Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 17



Only Krnovel

17. Gacha

The joint audition between MXM and Flexnet was aimed at singer-songwriters, not idols.

What’s more, there’s even a whopping 500 million won in prize money at stake!

Suddenly, the thought occurred to me, ‘Should I apply too?’

“Is it possible because of the company?”

I’m concerned about my current job.

And then suddenly,

“Well, I guess I’ll just apply for fun.”

My mind was leaning towards that.

Let’s take it lightly, lightly.

Moreover, in a way, this was an opportunity to figure out one’s current address for free.

If your application passes, it means your composing ability is recognized by the industry, but if you fail, it means your skills are still lacking.

When I checked the recruitment guidelines, there was a condition that I had to attach 3 self-composed songs, as expected for a singer-songwriter audition.

At least one song must have vocals.

Since I had already uploaded two songs to Sound Sky, ‘Saturday Night’ and ‘My Room’, I just had to create one more vocal song······.

“Is it a vocal song…?”

Cha Seong-jun recited while placing his clasped hands behind his neck.

There was a reason why I had never touched a vocal song until now.

Because the difficulty of composing was more than twice as difficult as a song with only instruments.

I have to record the instrument, think of a melody line, and sing.

As a beginner composer, there are so many things to take care of.

Of all of them, the thing that was most worrisome was none other than the ‘lyrics’.

“Hmm. There are no lyrics-related stats yet…”

It is often said that lyrics are less important than melody or vocals in a song, but that is wrong.

If you look closely at each line of the seemingly easy lyrics, you will see that none of them were written in vain.

It is essential that the lyrics fit the theme and mood of the song, and the syllables must match the melody that was planned in advance, and you must also pay attention to pronunciation that fits your voice.

Especially in emotional songs like ballads, lyrics are even more important. Since the lyrics contain a ‘story,’ many people can relate to them.

Moreover, many singer-songwriters receive attention for their unique song atmosphere, individual vocal style, or lyrics that tell their own stories rather than for their singing ability.

That is, to become an ideal singer-songwriter, the trinity of melody, vocals, and lyrics must be achieved.

So, the current Cha Seong-jun was in a state where one of the three axes was empty.

“At times like this, there has to be another special mission! The reward is something with lyrics stats.”

Of course, such a clever thing is unlikely to happen.

For now, I thought I’d just make the song first, and waited for the routine-like emotional buff activities to end.

Tiring-!

[I finished watching the movie.]

[You gain the ‘Emotion’ buff for 1 hour.]

“My brother is busy going to work every day, so Avatar, wouldn’t it be nice if you watched a movie every day?”

It was the moment when I was about to blurt out a word of nonsense out of envy and immediately execute the buff.

Tiring-!

The notification sound that I thought was over was heard again.

[You have achieved 50 total idle activities.]

[New feature ‘Draw’ is unlocked.]

Then the bottom of the home screen flashed and the [Draw] tab, which was locked with a padlock right next to the [Activity] tab, became active.

“The gacha is open?!”

Cha Seong-jun suddenly gets up from his seat.

Gacha. Gacha. ガチャ.

This lottery is the alpha and omega of all mobile games!

The thrill of getting the product you want through extremely difficult odds that are narrower than the eye of a needle…! Ugh…!

It is an ultimate joy that can never be known to those who have never tried gacha.

Once you taste it, it’s hard to let go.

[Start the drawing tutorial.]

The finger icon that appears without fail in every tutorial prompts you to click the draw tab.

I clicked with excitement, and a large holographic claw machine appeared before my eyes.

A familiar visual that I often saw in front of stationery stores when I was young.

I looked closely to see if it was actually a dot, and indeed, it was made up of individual small dots.

And the tutorial message that followed.

[You can draw once per bronze coin.]

[You can obtain stats, skills, and items through drawing.]

[If you draw 10 times in a row, you are guaranteed to obtain 1 SR grade item.]

[When you draw 50 times, you are guaranteed to obtain 1 SSR grade item.]

“What, there are levels to stats and skills?”

And the acquisition probability for each grade was attached like a sticker on the gacha machine.

There are three grades: R (Rare), SR (Super Rare), and SSR (Special Super Rare).

The acquisition probabilities are 69%, 30%, and 1% respectively.

It was the same ordinary probability as those of any other game.

but,

“It’s a bit disappointing that there is no product list.”

If there was a list, it would have been possible to know the grade of the skill/stat you currently have, what other stats/skills exist in the game, and what grade the item you are after is.

On the one hand, the ‘ceiling system’ that gives SSR grades when a certain number of draws is met caught my eye.

“If you draw 50 times, you need 50 Song Coins···.”

One coin is received daily as a login bonus.

You will receive an extra one as a weekly bonus, so you can receive a total of 8 coins per week.

Then it takes about six weeks, or a month and a half.

‘If you get one SSR every six weeks… that’s not bad, right?’

