Yamaha, the world’s largest audio company.
They develop various sound-related products, including all types of musical instruments, speakers, audio mixers, Vocaloids, and audio codecs.
With the advent of virtual reality technology, Yamaha quickly established a market expansion strategy.
They launched the virtual reality musical instrument performance simulation ‘Maestro.’
Even ordinary people without musical instruments could experience various instruments by paying a low subscription fee, creating a positive feedback loop that could lead to real-life instrument purchases through these experiences.
After its first release, an advertisement featuring a man born without arms and legs who won a VR piano competition by connecting to Maestro gained immense popularity.
The touching story in the advertisement won the Golden Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, ultimately establishing Yamaha as a leading force in the VR music industry.
[Would you like to connect to Maestro Revolution (Yamaha Corp.)?]
[Music for All. All for You.]
Violinist Pi Soo Jung, who is currently a professor in the orchestral department at Korea University, went to Na Me and suggested trying out Maestro.
This raised questions among the Baroque students.
Pi Soo Jung was someone who, more than anyone else, wouldn’t recommend Maestro to her juniors.
This is because adapting to a virtual reality avatar could hinder actual performances.
Professor Pi Soo Jung explained her change of heart this time.
“I was worried that 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 because she’s been living in virtual reality for a long time?”
“Ah…”
The interpretation of the piece was flawless. It seemed she understood exactly how and when to play certain parts.
If the disappointing sections were due to her body not cooperating, this ‘Maestro’ could serve as a wonderful supplement.
“By the way, do you have a game account, Professor?”
“Uh? Oh, I do! It’s shared up to four people, so Na Me can join my party.”
“Four people means it’s a premium account, right?”
With that, Professor Pi Soo Jung and Na Me each entered their capsules and connected to Maestro.
The waiting room looked no different from any other open world.
Since Na Me hadn’t created her game avatar yet, she was summoned in her real-life appearance.
Then Professor Pi Soo Jung appeared.
“…?”
Na Me, along with the students who were watching through the screen, couldn’t help but be speechless at the sight of her avatar.
This person’s avatar is incredible.
The elegant Victorian-style dress fluttered as Professor Pi Soo Jung made her entrance.
The voluminous skirt made of velvet and the exquisite embroidery, frills, and lace details enhanced the value of the dress.
The curve-hugging design smoothly wrapped around her body, and it seemed she was also wearing a corset at the waist.
The upper part of the dress was filled with beautiful pearls and embroidery, and the most surprising aspect was her hair.
In reality, finding such a bright red hair is nearly impossible, and it was styled in two braids, even resembling drill hair in an awkward fashion.
She exuded a cute yet bold atmosphere, reminiscent of a young noblewoman debuting in society for the first time.
“Ah… No! This isn’t my original avatar; it was created by my daughter! I’m serious, guys!”
Professor Pi Soo Jung hurriedly changed her avatar with a flushed face.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t see the responses of the students in the real world.
She could only vaguely speculate that they were probably giggling.
Returning to a normal look with black hair and a simple black dress, the professor stood in front of the camera, busy explaining herself to her students.
Just then, her game nickname caught her attention above her head.
[Bloody Crystal]
[Maestro / World Rank #113]
Seeing such an edgy nickname makes it hard to believe any explanation she gives…
“By the way, what does world rank mean?”
“Oh, this? Maestro allows you to compete with others in performances.”
“So isn’t it just a rhythm game?”
“Exactly! It’s a rhythm game!”
“Is that really the case?”
It elicited an involuntary response of disbelief.
A music school professor playing a rhythm game on real instruments? Isn’t that cheating?
“Na Me, can you watch what I’m doing carefully?”
Professor Pi Soo Jung, or rather Bloody Crystal, took out a violin from the void and entered the gate labeled ‘Quick Match.’
As eight people settled into the slightly rounded seats like an orchestra, the performance began.
[A. Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 2 in G Minor RV 315 Summer 3rd Movement, Presto]
[Difficulty: ★★★★★★]
Maestro was a game that lagged significantly behind other online games in popularity within Korea.
Nevertheless, it still had a loyal fanbase, and many dedicated their lives to uphold Korea’s reputation as a music powerhouse.
In the Maestro gallery, which had a somewhat ambiguous post-visibility, big news emerged after a long time.
[Maestro Gallery]
[Violin battle came up in Maestro! But with a Korean nationality?] [45]
(Screenshot from waiting room.jpg)
I was doing a quick match when Maestro came up, and I thought for a moment that I was playing ranked.
But seeing the newbies next to me who couldn’t even hold the bow properly confirmed that it was a quick match.
Did you all see? Five people were out in 10 seconds, and three of us, including me, continued the game, lol.
And check the results page, too.
(Game results screenshot.jpg)
[#1 Bloody Crystal: SS Rank / 999,038 points / Accuracy 100%]
[#2 Ollini-Ga-Zhoya: S Rank / 772,823 points / Accuracy 95.58%]
[#3 Na-Han-Te-Man-Ji-Rai-Ya: B Rank / 481,044 points / Accuracy 81.47%]
Is this human? It’s machine-like, lol.
How on earth does someone achieve an SS rank in The Four Seasons – Summer? (I really don’t know)
I felt honored to meet such a person, so I went to shake their hand, and there was a Taegukgi next to the nickname.
So this person is a real Korean?
[Comments]
– Your way of speaking sounds like a kid. How old are you?
└ (Original poster): What does it matter to you?
└ (Original poster): I’m 15.
└ Are you in middle school? But getting an S rank in Summer means you’re quite skilled!
– Are you barely a Royal Expert? Would you meet Maestro at your rank?
– That’s our legendary violinist Pi Soo Jung, lol. How do you not recognize her?
└ (Original poster): Huh?
