Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 2



Only Krnovel

2. Start the tutorial

For office workers, the weekend is a day when they can indulge in the laziness they have been saving up all week.

Cha Seong-jun was the same.

A golden Sunday after a fiery Saturday at the band meeting last night.

I loafed around until the sun was high in the sky, then slowly opened my eyes.

My throat is sore, but thankfully I don’t have a headache, perhaps because I took a hangover cure.

Now, whether you drink too much or not, you have to take a hangover cure whenever you drink.

“Haam.”

Cha Seong-jun, who got up from bed with a yawn, walked half-asleep into the bathroom. After washing his face with cool water and brushing his teeth, he quickly fell asleep.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Ah… tomorrow is Monday again… ”

Spend one of your two golden holidays relaxing.

I spent the remaining half of the day lying in bed.

And then, before I knew it, the sad reality of having to go to work again was right in front of me.

“I’m sick of this.”

The saying ‘Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday’ is not for nothing.

But what can you do? That’s the life of an ordinary office worker.

I should spend the remaining time doing useful things.

He returned after roughly wiping his face with a towel and naturally lay down on the bed again.

Today would be a good day to kill some time by binge-watching some of the Plexnet dramas that have been piling up.

Thinking like that, I turned on my phone.

“huh?”

An icon of an eighth note appeared somewhere on the desktop, seemingly unfamiliar yet familiar.

What was it… Ah! That strange game I installed while waiting for the subway yesterday!

The resource download progressed to 99% and then stopped.

I didn’t have time to check because I just plugged my phone into the charger and fell asleep right away.

“That’s a good thing.”

It seems like something I could enjoy for a bit to kill time before going on a full-on Flexnet run.

Click-

When I click on the icon, a blank white screen appears. Just like last night, a black title appears.

[Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter]

Even when I look at it again with my mind clear, it’s still a really sloppy design.

But on the contrary, it aroused a strange curiosity.

What kind of game is this? After looking into it, it seems to be a masterpiece that trades off gameplay and design.

[Game Start]

It looks like the synchronization was completed successfully, as the start button that wasn’t there yesterday has appeared.

When I pressed the button, the screen changed.

A simple vertical UI screen.

A two-headed SD character, printed in dots, stands blankly in the center of the screen.

“Is this a character?”

Cha Seong-jun examines the character.

His casual attire, with his hair in a simple slicked-back garma and his loose tie, somehow resembles his appearance from last night.

“That’s really interesting.”

I can’t take my eyes off the character who strangely resembles me.

[Start the tutorial.]

[Check my information.]

A finger icon appeared out of nowhere and started prompting clicks on the upper left corner of the screen.

There.

[Cha Seong-jun Lv.1]

The name and level were written inside a square box.

It looks like the upper left corner is the ‘Character Information’ tab, just like in the raising game rules.

When I clicked on the box following my finger, the character information popped up as expected.

+

[Cha Seong-jun Lv.1]

Title: Late bloomer aspiring singer-songwriter

Stats: [Vocal Lv.2] [Range Lv.3] [Rhythm Lv.3] [Appearance Lv.3]

Skill: [Chest Breathing Lv.2] [Abdominal Breathing Lv.1] [Chest Breathing Lv.1] [Caustic Breathing Lv.1]

+

“Oh, this feels refreshing.”

The titles, stats, and skills were the same as those in typical character-raising games, but the content seemed to be well-arranged to fit the singer-songwriter genre.

Vocalization and range, rhythm and appearance.

Even if I don’t know about their looks, the other three are the three essential elements for vocals.

‘But why are the stat levels all different?’

If it’s a level 1 character, it’s normal for all stats to start at level 1.

Looking closely, not only the stats but also the skills were all at different levels.

At that moment.

‘······This by any chance.’

Absurd thoughts cross my mind.

Something that can’t be happening.

It’s impossible. Common sense tells you that such a thing should be possible.

Cha Seong-jun shook his head to shake off the absurd possibility that had occurred to him.

However, when his gaze was directed a little lower.

+

※ I currently have chronic rhinitis and mild vocal nodules. My highest pitch is lower by one note (2 keys).

