RAP STAR

Chapter 10 [Verse 1, Run this town]

<verse 1, run this town>

"Are you from Wunsan High? Did you ditch school?"

As Sanghyun pushed the door open and stepped inside, a woman in her early twenties blurted out in informal speech. Sanghyun couldn't help but feel a bit awkward hearing informal speech from someone who seemed so young and pretty.

"I should just ignore it."

But how could he ignore it when he felt so awkward? After all, he was a high school student.

"Is the boss not here?"

"Why?"

"I wanted to get a quote for some equipment."

"You can ask me."

As Sanghyun made a hesitant expression, the woman threatened with a sharp gesture.

What an absurd woman. Who speaks so rudely to someone they've just met, especially a customer?

"You can't just come up here acting like you're not a guest. Today's not a ticketing day for the official performance."

"Pardon?"

"Weren't you here to see the bands upstairs?"

"Is there a performance venue upstairs?"

Now that he thought about it, he could hear the sound of an electric guitar being tuned from a distance. The building seemed to have good soundproofing.

But Sanghyun just shrugged.

"You seem interested, but you're really here to get a quote."

"Oh... sorry. So, what do you need?"

"Recording equipment."

"Do you have a friend who composes? Need real sound?"

"No, just recording voices."

"You're a vocalist?"

"Yeah, something like that."

The part-timer began recommending various options.

Sanghyun's knowledge of music was heavily biased.

Having been a heavy listener for over twenty years, he knew a lot about rap.

East-side and West-side.

"Dirtysouth (Dirty south) and muktong (hardcore) hip-hop.

LA sound, jazz hip-hop, boom bap and trap, ratchet, and so on.

I've encountered and understood various types of hip-hop. It's separate from actually executing it.

But Sanghyun didn't know much about music.

He couldn't read sheet music, didn't know any chords, and didn't know how to play any instruments.

So when the employee at Sejong Musical Instruments started rattling off terms like mixer, preamp, phantom power, microphone gain, audio interface, condenser microphone, dynamic microphone, and so on, Sanghyun didn't understand a single one.

'His sales skills are zero. What was the boss thinking hiring someone like this?'

But Sanghyun's discontent was only partly justified.

Amateur musicians who are looking to purchase equipment usually do their research beforehand because they're often on a tight budget. If they make a mistake in their purchase, they can't undo it, and they often don't have enough money to spare, so they search for cost-effective options through online searches.

They gather a lot of information through the internet, search, and search again before visiting Sejong Musical Instruments.

At Sejong Musical Instruments, the staff don't approach customers with a sales mindset but rather as colleagues or advisors to musicians. They simply help customers choose the right combination of equipment from their prepared shopping wish lists and advise on what equipment is necessary to add and what can be left out.