A lively electric guitar riff rang out.
The music echoed alongside the accompanying instrumentals.
Since it was an unfamiliar song, most of the audience and panelists wore bewildered expressions.
Just like when Seoyeon had chosen an old anime song as her piece.
However, back then, at least there were people in the audience whose faces lit up with recognition, as if saying, "Ah, this one!"
Because it was such a famous song, even with the arrangement, there were plenty of people who recognized it.
Rather, the most common reaction was, "I've heard this somewhere, but this was an anime song?"
Therefore, it received a lot of praise for being exotic, and even if it felt awkward, people didn't make faces this unfamiliar.
A broadcast like
Naturally, it's a place where the audience comes to see how a specific singer will sing an already existing song.
It's not a place where people want to see something unfamiliar.
Even Seoyeon knew that much.
'This is...'
But the moment the electric guitar sound first echoed across the stage.
And then, as the Ashen Crow grabbed the mic and the music began to play, she realized.
It was a song she had heard before.
And quite recently at that.
"A CD? What's this?"
Jiyeon's house had a slightly old PC.
A PC that still had a CD drive.
Nowadays, PCs generally don't come with a CD slot.
No one bothers to add one.
Unless one specifically orders the part separately, it has become an old relic that can't even be run.
"They said it's a game CD."
"Joo Seoyeon, if you keep randomly bringing home weird things again..."
"My parents said it's a commemorative game CD they made for the first time during their high school days."
"If you just pick up anything, sometimes you discover memories like this. It's quite wonderful, right?"
Lee Jiyeon's sharply scolding words instantly softened.
At that attitude, Seoyeon narrowed her eyes and looked at her, but Jiyeon only quietly averted her gaze.
No, how could she have known that the CD brought over so suddenly would be such an important item.
More than that, it was the first time she heard that Seoyeon's parents had made a game in the past.
Did they do some club activity making games in high school?
Well, thinking about what they do now, it wasn't particularly strange.
Click.
Anyway, through the old PC at Jiyeon's house, Seoyeon was able to run the old CD.
She had considered just buying a CD reader, but compatibility issues got in the way this time too, so it couldn't be helped.
It was uncertain whether a self-made game from 10 years ago, not even from a game company, would run on the current OS.
Anyway, since Jiyeon had an old PC, they were able to run it safely.
"This is..."
Jiyeon muttered quietly.
The game was surprisingly ordinary, exuding a strong scent of nostalgia.
If there was anything special about it.
"There's an opening?"
It was that a song was inserted to play when the game was executed.
The song's name didn't seem to be specifically decided; it was simply written as 'Opening' in the corner of the screen.
The song was relatively calm.
It was a song cheering on a traveler setting off on an adventure, fitting for an ordinary fantasy RPG-style game.
But Jiyeon thought the voice was somehow familiar.
And it didn't take long for her to realize.
'Isn't this Yeohui?'
Seoyeon didn't seem to notice, but Jiyeon, who really loved Yeohui's songs, could faintly feel it.
Though a bit fresh, the voice of the singer greatly resembled Yeohui's.
Of course, her skills couldn't possibly match the current Yeohui, but considering she was a high school student, it was an exceptionally well-sung level.
'...No way.'
Thinking about it, they said they were classmates.
At the time, she thought they were just simple classmates, but hearing this song, the feeling was definitely different.
In the first place, if that weren't the case, she wouldn't have participated in making the game.
So she wondered, what exactly is their relationship?
Jiyeon glanced at Seoyeon.
Wondering if Seoyeon had also noticed.
But Seoyeon just quietly listened to the song without any particular sign of it.
Opening.
Perhaps it was inserted in a hurry, but the video playing along with the song was crude.
Because it was close to a mishmash of illustrations, like what is commonly called a MAD movie.
However, the fact that a song was included in the first place was special.
A game that gave off a fresh feeling of trying to make it look decent.
A song that strangely tickled the heart.
Seoyeon raised her head.
She saw the singer who had come down from her stage and newly stepped onto the stage.
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The Ashen Crow.
No, knowing this song at this point meant she was clearly someone related to Sua or Youngbin.
Could that be possible?
A question arose, but this song was proving it.
Opening.
Even without a title, it suited the title of this song above all else.
The song that opens.
A mature voice, different from the freshness of that time.
As time passed, beyond memories.
Began to spread from the small stage to the world.
***
So to speak, this was.
A small whim.
