* Name Reminder
Haphuco - The main character
Merodi - Haphuco's co-worker at Ba restaurant, she has a band
Miu - Hana's classmate, Merodi's younger sister
New Character
Tina - Queen of Rock, one of the founders of Talent
Ali - Miu's father and Merodi's young uncle
Miruki - Former guitarist of Merodi's band
Suki - Drummer of Merodi's band
Rubi - Bassist of Merodi's band
Mia - Manager of Merodi's band but taking a break as giving birth
Van - A man out of no where want to help Merodi's band
Hakyo - The name of the city where Haphuco is living in
My name is Merodi, a 22 years old girl.
Since young, I have always been in love with music, especially Rock music. Its distinct strong and steady melody, blowing immerse energy and aggression has always stirred my body up.
Tina, often referred to as the "Queen of Rock", is my idol. Her voice, energy, and stage presence made her one of the most iconic performers in the genre. I always want to be someone like her.
Well, I was inspired to be able to play like her.
I bought a guitar and oh mind, isn't it expensive. A quality electric guitar can cost up to over 13.000.000 Don ( = 1000 USD in real life ) if you are really serious with the instrument. Not to mention, the guitar is just part of the whole setup. To really play Rock, you will need a bunch of other gear such as the Amplifier, the Effects Pedals, Headphones and so on which add up the fees to a lot.
So yeah, it's really an investment.
Saying learning how to play guitar is easy or hard is completely subjective. To me, it is pretty easy but to the author ( Yeah, this novel's freaking author ), it is very hard. There is a distinct gap between people who actually learn guitar and people who do not. To people who do not play guitar, just you holding the guitar and creating some sounds is already enough to make you look cool in their eyes but to people who actually play guitar, they will know whether what you are doing is impressive or simple child play.
So I learned how to play the guitar and then high school came and I created a band. The band's first member was a classmate of mine who also plays guitar so we easily got along. We named our band as [Dream Star], meaning the stars pointing towards our dream, the dream of becoming a famous band known by many people. Sounds a bit naive but bear with us, it was when we were still high school students.
We liked dreaming...
The band then got new members, went through all sort of things, both good and bad but we could say that after a couple of years, the band had been developed a lot. And finally, we managed to reach the Final of the Rock's Got Talent Competition, organized by Talent.
Talent is a famed organization that gathers only the finest crop of talent from each and every area of the entertainment industry, including Rock music. Becoming a part of Talent is the goal of every serious band and everyone competes with each other for the one and only single spot that is dedicated for the winner of the Competition.
The Final between [Dream Star] and [Shinning Sky]
It was a close battle that is forced to only be decided by Tina, the final jury and one of the founders of Talent.
Tina : I see that you really admire me, right, Merodi ?
Merodi : Ah, yes, Mrs Tina. You have always been my idol and I have always wanted to be like you.
Tina : I see...
Tina : You have truly achieved what you want. I can see my style inside your music.
Merodi : Than...
Tina : And so you became nothing more than a copy of ME, huh ?!
Merodi : Wha...
Tina : Even if you can play like me, you will only be...
Tina : the INFERIOR version of me.
Tina ( Point right into Merodi's face ) : Your music lacks...
Tina : Identity !
And the Winner of the Rock's Got Talent Competition is
[Shinning Sky]
Congratulations !!!
...
[ Present ]
Merodi : Did you have fun at school today, Miu ?
Miu : It was alright. We learned the song "You Are My Sunshine" today.
Merodi : Ah, that song. It's a good song.
Miu : Your band will have a performance at the Live House today, right ? Can I join for once ?
Merodi ( Rub Miu's head ) : When you get older, Miu. I told you that you can not go to the Live House until you turn 15.
Ali : We're home !
Ali is Miu's father and Merodi's young uncle. Both Ali and his wife work for the same company so as a matter of fact, they tend to go home together.
Miu ( Run towards Ali and her mother ) : Papa ! Mama !
