Holme was tightly holding the three pieces of paper Joshua gave him yesterday. When he first encountered Joshua, Holme had thought that a grand individual like Joshua was merely toying with him.
After all, he never once believed that the aloof and remote nobles would like the ‘trash talks’ from the underground prison. As for going out of their way to write those ‘trash talks,’ it was even less believable. Lastly, even if they were to write those ‘trash talks,’ Holme does not feel that it would be that much better than his own.
After all, he was the champion of the underground prison.
But, after Holme finished reading the contents of the three pieces of paper, he discovered that the song written on it was simply... terrifyingly perfect!
Reading the lyrics, Holme realized that they were all ‘rhyming.’ At the beginning, Holme only attempted to read the lyrics. After he finished reading all of them, he felt a sense of content.
Holme had always believed the style of music he performs originated from the underground prison. As he was the champion in the underground prison for multiple times in succession, his ‘trash talks’ could be said to be the most outstanding in the entirety of Norland.
Consequently, Holme believed the songs he wrote to be the most outstanding. It was just that those audiences from Norland were incapable of appreciating his music; they were only willing to immerse themselves in those boring operas.
But, after Holme read this song, the final bits of his self-confidence were completely shattered.
If Holme was a king or champion in ‘trash talks,’ then the person who wrote this song... was simply a god!
A nobleman was actually fond of this sort of music? Furthermore... one so much more outstanding than his own?
The truth has been placed before Holme’s eyes. He let go of his pride and arrogance and began to practice the song wholeheartedly.
When Holme actually began to practice the song according to its melody, he discovered that it was terrifyingly difficult.
He had not slept all night last night. In the barely lit room, with a body in pain and bruised all over, Holme started to frantically practice the song.
Unfortunately... the speed of his speech was simply too slow. He was unable to find the feel for the song. No matter how he tried to sing it, it was unable to keep up with the melody...
Holme encountered countless difficulties while practicing the song. Even though he was now at the backstage of the World’s Singers, there were still a lot of difficulties he had yet to solve.
“Damn it... this is not the right feeling!”
Holme attempted again. But, he was baffled by the final part. He held his head with both hands.
His tiredness and the pain of his body assaulted him at once. In order to pull the distance between himself and that ‘god’ closer, Holme had not slept all night. He had poured all of his effort and energy into the song.
“There’s still time.”
Holme calmed himself. He took a deep breath and looked at the final portion of the paper again. He began to imagine the melody in his head and prepared to attempt that section for the nth-hundredth time.
But, before he could start speaking, he discovered that someone was standing in front of him.
Holme raised his head. The bruises he received from being beaten up by the orcs last night was still present on his face. Because of that, Holme was unable to open his left eye at all. He was only able to see the person standing in front of him with his right eye.
The person who stood before him was a ‘grand individual,’ someone Holme cannot afford to offend.
“Here, it’s yours.”
Roa tossed a sack of coins next to Holme’s foot. His actions startled Holme. Holme took a glance at the sack of coins and suddenly remembered that he had met this ‘grand individual’ yesterday.
“I promised. Aren’t you here for it? There’s ten gold coins in there. Take it and get the hell out. Someone like you shouldn’t be here.”
Roa sized up Holme. Holme looked even more unkempt today compared to yesterday. Ignoring his patch-covered clothes, merely that bruises-covered face was enough to scare others.
If someone like him was to be allowed to get on a stage in Farucci, unless he was to play some sort of clown, it would be an act of utter disrespect, a slander, toward the audience.
The rules of the semifinal stated that two contestants must be on the stage at the same time. Furthermore, while a contestant performs their sung performance, the other contestant must remain on stage to listen to their performance.
Roa refused to allow for a clown to stand on the stage alongside him while he performed his opera. He believed that it would only drag down the quality of his performance.
After all, no clean-dressed person would be willing to stand next to a beggar.
Holme did not answer him. He didn’t know how to respond. He lowered his head and continued to read the three pieces of paper.
