Chapter 6: A Habit of Getting Too Invested
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 6: A Habit of Getting Too Invested
[Thank you all so much for watching today~ I think the next stream will probably be for the audition!]
[Please cheer me on~ Lubye~]
Leaving behind the viewers spamming emotes that seemed to say, Where do you think you’re going?, I pressed the "End Stream" button and let out a deep sigh.
Ah... what do I do...
If one song had been clearly better than the other, I would have just finished that one and performed it.
But since the poll results were almost fifty-fifty, I felt even more conflicted than before I’d asked.
Still, the viewers had left a lot of donos and comments about what they liked in each song, so I opened a notepad and carefully organized their feedback.
The general consensus was that song number one was the right choice if I wanted to appeal to the idol image, while song number two was better if the goal was to simply showcase the voice of Luka.
Ugh... I really don't know...
I threw myself onto my bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Then again... it’s amazing I’ve even made it this far.”
A little over 200 people had applied, but 180 were eliminated by the second round of auditions.
That meant only 20 people, just 10 percent, had survived.
It was announced that in the third round, half of them—ten people—would be cut. The number of people who would pass the final round was still undecided.
I took out my phone and checked Instagram. A bunch of pictures from Minji’s birthday party two days ago had been uploaded.
Minji, her face flushed, blowing out the candles on her cake.
My classmates clapping happily beside her.
“...Looks like it was fun.”
Honestly, I’d wanted to go.
I was on good terms with Minji, and I was pretty close with the other classmates who had gone out for drinks.
But right now, I had to be as careful as a student studying for the College Entrance Exam.
I wondered if I was going too far, but it was hard to think of failing the audition as my failure alone.
I believed that the many viewers who cheered me on would feel the same sting of disappointment that I would, so I was doing my best to take care of myself.
-Bzzzzzz
The phone vibrated. I opened my messenger app, only to be greeted by a coupon from a delivery app.
I knew no one was likely to contact me, but it still put me in a bad mood for some reason.
I often felt this sense of emptiness after ending a stream.
It was like being in a loud, bustling place one moment, and then with the press of a button, being transported back to a deserted island.
As I scrolled down the screen, an unread message caught my eye.
[Major Group Project (12)]
...The group project with Taemin Oppa.
Come to think of it, Taemin Oppa had been a bit strange when I saw him the other day.
I’d always known him to be a very quiet and reserved person, but he had asked me all sorts of questions.
The conversation hadn't felt natural, though; there was a sense of forced effort to it.
Is he doing that to keep things from getting awkward because I confessed to him back then...?
He really didn't have to go that far.
Every time he spoke to me, I felt more troubled than grateful for his delicate consideration.
Please, just pretend nothing happened... Oppa...
“Ah... whatever, whatever...”
No matter how much I worried about it alone, it wasn't something I could bring up with him directly.
And besides, the impending audition was more important than the guy who rejected me.
“I should just practice singing...”
And so, another lonely night passed by.
It was this summer that the major entertainment agency, YM, announced its venture into developing metaverse idols.
[YM Virtual Idol Open Audition]
As a company that had produced numerous famous real-life idols, people were extremely curious about what kind of impact this new challenge and investment would have.
The slogan YM put forward for this project was [CLOSER].
While it was true that two-way communication between fans and idols had become more active compared to the old days, they announced that they would challenge themselves to create an even closer level of communication.
[Until now, most idols have worked hard to stand on stage through long periods of training at their companies.]
[In a way, you could say this elaborate process has become patterned and rigid over time.]
[That is why we will present a completely different paradigm.]
[We will show you a new concept of virtual reality idols.]
[In the most advanced way, we will try to get closer to the public than ever before.]
[CLOSER! Please look forward to it!]
Surprisingly, they began recruiting not idol trainees or aspiring idols, but virtual streamers who used virtual avatars.
Of course, that wasn't to say that only pure streamers participated in the audition.
