Chapter 7: The Melody That Stopped the World

Description

The conversation with the Myth Guild recruitment team leader ended successfully.

I skimmed through the temporary contract, and there didn’t seem to be any problematic parts, and the conversation itself was truly enjoyable.

And the salary part.

That part was especially satisfying.

500 million won.

An annual salary of a whopping 500 million won.

I was overjoyed by that fact.

Until now, my salary had never even reached 50 million won, let alone 500 million.

Yet just because I awakened, I was going to receive 500 million—this was truly a happy thing.

And what was even better was that if I joined Myth Guild and got promoted to a higher raid team, the salary would jump tenfold.

In other words, if I just proved my strength, I could receive a massive 5 billion won.

And if I climbed even higher, 50 billion was also possible.

After finishing that thrilling conversation, I packed up the Korean set meal and headed home.

“Eunbyeol, Daddy’s home!”

“Daddyyyyyyyy!”

The moment I entered our tiny house, Eunbyeol came running with pitter-patter steps and hugged me.

“Aigoo, my daughter. Were you very bored?”

“Yeah! I missed Daddy so much I thought my neck would fall off!”

“Oh my. Really? Where did you hear that expression?”

“Hmm? Just heard it on TV! Daddy, what’s this smell? It smells really good!”

“Ahh, Daddy brought delicious food!”

“Wooowwww! Delicious food! Delicious food! Our Daddy is the best!”

Eunbyeol shouted while jumping up and down.

Seeing Eunbyeol’s bright, sunny face made me feel good too.

I set the table in the living room and started placing the packed Korean dishes one by one.

“Wooowwww! Daddy, what is all this?”

“Yeah. This is called hanjeongsik.”

“Hanjeongsik? What’s thaaat?”

“Hmm, it’s Korean food, but think of it as formal, fancy food.”

“Ahh, so it’s fancy food!”

“That’s right. How is our daughter so smart?”

“Hehe, because I’m Daddy’s daughter!”

Eunbyeol said something really admirable.

I stroked her head and started feeding her the hanjeongsik.

“Wooowwww! It’s really delicious!”

“Yeah? Tasty?”

“Yeah! The best! Awesome! The most delicious in the world!”

“What? More than what Daddy makes?”

“Uh, uhh? T-That’s…”

Eunbyeol stopped eating and hesitated.

“Haha, just kidding. Just kidding. Daddy was teasing, so hurry and eat.”

“Hehe, was that it? But Daddy’s food is delicious too!”

“Yeah, thank you. So hurry and eat. It won’t taste good when it gets cold.”

“Yeah yeah! I’ll eat lots and lots!”

Eunbyeol said cheerfully and continued eating.

She was holding braised short ribs in her left hand and dried corvina in her right—it must really be delicious.

While eating for a long time, Eunbyeol spoke up.

“Daddy, where did you go earlier?”

“Ah, right. I forgot to tell Eunbyeol.”

I clapped my hands with a clap.

I was so focused on feeding her the delicious hanjeongsik that I forgot the main point.

“Daddy, you see. A guild contacted me.”

“Guild? The place where hunter uncles go?”

“Yeah. A super famous guild contacted me, and I’m thinking of joining.”

“Hmm? Which one?”

Eunbyeol said while holding braised short ribs and nibbling on them.

I answered her.

“Yeah. Myth Guild.”

At that moment, Eunbyeol dropped the short rib with a thud.

“Really? Daddy, really Myth Guild?”

“Why? Does Eunbyeol know it too?”

“Yeah! Of course I know! It’s the biggest guild in our country! Daddy, are you really joining Myth Guild?”

“Of course. If Daddy says yes, I can join right away.”

“Wooowwwww!”

Eunbyeol jumped up, hugged me like she was doing a victory ceremony, and shouted.

“Our Daddy is joining Myth Guild! Our Daddy is the best!”

“Hahaha, what’s this. So our Eunbyeol knew about Myth Guild too?”

“Of course! It’s always on TV! Wooowwww! Hooray! Our Daddy is a Myth Guild hunter! Awesome!”

Eunbyeol jumped up and down while hugging me, expressing her joy.

I patted her back gently and smiled warmly.

I felt good, like I had become a proud father.

After receiving Eunbyeol’s intense celebration, I thought about Myth Guild all night.

And I reached a conclusion.

To join Myth Guild.

Actually, there was no reason to hesitate.

Myth Guild was the best in every aspect.

Money, benefits, honor, the skill of its members.

Even the fact that they thoroughly protected their guild members was attractive about Myth Guild.

In such a situation, there was absolutely no reason to reject Myth Guild’s recruitment offer.

The refreshing morning that followed.

I packed Eunbyeol’s bag to take her to kindergarten.

“Let’s see. Today’s items are baby photos and…”

I opened the photo album to check the items the kindergarten had sent via group chat.

Because there was a screenshot of the chat there.

But…

“Huh? What’s this?”

I found a video in the album that I had never saved.

Wondering what it was, I played the video.

Mmm-mmm!

Then Eunbyeol’s voice came from the video.

In the black screen, Eunbyeol was humming some melody.

“What song is this? Is it an existing song? Why is the melody so good?”

I tilted my head.

