Chapter 212 : One of the World's Top Three DJs
Chapter 212: One of the World's Top Three DJs
The final night at Sierra.
It was a night where the sadness of saying goodbye...
And the excitement of a new beginning...
Coexisted.
The word "last" carried an incredible weight.
Which meant I couldn't let it end lightly.
It was time to bury my memories of Sierra and move on to a new stage called Lunatic.
Being able to spend that moment with Guldan was a stroke of luck.
My sound had always been like that.
Sometimes gentle.
Sometimes comforting.
Sometimes subtle.
A navigator who refined the track according to the audience's breathing, then safely guided them toward the climax along the current.
That was Blackhole.
But...
Wouldn't it be boring if things continued that way until the very end?
Just for tonight, I wasn't going to be the navigator.
I was going to become the storm.
I'd overturn the ship.
Ride against the waves.
And laugh even after snapping the helm in half.
Ziiiiing—
The track I'd placed on the deck slowly began to spin.
DJ Guldan, who had been coolly responding to the audience's cheers, turned to look at me.
I couldn't hear him clearly over the roaring crowd, but his lips unmistakably formed the words—
“Hit me.”
That short phrase carried both confidence and anticipation.
He had probably been the first to notice.
That tonight...
Something about my momentum was different.
After all, he'd already experienced my usual predictable flow back at Aether Sound.
“OK.”
I answered briefly and rested my hand on the turntable.
In response, Guldan tossed me one small wave.
Wooooooooong—
Guldan's savage sound surged forward once again, as though it would tear the club walls apart.
As if to say,
Now it's really your turn.
The way he lifted his chin and gave a slight nod only confirmed it.
Looks like...
I really do like this kind of flow.
Without the slightest hesitation, I dropped in the first track.
Hey.
What exactly are you hiding behind that innocent face?
That was what DJ Guldan truly wanted to ask.
Back at Aether Sound, when they had staged what looked like a dual set but was actually a battle set—
Even when Guldan deliberately twisted the rhythm and overturned the flow, Blackhole had cleaned everything up without the slightest mistake.
Like a rider mounted atop a runaway horse.
As though he alone held the reins in the end.
Calm.
Confident.
But Guldan knew.
He knew exactly what happened when people like this willingly let go of the reins.
Even the audience watching the performance live noticed something unusual.
↳ ????????? Blackhole's eyes... what is that?
↳↳ Seriously. Can someone's gaze really change that instantly?
↳ That's terrifying. Guldan looks scary because of his appearance, but Blackhole's got the eyes of an actual madman....
↳ I've never missed a single Sierra video, okay? I'm seriously hyped right now. This is the first time I've ever seen Blackhole hesitate.
↳ Rackhole-hyung, if you come out all gentle like you did at Aether Sound, I'm gonna be disappointed, you know?
↳ Something feels seriously off.
↳ Forget the buildup today—just blow everything up! You can do it!
↳ What's with Guldan's expression? Seriously looks like he's about to cast a curse.
↳↳ I think he's provoking him on purpose. Like, "Show me! This is your chance!!!" That kind of vibe???
↳ Ah... Just seeing my two favorite DJs in the same frame is already pure bliss.
↳ I don't even care anymore. They're both freaking awesome.
Boom. Boom.
The first kick landed.
There were no flashy hi-hats.
No extravagant vocal samples.
Just a heavy kick that sank deep into your chest instead of your ears.
The tempo was 122.
Neither fast nor slow.
A perfectly balanced rhythm.
Hovering on the blurry line between House and Techno, it teased the audience.
Anxiety sharpened the senses.
Ziiiiiiiiing—
There was no tedious buildup.
Above the long, sustained bass—
A ripping layer of noise crashed down.
The unexpected sound immediately lit up the audience's faces.
“...This is completely different from everything he's shown us before.”
“Man... this is exactly why I come to clubs.”
“Is Blackhole going completely wild tonight?”
“So he wasn't hesitating earlier after all?”
No.
That hadn't been hesitation.
Nor had it been uncertainty.
It was warming up.
A carefully designed moment of emptiness before the explosion.
Blackhole threw the audience straight into the waves he had created.
This is it!
Guldan saw madness in Taeyoon's eyes.
The innocent man who had been complaining over green onion pancakes just a few days ago had completely disappeared.
Guldan slowly curled his thick lips upward.
As though he truly liked this untamed wildness.
When the real self hidden behind an innocent face finally emerged...
When the ambition that had never dared reveal itself came pouring out...
