The Jangsan Tiger Likes Strawberry Latte.
“Let’s begin the rehearsal…”
The director’s words trailed off as he announced the start of rehearsal. I didn’t care about that. I stood in front of the microphone instead.
All other tools for producing sound effects had been cleared away. I would compete using only my voice.
“Director, are you really going to make sound effects with this voice actor’s voice? That’s not possible, right?”
“If that’s the case.”
“Then I might have to prepare to switch studios.”
The director’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not.
“This movie is a war film. Even if you manage to pull off other stunts, how are you going to make cannon sounds? It’s better to hire a sound effects team now…”
“I don’t need to do that.”
Choi Junho smiled leisurely.
“What’s wrong? You should convince the director too.”
The other employee said, looking at another colleague.
“No… If it’s her, maybe it’s possible. Cannon sounds or whatever…”
But the employee didn’t react to the words and was staring at me as if mesmerized.
“Everyone seems to have lost their minds… Director, I’m quitting today. Please handle the resignation letter yourself.”
Just as the employee was about to leave with a look of irritation at those who didn’t believe the truth.
Boom!! Kwa kwa kwa kwa!!!
A massive explosion sound rang out from somewhere, hitting the employee’s ears.
The employee instinctively turned his head to find the source of the sound.
“Sir, please lower your voice a little. The microphone can’t handle it.”
“Then just buy a better microphone.”
“A microphone that can withstand a cannon exploding 10cm in front of it? Why don’t you try finding one yourself!”
“Are you crazy right now?”
“No. Please just lower your voice a little.”
Surprisingly, the source of the sound was inside the recording room.
The recording room was soundproofed so that external sounds couldn’t enter or internal sounds couldn’t exit.
Even if someone inside shouted at full power, it would only sound like whispering outside. But how did the sound come out from inside, and from her mouth?
“Director, what did you just do?”
“Nothing special. Rehearsal? Ah, and your resignation letter, put it in the third drawer. I’ll handle it later.”
“Resignation letter? What are you talking about? I’m going to bury my bones in this studio.”
I don’t know how the director found such a monstrous person, but I couldn’t miss this opportunity.
I produced various sounds with my mouth inside the recording room.
The sound of an arrow being shot, wood burning in fire, swords clashing violently, and so on.
Boring. Too boring.
Human voices could convey emotion, but making sound effects with my mouth was really a boring thing to do.
With these, you couldn’t guess the movie’s content or context at all.
I felt like a living voice recorder.
At first it seemed fun, but when I actually tried it, it was… Maybe I should have charged money?
The rehearsal ended in thirty minutes.
Honestly, it took longer than that. If I hadn’t said one word each time the fox kept telling me to lower my voice, it would have ended in twenty minutes.
“Haa~! Since it’s over, let’s take a break.”
I yawned as I left the recording room.
It was a truly boring task.
The problem was that this was just rehearsal, and I had to do the main work once more.
“What’s this? Why are you all standing there like that? Rehearsal’s over.”
The employees were looking at me with eyes filled with complex emotions.
Awe, fear, surprise, cuteness(?) and so on.
Choi Junho was smiling cheerfully.
“Hey, bring water.”
“Yes!”
Choi Junho quickly ran to the break room and brought a bottle of water.
I gulped down the water.
If thirsty, mood gets a bit bad, but it doesn’t affect my skill. But since my mood is an important matter that can decide the world’s fate in a moment, I need to maintain optimal condition.
“No more work?”
“Yes, yes.”
“I’ll kill time at a cafe nearby. Call me when you start.”
Killing time at a cafe is an enormous luxury.
A drink costs over 5000 won. Instead of spending that, I’d rather get a bowl of hearty jukbap with a little more money…
Crum! Anyway, I used to do that.
But now I have enough money to buy all the menus at the cafe without worry, though not enough to buy the cafe itself.
Since it’s my first time visiting a cafe, I don’t know what menus are there exactly.
I went to the cafe.
It was the worst choice.
This body made people pay too much attention.
Really… too much…
As soon as I entered the cafe, I should have felt uneasy when the noisy atmosphere suddenly calmed.
The atmosphere that had calmed for a moment became noisy again in an instant.
About me…
“Should I ask for her number?”
“Friend wants to be caught.”
“Kuek, if I was only 4 years younger!”
Thinking that if this body was a bit more mature, these people would come asking for number, it felt extremely annoying.
If I were human, I might feel superiority in such situations, but to me it’s just annoying.
After all, I have no gender.
Exactly, it existed, but disappeared naturally during the transformation into a phantom beast.
So I’m not interested in romance or love.
Especially if the other person is human.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t change this appearance.
“Should I have properly beaten that grim reaper last time? I couldn’t then because I was too distracted, but if I meet him again, I should make him feel like ‘this is too much’ so the King of Yama thinks it’s excessive.”
If I hadn’t been tricked by that fox’s sweet talk, I wouldn’t have been noticed for no reason.
Should I wear a mask?
No, that would just make me get noticed in a bad way.
Since I came into the cafe, I have to do something.
Menus were all unfamiliar.
Americano… latte… caramel… I don’t know what any of them are.
The best way to avoid failure is to order what most people order.
“Ice americano one… and a strawberry cake here too.”
I ordered a strawberry shortcake displayed in the glass case.
The price was a bit high, but with the money I had, I could buy anything like this.
I went back to my seat with the drink and cake.
Before tasting the cake, I took a sip of the drink first…
“Slurp…! What is this? It’s poison!”
This drink was so bitter that it didn’t even try to hide that it was poison.
It was fortunate I was a fox; if not, I would have vomited blood and collapsed in 10 minutes.
Why do humans eat this the most? Or did they poison it because they recognized my identity and want to assassinate me?
I couldn’t figure it out at all.
I brought the drink to the staff as ordered.
“Hey, this tastes a bit off.”
When the staff heard my complaint about the taste, he took a sip of the drink curiously.
He tasted poison himself, so maybe he didn’t intend to add poison?
“It’s okay…? Maybe you haven’t had americano before?”
“Yes… yes.”
“You’re still young, so your palate might not be used to it. Wait a moment, I’ll make it strawberry latte for you.”
Ignoring “young”? How dare you call me young?!
Just before my vertical pupils appeared from anger boiling inside, the staff handed me the strawberry latte.
“It’s a service, so no charge. Go ahead and drink.”
With just this, my anger doesn’t get resolved…
It does…
“It’s delicious.”
“Right? From now on, order this instead of coffee, it’ll suit your taste better.”
Why was I angry before? Anyway, this strawberry latte is amazingly delicious.
The sweetness and the smooth strawberry blended harmoniously on my tongue.
To get tired of this, I would need to drink at least as much as the water flowing in the Han River.
Moreover, it paired well with the ordered strawberry shortcake.
Like makgeolli and its perfect side dish?
After drinking the strawberry latte, feeling a bit regretful, I ordered another one.
A man in his twenties got out from a large sedan.
“Sir, Studio Kkori is this way.”
“I know… Don’t give individual instructions.”
The man strode towards the building where Studio Kkori is located.
“Here the cafe is a bit noisy… Is a celebrity coming?”
“No. After checking the routes of all celebrities in the vicinity, it’s not a celebrity.”
The woman who seemed to be his secretary answered clearly.
“Let’s listen. Who knows? Something fun might happen.”
“That would just cause unnecessary energy consumption.”
The secretary turned her steps towards the cafe despite the man’s dissuasion.