Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 80



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Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 80

80. co-prod

Until this morning, Cha Seong-jun was filled with happy dreams.

I ate sushi and gyukatsu with Oh Hae-soo, who was traveling abroad for the first time.

A simple dream of having a hearty meal of skewers and draft beer at an izakaya at night, and then finishing off with some shopping at the souvenir shop Tonquijote.

But, out of nowhere, a busking competition…!

“Anyway, it was a good idea to request a business trip for 2 days and 1 night. Right, Hae-soo?”

“Brother… why are you saying such leisurely words…”

Oh Hae-soo is startled by her positive attitude.

He himself is on edge right now, worried that his contract for the opening song might fall through.

Meanwhile, there were two other people who were watching the two people’s banter and whispering to each other.

“Sister, now that I look at it, Sung Jun-sang seems like a bit of a strange person too…”

“······.”

The two-person visual talent band, ‘Twilight’, consists of siblings Yoru and Hikaru.

And they were all gathered in a basement practice room. This is where the Twilight siblings usually practice their performances.

The reason is of course-

“Now, shall we start practicing ‘Life and Death’?”

This is to practice Sungjun’s [Nahonbul] OP song ‘Life and Death’ that will be performed at busking.

Since ‘Life and Death’ is a strong Jay-rock style band song, it was necessary to implement a full sound rather than an acoustic solo arrangement.

So, I asked Yoru and Hikaru to take charge of the session, and they readily accepted, and a temporary band was formed.

Each Yoru base,

Hikaru on drums,

Seongjun is in charge of vocals and electric.

“Then I will tell you about ‘Life and Death’, so please learn it well.”

When Cha Seong-jun plays the music, the siblings listen intently.

As only two people are capable of creating a band sound, Yoru and Hikaru’s learning speed was very fast.

At first, he focused only on copying the song without doing anything, but from the second playback, he started copying right away.

Ding ding ding-

Knock knock knock-

Yoru is twirling thick bass strings, and Hikaru is swinging his sticks on the drum practice pad.

After practicing like that twice more, the siblings soon let go of their instruments.

“···I got them all.”

Just 15 minutes.

That’s how long it took two people to memorize an entire three-minute song.

“Wow, you two are amazing.”

“What? This happens all the time. Sung Jun-sang is much better than us. ‘Life and Death’… As soon as I heard it, [Nahonbul] came to mind.”

Yoru said, sweeping her disheveled hair over her forehead while playing the bass in response to Cha Sung-jun’s praise.

“Yeah, Muportable definitely has an ear for it. Honestly, I don’t think there was a better opening song than Sung Jun-sang’s song. I was immediately hooked when I first heard it. This would be even more amazing if it was played live!”

My younger brother Hikaru also agrees.

“That’s too much praise. Then shall we go straight into the ensemble?”

There are still 4 hours left until 8pm when busking is scheduled to begin.

It was obvious that the opponent would come out with his own band members, so he had to be perfectly coordinated to face them.

We started playing together right away.

Following Hikaru’s drumstick sign, the three instruments simultaneously build up harmony.

Then, Sungjun’s voice fills the practice room through the microphone.

“A gray street painted in black and white.”

In this way, the three of them gradually began to harmonize with one sound.

*

Afterwards, I arrived at Shinjuku Station around 7pm.

A street that resembles Hongdae in Korea.

The station is crowded with people just after closing time.

In the meantime, people carrying instrument bags began to take their seats one by one.

These are buskers who came out onto the streets to perform.

Meanwhile, the best spot right in front of the station was already sold out.

“Is this our stage? It’s pretty good.”

That’s because it was the place where Sungjun was going to have a busking competition.

I don’t know why, but thanks to Muportable, who was in charge of hosting this event, making reservations in advance, we were able to secure the best location.

“I hope you’ve prepared a bit.”

“Don’t worry, it’s perfect.”

When Sotozaka asked worriedly, Sungjun smiled faintly.

at that time,

“Ah, this kind of busking is a piece of cake.”

In the distance, a punk appeared, walking around with a group of thugs.

They were members of Shibasaki and his band ‘Shiba’.

He found Seongjun and started to grumble.

“How come, I thought you were going to send me to Korea, but you were here?”

“After today’s live, there’s another incredible show scheduled. It’s called the Gangster’s Dogeza Show.”

“You little punk…”

Seongjun and Shibasaki faced each other and engaged in a light war of nerves before soon distancing themselves.

Then Shibasaki started setting up the instruments on stage.

Because he was the first to go according to the rules the two agreed upon.

There were six rules for the busking competition to ensure fair competition.

