Seeking an Overwhelming Image
"I want to give off an overwhelming image..."
Myeongjeon scribbled in her notebook, tapping a pen against her lips. Back then, she'd boldly declared, "I'm gonna smash it from the very first round!" But now that it was time to actually do something big, nothing was coming together.
"Whatcha doing?"
In the midst of it all, Dain plopped down beside her. She peered at the scribbled notebook, wondering what it was.
"Composing? You can do that without playing it?"
"If you study, yeah."
Both back then and now, plenty of people composed great music without reading sheet music or knowing theory. But Myeongjeon wasn't one of them—she'd desperately crammed composition knowledge because of it. She'd devoured everything from harmony to blues and jazz theory in a frenzy. The composing she was doing now was built on all that theory from her session days. Even without strumming the guitar, combining what she'd learned with Ha Suyeon's talent let her visualize it in her head to a certain extent.
Of course, that didn't change the fact that she still couldn't produce a song for the next round on the spot...
"Dain."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think makes something overwhelming?"
Dain stared at her like, What kinda question is that? But then she tilted her head up toward the ceiling.
"Overwhelming?" The word slipped from her lips and hung in the air.
"Why?"
"I told you before. We're going on that audition show."
"Yeah, you did."
"The first challenge is 'Utopia.' I want to hit 'em so hard with this theme that no one even thinks they can beat us. Like, show insane skill."
Dain nodded along. Myeongjeon scratched her head vigorously, looking frustrated.
"But just chasing this vague 'overwhelming' vibe isn't sparking anything. That's why I'm asking. Maybe you'll think of something."
"Hmm... Never really thought about it that way. Overwhelming, huh." Dain crossed her arms, deep in thought.
Just then, two of the usual trio strolled in late. Myeongjeon repeated the whole story to Suyeon and Chaerin. Suddenly, Chaerin burst out laughing.
"What'd you eat that's got you like this?"
"Chaerin, what's up?"
The other two were startled by Chaerin's reaction. Myeongjeon felt the same. What's with her all of a sudden?
"Ah~ 'Overwhelming' reminds me of the old days."
"What old days?"
"Y'know that time. When Suyeon slapped the crap outta Joohee-sunbae. I was like, 'Whoa, this girl's an overwhelming psycho. Do not mess with her.'"
A story Myeongjeon had heard before. Chaerin dove back into recounting her feelings from that day.
"How do I put it? Back in our third year of middle school, all those party girls and their 'unnie' cliques were always sizing each other up, right?"
"Yeah."
"I figured she'd gotten drunk, mouth off to the sunbae, talk back sharp to keep the upper hand, like 'I'm the baddest bitch here~' or whatever. But nope—straight-up slaps the sunbae. Everyone must've thought the same: 'Whoa, not her. Can't even dream of copying that...'"
Chaerin rambled on excitedly. Listening to this ridiculous tale from her past, Myeongjeon started getting a sense of what "overwhelming" could look like.
"Can't even dream of copying it, something like that?"
"Huh? Uh... You think anyone's dreaming of slapping a sunbae?"
Chaerin looked flustered by Myeongjeon's sudden question.
"Oh yeah, Dain, whatever happened with that Joohee-sunbae thing?"
"Kwonji said she had something to tell me about it..."
As the chatter continued, Myeongjeon tuned out the girls and started jotting notes onto her composition sheet.
Invasion from Seoul, episode 2. The official name was INVASION FROM SEOUL 2024. Episode 1 hadn't exactly been a smash hit, leaving the future of a season 2 up in the air—no official announcement, not even a production press conference. But with anonymous postings like [Band Audition Program Participant Recruitment], shooting scenes of bands popping up all over Seoul, and rumors circulating online like [Invasion 2024's episodes 0 and 1 are already shot; episode 2 is filming now]... it sure looked like Invasion 2024 was underway.
"Ugh, it's so damn hard to snag audience tickets."
And here's someone even more hyped for Invasion 2024 than most. Somehow—she had no idea how—she'd smuggled in a daddy bag stuffed with a Canon telephoto lens and a DSLR camera. She was a diehard fan of the boy band 2MAJOR. More precisely, of their guitarist, Han Seungyun.