The rules of living as Squirrel Street’s bottom rung rat have deeply engraved itself in Holme’s heart — do not oppose those ‘grand individuals.’
But, Holme did not wish to leave. He... decided to back out of their agreement. Because of that, the only thing he could do was to lower his head and ignore Roa and hope that this grand individual would consider his silence as acceptance.
Besides, there wasn’t much time left. He must seize the time to continue practicing.
“Answer me,” Roa wasn’t decided by Holme’s cheap tricks. After all, he was just toyed around by Herolia and feeling extremely displeased.
Being ignored by a bottom rung beggar only served to fuel his flames of fury.
Roa watched as Holme ignored him and continued to stare at the papers in his hand.
He became completely infuriated. Roa snatched the papers from Holme and tossed them onto the ground.
As Holme was holding onto the papers too tightly and Roa’s action was extremely crude, the papers were ripped apart when Roa snatched them. Half of them were thrown to the ground whereas the other half was still being held in Holme’s hands.
Finally, Holme raised his head.
“Have you finished considering?” Roa asked.
At this moment, the little rat was finally unable to control his emotions. He wanted to stand up to charge at Roa. But, he was stopped by a theater attendant that came out of nowhere.
“Mister Joshua wanted me to tell you that this is not the right time for you to take your revenge,” The attendant whispered to Holme.
Those words managed to calm Holme down. Another attendant walked up to Roa and informed him that it was time for them to ascend the stage.
“If you dare appear on the stage, you will regret your decision.”
After leaving that threat, Roa walked toward the stage. He deliberately stepped on the broken papers on the ground as he walked past them.
Right after the theater’s attendant released Holme, he rushed over to the papers on the ground and began to tidy them up and piece them back together.
Unfortunately, the writings on the papers were already a bit faint to begin with. Now that they were stepped on by Roa’s shoes and covered in footprints, Holme was no longer able to recognize the final portion of the lyrics.
That caused massive panic to Holme... That final portion was precisely the portion that he still hasn’t mastered.
“Time to get on stage.”
The attendant walked over to Holme and quietly informed him...
Holme looked at the pieces of papers that were no different from waste paper now. He felt like ice-cold chucks of lead were tied onto his hands and feet. His lips were trembling.
But, after being urged by the attendant, Holme gathered the papers and placed them into his pocket. With great difficulty, he began walking toward the stage.
When he got on stage, the audiences were already cheering enthusiastically. But, those cheers were not meant for him. Instead, the audiences were cheering for his opponent.
They were cheering from the elegant nobleman, the opera singer from Farucci. Many noblewomen present seemed to be his faithful audiences.
Roa faced the audience with a gentle smile. Several young women in the audience started screaming.
When he saw Holme staggered onto the stage to stand under the same originium crystal limelight, his smile stiffened for a brief moment.
The two contestants on the stage created an enormous contrast. One was a renowned opera singer from Farucci whereas the other seemed to be someone who couldn’t even be considered as an ordinary civilian.
“Roa, it’s not the first time we met.”
One of the judges, Sir Weissenasche, greeted the young opera singer.
“Yes. I remember that the last time we met, it was at a banquet held by Farucci’s playwrights, Sir Weissenasche,” Roa gave a very proper response.
“Then, as one of Farucci’s young opera singers, what song are you planning to perform today?” Sir Weissenasche immediately entered the main topic.
Roa answered with the name of a song Holme had never heard of before. Then, Sir Weissenasche turned to Holme to question him.
Being questioned, Holme felt extremely nervous. Naturally, his response was nowhere as elegant as Roa’s.
When Sir Weissenasche asked Holme what sort of song he planned to perform, Holme held the sound amplification originium crystal toward his mouth and hesitated for a brief moment before saying ‘Rap.’
“Rap? That’s a musical form I’ve never heard of before. In that case, I look forward to your performance.”