Naturally, there were many aspiring singers who had hastily acquired avatars, and just like any other audition program, many had joined simply to gain attention and stir up drama.
And for the first and second rounds of auditions, YM presented a rather unconventional set of judging criteria.
The first round was a segment to appeal with one's own broadcasting history and style, and those who had hastily started streaming had to taste the bitterness of elimination like autumn leaves falling from a tree.
A company with a firm intention to recruit only experienced newcomers.
Although her streaming career wasn't that long, Luka had received a very positive evaluation in the first round.
[First of all, I want to give you high marks for having a very solid concept. The time and duration you've been streaming also seem decent.]
[I haven't heard you sing yet, but your voice itself has an overwhelming quality. It's the closest feeling to what we commonly call a 'good voice'.]
[I'll pass you.]
After the first audition, Luka succeeded in making her name known even more widely.
Her personal stream viewership actually increased, and her existing viewers were all genuinely cheering for her challenge.
There were about five hours left until the third round of auditions.
The online communities were already buzzing with talk about the contestants who would appear today.
[Only Pink Army members allowed.]
As a hardcore Pink Army member with the highest subscription tier, I clicked on the post without hesitation.
[Honestly, if she doesn't sing the first song from her last stream, I don't think she has a chance today.]
This bastard?
As someone who had even sent a dono telling her to sing the second song, I couldn't hold back my retort.
[ㄴㄴ She definitely has to go with the ballad. What are you talking about?]
⤷[Seriously, don't you dare call yourself a Pink Army member anywhere.]
My blood pressure shot up at the reply.
[I probably know Luka way better than you do, what the hell are you talking about?]
⤷[LMAO. This is what the newbies who came in from the audition are always like.]
My hands and feet started to tremble.
Seriously. The audition hasn't even started yet and this guy is pissing me off.
[Drop your Twitch username. What's your sub tier, huh?]
Honestly, I knew it was pathetic for someone my age, who's even finished his military service, to be hiding behind the mask of anonymity and acting like this, but what was I supposed to do when that bastard started it first?
I could tolerate slander or insults against myself, but I couldn't stand having my sincerity as a Luka fan ignored.
[ㅉㅉㅉ Mad cuz I touched on the greatest achievement of your life, huh.]
...You son of a bitch!
I slammed my fist on the desk.
Haa... The way he talked, it was clear this wasn't the first or second time he'd gone around acting like this.
What a ridiculous bastard.
He was the one who provoked me first, calling me a newbie, and when I fought back...
His comment about it being the greatest achievement of my life felt like a punch to the gut.
Ugh, so annoying.
I didn't even want to deal with him anymore, so I hit the back button.
Another post about Luka was below it.
[Unpopular opinion) Luka is kinda...]
I clicked on it, wondering what this guy had to say...
[She was cuter back in her small streamer days, though.]
⤷[Ah. This I agree with.]
This one, at least, knows what's up.
In the very early days of Luka's streams.
Back when less than 100 people were watching, Luka was different from how she is now.
She used to read almost every single comment and was more easily swayed by them.
One day, someone asked if she had just burped, and she spent 30 minutes trying to explain herself.
As she whined and denied it, the viewers died of laughter and continued to tease her.
I wonder if there's a clip of that left...
I should go rewatch it.
Luka didn't officially run a video channel, so there were usually clips that her fans had posted online.
[Ah~ Guys, I'm telling you, it's not true~ No. Why would I burp!]
[It's just the sound of my chair moving, and you're making a big deal out of it. Ah. Seriously. No... Haa...]
The pink-haired avatar shook her head from side to side as if to say it was unfair.
[Seriously... I hate you all...]
A pouting, sullen voice flowed from the speakers.
Cute.
So cute.
I felt like I was going to drown in the cuteness.
Thinking that Luka failing to become an idol would be a global loss, I scraped through the related videos list below and waited for the official audition broadcast to begin.