Ali : Did you have fun today, my sweetheart ?!
Ali ( Look at Merodi ) : As always, thanks for picking Miu up, Merodi.
Merodi : No problem,...
Merodi : Father...
Ali is actually not Merodi's father. In fact, Merodi does not know anything about both her father and her mother. She only knows one thing when she grew older that her mother, who ditched her family, decided to abandon her for an unknown reason. Ali who was just 22 years old at that time, decided to raise Merodi by himself.
Come to think of it, Merodi is also 22 years old now.
Merodi : Well then, I will be off.
Merodi : I still need to prepare for the performance tonight.
For quite some times now, Merodi has been moving out of Ali's house, partly because she doesn't want to disturb the married life of his uncle, who was thought to be single for the rest of his life until he married his younger co-worker at the age of 38. Although Ali is not interested in music, he fully supported Merodi's passion. It was him who bought a guitar for Merodi so she could get started playing the instrument.
Ali : Good luck with your performance today, Merodi.
Ali : I am sure you will do well.
I hope so...
I hope so...
...
People says that success climbs to the top while failure gradually descends into the abyss.
It seems to be true...
Since the defeat in the Final, [Dream Star] suffered a huge blow to its face.
Miruki, the band's guitarist, decided to move to [Shinning Sky].
It was a difficult decision to make but reasonable.
The story is Miruki's parents never approve of her pursuit of Rock. Simply speaking, she would have to give up her dream unless she could prove herself by becoming a part of Talent.
And her band failed.
That's when Tina, the "Queen of Rock", appeared herself to offer Miruki the chance to join [Shinning Sky], saying she is the final missing piece to the band.
And so Miruki left the band but no one could really blame her.
The impact of her leaving is clear to everyone's eyes.
The audience does not lie.
As we perform on the stage, we can easily get negative assumptions just from the declined reaction from the audience
"The band surely has got worse."
"They have not been the same band since Miruki left."
"This may be the last time I watch the band playing"
The number does not lie neither.
There is something called Quota which is the minimum amount of money that the performance needs to make. If they can't make their Quota, they would have to pay the missing by their own pocket. Depending on negotiation, bands typically get 50% or higher of the amount exceeding the Quota.
Despite playing in the familiar Live House tonight, the sales was once again a reduction compared to the previous performance. Fortunately, it was still enough to exceed the Quota.
So everyone's happy, right ?
Wrong !
It is not really about making money but because the opportunity to participate in Talent's next Competition is based on the average revenue earned through performances and achievements in competitions held during the year which have their participants picked based on their revenue.
Suki : It was a decent performance tonight, wasn't it, everyone ?
Suki, a boy who is the band's drummer, tries to console the situation.
Rubi : Yeah, I think we did well, considering the difficulty of the preparation for the performance.
Rubi, a girl who is the band's bassist, tries to find joy from the band's feat.
With Miruki, the main inspiration of the band's lyric, gone, the band has got way more trouble trying to write a new original song for playing tonight. Although they have tried their best, the quality of the newest song clearly went down.
Merodi ( Pour beer into her mouth ) : Gulp, Gulp, Gulp...
Merodi ( Put the beer down after drinking all ) : Hahhhhh !
Merodi ( Drunk ) : By the way, when will Mia Senpai give birth to her first child ?
And we have Merodi, the band's guitarist, the leader, tries to drink as much beer as possible to forget the hardship they are facing.
Merodi : Man, we knew her since high school and now she is a mother already.
Merdodi ( Cry ) : Why did she marry so early ?!
Mia is the band's manager but as she got married and became pregnant, it is decided to have her temporarily take a break from the band.
Despite late night and being drunk, Merodi still insists that she can walk home by herself as the distance is not far at all. ( Readers, don't ever do what Merodi did in this case, always be mindful about your safety )
As Merodi walked, she thinks about the band's current situation.
Despite trying to be hidden, Merodi can still feel an atmosphere of negativity surrounding the band and as the band's leader, she is affected by it the most.
