Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 44



Only Krnovel

44. Cool down

“What? You’re not interested in the loser’s bracket?!”

Park Yong-oh was surprised by the urgent words the staff member relayed and asked back.

It was truly shocking news.

At the same time, it was the sound of all the plans he had drawn up falling apart.

“Did I ask the right question?”

I can’t believe it at all.

I guess I’ll have to check it out myself.

So when all the competitions were over and there was a short break, I quietly called out to Cha Seong-jun.

“Number 49, you’re not going to do the loser’s bracket?”

“yes.”

What the staff said was true.

“Why, why?!”

When I asked in confusion, Cha Seong-jun answered with a calm smile.

“I was just satisfied with the stage today.”

Park Yong-oh is speechless at that answer.

What kind of mindset is this of a liberated person?

It was hard to understand.

Then suddenly a thought occurred to me,

‘Maybe number 49 is having a secret affair right now!’

He is a smart contestant who knows the flow of the show and is able to reveal his identity along with being eliminated.

There may be an intention behind the current boycott of the loser’s bracket.

For example,

‘I’ve raised my own value to this level. So, as a PD, you should offer me benefits that match that.’

Or something···.

Of course, this was a huge mistake.

Cha Seong-jun’s actions, which Park Yong-oh could not understand at all, ended up causing misunderstandings.

‘Hehe, I want to push you too!’

I can’t say that out loud.

If someone hears about it, the program will go downhill due to the controversy over fabrication.

One of my rivals, a PD, is currently filming a real survival show in a prison cell like that.

In the end, I decided to try to persuade him by beating around the bush a little.

“No, but since you received good reviews from the judges, you could really aim for the win, right?”

“Wow, there are so many people who are so good at this.”

“But if you win, the prize money is 500 million won?”

“Ah, that······.”

It was only after he brought out the blatant sum of 500 million that Cha Seong-jun’s eyes wavered for the first time.

On the other hand, Park Yong-oh’s eyes shine.

Yes. 500 million is enough money to buy a house in the countryside.

A temptation that is difficult for an ordinary person to resist.

So now, if you gently tease them while mentioning other benefits when they win…!

At the moment when Park Yong-oh opened his mouth,

match-!

Suddenly, Cha Sung-jun hits my cheeks with both hands.

A flushed face.

“Whew. I almost wavered. I won’t do it. This is the loser’s bracket. This is enough. I achieved all my goals.”

Cha Sung-jun’s original purpose for participating in ‘Who’s the King’ was to see if the skills he gained through ‘Bangsingki’ would work in the industry.

This has been proven by the high rankings in previous missions and the rave reviews from the judges.

Now that there was a chance that she would succeed as a singer-songwriter, there was no reason to hang on to auditions.

Despite repeated persuasion, Cha Seong-jun’s will was strong.

Because of this, an unprecedented emergency has arisen.

‘One of the core axes of the program is missing like this?!’

Park Yong-oh quickly began to devise countermeasures.

The PD’s own words don’t make sense.

However, if industry seniors step forward, things might be different.

As soon as the thought occurred to me, I explained the situation to Ryu Young-seok, the representative of the judging panel, and asked him to persuade me.

He is the one who highly regards Cha Seong-jun’s talent.

Obviously, I was terrified and expected them to stop me.

however···

“Number 49 said that? Phew!”

Ryu Young-seok laughs out loud after hearing Cha Seong-jun’s reaction.

Park Yong-oh sensed a cold feeling.

And that anxiety was spot-on.

“You have to respect that. If that’s the artist’s idea.”

Ah, so this is what it means to be stabbed in the instep by the axe you trusted.

In the end, even Ryu Young-seok ended up raising Cha Seong-jun’s hand.

“Is it wrong···.”

Park Yong-oh, his strength drained, sits down on the chair.

Now there was no other useful method left.

This was especially true because the fortress was designed to respect the free will of the program participants and participation in the loser’s bracket was not even a mandatory requirement.

