Chapter 161: RKRO
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161: RKRO
It felt like a dream.
A sweetness so delicate it felt as if it would melt away at any moment.
Even after Doah and Yoonje left, I kept refreshing the winners' page over and over again.
RKRO
The English abbreviation for Lucario.
According to the announcement, around 400 people had submitted to the contest.
Even accounting for duplicates and non-serious entries, that was by no means a small number.
There were a total of six winners.
One Grand Prize, one Excellence Award, three Merit Awards, and one Special Award.
If you ranked them, I probably came in around fifth place.
A dizzying sense of accomplishment so intense it made my brain tingle washed over me.
“No way. I’m actually fucking awesome, aren’t I?”
I was so excited that I started talking to myself.
This actually worked? Wow. It really happened?
Diving onto my bed, I started fanboying like a madman in a way I couldn’t dare show when my friends were around.
“Wow. Han Taemin. You. Are. So. Fucking. Cool. Holy shit. Fuck.”
I didn’t want to show this side of myself to Yoonje, and especially not to Doah.
How could I possibly reveal the true, cringey face of a Pink Army otaku?
Kicking my blankets and bursting into laughter by myself, I waited excitedly for Doah’s stream to start.
According to the message she sent me a little while ago, this weekend’s collab stream would be a listening party where they’d all listen to the chosen songs together.
I was happy, but the nervousness wouldn’t subside.
I knew Luka would love it no matter what, but I hoped the others would like it too.
Ah. Would I get hurt if they just pretended to like it to be nice?
They wouldn’t do that, right?
-Bzzzzzz
My phone vibrated.
A call was coming in from an unknown number. I considered just hanging up, but I couldn’t do that today.
It… It could be the company.
YM. The major entertainment company I’d briefly been a part of.
Swallowing hard, I swiped the screen with a trembling hand.
[Hello?]
A young woman’s voice came through the phone.
[Yes, hello.]
[Am I speaking with RKRO-nim, who submitted a song for the CLOSER album project?]
No way. It’s really them?
I sucked in a sharp breath, then composed myself and cleared my throat.
[Ah, yes. That’s me.]
[Thank you for confirming! My name is Choi Yuna, from the YM Virtual Team. First of all, RKRO-nim, congratulations on winning. The reason I’m calling today is…]
She still didn’t seem to know that I was Han Taemin, the rookie who had been with YM for a while. She just stuck to talking about the music and the project.
She asked if I was available to appear on the CLOSER collab stream this weekend for an interview.
She said she would send over the contract, and that I just needed to read the terms and sign it online.
[Yes! That’s all I needed to relay for now. Once you’ve signed, we’ll provide further guidance on the work ahead!]
[Thank you…]
[Do you have any questions or is there anything you didn’t understand so far?]
There was nothing particularly special, so I was about to say no, but then I asked a question just in case.
[Um… excuse me… by any chance…]
[Yes.]
[Will I need to go to the main office?]
I really didn’t want to go.
Not only did I not have any good memories there, but running into the staff I used to work with would be awkward.
[No! You won’t need to visit the main office!]
She answered, but I felt like she was missing the point slightly.
[The recording and directing for the CLOSER members will all be handled by YM’s in-house engineers.]
That’s… not what I meant. It’s not like I was asking because I wanted to take the red pill.
Besides, I had already seen three of their faces in person.
Clover, who seemed like she’d be a perfect kindergarten teacher.
Fumurin, the girl with piercings who gave off the vibe of a trendy, popular Gen Z freshman.
And, well, my girlfriend, Kim Doah. Luka.
As for Leah, she had been in musicals, so pictures of her were already circulating online.
The only one whose face I didn’t know was Jennifer.
But honestly, I wasn’t that curious about what she looked like.
For one, I personally disliked her just for the fact that she’d said some harsh things to my Luka-tan, and her streams were also just really not my style.
Even though she was a VTuber in the same group, the whole vibe was completely different.
Her streams were a bit… well…
Mainstream.
[Okay. I understand.]
[Then I’ll send you a link on the day of the collab stream. You can just use that to connect and wait!]
[Got it!]
[Thank you! Have a great day~]
The red screen indicating the call had ended appeared.
Lying spread-eagled and staring at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly tense.