– Anyone who plays Maestro must have won a VR competition, so there’s a 99% chance they’re a pro — almost no exceptions.
– Our Bloody Crystal hasn’t given up on this trash game, huh? I always had faith in you.
– Didn’t you leave a replay? Someone like that should be paid to be watched.
└ (Original poster): I didn’t think she would be that great…
[Repost] I never understood those who were fans of Ju-Dex or Yu-Dex, lol.
(2046 World Ranking List for Violin.jpg)
Having placed in three major competitions in just one year, Bloody Sensei was the first Korean to break into the top 10, lol.
Meanwhile, Yu-Dex has totally exposed their skills, and despite being outside the top 100, they still can’t get Maestro under their belt while calling themselves a virtuoso?
There are limits to winning by the number of matches; this field is one that thrives on talent, and I don’t understand why amateurs are praised for that either, lol.
[Comments]
– Seriously, it’s been ages since I’ve seen this topic, lol. Is this a five-year-old post?
└ This era was truly the golden age of Maestro.
└ Ah! The glorious and beautiful memories of the Gald Cup!
└ I can’t believe I miss that tiresome Gald Cup… This game has truly gone downhill, lol.
– I wonder what Yu-Dex is up to now.
└ Aren’t they at that age when they should be in college?
└ They were that young?
– It was hilarious to see the Yu-Gals weep and collapse in front of talent.
– This is actually a part where Yu-Dex should be praised… They’ve shown the peak that can be achieved solely by effort without talent.
└ So rank 98 means elimination in the competition?
└ The Yu-Gals are still alive, huh, lol. I have to give them credit for their survival skills!
[Who is Yu-Dex?]
These anime song players are discriminating against non-anime song players again.
[Comments]
– Shut up! ^^
– Why are you posting in the gallery if you don’t know Yu-Dex?
– If you’re not going to play anime songs, then why are you playing Maestro?
└ For real, lol.
└ For real, lol. You must check out the new VY1V9 song; it’s amazing!
– Yu-Dex is the one referred to as a human machine, human macro, human terminator.
– They were someone who posted a song achieving SS rank every day; the accuracy was just insane.
└ Eventually, they started scoring a million points at around one song a week. A genius at sight-reading.
└ (Original poster): Really? I see that they have over 2000 SS ranks, that’s ridiculous, lol.
└ (Original poster): But why have they still not gotten Maestro?
– Well, they play like trash anyway;;
– It’s difficult to explain, but even someone like me with poor ears can tell a significant difference.
– They’ve improved a lot towards the end, though…
└ What do you mean by “the end,” lol? Let’s not pretend they aren’t alive and well.
[Knock knock, excuse me… I found No Name…][54]
I acknowledge that it’s a big deal to see Bloody Crystal after a long time, but…
Isn’t that No Name sitting in the audience?
(Zoomed-out image of Philharmonic Orchestra concert hall.jpg)
[Comments]
– That’s ridiculous. Why would No Name play this trash game?
– It’s true!
– Who is No Name? That blonde?
└ That’s the avatar from WoroA, isn’t it?
└ What’s WoroA?
└ Older person, haha.
– Did they… show up? They… really did!!!!!!!!
– Bloody Crystal and No Name are here at the same time? With this, Yu-Dex might come back too, lol.
└ This comment will soon become legendary.
– The Maestro boom is coming! No, please let it come…
– Call all the music streamers right now!
└ Haha, they can’t resist becoming VTubers.
– Ladies, my heart is racing…
*
Dan Ni El was named by his devout Christian parents.
The name was derived from the Old Testament figure Daniel, meaning ‘God is my judge,’ and he created the nickname ‘Yu-Dex’ from the word ‘judge’ in Latin (jūdex).
Now, just the thought of ‘Maestro’ makes him dizzy and nauseous.
The person he disliked the most after his parents was undoubtedly ‘Bloody Crystal.’
Whenever he uploaded a video out of a simple desire to be praised, there were always malicious comments comparing him to her.
Dan Ni El himself felt a significant skill gap compared to her.
He had acknowledged that she was a better performer than even his mother, who had seemed like the heavens to him during his childhood.
However, over time, he had inadvertently become assimilated into the conflict created by fans and anti-fans, developing an unconscious hatred towards Bloody Crystal.
He found it strange that he felt this way.
It was as if he was mentally haunted by a childhood nightmare, and he lived his life trying to forget it until he unexpectedly encountered her once more.
Bloody Crystal.
True to her name, Pi Soo Jung.
Now, just as before, she had her red drill hair.
“Ni El, why are you here? Are you okay?”
A few friends who understood Ni El’s trauma came over to support him.
Why hadn’t he realized it before?
The expressions describing a storm raging and thunder roaring, with hail falling, undoubtedly indicated it was the same person.
“I’m okay…”
Ni El quietly sat in a corner, watching the professor and Na Me chat.
They looked happy.
Unlike himself, who saw the piece only as something to conquer and judge, Professor Pi Soo Jung seemed to genuinely enjoy music, which he found enviable.
“What song are you going to play, Na Me?”
“I’m okay with anything.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to choose something you know? If you link your VTube account, random songs will be played by recommendation algorithms; should we go with that?”
“There’s such a feature? This game truly is godly.”
“Haha, it really is! It was designed for people like me who have decision-making difficulties! You’re a bit like that too, aren’t you, Na Me?”
An avatar of a blonde woman.
Ni El had seen her once or twice on TV before, but this was the first time he observed her in detail.
‘She had such a pretty face…’
The song selected by the algorithm, reflecting Na Me’s tastes, was.
[Na-Han-Te-Man-Ji-Rai-Ya: What is this song anyway?]
[Love Circulation (Cover – Kariri)]
[Difficulty: ★☆]
It was Kariri’s cover song ‘Love Circulation.’
