Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 43



Only Krnovel

43. Active as ‘D.Voice’

5 hours before Cha Sung-jun’s stage.

So, at 7 AM on the day of the Who’s the King 1:1 Battle Mission.

From early in the morning, articles with unfamiliar headlines suddenly appeared on TV entertainment news.

『The Voice of Midas! D.Voice! Who the hell is he!』

A special article about YouTuber ‘D-Voice’, whose cover songs have recently been heating up YouTube.

In an article of such enormous volume that you can’t see the end no matter how much you scroll down,

The story of ‘Deviose’ from its first appearance on YouTube to now.

His incredible achievements in just one month, including a surge in subscribers and a reversal of the charts.

So there are various speculations about what exactly the identity of the device is.

Lastly, it contained an interview with Yeseon Ha, who recently came to light after being commissioned to do an OST cover song.

The writer was a named reporter from the entertainment department.

Lee Jun-min of ‘The Star News’.

Whether it’s good or bad, he’s the dog of dogs who can smell a scoop!

All the items Lee Jun-min has dealt with so far have become topics of conversation in the entertainment industry.

A truly living issue reader.

That was the reason why so many people in the entertainment industry paid attention to Lee Jun-min’s articles every day and night, weekdays and weekends.

This article was also spread to many entertainment industry insiders as soon as it was released.

“Wow, there’s a kid like this on YouTube?”

“You asked Yuna and Yeseonha to cover the song? Wow, it’s really flashy from the start.”

“I vote for the MXM trainee. You can tell just by looking at them that they’re noise marketing.”

“That’s what the last interview is all about, right? In the end, even the preliminary round doesn’t know the identity of Devoice. That’s why he sent me a love call, saying, ‘I want to meet you in person.’”

“So who is it really?”

Some people had already heard rumors, but this is the first time for anyone to see such a detailed analysis.

It was natural that curiosity about the device arose in my head.

Among them were the judges of ‘Who’s the King’ as well as the main producer Park Yong-oh who leads the program.

“It would have been a huge hit if DeVoice had appeared on our program.”

Park Yong-oh, who lost his appetite in regret.

If the identity of an online star who had been shrouded in mystery had been revealed through ‘Who’s the King’, the impact would have been beyond imagination.

I was upset because I felt like I had missed that opportunity.

But such foolishness quickly disappeared as soon as recording began.

Because each and every one of the participants’ performances were top-notch.

These were songs of such high quality that I was confident they would definitely dominate the charts if they were released as audio files after the live broadcast.

And among them, there was a stage that completely stole Park Yong-oh’s heart.

“star······.”

Park Yong-oh, who watched the 49th stage, muttered in a daze.

Number 49 is a genius.

He is a genius in music, but also a genius in broadcasting.

“Especially the glasses performance···!”

I was the one who suggested taking off my glasses just because I felt it was a shame to lose my visuals.

But who would have thought that he could tie that into a song?

Park Yong-oh was confident.

‘A star is born…!’

A smile of joy spread across his lips.

*

While PD Park Yong-oh was in ecstasy,

“ha······.”

The judges sighed with serious expressions.

It was none other than the decision to drop out.

“I can’t do it. How can I judge the superiority of such a perfect stage?”

“For the same reason, I also abstain.”

The judges all raised their hands, saying they couldn’t do it.

Stages 15 and 49 were perfect, each with their own unique charm.

There is only a difference in taste, but in terms of completeness, it is impossible to tell which is better.

If this was a street karaoke somewhere, it might have resulted in a happy ending where everyone shared the win.

However, cruelly, ‘Who’s the King’ is a survival program.

This mission is also a ‘1:1 battle’ where one person must be eliminated.

No matter how perfect the performance of two people is, someone has to suffer the bitter taste of elimination.

After much deliberation, Ryu Young-seok, the leader of the judging panel, made a decision.

“Anyway, we have to decide who wins or loses-”

Even though it may be a bit forced, let’s try to find some minor flaws in the two songs.

“Then I······.”

Opinions are exchanged cautiously in a heated discussion.

Recording is paused.

And about 15 minutes later.

“Really… is it okay to announce it like this?”

The winners and losers were written on the results sheet.

*

‘···It’s taking a long time.’

It was the moment when Cha Seong-jun’s legs were starting to hurt.

The judges who had gathered together return to their respective seats.

Then, Ryu Young-seok, in the center of the judges’ table, took the microphone.

“The review process has taken a long time. I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

He briefly apologized to Mark and Cha Sung-jun, and then gave them the answer he had finally come up with after much thought.

