Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 175



Only Noblemtl

175. Must choose

Have you ever thought about becoming a resident in a story?

“What on earth does that mean?”

In order to get to the truth of ‘Bangsingki’, Sungjun played countless records he had acquired so far whenever he had time.

And ‘story’ refers to the original world where Orpheus lived.

The world he existed in, Orpheus said, was a different world from the ‘underworld’.

So, will you become a resident there with me?

“Are you saying that you will not ‘victory’ with me?”

It was when Seongjun was making inferences on his own.

As if he had been listening to his monologue, Orpheus gave the answer.

– In other words, you want me to ascend with you?

“!!!”

Seongjun’s eyes widen in surprise as his prediction comes true.

What on earth is Orpheus talking about now?

Why on earth do you want to fly together with me!

When Sungjun raised a question, he answered it again.

– Otherwise you will lose everything.

“···You’re going to lose everything?”

Why?

– You haven’t forgotten, have you? Your musicality came from me. And your current popularity, wealth, and fame came from it.

‘Bangsinki’ is a game created by Orpheus that allows him to finely slice his own musical talents and bestow them upon the player.

Orpheus continued, reminding himself that Sungjun’s ability was due to him.

– ‘Story’ and ‘Summer’ are different dimensions. It’s not a place you can easily go to. As you can see from the fact that I even created an annoying app to collect the energy of the non-sublime.

And if I ascend to the ‘story’ dimension, which is higher than this ‘summer’ dimension, my abilities will also disappear from this world. The link between you and me will be severed due to the dimensional disconnection.

The connection to ability is broken···.

That means.

– If that happens, the abilities you ‘borrowed’ from me will slowly disperse and disappear. Since you’ve borrowed quite a bit of abilities from me so far… I’ll probably be able to hold out for a few years.

“Then after that time passes···?”

– You will go back to being a normal person. Just like a year ago.

“what···?”

Seongjun’s face hardens in surprise at the answer that is even more shocking than when he was ‘listening’.

All the abilities I’ve worked so hard to build up until now… are all going to become zero?

Where is that kind of stubbornness!

“You’re going to give it to me and then take it away? This is some kind of beggarly thing…”

Orpheus spoke with a regretful voice as he clenched his teeth.

– I feel sorry for you too. You are like my ‘child’. And you are the only one who has retained your sanity and has mastered my abilities.

Of course, I would like to leave my abilities as they are, but what can I do? The world is structured like this.

So here’s my offer: If you ascend with me to ‘Story’, you can take all your current abilities with you and enjoy them.

“···Then what happens to me? Will I disappear from the world?”

Now, Sungjun naturally asks the music box, thinking that Orpheus is reading his thoughts and mind.

Then the trumpet-shaped golden crown vibrates and Orpheus’ voice flows out.

– Your body will remain as it is. Your soul will go with you.

And when I ‘tried it’, it was just a shell with no soul, but it was living normally. It went on with its life as if nothing had happened. It seemed like the memories of the ‘lingering soul’ engraved on its body were working.

Someone around you who was quick to notice the change seemed to notice it, but on the outside, there was no major discomfort. As such, ‘Summer’ is a well-organized ‘system’, so you don’t have to worry.

Haha, Orpheus continued to laugh.

– However, as I said before, the ability that is disconnected will gradually disappear and I will naturally retire as an artist… Well, doesn’t that matter? It’s just a ‘summer’ thing anyway.

“What? Just-”

It’s a summer thing.

Orpheus’s comment was faster than Seongjun’s, who was about to respond that it was too harsh to talk about someone else’s business.

– Surely you aren’t being foolish, are you? Now that you’ve finally become the musician you’ve always wanted to be, nothing is more important than this ability.

Sungjun was speechless when asked about the value of life.

I wanted to refute it right away, but…

My mouth didn’t open easily.

Take the melody you’ve been longing for out of your head and make it into a song.

And he perfectly digested it into a song.

The public was enthusiastic and praised him.

A life where popularity, fame, and wealth accumulate on their own.

It’s been a year since I got ‘Bangsingki’.