From now on, I will have to save up coins and use them for lottery unless it is a really necessary investment.

The tutorial continued.

[10 free draws will be given out for the first time only.]

[When drawing after this, 1 bronze coin will be consumed per session.]

It’s finally exciting gacha time.

A free tutorial draw, which is a gacha game rule, was also given.

“Whew, I’m shaking…”

Cha Seong-jun clenched and unclenched his hand.

In fact, he was the worst of the worst hands.

Even when I was really enjoying mobile games, gacha luck was pretty hopeless.

Every time, only one confirmed SR was released, and the remaining nine were usually R-rated.

Even the confirmed SRs are the most useless within the ranks.

If the curse of the shit hand continues, another great sorrow will come…

“Yeah, let’s just empty our minds. If we get lucky in places like this, we’ll suffer in this life.”

After arming myself with the special Gacha shit hand and fake putting it down, I placed my finger on the round handle of the claw machine.

As I rotate my finger on the handle, the machine makes a mechanical noise and the claw machine shakes from side to side.

And then soon.

Phew-!

The machine’s lid opened and ten capsules popped out like popcorn, along with a dazzling light.

It’s a classic yet fresh, not bad gacha presentation.

Cha Seong-jun looked at the capsule floating in the air.

Each capsule was spread out in two rows of five, each surrounded by a different light.

7 white lights. 3 red lights.

Anyone who looked at it could see that the colors were according to grade.

That means,

“You pulled out 3 SRs!”

7 R-rated and 3 SR-rated.

The result was exactly as stated in the probability information, but it was an unprecedented feat for Cha Seong-jun, who is known for his clumsy hands.

In the first place, I didn’t even expect the SSR grade, which has a 1% chance.

“Ah, I’m curious! I have to open it quickly!”

First, let’s start with the lowest rated R-rated capsule.

When I touched the capsule, the contents appeared between the capsules that opened up.

[Acquired R-rank skill [Playing the Piano].]

The first one was a skill I already had.

The piano seemed to be of a low grade as it was the most basic of the basics.

Anyway, since it’s a duplicate, I’m feeling discouraged and thinking it’s a dud.

[Piano performance Lv.2 > Lv.3]

“huh?”

Suddenly, a message appeared saying that my piano playing level had increased.

Does that mean that if you draw duplicates of stats or skills that you already have, the skill level will go up? That would be a different story!

“Ohhhh! Thank you, God of singer-songwriters!”

There is no such thing as a dud in this god game.

I was so excited that I opened other R-rated capsules one after another and various products came out.

[Acquired R-rank stat [Rhythm].]

[Acquired R-rank skill [Chest Breathing].]

[Acquired R-rank skill [Vicious].]

[Acquired R-rank skill [Guitar Playing].]

[You have obtained the R-rated item [Disposable Henna Sticker – Green].]

[You have obtained the R-rated item [Disposable Henna Sticker – Black].]

First of all, just like playing the piano, level up your rhythm, chest breathing, chest voice, and guitar playing one level each.

The next item was in the shape of a 16th note (♬).

For reference, the song coin is an eighth note (♪).

“If it’s a henna sticker, then that’s it? A tattoo sticker.”

It is a fashion item that is often worn when going to the beach or playing.

But I was wondering what this had to do with singer-songwriters, so I checked the detailed explanation.

+

[Disposable Henna Stickers]

You can express the feeling that matches the color when using it.

(Duration: 60 minutes)

– Blue: Refreshing

– Red: Happiness

– Green: Peaceful

– Yellow: Sadness

– Pink: Lovely

– Purple: Excellent

– White: Pure

– Black: Chic

+

It was a surprisingly great item.

“You can create feelings based on color?”

The description is a bit vague because it is too comprehensive, but let’s limit it to the song for now.

‘If I put a pink sticker when singing a happy love song and a yellow sticker when singing a sad breakup song, I can capture that feeling, right?’

I somehow feel like it could be applied to composing as well.

As soon as you finish the drawing tutorial, you should try using it.

“Okay, so that’s the R rating out of the way. Next up-”

It’s time to install the SR grade capsule.

Let’s open the capsule with a trembling heart

[You have acquired the SR rank skill [Double Breathing].]

[You have acquired the SR grade item [Hopi Pattern Matching Panties].]

This time, following the duplicate skills, an item of unknown identity appeared.

[When worn in moments when you need confidence, your luck and momentum will slightly increase] is written on the mysterious description.

“Is it trash…?”

I was happy that I got three SRs…

A shit hand is still a shit hand.

“But it’s still too early to give up.”

There’s still one step left.

The last SR capsule.

“This time, let’s go for the awesome one!”

Cha Seong-jun let out a loud shout and forcefully thrust his index finger toward the capsule.

A red light appeared through the gap in the capsule.

and-

[SR grade stat [Association] acquired.]

Huh? This… If I do it well, I might be able to use it for lyrics…?

