Episode 5
[Cubase - Trial Expired]
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Upgrading to the full version, Cubase 1.0.
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Reward — Jahun's Demo Track (1)
'So this is where it really begins.'
To think I'd hear that this is only the start after performing on a stage where my life was on the line.
It didn't feel great, but it was better than dying.
Moreover, as I read through the contents of the system window, I gradually grew interested.
'Is it because I got an A-, one step higher than the target score of B+?'
I had even received perks that I wouldn't have gotten if I had barely met the requirements.
Though I still couldn't quite grasp how that thing worked.
'But why does she keep looking at me?'
At the end of class, I felt the gaze of Teacher Sim Yujin, who was sitting at her desk staring intently at me.
"Your desperate performance was good to see, Park Jahun."
Following the line of students filing out, she continued.
"Anyone watching would think your life was depending on it. Was there some occasion?"
'...She's joking, right?'
Her expression went from a smile to looking almost pleased.
It wasn't hard to understand.
She had seen a student she taught for half a year grow beyond recognition.
'She must be proud. And the answer she wants is probably...'
After a brief moment of thought, I answered.
"I tried my best. I have to work harder than everyone else."
"As expected..."
Sim Yujin nodded, looking satisfied.
"That's a good attitude."
She smiled brightly once more and left.
Watching that, I heard students whispering.
"I think it's the first time I've seen that teacher smile like that."
"Huh, me too. She doesn't usually smile easily."
It wasn't for nothing that she was called the Witch Teacher.
She usually only wore a sharp expression.
The students had also started talking about me.
"...He did well today, though."
"If I were the teacher, seeing someone change like that would make me smile too."
The first evaluation was positive.
But the crack didn't end here.
It was a crazy situation where I had to solve even more cracks going forward just to survive.
I needed to organize my thoughts.
* * *
The ensemble room, emptied of everyone, leaving only me.
I glanced over the window that had appeared upon upgrading to the full version.
'If I can't properly complete the remixes, I don't know when I'll face another life-threatening situation.'
But I wasn't as lost as I'd been at first.
Rather, I was optimistic.
My past came to mind.
I had struggled desperately to climb up somehow.
Because I started later than others, it had been overwhelming just to keep up.
Of course, I had received more love than I deserved from the public.
I had no intention of denying the life I'd lived.
But it was true that regrets remained.
...If only I had started just a little earlier, couldn't I have aimed for a higher place?
'This time is different.'
—Clench.
I was ahead by a whopping ten years.
I could grow further, and I could make more music.
Of course, I could sing my own songs.
And above all...
'I can do better rap.'
Crises and opportunities always come hand in hand.
The opportunity granted at the end of my life was simply welcome.
'Since rehearsal is over... next is the major lesson?'
The timing couldn't have been better.
I had been wanting to rap more anyway.
* * *
The music department classroom at Sewoon Arts High School.
A student stared intently at his schedule and spoke.
"It's already today."
[Major Lesson]
"...My heart's heavy. I need to improve even a little more."
The student let out a short sigh.
It was a time when the entrance exam was approaching, but he still didn't feel sufficiently prepared.
Doing well, not just working hard. Perhaps he was only now feeling the weight of that famous saying in arts and physical education that he'd heard until his ears were calloused.
"Haah... I want to prepare for the entrance exam without any worries."
Then someone came to mind.
A genius who lived a life far removed from such worries.
"Ah."
He was passing by just then.
Park Yunseok, the rap major student admired by everyone.
He had an indifferent air, as if uninterested in worldly affairs.
Yet in rap, he possessed an ego greater than anyone. His skills were beyond question.
He didn't feel like a fellow high schooler.
Should I call him a musician already paving his own path?
Anyway, he was truly an amazing guy.
The student watched Park Yunseok's disappearing figure with regret.
"...If only I were in the same group as Park Yunseok."
Group lesson.
In group lessons, you listened to the lesson content together with the person next to you.
So depending on who you were with, the crumbs you could pick up differed.
If he had been in the same group as Park Yunseok, the quality of his learning would have risen.
But the members with him were not Park Yunseok, but merely a beginner who had just started music.
"Didn't he transfer in last month?"
It was someone he would gain nothing from.
It wasn't the transfer student's fault, but the student couldn't help but feel disappointed.
—Slide.
The student opened the door and entered the lesson room.
Then he saw him. The same group member he had been talking about.
"Now, if everyone's here, shall we begin?"
The teacher, who had arrived before anyone knew it, said while looking around the lesson room.
"We have a lot to do today. Shall we start with Jahun first?"
"Yes."
"Just rap along to the beat with the lyrics you prepared."
"...Yes."
The student too looked at Park Jahun.
'He looks unconfident.'
And indeed, his answer was delayed. The student wondered if Jahun had prepared poorly for the lesson.
In truth, he was pulling out suitable lyrics from ten years' worth of memories.
—!
The music started playing.