1. Guerrilla busking will be conducted without prior notice.

2. Use the same sound equipment in the same location.

3. The busking order is Shibasaki first, followed by Seongjun.

4. The Twilight siblings who have stepped forward as Sungjun’s supporters will cover their faces with hats and masks.

5. Set up a voting board in front of the busking stage, and decide the winner based on the number of stickers the audience puts on the song they like the most.

6. The loser must fulfill the terms of the contract written in advance.

one side,

“Huh? What the heck, it’s ‘shit’!”

People passing by the station began to notice Shibasaki preparing to busk.

“What, Shibasaki?”

“Shibasaki is busking?! That’s a lie!”

“There’s a voting board and stickers here. Looks like I have an opponent!”

There’s news that a fairly famous band has appeared.

And when the news came that the band was going to play someone, the crowd grew like a snowball and soon the area in front of the stage was packed.

And at 8 o’clock sharp, the busking began.

“Hello! It’s Shibasaki! I’m going to do some special guerrilla busking today! I’ll only be singing one song, so listen up!”

The band ‘Shiva’ performed along with a skillful opening statement.

As Hikaru said, “He’s a punk, but he’s good at music.”

Shibasaki’s live was splendid.

The crowd cheers as he belts out high notes with the nasal, hard sound that is characteristic of Japanese rockers.

Some of them were already putting stickers on the voting board before Sungjun even came out.

“Huh, Shibasaki, you said you wanted to perform first… Is this what you were aiming for?”

“What should we do, bro? There’s only one sticker per person. If we keep doing this, everyone will have put on a sticker before it’s our turn…”

Hikaru chews his lips as if he is angry, and Oh Hae-soo expresses his worry.

One, Sungjun pretended to look relaxed.

“Okay, ‘Purchase Complete’, ‘Level Up Complete’. Now it’s perfect. Hehe.”

And then he even started laughing while muttering something to himself that I couldn’t understand.

After three short minutes, the ‘Shiva’ stage ended.

“If you all voted for me, you can go home now! The next guy is a nobody.”

Shibasaki is messily encouraging voting.

Perhaps the intention is to shake your mentality.

However, it was completely useless for Seongjun who had [Myeonggyeongjisu].

He quickly set up his instrument, stood in front of the microphone, looked around the audience, and opened his mouth.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sungjun, a singer-songwriter from Korea.”

People reacted with puzzlement to his introduction.

“Huh? Who is Seonjun? Do you know Mickey-chan?”

“I don’t know, it’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”

“Wait a minute… Huh, I think I’ve heard that somewhere…”

“No, but isn’t he really handsome? Maybe a Korean idol?!”

Although Seongjun’s existence was not widely known, Seongjun’s universal appearance shone through in Japan without fail.

Plus, there’s the aura that the [Force] stat gives off!

Sungjun said with a bright smile that has won over countless Korean fans.

“You don’t have to know me. After all, from this moment on, you will remember my name and my songs forever.”

As Hikaru’s drumstick sign sounded at those confident words,

Seongjun’s gaze turned into that of a professional, and he scraped the electric guitar with the pick he was holding.

Jiiing-

The electric guitar riff that becomes the main melody of ‘Life and Death’ bursts out of the amplifier.

The audience perks up their ears and pays attention to the rough yet hooky melody.

Ding ding ding ding ding-

Then, Yoru’s index and middle fingers struck the bass strings and ran low to create a rhythm.

On top of the intense beats created in this way,

“A gray street painted in black and white.”

Wearing a black rider jacket and ripped jeans borrowed from Hikaru,

This time too, Sungjun lent his voice to the dark wine red electric guitar borrowed from the Hikaru siblings.

At that moment,

‘Huh? The voice sounds so clear.’

People who heard Sungjun’s voice trembled in shock.

Not only that, but pedestrians passing by the buskers also stop and look back at Seongjun.

It was because it felt like Sungjun’s voice was right in front of his ears.

This was a feeling I had never felt before on stage.

In fact, Shibasaki’s stage, despite its splendor, had some strangely distracting aspects.

The reason was simple.

They busk everywhere,

Cars are running around the streets, and people are walking up and down the streets.

Because I couldn’t immerse myself 100% in the performance.

However, even under the same conditions, Sungjun’s stage was different.

The sound of his voice and instruments cut through the noise and fly into my ears like arrows.

Even when he sings, it feels like all other sounds in the world are muted, and only his voice lingers so eerily.

A feeling of wonder and mystery.

The identity is none other than,

[SR Grade Skill Cocktail Party]

It was the effect of the skill that Cha Seong-jun purchased at [Store] for 20 million won!

‘Looking at their expressions, it looks like the skills are working properly.’

