The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Looking Back, There Were Many Reasons Heo Junseong Fell in Love with the Guitar, But the

Reborn Idol Hard Carries the Indie Band – Episode 9

Reborn Idol Hard Carries the Indie Band
Episode 9

Looking back, there were many reasons Heo Junseong fell in love with the guitar, but the biggest was one:
As a child, the guitar had seemed like the star of every performance.
So, every time he played, he would become completely immersed.
Even when he hit the limits of self-study and began taking lessons at a practical music academy.
Even when he formed a band with friends and started practicing together.
He couldn’t shake that old habit.

But now, something was different.
A street performance that might mean nothing to others.
A common place like the neighborhood park.
Fewer than thirty spectators.
Suddenly, his senses expanded before them.
Why are these people cheering for us, strangers they’ve never seen before?
The answer was clear.
It wasn’t about individual performance; it was about the ensemble.
It wasn’t about a guitar solo; it was about the music.

It wasn’t about technique; it was about art.

The constituent notes within the C code that Cha Seoha had spoken of.

He himself was one of those notes that made up the code.

The tension he’d unknowingly been holding drained away.

Then Cha Seoha’s words came to mind:

Look back.

There’s something even more beautiful there.

The moment an indescribable sensation enveloped Heo Junseong’s entire body, Cha Seoha’s high note soared to the highest reaches of Banwol Park.

And then, the guitar solo began.

Ziiing-!

Showcasing dazzling left-hand slides and tremolo picking, he demonstrated what a true climax should be.

His intense yet delicate picking was to harmonize with the bass.

The string noise from his left hand, gliding across the fretboard, was to avoid encroaching on the synth’s space.

Every sound he produced was released not out of greed, but with a sense of belonging, of being part of something greater.

Heo Junseong raced forward, but never lost control.

He ran, but didn’t pull ahead.

The guitar, dubbed the “six-string orchestra,” struck the hearts of the audience with its electronic tones.

“Whoa!”

“Hey, crazy! What the hell was that?”

“Wow! That was so cool!”

The crowd responded in kind.

With a final tremolo, Heo Junseong’s solo came to an end.

He raised his pick high, locking eyes with the middle of the audience.

His expression held neither excessive arrogance nor false humility. It overflowed with the pure joy of having just completed an outstanding performance.

Having just finished such a remarkable performance, he exuded an overwhelming sense of masculinity to those watching.

Cause we are

We are shining sun

We are glorious

We are who we are

Kim Jihu and Lee Doyoung stepped up to the microphones they had set up and sang along together.

This was the song’s singalong part.

Since it was already a famous song, a few people in the audience sang along.

The song was nearing its end.

The prerecorded drums.

Beneath them, Lee Doyoung’s solid and steady bass.

Heo Junseong’s sensational guitar.

Kim Jihu’s masterful skill in filling the empty space with various synth and brass sounds.

And Cha Seoha’s exceptional vocals.

It was the beginning of a legendary band.

“Thank you!”
“Wow!”
“This is insane!”
“Holy shit, what was that? What did I just see?”
“Right? They’re so damn good!”
“They’re so handsome!”
“Haha, thank you. We’re still an unnamed band.”
“Wow, no name? Did you just form?”
“No way… The band name must be ‘The Nameless’.”
“Right? With this level of skill, they can’t be new.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t make any sense.”

A moment of murmuring rippled through the crowd at the mention of their lack of a name.
Most people assumed “The Nameless” was their actual name.
After all, indie bands often have quirky names.
“But they’re a band, right? This isn’t some idol busking performance?”

“Ah, I subconsciously thought they were idols too.”

“It gives off a ‘flop idol busking’ vibe…”

“Come on, they’re too good-looking to be flops.”

“True. They’re all handsome.”

Some people made unique guesses.

“How was the first song?”

“It was great!”

“Awesome!”

The female students in the front row were incredibly enthusiastic.

Truthfully, I wanted to grab Heo Junseong and praise his amazing performance all day long, but it wasn’t the right time.

They were in the middle of their set.

“For the next song, we’ve prepared something a bit heavier. Hope you enjoy it!”

“Yeah!!”

And so, the next song, Mandella Effect’s , began.

“Oh, I’ve heard this song before.”

“Yeah, the guitar riff sounds familiar.”

“They’re good.”

“Hmm. It’s nice.”

The reaction to Fireman wasn’t as strong as the first song.

