Ch.217212 – Maestro

Yamaha, the world’s largest audio technology company.

They develop everything sound-related from all types of instruments to speakers, audio mixers, Vocaloid, and audio codecs.

With the emergence of virtual reality technology, Yamaha quickly established a market expansion strategy.

They launched “Maestro,” a virtual reality instrument simulation.

Even ordinary people without instruments could experience various instruments for a small subscription fee, creating a virtuous ecosystem where these experiences could lead to real-world instrument purchases.

After its initial release, an advertisement featuring a man born without arms and legs winning a VR piano competition through Maestro became hugely popular.

This touching advertisement won the Golden Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, ultimately securing Yamaha’s dominant position in the VR music industry.

[Would you like to connect to Maestro Revolution (Yamaha Corp.)?]

[Music for All. All for You.]

Pi Su-jeong, a violinist and professor at Korea University’s Orchestral Department.

She suggested that NoName try Maestro.

The Bach students found this puzzling.

Pi Su-jeong was known for never recommending Maestro to her university juniors.

She believed that adapting to a virtual reality avatar’s physique could actually hinder real-world performance.

Professor Pi explained why she was making an exception this time.

“I thought NoName might be having trouble adapting to her own body.”

“Not adapting to her own body? What does that mean?”

“Maybe because she’s been in virtual reality for so long?”

“Ah…”

Her interpretation of pieces was perfect. She seemed to know exactly how each part should be played.

If the occasional disappointing sections were due to her body not cooperating well, then “Maestro” could be an excellent supplement.

“Professor, do you have an account for this game?”

“Huh? Oh yes! It can be shared with up to 4 people, so I can include NoName in my party.”

“Four people… isn’t that a premium account…?”

So Professor Pi and NoName each entered capsules and connected to Maestro.

The waiting room was similar to any open-world game.

NoName, who hadn’t created a game avatar yet, appeared exactly as she did in reality.

And then Professor Pi appeared behind her.

“…?”

NoName and the students watching through screens in the real world were all speechless at her avatar.

* * *

This person’s avatar is incredible.

An elegant Victorian-style dress fluttered as Professor Pi made her entrance.

The voluminous skirt made of velvet, along with sophisticated embroidery, frills, and lace details enhanced the dress’s value.

The design featured gentle curves that softly embraced her figure, and she appeared to be wearing a corset at the waist.

The upper part of the dress was densely decorated with beautiful pearls and embroidery, but what was most surprising was her hair.

Her bright red hair, rarely seen in reality, was split into twin tails, and to make matters more awkward, they were styled in drill curls.

She gave off a cute yet bold impression, like a young noble lady making her debut in high society.

“No! No! This isn’t my original avatar! My daughter made it for me! Really, it’s not mine, kids!”

Professor Pi belatedly blushed and hurriedly changed her avatar.

Unfortunately, inside the virtual world, she couldn’t see the reactions of her students in the real world.

She could only vaguely guess that they were probably chuckling.

The professor, now returned to normal with black hair and a simple black dress, was busy explaining herself to her students in front of the camera.

Just then, her game nickname became visible above her head.

[Bloody Crystal]

[Maestro / World Rank #113]

With such a chuunibyou-like nickname, it’s hard to believe her explanation…

“But what’s World Rank?”

“Oh, this? In Maestro, you can compete with others through performances.”

“Isn’t that just… a rhythm game?”

“That’s right! A rhythm game!”

“Really?”

This makes me want to say “Is this for real?”

A music professor playing a real instrument rhythm game? Isn’t this like cheating?

“NoName, could you watch me play once?”

Pi Su-jeong, or rather, Bloody Crystal, pulled out a violin from thin air and entered a gate labeled “Quick Match.”

The music began as all eight players took their seats in a slightly curved arrangement, similar to an orchestra.

[A. Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 2 in G minor RV 315 “Summer” 3rd Movement, Presto]

[Difficulty: ★★★★★★]

* * *

Maestro was far less popular in Korea compared to other online games.

However, it still had a dedicated fan base, and many people dedicated their lives to “enhancing national prestige,” as Korea was still considered a musical powerhouse.

Big news broke on the Maestro Gallery, which had a moderate posting rate—not too few posts, but not so many that posts would quickly get buried.

[Maestro Gallery]

[A Maestro appeared in violin quick match! And they’re Korean!][45]

(waiting_room_screenshot.jpg)

I was in a quick match when a Maestro appeared, and for a moment I thought I’d accidentally queued for ranked.

But seeing the novice players next to them who couldn’t even hold their bows properly, it was definitely a quick match.

Did you guys see it? 5 people got eliminated in 10 seconds, and only 3 of us including me finished the game lol

Check out the results screen.

(game_results_screenshot.jpg)

[#1 Bloody Crystal: SS Rank / 999,038 points / Accuracy 100%]

[#2 ILoveOlini: S Rank / 772,823 points / Accuracy 95.58%]

[#3 OnlyJiraiyaForMe: B Rank / 481,044 points / Accuracy 81.47%]

Is this even human? More like a machine lol

How do you even get SS rank on Summer? (genuinely curious)

I felt honored to meet them so I went to shake hands, and noticed they had a Korean flag next to their name.

So is this person really Korean?

[Comments]

-You sound like a kid. How old are you?

└ (OP): Why do you need to know?

└ (OP): I’m 15

└ 9th grade? But getting S rank on Summer means you’re pretty good too

-You’re only Royal Expert rank, you wouldn’t meet a Maestro in your tier

-That’s the legendary Korean violinist Pi Su-jeong lol how did you not recognize her

└ (OP): What?