"Unnie, are you crazy? There are plenty of other songs?"
"No, why."
"Who would even know a song like that?"
Isn't it practically an original song?
No matter how she thought about it, it wasn't a song fitting for
"Why are you being like this, someone even sang this at the song festival back then. It was quite the issue, you know? The theme song inserted in a game made by high schoolers~."
"But it's a song without a title."
The song's title was just Opening.
There was nothing else, just such a title.
At the time, when they tried to give it a title, no suitable title came to mind.
So, Youngbin had said this to her at the time.
"Opening is fine."
In that it was a song announcing their first beginning.
Is there a title more fitting for a song for adventurers challenging the adventures ahead?
Well, that was it.
He might have just been lazy.
Looking at the stage, she could feel a rabbit wearing a bizarre mask looking up at her.
Of course, she couldn't see the expression, but the look of surprise was evident.
Unlike her father, she was a child who seemed to have a lot of unnecessary thoughts.
Or maybe she resembled Sua.
Yeohui gripped the mic in her hand.
An unfamiliar tune, an unfamiliar song.
But it's okay.
A song that moves human emotions comes from empathy.
Moreover, due to the nature of
But they could empathize with the lyrics, and with the theme.
Perhaps there might actually be people who have heard it.
What she told her manager wasn't a lie.
It was quite an issue at the time.
As an original song inserted into a game made by high schoolers, it had floated around the internet for a while.
Well, back then, awareness of copyright and such was low, so it spread illegally everywhere.
'Anyway, so.'
Tearing her gaze from the rabbit, she looked at the audience.
Numerous audience members.
Amidst the crowd moving to the rhythm, she saw two people frozen.
She had seen them from afar in the semifinals too, but as expected, she could see them better from on stage.
Appearances aged compared to the past.
Features showing that time had passed.
Her manager had said this to her.
That it had become a memory.
Well, it's not wrong.
In the end, she had become a memory, and reached a position where they couldn't even meet.
Anyway, she thought their changed appearances were cool, but separately from that, she didn't like everything about it.
Unlike her, they now had a family.
Since they had things to protect, they must have a lot to think about.
But I'm still a child.
I still only remember the words you said in the past.
"Creators must live young."
At the time, he had said that to her when she was feeling down.
"...What?"
"Exactly as it sounds."
"Are you saying I'm like a child?"
Probably, it was when she received harsh criticism for her song.
People who sing well are as numerous as stars.
Just being good at singing isn't enough to survive in this world.
In that despair, when she wondered if she could live with this song in the future, the answer was no.
Probably, she felt a bit down.
"You like singing, don't you?"
"Liking it isn't enough to solve the problem."
"But you have to like it. Continuously."
Creators must live young.
He always said that.
At first, she thought those words were just nonsense, but now she seemed to understand.
"It's your dream, you said."
Creators must love what they do, and must be able to keep liking it.
However, there is no eternal emotion, so it will inevitably fade eventually.
So you must keep liking it.
Only by keeping a young heart can you like your dream.
If you are worn down by clashing with society and the times.
If reality makes you unable to like your dream.
That is when you truly grow old.
You cannot become a child again.
Because once you grow old, you can't return.
Because if your dream becomes a job, you can't even like what you like anymore.
"Then, I must stay a child for as long as possible."
He said that and reached out his hand toward her, who was crouching.
"There's no need to rush."
It felt like he was asking if her dream was so weak that it couldn't even wait a little time.
It's okay to start a little late.
If you can keep liking it, an opportunity will surely come someday.
"You sing well, you know."
Sometimes, a really unremarkable compliment becomes the catalyst for everything.
Probably, that was definitely the case back then.
Just by hearing a classmate say she was good, it felt as if it truly had to be that way.
She came to dream such a vague dream.
'I was lucky, but.'
Of course, that might simply be a vain hope.
People who sing well are as numerous as stars.
In whatever she wants to do, there are countless competitors.
Having the talent to realize one's dream could itself be called a great blessing.
But, even so.
Isn't anytime fine?
Until first stepping on this stage.
Originally, Yeohui was going to sing a different song.
She had prepared a song familiar to the public in advance.
But she didn't do that because it was obvious.
The moment a dream becomes a job.
He had said.
Is your dream so weak that it can't wait even a few years?
Of course not.
And, he must have lived like that too.
So she hesitated.
Whether to grasp reality, or to keep liking her dream.
