"Let's start from the basics, step by step!"
That was the very first thing the vocal instructor said after listening to my singing.
"Was my singing… not very good?"
"Ah, I can see how you might take it that way. You have a naturally gifted voice, so it's pleasant to listen to. But your fundamentals are really weak, so your singing is unstable."
"…I see."
To be honest, I felt a little down.
Hadn't the academy director praised me, saying I was good?
But when I said that, the vocal instructor gave a bitter smile and lightly shook her head.
"He always starts by praising people."
"Huh…?"
That day, my confidence crumbled.
From then on until now, I focused on nothing but vocalization and a single song.
And today, it was finally time to reap the results of all that effort.
"So, today's the day at last?"
The vocal instructor smiled brightly when she saw me warming up my voice inside the recording booth.
She was a woman in her early thirties, the type overflowing with energy.
"Yes. I'm going to do a proper recording today."
"Good. You've put in a lot of work, so I'm looking forward to it!"
"Hahaha… I wouldn't go that far…"
The instructor thought I was just recording the song to keep it for myself.
I'm not ashamed of being a VTuber, but if I told her, she'd probably keep asking what my name was, so I didn't bother mentioning it.
An acquaintance watching my stream… that's terrifying, isn't it?
Aside from Hyejeong, who knew even before the audition that I was participating, none of my acquaintances know about VTuber Miro.
And Hyejeong doesn't seem to watch my stream either.
"Alright, we'll start recording."
"Yes! Please make yourselves comfortable!"
Feeling a bit nervous, I focused on the melody coming through my headphones.
The song I chose was, as expected, a Japanese song.
One of those "if you know, you know" songs, with around 20 million views on its music video.
I carried the song forward with a cheerful voice over its bouncy melody.
The lyrics convey the feelings of a young girl who wants to be loved for who she truly is, without wearing a mask.
There were many reasons I chose this song, but the biggest one was that it was a song the "female Kim Suhyeon" liked.
"—!"
For a short few weeks, I did nothing but sing this song over and over.
I'm still lacking in other areas, but for this song—one that doesn't require much technique—I could say I was at an expert level.
On top of that, I had a guaranteed check called my voice.
Even though I'd only learned and practiced the absolute basics, the sound coming out was already different.
"—!! —!"
For about four minutes straight, I sang as hard as I could, constantly recalling the theory the vocal instructor had drilled into my head.
"Okay, that's good!"
When the song ended, the instructor vigorously gave me a thumbs-up from beyond the recording booth, as if I'd done well.
But…
"How was it?"
"One more time!"
"Excuse me?"
"Let's try lifting the ending note a bit more when you deliver the first line."
"Ah, okay…"
Maybe—just a little—I had underestimated recording.
"I think this should be enough."
By the time the recording ended, the sun was already high in the sky.
I'd arrived in the morning and spent nearly four hours, well past lunchtime, digging into just one song.
"Good."
"Really?"
"It's perfect. Truly."
"That's a relief…"
Honestly, I was pretty exhausted.
"Please wait here for a moment. I'll send it to you right away."
"Yes, thank you."
I received the audio file of my recording.
Now all I had to do was go home, record a video of my virtual avatar singing, and overlay the audio.
As I sat on the sofa, feeling somewhat relieved, the vocal instructor handed me a sports drink.
"Great work today."
"Haha…"
"So, where are you going to upload it?"
"Pardon?"
"Is it for submission? Or are you a YouTuber?"
"Uh…"
How did she know?
While I briefly wondered if I'd somehow given it away, the vocal instructor stifled a laugh and spoke.
"You've got that look—'How did she know?'"
"Yes… how did you know?"
"You can tell at a glance. I've taught quite a few students, you know."
"I… see."
Feeling awkward at being found out, I smiled sheepishly. The vocal instructor stood up first.
"Among all the cover songs I've heard, yours is easily one of the very best."
"…What?"
"That's how good it was. Haah… is your voice just unfairly good?"
"Hahaha… thank you."
"Anyway, you're still lacking, so don't quit lessons, okay? These days, teaching you is what makes life enjoyable."
"Yes. I still have a lot to learn, after all."
"Oh my, how do you manage to speak so nicely? Alright then, good work today. I'll be heading out."
"Yes, get home safely."
After the instructor left, I looked around the now-empty recording studio, then stood up with a good feeling.
On the way home.
To celebrate myself somehow, I went into a convenience store to buy a drink and some snacks.
"Welcome~"
"Ah, hello."
A pretty female part-timer greeted me cheerfully as I walked in.
