Chapter 9

### Chapter 9: Becoming a Monster in 200,000 Seconds (Part 2)

### Proof of Skill

I was confident in my ability to fit an accompaniment to a melody. No, perhaps it's more accurate to say that this is something a composer should naturally be able to do. Can a composer who can't do this even be called a composer?

Anyway, I started playing the piano. It was the second time I touched a piano since returning from hell. The keyboard I played at home yesterday, a master keyboard, doesn't count as a piano. The feel of pressing the keys is completely different, so it naturally didn't count.

"Playing in front of a toilet paper roll... It's been a really long time..."

I'm not sure how other schools do it, but at our school, during the sight-singing and ear training class, all students related to the piano are gathered to perform sight-singing. Students of other instruments are handled separately.

While it might seem a bit forceful, it's surprisingly efficient. It allows for mutual improvement, or so they say.

'He plays well.'

As soon as I stepped forward, a guy named Lee Sung-hyun, a piano major, sent me a look that was thick with disdain. He once spewed profanities at me, calling me a "fucking bastard."

He indirectly apologized, but it couldn't have been sincere.

After a period of calm, he's started to provoke me again recently. It seems that a person's nature is really hard to change.

'Yeah... It's really tough.'

Thinking back to my past life, I knew very well without anyone telling me.

Therefore, I am now...

Going to show mercy.

Since my skills were underestimated, I'll first impress them with my performance, and if anyone dares to provoke me again, I'll break their legs.

I recalled the faces of the monstrous beings I had tamed in hell. After fierce battles, I had to figure out how to make them obey.

The answer was surprisingly simple. The monstrous beings in hell felt pain, and I tortured them to create music.

I realized then that when communication is impossible, one must communicate with fists.

Boom!

I started playing the keys.

The sight-singing sheet music had no accompaniment. Not just the accompaniment, but there was no intro either.

The performance lasted about 40 seconds, which was extremely short. Therefore, I deliberately extended the sight-singing by creating an intro melody in just 5 minutes.

'Normally, this would be crazy.'

Deliberately extending an already tense sight-singing class?

It's insane. Or rather, from the moment I decided to add an intro on my own...

The meaning of sight-singing, which is to express the music as written, would be lost.

But I didn't care.

What I needed now was a clear proof, not a good attitude in class.

Ding! Ding-ding!

I played the melody written on the sheet music. The scale was a minor scale, so my left hand also pressed the black keys vigorously.

The term "followed" isn't just a literary expression. It really did follow.

Offbeat.

This, too, is something that should never be done during the ear training session.

But I couldn't help it. The excitement from returning from hell just two days ago strongly demanded offbeat.

'My fingers, of course, didn't stiffen.'

While my life in hell was harsh, I had been consistently making and fiddling with instruments.

Although I returned before completing the hell piano, I still remember the feel of the crude keys I made from bones.

Therefore, this old Yamaha upright piano is no different from a grand piano to me!

"What's that...?"

"Does he usually play that well!?"

You can't play at all!

I wanted to shout at the kids who were muttering, but I couldn't open my mouth. All I could do was show off the sight-singing piece I had arranged in 5 minutes.

Boom!

Originally, it would have been around 25 seconds, but with the addition of a 10-second intro, it was actually around 35 seconds.

A not-so-grand climax for the short sight-singing piece arrived.

And here, I ignored the sheet music.

I pressed the sustain pedal without any indication and moved my right hand up an octave on my own.

The high notes continued seamlessly, harmonizing with the next note.

The solemnity originally present in the sheet music and the dreaminess that wasn't.

The two emotions mixed, creating a new sensation that enveloped my entire body.

And this sensation is not something I alone feel. At least everyone in this room will feel it.

Ting!

The performance ended on a high white key.

I took a deep breath and looked around.

Not everyone, but about half of them had their mouths open. The ear training teacher, who could be considered the main figure in this class, was no exception.

"This... This is..."

What would the ear training teacher's reaction be?

Would he feel that the class was disrespected because it wasn't a proper sight-singing performance?

But that was a misconception and a worry.

Clap!

He began clapping with a bright smile, something I had never seen before.

And it spread,

Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap!

Naturally, it infected the other students as well.

"Crazy..."

"What? It wasn't a piece someone else wrote!?"

It seems more students than I thought were skeptical about the authenticity of the piece.

But this will make it clear. My piece is mine.

I got up from the piano bench and walked over to Lee Sung-hyun.

"Do you still see me as beneath you?"

His trembling gaze.

