#20-Second Composition Genius, Becomes a 200,000-Second Monster Episode 4
Return of the Genius (2)
Memory gradually fades.
Memories judged to be useless are the first to be erased, good memories next, and regrettable memories remain the longest.
There are probably some that remain until death. For me, that was exactly this time of my life.
“I can’t believe I really came back.”
Trudge— Trudge—
I walk with the now nearly set sun at my back.
The scenery from my childhood fills my vision entirely.
“Wow.”
But does this even make sense?
I was so sick of imagining going back to the past. I never thought this would actually happen to me.
Well, if you think about it, falling into Hell was already an unrealistic experience. The vast majority of people don’t even believe in the afterlife, let alone Hell.
Anyway, I felt good.
Maybe because I had the experience of falling into Hell once, I could quickly accept the fact that I had returned to the past.
But accepting it was where the problem began.
Opportunity. The opportunity I had longed for so much had been given to me in its entirety, so it was only natural that confusion followed.
“What should I do….”
There was too much I wanted to do. My head was such a mess because I couldn’t set proper priorities.
I wanted to properly learn piano, and guitar, and bass too.
Even if virtual instruments or session musicians would eventually do the performing, to assign each instrument’s role without the slightest error, I would have to know them well myself, wouldn’t I?
There was no way that honing my skills wouldn’t help.
“The academy….”
Walking home, I abruptly stopped amidst the crowd of students.
Strip mall buildings lined up, swarms of young heads everywhere.
Insane piano lessons, practice rooms, goddamn violin and cello, and so on.
It was a place I always passed by when leaving school.
And… it was a place I couldn’t enter.
‘Because I had no money.’
The arts high school curriculum was perfectly suited to nurturing ‘experts,’ but if you asked whether school classes alone could get you into a top-tier university, that was another matter.
Taking lessons from famous instructors or at academies was the basics of the basics.
The music world was one where talented kids from the start smeared money and poured an enormous amount of time to barely secure a seat.
I had just been very lucky among them to get into an arts high school, and lucky enough to get into university too.
“I really got by on luck, huh.”
No matter how much they say life is seventy percent luck and thirty percent effort, I had no intention of leaving myself to uncertainty.
If I’m going to plan it out anyway, I should aim for seventy percent effort and thirty percent luck.
Of course, of course.
Without a thought, I moved my steps toward the strip mall stairs.
I don’t know why I used to cower every time I passed by here in high school.
Was it the mindset of not even looking at rice cakes I couldn’t eat?
But even if you can’t attend, you can at least go in and look, right?
You could go around everywhere and beg them to lower the tuition.
‘It’s not like anything special happens even if I get rejected.’
My reputation might get a little tarnished, but honestly, how much of a reputation did I even have? That I was attending school on scholarship because my family had no money was already spread far and wide.
I had even been teased by kids who seemed to have replaced home education with YouTube.
There was nothing more to lose.
In my previous life, I had lived a failed life. There were many reasons, but if I had to pick one representative cause, it was the habit of reading the room.
‘Stop reading the room.’
Therefore, I confidently climbed the strip mall stairs and pushed open the academy door.
“Welcome~”
The interior came into view—a young female employee sitting at the counter, and an interior that looked like they had spent generously on it.
How should I put it, I always thought music academies felt like luxury coin noraebangs with good soundproofing.
A few large practice rooms were inside, and the hallway was lined with small practice rooms packed tightly together.
‘I visited often as an adult.’
It wasn’t to take lessons as a late bloomer. I had just gone for a few months to earn some pennies in a position similar to an assistant instructor.
“I haven’t seen your face before; are you here to register?”
“I’m just looking around.”
“Ah, I see— You’re an arts high school student? What’s your major?”
“Composition.”
“That’s great! We haven’t filled all the spots in our composition major class yet~”
The employee, wearing a kind smile, was about to start writing my personal information in a notebook.
I refreshingly and shamelessly looked around the academy on my own.
I shamelessly peeked into others’ practice rooms through small windows, casually sat in the chairs of the ensemble room where various instruments were placed.
And for the grand finale….
“That’s not how you do that.”
I even went into the recording studio where computers were set up and butted in with advice.
“….”
“….”
Our eyes met.
A girl turned from the DAW screen with a bewildered expression, shooting a sharp glare at me.
Her face seemed vaguely familiar….
She’s wearing our school uniform too.
Who was she?
“Who are you?”
“Kim Do-il.”
“No, that’s not what I meant….”
The girl scoffed and soon shifted her sharp gaze to the employee as well.
“Teacher Seo Hui-yeong.”
“Sorry for disturbing you. I’ll leave soon?”
The person being addressed as ‘teacher’ was left flustered. It was a conversation that let me predict what kind of existence this girl held at the academy.
That’s why I acted even more brazenly.
“The bass line is too complicated. Switching instruments and forcing them in might give a rich feeling, but it’ll get tiresome if you keep listening. Remove the contrabass and try unifying the vibe with a Precision bass for that Aleck feel.”
“Who are you to suddenly show up and….”
“Just saying~”
Approaching someone whose name I don’t even know, suddenly talking to them, and even giving advice?
The old me would never have done it. I would have thought it truly rude and not even attempted it.
But,
‘I had wanted to try it at least once.’
Wanting to show off my knowledge for no reason, wanting to tell someone something that might help. Out of the blue.
And the current me had gone and done it.