Humans have the perceptual ability to select and focus on only the information they need while hearing various sounds throughout the day.

And the ‘cocktail party effect’ is a phenomenon in which, even in situations with many people’s voices and a lot of noise, you can selectively listen to only what interests you.

The [Cocktail Party] skill that Sungjun purchased was also a skill that could instill such an effect in the audience for 3 minutes.

‘It’s even more effective because it’s a noisy Shinjuku station.’

As soon as I heard about the busking location called Yeokjeon, the first thing that came to mind was the disadvantage of a crowded location.

It was obvious that people would have difficulty concentrating.

‘If only my voice could be heard properly in such a situation…?’

No matter how famous the opponent was, I judged that I would definitely have the upper hand.

Cha Seong-jun also had confidence in his own abilities.

Originally, the duration of the cocktail party effect was written as 1 minute instead of 3 minutes, so it was a skill that I hesitated to purchase. It was also ambiguous as to where to use it.

However, I thought that the duration would increase as I leveled up, and the result of purchasing it was successful, as you can see.

As expected, the audience was entranced by Sungjun’s singing.

On the one hand, the voice is the voice, but more than anything, it was the Jay-Rock style band song ‘Life and Death’ that Sung-Jun used that really captured the Japanese taste.

“Good? What was that handsome guy’s name?”

“Seonjun, no, Seongjun!”

“It’s a song that I feel like would be great as an anime opening song.”

“Oh, I thought the same thing!”

Thanks to this, pedestrians passing by the station and audiences watching other teams’ busking performances all turned around, drawn by Sungjun’s song.

The number of people gathered like that was already at least twice the size of the crowd at Shibasaki.

“This is nonsense···!”

Shibasaki’s face distorts as she watches Sungjun busking.

I never dreamed that a singer with this level of live performance skills would be there. I thought she was just a studio singer with a pretty face?!

It was a huge mistake of a punk singer living in a well, consumed by his pride and self-importance.

In contrast to Shibasaki, who was becoming increasingly shocked,

Sungjun’s ‘Life and Death’ was running towards the highlight.

“In the endless flow of life and death, within that boundary-”

People capture Sungjun singing with his eyes wide open on their cell phone cameras.

Aside from that, all they could do was keep their mouths shut and admire the charismatic stage presence.

And only when the song was over,

Clap clap clap clap-

As the frozen audience began to applaud, screams erupted.

“Amazing!!! I’ve never seen busking like this in my life!!”

“I almost couldn’t breathe! I was overwhelmed by the charisma!”

“What is the title of this song!!!!”

Cha Seong-jun answered an audience member’s question by raising his finger.

First, point to yourself, then

“Life and”

Next, towards the dazed Shibasaki,

“Death.”

The sticker vote count that followed was something to behold.

44 Shibasaki.

And Sungjun 133.

“Shibasaki-san. Dogeza, get ready?”

It was an overwhelming victory.

*

Meanwhile, at that time.

The management team in charge of Shibasaki was gathered in the ‘Let’s Production’ meeting room.

Their gazes are all directed to the screen where the beam projector is shining.

There, in front of Shinjuku Station, a busking scene was unfolding in real time, with someone conducting a live broadcast.

“So… in the end, not only did Shibasaki cause an accident, but he also suffered a great loss? You couldn’t even control that mad dog?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

The managers bow their heads and apologize at the cold voice of the man sitting at the top.

A man wearing a suit with vertical stripes and sunglasses.

Let’s Production’s vice president, Yujiro Ito, let out a long sigh and blew out a puff of cigarette smoke.

That was when.

dripping-

Someone knocked on the icy office door.

“···Please eat.”

At Ito’s words the door opened.

And then a cold-looking man with white skin and a pitch-black suit appeared.

He found Ito at the top of the table and introduced himself in fluent Japanese with a light greeting.

“Hello, Ito-san. This is Baek Seok from MXM Entertainment who called you.”

“Thank you for coming such a long way, Baeksang.”

Ito, who had put out his cigarette, stood up and held out his hand.

The two men shook hands briefly and sat down.

Then Ito slowly opened his mouth.

“Well then… shall we talk about ‘this incident’?”

The ‘this time’ he mentioned was the ‘busking showdown’ between Sungjun and Shibasaki.

In other words, what Ito and Baekseok were trying to share was the negotiations for the aftermath of the artists’ actions.

Ito spoke first.

“First of all, I’d like to apologize for Shibasaki’s ruckus. She’s such a self-willed girl that it gives me a lot of headaches. That’s why ‘minor’ incidents like this happen sometimes, haha. Of course, I’ll compensate you for any damage you’ve caused.”