She then thinks about the situation of each person in her band.
Saki is working for a convinience store as a part-timer, isn't it. Not a really solid job to make a living.
Rubi has her family running a restaurant, isn't it. But she said she does not really want to take over the restaurant if she is given a choice.
What's about her ?
She knows nothing aside from playing guitar.
Yet, Tina, the person she admires the most, told her...
Tina ( Point right into Merodi's face ) : Your music lacks...
Tina : Identity !
Merodi ( Frown ) : Urg !
Should she go back to drink more beer ?
"It's a shame, isn't it ?"
A voice surprises her, as she looks to where the voice came from, she saw a man. You can call him Van.
Van : I did not mean to surprise you. My name is Van.
Great, this's why you should not go alone at late night, especially you are a girl. You will meet people like this.
Better to call the police.
Van : Wait ! I just want to talk.
Merodi ( Drunk ) : Oh really, but your foxed-eyes make you look really like a bad guy, you know.
Van ( Look sad ) : That's hurt.
Merodi ( Ready to call the police ) : What do you want ?
Van : I watched you guys performance's tonight.
Van : It's a shame that Miruki, the guitarist in your band, left.
Van : Her leaving was really a painful lost to the team.
Merodi ( Turn around and move ) : Yeah, yeah, yeah, we already know, can I leave now ?
Van : But it's even more a shame when you guys lost the Final.
Van : It's was a close match that was only decided by Tina, the "Queen of Rock".
Van : At that time, she said your music lacks...
Van : Identity !
Merodi ( Irritated ) : ...
Merodi ( Stop ) : What's your point ?
Van : I can help the band !
Van : I can see that [Dream Star] has not yet reached its peak...
Van : I can see that YOU have not realized your full potential, Merodi.
Van : Your music's Identity is currently being too influenced by the presence of Tina that it got eclipsed.
Van : It's completely fine to look up to people but you always have to aim to surpass them.
Van : Because the moment you just want to be like them, even if you succeed, you will only be...
Van : the INFERIOR version of them.
Merodi ( Turn back ) : Okay, I heard enough of your bullsh*t !
Merodi ( Walk towards ) : Who do you think you...
Merodi ( Trip a rock ) : are...Ah...
She gonna fall.
Always have your eyes on the road, everyone.
She then falls unconscious...
...
Merodi ( Wake up ) : Huh ?!
When she opens her eyes, she finds herself in her room.
But how did she return to her room exactly ?
She drunk a lot last night so she could not remember.
Like Haphuco said, you can't remember what on earth you do when you are drunk.
She then wondered something else.
When did she remove her clothes ?
She now only have her undershirt and undershorts left on her body.
Well, it's not like she does not tend to remove her clothes when she goes to sleep so whatever.
But she remembered she met someone...
She could not remember who it is...
If only she could see that person again so that she would recognize them immediately.
As if...
It's just 6 a.m., let's go outside the balcony to taste some fresh air.
Van : Oh, hey !
As Merodi opens the door, she is greeted by Van, the person she met yesterday who is brushing his teeth on his room's balcony.
Van ( Try to look away ) : Oh mind, you should be more careful with what you are wearing. I understand it's still early but there's still a chance of someone seeing you, right ?
Van : You may not remember but we met last night, you tripped the rock and fall unconscious so I brought you to your room. Luckily, the design of your room key is the same as my key.
Van : Also, it's a coincidence that we are neighbor. I just moved here though, what's a surprised.
Merodi : ...
Merodi : Did you remove my clothes ?
Van : Oh, right, I think it would be uncomfortable for you to sleep so I did that.
Van ( Resolute ) : No worry, I swear that I did not do anything pervert to you. I swear !
Van ( Thumb up ) : But it was a good for my eyes though, to be completely honest.
Merodi ( Blushed ) : I am gonna kill this guy.
And so, a fated encounter happened.
End of Chapter 10 : Van
Next Chapter - Chapter 11 : Phoenix