Chapter 8
7 PM. Seated in front of my monitor, I hit the full-screen key with a delivery chicken spread out before me.
[Hey everyone~ Sorry to keep you waiting~]
From the speakers of my tiny one-room apartment came the host's upbeat voice.
[YM's Metaverse Project CLOSER Round 3 Auditions! Let's meet them now!]
The auditions were always broadcast live like this. True to the metaverse name, the judging took place in the virtual world of YM VR World. The massive broadcasting studio set felt straight out of a real idol survival show.
[Now, let's meet our judges!]
One by one, the judges took their seats as the host spoke. There were four in total this time—up from three in the previous rounds.
[Please introduce yourselves one by one!]
The judge avatars spoke in turn.
[Sure. Hello, I'm Sisho, YM Entertainment's exclusive vocal trainer~]
Sisho, who'd already appeared as a vocal coach on real idol survival shows. I'd thought this last time too, but why the hell did this guy use that avatar? His looked exactly like a typical yangachi thug from Japanese back alleys. If you're gonna use something like that, just show your real face. It always felt off seeing famous faces hiding behind mismatched avatars.
[I'm Hasam, head of the YM Metaverse team.]
Hasam, who introduced herself as the overall director of this CLOSER project, rocked a red-haired witch avatar. No clue why she picked that one either.
[Hahaha~ Nice to meet you all~]
But when it came to recognition, no other judge could top this guy.
[I'm streamer Blackstone!]
True to his name, he showed up as a pitch-black stone avatar. On its own, it looked pretty lame, but he was a big name among streamers. A pioneer of early internet broadcasting and the guy who first popularized VR content in Korea. YM had specially invited him for the casting, and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. He knew both emerging VR tech and streaming inside out.
Alright, that left just one new face. His avatar was a long-bearded sage type.
[Hello, everyone. It's a bit novel greeting you all like this for the first time.]
His voice rang a bell, but... who was it? While I sat there blankly trying to guess, the chat was already exploding.
What the hell? His explanation made the reactions click instantly.
[I'm Yoo Hoseong, CEO of YM Entertainment.]
Wait... what? This old dude was showing up? Agency CEOs appearing on audition shows wasn't rare, but YM's boss wasn't known for TV appearances.
[Meeting everyone and the participants in this virtual reality world feels truly novel.]
Classic old guy dipping his toes into youth tech. Obvious from a mile away.
[I know you probably won't feel pressure from me, but please don't be nervous. Just show us what you've prepared comfortably. Heh heh heh.]
...It was like hearing a division commander tell you to "relax" in the army. Luca was starting to worry me. She didn't freak out much on stream, but she'd shown some real fragility about this audition. Like last time with the song choice—she'd sighed like her head hurt, overreacting to viewer comments.
She had to do well... Wonder what song she prepped anyway.
[Let's meet our first participant!]
The first called up was streamer Yuhwa.
[Hello! I'm Yuhwa!]
Yuhwa's greeting oozed pro-idol vibes. Her shiny golden blonde avatar bobbed as she waved both arms high.
[Yuhwa, it's round 3 now—you've beaten out tons of competitors. Thoughts?]
[Uh... it's just shocking, like, "Wait, I actually made it?"]
[What song did you prepare today?]
[Oh~ The song I'm performing today is...!]
As the first batter, Yuhwa sang a massively popular idol track from a few years back. To my untrained ears, it was solid, nothing special. After one vocal round already, the total tone-deafs and beat-missers were weeded out anyway.
Wonder what the judges thought.
[Who wants to go first?]
The judges hesitated on order.
[I'll start?]
Vocal trainer Sisho spoke up.
[I heard it well, Yuhwa. But this is a competition, and I'm here for vocal prowess.]
[Yes.]
Her voice trembled.
[Frankly, purely on vocals, I think it's tough for project inclusion.]
[High notes are weak, and even lows don't suit your voice—you're not drawing them out well.]
[It's not 100% about picking singers, so there's room for consideration, but if you join, you'll need tons of work on vocals.]
Oof... harsh. Rounds 1 and 2 had some pity-party vibes even for the weak ones, but round 3 was debut-group serious—judging got stricter.
[Shall I go next?]
The witch avatar, metaverse team head, took over.
[Yuhwa, you've been a horror game specialist streamer for a while before this, right?]
[Yes!]
[If you join our project, your usual style might get restricted or sidelined.]
Fair enough... Big agency project meant no overly edgy content or heavy swearing, obviously. Concept fit evaluations followed, and Yuhwa took fact after brutal fact before escaping the stage.
"Brutal. Brutal..."
I muttered, chomping a chicken leg and popping some pickled radish.
Good news? Most streamers got similar roasts. They couldn't dodge the vocal trainer's tough love, and Blackstone's broadcast critiques shattered mentalities live.
[Heh heh. Picking real singers is tricky when it's not just that.]
The CEO in sage avatar chuckled awkwardly.
[Yeah, different factors to weigh.]
After the roast storm, the next participant appeared.
[Oh~ This one's~]
The judges murmured. I paused cleaning up delivery trash and sat back down.
Short light green hair. Round thin-rimmed glasses as the standout feature.
[Hello. I'm Lea.]
Lea's entrance—the dark horse debut favorite—lit the chat on fire.
Watching the stream was fun, but the chat's fanboy meltdowns were a treat too.
[Let's hear it!]
Soft backing track faded in, and Lea began the first verse.
[Winter without you hurts down to the bone.]
Whoa... she was good. No fancy techniques, but goosebumps everywhere. Chat exploded with similar vibes.
[Love me again. Like yesterday.]
Lea's song ended to judge applause.
[Lea, you could've done real auditions instead of CLOSER.]
Praise poured in.
[Wow... no flaws to nitpick. Felt it last round too—vocals are complete. My opinion.]
[Heh heh... Got a music account? I'll follow right now.]
Even Blackstone's endorsement. Post-evaluation screamed "she's in." Host kept the hot momentum rolling to the next.
[Next up! Streamer Luca! Come on out!]
"Son of a—!"
Ah, why did Luca have to follow her of all people?! As a diehard Luca mom, my hands and feet were shaking.