Setting aside the question of why someone with her looks was working here, I confidently grabbed food, put it into my basket, and placed it on the counter.
"You're buying quite a lot today."
Since I'd been coming to this convenience store regularly, we'd built enough familiarity to exchange light small talk.
"Ah, something I was working on just finished. It's a kind of celebration."
"Oh~ I see. You'll need a bag, right?"
"Yes, please."
Smiling with her eyes, the clerk scanned my items.
"That'll be 32,100 won."
"Wow, that much?"
"Convenience store prices are expensive these days, you know."
"That's true."
I hadn't even bought that much, yet it was already over thirty thousand won.
I opened my wallet—which had been getting thinner again lately—pulled out my card, and handed it to her.
"Yes, your payment is complete."
As I took my card back and started stuffing the items into the bag, the clerk took out a drink from under the counter and placed it on top.
"What's that?"
"It's a gift—from me."
"Excuse me? A gift all of a sudden?"
"Actually, today's my last day working here."
"Oh— I see…"
"Even so, you're the only customer I really got to chat with. So I wanted to prepare something. I'm glad you came in today."
"Ah, thank you so much."
The drink itself wasn't anything expensive, but I gratefully accepted the thought behind it.
And once I'd finished putting all the food into the bag, I took out one of the snacks I'd bought earlier and placed it on the counter.
"Then this is my gift to you."
"…What?"
"Actually, today's my last day coming to this convenience store."
"…What??"
"I'll be shopping at a supermarket from now on. So just take it."
"Hahaha… what is that supposed to mean?"
Only after seeing the clerk, still bewildered, pick up the snack I'd given her did I turn around.
"Uh— I mean— well… no, never mind. Goodbye."
"Yes~ Don't feel burdened, and enjoy the snack. I hope everything you're working on goes well."
With that, I left the convenience store.
"…Was that kind of cool?"
That thought popping into my head was pure male instinct.
Back home, the first thing I did was bring up my avatar and sing.
It was just a video of the avatar nodding its head while singing, but an avatar that's worth the money definitely has its own appeal.
When I overlaid the audio file of the song I'd recorded earlier onto that video, the result was surprisingly satisfying.
After polishing the not-quite-a-scam-but-kinda-feels-like-one video with my humble editing skills and adding subtitles, I sent it to the company's email—and finally felt completely relieved.
I'd done everything I could.
Now all that was left was to wait for the results.
Psssh—
I cracked open a cold canned beer I'd bought earlier and put in the fridge, then took out the snacks.
Since I was done now, I planned to lie back and leisurely watch the other contestants' final broadcasts.
When I logged into Dwitch, everyone except two contestants was live, all with titles saying it was their last day.
Naturally, one of those two was me.
And the other one was…
"Was it Roa?"
A contestant I remembered seeing a few times, singing K-pop songs with an avatar that had sky-blue hair and blue eyes.
Strange. It was the last day, but she hadn't gone live. Maybe she planned to start a bit later?
Thinking that, I sipped my beer while watching the other contestants' streams.
**
The fourth round audition videos were all uploaded to The Six.
Just as I'd expected, most contestants had submitted videos consisting of self-introductions and highlight compilations from their streams, so most of them ran anywhere from at least ten minutes to over twenty minutes.
And among them, there was exactly one video.
A video that was 3 minutes and 45 seconds long.
Because of its short runtime, it already had more views than the others even in the early stages, so I clicked on it.
On screen was an avatar with pink hair and small horns, sitting alone in a cozy, cute room.
The avatar shook its head to a bouncy melody, green eyes sparkling, and then opened its mouth.
A voice so refreshing you could feel it just by listening flowed out.
"Ha… this is damn good."
Listening to the song—even to my own ears, it sounded great—I slowly scrolled down to the comments.
I love you, Miro!! Please accept my love..! I love you, Miro!! Please accept my love..! I love you, Miro!! Please accept my love..! I love you, Miro!! Please accept my love..! Who is this person? Welcome home, honey, I made dinner. Welcome home, honey, I made dinner. Welcome home, honey, I made dinner. Welcome home, honey, I made dinner. Why is the comment section only like this here? Queen of singing Miro..! Queen of singing Miro..! Queen of singing Miro..! Queen of singing Miro..! F***, she's adorable… f***, she's adorable… f***, she's adorable… f***, she's adorable… f***, she's adorable… Someone needs to clean up this comment section;;
"Ah… getting too popular could be a problem."
Looking at the comment section cheering me on, I smiled in satisfaction.