Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Debut Preparations and Royale Grounds Collab
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After the Heavenly Realm Project audition ended, we dove straight into full-scale debut preparations.
First, we handled the contract remotely, and then had a group meeting with the handler I'd met at the company last time, where we got the full rundown on how the debut would unfold.
The schedule was incredibly tight.
We'd start with recording the debut song, followed by a showcase, and then collabs with famous streamers from The Six for promotion.
The one silver lining was the massive support from the company—they were really backing us hard. One of those perks was the new avatar.
"Is this my avatar?"
[Yes, that's right.]
I examined the avatar moving on the monitor in front of me.
My previous one had cost a pretty penny, but this was on another level entirely.
It recognized my facial expressions, of course, and the quality had jumped up a notch.
The pale pink hair gleamed with luster, and the snow-white face looked even more vibrant than before.
As I dazedly stared at my avatar, realizing there's no end to quality improvements, the voice of my now-Manager—formerly my handler—came through the headphones.
[And your debut song should be ready around tomorrow. I'll connect you with the composer, so you'll need to record it.]
My mouth dropped open at those words.
Debut song! I'd known it was coming, but now the audition passing really hit home.
"Ha... I'm getting nervous."
[Haha, you'll do great. Oh, and this is a secret...]
The Manager chuckled softly at my tension, then paused like he was about to share some juicy gossip.
"What is it?"
[Don't tell the others? I heard the composer is really looking forward to you, Miro-nim.]
"Huh? Why?"
[Something about your voice being totally his type?]
"Wow, really?"
My lips curled up involuntarily at the pro composer's praise for my tone.
'I should toss out the rest of my cigarettes.'
I'd been tapering off and keeping them stashed, but no choice now.
It hadn't been long since turning into a woman before I quit, so my voice was unscathed—thank goodness.
Lately, I'd been really enjoying vocal practice, and I wasn't about to ruin it with smoking.
[Anyway, it'll turn out great. I gotta go deliver avatars to the others now.]
"Wouldn't it be better to hand them out all at once?"
[The best gifts are the ones you get one-on-one.]
"Ah..."
[Alright, good luck. Looking forward to your collab stream tonight.]
After ending the call with the Manager, I stared blankly up at the ceiling.
When I first turned into a woman, I had no idea what would happen, but now here I was—audition passed, debut song recording right around the corner. Emotions were running high.
How long had I lain there lost in thought, gazing at the ceiling?
My phone started buzzing nonstop.
Viiiing— Viiiing—
The relentless vibrations led me to check the Heavenly Realm Project passers' group chat, where messages were piling up at breakneck speed.
Everyone must've gotten the word about the debut songs.
Since our first meeting, we'd been hopping on group calls and messaging nonstop, so even in just a few days, we'd gotten pretty close.
Our ages were similar, and we did the same thing, so conversation topics were endless.
Plus, VTubing can be a lonely gig, right? Having fellow trainees like this had everyone thrilled.
Of course, I'd been actively chatting too, trying to bond with my cohort.
I hopped into the group chat to reply, and the topic had already shifted to streams.
(Mahohyun [Maho]): Can I mention the debut song recording in today's collab??
(Anna-rin [Anna]): Isn't the whole point of today's collab to talk about that?
(Han Hari [Haru]): Debut song hype www
(Kim Arin [Roa]): What's with that tone?
(Han Hari [Haru]): Learn from the mainland seniors' culture.
(Kim Arin [Roa]): (Shivering bear emoticon)
(Mahohyun [Maho]): Right, Suhyun, can I mention it during my collab?
I scrolled down to the latest, which was calling me out.
(Me): What?
Curious, I asked, and a reply zipped back.
(Mahohyun [Maho]): That song you sang when we first met! Wanna brag to viewers!
(Me): ㅇㅇ Fine
Of course it was okay.
It was a nice story, after all. I'd be grateful if she spread it.
(Mahohyun [Maho]): Figured I'd ask since you don't sing much on stream!
(Me): (Thumbs-up emoticon)
(Han Hari [Haru]): What? Then I'll mention it too.
(Anna-rin [Anna]): I'm saying it first~
The other trainees seemed to be eyeing it too, as they all came asking permission one after another. I gave suitable replies, grabbed my coat, and headed out.
The collab wasn't for a few hours yet, so time to grab some food.
***
After a hearty meal at a new tonkatsu spot instead of my usual pork soup joint, and picking up snacks on the way back, I saw everyone gathered in the Heavenly Realm Project Discord channel when I got home.
'Still an hour till the collab starts?'
The company had handled prep perfectly, so we just needed to go live 30 minutes early, chat with the scheduled streamers, and jump into the game.