After Sir Weissenascehe finished saying those words, Holme suddenly heard... laughter from the audience.
Those were ridicules. It was inevitable... Although Sir Weissenasche’s last sentence was spoken in a courteous manner, the audience felt that Holme would only be seeking his own humiliation.
Soon, the competition began. It seemed like the Goddess of Luck decided to show favor for Holme today. During the coin-toss, he acquired the latter performance of the two.
This meant that Holme would have an entire song-length worth of time to adjust his state of mind.
Soon, accompanying music started playing and Roa’s performance began.
This young nobleman was not a trash who refused to put any effort into anything and relied on only his status. He was someone with true strength... Even Holme, someone who knew nothing about opera, could tell that the song he chose was very difficult to sing.
There were simply too many high pitch singing parts!
To match his singing, the lightning on the stage was changing continuously. Under the soft and quiet light, his sung performance appeared magnificent.
There was only a single stain in this beautiful performance — an irksome presence standing near the performer, Holme.
Holme’s wretched attire and his completely bruised face was simply too contradictory to the setting of the stage.
Alas, Holme had no choice but to stand there. He cannot go anywhere else.
Just like that, Roa’s performance ended. Female screams and applause sounded from the audience. The young opera singer received the proper reaction and praises for his outstanding performance.
On the projection screen behind showed that Roa’s vote counts were rising rapidly. Soon, it surpassed twenty-three thousand.
In the semifinal, audiences were only allowed to vote for one contestant per round. At the same time Roa’s sung performance received the audiences’ praises, many people felt that the wretched-dressed kid would not be able to defeat such an outstanding opera singer.
The scale of victory was already leaning toward Roa.
“Thank you,” Roa bowed to the audience. Then, he looked at Holme who was standing to the side with a ridiculing look.
At this moment... Holme realized that it was finally his turn. The host walked over to hand the voice amplification originium crystal to him.
With his legs shivering slightly, Holme walked to the front of the stage. He looked at the audience.
The cheers and applause stopped at once. Holme could feel the questioning gazes from all around. The boos and hisses from the last round were echoing in Holme’s ears.
The hand Holme was holding the originium crystal with started shivering uncontrollably. At this moment, the accompanying music started.
He must sing! Holme placed his mouth right in front of the ‘microphone.’ But... his head was completely blank!
He... forgot the lyrics! All of the lyrics!
The accompanying music was still going. It was about to reach the part where he was supposed to sing. But, he discovered that he was unable to sing anything out at all.
The audiences’ questioning looks turned to looks of contempt. Holme felt an enormous pressure upon him. He felt a dizzy spell and wanted to puke.
In the end, he was unable to cover his mouth and the first lyric of the song changed to the sound of vomit.
He puked out everything he ate in the morning on the stage. Powerlessly, he kneeled on the stage.
This time around, the audience did not hiss or boo him. Instead, they all started laughing and began ridiculing him.
“Where did they find this clown?”
“This sort of ‘performance’ shouldn’t appear on stage.”
“I heard his sung performance yesterday. It’s true that he shouldn’t be allowed to be on the stage.”
All sorts of comments started pouring into Holme’s ears. However, after Holme vomited everything in his stomach, including even his gastric acid, his mind became much more clear.
Hearing the ridicules from the audience, the emotion that appeared in his heart was not fear or timidness. Instead... it was anger. No, it was something far more intense than anger — hatred.
‘What do they mean by... shouldn’t appear on the stage?’
Holme clenched his fists... The scene of him practicing the song last night appeared in his head.
‘The song I practiced last night was over a hundred times, a thousand times better than the song that bastard sang!’
‘You fucking scoundrels who doesn’t know how to appreciate music!’
Hatred filled Holme’s heart. The hatred transformed into motivation.
He was determined to sing the song! He was determined to make those foolish bastards listen to that song! He was determined to tell them that operas are not the only form of music in the world!
He was determined to make them know that the rap music he was fond of was over a hundred times better than operas!