That was when a DJ truly grew.
Right now...
Taeyoon was crossing that line.
Guldan removed his hand from the knob and simply watched Taeyoon.
Then...
He took exactly one step.
And retreated behind the turntable.
The flow had already been handed over to Taeyoon.
Guldan's brutality was answered by Taeyoon's touch.
A bold hand that dragged everything deeper.
Rougher.
He mercilessly twisted the EQ.
The audience's breathing became lower.
As though squeezing the very air from their lungs, only the bass remained, shaking the entire stage.
“WAAAAAAAAAH!!”
The dance floor trembled.
The sound exploding from Blackhole's fingertips was no longer something calculated.
It was instinct.
An eruption.
The audience was completely captivated by that wildness.
Instead of cleaning up the chaos Guldan had created...
He shook the entire venue with even greater chaos.
A sound so merciless it bordered on frightening.
So violent it transformed even fear itself into exhilaration.
Yet at the same time, it offered the rawest sense of freedom imaginable.
Even the once-noisy live chat fell silent.
The reckless beat was so overwhelming that words simply couldn't describe it.
↳ …….
↳ ???????????
↳ Whoa...?
↳ Is Blackhole possessed?
↳ He could do something like this too?
↳↳ I figured he probably could... but not to this extent.
It was overwhelming.
The vibrations born from the speakers climbed from the tips of their feet, up their spines, and all the way to the tops of their heads.
Hi-hats sliced through the air like flashing blades, pouring into the audience's ears.
'The people who seem the safest are actually the most dangerous.'
The corners of Guldan's lips twitched even higher.
This...
This was exactly the sight he had wanted to witness.
An immense ambition hidden behind restrained beauty.
With only a few days remaining before Club Lunatic opened—
Taeyoon was breaking free from the mold he had desperately tried to preserve.
And growing into a true DJ.
I had definitely been possessed.
I'd never felt anything like that before.
The moment the performance ended, every ounce of strength left my body.
Guldan and ROCK insisted they absolutely had to eat dak han mari.
In the end, CEO Kim Minsoo went to a 24-hour restaurant and brought it back.
Instead of eating one chicken...
We somehow devoured three whole chickens before I finally went home.
The moment I got back, I collapsed into bed.
“Ugh... I slept well.”
Like always, I stretched and got out of bed.
“Ah... I forgot to charge my phone.”
I plugged in the charger and turned my phone on.
A little later, I opened YouTube to review yesterday's performance.
“...Huh?”
I thought I'd misread the view count.
[Club Sierra Special Performance, Blackhole with Guldan]
[Views: 7M+]
Overnight, the view count had exploded to an unbelievable level.
After the livestream ended,
the recorded version had immediately been uploaded to the KIM Entertainment channel.
And in just ten hours...
Things had become this insane.
Three million views overnight was something only legendary DJs achieved through unexpected collaborations or surprise performances.
“At this rate, every DJ enthusiast has already seen it.”
The DJ scene was small.
But incredibly deep.
Listeners were always starving for something fresh.
So I already knew that once a performance became a hot topic, the views could skyrocket.
Still...
No matter what, there was no way uploading one video to YouTube alone could've caused this.
With growing suspicion, I opened an overseas DJ forum.
[BEST - Korean DJing, with Guldan (link)]
Just as I'd expected.
Clicking the link took me directly to the KIM Entertainment YouTube page.
...I didn't overdo it, did I?
With nervous excitement, I opened the comments.
↳ As of today, the world's top three DJs have changed. Guldan, Blackhole, and Koda. Agreed?
↳ Damn... I used to have prejudices about Korean DJs, but I had no idea they were this good ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
↳ (Link) Watch the Aether Sound performance too. Back then Blackhole only held back a little, but today he went completely berserk LOL.
↳ Headphones required. Headphones required. Headphones required. Headphones required. Headphones required. You HAVE to hear this bass.
↳ This is terrifying. I had no idea his skills were this incredible.
↳ Since when did Blackhole become this famous? ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
↳↳ It would've never gotten this big without Orbit LOL. KW just crushed everyone with money. They spammed Times Square with ads LOL. (Downvotes: 1,920)
↳ Orbit definitely started it, but his Aether Sound appearance was so insanely good LOL.
↳ I wish they'd promote more Korean DJs too ㅠㅠㅠ
↳↳ Promote who? ㅅㅈㅎ just takes his shirt off and puts on a show;;;;
Was there really such a thing as the world's top three DJs?
