Regressor on the Beat
Episode 1
"Good work."
Inside the concert hall’s waiting room, my manager handed me a bottle of water as soon as I entered.
"What do you mean, ‘good work’? It’s only just getting started."
I had only just finished rehearsing.
But he said “good work,” so I let out a short laugh and took the water.
"Haha… By the way, did you see the line waiting outside? It’s insane."
Maybe he was embarrassed, because he changed the subject.
"How would I see it? I was rehearsing."
"Anyway, there are really a lot of people waiting. Honestly, I was a little worried."
"Worried?"
"There were a lot of rumors about cancellation tickets, right? That whole plagiarism controversy with you, hyung…"
The guy trailing off gasped and covered his mouth.
"S-sorry. I got excited that so many people came and…"
Thinking he had made a mistake, the manager fidgeted restlessly.
Unable to watch anymore, the stylist approached and added quietly,
"You really… Mr. Jahun has so many sensitive matters to deal with these days…"
I can hear everything, you people.
Though the performance was imminent, I wasn’t mentally at ease.
Unexpected incidents. Crumbling plans.
Just as the stylist said, I was on edge right now.
But those were my own circumstances. I had no intention of taking it out on the staff I worked with.
"Forget it. It’s not like you’re wrong."
Honestly, it was something I was already aware of.
That the image of rapper ‘Bard’ wasn’t what it used to be.
'It was a sold-out show, but not all of them are my fans.'
There was a time when I was practically a guaranteed box-office draw, but once the controversy broke out, all my efforts until now had become useless.
Half of the people waiting outside were probably anti-fans who came to boo me.
There’s nothing quite as entertaining as watching someone’s downfall, is there?
I should be grateful that cancellation tickets hadn’t appeared.
'This is probably my last chance.'
If I missed this opportunity, I would remain a plagiarist rapper forever.
For better or worse, thanks to the plagiarism controversy, the audience numbers were sufficient.
From now on, it all depended on how I made the stage.
"Fighting, hyung!"
Perhaps because of his earlier slip of the tongue, the manager was even more respectful; I waved my hand at him and stepped onto the stage.
The opening was scheduled to begin with my song instead of a greeting.
*Squeak.*
Gripping the microphone, I surrendered my body to the flowing beat.
*Waaah!*
Soon after I revealed myself, cheers began pouring from the audience seats.
'The cheers are louder than I thought?'
Was it because I was too conscious of the negative public opinion?
I had thought boos would naturally fly in as well, but that wasn’t the case.
'…Let’s focus even more.'
When I realized there were still many fans cheering for me, something swelled up in my chest.
"Thank…"
The opening song had ended, and the moment I was about to speak to the audience with a grateful heart.
In the end, the thing I had feared happened.
"Plagiarist rapper Bard! What kind of shameless face do you have to rap with!"
The very front row of the standing section.
An audience member hurled a boo at the top of his lungs.
He had seemed to wait for the moment when the MR cut off and everything went quiet.
"You always brushed it off in silence! Try doing that again this time!"
Since the distance between the stage and the seats wasn’t far, those words reached my ears without distortion.
I quickly looked for the on-site staff with my eyes.
Since he was an audience member violating concert rules, I intended to have him removed.
But before the staff could even react, another incident occurred.
*—!*
The audience member, unable to hold back his anger, threw the water bottle he was holding.
The water bottle drew an arc and flew toward me…
*Splash!*
…and the water inside poured out and drenched me. It was a bottle with the cap open.
"……."
In an instant, my face and clothes were soaked.
Not stopping there, the audience member tried to throw the trash he was holding in his hand next.
Thanks to the attendants subduing him, he couldn’t throw it, but that humiliation was more than enough to reach me.
'The stage has only just begun….'
It wasn’t even the end; with things going wrong from the start, countless emotions crossed through me.
A misery greater than simply getting wet lingered on the tip of my tongue.
…What, within expected range? Respond calmly?
'This is how people see me….'