(Current highest note: 2 octaves G)

+

“crazy!”

Cha Seong-jun had no choice but to accept it.

It was clear that the character in front of me had my own vocal specs.

‘Yeah, definitely something about synchronization then.’

Last night, when I was installing the game, a phrase that I had overlooked came to mind.

From the camera suddenly taking pictures, to the synchronization progress, and even the SD character that looks exactly like you and the character information.

When we put all the information together, we came to one conclusion.

Who would have thought that ‘synchronization’ meant synchronization between myself and the character in the game!

“Is this true…?”

I can’t believe it… but the character information in the game matches Cha Seong-jun’s current status exactly.

In fact, he had chronic rhinitis and vocal nodules from excessive high-pitched practice as a child, which he neglected to treat and eventually gave up singing. His highest note was also between G and F#, two octaves.

This was very close to an ‘avatar’, a replica of one’s own in the game.

‘Wait a minute… That means…’

Conversely, could the growth of the avatar be synchronized with that of the real ‘me’?!

Thump thump.

My heart starts beating a little faster.

It is still too early to confirm this, as it is only an unverified hypothesis.

However, the possibility is definitely there!

And now, you will soon be able to check it out through a tutorial.

[Return to the home screen and select your main instrument.]

Amidst the excitement of anticipation, the next tutorial message arrived.

When I closed the information tab and came out, there was an acoustic guitar and a piano playing on the left and right of the avatar respectively.

Of course, this is also in the form of a dot icon.

‘Guitar and piano.’

The two instruments that appeared before his eyes were the only instruments that Cha Seong-jun could play.

It was speculated that perhaps this too was reflected in the current selection as a synchronization effect.

If he had played drums or bass, there might have been additional options.

‘What should I choose?’

Cha Seong-jun thinks carefully.

He was the main vocalist.

Of course, both the piano and the guitar are only at the level of playing the chords.

What do he think are the strengths of the two instruments?

First of all, the piano is a basic instrument that forms the basis of music.

The guitar is a convenient and portable instrument.

It was difficult to determine which was better because both had their own merits.

If there is no difference in performance, then it is a matter of taste.

‘Just do whatever your heart desires.’

After making up his mind at the end of the long struggle, Cha Seong-jun chose the guitar on the left.

I think it was largely due to the fact that I played backing guitar as well as vocals in the band.

[You selected ‘Acoustic Guitar’ as the main instrument.]

[‘Guitar Playing Lv.1’ is added to the character skill.]

Once you’ve made your selection,

Diririring-♪

With the sound of soft guitar strokes.

The avatar picks up the guitar and strikes a fancy pose, much like the protagonist of a popular Japanese console game when he acquires an item.

Then, an acoustic guitar and a stand appeared in the empty background behind the character.

“Oh. The directing is good.”

In fact, it was an unremarkable production, but to Cha Seong-jun’s eyes, filled with anticipation, everything seemed mysterious.

And as if to live up to those expectations, the tutorial continued.

[1 ‘Song Coin (Bronze)’ is awarded as a daily login bonus.]

[Use Song Coins to increase your stats.]

This time, a coin of the same color appeared on the screen.

In the center is an 8th note (♪) that is identical to the game app icon.

Let’s touch the coin.

+

[Song Coin: Bronze]

It is used for stat growth up to level 10 and item drawing (unlocked).

10 bronze coins can be exchanged for 1 silver coin.

+

A simple piece of information is displayed:

Right. So this is the item that raises your stats.

Then finally.

“Is it time for verification?”

Cha Seong-jun headed straight to my information tab.

[Vocal Lv.2] [Range Lv.3] [Rhythm Lv.3] [Appearance Lv.3]

He currently has a total of 4 stats.

On the other hand, you only have 1 coin.

This is a multiple choice problem that has expanded from the two-choice question a little while ago where you had to choose between a guitar and a piano.

“Hmm···.”

It seems difficult to quantitatively compare or evaluate vocalization or rhythm.

It is questionable whether one will be able to feel a significant change in appearance.

In that case, the most appropriate place to invest is.

“It must be a transliteration.”

At least there are high and low tones in the sound range.