*

*

*

At that time, Incheon Airport.

A large, muscular man in a suit walks out into the arrival hall.

It was MXM Entertainment CEO Choi Dae-heon.

Originally scheduled to arrive at 6 o’clock, as usual, we were held at customs for an extra hour.

It was because of his large body, impression, and pure white suit.

Since it was something I was very familiar with since I was young, I was able to resolve the misunderstanding by talking things through and enter the country safely.

Then, just as he was about to come out, someone waved his hand and called him.

“Sir, over here!”

A tall man wearing sunglasses.

It was Baek-seok wearing a black suit, the complete opposite of Choi Max-heon.

“Hey, what’s going on? Director Baek himself came out to greet us.”

“Thank you for your hard work on your business trip to the US. Let’s go soon.”

“Why is Director Baek’s reaction so dry? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.”

“Stop doing movie impressions.”

“Hey, it’s so bland.”

Choi Dae-heon, who was snickering, followed Baek-seok to the parking lot.

As he appeared, the road manager who had been waiting quickly took the carrier and put it in the trunk.

The car started off with Baek-seok in the passenger seat and Choi Dae-heon in the back seat.

The destination was the company.

Baek Seok asked Choi Ma-heon, who had loosened his tie.

“So. You were mistaken for a gangster this time too?”

“That’s true. Anyone can see that he’s a good citizen.”

“Anyone can tell he’s a gangster. He’s that big and he’s wearing a suit. That’s why I told you not to wear that on a plane.”

“If you’re a representative, you have to be a white suit. Your name is Baek Seok, so why do you always wear a shabby black suit?”

“That’s why. My name is Baek-seok. I’ll try wearing Baek-jeong-jang. It’s obvious that someone like my brother will make fun of it ten times a day, so how can I wear it?”

“Well, that’s true. Baek Dol-i is Baek Jeong-jang. Hahahaha.”

The two people, the CEO and the director, are talking without any formality.

If someone had heard this, they would have been surprised and said, ‘The director… is speaking informally?’

The two have been like brothers for more than ten years, and they talk comfortably when it’s not a public setting like now.

“Whew… Anyway, how are you feeling about the aftereffects? Just go home and rest today.”

“Where do we have time for that? Right now is the busiest and most hectic time of the year.”

This is because the launch of the global audition show ‘Who’s the King’ and preparations for Yuna’s new song promotion were in full swing.

“Anyway, Seok, you worked hard while I was away. What about the employees? Are they working overtime?”

“You know. Well, don’t worry. We work in shifts. They give me overtime pay and late-night snacks regularly, so I don’t have any major complaints. I also got some crystal donuts and coffee today.”

“Crystal donuts, they’re delicious. They’re shiny and gooey. They’re also good for burning calories and giving you energy. So how’s your work progress?”

Baek-seok briefs Choi Max-heon, who is regaining his appetite, about what has happened so far.

“The project we’re preparing is progressing as scheduled. The ‘Who’s the King’ team put out a press release today, and JBS is also putting out an advertisement. We’ve posted a recruitment notice on our homepage and have been contacting other entertainment companies and academies as well.”

“Really? How was the reaction?”

“I’m surprised. How did you get Flexnet together? I heard you’re good at it. Are you going to take off your reputation as a successful businessman now?”

“Tsk, it looks like you still have some time on your hands.”

“Still, I was a little nervous. I thought they might lose their position. Especially in the SMP area. They’ve been a little sluggish there lately.”

“So, we have to seize this opportunity and move forward.”

Choi Ma-heon, who raised one corner of his mouth, tilted his head from side to side and made a sound.

“Also, what about Yuna’s new song promotion? I heard she’s going to do some kind of challenge. And have you looked into that guy I mentioned?”

“You mean the device?”

“Yeah, him! DV!”

“Well, what do you think happened?”

“Oh, really. Don’t do that thing where you try to guess the person who asked you the question. You might get a false positive.”

Baek-seok burst into laughter at the tired tone.

Then, after a brief pause, he opened his mouth.

“I made contact.”

“Oh, really? I see you don’t have any contact information. So, is it Giseong or Saengjja?”

“The latter.”

Choi Ma-heon slaps his knees at those words.

He shouted, thrusting his large upper body toward Baek-seok.

“You’re a newbie!”

“Yeah. I heard you just started YouTube. So you only had one video.”

“So, you had an agency?!”

Baek Seok answered the impatient question.

“There’s no way the first person who started YouTube would have an agency.”

“It was pretty~!”

Choi Max-heon is cheering.

Who would have thought that such a windfall would come about!

From the moment she discovered Yuna, it was clear that Lady Luck was on her side.

And in his head, the birth of a new star was already being imagined.

A monster vocalist who appeared like a comet following Yuna!

The producer is MXM Entertainment CEO Choi Dae-heo-

“But he doesn’t want to sign a contract with us.”

Huh······

“······uh?”

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