Producer with no Regrets - Chapter 396



Only Noblemtl

Episode 396

Wiser received the script from the writer of ‘The Unknown Singer’.

If Baek Seol-ha defeats ‘O Sole Mio in the West’ and takes the place of ‘The Unknown’, it is said that a short conversation between Baek Seol-ha and Wise-ra will be filmed.

“This is the story of when Seol-ha won all three rounds.”

Even by simple probability calculations, the chances of Baek Seol-ha becoming ‘The Unknown’ are slim.

6.25%.

Even if you bet 1,000 won for fun, it is a number that is difficult to readily place.

Indeed, it is understandable that the author did not show any signs of anticipation.

I came to the audience judges’ table of ‘The Unknown Singer’ with the script I received from writer Wise.

Although it is called the audience judges’ section, it is no different from the audience of an ordinary entertainment show.

‘People have seen me sing here.’

He sat on the chair called Wise and listened to the commotion around him. The audience was very excited to see the celebrity and was chatting about this and that.

Even though there was a celebrity sitting right next to them, their attention was focused solely on the stage.

Well, the celebrity judges have much higher reputation.

If you look at the stage right now, there are so many stars whose names you would recognize, so you probably won’t have time to pay attention to your surroundings.

‘Because celebrities that you would only see once in your lifetime are lined up.’

Wiseura was not disappointed once again.

If the public can remember the names of the idol group members, they are considered top tier.

The globe is not there yet.

Only K-pop fans would know about Wiserra.

‘It’ll be different later.’

If Globe puts more effort into media appearances and becomes more famous than it is now, it will receive a burdensome level of attention.

‘That day will definitely come.’

I cleared away all distracting thoughts and focused on the stage.

I think Snow White will appear there soon… … .

‘That’s funny.’

If you defeat ‘O Sole Mio of the West’, who is ‘The Unknown’, you will summon ‘Nike, the Goddess of Victory’, who was defeated by him, to the stage?

And to celebrate the success of revenge, let’s have a touching reunion?

‘This is ridiculous. And you’re even going to the more unknown match wearing my mask?’

What kind of arrogance is this?

I have no doubt that I will make it to the final round. If I had, I wouldn’t have told the production team about this ridiculous plan.

How arrogant… … .

‘… … I did that too.’

Wiserra also never suspected that she would become ‘The Unknown’.

Maybe it could have been done.

If only there had been no ‘O Sole Mio in the West’. If only there had been no monstrous vocalist who seemed to have been born to sing… … .

‘Sister.’

Wise-ra called Baekseol-ha inwardly, but she had a hard time choosing what to say next.

Although she had gone all the way to Garo Enter to help Baek Seol-ha win, she found it difficult to readily cheer for Baek Seol-ha.

‘Don’t break until I break you… ‘ I said.

It was to establish Wiserra’s own prestige.

Later, he plans to make Seongpil shed tears of regret, and make him kneel at his feet and cry, begging, “Please let me produce, Sera!”

‘… … What was I thinking?’

Oh, right.

I was wondering if I should cheer for Baek Seol-ha.

I was imagining Sungpil regretting it so much that I forgot what I was thinking. It was sweet, like a fantasy you have before going to bed, but I had to put it aside for now.

Wiserra brought her thoughts back on track.

‘That’s why I said I would help you, sister. You can’t lose to anyone officially until you lose to me.’

But Wiser knew an easier way.

If you are broken, Snow White will also be broken.

The two will fall to the floor side by side and start from zero.

‘It’s okay if my sister loses. If my sister loses, my humiliation will be washed away a little.’

Then why did you go all the way to Garo Enter to help Baek Seol-ha?

‘Honestly, I went there because I wanted the team leader to think of me as a good kid. A person with a pure heart who can help his rivals.’

I was expecting that he would think the same thing, abandoning such a talented and kind idol.

Wiserra clasped both hands together.

Now I thought about praying to God.

‘There’s no way the team leader can hear what I’m thinking anyway. It’ll be much easier for you to lose, and I’ll be able to protect my dignity. Don’t give up before I give up. You know when you’ll be able to fight again. I don’t want to be left on the floor crying all by myself. So, sis.’

however…….

‘Sister, since you’re already on stage, you’ll win.’

The arms bend inward.

As an idol like Baek Seol-ha, Wise-ra came to wish her victory.