The confident expression he used to wear was nowhere to be seen.

There was only a meek, deer-in-the-headlights look.

I couldn't see my own expression without a mirror, but I knew it was a face that would make him think twice.

"Uh... Uh... No..."

"No is informal."

Technically, it is informal, but I just said it that way.

"...Were you hiding your skills?"

"No?"

"Then..."

"I awakened in a day."

Actually, anything I said now would be strange.

If I said I was hiding my skills, they might think I had a middle school syndrome. If I said I found a secret manual on the street, that would be even stranger.

Since anything I say will be strange, wouldn't it be better to say something even stranger?

That's right.

I'm an awakened one now!

"I'm actually an awakened one."

"What the hell are you talking about...?"

"I'm an awakened one!"

Bam!

I didn't yell for no reason. From my experience in hell, yelling is effective.

Look at this scared face.

It's as if he's looking at a madman, isn't it?

'Being seen as a madman is better than being underestimated.'

It was a way of thinking I never would have had in the past, but it was also logical.

"Well, did you two clearly determine the winner?"

Satisfied, Teacher Kim Hak-seon approached us.

I answered confidently.

"Yes."

"Good, that's good. Shall we continue the class?"

No one explicitly said who won or lost. It was clear without saying.

Just compare the child with a pained expression and my face, which looked like I had a bowel movement once a month.

'I've put a mark on one...'

I could have done more, but rushing wouldn't be good. When the opportunity comes, I'll deal with it then.

I, who returned from hell, never forget my enemies.

"Let's shake hands."

"..."

Lee Sung-hyun reluctantly shook my hand.

I immediately targeted one of the most painful spots on a human, the space between the index and middle finger bones on the back of his hand, which I discovered during my hell training.

"Ahh... Ahhhh!"

"Whoa, what's wrong? You startled me."

Of course, pretending to be unaware was not a skill I learned in hell.

* * *

The way home from Yeonhwa Arts High School was lined with various music schools.

Yeonhwa Arts High School students, students from the nearby arts high school, and those preparing to enter these two schools... there was always a steady demand, which formed a commercial district.

Of course, a commercial district is a commercial district.

Not all schools that attract students do well.

A good location, good equipment, and a competent faculty were necessary.

Ding!

Tap-tap-tap!

Ding-ding-ding!

The sounds of guitars, pianos, and metronomes came from the practice rooms, but they weren't loud. They were at a volume that could be considered white noise. That was the problem.

There weren't many students.

'After all, it's only been a short time...'

The Green Music School had only been around for two years. Despite being state-of-the-art and having a good faculty, it wasn't fully booked, and that was the reason.

"Ha..."

Seo Hee-young, the director and jack-of-all-trades, sighed again today.

She used to work here before the Green Music School was established.

When the previous director sold the school and it was completely renovated, she thought she might be laid off, but unexpectedly, she was given the position of director.

The salary was decent!

But that was the only good thing.

The amount of work increased, and the headaches multiplied.

Even now, it was the same.

'The owner is coming today...'

Seo Hee-young, though a salaried director, was not the actual owner of the school. The real owner was the president.

And the president was visiting unexpectedly. There was definitely something up.

Seo Hee-young was certain it was to reprimand her.

Ding!

Finally, the time arrived.

But the president only exchanged a brief greeting before immediately looking for his daughter.

"Dayun."

"Yes, Dad."

"Can I talk to you for a moment? Ah, Director, too."

"Ah... Yes!"

She thought it was a private conversation between father and daughter and relaxed for a moment!

But it wasn't.

She followed into the counseling room with her head bowed.

The room smelled of a faint floral air freshener, but the atmosphere suddenly became heavy, making it hard to breathe.

"Why, wasn't there a school competition until yesterday?"

"Yes!"

"Dayun heard something from a student named Kim Do-il, right?"

"Ah..."

...There was no way she could forget.

He came to the school uninvited, walked around as he pleased, and then suddenly asked for a haircut as if he had a steel plate on his face.

Thinking he was a weird kid, she immediately kicked him out.

Wasn't that a good response as a director?

"Yesterday, when I was looking around the school, he suddenly asked for a haircut, so I kicked him out."

"I see. Let's call him back."

"Call him back?"

"Yes."

Seo Hee-young tilted her head. She hadn't fully grasped the situation yet.

But due to the near-certain tone of the "famous composer" in the industry, she could only nod and close her mouth.

"Dayun, thanks to that kid, you'll place in the competition. You might not get first place, but you'll win a prize."