The thoughts I had when I merely heard shouting were all nonsense.
Now that I felt the audience hating me through my very skin, helplessness and fear rose up from deep within.
I even felt like running away.
'But… will running away change anything?'
The emotions began circulating like that for a long while.
Starting from fear, passing through anger, the place I finally arrived at was…
'Let’s acknowledge it.'
My current position.
Let’s accept people’s thoughts toward me.
Having finished thinking, I picked up the microphone.
"Don't drag him out."
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with the microphone.
The staff who were dragging out the audience member stopped in their tracks at my words.
The concert hall filled with murmuring at my action.
'There will always be gazes that don’t look kindly upon me.'
I can’t feel despair every time, can I?
'Let me show my worth as a rapper.'
I resolved. To prove it with all my might.
Regret and despair won’t be too late even if I do them then.
"I know too. That there are people here who love me, but also people who hate me."
Holding the microphone, word by word, I began listing the thoughts I had just felt.
"The moment I acknowledged that fact, greed was born. Though I don’t know what hearts you all came here with…"
Before I knew it, the audience seats had become quiet without a single sound.
Toward them, I continued in a low voice.
"When you leave, I’ll make sure you all leave having become my fans."
It was the first time. Delivering the words in my heart exactly as they were.
And it was a more refreshing experience than I had thought.
"Sound director, please play MR number 4."
MR number 4 was my biggest hit song, originally scheduled to be used during the concert’s highlight.
I boldly decided to change the stage composition.
Because this was the timing to reverse the atmosphere.
Thanks to that, I could see the sound team murmuring.
*—!*
But immediately, the beat of the MR I mentioned flowed through the speakers.
It meant the sound team had understood my intention.
"Then let’s go right away."
With a heart more determined than before, I spoke to the audience.
"The song you all loved the most. ‘Red Martini’—let’s begin."
Like that, I continued the stage, pouring my soul into it.
3 minutes 45 seconds.
During that short time, all the audience shook their heads to the same beat.
* * *
"Good work."
Guest time to guarantee the singer’s rest.
As I came down to the waiting room for a moment, the manager offered me another “good work” greeting.
Though the concert wasn’t actually over yet.
"This time, I really did work hard."
Recalling what happened on stage just now, I let out a short laugh.
The unexpected sudden situation of a water bottle flying.
'It actually helped.'
Thanks to it, both I and my fans could immerse ourselves more in the concert.
"Hyung, the people who came to see the concert are posting reactions right now, and it’s insane."
While I was catching my breath, the manager, slightly excited, showed me his phone.
[Title: Bard, this bastard is just a god.]
I came to the concert right now, and Bard was fucking awesome.
It’s guest performance right now, and I’m writing this because I don’t know the person performing.
In the middle, someone threw a water bottle and the atmosphere got really bad, but Bard told them not to drag that person out, said he’d try to turn him into a fan, and immediately continued the stage.
And as a result, me who came to hate on Bard if he messed up. Now I’m a fan of this bastard. (Ticket certification photo)]
The post briefly summarized what just happened.
The details weren’t just favorable to me; they were almost like praise.
Looking at similar posts coming up in real-time, I briefly expressed my thoughts.
"The next concert won’t be a stretch either."
Perhaps I could scale it up a bit more.
While I was thinking that, the waiting room door opened and familiar faces came in.
They were musicians who had come as today’s concert guests, or acquaintances who had come to see the concert and stopped by.
"Park Jahun! You were really fucking good on stage!"
"Keh, the rapper who turns antis into fans, Bard!"
People sending encouragement with bright faces.
"Was the stage okay?"
"Of course! Honestly, I thought there wouldn’t be an audience because of your controversy, so I came on purpose…"
Then colleagues watching from the side hurriedly stepped back.
"I knew it would go this well from the start."
"Me too. Honestly, we never believed you plagiarized. We know best that you’re not that kind of person."
Then the singer who had spoken first made a crying face and looked at me.
"No, if you say that, what does that make me…! You know I didn’t mean it like that, right?"
