Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 77

Perhaps feeling sorry for the rookie manager, Park Si-young patted him on the shoulder and said,

“Just leave him be. He’ll get his act together soon enough. It’s not like this is the first time.”

“Ah… yes.”

“More importantly, what do you think of Kwak Do-hoon from the perspective of a national team reserve?”

“Pardon?”

“Well, to us laymen, it looks like he’s good at wrestling, but I was wondering if wrestlers see it differently.”

“…….”

Park Seong-ryul was speechless at those words, watching the two fight. Or rather, he watched Kwak Do-hoon’s quick footwork and switching stances, and soon nodded in admiration.

But in truth, this was a match that never should have happened in the first place.

Jang Tae-sik’s weight, at best, was around the welterweight class, while Kwak Do-hoon weighed twice as much.

No matter what, weight is the most important thing in martial arts.

There’s a reason why boxing divides classes in 1-2㎏ increments.

The power in strikes, as well as the ability to withstand them, is bound to be different.

However, if there’s one advantage that lighter weight classes have over heavier ones, it’s speed.

-Thwack! Thwack!-

Indeed, Jang Tae-sik was throwing jabs with flashy footwork that rivaled that of an active welterweight fighter. Although they were just bare fists, the power was considerable, and more than half of them landed successfully.

“How pathetic…….”

However, Kwak Do-hoon didn’t even seem fazed by the hits, as if they didn’t do any damage at all. He lowered his body and charged forward.

-Thud!-

“Gwaaaack!”

A tackle that sounded like being hit by a car landed, and in an instant, Jang Tae-sik’s body was pinned beneath Kwak Do-hoon.

“Wow!”

This was what impressed Park Seong-ryul.

Even for him, who had been active until recently, it looked difficult to defend against. The fluid, relentless technique was impressive, but what was truly amazing was the agile movement that belied his 140㎏ frame.

That was something that couldn’t be done without natural flexibility, in addition to strength.

Considering that he was well over 50, he was nothing short of a monster.

“……. If you had continued wrestling, you could have become a legend in the sport.”

“Is that so?”

Park Si-young looked at Kwak Do-hoon with new eyes.

He never fully believed Kwak Do-hoon’s words whenever he got drunk, claiming he was talented enough to sweep the Olympics.

Of course, he had seen Kwak Do-hoon fight a few times when he was genuinely angry, but it always ended so overwhelmingly that he couldn’t get a sense of it.

‘Besides, the Olympics isn’t just about showing off strength.’

But seeing the manager, a former national team reserve, say that, it seemed that Kwak Do-hoon’s past claims were all true.

‘Damn… I feel sorry for him.’

He felt bad that someone with so much talent never got to see the light.

But that feeling soon faded.

On the other hand, wasn’t it because of that past that he was able to pursue a new dream so late in life?

“It’s a blessing in disguise.”

“Pardon? A blessing in disguise…? Do you need something?”

“Kekeke.”

Park Si-young, who had been momentarily sentimental, had his emotions shattered by the manager’s inability to understand what “a blessing in disguise” meant. [A situation that seems bad at first but ultimately has good results.]

He chuckled and waved his hand at the still curious manager, indicating that it was nothing.

Perhaps it was because he was involved in the student movement, but he knew that it was a difference caused by the fact that the younger generation didn’t use Chinese characters as much as his generation did.

“Alright~ shall we go rehearse?”

He muttered, then helped Jang Tae-sik, who was lying weakly from the impact of the technique, to his feet.

“Ugh. You brute, all brawn and no brains.”

“Take it easy, you punk. If we get hurt at our age, it doesn’t heal easily. You know? There are tons of guys eyeing our spots.”

“Hehehe. I’d rather die than give up this spot.”

If you were to pick the member of Black Tiger with the most affection for the team, everyone would undoubtedly choose Jang Tae-sik.

If that weren’t the case, there’s no way he would have abandoned his business, which was quite large, to his girlfriend, who is now the vice president, Lee Ah-hyun, and jumped into this.

In the worst-case scenario, he might lose the business he had built up for half his life, but even so, he wanted to make music properly.

And now that he was actually able to do so, he could no longer stand back and watch like he used to.

And that was the same for Park Si-young.

“Well, I guess that’s true for me too.”

“Is it just us?”

Jang Tae-sik, who seemed to have regained some energy, nodded towards Kim Il, Moon Il-beom, and Kwak Do-hoon, who were walking ahead.

Everyone, to varying degrees, looked nervous and excited.

As he was looking at his friends, a familiar voice came from behind.

“What are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re nervous about the rehearsal?”

It was Park Young-chan.

Unlike the others, Park Si-young asked him in disbelief, seeing him as always.

“You’re always the same. This is a rehearsal, but it’s at the Olympic Stadium. How can you not be nervous?”

“Why are you asking something so obvious? He was relaxed even when we were at the Saitama Super Arena [a large indoor arena located in Saitama, Japan].”

“……Relaxed is a bit much.”

He wouldn’t go so far as to say he was relaxed, but in fact, Young-chan couldn’t be nervous about a rehearsal.

It was because he was in a paradoxical situation, as if he had experienced too much even though he hadn’t experienced it.

Rather, he envied his uncles, who were excited and nervous just by doing a rehearsal like this.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go. We need to check the sound one last time today, and we’re busy in many ways.”

“Okay. I got it. I got it. Hey. Don’t push.”

“Did you sleep well? You’re so strong today.”

He said that, but his uncles started walking towards the stage, following Young-chan’s lead.

Perhaps it was because Young-chan was with them, but as they approached the stage, the pleasant excitement grew stronger than the tension.