To a girl whose name I couldn’t even remember.
“Let’s go.”
I looked around the academy on my own once more.
The facilities were good. It wasn’t packed to the brim with students. It was just right for attending?
“Please give me a discount.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just a little… no, please give me a big discount.”
After thoroughly rummaging through the academy like it was his own living room, and now asking for a discount.
Unless one was a saint, any original willingness to do so would have completely vanished.
But I didn’t care.
‘Don’t be too servile. Be confident.’
If you’re going to beg, beg with dignity!
“Please leave.”
“Yes.”
I was kicked out.
As expected.
* * *
Im Da-yun had been in a bad mood lately.
Stress from grade management since becoming a second-year, boring practice repeated every day, blisters and poor circulation in her lower body from sitting too long, etc.
There were countless factors that could annoy her, but if she had to pinpoint one, it was the competition.
‘There are less than eight hours left until the competition submission deadline!’
Arts high school students must continuously prove themselves.
Practicing was the basics of basics. It was very important to leave records of ‘how much’ they were growing through various activities.
If she possessed world-class talent, she wouldn’t need such things, but Da-yun knew better than anyone that her talent didn’t reach that far.
Composition.
It was certainly a field that those without talent couldn’t even touch, but not everyone was equal. That was why….
“What the… why is he nitpicking me?”
Da-yun felt her irritation toward the boy who had suddenly appeared, criticized her, and run away boiling up more and more.
She had just finished the song through her own effort. How dare he spout advice without even listening?
Is he out of his mind?
And even asking for a tuition discount?
How can there be such a shameless guy?
Complaints poured out of her mouth nonstop. However, suddenly, a question popped up about why she was feeling so annoyed.
“Ah… haah.”
Actually, she knew.
That the song she was making right now was ambiguous.
Chords and melody were the realm of pure creation, so lacking talent was one thing, but her arranging skills were lacking too.
She had definitely felt… a sense of getting tired of it while playing the track over and over.
That’s right. She was angry because he had hit the nail on the head.
“Change the bass…? It probably won’t make much of a difference….”
She had captured the high and mid-range melody lines with piano and acoustic guitar, and secured the low end with contrabass and jazz bass.
Since she didn’t have the ability to decorate the bass line itself lavishly, she had thought to create splendor by using two instruments, but….
“He says this gets tiresome….”
The harmony of each range she had imagined in her head was perfect. But reality was different.
After the strange boy left, the instructor had come by, listened, and shown an ambiguous reaction.
—“It’s a bit messy?”
But that was all the feedback the instructor gave.
There was none of the “what exactly is wrong and how to fix it” that the boy had provided.
‘Bass… should I try unifying it with one?’
She was skeptical and her pride was hurt. She didn’t want to. But even so, Da-yun started editing as the boy had instructed, with a ‘no way’ feeling.
“Lay only the foundation with a Precision bass… and just remove all the contrabass bowing….”
With the unique bowing of the contrabass that rumbled low gone, a feeling of emptiness washed over the song instantly.
“Huh, what?”
It was total nonsense, wasn’t it?
For a moment, she felt her mood improving. For just an ‘instant.’
That good mood was immediately broken when the soundproof door opened.
“Oh~ it’s much cleaner now? Da-yun, you edited it well!”
The instructor who taught her praised her with a smile.
“Wow… that earlier version was really so ambiguous that even I would have had a hard time. Amazing!”
He says even he wouldn’t have found it easy.
‘Kim Do-il…? What kind of kid is he?’
Enormous confusion flooded her mind.
* * *
I had thoroughly toured the academy district that I couldn’t visit in my past life.
What kind of place is that, what equipment do they have, what kind of kids go there, etc.
I had resolved all the questions I had been curious about.
‘Nothing special.’
It wasn’t different from what I expected.
But at the same time, it was exactly as expected.
Instructors trying hard to teach with passion, students staring at sheet music with stern expressions, discordant instrument sounds coming from here and there.
It was indeed the scenery my past self had longed for so much.
Of course,
“They don’t give much of a discount.”
“I was moved by your passion, so a special 80% discount on tuition.” It seems lines like that only come out in manhwa.
The only place that said they’d give a discount was a shabby academy with hardly any students or equipment.
“Well.”
Thinking about it, it’s only natural.
Since I haven’t objectively achieved anything, there’s no way they could trust me.
If I recall correctly, the first time I won an award was at the in-school competition in the second semester of second year.
“Right… I have nothing.”
But I didn’t feel bad.
Since I have nothing, I can obtain anything.
In a space that existed only for pain, I had tried to obtain what I wanted, and I did.
Therefore, in this infinitely abundant world, I would be able to obtain anything.
Grrrrumble—
Anyway, my stomach cried out for food.
I had lived without a physical body for over ten years, but adapting to hunger was truly instantaneous.
I immediately rummaged through my pockets and the bag I was carrying.
“…Money.”
I don’t have any.
In my past life, I at least had money to buy yukgaejang cup noodles.
All that was in the bag was a grotesquely folded school notice wedged between books, an external hard drive, and sheet music.
Wait.
Sheet music…?
“…!”
I remembered.
What the current me had been doing, what I had been preparing.
“…The in-school original composition competition.”
The competition for a march to be used at the sports festival.
The current me had been preparing for that.
…Yes, that competition where I couldn’t even get selected.
“Huh?”
But the deadline was today.