[First stage!]

[A genius who is cute and can sing well too… …!]

* * *

‘Yorlehihu I am Heidi’.

Singer Kim Eun-jung was exhausted from the waiting room. This was because, after practicing with the ‘cute genius who also sings well’ wearing the mask of ‘Goddess of Victory Nike’ for a week, she realized that she had no chance of winning.

‘Why did I have to choose this kind of person as my first opponent… … .’

Kim Eun-jung saw Baek Seol-ha, the ‘cute genius who also sings well’, waiting in the waiting room with her.

Snow White sat with a polite attitude, watching the broadcast screen on the monitor. Unlike when she practiced, she was wearing a bear mask that was her own, not the ‘Goddess of Victory’ mask.

The reason why Kim Eun-jung was able to know Baek Seol-ha’s identity in advance was because of her outfit during the last practice.

Kim Eun-jung’s manager discovered Baek Seol-ha’s identity.

‘Sister! Judging by that distinctive body (purified), you’re definitely Seol-ha from the Girls’ League! And your voice is definitely the same!’

Snow White of the Girls’ League.

He’s an idol.

Thinking about it, Kim Eun-jung washed her face as if the mask were her face.

‘I’m a singer, so what if I lose to someone who has the idol label? … .’

No, wait a minute.

‘That’s probably the general public perception. The Girls’ League even beat a Japanese national singer, right?’

So, even if he loses, isn’t it unlikely that his name as a singer will shine greatly?

Yes, it definitely will.

“Sister.”

At that time, the manager called Kim Eun-jung.

I was already upset, but when the manager spoke to me, my annoyance rose to the top of my head.

“what!”

“I trust you, sister.”

“uh?”

“I’ve seen your performances more than anyone else in the world. I trust you.”

“… … .”

Kim Eun-jung quietly lowered her head.

I decided to scrap my plan to send my manager out to run some food errands tonight.

At that moment, Baek Seol-ha showed movement. After hearing what Kim Eun-jung’s manager had said, she looked at Seong-pil as if asking him to do the same.

Seongpil clenched his fist.

“Go for it!”

“… … .”

Even though she was wearing a mask, Snow White’s disappointment was obvious. She turned her eyes back to the monitor.

In the meantime, the staff sent a standby signal. The two performers stood up.

Baek Seol-ha approached Kim Eun-jung and held out her hand.

“Please take good care of me, senior.”

Kim Eun-jung was dumbfounded.

How did you know that he was your senior? Well, it’s not strange since Kim Eun-jung also knows Baek Seol-ha’s true identity.

Besides, Kim Eun-jung is famous for her unique, languid and bouncy voice, so it’s impossible not to know her if you practice with her.

Kim Eun-jung grabbed Baek Seol-ha’s hand tightly as if her earlier frustration had been a lie.

‘Manager Kim said he believes in me. He said the person who has seen my performances the most in the world believes in me.’

Kim Eun-jung shook hands with Baek Seol-ha.

“We’re only one year apart, but aren’t you being too formal? You speak informally to me. What’s the big deal about debuting a little early?”

“I wonder?”

“Let’s eat something after we finish.”

“Director, is my schedule okay? Can you check it for me?”

“uh?”

I didn’t really mean to eat it… … .

‘If one person loses and we face each other, it won’t be a good atmosphere… ‘

Oh, I don’t know.

Now, let whatever happens be.

“Okay, let the winner shoot.”

“Let’s go with the expensive one.”

“It’s expensive… … I don’t care.”

“me too.”

Kim Eun-jung’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Look at him. He’s not saying a word.’

Yeah, go ahead and be as arrogant as you want.

‘I will also give it my all.’

* * *

The distant past.

While teaching Baek Seol-ha, Lee In-seong would often use words that had no meaning. No, they were words that had meaning, but were difficult for Baek Seol-ha, an elementary school student, to understand.

“Snow White, it’s not just the high notes that are important. It’s also important to be able to lower your voice. Let’s practice that for a few weeks.”

Snow White had to sing the smallest note a human could make.

It was the smallest note that could be recorded on a musical score, a sound so small that it could not be heard unless one concentrated.

“No, you can go lower! Snow White, think of your voice as if it were a carpet on the floor!”

Snow White reduced her voice to almost a breath.