-To get the Maestro title you need to win a VR competition, so 99% chance they’re a pro, almost no exceptions

-Our Bloody Crystal didn’t quit this dying game after all TT I knew I could count on you TT

-Didn’t you save a replay? Usually you have to pay to watch someone of that caliber.

└ (OP): I didn’t know they were that amazing…

[Repost) Never understood why people stan Judex or whatever lol][28]

(2046_violin_world_ranking.jpg)

Bloody sensei broke into the top 10 as the first Korean by placing in three major competitions in just one year lol

Meanwhile, Judex’s true skill level was exposed, and despite being in the top 100, they still can’t get the Maestro title and remain a Virtuoso?

There’s a limit to grinding for rank. This field is all about talent, and I don’t understand why an amateur gets so much praise~

[Comments]

-Haven’t seen this topic in forever lol is this a 5-year-old pinned post?

└ This era was truly Maestro’s golden age.

└ Ah! The glorious and beautiful memories of the Gald Cup!

└ To think I’d miss the exhausting Gald Cup… the game really is dead lol

-I wonder what Judex is doing these days

└ Shouldn’t they be in college now?

└ Were they that young?

-It was so satisfying watching Judex fans wail and crumble in the face of real talent

-This is actually where Judex deserves praise… showing the highest level achievable through effort alone without talent…

└ And ended up at rank 98, failing competition preliminaries?

└ Judex fans still aren’t dead lol their survival skills are like cockroaches

[Who is Judex?]

These weebs who only play anime songs are discriminating against non-weebs again.

[Comments]

-Shut up and leave ^^

-If you don’t know Judex, why are you even on the Maestro gallery?

-If you’re not going to play anime songs, why are you even playing Maestro?

└ For real lol

└ For real lol the new VY1V9 song is fire, you should check it out

-Judex is someone known as the Human Machine, Human Macro, Human Terminator.

-They used to post one SS-ranked song every day, with accuracy that was just insane.

└ Later they even got million-point scores about once a week. A sight-reading genius.

└ (OP): Wow, looking at their profile, they have over 2000 SS ranks, that’s crazy lol

└ (OP): But why haven’t they earned the Maestro title yet?

-They play like absolute garbage tbh

-It’s hard to explain, but even someone with untrained ears like me can hear a big difference.

-They improved a lot in their later years though…

└ What do you mean “later years”? lol You’re talking like they’re dead.

[Knock knock… I found NoName…][54]

I get everyone’s excited about Bloody Crystal’s return, but…

Isn’t this person in the audience NoName?

(philharmonic_orchestra_concert_hall_zoomed_out.jpg)

[Comments]

-No bait. Why would NoName play this dead game?

-It’s real though?

-Who’s NoName? The blonde?

└ Yeah, isn’t that a World of Arsheria avatar?

└ What’s World of Arsheria?

└ OK boomer

-Is… is it happening? IT’S HAPPENING!!!!

-Bloody Crystal AND NoName at the same time? Maybe Judex will return too lol

└ This comment will become legendary soon.

-The Maestro boom is coming! Please, please come back…

-Call all the music streamers now!

└ lol VTuber collab potential is irresistible.

-Girls… my heart is beating so fast…

* * *

Daniel was a name given by her devoutly Christian parents.

She chose the nickname Judex (jūdex), Latin for “judge,” taken from the biblical character Daniel, whose name means “God is my judge.”

“Maestro” now made her dizzy and nauseous just looking at it.

The person she disliked most after her parents was undoubtedly “Bloody Crystal.”

Whenever she posted videos hoping for praise, there would always be nasty comments comparing her to Bloody Crystal.

Even Daniel herself acknowledged the enormous skill gap.

When she was young, she thought Bloody Crystal was an even better performer than her mother, whom she had considered godlike—that’s how completely she acknowledged the difference.

But as fans and anti-fans created constant conflict, Daniel gradually became absorbed in it too, unconsciously developing hatred toward Bloody Crystal.

Even she thought it was strange.

Just when she had dismissed it as a childhood nightmare and tried to forget, she unexpectedly reunited with her.

Bloody Crystal.

True to her name, Pi Su-jeong.

Just like before, she had red drill hair.

“Niel, why are you here? Are you okay?”

Some friends who knew about Niel’s trauma came over to support her.

How could she not have known?

The expressions like a raging typhoon, thundering and hailing—it was definitely the same person.

“I’m fine…”

Niel quietly sat in the corner, watching the professor and NoName chatting.

They looked happy.

Unlike herself, who only saw music as something to conquer and judge, Professor Pi seemed to genuinely enjoy music, which made Niel envious.

“What piece are you going to play, NoName?”

“I don’t mind anything.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to play something you know? If we link your VTube account, the algorithm can recommend random songs. Should we do that?”

“That feature exists? This really is a god-tier game.”

“Haha, it is! It’s a feature made for people with decision paralysis like me! Seems like you’re a bit like that too, NoName!”

The blonde woman’s avatar.

Niel had seen her on TV once or twice before, but this was the first time she’d seen her up close.

‘She has such a beautiful face…’

The song reflected in NoName’s taste as predicted by the algorithm was:

[OnlyJiraiyaForMe: What even is this song?]

[Renai Circulation (Cover – Kariri)]

[Difficulty: ★☆]

It was Kariri’s cover of “Renai Circulation.”