He must enlighten these ignorant fools!
Urged by hatred, Holme raised his left index finger and pointed straight up at the theater’s ceiling, at the direction of the sky.
The sneers and ridicules stopped. The person who was vomiting earlier stood back up while staggering. There was no longer panic in his eyes. Instead, one could feel a terrifying sort of anger in those eyes.
“One more time.”
There was only a single person in the entire theater that understood what Holme’s action meant — Joshua.
After being instructed by Joshua, the music restarted.
Holme raised the ‘microphone’ in his hand. At this moment, Holme’s fierce gaze swept through the audience. He stared down every single person who laughed at him earlier.
“Listen carefully!”
Holme’s powerful voice echoed through Norland National Theater and every single person seated before the ‘televisions.’
Compared to the singer before him, his voice was not gentle in the slightest. It also contained an endless amount of rage. It was as if he was intending to grab someone’s neck and force them to listen to what he was about to say!
Holme once again raised his index finger at the audience.
“Look! If you had one shot or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip?!”
Once Holme finished the opening remark, his sung performance officially began. A powerful beat began to resonate through the entire theater.
“Yo! His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy...”
With hatred and anger, Holme began to rap. The timidness he showed earlier brought him endless shame.
If the author of this song was here, if he could see Holme like this, he would most definitely be extremely disappointed.
“He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out!
He’s chokin’, how, everybody’s jokin’ now!”
Holme didn’t care if people looked down on him. But, he refused to allow people to look down upon this song!
Because of that, he must perfectly perform this song on the stage. It was not only to prove to the audience that rapping was nothing shameful, it was also to not disappoint the author of this song!
“You better lose yourself in the music, the moment!
You own it, you better never let it go!
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow!
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo!”
This was Holme’s final chance. It was also his only chance to prove to the people of this world that the music he loved was the best sort of music.
The beat of the music and Holme’s anger-filled voice completely awed the crowd.
Sir Weissenasche was completely stunned.
Murderous aura... He could feel an endless amount of murderous aura from the sung performance by this wretched boy.
The veins on Holme’s forehead were bulging. A furious look was present on his face.
He was not only singing. More than anything, he was venting his feelings. He was letting out all the things he held back in his heart for so long. Like a snarl, he was violently rapping them to the audience. He was shouting that the music he loved cannot be outdone by anyone!
Normally, an outcry, a snarl, venting one’s anger should be something that would only incite anger in the minds of the listeners.
But, the lyrics of Holme’s song... had some inexplicable sort of rhythm. Together with the beat of the music, Sir Weissenasche felt the song to be very comfortable to listen to. At the same time, he felt like he too was able to vent his mind.
“This opportunity comes once in a lifetime...” Gallolie was quietly listening to Holme’s anger-filled performance. But, she was looking at Joshua seated next to her, “I heard a lot of lyrics that I cannot understand. Take for example, there’s a reference to something that seemed like the name of a candy. Mister Joshua... did you write this song?”
“No, I didn’t write this song,” Joshua shook his head to deny Gallolie’s question. Indeed, he was not the author of this song. But, Joshua also denied the fact that he had helped Holme.
“That is an excellent song. It does... sound much more comfortable and refreshing than those operas.”
Gallolie turned to look at the stage, at Holme who was giving his all to shout out the words to the beat of the music. In the end, she gave a relatively shallow evaluation.
“Right... it’s a song suited for venting out one’s emotions,” said Joshua.
“Venting emotions... But, aren’t the lyrics about someone who had a bitter experience? The song is about the singer, no? Someone who put their all into their music but was unable to obtain any reciprocation from others. People like that are extremely common in Farucci.”
Gallolie seemed to remember something and started mumbling.
“Perhaps it’s about him. But, that song also represented every single one of us. Furthermore, I believe he will be able to receive reciprocation. His sung performance is much better than I expected.”
Joshua was able to feel the original song from Holme’s performance. Holme had successfully grasped the song.