“Then I will announce the winner of this 1:1 battle mission.”

The judges voted 4:3.

But the difference is only one vote.

“The winner is… Candidate number 15! Congratulations!”

“Yeeeeeeeeeees!”

Mark raises both hands and roars at Ryu Young-seok’s call.

one side,

“Phew.”

Cha Seong-jun also let out the breath he had been holding while waiting for the announcement.

‘It’s only a one-vote difference… It’s a bit of a shame.’

Is it because it still doesn’t feel real?

Something… I thought it would be a big disappointment, but it was surprisingly calm, and I was surprised at myself.

Rather, Ryu Young-seok confessed in a voice full of regret that the judging was difficult.

“Honestly, out of all the stages of ‘Who’s the King’ so far, no, out of all the stages I’ve judged so far, I think this was the most difficult judgement. Both of their stages were close to perfection···.”

So the answer to the question of what the cause was could be heard from Choi Kang-san, not Ryu Young-seok.

“The song played by number 49 was ‘Pop Rock’. And if I heard correctly, all the sessions except for the acoustic guitar, bass, electric, and drums were recorded using MIDI. Is that correct?”

Cha Seong-jun nods his head at the accurate listening.

Then Choi Kang-san smiled faintly and said.

“It was filmed well. At first, I thought it was a live performance. However, there was bound to be a slight difference between MIDI and a live performance.”

‘That was the problem, after all.’

The reason for the defeat revealed by Choi Kang-san was something that Cha Seong-jun himself already knew.

When recording a genre like rock, there is a difference between actually playing an instrument and recording with MIDI!

This was something that had to be taken into account from the time the genre was set as ‘pop rock’.

That’s why I tried my best to narrow that gap.

Thanks to this, many of the judges didn’t know whether his songs were recorded using MIDI or whether he performed them live.

However, the ears of Choi Kang-san, the godfather of rock who dedicated his entire life to rock, were eventually able to catch those subtle differences.

“On the other hand, the city pop that No. 15 played was able to create a perfect sound with just MIDI due to the nature of the genre. That was the only factor that could determine victory or defeat.”

Ryu Young-seok concluded his comment by adding:

“thank you.”

Cha Seong-jun bows to the judges for their valuable comments.

Even though I lost, I did my best as I pleased.

Maybe that’s why I felt relieved without any regrets.

MC Park Hye-shin offered deep comfort on behalf of Cha Sung-jun.

“It was a really great stage. Watching it, I was inspired to say, ‘I want to direct a stage like that too.’”

The four heavenly kings of vocals say that it was a ‘stimulus’.

It may have been a broadcast comment, but for Cha Sung-jun, even that was an honor.

But that’s that,

“With this, number 49, unfortunately, can no longer join us on our journey to the throne. Please remove the number tag on your chest.”

Elimination is elimination.

As soon as the number tag is removed, Park Hye-shin continues the proceedings.

“Now that you’ve stepped down from the position of candidate, you’ll have the opportunity to appeal who you are. Of course, it’s up to you whether or not you appeal.”

The moment that the production team had announced in advance has arrived.

Cha Seong-jun thinks for a moment.

The gaze turns to the side.

Find the glasses that were thrown to the corner of the stage during the performance a little while ago.

however,

‘······There isn’t any.’

The glasses are no longer visible because they flew too far away.

okay.

We’ve come too far to hide it any longer.

Cha Seong-jun turns his head and looks straight ahead again.

The camera and lights are dazzling.

Instead of avoiding eye contact, he gripped the guitar neck tightly with his left hand.

He expressed his will through his self-composed song ‘Star’.

So, now is the time to officially throw in the towel.

“I’m Cha Sung-jun, who started out as an ordinary office worker and now dreams of becoming the best singer-songwriter. I’m active on YouTube and Sound Sky under the name ‘D.Voice.’”

A moment of silence flows as Cha Seong-jun introduces himself.

And a few seconds later,

“D.Voice?!!!”

Screams erupted simultaneously from the recording studio.

*

The screams came from several places.

First, the judges’ table.

“Candidate number 49 is Devoice? He covered the Seonha OST recently?”

“The device that was in the news this morning was number 49?”

Starting with Jay Jay and the brave cat who asks in surprise,

“Are you crazy? I’m subscribed to the Devoice channel?!”

“Your sister too?!”

Choi Ha Na and Mirae are making a fuss.

“That guy was really that famous?”

“Yes, senior. You’re the most famous on YouTube right now. Actually, I already knew-”

Choi Kang-san is smiling and Ji-woong is feeling happy for no reason.

