Chapter 12: When Music Meets Myth

Description

Daphne Entertainment A&R Team office.

A heated meeting was underway there.

They were discussing songs for the new albums of their artists, the concept for the soon-to-be-launched girl group, and the sounds recently trending overseas.

However, Nam Seungha, seated at the head of the table, could hardly concentrate on the meeting.

As Daphne Entertainment’s lead composer and A&R team leader—in short, the one who kept the entire company afloat—there was a simple reason he was so distracted.

It was because of that melody he had heard on the <Music Engine> site a while ago.

‘Mm-mm! Mm-mm-mm!’

Was there an audio player running in his head?

The same melody kept looping endlessly inside Nam Seungha’s mind.

The humming of a little girl that had been posted on <Music Engine>.

‘Haa, why hasn’t there been a reply?’

What frustrated him even more was that the person who posted the question hadn’t responded to his private message.

Why no reply?

He had put so much sincerity into that message.

Could it be that the name Nam Seungha didn’t mean much to them?

Or perhaps they were already a composer collaborating with some entertainment agency?

Or maybe the whole post was just a prank?

Nam Seungha’s mind grew heavy with frustration.

‘Hmm…….’

Feeling stifled, Nam Seungha secretly turned on his smartphone under the meeting table.

He entered the <Music Engine> inbox, which he had already checked hundreds of times.

Just in case a reply had come.

Staring at the inbox in dejection—

It came!

Amazingly, a reply had arrived.

It wasn’t an illusion.

The original poster had truly responded to his message.

“Hello, Composer! I’m sorry for the late reply. I’ve been swamped with work lately. Anyway, I’m truly honored that you contacted me, and as you suggested, I’d love to meet in person and talk. For now, my contact number is 010…….”

‘Okay!’

Nam Seungha cheered inwardly.

Not only had he received a reply, but the poster had even agreed to meet.

“Excuse me, sorry about this.”

Nam Seungha continued, addressing the team members who were deep in discussion.

“Let’s take a 10-minute break. My head’s hurting a bit.”

“Ah, Teacher. Are you okay? Should I go buy some headache medicine? There’s a pharmacy right nearby.”

“No, I think some fresh air will do. Let’s resume in 10 minutes. Sorry about this.”

After getting their understanding, Nam Seungha quickly stood up and left the meeting room.

The team members looked at him curiously as he left, but he didn’t care.

‘Finally, contact!’

He had finally heard from the person he had been waiting for so desperately.

From the father of the child who would surely turn the Korean music industry upside down.

Myth Guild.

A meeting was also in progress in their large conference room today.

The meeting proceeded in a solemn atmosphere.

Centered around Guild Master Shin Daeho at the head, the raid captains continued their performance reports.

When the Bronze raid captain finished his report, Shin Daeho opened his mouth with a puzzled expression.

“Bronze raid captain.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

“This part in the report—did you really touch the Killer Bee nest?”

“Ah, yes. Our Bronze raid’s Gaon Team touched the Killer Bee nest, nearly causing massive casualties. About 100 Killer Bees swarmed out from the hive.”

“100 Killer Bees came out, and you say casualties were nearly caused? Not that casualties actually occurred?”

Shin Daeho asked, narrowing his brows.

Touching the hive caused 100 Killer Bees to emerge, yet casualties were only nearly caused.

That meant no massive casualties had actually happened.

It was incomprehensible to Shin Daeho.

A single team would only have around 10 members at most.

“Ah, yes. There was a hunter in that team who performed greatly.”

“Great performance?”

“Yes. The team was on the verge of annihilation from over 100 Killer Bees, but thanks to that hunter’s efforts, we were able to wipe them all out. They say the power of the Bone Explosion skill he obtained in the crisis was tremendous.”

“Bone Explosion? Then he’s a necromancer. Wait, what’s that hunter’s name?”

To Shin Daeho’s question, the Bronze raid captain answered immediately.

“It’s Hunter Seo Juwon.”

At the name Seo Juwon, Shin Daeho blinked.

Seo Juwon.

He knew that name too.

“Seo Juwon? The hunter who conquered a Red Gate and appeared on TV?”

“Yes. Thanks to his performance, we were able to safely eliminate the Killer Bees. The boss was also subdued without much difficulty.”

“Hahaha!”

Hearing that the protagonist of the feat was Seo Juwon, Shin Daeho burst into laughter.

The fact that the person who wiped out a whopping 100 Killer Bees was once again him felt incredibly interesting.

“Hahaha, overcoming a crisis where the entire team could have been wiped out all by himself. Conquering the Red Gate really wasn’t just luck. Isn’t that right?”

“Correct, Guild Master. Truly amazing. Even for Bronze-level monsters, over 100 Killer Bees wouldn’t have been easy….”

“I agree. Especially performing like that as a necromancer is surprising.”

“Indeed. Performing solo as a necromancer, widely regarded as the weakest class. He’s no ordinary person.”