“No, no! I told you to lower your voice? I told you to lower your pitch! Lower it!”

Snow White continued to lower her pitch.

Lowered and lowered again.

But Lee In-seong repeated the same thing.

“more!”

Snow White was sad.

I thought my teacher was asking me to do something I couldn’t do.

As her heart began to fill with disappointment in herself and resentment toward her teacher, Baekseolha let out a voice that her teacher demanded.

“ah?”

It was a low voice that even surprised Snow White herself.

The sound of a crash that barely escaped after wandering through the throat. The sound that had been wandering around the castle like a maze ran out, panting, when it found the exit.

A world where all the noise of everyday life has disappeared.

Only Baek Seol-ha’s low voice filled the whole world. It was like air rushing into a vacuum according to the laws of nature.

Because it is the lowest, it digs in most naturally.

Sound took the place of the world.

“Yeah, that’s it… … .”

Lee In-seong shed tears.

Snow White learned.

The enormity of the sound that comes from a low place.

* * *

“I am Heidi,” said Kim Eun-jung, biting her lips in anger.

In front of him stood the victor, Baek Seol-ha. Baek Seol-ha won by a truly overwhelming margin.

It was clearly the same song, and they practiced together, but Baek Seol-ha was much further along than Kim Eun-jung.

‘I was confident… … .’

It was a song with a bass that pierced the heart and decided the outcome of the match.

It was Kim Eun-jung’s confident vocal range. It suited her tone well. She even thanked the production team for choosing this song.

‘I lost… … .’

It feels like losing at home.

I thought it was okay to lose.

But that wasn’t the case.

When I was finally declared defeated on stage, I started to hate everything in the world.

Snow White heads to the waiting room as a victor.

The loser, Kim Eun-jung, must remain on stage, reveal her identity, and sing.

Kim Eun-jung, with her head bowed, and Baek Seol-ha, with her head held high, crossed paths like light and darkness, like the sun and moon alternating at dawn.

Snow White recited.

“I like your songs. I feel good when I listen to them. I envy your voice. When I was having a hard time, I was comforted by your songs. Thank you for your hard work.”

“……under.”

Kim Eun-jung was surprised to hear her own laughter. Even though she had lost, she was cheerful.

‘Snow White, what kind of senior are you? Before you went up on stage, you and I were supposed to be friends.’

Was he just bluffing to relieve his tension?

Actually, Kim Eun-jung often acted like she had a strong personality on purpose to avoid getting hurt.

‘You were nervous too.’

Kim Eun-jung smiled again, feeling a sense of kinship.

Kim Eun-jung’s inexplicable laughter became the trigger, and Baek Seol-ha completely passed her by.

And yet, Snow White continues on.

Moving on, round 2.

‘A streetlight illuminating the forest of buildings’, musical actor Gu Do-hoon with 20 years of experience.

He was Snow White’s next opponent.

After it was confirmed that he would appear on ‘The Unknown Singer’, Koo Do-hoon had no doubt that he would become ‘The Unknown’.

‘I have been singing for over 20 years.’

Is that all?

To be a musical actor, you must be able to not only sing, but also act and dance.

While you are inputting hundreds of thousands of characters of script text into your head, you also have to imprint an even larger amount of acting and dancing information into your head and body.

It is a field that requires physical and mental labor that is hard to find rivals in the entertainment industry.

‘He has already reached a level where he can be called a great singer.’

Of course, since he is a musical actor, it would be difficult to compare him to professional singers and singers.

It is common sense that a person with expertise in multiple fields is inferior to an expert in one field.

But, Gu Do-hoon was different.

‘I have no rivals here.’

As a man, he can easily sing musical numbers with a highest note of two octaves higher than ‘A’ on stage.

This is a great thing.

In fact, there are only a handful of people in Korea who can replace him. In addition, he has spent his years filling huge concert halls with just his voice.

His vocal range is incomparable to that of ordinary singers.

So be confident.

There was ample reason to be proud.

‘I’m sorry, but I have to leave you here, you cute genius who also sings well.’

* * *

Lee In-seong asked.

“Snow White, what do you call changing your voice area?”

“Passage.”

“that’s right.”

The thoracic, neutral, and dorsal lobes.

As the pitch goes up, you need to change your register. If you don’t change your register properly, pitch breaks will occur and your voice will crack.