The sweet melody felt incredibly pleasant to listen to.

I kept listening to the melody coming from the video for a long time.

“Daddy, what are you doing?”

Eunbyeol, who had come back from the bathroom, tilted her head and asked.

“Ah, Eunbyeol. While Daddy was packing your things, I found this?”

I showed Eunbyeol the video on my phone.

“Ahh, this is the song Eunbyeol made!”

“You made a song?”

“Yeah! I made it yesterday when Daddy was doing the dishes?”

“You made this melody, Eunbyeol? Not an existing song?”

“Yeah yeah! Eunbyeol made it! Why? Can’t I?”

Eunbyeol tilted her head and asked.

Her clear, lake-like eyes held no trace of lies.

“No. There’s nothing wrong with that. But the song is so good.”

“Hehe, really?”

“Yeah. You really made this, right? Not something you heard on TV or at kindergarten?”

“Yeah yeah! It kept coming into my head, so I recorded it! To surprise Daddy, hehe!”

Eunbyeol giggled with a mischievous face.

Hmm, so that’s how it was.

But the melody is really too good.

“Anyway, got it. Let’s pack your things and hurry to the bus. We’ll be late.”

“Yeah yeah! Let’s go! Let’s gooo!”

I safely put Eunbyeol on the kindergarten bus and sent her off.

Eunbyeol waving from the window.

After sending her off with a smile, I immediately returned home.

“Hmm, it keeps bothering me.”

Why is that?

The melody Eunbyeol hummed in my phone video kept coming to mind.

Maybe that’s why.

I put aside housework for a moment and listened to the song Eunbyeol made.

Mm-mm-mm! Mm-mm! Mm-mm-mmm!

The melody hummed in Eunbyeol’s cute voice.

But for a mere five-year-old child, this melody was far too sweet.

Even I, who doesn’t know much about music, could feel that it was good.

“Ah, what should I do with this?”

Thinking it was an extraordinary melody, I pondered what to do with it.

Then I turned on the computer without thinking and typed “music community” on the internet.

“Hmm, is this it?”

At the very top was a site called <Music Engine>.

Below it was written “Korea’s representative music community.”

I entered <Music Engine> and looked around various posts.

Then I started posting on the amateur board without much thought.

Title: Hello. Does anyone know this song?

Content: My daughter hummed this into my phone, but I can’t remember it at all. 

Does anyone know the title of this song?

I attached the video of Eunbyeol humming to the post.

Fortunately, since the screen was black, there was no worry about personal information being revealed.

I didn’t mention that Eunbyeol composed it.

The melody Eunbyeol made was so good that I uploaded it, but I didn’t write that Eunbyeol created it.

If I said she composed it and it turned out to be an existing song, I might get unnecessary hate.

I had heard that even active composers sometimes believed they created a song, only to later realize it was unconscious plagiarism.

“Hmm, wonder what will happen.”

After posting, I turned off the computer.

And this impulsive action would completely change Eunbyeol’s life.

Daphne Entertainment.

This was Korea’s top entertainment agency.

The best talents naturally gathered at the best agency.

In Daphne Entertainment’s A&R team was a composer with the best skills in the country.

His name was ‘Nam Seungha.’

Well over 50 years old this year, he still held the title of top composer despite his age.

His main genre was ballads, but he wasn’t only good at ballads.

He wrote ballads, R&B, and even girl group idol songs well.

In fact, the current number 1 song on the Melon chart was a girl group song composed by Nam Seungha.

Moreover, his name appeared dozens of times in the credits of the top 100 Melon chart.

That was how famous Nam Seungha was as a national composer.

He was also immensely respected by junior musicians, not for his skill but for his character.

Despite being busy, he held free composition classes, worked as a university professor, and gave unpaid lectures to nurture juniors.

Even more impressive, he listened to juniors’ worries and was famous for leaving kind replies even in internet communities.

“Let’s see…”

Today, after finishing composing, Nam Seungha entered the music community he frequented, <Music Engine>.

He planned to leave generous advice for juniors lost in the chaotic “scene” today as well.

While slowly browsing the community.

“Huh?”

Nam Seungha found a strange post.

It was the post with the most views and recommendations among all posts on <Music Engine>.

The title was peculiar.

Title: Hello. Does anyone know this song?

A song?

What song could it be?

And why was this the best post?

Nam Seungha clicked the post with curiosity.

Content: My daughter hummed this into my phone, but I can’t remember it at all. Does anyone know the title of this song?

Nam Seungha read the content, but his confusion didn’t clear.

It wasn’t particularly special content, so why were the views and recommendations so high?

Was someone manipulating views?

Sigh.

Who would do such a thing on the sacred <Music Engine>?

They should write one more song instead of wasting time on that.

Nam Seungha felt dejected.

“Well, let’s listen first.”

Though he felt sorry for the junior’s strange behavior, Nam Seungha decided to listen to the attached song.

He was curious what kind of song would make someone manipulate views.

The moment he pressed play.

Mm-mm-mmm!

The sound of a little girl humming came out.

Up to that point, it was just ordinary.

But as each note stacked up, Nam Seungha’s expression gradually filled with shock.

The reason was simple.

“What, what is this. This melody…?”

The melody was shockingly good.