Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 45

14. Conquering Japan.

“It’s a good thing, in a way.”

It’s a shame to miss out on the 500 million won prize that comes with winning, but on the other hand, I was reluctant to be affiliated with A Broadcasting Station under the guise of support.

If it were an idol group, they would have welcomed it greatly.

Given the nature of idols, where the success rate increases with the amount of money invested, receiving support from a broadcasting station is like receiving tremendous financial backing.

But a band is different.

Especially for a rookie band that’s just starting out.

Unlike idols who form a team with various bonds, such as a sense of community fostered in trainee dormitories, for success, bands are different from the start.

They are simply gatherings formed by people who love band music, making it difficult to form strong bonds.

“Because of this, the moment a band is swayed by external forces, it’s over.”

Unlike idols who are heavily influenced by producers, bands are made up of people who play their own music.

Even the leader, who manages to maintain some semblance of balance, is just someone with a slightly stronger voice in the team, so they have to constantly clash, reconcile, and grow.

This is why it’s inevitably difficult to maintain a band.

In that regard, G1 Band had many areas of instability.

They do have a bond as alumni from the same school band, Suasia, but that wasn’t enough.

“They don’t have their own color yet.”

The musical inclination that G1 Band pursues.

G1 Band was still weak in this area.

In fact, the band fights like that to form this identity.

It was so difficult to find a color that band members with strong personalities could compromise on.

“Of course, if there was someone with overwhelmingly outstanding musical talent in the band like me, it would be a different story.”

Regardless of preferences, everyone has no choice but to acknowledge a masterpiece that will go down in history.

That’s why Black Tiger in my engraved memories grew along with his musicality.

“But that’s not enough.”

That’s just my music.

If the band’s music is no different from my music, there’s no reason to be together.

But Black Tiger has a sensibility that I can’t have.

That’s the musical sensibility of the 70s and 80s, the heyday of rock bands, and that’s why I released it as Black Tiger’s color.

I was able to share the sensibility of this era, which I couldn’t have with my outstanding inspiration, under the name of a band.

“Anyway, these kids are really lucky.”

It’s a shame that the prize money for winning has been lowered, but considering the reality they’re in, this was the right thing to do.

In fact, I was planning to nurture these guys into a proper band step by step, rather than turning them into stars right away.

“If you’re a band, you have to write and compose your own songs.”

“Ugh!”

The kids whined, but I had no intention of backing down on this.

That’s what a band should do.

They had to establish their own musical color, for better or worse.

That’s why G1 Band decided to play their own songs at this opening guest performance.

“‘School of Rock’ isn’t bad? It’ll be usable with a little bit of work.”

It was the only song I salvaged out of the dozens of songs they made.

But even this was only possible because the kids were originally talented.

‘It seems like what I’ve been teaching them hasn’t been in vain.’

Of course, there were still many parts that needed to be arranged because they were still young and clumsy, but if they continued like this, it seemed like they would become a band to look forward to in the future.

“If possible, we should play outside of Korea as well.”

I wanted these guys to show that K-pop isn’t the only thing in Korean music, and that rock is still alive.

The day of the performance came before I knew it amidst my busy schedule.

From early in the morning, the area around the concert hall was crowded with people, and the number of people was more than double the number of concertgoers.

Considering that the performance starts around evening, it was clear that nearly ten times as many people would gather by then.

It seemed that those who couldn’t buy concert tickets came out of regret.

Seeing them come all the way here, it was clear that a significant number of them would join us when we officially tour Japan later.

“It’s a shame to just leave them like this.”

Even if we left them like this, they would gather in empty places like parking lots and enjoy listening to our music.

But I couldn’t be satisfied with that, so I looked for a broadcasting official.

“You’re asking us to prepare video media outside so people can watch the concert?”

“It would be great if it was an electronic display board, but if that’s difficult, a projector would be fine. However, please pay attention to the sound system.”

“Hmm, it’s difficult because it’s not just one or two places… Hmm. The picture might be better than I thought. I understand.”

The CP [Chief Producer] was taken aback, but soon accepted my opinion positively.

Realistically, it was difficult to install them in many places, and it was only possible to connect projectors and sound equipment in about three places, but that was enough.

Only then were we able to finish the rehearsal simply.

“Is it because it’s Japan? It feels like spring.”

“Haa, haa. It’s so hot.”

I laughed silently at the sight of my uncles sweating even in the middle of winter.

Compared to Korea, the climate was really warm, but the summers in Tokyo were terrible.

It would have to be about the same as Daegu [a city in South Korea known for its hot summers] + Africa to even compare.

If we do a concert tour in Japan later, we’re going to have a really hard time, so we need to build up our stamina diligently.

“It’s a good day.”

“Yeah. It’s a really crazy day!”

We started our first concert while looking at the unusually clear winter sky today.

“Ah, hello. We’re G1 Band.”

Whether it was because he was too nervous, Jiwon, who was in charge of the opening guest performance for G1 Band, introduced himself in Korean instead of the Japanese he had prepared.