“The passage technique is to do this naturally. However, there is a way to raise the pitch without changing the register.”

“Um… … But isn’t that wrong? Like people who sing high notes by straining their throats at karaoke.”

“The principle is the same, but it’s different. It’s called the belting voice.”

Lee In-seong said that there is still no academic consensus on belting, and that each person’s explanation is different.

Lee In-seong explained the belting voice as he understood it.

“For example, you can raise the chest voice to the range of the head voice. How about the chest voice?”

“It rings.”

“It’s a low-pitched note. If you raise the pitch with it, you can produce a high note that rings out loud.”

“Then it’s the best!”

“Haha, right. The resonance is strong and the pitch is high. Wow, it’s incredibly powerful.”

“I want to learn!”

“I’ve been waiting for those words. But I can’t do it right away. First, let’s learn how to mix two verses. It’s called ‘complement mista.’”

“That’s a cool name. I want to learn it!”

“Yeah, do you want to learn anything?”

Lee In-seong smiled warmly at his beloved disciple.

“If you follow what I teach you, one day you will be able to combine all the resonances.”

“Combine all the resonances?”

“huh.”

Thoracic resonance, nasal resonance, and head resonance.

All that resonance.

The thoracic, neutral, and dorsal lobes.

The tones of all those verses combined.

“Whole body resonance.”

This is the first step to get there.

* * *

“how…….”

‘Streetlights that illuminate the forest of buildings’, musical actor Gu Do-hoon loses.

The second round ended with the victory of the ‘cute genius who also sings well’.

Gu Do-hoon couldn’t believe this situation.

‘My throat condition was perfect. I sang the song I prepared perfectly, no, even better than I prepared.’

But why?

It’s not that the song of the ‘cute genius who also sings well’ was bad. Absolutely not. Rather, it was a stronger opponent than expected.

However, Gu Do-hoon did not think that he was inferior to her.

‘But why… … .’

The difference in price is 4 times?

I just can’t understand it.

Gu Do-hoon drooped his shoulders in despair.

Loser, that word stuck in his head.

The winner, Baek Seol-ha, passed by.

At the point where the two intersected, Baek Seol-ha said.

“Senior, if you sing on stage again… … .”

The eliminated contestant goes up on stage, introduces himself, is interviewed, sings a song he prepared, and then leaves.

Snow White was talking about that time.

“Move the mic further away.”

Gu Do-hoon flinched.

And then a current ran through his head.

‘I see.’

Gu Do-hoon uses a belting voice.

It is a singing method that allows one to sing high notes with great volume and resonance.

It is suitable for performance stages that require singing, such as musicals, and can convey a clear voice to people sitting far away in the audience.

‘But, I’m using a dynamic mic right now.’

The person calling may not know it, but to others it may sound like they are just shouting.

It’s like when you sing in a karaoke and your pitch breaks, but you don’t know it.

A dynamic mic would not be able to handle the volume and resonance of Gu Do-hoon’s voice and would transmit a torn sound. It would be like he was struggling with a raw voice…

‘Because it’s the first broadcast, I’m putting in more effort… ‘

It was a mistake brought about by a lack of experience on stage.

Only then was Gu Do-hoon able to understand the four-fold difference in votes.

“……Thank you.”

Gu Do-hoon expressed his thanks, and Baek Seol-ha passed him by.

The stage that followed for Gu Do-hoon was completely different from the second round. Although he was still a little immature, his skills, which had improved significantly from before, surprised the judges.

[‘The streetlight that lights up the forest of buildings’, just like actor Gu Do-hoon’s stage name, it was a stage that warmly brightened the world!]

Gu Do-hoon bowed his back for the last time and greeted the audience.

And he left the stage, neatly admitting defeat.

Street lights brighten the night and put people at ease, but they are ultimately no substitute for the sun.

No matter how bright the streetlights are, they cannot fill the sky.

The sun gently pressed down on the streetlights, shining brightly and bringing the day.

The sun and snow go forward.

Moving on, round 3.

‘Beat away the winter with a spring song!’, famous ballad singer Park Young-mo. He was Baek Seol-ha’s next opponent.

‘Seolha, I knew you’d come up.’

Park Young-mo had already heard Baek Seol-ha’s song. He had heard her clear singing when he went to France for ‘Music Companionship’.

‘So this is how we met.’

