Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Prodigy Miro
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The Heavenly Realm Project had already progressed to the third round before anyone knew it.
In tandem, the audition participants were starting up their individual streams one by one, and the streamers under The Six—the company running the project—were creating content by peeking in on those audition participants.
[Whoa, the interviewer is here?]
“Hey, you idiots, I told you not to make it obvious!”
-lolololololol
-No way
-Taester call on
-Withstand Taesan's weight
Amid all this, Taesan—a solid mid-tier streamer with The Six—wanted to check out an audition participant, but his viewers were making it impossible.
“Just stay quiet for a sec, you guys are ruining everyone's streams.”
He wanted to see what they usually streamed like, but with dozens of viewers flooding in and spamming the chat, the participants got flustered, or they'd spot Taesan and ask him what to do, breaking the stream's flow entirely.
In the end, Taesan left the participant's room again and checked out other audition streams.
“No messing around this time, for real. I just want to see a natural stream from a participant.”
-Okay lol
-Everyone hear that?
-Pat pat
Letting out heavy sighs and issuing warnings that fell on deaf ears with his viewers, Taesan scrolled back up when one stream title caught his eye.
[Prodigy Miro]
“Prodigy?”
Since he'd scrolled to the bottom to check participants with fewer viewers first, Miro's stream—boasting 50 viewers amid ones averaging 20-30—must have popped up pretty late.
“Isn't this that one? The otaku.”
-Yeah, that one lol
-Pretty good viewer count?
-Went in earlier, it's worth watching
-Came for the voice
Taesan recalled Miro's performance from the audition as he entered the stream.
The screen showed the classic Ideal Type World Cup that streamers often did.
[What should we do this time?]
‘Her voice is definitely top-notch.’
Voices were personal, but by Taesan's standards, hers was among the best in the participant pool—a true beautiful voice.
[Whoa? The chat's moving fast.]
And as soon as Taesan entered, his followers piled in, turning the chat into a frenzy.
“Goddamn it, you guys!”
Taesan was about to scold them, but the viewers didn't care and flooded Miro's stream even more.
Taesan watched anxiously.
Then, Miro's avatar frowned as she looked at the chat and spoke.
[Taesan? Who's that? Anyway, we'll do this one.]
-lololololololololol
-Taesan got ignored lolol
-Doesn't know Taesan while streaming on Twitch? She's done for lol
-Just.. total trash lol
She didn't recognize him—the second-round interviewer, technically—but Taesan inwardly sighed in relief.
***
I stared at the waiting screen for the famous J-pop Ideal Type World Cup, pondering.
“Should we do the round of 64?”
Three minutes per song, 64 matches—that's a whopping 64 songs, roughly 190 minutes even at a low estimate.
-no no no
-128 go go
-Aren't you gonna greet Taesan?
-Plenty of time, let's do 256?
-Taegi-dogs gtfo
Glancing at chat, I saw sporadic requests for 128 or 256 rounds.
‘Isn't that too long?’
128 songs? No way.
“Since I'm gonna listen fully before judging, isn't 128 too many?”
Famous J-pop should all be in my memory, but knowing lyrics and melody isn't the same as hearing it. I'd recognize the words and tune but never actually listened to some.
It was a chance to discover songs and gauge viewer reactions too, but 128 was overkill.
-But 64 skips too many songs
-Yeah everyone does 128
-Ignoring Taesan like a boss ;;
I frowned naturally while scanning chat.
‘Who's this Taesan that's got everyone acting up?’
Viewers had flooded in earlier, and even with follow chat on, muddy messages kept popping up.
I'd welcome diehard fans with open arms, but this? Eh...
Viewers doubled to 100 now, but I'd managed fine at 50.
“One sec.”
I excused myself and pulled up a non-streaming monitor window to search Taesan.
‘Ah, that interviewer from before.’
He was a streamer from the company running this audition—Heavenly Realm Project—and the one who'd handled my ad-lib perfectly back then.
‘But so what?’
Grateful then, but now it was straight-up stream disruption.
Rising viewers were nice, but I wasn't desperate.
I made a bold call.
“Taesan-nim, you watching right now?”
Chat buzzed for a second, and a verified streamer message popped up.
-(Taesan): Yes, really sorry. Meant to just check on participants, but my viewers caused trouble.
“No no, no need to apologize.”
I said that, then clicked his ID.
“I'll let you off later.”
With that, I straight-up banned Taesan.
Better to uproot the problem.
The ones muddying chat were his viewers anyway.
Without him, they'd bail quick.
I banned Taesan and turned back to chat.
“Anyway, shall we hear the first World Cup song?”
Chat was probably on fire—I ignored it and clicked the video.
“Focusing on the song for a bit.”
I tuned in. Normally I'd close my eyes, but bad Japanese meant watching subtitles while listening.
‘Nice.’
The video showed a female singer with a guitar strumming along to the band, belting it out.
Lyrics about missing a long-term ex hit home somehow, highlights were catchy, instrumentation flawless, and her delivery nailed it.
-Kya lol
-This is it
-Just.. goat..
-Dakjeon yeah
Post-song, chat had calmed; everyone shared reactions.
“This one's famous, right.”
Recalling details I'd ignored while listening, I scored it.
“Song and performance are flawless, perfectly captures sending off a long-term ex—bittersweet relief. Objectively, 3 points.”
???
-Why 3?
-At least 4 right?
-Full 5?
“Full score is 5. Why minus 2? I just can't relate to these lyrics.”
?? Why?
-Never broken up?
-No long-term dating?
“I've never broken up, so no empathy for breakup songs. And it's good, but I don't like ballads much.”
A rare overlap between male Kim Suhyun and female me.
Ballads? Karaoke fodder, honestly. They never hooked me.
Then, ding—a donation alert.
[Anonymous-nim, 1,000 won. Thank you.]
Do you have a boyfriend by any chance?
“Boyfriend? I'm an idol—can't have one.”
Personal take.
Idols are fan icons.
An idol with a boyfriend? Nah.
Idols are young and vibrant—no stopping romance, but don't flaunt to fans.
No idol mission for me—this was idol-lite, but yeah, single now and likely forever.
And...
‘Don't they go nuts for this?’
A little calculation there.
“Huh? Sudden subs? Thank you.”
See?
Just admitting no dating history, and 5 of 50 went paid sub.
I thanked each by name, smirking inwardly.
‘5 subs—what's that worth?’
Post-split, probably beats minimum wage.
Acting casual, I played the next song.
Male singer this time.
Mild-looking guy strolled city streets singing a love tune; Japanese residential vibe oozed, paired with great voice and unique melody—pure ear candy.
-Kya lol
-No this slaps too
-Dakhu yeah
-Really good
Solid reactions. All World Cup picks were hits—otaku viewers here for the VTuber knew 'em cold.
[Song Critic Miro-nim, 1,000 won. Thank you.]
Miro-nim, score for this one?
I mulled it.
“Hmm... This melody's my jam? And the MV vibe is perfect.”
Never traveled abroad, so that Japanese street walk stirred my romantic side.
“Personal score: 4 points.”
I picked the male singer.
-Why minus 1?
“Why minus? Don't love love songs—minus 1.”
I shrugged.
Mid-next round, I grinned at fresh paid subs.
‘Well, wasn't lying.’
True feelings, so all good.