‘I wanted to make him a star···.’

Just like the song he sang, he became a star himself and then he left.

This is the first time this has happened.

The feeling of loss is indescribable,

“Tsk, can’t help it.”

Park Yong-oh, who unexpectedly gets rid of it quickly.

He has been in the broadcasting industry for over 10 years and has experienced everything from ups and downs to aerial battles.

There have been many instances where it was more intense than it is now.

Although it is a shame to see the departure of the most popular contestant, this is not a program that will be shaken by one person.

As the main PD of ‘Who’s the King’, he is the captain who holds the key to the success or failure of the program, so he must also show a strong appearance.

And it’s not like I’ve lost anything either.

‘On the other hand, I got a Yama called ‘The winning candidate who refused the loser’s bracket.’

This will also be counted as one of the best scenes from survival variety shows in the future.

So let’s stop being so clingy and just let it go coolly.

but,

‘I have to somehow secure a spot on the special live broadcast of the final episode.’

It was Park Yong-oh who turned over the intercom again with a pledge.

*

*

*

The next day, Sunday.

Cha Seong-jun slowly got up from bed.

A morning free from ‘Who’s the King’ after a month.

The first words he uttered were five letters.

“Well, that feels refreshing.”

I was worried that I might have regrets after a day, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Any regrets about the 500 million won prize money?

It was quickly forgotten.

There was no guarantee that it would be mine anyway.

As long as there is a Zikna Mark.

Anyway, it was an audition that I thoroughly enjoyed and was very satisfied with.

The effectiveness of Bangsingki has been verified.

I was also able to strengthen my resolve to move forward as a singer-songwriter.

And that’s not all.

We were also able to reap unexpected harvests.

Especially in the area of ​​connections.

“Number 49, no, Seongjun. How about we try working together next time?”

After recording is finished,

Ryu Young-seok asked for my contact information while saying goodbye.

Receiving an offer from one of the best composers in the country was something I couldn’t have imagined before participating in the audition.

That was the beginning of me awkwardly handing over my number.

The rest of the judges who saw that also lined up and asked to exchange contact information.

“I’d like to invite you to my studio sometime. Please make time for me.”

“Can I add you as a friend on Instagram? Oh no, you don’t?”

“Actually, I knew that Sungjun was a devoid. Last time at MXM Entertainment…”

Because of this, a strange scene was created where top tier celebrities in the industry were desperately seeking the numbers of ordinary people who had not even made their official debuts.

Among them, Choi Kang-san said, “There’s a Halla 40th anniversary concert planned for early next year,” and made a meaningful comment, saying, “I’ll contact you about it.”

It is also important to note that I have developed relationships with not only the judges but also the participants.

I also exchanged contact information with Oh Jin-woo, who was my 2:2 battle mission partner, and Mark, who was my 1:1 battle opponent.

“It was a fun competition. See you again at Sound Sky.”

“Brother, just wait a moment! I’ll follow you shortly!”

I promised to interact with Mark in SARS, and Jinwoo Oh sent me off by setting up the elimination flag himself.

Anyway, he’s a bright guy until the end.

Meanwhile, I also encountered some unexpected characters.

“It’s nice to see you all here, Mr. Devois. Hahaha!”

MXM Entertainment CEO Choi Max-heon and Director Baek Seok, the two of them came to the recording site!

While exchanging brief greetings,

“Let me get straight to the point. What are you going to do about the agency?”

Baek-seok asked about the future course of action.

DeVoice appeared in a singer-songwriter audition.

That means, in the future, he will present not only cover songs but also his own compositions.

You may need assistance from a management company for album production or distribution.

So, the goal was to secure the partner position faster than anyone else.

And Baek Seok’s judgment was correct.

“I was going to contact you after the audition anyway. Could you please meet with me about what you mentioned?”

At the same time, Cha Sung-jun was also considering whether to join hands with the agency.

“W-Of course! Director Baek! When can we do it?! No, isn’t it possible anytime?!”