Park Young-mo still remembered Baek Seol-ha’s voice clearly. The senior singers around him all acknowledged her singing.

The color of sound that penetrates the streets of Paris like the sun.

Park Young-mo closed his eyes and recalled the memories from back then. Compared to then, Baek Seol-ha must have grown even more.

‘As expected, time does make people more mature. But.’

Time does not support itself.

Park Young-mo debuted during the so-called ‘era of the herding singing method’, which came about after the decline of the first generation of idols.

People at the time were tired of the overflowing idols. That’s how the music industry shifted to ballads. People expected the sincerity and powerful, skilled singing that idols couldn’t show from ballads.

‘It was hard back then.’

Park Young-mo was one of many ballad singers who almost disappeared into the back alleys of history.

It was truly the Warring States period of ballads, so it was impossible to survive with mediocre talent.

But Park Young-mo survived.

He survived and is still giving his voice to the public.

‘The purpose of this program was to take off our ranks and have a go.’

‘The Unknown Singer’ is a show where the winner is determined solely by singing ability, without relying on popularity.

And Park Young-mo, who is confident in his singing, ironically has always refused to appear on this program.

Even though the production team kept sending enthusiastic love calls for several years, I just kept rejecting them.

‘If I lose in the first round, there is no greater embarrassment than that.’

Park Young-mo is known as the epitome of singing ability.

If you lose by ‘taking off your rank and fighting’, it will be a shameful sight for a singer who is synonymous with singing ability.

So I kept refusing.

However, this time, he expressed his intention to appear.

‘Seol-ha, it’s because of you.’

Park Young-mo heard about Baek Seol-ha’s appearance by chance. It was while drinking with a talkative broadcasting station official.

Hearing that, Park Young-mo couldn’t help but feel his blood boiling.

‘When I heard your song, I thought, ‘If you really take off your rank, who will be above you?’

This was due to the sense of challenge towards the younger generation.

Park Young-mo held his ground even as his contemporary singers fell away one by one.

And as I watched the music industry fill up with idols, I secretly harbored resentment. Why on earth does the public go crazy over that kind of music…?

Are high-level singing skills and relatable, genuine lyrics not enough?

Ballads were Park Young-mo’s life, but the people who shared that life with him are gradually disappearing.

The younger generation is being pushed out by idols.

‘I also know that the changing times are inevitable. I know that the new generation is always looking for something new… ‘

But perhaps it was the stubbornness of an old man, but he was overcome with a desire to compare his songs with those of the current generation on stage.

It’s a childish fighting spirit.

‘But everyone is curious. Who would win if Batman and Superman fought, things like that… ‘

Park Young-mo was the same, and believed that he would win.

‘Seolha, as an idol you are… … no.’

He has no shortcomings as a singer.

‘But I’m still above.’

As a senior who has been a part of the music industry for 20 years, Park Young-mo was determined to beat his cute junior today.

* * *

“What? Are you scared of singing on stage?”

Lee In-seong looked at the crying Baek Seol-ha as if she was cute.

I heard that the academy’s students performed on the Citizen’s Park stage today, but it seems that the result was not satisfactory.

“Oh, I went up there and I was scared… … There were a lot of people watching… … .”

“Ugh. Why are you crying over something like that? Snow White, aren’t you going to become an idol?”

“Ugh… … .”

“Later, you’ll have to sing on stage in front of thousands of people. You can’t afford to give up on something like this.”

Snow White’s complexion turned pale.

When he realized that painting a rosy future was actually poisonous, Lee In-seong came up with a different piece of advice.

“Then, when you go up on stage, think about it this way. I also often use this method during school evaluations. There’s a wall between the audience and me.”

“A wall… …?”

“Yeah. Transparent walls. That’s why you can’t hear anything. There are walls not only in front, but also behind, on the sides, and above. That’s why there’s no one but you in that little box. You’re the only one in the world.”

Lee In-seong moved his hands horizontally as if he were drawing a wall. He hit the wall next to him, and the wall above him. And as if he was miming, he groped his hands as if there was a wall in the empty space.

“Snow White! Can you hear me?”

“Hey, I can hear you… … .”

“Huh? What are you saying? I can’t hear a single thing you’re saying!”

“yes?”

“I can’t hear anything! Speak louder!”

“Hey, I can hear you! I can hear you!”