“No matter how strong Bone Explosion is, taking down over 100 Killer Bees alone. He definitely has the qualifications to join Myth Guild.”

The raid captains and administrative executives smiled as they spoke.

They weren’t forcibly flattering him.

Dealing with over 100 Killer Bees was difficult even for Silver raid members, not just Bronze.

“Good. Very good results. Yes, this is the level expected from a Myth Guild member.”

Shin Daeho continued with a satisfied smile.

“Let’s keep an eye on our friend Seo Juwon from now on. I have a feeling he’ll achieve even greater things.”

At Shin Daeho’s words, everyone in the conference room smiled and nodded.

Seo Juwon.

It was the moment he firmly left an impression among the executives.

Thanks to the incident where I pulverized over 100 Killer Bees with Bone Explosion.

Because of that incident, I had become a bit of a celebrity(?) within Myth Guild.

I wasn’t treated extravagantly, but people recognized me as they passed by or gave me thumbs-up, saying I was impressive.

Silver raid members even wished me well, saying we should raid gates together once I moved up to Silver.

Maybe that’s why.

My shoulders felt proud, and I was in a good mood.

Having lived my whole life insignificantly, being recognized by others—especially within the nation’s top guild—felt incredibly fulfilling.

So I spent time chatting with the team members in the Gaon Team office.

That was when it happened.

Click.

The office door opened, and a man entered.

The moment everyone saw his face, all the laughter stopped.

The reason was simple.

The person who entered was Deputy Team Leader Noh Youngjin.

Our Gaon Team’s troublemaker.

“Hello, Team Leader.”

Noh Youngjin greeted Team Leader Ju Namgyu, who was sitting at his desk.

However, Ju Namgyu didn’t even glance at him and focused only on paperwork.

As Noh Youngjin stepped inside, the team members stood up in unison and greeted him.

I also stood and bowed.

Yet instead of going to his seat, Noh Youngjin walked straight to me, stopped, and said.

“Funny?”

“Pardon?”

“Is my bandaged-up appearance funny?”

Indeed, Noh Youngjin still had bandages wrapped all over his body.

It seemed the wounds from the Killer Bee gate hadn’t fully healed.

Noh Youngjin continued.

“Seo Juwon.”

“Yes, Deputy Team Leader.”

“You must be feeling proud after performing in the gate, but don’t get the wrong idea. You were just lucky, and I was just unlucky with the Killer Bees. It’s not that you’re stronger than me; I was simply out of luck.”

To Noh Youngjin’s words, I gave no reply.

I was simply filled with the thought of why this guy was so desperate to tear me down.

“Anyway, see you at the next gate. I’ll crush you so hard you won’t even make a peep.”

Saying that, Noh Youngjin left the office again.

The office fell silent once more.

Feeling dumbfounded, I sat down, and a teammate quietly whispered beside me.

“Hey, Juwon. Don’t mind him. That deputy is just soaked in inferiority complex.”

“Inferiority complex?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t it feel weird? Why he only picks on you.”

“Hm, honestly, yes. I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong.”

“Right. The reason is….”

The teammate lowered his voice and whispered in my ear.

“That Noh Youngjin guy is also a parachute hire.”

“Pardon? Parachute?”

I whispered even lower.

“Yeah. Well, you can’t exactly be called a parachute. But it’s true you entered Myth Guild through a special case, right?”

“Yes. I joined after standing out in the Red Gate.”

“Exactly. But Noh Youngjin entered similarly.”

“How?”

To my question, the teammate explained the whole story.

Noh Youngjin.

He had joined Myth Guild after defeating a monster that appeared in the city and appearing on TV.

The teammate continued.

“The monster that appeared back then was coincidentally a ‘Twin-Headed Goblin.’ You know, a goblin with two heads.”

“Twin-Headed Goblin? I’ve never heard of such a monster….”

“Right. It was the first and only appearance since then. That’s why it drew even more attention. They called him the hunter who subdued a rare monster.”

The teammate went on.

“Thanks to that, he was specially recruited into Myth Guild, but he got mocked a lot in the team he was in at the time. Lucky entry, attention-seeker, parachute—this kind of thing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I heard he suffered a lot mentally because of it. I didn’t see it myself, but someone who was in the same team back then told me, so it’s definite.”

“Hm, I see. But why pick on me? If we’re both parachutes, shouldn’t he be nicer?”

“Who knows. But it’s definitely because we’re both parachute hires. There’s no other reason to bully you.”

At the teammate’s words, I fell into thought.

Ha, what a ridiculous guy.

He didn’t even join through proper procedures himself, yet he picks on me.

The anger I had been holding back began to boil.

It was absurd that he had been bullying me for such a trivial reason.

‘Just touch me one more time.’

That’s why I made up my mind.

Deputy Team Leader Noh Youngjin.

If he messes with me one more time, I won’t hold back either.