an amazing monster.