“Still can’t hear!”

When the disciple was embarrassed, Lee In-seong laughed heartily and removed the transparent wall.

“There is no one else in this world but me. I have to think only of myself. When I go up on stage to sing, I have nothing but myself to think about. Then what should I think about?”

“Uh, uh uh… … .”

“I have to think about the song.”

The transparent box blocks people’s evaluation of itself.

It blocks out even positive glances and whispers, leaving the singer alone in the world of the stage.

“What’s inside the box? It becomes your own engine. No, you become the engine.”

“engine…….”

“You are at the center of the engine. The transparent box you created is, yes. The engine that creates songs. A machine that you control perfectly. A world that is yours alone, controlled by you. The purpose of that world is… … .”

It’s about singing out loud.

“So, you, the engine, just focus on singing good songs. Machines don’t think about anything else. Just focus on yourself, okay?”

“… … .”

“Why doesn’t Snow White want to become a machine?”

“I am a human being… … .”

“Haha. Snow White, do you know what vocal music means?”

“Song… … no?”

Lee In-seong smiled faintly.

“The human throat is not made for singing. Singing is a very abnormal thing. So, in order to sing, you have to change your throat into a state where you can sing. You make it into an instrument. Just like a piano, when you press it, the desired note comes out. Vocal music is… … .”

It is about making the human vocal cords into a musical instrument.

“So, it’s not entirely wrong to say that singers are machines. Baekseol, when you go up there, don’t worry about the audience and just focus on singing. Just focus on singing.”

May songs become your world.

* * *

Park Young-mo watched Baek Seol-ha’s performance with a hollow smile.

‘Like a pop star.’

Since he is actually singing a pop star’s song, Park Young-mo’s appreciation is not his alone.

Snow White was completely focused on the stage and singing. Not a single note was off.

It was like a machine, Park Young-mo thought unconsciously.

I didn’t mean the dark, lead-colored color of the machine. It was because it was radiating an aura like a pop star in all directions.

‘amazing…….’

Park Young-mo, who debuted as a singer in the early 2000s, yearned for the culture of advanced countries, as is typical of young people of that age.

As someone who has decided to dedicate his life to singing, he searched for an aura that he would consider ‘something of real value’.

And the pop stars’ songs were ‘real’.

‘I was amazed every time I heard it.’

American pop, the birthplace of popular music, has always fascinated Park Young-mo and the youth of that era.

South Korea, the land of those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Just as South Korea was obsessed with economic growth, South Korean musicians were obsessed with improving their musical standards.

Imitating pop music.

Copying, imitating, stealing, taking, tearing, reattaching, recreating, and so on.

All of these actions came from longing.

A longing for advanced culture, for a cultural splendor that is incomparable to that of Korea.

‘A person like Seol-ha can really appear… … .’

There are many reasons why I admired pop stars.

They were all so wonderful. Beautiful.

He sang well. He was musically excellent.

The singing, the dancing, the fashion, the speech, the thoughts, everything was so sophisticated.

‘There really are people like Seol-ha in Korea… … .’

But pop stars can only be born in America. That’s what all Koreans thought at the time.

In America, stars aren’t made, they’re discovered. They make a name for themselves in the local scene and then sign with a major label to get out into the world.

Talents of all kinds become stars and hang in the sky.

That’s possible because the United States has developed its popular music infrastructure over nearly a hundred years.

So, instead of discovering stars, Korean producers decided to create them. In Korea, where the cultural infrastructure was so poor, it was impossible to recruit stars as one would in the United States.

‘In Korea, too, we can create that kind of aura.’

Overseas, idols are often compared to athletes.

It involves forcing talented people into a harsh training process from a young age and pounding them until they become perfect.

Teach singing.

Teach dance.

Teaches acting.

It teaches manners towards fans and what should and should not be done.

This process is repeated for years.

I can’t not sing.

I can’t not dance.

There is no way he doesn’t have the makings of a star.

A system that forcibly creates stars.

The star system was completed in Korea. It showed that a system that produces stars like a factory can really exist in the world.

It is a large Korean entertainment company that would have been destroyed under anti-monopoly laws in the United States, but it is making it possible.

The star system is supported by an exclusive corporate structure that integrates producing, management, and publishing.

Moreover, the people of the Republic of Korea tolerate this inhumane system.

