Devil’s Music

The beginning of "Fury" was a bass solo. Geon stopped Kevin's fast, groovy beat as soon as Carlos began playing, waving his hand to stop the music. Everyone saw Geon's gesture and stopped playing, and Geon looked at Kevin and said.

"As soon as Carlos's play comes in, your play gets eaten, Kevin."

Kevin, not understanding, asked with a puzzled expression.

"Isn't it natural for the bass to get drowned out by the guitar? In a band, the bass is supposed to help the drums anchor the center. What happens if it stands out more than the guitar?"

Geon crossed his arms and looked at Kevin, then turned his head towards Carlos.

"Do you think so too, Carlos?"

Carlos, with his guitar strapped on, walked over to Kevin and flicked his forehead.

"Ouch!!!"

Kevin, his forehead quickly turning red, grimaced resentfully, and Carlos said with a serious look.

"Don't you see it even when looking at the music sheet? This song is about the bass and guitar battling it out. Don't you get it?"

Kevin, rubbing his forehead with his hand, shouted.

"What are we supposed to do if the bass and guitar are fighting? It won't be cool even if it's harmonious!"

"Look at this guy. Said he practiced, but where did the spirit go? You sold it for technique, didn't you? If you've seen the music sheet, you should understand the whole song. What did you feel when you saw it?"

"What do you mean feel? It's an awesome song! Heavy! Fast! Explosive!"

Carlos flicked his forehead again, and Kevin leaned his head back and moaned exaggeratedly. Carlos smirked and explained.

"Heavy, fast, explosive... Are you a middle schooler? Your expressiveness is that limited? You need to express emotions properly with words. Listen, this song speaks of rage, fury, hatred, and love-hate. It's not just heavy, fast, and explosive, dummy."

Kevin, truly feeling pain in his forehead, asked with teary eyes.

"Rage? Fury? Hatred, love-hate?"

"Yes, the expression of that rage and hatred is represented by our playing devouring each other. Got it?"

Kevin straightened up and stared hard at the music sheet on the stand. Carlos gave him a moment, then turned and walked back to his place, nodding at Geon, who thanked him with a nod. After a while, Kevin, not taking his eyes off the music sheet, asked.

"So, Kay. Does it mean I should play the bass tone up like it's fighting the guitar part until 32 bars before the vocal line comes in?"

Geon nodded slightly.

"It's not just about fighting. Imagine a dragon and a tiger fighting in your head."

After visualizing the scene in his head, Kevin made a strange face.

"A dragon... and a tiger fighting?"

Geon chuckled and said.

"Just imagine that. Think of the tiger as big as the dragon, swinging sharp claws at the dragon. Conversely, imagine the dragon dodging the tiger's fangs and claws while spewing fire."

Kevin closed his eyes and tried to visualize the scene, while Geon said.

"Alright, let's go again."

Kevin kept conjuring the image and started playing the bass again. As Carlos's guitar, heavy and fast, belted out low notes, Kevin felt the musical notes exploding as they clashed. Suddenly, Jose, also ceasing to play, stared blankly into the air and muttered.

"I really... saw it. The notes colliding and exploding in the air..."

Geon bared his teeth and laughed.

"That's it, Kevin."

Carlos also smiled, looking unfocusedly at Kevin, who was absorbed in the sound.

"This is the real 'Fury', Kevin."

Stunned for a long time, Kevin suddenly snapped back to reality, grabbed the guitar neck, and said hurriedly.

"Let's, let's go again right now!"

Geon slightly nodded and then looked towards Jose.

"Let's go again!"

Kevin lowered his stance, spread his legs, and started playing, soon followed by Carlos's guitar, the dragon spewing flames. Not to be outdone, Kevin's bass thrashed sharp fangs and claws into the air. Jose's drums commanded like a general leading an army into battle, setting everyone's heartbeats to its rhythm as Geon grabbed the microphone, leaned back, and roared.