An interview? I thought it was just going to be a simple session of listening to the music and sharing their thoughts.
The thought of the top VTubers in the country publicly throwing questions at me made my body tremble.
This might be even harder than the 100 Questions Questionnaire, huh…?
Thursday evening.
In preparation for the Saturday collab stream, all the CLOSER members had gathered in the Voicecord channel.
Manager unnie said something had come up and asked us to wait a bit, so we were on standby.
The members were chattering away excitedly about the viewer-submitted album.
[Wow. But all the winning songs are seriously good.]
Jennifer unnie seemed to really like them, even dropping hints that she was already eyeing certain parts in a few of the songs.
[But Ashblock-nim is on another level, right?]
Fumurin’s love for the first-place winner showed no signs of stopping.
Yesterday, she kept messaging me in our private chat, telling me to listen to it.
She said I’d 100% become a fan, for sure.
I told her I would, but my one-pick was already decided.
And it wasn’t going to change.
[He was pretty much guaranteed first place from the start. He sounded so professional, so it was the safe bet~]
Clover unnie’s voice always had a way of making you feel relaxed.
[Leah, which one did you like the most?]
Although talking wasn’t as uncomfortable as before, Leah was still quiet.
She seemed even more quiet than usual today, so after listening for a bit, I gently asked her.
[I liked that one.]
[That one?]
[I liked ‘Summer Records’ the most.]
Ooh!
I had been feeling a little down because no one was mentioning Oppa’s song, but her words made a wide smile bloom on my face.
[Wow! That was my favorite song too!]
This was my chance. I immediately switched into mindless agreement mode.
Nice, nice.
This way, it wouldn’t seem like I was shilling for him, and I could promote his song naturally.
If Leah were next to me, I would have patted her head over and over.
[Ah! Right! ‘Summer Records’ was really good too! Total summer vibes!]
[But for that song, the music was great, but the lyrics were amazing. It felt like it was creating memories I never even had.]
[I have to agree with that.]
I felt a sense of pride, even though I hadn’t made it.
That’s right, that’s right. Praise it more, everyone!
I had helped a little with the lyrics, so I felt like I had a small stake in it too.
[I wonder what kind of person makes a song like this.]
Leah’s words were almost a mumble to herself, and I almost answered her without thinking.
[Hmm… I wonder…?]
[I was interested in composing too, and seeing something like this, I think it’s just so cool.]
He is cool in real life!
He’s even cooler when you see his face!
Ugh… Are you spreading your pheromones even without showing your face now, Han Taemin!
[Sorry I’m late!]
After a ding-dong sound, Manager unnie’s voice came through, apologizing.
[It’s okay~ We were just hanging out~]
[Yeah. Unnie, don’t you think this album is going to be a huge hit?]
[That’s all thanks to all of you having such wonderful fans, isn’t it?]
After some brief small talk, she got down to business, telling us what we needed to know.
A PowerPoint file was distributed, summarizing the key points we had to touch on for each song.
[You can go through them one by one. We’ll be proceeding in the order of the prizes.]
First place would go first, which meant Oppa’s song was fourth in line.
[Now, let’s take a look at RKRO-nim’s song, shall we?]
The song’s characteristics. The reason it won. Individual member comments. Questions for the composer.
It felt strange to be looking at a file someone else had put together about Oppa.
[This person isn’t an established composer, right?]
[That’s right. I believe he’s just a regular viewer.]
Leah, who had been silent until now, asked the first question.
[That’s really amazing…]
[This is off the record, but ‘Summer Records’ was actually a candidate for the Excellence Award.]
AAAAH! So close!
If it had won the Excellence Award, it would have had a chance to get a music video!
Unable to hide my disappointment, I stared at my monitor with a pout.
[We really debated it for a long time, but it unfortunately didn’t make the cut. Still, as a B-side track, I think it’s one of the top-tier songs.]
Should I tell Oppa about this?
Or would it be better to keep it a secret?
I couldn’t quite gauge whether he’d be happy or disappointed.
[Anyway, everyone, please make sure you’re familiar with all this for Saturday!]
[Okay!!!]
…Maybe I should mess with my Lucario-tan a little during the interview?
Having always been on the receiving end of his toxic chat messages, I was already grinning at the thought of getting him back.