Devil’s Music

Chapter 416: Son Rin's Art of War

Even after Geon's roar, sixteen measures of the latter part of the music followed, and Jin-yeon and Yun-jung burst out with intense choreography.

If the dance up until the latter part was easy to follow, the last sixteen measures featured breakdancing.

Yun-jung, performing the windmill move considered difficult for women, was closely followed by Jin-yeon doing the same move, making it look to the audience like a four-legged person was windmilling.

Continuously standing on their heads, the two women froze in place like B-boys as the music stopped with the sound of an explosion.

The two women standing on their heads on stage stopped as Geon, from the top of the stairs, still felt the echo of his roar and spilled out a shout to his loved and missed one, and the stage went dark.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The audience was in utter chaos. Everyone had risen from their seats and left their spots, so there was a growing murmur as they tried to find their way back in the pitch-dark stage.

Everyone had shaken their bodies enough to sweat in such a short time that they were relieved of stress and found their seats laughing.

"Wow, this is killer. Honey, when are you going to buy me this album? I always want to listen to it."

"Just wait a bit. I was originally only going to buy yours, but that won’t do, I need one for myself too."

"Alright, alright. I’ll buy it this week no matter what happens! Trust me!"

As people murmured and found their places, the lights on the stage came back on, and the audience quickly found their seats in the brightened auditorium.

With the lights on, the stage was empty of Geon and Chae-eun. Just as the audience was puzzled by the empty stage, the floor at the back of the stage slowly rose, revealing a huge Yamaha drum set.

An orange, 12-cylinder huge drum set appeared, and as the dark shadow on it lifted his head, people craned their necks to see who it was.

Though he was an unfamiliar face, a man who remembered seeing him in an article shouted.

"It's Arthur Hodgeson! The CTO of The Lake!!! The drummer for Kay!!"

Hearing his story, the audience murmured.

"What, he's here too? Did he say he was going to perform Song of Fire live?"

"Maybe, I heard that Suzuka Miyawaki and Kevin Winston are joining that song. Arthur wouldn’t be here alone."

"Probably, ah, no need to get our hopes up… Oh!! There, there!!!"

As one audience member pointed at Arthur sitting at the drum set, everyone turned their heads at once.

"Ah!! It's Kevin Winston!! He really came!!"

"Aaaaah!!! Is it really live? Where, where is Suzuka? Did Suzuka Miyawaki come too?"

"Uaaaah!!! Sister Suzuka!!! Please come out, please!!! Say you're here, say Suzuka is here too!!"

Behind Arthur, Kevin appeared with a smile, slinging a blue bass guitar over his shoulder and moving to the center of the stage.

Seeing the audience, Kevin smiled slyly, placed his hand on the strings of the bass, and closed his eyes.

As the murmuring audience went quiet, a profound bass solo enveloped the stage.

Kevin's bass performance defied the conventional belief that a bass guitar alone could not move an audience, spreading out in lyrical and beautiful music.

Whether it was just warming up or part of the performance, Kevin's music continued, and something began to emerge from the floor beside him.

As the audience focused on what was rising from the floor, they exclaimed upon seeing the fully revealed object.

"That... that’s a grand piano?"

A female audience member stood up and said.

"I've seen that piano before! It has 'Suzuka' embossed in gold next to it! It's Suzuka Miyawaki's grand piano! I saw it in the music video too!"

"Is she really here?"

Unlike Kevin, Suzuka had been consistently active, gaining significant popularity among the other members, except for Geon.

With her excellent playing skills, innocent appearance, cute speech, and personality, her fan base was steadily growing.

Leaning against the empty grand piano and playing the bass, Kevin was joined by a soft drum play from Arthur.

Arthur's drumming, played with the most accurate timing, meshed seamlessly with Kevin's bass, entrancing the audience with their hypnotic looks.

Kevin, quite a handsome man, had many female fans. Although his popularity was overshadowed by always being next to Geon, in Geon’s absence, Kevin was a star with model-like proportions himself.

With slightly longer than short blond hair and a side part, Kevin, in a blue

suit, played the bass, which was a scene in itself.

After about two minutes of his performance, as it neared its end, Suzuka walked onto the stage wearing a white dress with red flowers painted on it.

As soon as she appeared, the studio erupted in ecstatic screams.

"Uaaaaah!!! It's real!!! She really came!!"

"My angel!! I love you, Suzuka!!!"

Even though she had performed in front of larger audiences, the cheers always seemed to embarrass her; blushing slightly, Suzuka waved with a gentle smile and sat down at the grand piano.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she added the heavy sound of the grand piano to the continuing music from Kevin and Arthur.