‘It’s like a machine. No, it’s a machine.’

It is a machine that elicits people’s envy.

Snow White was raised to become a star.

‘You sing really well… … .’

Park Young-mo was impressed by Baek Seol-ha’s performance, but at the same time, he felt a sense of sadness.

I keep regretting that if I had learned to sing properly since I was young like Baek Seol-ha, I would have been better than I am now.

In the early 00s, finding a decent practical music school was as difficult as picking stars from the sky.

In the first place, until the audition program boom in the late 00s, there were many cases where the general public did not even know about the existence of practical music.

‘If only I had been born a little later… … .’

Now, the vocal cords and pronunciation have become fixed in habits and customs, so even if you try to change them, you cannot.

This skill is something that has been built up through experience, not through systematic training.

Park Young-mo was a precariously built tower. If you try to build it higher by adding bricks, it will collapse. It is no longer possible to improve your skills.

When Park Young-mo saw his junior’s brilliance, he felt regret and tears came out. He wanted to wipe them away, but he couldn’t because of his mask.

‘Okay, let’s celebrate.’

At least his juniors won’t have to rely on their talents and head into the ground like he did.

Snow White’s stage has ended.

Park Young-mo gave his own round of applause amid the cheers of the judges.

Finally, there was gratitude towards the numerous seniors and colleagues in the music industry who created the foundation for such a star to be born.

[The winner is… … !]

It was a close call.

Park Young-mo lowered his head in relief.

* * *

Lee In-seong got his makeup done in the waiting room.

A cheer was heard from the monitor showing the current recording scene. Lee In-seong, who was momentarily lost in thought, did not hear who won.

I asked the makeup staff.

“The ‘cute genius who can sing well’ won the 3rd round.”

“is it so.”

Lee In-seong had a faint smile.

At that time, the staff spoke hesitantly.

“I, teacher.”

“yes?”

“You’ve added more decorations to your chest today. Did you bring them personally?”

The staff had been unable to take their eyes off Lee In-seong’s chest since earlier.

At first glance, it was a beautiful metal medal with elaborate craftsmanship.

It was a medal with green jewels engraved on the petals of a gold border. No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t look like the quality a broadcasting station would prepare for makeup.

“Oh, this is it. I got it from France.”

“Is it a medal?”

“Hahaha, it’s embarrassing. It’s called the Order of Cultural Merit. It’s for some kind of cultural… … contribution… … Haha! It’s so embarrassing when I try to explain it with my own mouth.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. They say France is the country of art. If you received it there, isn’t that really amazing?”

“Well, um, kind of, um, uh, no.”

However, Lee In-seong could not hide the satisfaction on his face.

After his makeup was done, he put on his mask and left the waiting room, feeling the medal on his chest with his hand.

‘I’m showing off by meeting my disciple after such a long time. Ugh, it’s embarrassing.’

French Order of Cultural Merit.

There are three steps in total.

First, the Chevalier (knight).

Second, officers.

And what Lee In-seong is currently wearing on his chest.

‘Commander.’

Professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, France.

The emperor of pop opera.

Lee In-seong.

He walked briskly, eager to see his disciple. It felt like he was walking down a cool night street.

The darling of culture simply walked and walked happily through the starlit night.

And then I met a star that was particularly bright.

Snow White.

The priest and disciple met against the backdrop of darkness.

They didn’t care what was around them. A transparent wall was drawn around them, and soon they were inside an impenetrable box, recognizing only each other.

The two recognized each other even though they were wearing masks.

“Snow White… … .”

Lee In-seong shook his head.

The mask symbolizing the sun swayed from side to side.

“Please take good care of me, ‘cute genius who also sings well.’”

Snow White tapped the foot of the stand microphone she was holding in one hand with the heel of her shoe.

Then, naturally, the dynamic microphone that had been plugged into the stand was pulled out and placed in Baek Seol-ha’s hand.

She held it with a cool demeanor, as if it were a sword.

And said.

“Teacher, I’m going.”

Lee In-seong’s eyes opened wide in confusion.

“That, that’s right, Snow White… … .”

But the corners of his eyes soon cleared of their confusion and turned warm.

“……princess.”

Lee In-seong brought the microphone that was hanging next to his thigh close to his mouth.

“Come.”

The sun faced the sun, and the world was bathed in the light of sound.