The guitar riff was famous enough to rack up nearly 800 million views on YouTube, but the song itself hadn’t gained widespread popularity in Korea.

We had rearranged the 5-minute, 30-second track into a shorter version, around 3 minutes.

We also changed the long, drawn-out intro, where instruments joined one by one, to have all instruments enter simultaneously.

The narration part in the bridge was completely cut.

Despite these changes, it was still difficult to generate enthusiasm from the audience.

Rock enthusiasts genuinely enjoyed it, but they were a small minority.

Most of the audience had stayed behind, lingering in the afterglow of the previous song.

It’s not impossible to elicit a strong audience reaction with an unpopular song.

For that to happen, every musician needs to be confident and fully immersed in the ensemble.

Right now, only Heo Junseong and I are managing to do that.

Kim Jihu is simply playing the song without making mistakes.

Lee Doyoung, as if he had anticipated this atmosphere, seemed to have lost all confidence.

For a performer to lose confidence during a performance is the worst possible outcome.

Not only the musicians and their colleagues, but the audience would notice it too.

Fireman ended in an awkward atmosphere.

At first glance, it looked like a poor song choice.

But this was something we had anticipated and needed.

Though I didn’t let on to the members, the success of today’s busking performance wasn’t truly important to me.

What really matters is that our members break out of their shells.

Lee Doyoung was completely deflated, and Kim Jihu was dissatisfied with the quality of the ensemble.

They are ready to break out of their shells.

“Boring, right?”

“No! It’s fun!”

The awkward atmosphere was palpable to both the performers and the audience.

Cha Seoha had no intention of cowardly dodging the situation.

“See? I told you we shouldn’t do this.”

“Huh? When did you say that?”

“That guy playing the guitar over there insisted on doing it, but you wouldn’t listen to me no matter how much I tried to stop you.”

“You bastard!”

Pfft!

“Hahahaha!”

Heo Junseong’s flustered reaction sent laughter erupting from the audience.

It was understandable, as he had been exuding a tough, manly aura just moments before while playing the guitar.

“But everyone said they liked my song choice…”

“Are you trying to cowardly back out now?”

“Wow, we did it, we did it.”

Heo Junseong waved his hand dismissively, giving up on arguing further.

“The first song we played earlier was chosen by our bassist. What did you think? It was good, right?”

“Yeah!”

In response to the audience’s cheers, Lee Doyoung answered with a short slap bass solo.

“Ooooh!”

“Wow!”

Cha Seoha, impressed by Doyoung’s quick wit, immediately jumped in with a comment.

“Hey, Heo Junseong, instead of flustering like that, you should have answered with an equally awesome performance.”

“I can’t argue with that kind of performance!”

“Is the guitar talking back?”

Heo Junseong had been completely defeated.

Of course, this banter had helped to ease the awkward atmosphere from moments before.

“The next song was chosen by our amazing keyboardist.”

“You’re so handsome!” a female student in the front row shouted at Kim Jihu.

Like Lee Doyoung, Kim Jihu responded with a performance.

“See? That’s how it’s done,” Cha Seoha said, once again taunting Heo Junseong. Heo Junseong shivered and glared with resentment.

“Why are those two so funny?”

“Hahaha! Ah, I’m really cracking myself up.”

“Are they a comedy duo?”

“That guitarist is hilarious.”

Cha Seoha was grateful that Heo Junseong was serving as such a perfect foil.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next song!”

It was now time for Mice’s , a song chosen by Kim Jihu.

Ironically, the song they had practiced the most was .
Perhaps because of its extremely difficult ensemble arrangement, everyone practiced it intensely.
In the end, they reached a level of ensemble performance that surpassed all their other prepared pieces.
They had no worries about the performance itself.
However, Lee Doyoung couldn’t shake off the lingering thoughts about the previous song’s reception.
Songs lacking broad appeal don’t fare well with the audience.
Their previous piece, , had been broken down into more accessible sections.
Moreover, they had practiced it thoroughly, so there were no mistakes.

Despite this, the audience’s reaction was disappointing compared to the first song.

Will this song be the same too…?

He wanted to become a skilled bassist.

Like that genius.

But no matter how much he practiced, he could never become like him.

Of course, he knew his career was still short.

But that genius had been exceptional since childhood.

If he could become like him, he could captivate the audience regardless of mainstream appeal.

No. Focus on the stage for now.

Heo Junseong began playing the main riff, signaling the start of .

Soon, the drums joined in, followed by the bass.