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Carlos's eyes opened as he watched Geon roar, amazed.

'What, what is this sound? It's like a sword tearing through the enemy's flag and charging forward!'

While Kevin was too busy fighting with his guitar to pay attention to Geon's voice, Carlos had the luxury to listen.

'Such a voice! If there were a devil, it would sound like this!

 But it's not an evil voice! It's the voice of a berserker enchanting warriors on a battlefield! And these lyrics! I knew Kiska was a genius, but to write such a feeling in lyrics too?'

As the climax of the song approached, even Carlos lost any semblance of composure and continued his fierce battle with Kevin's bass. Jose, leaning forward and hitting the bass drum and snare like mad, trembled with exhilaration.

'So this is what the song 'Fury' is! It's amazing, the feeling of playing with a musician like Kay!'

Geon stood on a stool, crouched, and shouted, gripping the microphone with both hands.

"Rage, a curious weapon

While other weapons are used by people

Rage uses us

The hidden rage explodes

Spewing the lava in our hearts

PAIN! The pain from the rage and hatred inside!

FURY! The fury from the rage and hatred inside!

HATRED! The hatred from the rage and hatred inside!"

As the final retreat of the battlefield's drum sound filled the recording booth, Geon's voice, resigned, flowed with the last lyrics.

"Anger begins with recklessness

And ends with regret."

The song ended with the last beat of the retreat. Jose, still panting heavily and bent forward, Carlos, with a shocked expression, and Kevin, looking like a soldier grateful to have survived the battle with wounds on his limbs. All were speechless.

Geon let the microphone hang limply, bearing the expression of a general feeling the futility of war, and chuckled weakly into the mic.

"A song like this... you need a break after singing it. That's why I didn't sing till the very end. Heh heh"

Carlos, trembling at the corners of his eyes, watched Geon as sweat from his forehead dripped into his eyes. He wiped it away with his sleeve but couldn't take his eyes off Geon. Geon put the microphone back on the stand and said weakly.

"Let's take a short break."

As Geon opened the door of the recording booth and exited, Kevin, following Geon's movement with his eyes, dropped to the floor.

"What kind of song is this..."

Jose, still bent over and panting, looked at the floor and muttered.

"This doesn't make sense. A song like a battle exists."

Carlos, hearing their words, finally straightened up. After over five minutes of intensely playing in a low stance, he hadn't had time to notice the screams of his joints, but as he regained his senses, he felt his joints screaming throughout his body. Rubbing his shoulders and arms, he looked at Geon, who had collapsed weakly on the couch outside the practice room, and gave him a profound look.

"This is a song from Kay, still a student. I had an inkling from the score, but playing it made me really feel like a warrior on the battlefield."

Carlos stared intently at Geon with a complex expression.

"Still in his early twenties. And still a student. What kind of music will come into the world when this guy really takes off?"

Hearing Carlos's murmuring, Kevin, sitting weakly on the floor, smiled weakly.

"To even be a shadow beside this guy when he takes off, I can't afford to waste a single second."

Carlos looked down at Kevin and chuckled.

"Kid, you're like a bassist from Montana now."

Kevin bared his teeth and smiled.

"For now."

Carlos took off his guitar strap and placed it on the stand.

"Yeah, for now, dude. Hahaha"

Kevin struggled to his feet, dusted off his pants, and asked.

"How did I do?"

Carlos smiled and patted Kevin's shoulder.

"You fought well."

"Hehe"

"But I won."

"Choke!! It doesn't seem like the fight is decided yet…"

"Shut up, I won this time."

"Argh!! Damn it!! Let's go again!"

"Alright, come at me, kid, I'm not dead yet."

"You old, beaten dragon!!!"

"You ignorant young tiger!!!"

"Choke!!! Jose!! Give us the beat again, I'll kill this old dragon today!!"

As the sound of the practice starting again echoed outside, Geon smiled faintly.

Germany.

In Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, lies the Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus, known to the public as the "Culture Department Store." This store, spanning from the basement level to the fourth floor, sells a variety of cultural items, including books and music records. To Koreans, it feels like a colossal department store, making even the large bookstores in Korea seem like small neighborhood stationery shops. Early in the morning, before the store had opened, a 1.5-ton truck was parked in front of the department store. Men in white polo shirts bearing the Dussmann logo were unloading boxes from the truck.

A man in his fifties, hands on his hips, watched and shouted loudly.

"Make sure to check if there are any art history books among today's arrivals before sending them downstairs. Could you please ask the bookstore manager to select which books to put in the main exhibition area? And are there any new music records?"

A blond man in his early thirties, checking a box marked 'Music,' replied while lifting it, "Here it is, general manager. But this box feels too light. There might be only a few inside."

The general manager, a man in his fifties, nodded as he lifted the box from below, feeling its light weight, and pursed his lips.

"It's because of the digital tracks. Musicians only release digital versions nowadays, which makes the physical records sell poorly. It looks like there are only one or two albums in here. Sebastian will be disappointed, especially with the declining performance of the record store. Send it up to the second-floor record section."

"Alright, general manager."

The man in his thirties, feeling sorry for carrying only one light box, tucked a small box under his arm and headed to the second-floor record section. Meanwhile, the first-floor bookstore was bustling with employees busily arranging new books and organizing the storeroom. The man climbed the stairs to the second floor easily because of the light box. Unlike the busy first floor, only two staff members were cleaning the quieter record store.

Seeing them, he smiled and held up the box to a man in his forties sitting behind the counter.

"Sebastian! There's a new record!"

The man at the counter, who was resting his chin on his hands, stood up without much expectation and reached out.

"What's the use of new records coming out? At this rate, we might as well not have a record store."

"Ha ha, but there are still great musicians releasing great songs. Major musicians are still releasing albums; you never know, it might be a hit."

After receiving the box, Sebastian turned to the counter and said, "Well, I'm not sure. Thanks for the effort."

After the man left, Sebastian put the box on the counter. Two men, one tall and wearing glasses, approached him.

"Manager Sebastian, is this a new album?"

Sebastian rested his hands on his hips and looked at the box, sighing, "Yes, Matthias. But who knows how well it will sell."

The tall Matthias stood beside a stocky man with black hair, who adjusted his glasses and asked, "Whose album is it?"

Sebastian shook his head and looked the stocky man up and down.

"I don't know, but Julian. You should be wearing a uniform, why are you always in that Carnival Corps t-shirt?"

Julian, wearing a black t-shirt with the Carnival Corps logo, shook it and laughed, "We're not open yet. If I wear a uniform while cleaning, it gets dirty. Plus, they were my favorite band."

Sebastian looked at the logo on Julian's chest.

"Yeah, your favorite band, in the past tense. It's been a while since that band released their last album, hasn't it?"

"Yes, their last album 'A Skeletal Domain' was in 2015."

Sebastian shook his head.

"I get it. Who listens to CDs these days? They skip and make weird noises when you carry them around. With just a phone, you can stream music for cheaper."

Matthias chimed in, "But some people still buy Metallica albums because they only offer one-minute previews. So, there are still buyers."

Sebastian cut the sealed tape on the box with a cutter knife.

"Yeah, but it's not like the old days. When I started working here 17 years ago, this second-floor record store was the busiest place in the entire Dussmann department store. Now, people who listen to the previews care more about headphone quality than buying albums. Do you know how much we made last month?"

It was unlikely that an ordinary employee would know about the sales figures, so Julian looked curious.

"How much was it?"

Sebastian stopped opening the box and sighed.

"5,964 euros (about 8 million won). That's the monthly sales of a store that uses the whole second floor of this huge department store. If the D

ussmann chairman didn't love music and wasn't determined to maintain the symbolic meaning of a culture department store, this record store would have been turned into an instrument store by now."

Matthias made an awkward face.