“Because the highest note right now is ‘2ok sol’.”

If you can play a note even just a semitone higher than that, you’ve succeeded.

Simple. Okay, decided on the transliteration.

[I invested Song Coins in Lv.3 of the sound translation.]

[Transliteration Lv.3 > Transliteration Lv.4]

[Current highest note 2 octave G#]

“Hmm. Is this it···?”

When I leveled up, a message appeared saying that the highest note had been raised by a semitone.

On the other hand, there is no particularly physically noticeable change.

I guess I’ll have to try it out myself to find out.

But it’s too much of a hassle to go all the way to the coin karaoke room.

Whoosh.

Cha Seong-jun, who had been thinking for a moment, sat on the bed and pulled the blanket over his head.

I’m just trying to sing at home.

The blanket was a kind of soundproofing measure to reduce noise between floors.

Then he played the MR of a ballad song.

Park Jung Jae – Don’t Break Up

“···It’s a song of painful memories.”

It was a practice song that I had been obsessed with until I was told by a vocal trainer a long time ago that I had no talent.

Even though I practiced for about three months, I still couldn’t properly sing the high notes in the chorus.

Perhaps at this time the trainer saw Cha Seong-jun’s limits.

And as it happens, the highest note of this song is a two-octave G#.

♪~ ♬~

A sweet piano intro flows out from inside the cozy blanket like a cave.

But Cha Seong-jun, who was impatient, quickly moved the screen with his fingertips.

Skip the verse and go straight to the chorus.

“Let’s never break up.”

Cha Seong-jun began to sing with a trembling heart.

“I always want to be a good person to you.”

As the song gradually builds up in intensity after the relatively low-pitched first half, the tension increases accordingly.

Because there will be a section where you have to experience frustration every time even after trying dozens or hundreds of times.

– Again. Again. Seongjun, I told you not to strangle me there, right?

– If you force it out, the flavor won’t come out. You have to push it out with your breath.

– Can’t you just raise it by just a semitone? Just a semitone.

All that was missing was a ‘semitone’.

A semitone from the highest note.

In a way, that semitone was no different from taking away Cha Seong-jun’s dream.

And now.

The moment I encountered that semitone again.

“I love you forever!”

High notes that would normally be hoarse or raspy due to a sore throat came out smoothly!

It was a feeling of stable high notes.

‘The high notes went up?!’

I was both surprised and touched, but soon I pulled myself together.

I still like it.

‘It could be a coincidence.’

It’s too early to judge based on just one instance.

So, in the second verse and the last third verse chorus, he sang the high notes with the same feeling and only then.

“Ohhhh!”

Kuung-

Cha Seong-jun, who was cheering and throwing off the blanket, slips and falls off the bed with a thud.

A fairly large impact, enough to shake the floor.

Normally, tears would have flowed out, but now he felt no pain at all.

That can’t be helped.

“It really happened···?”

I could tell exactly because it was a song I had been obsessed with for three months.

Breathing and vocalization remain as usual.

But the highest note definitely went up a semitone.

The stat increase is truly reflected.

‘I guess it goes up the same way in other songs too?’

It was also necessary to test other songs, not just the familiar practice pieces.

Through searching, I found five or six songs with a pitch of 2 Ok Sol#.

After a few more re-examinations with the blanket over my head,

“Haha. Hahaha.”

A laugh escapes Cha Seong-jun’s mouth.

Test results.

All six songs successfully achieved peak performances.

This makes it certain.

‘I just installed this game while drunk…’

I played it without thinking about anything, just to kill time during the day.

But now, something absurd was happening.

“What the heck is this game?”

Cha Seong-jun’s eyes sparkle as he looks at the screen.

Of course, I’m still half in doubt.

Because it’s so unrealistic.

But in a corner of my heart, a spark of desire seemed to be rekindled little by little.

A dream that I had to give up because I had no talent.

The spark of long-held dreams that could only be buried in memories like drinking party snacks.

‘Maybe… I can really become a singer?’

If you continue to improve your stats in this game!

Cha Seong-jun clenched his fist.

at that time.

[You have completed the status tutorial.]

[Start the idle activity tutorial.]

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