“Please schedule a separate meeting with me.”

A joy that could not be hidden appeared on the faces of Choi Max-heon and Baek Seok.

That concludes the ‘Who’s the King’ story.

Anyway, thanks to clearing out one big project, I have a lot of free time in my schedule going forward.

Now, all that’s left is to fill that empty space with a new schedule as a singer-songwriter.

The most urgent task among them is to use the [Activity Enhancement Ticket] obtained through the special mission yesterday!

‘What should I strengthen first to be efficient?’

After much thought, I decided on an answer to that question in advance.

“The first priority is activities that give buffs.”

‘Watching movies’ gives you an emotional buff.

And the ‘Sauna’ that gives vitality buffs.

We will try to see if the two buffs can be stacked through reinforcement.

Between the two, I chose the Vitality Buff.

I think it’s because the ‘work speed X 1.1’ multiplier factor was considered, so the probability of being strengthened in that area was also taken into consideration.

[Activity Enhancement Ticket used.]

[[Sauna] activity is strengthened into [Sauna (+1)] activity.]

“Oh, the sauna has become a ‘+1’!”

It looks like it can be strengthened multiple times in the future.

Plus, you can choose what to strengthen yourself.

[Select a detailed reinforcement element.]

Increased Vitality Buff duration (60 minutes > 70 minutes)

Vitality buff multiplier increased (1.1x > 1.2x)

Increased Vitality Buff storage count (0 times > 1 time)

Your eyes fall on the last of the three options.

If you can save a buff, you can use it later along with other buffs.

[The number of times the Vitality Buff can be saved increases by 1.]

[Saved buffs can be used in conjunction with other buffs.]

I chose the third option without further ado, and it turned out to be a winner.

“Then let’s test it again right away.”

At that moment, the sauna activity that had been set up in advance before using the activity enhancement ticket ended.

Unlike before, where the buff was applied immediately,

[You can use or save the Vitality Buff.]

[Use/Save (Max Save 0/1)]

This time I was given two options, and I chose ‘Save’.

Next, we immediately begin the ‘movie watching’ activity.

Now, when you receive the emotional buff as a reward after 3 hours, you can use the stored vitality buff at the same time.

“Until then, let’s use our time wisely.”

Even though ‘Who’s the King’ is over, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

First of all, we need to check out the other advertisements that came with the last preliminary OST.

So, things like clothes or products that can be worn or displayed on screen.

And for their advertisements, we need to record cover songs. If the advertiser requests a specific cover song, we sing it, but if not, we have to search for other good songs.

“Since I need to attract aggro, a song that’s high on the Kiwi charts would be good.”

Or a song that fits the concept of the advertisement. For example, if it’s a clothing advertisement, what lyrics would there be about wearing cool clothes?

Also, I plan to pay more attention to Youtube, but also to SoundSky.

Because I knew you had a lot of fans waiting for you too.

I have also received advice from Mark about issues such as copyright of the self-composed songs I have uploaded so far, so I plan to gradually resolve that as well.

“Oh, by the way, I should check the reaction to ‘Aengyeonmu’ too.”

As soon as I remembered, I logged on to SoundSky.

I left it unattended for a week to prepare for a battle mission, and there were already over 100 comments.

“What did they say?”

I read through the comments half nervously and half excitedly.

In general, many people agree that oriental sounds are attractive.

Since most of the account’s followers are Westerners, songs with oriental charm might be a new experience for them.

Meanwhile, after the SASS account was shared on YouTube, there were more Korean comments.

So far, they have been more focused on ‘So are you a YouTuber?’ than on appreciating the song.

Meanwhile,

“Huh? This is a bit long.”

I stopped scrolling at one unusually long Korean comment.

At the same time, Cha Seong-jun tilts his head toward the monitor.

– Hello, I am ‘Bihyung’, the artist who is drawing the martial arts webtoon [Cheonma Hwansaeng]. I would like to use your music as the webtoon OST······

A webtoon OST?

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