NOVEL NEXT Chapter 217
Yamaha, the world’s largest audio company.
They develop everything related to sound, including all kinds of instruments, speakers, audio mixers, Vocaloid, and audio codecs.
With the advent of virtual reality technology, Yamaha quickly devised an expansion strategy for the market.
They launched the virtual reality instrument simulation, “Maestro.”
Ordinary people without instruments could experience various instruments just by paying a modest subscription fee, establishing a virtuous ecosystem to encourage purchasing instruments in reality.
After the initial launch, an advertisement featured a man born without arms and legs winning a VR piano competition using Maestro, which gained immense popularity.
This touching story earned a Golden Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, ultimately allowing Yamaha to secure a dominant position in the VR music industry.
[Would you like to connect to Maestro Revolution (Yamaha Corp.)?]
[Music for All. All for You.]
Professor Pi Su-jeong, a violinist currently working in the orchestral department at Korea University.
She approached Na-me and suggested trying out Maestro.
The Bach students were puzzled by this.
Of all people, Pi Su-jeong was the one least likely to recommend Maestro to her juniors.
It was because adapting to a virtual reality avatar’s body would rather hinder real-world performances.
Professor Pi Su-jeong explained why she was thinking differently this time.
“I thought Na-me might not be able to adapt to her own body.”
“Not able to adapt to her own body? What does that mean?”
“Maybe it’s because she has a long history with virtual reality?”
“Ah…”
The interpretation of the piece was perfect. It seemed she knew exactly where and how to play.
If there were parts that felt lacking, and if it was due to her body not responding, then this “Maestro” could serve as an excellent complement.
“But, professor, do you have an account for this game?”
“Oh? I do! It’s shareable up to four people, so we can include Na-me in my party.”
“Four people means it’s a premium account, right…?”
Thus, Professor Pi Su-jeong and Na-me each entered their capsules to connect to Maestro.
The waiting room resembled any other open world.
Since Na-me had not yet created a game avatar, she was summoned exactly as she appears in reality.
Then came the appearance of Professor Pi Su-jeong.
“…?”
Na-me and the students watching via the screen in reality were all astonished and left speechless upon seeing her avatar.
*
This person’s avatar is amazing.
An elegant Victorian-style dress fluttered as Professor Pi Su-jeong made her entrance.
The voluminous skirt made of velvet, along with exquisite embroidery, frills, and lace, elevated the dress’s value.
The design smoothly embraced her body’s curves, and she seemed to be wearing a corset around her waist.
The upper part of the dress was adorned with beautiful pearls and intricate embroidery, but the most surprising thing was her hair.
A bright red hair that was hard to find in reality was styled into twin drills, creating an awkwardly amusing appearance.
It exuded a cute yet bold vibe, reminiscent of a young noble lady making her debut in high society.
“Ah… No! This isn’t my original avatar, it’s what my daughter created for me! I swear it’s not true, kids!”
Professor Pi Su-jeong blushed late and hurriedly changed her avatar.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t see the students’ reactions here, so she could only vaguely guess they were probably chuckling.
Returning with normal black hair and a simple black dress, she stood before the camera busy explaining herself to her students.
Just then, her game nickname caught the eye.
[Bloody Crystal]
[Maestro / World Rank #113]
Seeing such a cringeworthy nickname, it made one doubt any earnest explanation she had!
“So, what’s world rank?”
“Oh, this? In Maestro, you can compete in performance battles with others.”
“Isn’t that just… a rhythm game?”
“That’s right! A rhythm game!”
“Wait, seriously?”
It felt like a “this can’t be real” situation.
A music professor playing a rhythm game? Isn’t that a bit shady?
“Na-me, can you watch how I do this?”
Entering the gate labeled “Fast Battle” while pulling out her violin was Pi Su-jeong, or rather, Bloody Crystal.
In a seating arrangement similar to an orchestra, eight people took their seats as the music began.
[A. Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 2 in G minor RV 315 Summer III, Presto]
[Difficulty: ★★★★★★]
*
Maestro was one of those games that had fallen significantly behind in popularity in Korea compared to other online games.
Yet, there still remained a fixed fan base, with many dedicated to bolstering Korea’s status as a music powerhouse.
The Maestro Gallery, with an ambiguous regeneration rate that had posts neither too few nor easily buried, was ablaze with big news after a long time.
[Maestro Gallery]
[A new Maestro has appeared in the violin fast battle! But with a Korean nationality too?][45]
(Screenshot from the waiting room.jpg)
I thought I had accidentally queued for ranked matches when Maestro popped up!
But seeing the novice friends next to me who couldn’t even hold their bows properly, it was definitely a fast battle.
Did you guys see? Five got knocked out in ten seconds, and only three of us ended up in the game, including me! LOL
Check out the result screen too.
(Screen shot of game results.jpg)
[#1 Bloody Crystal: SS Rank / 999,038 points / Accuracy 100%]
[#2 올리니가조아요: S Rank / 772,823 points / Accuracy 95.58%]
[#3 나한테만지라이야: B Rank / 481,044 points / Accuracy 81.47%]
Is this even human? It’s a machine, LOL!