The beautifully slow music mesmerized the people, who tilted their heads in confusion, not knowing the piece being played, until someone muttered.

“This… isn’t this 'Fury'?”

A man nearby clapped his hands and exclaimed.

“That’s right, 'Fury'!! It’s being played so slowly I didn’t notice at first, but this song becomes so beautiful when played slowly.”

As people got lost in their trio's ensemble, one female audience member, who had been watching the stage, frowned as she felt the door next to her open.

“Who walks around during a concert? It’s really rude to disturb the music.”

Trying to see who it was, she peeked out the door and was shocked.

“Gasp!!!”

As she was about to scream, the man with the guitar put his index finger to his lips and winked.

As she nodded frantically, unable to take her eyes off his profile, the three on stage simultaneously stopped playing.

Feeling the sustain of the bass strings, Kevin opened his eyes and saw Arthur and Suzuka before adjusting his bass and leaping into the air, with Suzuka raising her hands high, and Arthur stretching his arms to the sky with drumsticks in hand.

As Kevin landed, Arthur and Suzuka forcefully struck their instruments, and an explosive sound burst out.

The psychedelic, groove metal-like heavy song was incredibly fast.

Kevin landed and immediately lowered his body, spreading his legs wide to play, while Suzuka bowed her head and played the piano keys so fast her hands were barely visible.

Arthur bent his head deeply, drumming intensely, the drum sound so fast it felt like it connected with the double bass, lifting people’s heartbeats.

Normally, in rock music where a guitar leads the melody, Suzuka's piano sound led the melody.

As the audience members started looking for Geon among the performing band members, the lights that had been illuminating the stage suddenly shone on the audience.

Startled by the lights shining on them, the audience members raised their hands to shield their eyes, and those near the central entrance of the audience screamed.

"Aaaaah!!! It’s Kay!!!"

"Wow!! He just came out next to us!!"

Emerging from the middle of the audience, Geon, wearing his trademark White Falcon, stepped onto the back of a seat and began playing.

Only the backs of the audience members were visible to Geon, but being so close to him excited them, and they raised their hands high.

As the audience members jiggled their hips trying to touch Geon, he quickly jumped onto the stage and stood in front of a microphone stand set up in the center.

Finally meeting their leader, the band members nodded to each other to balance, and Geon, aligning with them, brought his mouth close to the microphone.

Don’t think about going back.

Never look back.

Don’t close your book too soon.

On the next page of life.

You’ll discover another wonderful you.

Geon's voice was completely different when singing 'Song of the Wind.' Husky and powerful, his lyrics reached people's ears, resonating deeply, and despite the fast and exciting music, people sat quietly in their seats, listening to the music.

The fast music accelerated their heartbeats, and although they felt like jiggling soon, strangely, hearing Geon's voice made people reflect on their current lives.

Am I really living diligently? Am I doing my best right now? Haven’t I given up on something too easily? The audience members continually asked themselves these questions, unable to easily stand up and respond to the music.

Unconcerned about what the audience was thinking, Geon lowered his body to play the guitar, then leaned into the microphone again.

Nothing in the world moves in a straight line.

No goal is achieved without frustration and interference.

You have to experience defeat to learn how to win.

Like the first verse, Geon sang the next verse in a husky voice, leaning close to the microphone, his veins bulging in his neck.

Seeing his changed stance, the audience, sensing the climax was approaching, leaned forward from their seats, then gasped in astonishment at Geon's voice.

“What… what kind of human voice is this!!!”

“Is… is this the

voice of a god? No… could it be the voice of a devil or an angel?”

Geon's voice was incredibly high yet husky, as if he was spitting blood, demanding to be heard through the microphone tearing through the speakers.

Dream the most passionate dreams.

Live the most passionate life.

Never bow your head.

Lift your head and look straight at the world.

Growing old means.

It’s not your body that ages, but your mind.

As Geon roared to the sky, finishing his last words, he jumped next to Arthur, and Kevin also leaped to the front of Arthur's drums.

The groovy bass from Kevin, Arthur's precise and flamboyant play, and the beautiful sounds continuously emanating from Geon's White Falcon engraved themselves in the people's eyes, and as Geon took his hand off the guitar and took a deep breath.

Just the bass, drums, and piano playing the music and keeping the beat, Geon's long, white fingers rested on the eighth fret of the White Falcon, and as his hand moved, the audience grew noisy.

“What, what! It looks like he has nine fingers!!!”

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