My Fired Uncle Is a Genius Guitarist? - Chapter 29

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Potter

◈ My Fired Uncle Is a Genius Guitarist? ◈

Chapter 29: Let's Finish Our Conversation

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The noisy audience fell silent as if someone had thrown cold water over them. I had shouted without a microphone, but the venue was built to carry sound, so my voice reached clearly past the front rows and into the middle of the hall.

The silence did not last long.

“Pfft.”

A laugh leaked out from somewhere in the audience, then quickly spread through the whole venue.

“Pwahaha!”

“That uncle's got some nerve!”

“Crimson Rabbit, fighting! Hahaha!”

A potbellied middle-aged guitarist from a high school band had just shouted that he would write a song for the vocalist of one of the country's top bands. From the audience's perspective, it was another unforgettable moment from today.

“Mr. Guitarist, you've got some serious guts!”

When the host laughed and rolled with it, another wave of laughter swept through the crowd.

Kang Taeo was smiling at the end of the judges' table too. But I did not miss how his laughter came a little late. Speaking as someone who had seen that face for sixteen years, he was not taking it as a joke.

Soon, Kang Taeo picked up the microphone again.

“Ha ha, all right. Then... let's talk later.”

The audience broke into applause and impressed murmurs. To them, it was just a heartwarming event at the end of the judging comments.

Behind me, a drum stool creaked. I did not have to turn around to know Yun Taerin had been about to shout something, then sat back down. Cha Sion shot me a glance from the corner of her eye, while Bae Somi did not move an inch, chin held high. On stage, she was Queen Somi until the very end.

‘...This is actually happening.’

I had tossed out the truth as a joke, and the answer I got back was truth disguised as a joke.

“Now then! Let's check Black Rabbit's scores!”

At the host's shout, the lights focused on the electronic board below the judges' table.

98.

The crowd stirred the moment the first number appeared. It was the first 98 of the day.

98.

99.

The third number came from Jeong Sehyuk's seat. That already made 295 points. Only the final score remained, Kang Taeo's.

The board dragged out the suspense.

“Judge Kang Taeo's score... still isn't appearing?”

At the host's words, every eye in the audience turned to the last slot on the board.

Then.

100.

“O-One hundred! A perfect score! Judge Kang Taeo gives 100 points! Black Rabbit has a total of 395 points and takes first place!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The venue exploded. The cheers rolled across the floor and shook the stage. Yun Taerin raised both sticks in the air and bounced in place, while Cha Sion let out a short scream before immediately putting on an indifferent expression as if nothing had happened. Bae Somi still had her chin raised, but rather than looking unbothered, she looked frozen in surprise.

I stared quietly at the 100 displayed at the end of the board.

In my previous life, I tailored songs to that guy's voice. But now, he had given a perfect score to a song I made without thinking of him at all.

‘Interesting.’

The corner of my mouth curled up slightly.

Noise Line, sitting on one side of the waiting area, was watching the monitor too.

The screen, which showed the scoreboard, displayed 395. Kwon Jaemin said nothing. Neither did the drummer or bassist. Park Taegeon was the one who broke the silence.

“...They really brought a better song.”

When Park Taegeon glanced at Kwon Jaemin, Kwon Jaemin let out a brief laugh.

“Hey, you scared?”

“No.”

Park Taegeon raised the corner of his mouth meaningfully.

“Our song is even more awesome.”

Even after returning to the waiting area, the excitement did not fade easily.

“Uncle! Did you see it? 395 points! Three hundred ninety-five!”

“Ugh, you're loud. Stop yelling.”

“No, the person who was giving out 88s and 89s gave us 100! I thought I had read the board wrong!”

“Um... I was so shocked, I thought my eyes would pop out.”

Bae Somi spoke in a fading voice. It seemed her queen switch had turned off as soon as she got off the stage.

“This is crazy. Are we actually going to win?”

“If we win, the prize is fifty million won...”

Cha Sion said casually as she paused mid-drink.

‘Could we really win? Then would my share be 12.5 million won?’

The performances of teams eight and nine played one after another on the monitor. Both teams gave performances worthy of the finals, but neither score reached 395.

“Uncle, Uncle! That team only got in the 350s too!”

Yun Taerin clutched my upper arm and made a fuss.

“This is it. The momentum is completely on our side now, right?”

“Calm down. There's still one team left.”

The monitor changed before I had even finished speaking. A subtitle appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Team 10, Noise Line.

“If we beat them... we win.”

Bae Somi murmured quietly as she stared at the screen. But all four of us knew those guys would not be easy opponents.

“Now for the long-awaited final team! Team 10, Noise Line! Their song is an original, ‘DAYBREAK’!”

My brow twitched slightly at the host's introduction.

“It's an original song! They played a cover in the first round!”

Yun Taerin moved right up to the monitor. Cha Sion did not take her eyes off the screen either, arms crossed.

‘An original song.’

Until now, they had only played covers, but they had brought a song wholly their own. Whether that would be poison or medicine, I would have to hear it first.

The stage lights dimmed, and Park Taegeon's guitar immediately unleashed a sharp burst of distortion with the opening riff.

The moment I heard it.

‘Ah.’

I knew just from the tone and density of the sound pouring through the monitor speakers. These guys were completely different from the first round.

When they played covers, their technique had shown their effort to reach the original. But this was different. An overwhelming sense of speed, the four instruments fused together as one. Nothing stuck out or drifted away. The band's entire ensemble meshed together with precision.