* * *

The rehearsal ended faster than expected.

Thanks to pouring money into the stage, they were able to achieve truly satisfactory results, even after meticulously checking the lighting and sound.

“Money is the best! It’s always new! It’s thrilling!”

It’s not a joke, they really invested generously in this concert tour.

The number of staff mobilized for this event alone exceeded 1,000. Including the ushers and security guards, it would be double that.

They spent billions of won on stage facilities.

They spent almost as much on other additional facilities.

But even with spending money like water, the ticket sales alone were more than enough to cover it.

The majesty of 150,000 seats over three days was like that.

And there were other additional revenues to be made. That’s concert merchandise.

It might seem strange to have merchandise for Black Tiger, which is no different from an old man band, but the demand for this merchandise was enormous.

From cheering sticks to frames, stickers, and even guitar picks.

The fans, called Black Cats, were so enthusiastic that they were almost burning with requests for merchandise.

It was fortunate that the Black Cats were more well-behaved than other fans; otherwise, the company’s main opinion was that they would have been plagued by terrible things like threats.

“Then… let’s do that.”

Thanks to that, they started producing merchandise that even the guy in my memory said was embarrassing.

Of course, more than 90% of the merchandise was related to me.

They printed posters of the best photos from the pictorials taken for the concert, and made photo cards of photos taken during the concert preparation process and in daily life by professional photographers.

Since these were fan service merchandise photos, I really did my best at this time.

I even asked Director Hong Ui-chan and unleashed all the aura I had acquired as if I was being gaslighted [manipulated into questioning your own sanity].

Thanks to that, a lot of merchandise was created that I wasn’t ashamed of and that made me wonder if it was really me.

The cheering stick adopted the shape of a black tiger’s head with gold-like white stripes and sparkling eyes.

Since it was close to the real thing, there was a possibility that it might scare people if they unconsciously turned it on and walked around at night.

Other than that, they prepared merchandise for the uncles and doll keyrings for a small number of tastes.

Knowing that female fans accounted for a higher proportion of Black Cats than expected, I prepared it with their tastes in mind.

Around the time I finished preparing, Uncle Kim Il suddenly expressed his opinion.

“How about selling alcohol?”

“Pardon?”

“Like soju [a clear, colorless Korean distilled beverage]. Get it from master craftsmen with high alcohol content and sell it. With a soju glass set.”

I was embarrassed by Uncle Kim Il’s words, who is a heavy drinker, but the head of the headquarters nodded.

“It’s not a bad idea. But…….”

“But?”

“……Selling such alcohol at a concert hall is crazy. You know that properly made soju is about 50 degrees, right? If you make a mistake, you can call a lot of police cars and ambulances.”

“Ah…….”

The head of the headquarters pondered and continued, seeing Uncle Kim Il’s appearance, who was so regretful.

“But a small number of glass sets seem okay. Let’s make only 1,000, even if I don’t know if there are people who want to buy it.”

“Yes. If possible, please make it with high-quality porcelain.”

“Ah! Youngchan!”

“Cough cough.”

He must be very happy. He’s the type of person who doesn’t express his emotions, but he’s hugging me like this.

The Black Tiger soju glass set that was created in this way was so well made that even Uncle Park Si-young, who wasn’t interested in alcohol, was greedy for it.

“Aren’t you putting too much effort into it?”

“This will be the most expensive of the merchandise.”

“Even so, I don’t have much left because it costs more money than I thought.”

If I wanted to sell it expensively, I could do it as much as I wanted, but I didn’t feel the need to do so because I wasn’t short of money.

Above all, I didn’t think there would be anyone who would buy something like this.

But my thoughts were so wrong that it was really surprising.

“The Black Tiger soju glasses are all sold out?”

Surprisingly, all 1,000 sets were sold out on the first day, even at the hefty price of 50,000 won.

But it wasn’t just that surprising fact.

Most of the merchandise, which I had prepared generously enough to wonder if I should prepare this much, was sold out.

Because of this, there was a mess to reprint the merchandise urgently.

I thought that the remaining two days would not be enough to handle the spare goods to be sold at other concert halls on the domestic tour.

However, apart from the staff who were preparing, the uncles and I couldn’t hide our excited feelings thanks to this.

I could guess Black Tiger’s affection from the way they didn’t spare money like this.

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s just do as we rehearsed. Don’t get too excited and pass out in the middle.”

“Kekeke. Are you talking about yourself?”

“I’m talking about you. You punk!”

“Oh my. Don’t show such childish behavior when you go up there. My face is burning.”

“Shut up!”

The uncles kicked each other’s butts and moved forward, and thanks to that, I was able to taste the elation of using the stage for the first time.

-Doo doo doo doo doo!-

With dramatic, majestic music and brilliant lights cutting through the thick smog, the lifting soon lifted us onto the stage.

-Waaaaaah!-

Along with that, we faced a roar that seemed like it would swallow us whole.

-Thump, thump-

Feeling my heart beating faster and faster at the huge roar, I smiled broadly at the uncles, who seemed to have lost their minds.

“Kekeke. You punk!”

At my smile, the uncles finally relaxed and smiled at each other, then began to take their places.

Usually, we would take the time to greet the fans, but we decided to replace it with music.

-Jijijijijing!-

The first song of the concert, which started like that, was a song that represented our identity.

It was ‘Old Soldiers Never Die’.

“Ahhh~! Yes, I’m back. Just like always!”

-Kaaaaaak!-

In the unique grandeur of the song ‘Old Soldiers Never Die’, I thought that the screams of the girls bursting out from beyond the audience were not suitable but also suitable, and I declared the start of the concert.