“Waaah! Annyo haseyo [Hello in Korean].”

“G1 Band! YC’s disciple.”

“Kawai [Cute in Japanese]! Jiwon!”

Fortunately, thanks to the Korean Wave, there were Japanese people in the audience who knew Korean, so they warmly accepted Jiwon’s mistake.

“I wonder if he’ll be able to do well like that?”

I shook my head at Uncle Jang Tae-shik’s words, who especially cherished the children among the uncles, meaning that there was no need to worry.

“He’ll do well. You know, he’s strong in real life like me.”

“Geez. Anyone would think you’re his dad.”

“He’s my master (師父) [sifu – a respectful term for teacher or mentor]. Isn’t he half a dad?”

“…Ugh. I just feel sorry for Jiwon.”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head at Uncle Jang Tae-shik’s incomprehensible words, and then turned my head at the sound of the band starting.

The opening that started like that was ‘School of Rock’.

It was a song that best revealed the identity of the guys who were high school students. The arrangement greatly highlighted this, making it a slightly lighter, brighter, and more colorful song.

-Jijijijing!-

The first performance score of School of Rock, which started with a flashy guitar, was 60 points.

You might say it’s stingy, but in fact, this was a better score than expected.

In fact, I had predicted that it would be difficult to exceed 50 points.

“I guess the experience at ‘Legends of Rock’ was a big help?”

The growth of my disciples was so welcome and enjoyable.

I briefly thought about the children in my engraved memories, who were called YC kids, and then disappeared.

While I was having all sorts of unnecessary thoughts, the second song, ‘Endorphin’, was already being played.

Around that time, I heard the busy footsteps of the staff, and we got up.

“Okay, let’s go now.”

“Ugh~. I’m nervous.”

“Wow! A performance in front of over 30,000 people. Is this a dream or reality!”

“Should I slap you? To see if it’s a dream.”

“Tuh! I’ll slap you instead. I saw you shaking your legs like a coward earlier.”

“Keke. Was there anyone who wasn’t shaking except for the monster? Ugh. My heart is pounding.”

“Hahaha.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the uncles who were exaggerating, and then headed to the stage with them.

“Haa, haa! They said Japanese audiences are so quiet, but that was a lie!”

“No way? You know how disappointed I was when I went to a Japanese concert in the past. It’s just that we were awesome today.”

“Wow! It’s so hot!”

“I felt like my brain was melting. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat or because I’m having so much fun!”

“Of course it’s because you’re having fun. A man doesn’t give in to this much heat!”

A short break to set up the stage again.

The uncles were shining their eyes like children who had received an amazing gift and looked very excited.

I was just as excited.

That’s because I didn’t know that the usually quiet Japanese audience would enjoy the stage so enthusiastically.

In the case of a few songs that were particularly popular in Japan, they started singing along from the beginning, and I was so moved by the sight that I almost cried.

I could see how much effort they had put in to memorize the lyrics in Korean, not Japanese.

‘You were the only one who knew this good thing.’

I grumbled to myself in my engraved memories, and then said to the uncles who were cackling and recovering their stamina.

“Think of it as getting a vaccination. We’re going to show you more than this in Korea now.”

“More than this?”

“Well, Korea is the best when it comes to enjoying this kind of concert culture.”

“It’s not for nothing that pop singers come to Korea even though they don’t have much left. It’s because they want to enjoy that amazing moment.”

“…I know, but experiencing it in person makes me look forward to it so much.”

“By the way, we don’t have many songs left in our repertoire.”

It was as Uncle Kim Il, who was particularly disappointed, said.

Before I knew it, there were only about three songs left in the performance.

One of these songs was a new song that was being released today.

Unlike other songs, it was a song in Japanese that had been recorded in Korea, and I was confident that the audience would love this song.

Snow Country (雪國) [Yukiguni – Snow Country in Japanese].

It was a song that had been my winter pension in my engraved memories for a long time.

It was a song that resonated so much with the Japanese people that I wanted to let the Japanese fans hear it as soon as possible.

Of course, it had been arranged to suit the current era, as it was a song that came out 10 years ago.

I prepared a general version and a piano solo version, and what I prepared for the concert was the piano solo version.

“Maybe the veteran who has been at the top of the Oricon chart [Japanese music chart] for a long time will be overthrown. (90’S).”

Snow Country will be the first time the audience here will hear it, and the song will be released along with a special broadcast four days later.

‘I’m planning to release a Korean version of Snow Country in Korea as well.’

As the syndrome’s fever is slowly fading away in Korea, the YC version mini album, which includes Snow Country, will be the firewood to rekindle the fever.

-Tuk!-

“Haha. What are you doing? Let’s go!”

Uncle Park Si-young woke me up with a smile as I was lost in thought for a moment. I smiled at his happy appearance and got up.

Okay, it’s time to surprise Japan again.

+++++++++++++++++++

-Waaaaaaaaah!-

Black Tiger surpassed his limits with this performance.