Wondering why they were there already, I put on my headset and joined.
[No, delete that too!]
[Ah, uh... got it!]
[Quick! One hour left!]
Roa was still fumbling with the game install, and the rest were crowding around giving advice.
[Oh? Miro's here?]
"Yeah, still not installed?"
[Ugh! Driving me crazy? She's a total noob with computers! But almost done!]
"Hmm... good luck. Gonna grab some snacks."
[Eh?? Aren't you too chill??]
"Too many cooks spoil the broth."
With that, I left the call, finished my stream setup, lay down, and binged a few wuxia novels. Time flew, and it was go-live time.
Watching the alarms as members went live one by one, I hit my start button too.
[Song Queen Miro Phoenix Branch Participation]
-ㅎㅇㅎㅇ
-Miha
-Finally on
-What's Phoenix Branch?
"Ah, Phoenix Branch is like the Dragon-Phoenix Meetup in wuxia, where later-generation disciples gather. Dragon for guys, phoenix for girls, so..."
-Just shut up?
-Avatar quality improved
"Anyway, collab today! Wow~ Passing the audition got us collabs lined up."
-No collab?
-Guy?
-Hmm...
Ugh, these jerks... Mention collab with guys and the vibe turns hostile.
All that casual girl-talk before, but they're serious about me?
"Alright, time left, so wanna hear what I did off-stream?"
-Just roll a LoL game ㅇㅇ
-Raised LoL level?
"Ah, played a few LoL games, but not much."
[Artisan Miro-nim, 10,000 won donation! Thanks!]
What'd you even do on break???
"Thanks for the 10k donation! Break? What break. Post-audition meetings, schedules, setups, etc. That's why the avatar's new. Pretty, right? Check the facial tracking."
I shook my head at the camera, made faces, and the avatar mimicked perfectly. Proud of the top-tier model, I logged into the game early.
"Today's game is Royale Grounds. You all know it?"
Royale Grounds.
A battle royale where players farm guns inside a shrinking circle and fight for last-man-standing number one.
"We've got six members? Splitting into teams of three, plus one famous Royale streamer from The Six per team."
-Why are they joining??
-Miro... my horns hurt... Miro... my horns hurt... Miro... my horns hurt... Miro... my horns hurt...
"Why the intense reaction? Don't mess with them in-game later. I get dragged too."
-Selfish bitch...
-As you wish~
-Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~
"If you spam weird chats and get caught, I'll check nicks and ban you here too."
I knew it was just chat trolling, but feeling uneasy, I threatened hard bans. The chat finally quieted.
"Have to bring out the whip to make 'em listen."
[ㅇㅇ-nim, 1,000 won donation! Thanks!]
Viewer ain't a beast pup, whipping? Apologize quick
"Thanks for the 1k. Alright, heading to the call room now."
Fielding donations casually, I peeked at the call room. The other members were there, plus the two The Six Royale streamers we'd scheduled.
Ding-
"Hello."
With a cheery connect tone, I joined.
[Oh, Miro's here!]
"Hi hi yo."
[Ah! Nice to meet you, Miro-nim! I'm Royale streamer Hangal.]
[I'm Nadan.]
Hangal and Nadan.
The Royale streamers for today's collab.
First time talking, since we'd never met before.
"Yes, looking forward to playing with you both."
Honestly, no big thoughts on these two.
Big streamers with hundreds of thousands of subs, sure, but one collab and done.
[Alright, all here—let's get started?]
Hangal handled hosting. Most famous here and great talker, so he naturally took the lead.
[Everyone got Royale experience?]
[Yup! We all know it to some degree.]
Anna replied for us. Our eldest sister and most popular, so it fit naturally.
We did intros, chatted lightly to warm up the mood midway.
Once the vibe loosened, we randomly drew teams.
[Okay, Maho-nim, Haru-nim, Miro-nim—Hangal Team.]
[Then Anna-nim, Mile-nim, Roa-nim—Nadan Team.]
The experienced, skilled invite streamers captained each team. Drop into one game together; first team to #1 wins.
[Alright, split to team calls.]
Halved the group, and things got quieter.
[Ahem, everyone confident?]
Unable to handle the silence, streamer Hangal spoke first. I jumped in quick to lighten it.
"Ah, yeah, I'm confident."
[Oh, really? How good?]
"Good enough that pulling one rando wouldn't leave a gap."
Royale's a super popular game.
Meaning both male Kim Suhyun and female Kim Suhyun had played it.
Plus, I'm confident in my skills. Top 3% in LoL, right?
ADC main, so solid FPS makes sense.
[Nice. Let's do this!]
Liked my confident vibe?
With Hangal's hyped-up words, the real collab kicked off.