As a trap-sound-based beat flowed out, the student nodded.
'This is how I'd rap.'
He envisioned his own rapping in his head.
He had just thought it up, believing it would be better than what the student named Jahun could do, when—
Finally, from Park Jahun's opened mouth, lyrics poured out.
—A start later than others, that time difference was hard to catch up with—
—I was scared, like wearing long sleeves alone in the middle of summer—
'Huh?'
The student started and looked straight at him.
He was executing a more complete rap making than any idea the student had envisioned.
At the point the rap ended, the student realized he wasn't the only one surprised.
"...Shall we hear one more?"
The teacher asked while selecting another beat.
He too was looking at Park Jahun with a surprised expression.
"Yes."
But Park Jahun, who had actually performed the rap, merely waited calmly for the next beat.
"...Do you have another verse prepared?"
And the next song.
"Can you do this beat?"
And yet another song.
'Would you look at this?'
Seeing the student perform rap without a hitch, the teacher's astonishment grew even greater.
Without realizing it, the teacher had gotten excited and raised the difficulty, and Park Jahun was completing them as if to show off.
The teacher checked the list of songs he had prepared again and let out an exclamation.
"Hoah...."
With just a few minutes of testing...
About two years' worth of progress was being accelerated.
* * *
'I think I've already rapped four verses.'
Today's group lesson, where I had started first.
I looked around the lesson room and thought.
'The kids must be bored.'
The teacher would handle the time allocation well enough.
But that was from the teaching side. I wondered if the students might be bored.
'Or not?'
The students had unusually bright, sparkling eyes.
Particularly, the student who had looked at me disapprovingly when he entered stood out.
"Wow...."
By the time my rap ended, he was even exclaiming in admiration.
'It must have sounded pretty good.'
What gave me confidence in that thought was the teacher's reaction.
"...You did well. You prepared a lot."
I couldn't tell if he was proud or surprised.
"Let's make this your next assignment."
I received a paper with the beat's title and details to keep in mind.
I nodded in satisfaction.
It was content at nearly the same progress as students who had already taken two years of lessons.
'At first, I was a bit worried...'
A change that was difficult to achieve in just six months.
I had wondered if it was right to show all of that today.
The worries didn't last long. I couldn't afford to waste time thinking.
"Can you prepare what you got today by next time?"
The teacher's expression showed worry that he might have pushed the progress too fast.
Seeing that, I raised the corners of my mouth.
"Yes, I'll do it all."
Today's share, and of course the next part too, all of it without exception.
Now, the time I could remain at school was merely a year.
'Minus the exam period, it's half a year. I'll learn everything I can within that time.'
Because in this life, I had no intention of taking it slow.
"Then let's end class here."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Other students' lessons continued, and finally class ended.
'Tomorrow is harmony and sight-singing, huh.'
Before homeroom, I checked tomorrow's schedule.
I didn't forget to look at the academic calendar posted on the bulletin board either.
I needed to plan how to use my time at this school going forward.
"Wow, Open Stage is the week after next."
"No wonder... my teammates kept asking about rehearsal times."
I heard the conversation of students checking the schedule beside me.
'Come to think of it, there was Open Stage.'
The last Friday of March.
I checked the schedule marked there.
[March End-of-Month Evaluation.]
From the name alone, it sounded like a test, but in truth, it was closer to an in-school competition.
Especially in March, it was also called Open Stage.
I looked at those words with sparkling eyes.
'Nothing beats Open Stage when it comes to leaving tangible results.'
As befitting a competition, the process was harsh, but the gains were equally great.
To the point that nothing else on the academic schedule was as appealing as Open Stage.
Before the regression, Open Stage had ended in a mess because I was overwhelmed just keeping up with school.
'It would be different now.'
But there was a problem.
One thing that hadn't changed, then and now.
"How many are in your session? We have seven total, so it's tough to get everyone together."
"We're a trio, so our group chat is on fire. All three are all-in on Open Stage."
Looking around, I saw students talking about their teammates.
This was the problem. Most students already had their teams set.
With so much at stake, it was only natural that students began preparing from the start of the semester.
'I don't want to participate solo like last time.'
Would there be anyone skilled who still hadn't found a team?
Right when I was worrying about this.
"Jahun."
"Huh?"
I turned my head, and Seonji was standing there.
With an Open Stage application form in her hand.
"By any chance, have you found a team for Open Stage?"
"...There was one."
"Huh?"
Someone with skill, no teammates yet...
Someone capable of a solo session remained.
"What song are you going to perform?"
Open Stage, the greatest competition at Sewoon Arts High School.
I had found the piece to participate there.
"For one of the songs, I want to do my original..."
"Huh?"
Seonji answered my question shyly.
'...Why this?'
[Acquired — Jahun's Demo Track (1)]
The system window that appeared, sparkling.
It was telling me that this wasn't merely a simple original song.
Regressor on the Beat