She'd been stanning him since his promising trainee days, treating his male idol debut as more important than her own college entrance exams. But she'd unexpectedly aced college, while Han Seungyun made some weird call and became a band idol instead. The guy could barely play guitar—what the hell? she'd screamed, tearing her hair out. Still, with 50% love and 50% obligation, she kept fanning Han Seungyun and 2MAJOR.
"Fuck. Just book concerts or variety shows—why shove 'em on a show like this?"
What could she do? Honestly, 2MAJOR was at a level where appearing on any program to show a bit of skill, gain some traction, and snag a few photos was a win. At least bands like the up-and-coming TWR and WEKIDS (idol-bands, sure, but they all blurred together) were on it too.
"Thank god some semi-famous kids are here."
She knew 2MAJOR wasn't winning material, but getting stuck in an indie band audition and flaming out solo? That'd be a different level of humiliation. Fans wouldn't be able to show their faces. At least they'd have company in elimination.
She signed the spoiler-prevention waiver and settled into the audience seats, waiting for the broadcast. The dim, warm lighting made her eyelids heavy—then shooting started.
"Today's stage will feature a band original song showdown. Audience members, you can vote using the devices handed out..."
Staff explained the voting process. After a bit more waiting, the bands entered. With the main stage center, 15 teams lined up on each side in tiered seating—30 teams total.
"You've waited long enough, folks. First up—give a big round of applause! Quartet Thieves!"
The first band took the stage with intros, explaining their song. Blah blah blah—it barely carried to the seats. She snuck her phone out to check the band list for this audition.
Quartet Thieves... A-tier.
An obsessive indie fan's list. All 30 bands ranked, pros/cons, tiers, win chances. According to it, this band was A-grade—legit contenders.
Faces aren't bad. Song's kinda meh though. Sound gear issue?
What good was potential if they sounded like ass on basics? She grumbled about Mtown while checking 2MAJOR's spot again. B-tier. Mid realness, mid skill. Good that WEKIDS and TWR were B too—no "eliminated at the baseline" jokes.
These guys are legit.
Band name Mystica, right? After flops like Cuban Missile Crisis (A-tier, but setup glitches tanked it), Echo Stones (vocal cracks), NOTK (sounded off even to her untrained ears, and she'd only heard 2MAJOR otherwise). Mystica felt worlds apart.
"We'll pick Mystica."
"Mystica for us too."
"Whoa... Didn't expect this dogfight. We'll pick 'em too."
"Damn, we're out... But we'll jump in."
Four mentor teams picked Mystica. The MC hyped it up.
"Whoa! Four mentor teams pick Mystica! A four-way battle? Were they saving picks for this?!"
2MAJOR only got one pick... Saving for scraps, huh?
Still, a pick was a pick. Some got zero and bounced. She watched the mentors bicker over choices with interest.
"No mentor teams picked Kim Suchan Band. Tough break."
The band they'd just seen slumped in defeat. Fair enough—even she could tell they'd overreached without landing it.
But no next act cue. The venue quieted awkwardly. Staff and MC huddled by the set. Minutes passed; murmurs rose—"What's up?" "Something wrong?"
The MC hopped back onstage to calm things.
"And that's our sixth zero-pick team already. We didn't anticipate this. If mentors don't use all picks, teams get a second chance."
The venue erupted.
"Revival possible?!" Some whispered it; others yelled "Hell yeah!!" from the waiting area.
This felt off to her. Why hoard picks? Four chances each—why save?
Oh right, during rules—they said mentors get prize money if their team wins...
Made sense. Hold out for a sure winner to boost odds. She checked the list again.
But S-tier Mystica only got four. Who's left?
Only one S-tier... She moved her finger, uncovering the last name.
"Now, the moment everyone's been waiting for—the that turn!"
The bands buzzed harder than for Mystica—voices carrying to the audience.
"Them?" "They're fucked."
Under all the stares, four girls walked out. Petite, easy to miss among the bands—college freshmen at best, high schoolers more like.
But the set thrummed with tension like never before. As if those four could take on everyone combined and win.
She scrolled her phone for details.
Glorious hype everywhere. Dazed, she scrolled back up to the name.
Band name...
Setup done. The center guitarist swept back her hair and spoke.
"Hello. We're Group Sound."