What was only possible with Young-chan’s ensemble became possible on his own. That meant that he had completely digested some of the inspiration that Young-chan had instilled in him.

‘Musicians definitely grow a lot on stage.’

Young-chan couldn’t hide his joy because it was such a good thing, and he laughed to his heart’s content.

“Hahaha! Did everyone have fun today?”

“Hi!”

“YC sama [Mr. YC – a respectful title in Japanese]! I love you!”

“I have no regrets even if I die today!”

The audience was thrilled to see Young-chan’s cheerful smiling face filling the huge screen.

Even those who were disappointed that the official followers were the last song showed faces that they were satisfied enough just to see Young-chan’s appearance.

-Tak! Tak! Tak!-

As Young-chan watched the audience, the lights that were shining on the stage around him went out one by one. Before he knew it, only a pin light remained shining on Young-chan, and the audience showed a slightly fearful look.

That’s because they thought that he might suddenly disappear into the darkness like the other members had done.

-Tak!-

-Aaaaaah!-

And that uneasy imagination became a reality.

Young-chan, who was wiping the sweat flowing down his forehead, turned to look around the concert hall as if to capture all the audience here in his eyes, and then the pin light that was shining on him went out.

As a long and long exclamation filled the concert hall, that happened.

-Taang!-

With a huge sound, a huge light like sunlight shines on one place on the stage.

There was Young-chan sitting in front of a magnificent snow-white grand piano just by looking at it.

-Waaaaaaaaah!-

The audience cheered at the dramatic performance.

And naturally, they couldn’t help but expect it.

Young-chan, who had shown them more than they had imagined, as if their imaginations had been poor, had prepared a piano, so it was a natural reaction for them.

As if enjoying the cheers of the audience, Young-chan closed his eyes and spread his shoulders wide.

-….-

At that sight, people fell silent for a moment.

That’s because his decadent beauty, which was already considered a scam, soared to its peak at this moment.

Not only women but also men were mesmerized by the sight.

In that silence, Young-chan slowly opened his eyes and then placed his hands on the keyboard.

-Tada dadadan!-

The performance that started like that was overwhelming from the beginning.

That’s because the heavy, bouncing piano tone, reminiscent of winter rain, was so clear that it was chilling.

The heated concert hall had become a frozen winter kingdom before he knew it, and at the moment when the chilling and beautiful piano performance reached its peak, Young-chan made his voice for the first time.

“What took away my crying was… a world that was all white.”

Starting with the introduction of Snow Country, which started calmly like a monologue, the audience fell into Snow Country without even realizing it.

They were mesmerized by the sad and childlike emotions that followed the desperate piano performance.

Before they knew it, those in the audience with rich emotions had to feel their eyes blurring after the first verse was over and the piano accompaniment shook their hearts.

Unable to overcome the ‘cook’ [emotional stirring] and tingling reverberation in one place in their hearts, they ended up shedding tears.

They hurriedly wiped away their tears with their sleeves, but for some reason, they didn’t know how to stop the tears that had burst out once.

Even in that stuffiness, his piano and voice were not hidden as if they were lying. Rather, they only beat their minds and their hearts more clearly.

-Drip, drip···.-

In the end, all the audience who came here had to wipe their eyes.

Some emotionally sensitive people sat down on the spot, and those who had memories similar to the lyrics of Snow Country sighed deeply and regretted the time that had passed in vain.

-Talararang, tadang!-

Snow Country, which had once been so precious but had been forgotten before he knew it, ended with a warm piano performance that was different from the beginning.

Young-chan, who finished the performance of the last song, Snow Country, bowed politely, looking at the audience with red eyes.

“Thank you. For being with me this winter…”

-Waaaaaaaaah!-

The audience responded to his greeting with the greatest cheers.

The cheers grew even louder as the surrounding lights became brighter and the members of Black Tiger, who had performed together, greeted them.

Black Tiger’s first concert was able to end successfully like that.

The heat spread to the entire Japanese archipelago through NK Broadcasting’s special broadcast four days later.

People were even more enthusiastic because it was a perfect concert with little to no editing.

In particular, what made people most enthusiastic was Snow Country, which Young-chan sang with the piano at the end.

The popularity was so great that the next day after the special broadcast.

There was almost no place on the streets of Japan where the song Snow Country was not played.

However, as much as they knew, they listened, and the piano version made the critics doubt their ears.

Takuya, who is a world-renowned pianist, belatedly watched the performance version of Snow Country and left these words with a look of disbelief.

“His piano made me realize the hearts of my friends who were in despair when they saw me in the past. That’s why it’s so sad. At least he seems to be enough to become an icon of the classical music world in this century. I sincerely hope that he will be active in the classical music world someday.”

When he, who is called a master in Japan, said that, the critics in the classical music world also praised Young-chan’s piano without raising their pride any longer.

Black Tiger, or rather Young-chan, completely established himself at the top of Japan with only about 4 weeks of activity.

He had completely conquered Japan.

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────