I'd never heard that expression before...
But it still felt good.
The encouraging part was that I saw far more foreign languages than Korean in the comments.
↳ Blackhole x Guldan should just become a team.
↳ I've watched a lot of Blackhole videos, but skipping the buildup made everything way more dramatic.
↳↳ Right? He's usually incredibly meticulous, but today he was just bouncing all over the place.
↳ That opening kick was insane... If I'd heard it through actual club speakers, my heart would've stopped.
↳ Where's that club? What do you mean it was the last night?
↳↳ They're moving to a hotel.
↳ The timing where the audience held their breath before the bass drop was absolutely perfect wwwwwww
↳ People who've only listened to his mixes must've been shocked lol.
↳ From what I can tell, it's only about a 300-person club. How are Guldan and Blackhole doing a dual set there? What even is Korea?
...Huh?
The reaction was much bigger than I'd imagined.
What was it?
Had there been something I didn't even remember doing?
Click—
I played the video.
I clearly remembered exchanging our Signature Sounds.
And I vividly remembered Guldan's opening mix.
Man...
It was incredible.
Even better than the sound I'd been hoping for.
No wonder everyone was cheering.
While continuing to monitor the performance like an ordinary audience member—
“...Huh?”
I came across a scene I hadn't expected.
“AAAH!”
I screamed without realizing it.
I couldn't bear to watch.
I turned my head away.
Despite reviewing my performances every day, this was the first time I'd ever gotten goosebumps from watching myself.
Seeing it from the audience's perspective...
It was honestly unbearable.
“...Why was I acting like that?”
That was me?
No way.
Impossible.
Why was I trying so hard to look cool?!
Clutching my head, I wandered around my room muttering like someone caught in the rain.
My memories of last night had vanished.
I hadn't even been drunk.
Only scattered snapshots of the dance floor flashed through my mind.
[New Messages +300]
There were so many messages that they were practically overflowing.
...I didn't even have the courage to open them.
Guldan.
I'd already felt it during our dual set, but inside the club, the feeling had doubled.
His sound truly lived up to the title of a dark wizard.
And while listening to the beat he created...
I didn't want to lose.
I wanted to stomp.
Crush.
Throw everything aside.
I wanted to prove that I could do that too.
Standing beside Guldan made it impossible to suppress my excitement.
Knock. Knock.
“Who is—”
Before I could even answer, the bedroom door swung open.
It was my older brother.
“Ah...!”
I couldn't bring myself to face him, so I immediately spun my chair toward the monitor.
How much was he going to tease me today?
People always said older brothers found nothing more entertaining than teasing their younger siblings.
Come to think of it, things had gotten pretty quiet after we became business partners.
Now this felt like my brother again.
Thinking that, I cautiously looked up.
“Ah... What? Why?”
I pretended to stay calm as our eyes met.
“Hmm......”
He just blinked at me.
Wait.
That wasn't the face he made before teasing me.
He'd always been like that since we were kids.
Whenever he was about to tease me, his lips would twitch, his eyes would curve into crescents, and his shoulders would start shaking.
“Taeyoon.”
Look.
He'd dropped my family name and was calling me by my given name.
That wasn't normal.
Still...
Maybe this was just another buildup.
So I deliberately answered lazily.
“Ah, what? Why're you suddenly acting all serious? I know I was awesome yesterday too. If you're here to talk about yesterday's performance, leave. I'm busy.”
“No, it's not that.”
“...Huh?”
There was a reason people called him a mountain bandit.
When he kept a straight face, he really looked intimidating.
“Did you ever post on some forum a long time ago? Or is someone impersonating you?”
“Impersonating me?”
That sort of thing happened all the time.
But I never worried about it.
People could copy my black mask.
My hairstyle.
My clothes.
But they could never imitate my DJing.
That was my pride.
My brother knew that too.
Whenever something like this happened, the company usually handled it on its own...
So what was going on?
“According to him, 'There's someone I knew from an old beat forum, and I think that person might be Blackhole.' He asked us to confirm it. He said he really wanted to see you. You never used those forums, right?”
“What? Who said that?”
“Hang on... what was the name again? Ah! He said to tell you it was DJ Skippy.”
“...Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Ah...
I knew Skippy.
...A long time ago.
Back when I first started DJing.
That was the username of the guy I got into a keyboard war with.
Looks like he's using a different name now.
Still...
How strange.
I never left behind a single clue that could reveal my identity.
Yet he recognized me anyway.
A development this interesting?
There was no way I could resist it.