Because it was the happiest and most shining time in my thirty-year life.

Therefore, when weighing the ‘Bangsingki’ that made the current glory possible and something else, it was not easy to decide which was more important.

– I’m not asking you to decide right away. You’ll need to think about it. However, thanks to your ability, the moment when the secret gate opens is not far away. And when that moment comes······.

Orpheus spoke in a low, serious tone.

– You ‘must’ choose.

And then Orpheus returned to his usual easygoing and light voice and spoke.

– Then, next time we meet, please tell me the answer you’ve been thinking about.

With those words, a record popped out of the spinning music box.

[Record # U]

Seongjun’s eyes scan the numbers of the records that were lined up in the inventory window and the new records that had appeared in the air.

[O] [R] [P] [H] [E] [U]

An alphabet derived from the English name of Orpheus.

And the only remaining record alphabet in the sequence is [S].

For Sungjun, the [S] came to mean choosing his future life.

*

The next day.

I returned to Korea by plane.

Thanks to the sleepless nights caused by the ‘proposal of ascension’ from Orpheus, I was able to get a good night’s sleep during the long haul flight.

And when I woke up, the fog that had been clinging to my mind had magically cleared away.

It wasn’t like I had made any decisions.

“When your stomach hurts, drink Hwalmyeongsu. When your head hurts, drink [Myeonggyeongjisu].”

Thanks to the effective skill that allows you to find peace of mind easily and quickly at any time.

Orpheus was not told to make a decision immediately after hearing the music box message, but was given some time to wait until the secret gate opened.

So instead of groaning, I decided to think seriously about it within the given period of time.

Every time I listened to the music box, it was full of information that would have shaken the mentality of an ordinary person.

“Perhaps the [Myeonggyeongjisu] skill was a skill that Orpheus arranged for music box content.”

It wasn’t an entirely unfounded speculation, considering that everyone who had been gifted with his talent up until then had gone crazy.

Anyway, thanks to that, I decided to put aside the issue of the victory for now and focus on the given schedule again.

We’re preparing for the end-of-year concert.

This is ‘Seoul Plaza’ where as many as 100,000 people can gather.

How large the stage set will be, how the sound equipment will be set up, what time the concert will start and end, and the set list.

There were also mountains of things to discuss, such as how to control traffic and what safety measures to take when crowds gather.

It was natural that relay meetings would follow.

In the meantime, Seongjun carefully opened his mouth.

“By any chance, during this concert… can we have a special guest perform just one song?”

“Special guest? Of course! Which artist are you? Perhaps one of the featuring Avengers? Or maybe seniors ‘Hanla’ or ‘Hong Kwang Woo’?”

When I spit out some plausible names, Seongjun shook his head awkwardly and said.

“No. My bandmates.”

“When you say band, you mean the band you were in when you were in college?”

“you’re right.”

As Sungjun nods, the meeting attendees show their discomfort.

“We completely support Sungjun’s opinion… but this concert is a bit special. We received the unusual cooperation of Seoul Plaza, and we are inviting 100,000 people. So… in order to have a perfect stage, it seems like we need to work with veteran live session artists…”

The team leader in charge of the concert spoke carefully indirectly, but ultimately concluded that it was difficult.

Well, it was a natural reaction, as expected.

This concert was a momentous event not only for the artist, Sungjun, but also for MXM Entertainment.

“I’m not asking you to force them either. Of course, they need to be verified. If they want to stand on a big stage, they need to be verified. So, I’m asking you to make a decision after seeing the team leaders play in person.”

“Ahhh, then that’s right.”

When they confirm that Sungjun is not trying to be unreasonable, their expressions brighten again.

“By the way, what kind of song do you plan on singing with your friends?”

“It’s not an existing song. It’s a new song.”

“Oh, you’re going to reveal an unreleased new song at the concert! That sounds great! It’ll be the perfect PR.”

The PR team leader is delighted by Seongjun’s words.

“Could you please tell me what song it is?”

“Okay. I’ll send it to you right now.”