I made my assessment quickly and clearly.

‘They're good.’

And before the first verse had even ended, that assessment rose another level.

‘They're far better than in the first round.’

Without his glasses, Kwon Jaemin completely commanded the stage with a beastlike gaze as he poured out the song in a rough voice. I had not realized his voice could have such tough appeal.

‘They've finally found clothes that fit.’

Their own song, rather than someone else's. That single fact had pushed this school band's power beyond its limits.

Without a word, Bae Somi followed the bass on the screen, unconsciously fingering along with its line using her left hand.

“...It's a good song.”

Cha Sion murmured quietly. For her to say that, they had to be genuinely good.

“What is this? Why are they so good...?”

Yun Taerin's voice sank low, as if she had never been excited at all.

The second verse began, just before it moved into the chorus. The attack of the bass's first note came just slightly late.

It had only been an instant. The bassist must have noticed too, because they desperately caught up on the very next beat, so it did not affect the flow of the song itself. It was a tiny discrepancy that the audience, or even most professionals, would likely have missed.

But even through the monitor speakers, my ears caught that gap exactly.

‘They fell behind there.’

Yun Taerin, who had been staring intently at the screen beside me, noticed the change in my expression and turned her head.

“Why? Did they mess up?”

“No.”

I answered shortly without taking my eyes off the monitor. The others had not noticed.

Clang!

The frenzied performance stopped as one with the final chord.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The moment the song ended, cheers like an explosion came through the speakers. They were louder than any cheers I had heard all day. The walls of the waiting area hummed from the force of them.

Yun Taerin's mouth slowly fell open. Cha Sion's expression stiffened, and Bae Somi looked as though she had forgotten to breathe. The hopeful anticipation of first place quickly drained from their faces.

Soon the cheers subsided, and the judges began their comments. The judge in the middle spoke first.

“You proved why you made it to today's final with that performance. In terms of completeness, there was nothing to criticize.”

“The four of you moved like one body. It was a performance that showed exactly what a band should be.”

Amid the continued praise, the microphone went to Kang Taeo at the end of the table.

“First, it was close to perfect. It was an excellent performance, so engrossing that I forgot you were a high school band.”

Kang Taeo's calm voice quieted the audience's murmurs.

“However, there was one small point that disappointed me. Just before the second verse moved into the chorus, the bass was slightly late. You caught up on the very next beat, so it had almost no effect on the song itself.”

Noise Line did not look surprised on the monitor. The bassist only lowered their head. That meant they had already known.

‘He heard it.’

Kang Taeo had caught that brief moment, the kind anyone could easily miss.

“So for me, it was the second-best performance today.”

Kang Taeo's comments ended.

“Now, let's check the final team's scores, Noise Line!”

At the host's words, the numbers began to spin across the board.

100.

The first three judges had all given perfect scores.

Then came Kang Taeo's final score.

99.

“A total of 399 points! Noise Line, 399 points! The rankings have changed! Noise Line is this season's champion!”

The audience went completely wild. A fanfare announcing the winners blared so loudly through the monitor speakers it seemed ready to tear them apart.

“...Ah.”

A sigh slipped from Yun Taerin's lips. Bae Somi pressed her lips together, while Cha Sion silently watched Noise Line celebrating on the monitor.

“...Four points, Uncle.”

“Yeah. That's too bad.”

Four points. Honestly, it was disappointing. I would be lying if I said I had not wanted to win after coming this far. We had scored 395 points and still lost.

But strangely, I was not upset. I had heard that performance from beginning to end.

‘They're really good.’

I had no intention of consoling myself with clichés like, “We learned a lot,” or, “We lost, but we fought well.”

Still.

‘Disappointing is disappointing.’

The award ceremony was held simply on stage.

All ten teams stood in a line as the winners were called first.

“The final champions! The winners of fifty million won and an opening-stage performance at the Wolsan Rock Festival! Noise Line!”

Applause and cheers poured down. The four Noise Line members held up their prize placard and bowed.

“Thank you for listening to our song. We'll show you an even better performance at Wolsan.”

Kwon Jaemin accepted the trophy and calmly finished his acceptance speech.

“And the runners-up, Black Rabbit! Ten million won in prize money!”

The four of us stepped forward when we were called. Yun Taerin accepted the plaque with disappointment written plainly across her face.

“Thank you!”

I expected her to say something longer, but Yun Taerin ended with only those words, uncharacteristically.

After all the awards had been handed out, we headed off the stage. Park Taegeon, who had been walking down the stairs ahead of me, suddenly slowed down. As he passed beside me, he tossed out a comment.

“Mister, you're not bad.”

He kept walking straight ahead as if he did not expect an answer. I shot back briefly at his retreating back.

“You too, brat.”

His shoulder seemed to twitch just slightly, but I did not add anything else.

Back in the waiting area, we gathered our instruments and packed our things. Yun Taerin paused halfway through zipping her bag and let out a deep sigh.

“Fifty million won...”

“What?”

“If we'd won, we would have gotten 12.5 million each.”

The same calculation I had made earlier.

“Still, we got ten million won.”

“Right! Divided by four, that's 2.5 million!”

“You're quick with calculations when it comes to that. Even though you can't study.”

“It's not that I can't study. I just don't!”

Her voice revived in an instant, making me snort with laughter.

That was when it happened.

Murmur, murmur.

The entrance to the waiting area suddenly grew noisy. Members of the other teams moved aside and backed away, clearing a path.