So he was saying that he would pay a price if they kept quiet about the whole busking incident.

Baek Seok asked Ito directly.

“We could choose the rewards you mentioned, which are not too bad. Like the Kōhaku Uta Gassen or appearing on Shabekuri 007.”

What Baek Seok brought up was the year-end music festival with the highest viewer ratings in Japan and the super popular variety show.

In particular, the Kōhaku Uta Gassen is a program that boasts an unrivaled position among Japanese music programs in terms of viewership ratings and buzz, and only a small number of singers who have enjoyed the greatest popularity throughout the year are given the opportunity to appear on it.

That is why, in Japan, appearing in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen is evaluated as a measure of a ‘popular singer’, along with the Budokan concert.

To give up that one spot that is as narrow as a needle’s eye without hesitation…

For Ito, it was just mind-boggling.

one,

‘Is it inevitable to protect Let’s image?’

This is so that you don’t get ridiculed as a makeinu (loser) for picking a fight with a Korean rookie.

“···Of course.”

When Ito nodded after thinking for a short while, Baekseok slightly raised the corners of his lips.

Is this what they call a phone call?

Thanks to Cha Sung-jun’s connection with Shibasaki, he was able to get a piece of cake from Let’s Production, which has a huge influence on the Japanese entertainment industry.

But I definitely plan to give and take.

Otherwise, it was clear that there would be retaliation from Letz when Sungjun was active in Japan in the future.

“Okay, then I won’t make a big deal out of this. Let’s leave it as a ‘minor’ incident.”

“Good.”

The two businessmen, whose understanding was aligned, concluded their agreement with a handshake.

Afterwards, while we were having a light chat,

“By the way, Baeksang and Sungjun Sang, do you have any plans for future activities in Japan? If so, how about joining us at Let’s as a local agency? If this is fate, then it is fate.”

In fact, after hearing Seongjun’s story, Ito was quite pleased with him.

Of course, he has the courage to not be afraid in front of the punk Shibasaki.

He was a talented person who was bound to be coveted, as he had the skills to overwhelm him.

On the other hand, in Baekseok’s case,

MXM Entertainment does not yet have any overseas branches.

Therefore, it is true that if you want to work in the US or Japan, it is much more advantageous to do so through a local agency.

And Let’s Productions is the most powerful agency in Japan.

The natural calculation in Baek-seok’s head was that if he joined hands with them, he could expect strong support instead of the retaliation he had been worried about.

“We will review it positively.”

With those words, Baek Seok left Let’s Production.

“Anyway, Shibasaki, this is your chance to tighten the leash a little again.”

The management teams under Ito’s direction quickly left,

In the meeting room where everyone had disappeared, a wisp of cigarette smoke rose again.

*

The next day in Tokyo,

“I’m sorry, Director. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Shibasaki, who came to Muportable, bowed her head and apologized to Director Sotozaka.

An unbelievable change of scenery in just one day.

Behind the scenes was Shibasaki’s agency, Let’s Production.

“This is what Ito-san said. ‘If you don’t come clean about what you did, Let’s banish you from this world forever.’”

This is because the management team, under the direction of Vice President Ito, pressured Shibasaki by threatening to terminate the contract due to the artist’s fault and demand compensation of several billion won.

It was Shibasaki who knew better than anyone else the fear of Let’s and Ito.

Thanks to that, he went from being a mad dog to a Chihuahua in an instant and came to Muportable.

After that, he bowed his head to Yoru and Hikaru.

“I’m sorry for what happened. I won’t bother you again.”

“···Is it real?”

The siblings blinked at each other, unable to believe the apology they heard.

At that moment,

“Home is the best, isn’t it, Haesu?”

“Really, brother.”

After finishing their 2-day and 1-night schedule in Japan, Cha Sung-jun and Oh Hae-soo were returning home via Gimpo Airport.

I went out to catch a taxi, dragging my carrier.

“Oh, it’s snow.”

It’s snowing in the sky right now.

Looking at the large, granular snowflakes, a fact I had forgotten suddenly came to mind.

“Oh, by the way, today was the release date of ‘Jinnulkaebi’, right?”

It was scheduled to be released at noon, and it’s now 2pm, so I checked the Kiwi charts, thinking it would probably be ranked somewhere around the TOP 100.

however,

“What is this?”

An exclamation burst out from Cha Seong-jun’s mouth as he checked the chart.

+

[Kiwi TOP 100]

1st (New) Snowdrop – Yuna (co-prod. by Sungjun)

···

···

+

Not only did it reach number one on the charts within two hours of its release,

There was a surprise ‘co-prod’ mark clearly visible, which I had not been informed of.