As soon as the team member sitting in front of the laptop played the audio file sent by Sungjun, an unreleased new song began to flow out through the speakers.

A melody that starts with a sweet piano.

On top of that, an acoustic guitar, a bass, and a drum are placed.

And from the second verse onwards, Sungjun’s unique pop rock feel is evident, and the third verse is the ending song where everything explodes.

“······and.”

Exclamations flowed from the mouths of those who heard the song.

Because out of all the songs Sungjun has released so far, this is the song with the strongest appeal.

“Well, this may be a natural sentiment for the people gathered here… but this time, they’re crazy again. The Billboard No. 1 singer isn’t a No. 1 singer for nothing.”

“It was a song that seemed perfect for the setlist finale.”

“I was so touched that I cried while listening to it. The lyrics were somehow sad…”

People who listened to the new song each expressed their feelings.

“The song title is probably that word in the chorus, right?”

Seongjun nodded and said in response to a question posed by one of them.

“Yes. It’s ‘LAST DANCE’.”

“Oooooh! I feel it!”

The elasticity bursts out once again.

That was when.

“But I’m asking just in case…”

This time, the marketing team leader asked, trailing off.

“There’s no meaning to the song…? Like, retirement… or something like that.”

The last dance.

The direct translation of this phrase is ‘the last dance’, and this was a concern because it is a term often used in sports when athletes nearing retirement show off their best skills.

As anxious looks gathered in the meeting room, Sungjun shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“Retirement… If I retire after reaching #1 on Billboard just one year after my debut, I’ll become a legend.”

Their complexions gradually darkened at Seongjun’s words.

“But I’m too greedy to do that.”

“Then the lyrics and title are ‘Last Dance’…”

“I wrote this song for my bandmates. It’s the last chance for the three of us to stand on stage together. So let’s burn it out without regrets. That’s what it means. I mixed in some stories from my twenties, and that’s how the lyrics turned out.”

“Ahhh! I see! Me too! Ahahahahahaha!”

“See? Oh my, Team Leader Ma (Marketing Team Leader) is always overreacting!”

“Excuse me. I saw Team Leader Hong (Public Relations Team Leader)’s pupils dilate!”

In an instant, it becomes a sea of ​​laughter again.

The meeting ended after setting the test schedule for Kang Seung-wook and Kim Ho-su.

While I was getting up and cleaning up, Seongjun asked as if he remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, today was it? The day that CEO Choi met with the MacKenzie consultant.”

“Hey, Sungjun. Do you know that too? Oh, right. If things go well for MXM JAPAN and others, we’ll be listed soon, so you’ll probably be very interested. An artist like Sungjun, you’ll probably get a fair share of stocks. Anyway, today is the day. You should have started the meeting by now.”

The meeting is held in the VIP reception room on the floor where Choi Dae-heon’s office is located, not on the same floor as Sung-jun.

It was a layer that was inaccessible to anyone other than high-ranking MXM Entertainment figures, including Choi Max-heon and Baek Seok.

‘I hope you both are doing well.’

Seongjun looks up, worried about someone.

And inside the VIP reception room, where Seongjun’s gaze was directed.

A large man in white clothing and a handsome man in black clothing are welcoming today’s guests.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Choi Dae-heon, the CEO of MXM Entertainment.”

“Hello. I am James Jeong, Partner at McKungie Korea.”

“Hello, I’m David Kim, Associate Partner at McKungie Korea.”

Under the President and Executive Director.

Starting with Partner James, who is an executive director in Korean ranks, the four people from McKungie who attended the meeting greeted each other one by one.

As the project is a project, they are all veterans with about 10 years of industry experience.

They are all at the level of manager and executive director.

While shaking hands one by one.

Finally, the only woman in the group, a relatively young beauty, extended her hand.

“Hello, I’m Liz Cha, your Engagement Manager.”

Gulp-

Choi Ma-heon swallows his saliva as he sees her face.

English name, Liz Tea.

Korean name, Cha Seong-eun.

The first meeting of two people instigated by MXM Entertainment’s love manipulation team has begun.