How on earth do you get an SS rank on Summer? (No idea, really)
I felt it’s an honor to meet them, so I went for a handshake, but saw the Korean flag next to the nickname.
So this person is a genuine Korean?
[Comments]
– The way you speak sounds like a kid. How old are you?
└ (Author): Why do you care?
└ (Author): I’m 15.
└ Middle schooler? But getting an S rank on Summer? You’re pretty good too! 
– Just a Royal Expert, how would you meet a Maestro at your rank?
– Isn’t that the legendary violinist Pi Su-jeong? LOL How can you not recognize her?
└ (Author): Huh?
– Anyone who plays Maestro is likely a pro since they need to win in VR competitions. It’s almost 99% certainty.
– Our Bloody Crystal hasn’t quit this trash game, huh? I knew I could trust you! 
– Did you not save a replay? Someone of that caliber is normally something you’d pay to watch.
└ (Author): I didn’t know she’d be such a big deal…
[Repost] I’ve never understood the U-Dex fans all this time, LOL. [28]
(2046 Violin World Ranking Image)
With three major competition wins in a year, Bloody Sensei became the first Korean to break into the top ten! Ha-ha!
Meanwhile, U-Dex’s skills are fully revealed and even though he’s ranked 100th, he still can’t get Maestro, and he’s regarded as a virtuoso?
There’s a limit to just piling results up; this industry thrives on talent, and I don’t know why amateurs get praised like that. Haha!
[Comments]
– Wow, it’s been ages since I saw this meme, LOL! Is this from five years ago?
└ This was truly Maestro’s golden age!
└ Ah! The memories of the glorious and beautiful Gald Cup!
└ How I miss the annoying Gald Cup… This game has seriously gone downhill, huh? LOL
– I wonder what that U-Dex is up to.
└ Isn’t he around college age now?
└ He was that young?
– Watching U-gals break down in front of talent was hilariously sweet.
– This is actually where U-Dex deserves praise… he showed the best results achievable solely through hard work without talent…
└ So he’s ranked 98 and fails to qualify for competitions?
└ The U-gals are still alive, LOL. They deserve to be called cockroaches for their survival instincts.
[Who is U-Dex?]
These weebs playing only annoying songs are discriminating against non-weebs again!
[Comments]
– Shut it up ^_^
– If you don’t know who U-Dex is, why are you even here?
– Why would you play Maestro if you’re not going to play weeb songs?
└ For real LOL.
└ For real LOL. You must check out VY1V9’s new track; it’s awesome! 
– U-Dex is known as the Human Machine, Human Macro, and Human Terminator.
– This guy used to post SS ranks daily. His accuracy was insane!
└ Eventually, he started scoring a million points once a week. A prodigy in sight-reading.
└ (Author): Wow, his profile says he has over 2000 SS ranks. Crazy!
└ (Author): But why hasn’t he achieved Maestro yet?
– First of all, he plays like crap.;
– It’s hard to explain, but trust me, even untrained ears can tell the difference.
– He did improve a lot towards the end, though…
└ What do you mean by end? LOL. You’re just wishing doom upon someone doing well.
*
Daniel was named after his parents, who were devout Christians.
His name, meaning “God is my Judge,” comes from the biblical figure Daniel, and he simplified it to “U-Dex” in Latin.
Now, just looking at “Maestro” makes him dizzy and nauseated.
After his parents, the one he hated the most was definitely “Bloody Crystal.”
Whenever he posted videos wanting compliments, nasty comments always compared him to her.
Daniel himself realized there was too big a skill gap between them.
In his childhood, he thought she was an even better performer than his mother, who was like the sky to him, fully accepting it.
However, caught up in the relentless rivalry created by fans and anti-fans, Daniel found himself unconsciously harboring feelings of hatred toward Bloody Crystal.
He thought it was odd.
As he tried to categorize her as a childhood nightmare and forget about it all, surprisingly, he crossed paths with her in an unexpected place.
Bloody Crystal.
True to her name, Pi Su-jeong.
Just like before, she had her red drill hair on.
“Niel, why are you here? Are you okay?”
Some friends who understood Niel’s trauma came over to support him.
Why didn’t he realize before?
The expression was certainly that of a storm swaying and thunder roaring, like hail falling.
“It’s fine…”
Niel quietly sat in a corner, observing the professor and Na-me chatting.
They looked happy.
He envied how Professor Pi Su-jeong genuinely enjoyed music while he only saw compositions as targets to conquer and judge.
“What song are you going to play, Na-me?”
“I don’t mind anything.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to know something? If you link it with your V-tube account, it plays random songs using the algorithm, so how about we do that?”
“There’s such a feature? This game really is top-notch!”
“Haha, it is! It was made for those with choice anxiety like me! You seem to be a bit like that, too!”
The avatar of the blonde woman appeared.
Niel had seen her once or twice on TV before, but this was the first time he looked at her closely.
“She had such a pretty face…”
The song suggested by the algorithm reflecting Na-me’s preferences was.
[NahantemanjiRiya: What’s this song?]
[Romantic Circulation (Cover – Kariri)]
It was a cover of “Romantic Circulation” by Kariri.