I let out a short laugh.
"I know. That’s why you came to cheer me on like this."
"Of course! Naturally!"
Acquaintances were also suggesting we take selfies to commemorate this.
It was then that a familiar voice was heard from outside the door.
"Of course these people came to cheer. It’s our Jahun’s concert."
My high school classmate, and today’s booked guest singer, O Seonji, entered the waiting room.
"Huh? What, Seonji! When did you get here!"
"When did I get here? I’m performing at today’s concert too, so I’ve been here since rehearsal."
Seonji’s characteristic smile brightened the waiting room atmosphere even more.
"Right, you have a stage later too, don’t you? I’m looking forward to it. Ah, we’re going to take pictures, want to join?"
"Ah… I’ll just watch."
"Right. Seonji doesn’t like taking pictures, right?"
In the end, only a few people took selfies among themselves.
"W-well, the performance is starting now, so we should go to the audience seats."
"Right. We’ll step out…"
Then people suddenly started rambling.
But why was everyone watching Seonji’s mood?
"I still have time though?"
"No, no. Jahun, let’s see each other again after the concert ends."
Even when I told them to stay a bit longer, they hurriedly left the waiting room.
I thought they were close with Seonji too, but was there something uncomfortable?
'Or maybe they urgently needed the bathroom?'
While I was bewildered, Seonji approached in the waiting room where only the two of us remained.
"Jahun, I have something I’m curious about."
"…Huh?"
"You said you had something to tell me last time. What was it?"
From a suddenly close distance, Seonji put on a curious expression.
I hesitated for a moment, then spoke as if I had just remembered.
"It was nothing."
"…You spoke so seriously about something that was nothing?"
Seonji was sharp like this sometimes.
She was right. That day, I had tried to say something important.
"Haha… I guess I was a bit depressed that day."
That day was the day before the album release.
A time filled with excitement, praying that the music would be a hit.
That’s why I tried to convey it.
My feelings for Seonji.
But the album results didn’t go as I expected.
Starting with plagiarism suspicions, entangled in various controversies, rapper Bard crashed to the bottom.
'Now is not the time.'
At least when I could stand confidently on my own, I wanted to convey my feelings.
She was someone who made me more careful, someone I wanted to look good for.
"Tch, whatever, okay."
Fortunately, the moment Seonji stepped back, a staff member came to inform me of stage standby.
"Do well on stage. Though as always, you will."
As I cheered on Seonji, who was stepping onto the stage first, Seonji nodded with a smile.
And at that moment.
*—!*
'Ugh….'
An indescribable pain surged into my head.
At the same time, strange letters began to appear.
[...ise occurred... Crack 5545..34... re occurred... Cu... b...]
This wasn’t the first time. Since high school, it was a hallucination that appeared occasionally and tormented me.
And every time, the timing was strange.
Only at important times in life… yes, only picking days like today.
As if trying to tell me something?
"Bard! You need to get on stage now!"
The train of thought didn’t continue further.
A staff member came to inform me of the next stage preparation.
I moved to the hallway to go on stage and ran into a man.
"…Park Yunseok?"
It was Park Yunseok, who had made music with me since childhood.
If he came, he should’ve said something. The guy stood still for a long time looking at me.
He seemed gloomy, yet also angry somewhere.
With that ambiguous expression.
He seemed to have something to say, but it was time to go on stage immediately.
"Let’s talk after this is over."
We could share the details later.
*Waaah!*
When I went on stage, the audience’s cheers were heard.
People were going wild for Seonji, the guest vocalist.
'The next song was one we do together.'
Waiting for my part, I gripped the microphone in my hand.
But unlike before, strength didn’t enter well.
'Dizzy….'
My vision began to shake.
When I looked at the stage again with trembling eyes.
[…Noise occurred… Crack 5545… 34, re... occurred… Cubase… Preparation…]
An uneasy premonition that something would happen was approaching me even more clearly.
Regressor on the Beat