"If we subtract our salaries, it's just enough to cover the electricity bills."

Sebastian snickered and reached into the box again.

"That's the way it is. At least the other floors are doing well, right? What the... there's only one today?"

Sebastian looked inside the box, which contained a hundred CDs of one kind, and his expression fell. Beside the CDs were five rolled-up posters. He irritably untied the rubber band around the posters and unrolled one with little expectation.

The three men stopped moving for a moment, and silence fell in the record store as they looked at the intense poster.

"Montana? This is the first album since 'Guitar Heaven' in 2011?"

Matthias held one end of the poster and said, "Yes, that's right. It's an album by a major musician, worth looking forward to... What's with this poster?"

Julian, hands clasped over his belly, adjusted his glasses, "It's a background of flowing lava with a dragon and a tiger fighting. Looks like a movie poster. Look at the tiger's teeth."

"And the dragon's eyes, too. They're fierce."

Sebastian paused to look at the poster, then opened one CD and handed it to Julian.

"Register this as a sample CD and play it in the store. Matthias, hang all five posters on the columns. Oh! And stick one on the new release bulletin board outside the store."

"Right, manager."

As Matthias left with the posters, Sebastian grimaced as he looked down at the CD.

"Tsk, Montana has really gone downhill. What's with this Latin rock musician poster? Does it really match their style? This album will be a blot on Montana's record. Another major musician bites the dust."

Sebastian returned to the counter and grimaced again as he saw the sales figures on the PC screen.

"Sigh, I've got nothing to say at the next manager's meeting."

As he focused on the PC screen, the sound of a bass guitar caught his attention.

"What the... Julian! I told you to play the Montana album! Are you playing Carnival Corps again?"

In the office, Julian, who was operating the audio system, shouted back.

"No, no! This is the Montana album, manager!"

Sebastian looked up at the ceiling of the record store as the fast, heavy bass and machine-gun-like guitar riffs began tearing through the space. His eyes widened and his mouth opened as a loud, sharp roar filled the store.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Sebastian leapt up from the PC.

"What, what is this!"

As the bookstore employees on the first floor stopped their work to look up at the ceiling, an explosive vocal line roared, and they ran up the stairs to the second floor. Seeing the employees peering into the second-floor store, Sebastian turned his head towards the audio system where Julian was headbanging with a thrilled expression.

"Julian! Bring the CD case you opened!"

Julian quickly brought the CD case while still headbanging.

"Wow!! Totally my style! It's like the guitar and bass are fighting each other!"

Julian handed over the CD, and as Sebastian received it, another heavy roar burst forth.

"Every child's story begins with the parents."

Julian, his forearms goosebumped from holding the CD, stared at them with wide eyes. Sebastian shivered and pulled out the album cover from the CD case.

"Okay, Carlos Montana's guitar playing is top-notch, but who are the bass guitar and vocals? Oh!!!"

Sebastian's eyes nearly popped out, and Julian, stroking his goosebumped arm, approached and asked.

"Who is it? Kevin...? Who is this?"

Sebastian pointed to a spot on the CD cover.

"Look... look at the vocals."

Julian adjusted his glasses to read the small text, his eyes widening.

"Ke... Kay?"

Sebastian slammed the table and stood up.

"Bang!!"

"What were they thinking releasing an album without any prior promotion! This isn't Fantagio style!"

Julian checked the front of the CD and said, "Um... manager, this isn't from Fantagio. This is from Montana's company."

Sebastian snatched the cover away to check it, then tossed it aside and shouted.

"Matthias!! Matthias!! Call the factory right away and get more posters!! When the posters arrive, plaster them all over the outside walls of the department store! Julian! Check if there's also a digital album available!"

Julian quickly grabbed his phone to check the music streaming site, then exclaimed with a happy face.

"There's no digital single! It's 'Offline album only'!!"

Sebastian's face lit up as he shouted.

"Good! Let's move fast!"