Whether to remain a child, or become an adult.
Forty.
It is by no means a young age.
Middle-aged no matter who looked.
Everyone would say it's too late to chase a dream.
But, Yeohui still didn't mind at all.
She was always a child.
And she would continue to be.
Because she was a woman with many lingering attachments.
Even if she remained a child, bound to the past from 20 years ago.
She could affirm even that.
So what, it's cool.
Just being able to keep liking it.
Some would say it's foolish.
Someone might point fingers.
If I just think it doesn't apply to me, then that's that.
If creation is pain, isn't this pain also mine?
Isn't being foolish and stubborn also me?
Like the title of the song she is singing now.
Because her life was always, an opening.
***
Seoyeon thought.
That a song sometimes moves a person's heart.
At least, that was the case for Seoyeon.
'I might have been rushing.'
Certainly, Seoyeon had been hesitating about something recently.
Why she became an actress.
And about the things her past self wanted to do.
The reason she hesitated about that was a highly personal one.
Because she agonized over whether those dreams were truly what Joo Seoyeon wanted.
Being a virtual YouTuber was what her past life's self wanted to do.
Wanting to do that meant, in the end, she couldn't escape from her past self.
If she did that, she felt she would probably never become 'Joo Seoyeon' for the rest of her life.
It might be a slightly exaggerated thought.
But somehow, that was just how it felt to her.
It was the same for acting.
At first, it was something her parents told her to do, and her determination to become a great actress at the aquarium was also genuine.
But she recently questioned whether that was truly 'Joo Seoyeon's' true feelings.
Meeting Yuna.
She realized she was still bound to the past.
Perhaps, she started acting ultimately because of her lingering attachment to the past.
The countless video media she watched to learn emotions.
The countless actors she saw there.
Like that, through the TV.
Through the movie theater screen.
The desire to show herself to her parents from her past life.
Wanting to send a signal that she was doing well.
She had the question that maybe she was acting because of that.
What she said to Author Min Se-hee was also along the same lines.
If she could perfectly graduate from her past, wouldn't she not need to agonize over this?
That was what she thought.
So she might have been rushing.
That she had perfectly graduated from her past self.
Because she thought she could move forward as Joo Seoyeon if she concluded it like that.
But this song seemed to deny Seoyeon's thoughts.
Funny, but it's a memory of the past.
A song where lingering attachment is deeply felt.
Yet, the person singing it was nonchalant.
So what?
That was her attitude.
As if making Seoyeon's agonies feel foolish.
As if saying that including such lingering attachments, everything was herself.
The lyrics had these words.
Is your dream so weak that it cannot wait even a little?
So there's no need to rush.
That's right.
As long as she kept liking it, it was something she could do anytime eventually.
If she was still troubled, there was no need to rush; she just had to do it after fully reaching an answer.
This song.
Seemed to give the answer to Seoyeon's past that she had been constantly agonizing over.
There's no need to forcefully forget.
Having lingering attachments isn't a bad thing.
It's just that how one acts with that lingering attachment is what matters.
As long as you keep liking it, your dream will never leave you.
Until the moment you close your eyes at the very end.
Until the song ended with the final strum of the guitar strings.
Seoyeon looked at the stage.
Probably, it wasn't just her.
Definitely another person.
Because there was someone in this place agonizing over similar things.
***
"It's a shame, but you lost by just 2 votes. Are you okay?"
"Yes."
Slowly, Seoyeon said as she took off her mask.
As she took off her mask, a small commotion arose in the audience.
Because the song sung by 'Max Level Rabbit' was that impressive.
They naturally thought she was a singer.
But to think Joo Seoyeon would come out here!
While everyone was surprised, the Ashen Crow.
Yeohui was able to enter the Hall of Fame as the King of Masks.
By a margin of just two votes!
Standing with a somewhat ambivalent expression, the Ashen Crow, Yeohui, watched Seoyeon doing her interview, then looked below the stage.
Her manager was looking at her with incredibly pathetic eyes.
'You said the memories were stronger.'
'So I won, let's have a drink.'
'By just a two-vote margin?'
Well, that could be.
Somehow, whatever Seoyeon said in the interview, it felt like it caused quite a commotion.
But it didn't matter to her.
More than that, her attention was focused elsewhere.
She saw the person in the audience, amidst the commotion, silently raise his thumb without a word.
To him, Yeohui raised her thumb back, and smirked under her mask.