“······That’s right.”

Even Ryu Young-seok with eagle eyes.

Everyone was surprised to find out that the contestant in front of them was DeVoice.

The waiting room was a similar situation.

“I’m a huge fan of DeVoice!”

“I have to get your autograph when I come back to the waiting room later!”

I was caught up in a noisy commotion.

“Brother… Device?”

Oh Jin-woo blinked his eyes as if he couldn’t believe it.

“···her.”

Zeke also let out a short exclamation as if he was amazed.

But there were some who were more surprised than anyone else.

It wasn’t a gangster who raided the studio in a white suit… It was MXM Entertainment CEO Choi Dae-heon and Director Baek Seok who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the recording for the first time today.

“What?! Devoice-nim participated in ‘Who’s the King’?!”

As Choi Max-heon lowers his sunglasses, two large eyes greet him.

“······I missed it too.”

Baek Seok also lets out a small sigh.

What surprised them was not only that they found out about Devoice’s participation in the program so late.

It was because of the stage he presented with his own compositions, which I thought he was only a cover song artist.

There were some good songs, but their stage presence was overwhelming.

It almost reminds me of Yuna!

“···Director Baek, this won’t work. I have to sign the contract no matter what.”

“That means no matter what conditions they put forth-”

“We have to match it no matter what.”

Choi Dae-heon, who still couldn’t take his eyes off Cha Seong-jun on stage, spoke as if making a promise to himself.

And the last scream’s epicenter, PD Stone.

“Number 49… Device?!”

Park Yong-oh dropped the cue sheet he was holding.

It’s a series of shocking situations.

The first shock came when broadcast genius number 49 was eliminated.

Then he was shocked a second time when he revealed that he was a devise.

‘What, so the device just fell off…?’

I almost had a brain freeze for a moment, but I pulled myself together again.

At the same time, my mouth is torn open.

“This is… a jackpot…!”

I’m not laughing out loud at the elimination of a popular figure.

Rather, I was laughing because I was so happy about that fact.

From the beginning, there was no deviation from Yong-Oh Park’s plan.

Just like Admiral Yi Sun-sin had 12 ships left.

Because Park Yong-oh still had the survival cheat key, the ‘loser’s resurrection’ card.

That was also why there was cheering when numbers 15 and 49 matched in the last recording.

1st and 2nd place in the last competition.

In a way, this program’s two favorites to win are competing, and one of them is bound to fall.

How nervous and excited people must be.

And the feeling of emptiness when the candidate you were rooting for was eliminated.

Resentment and regret will explode.

at that time,

[We will hold a ‘loser’s resurrection match’.]

A refreshing twist that will dispel all that negative energy at once!

This was the gambit of audition program expert, Yong-Oh Park.

however···!

‘It turns out that the person who was chosen as the eliminated number 49 was that DeVoice! He’s even handsome!’

This was beyond perfection, it was close to the ultimate.

Park Yong-oh hits his knee with his fist.

In his eyes, he could see the ratings graph soaring toward the atmosphere.

“Maybe we can break the highest viewership ratings of all audition programs…!”

Plus his ransom.

Park Yong-oh called a staff member and whispered something secretly.

*

*

*

“We will invite you to the interview zone, number 49.”

Cha Sung-jun came down from the stage and headed to the interview zone.

Although he was eliminated after losing to Mark, he filmed his thoughts and other things for the broadcast.

What was interesting was that the interview was longer and more intense for the loser, Cha Sung-jun, than for the winner, Mark.

And of course, most of them were about his identity, which he revealed, and the device.

“So, Mr. Devois, are you really just an ordinary office worker?”

“Are you aware that there is a device syndrome going around on the Internet right now?”

“Is there a special reason why you revealed your identity in ‘Who’s the King’?”

Cha Seong-jun barely managed to answer the barrage of questions that poured in like crazy.

And between the camera tapes, it was time to take a breather.

“Mr. Cha Seong-jun.”

A staff member lowered his voice and spoke.

“It’s off the record, so keep it to yourself.”

Then, he looked around and whispered.

“Mr. Cha Seong-jun has not been eliminated. There will be a loser’s bracket match after this.”

It was an urgent instruction from PD Park Yong-oh.

To calm Cha Seong-jun down and reassure him while subtly testing his reaction.

The staff member who informed him of the chance to revive the knight examines Cha Seong-jun’s expression.

Sure, I’m going to jump for joy-

“Uh, I don’t really have any plans for a second chance.”

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