Now That I Have Become a Woman, I Am a Vtuber

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“Let’s start by taking it step by step!”

The first thing my Vocal Teacher said after hearing my song was to reinforce the basics from the ground up.

“Was my singing not very good?”

“Oh, you might misunderstand. Your voice is naturally pleasant to listen to, but you lack the fundamentals, which makes it unstable.”

“Yes…”

To be honest, I felt a bit downcast.

Didn’t the Director praise me for doing well?

But when I said that, my Vocal Teacher smiled bitterly and shook her head slightly.

“That person usually praises you first.”

“Eh…”

That day, my confidence crumbled.

From then until now, I only focused on vocalization and one song.

And today, it was time to reap the rewards of my hard work.

***

“Finally, today is the day, huh?”

My Vocal Teacher smiled as she saw me warming up in the Recording Studio.

In her early thirties, my Vocal Teacher was an incredibly energetic person.

“Yes, I will record well today.”

“Great! I expect that after all the effort you’ve put in!”

“Hahaha… Expectations are a bit much…”

My Vocal Teacher thought that I was just going to record the song I had practiced with great effort.

I wasn’t embarrassed about being a Virtual YouTuber, but if I said so, they would probably keep asking what my name was, so I didn’t mention it.

The thought of my friend watching my broadcast… How horrifying!

Except for Hyejeong, who found out I was participating in the audition before it started, none of my friends knew about the Virtual YouTuber Miro.

It seemed that Hyejeong didn’t watch my broadcasts either.

“Alright, let’s start recording.”

“Yes! Feel free to do it!”

I felt a little nervous as I focused on the melody coming through my headset.

The song I chose was, of course, a Japanese song.

A song that many knew, with a music video racking up around 20 million views.

I flowed with the lively melody, singing with a cheerful voice.

The lyrics express a little girl’s desire to be loved just as she is, without wearing a mask.

There are many reasons I chose this song, but the biggest one is that it was a song that female Kim Soo-hyun liked.

“—!”

For a short stretch of a few weeks, I had sung this song over and over.

While I was still lacking in other areas, I could confidently say this song, which didn’t require much skill, was something I could handle expertly.

Plus, I had the guarantee of my voice.

Although I had barely learned and practiced the basics, the sound coming from me was already different.

“–!! -!”

For about four minutes, I sang as hard as I could, recalling the theories my Vocal Teacher had drilled into my mind.

“Okay, great!”

As the song ended, my Vocal Teacher was giving me a big thumbs-up from the other side of the Recording Studio, thankfully looking pleased.

But…

“What do you think?”

“Let’s do it again, just once!”

“Eh?”

“Could we raise the ending a little when you start the lyrics?”

“Ah, sure…”

I realized I might have taken the recording slightly too lightly.

*

“I think we’re done now.”

Once the recording finished, the sun was already high in the sky.

Having arrived in the morning and digging into just one song for almost four hours, it felt like quite a chunk of time had passed.

“Good!”

“Really?”

“Perfect. Really.”

“Then that’s a relief…”

To be honest, I was a bit exhausted.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll send it right away.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I received the audio file of my recording.

Now, all I had to do was go home and record a video of my avatar singing and overlay the audio, and that was it.

Feeling somewhat relieved, I sat on the sofa to rest when my Vocal Teacher handed me an energy drink.

“You worked hard.”

“Haha…”

“So, where will you be posting it?”

“Excuse me?”

“Is it for Tugo? Or are you a YouTuber?”

“Uh…”

How did she know?

Did I let it slip? I pondered momentarily as my Vocal Teacher chuckled and said.

“You have that expression of ‘how did you know.'”

“Uh… How did you know?”

“I can tell at a glance. I’ve only taught a few students.”

“Oh, I see…”

Feeling embarrassed about being caught, I awkwardly smiled as my Vocal Teacher stood up first.

“Among all the cover songs I’ve heard so far, yours truly stands out.”

“Really?”

“It was that good. Ah… Your voice really is out of this world, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha… Thank you.”

“Anyway, since you still have room for improvement, you can’t stop the lessons, okay? I’m actually enjoying teaching you lately.”

“Yes, there’s still a lot to learn, right?”

“Wow, how can you speak so sweetly? Well, take care! I’m off now.”

“Yup, get home safely.”

I looked around the now-empty Recording Studio after my Vocal Teacher left and stood up happily.

*

On my way home.

I entered a convenience store to buy a drink or some snacks to celebrate myself.

“Welcome~!”

“Oh, hello.”

A lively girl at the register smiled brightly as I walked in.

I wondered why someone with such looks was working here, but I quickly chose snacks and piled them into my basket to take to the counter.

“Buying quite a bit today?”

Having visited this store regularly, I had built enough of a rapport with the cashier to exchange light banter.

“Ah, I just finished up a project, so this is a celebration for me.”

“Ah~ I see? Would you like a bag?”

“Yes, please.”

The cashier chuckled as she scanned my items.

“That’ll be 32,100 won.”

“Wow, really that much?”

“Convenience store prices are high these days, you know?”

“That’s true.”

What did I even pick to spend over 30k on?

Opening my wallet, which had been getting slimmer lately, I pulled out my card and handed it over to the cashier.

“All set!”

As I took my card back, I was stuffing my purchases into the bag when the cashier pulled out a drink from beneath the counter and placed it on top.

“What’s that?”

“My gift.”

“Huh? A gift out of nowhere?”

“Actually, today is my last day working here.”

“Ah~ I see…”

“I’ve only had a proper conversation with you as a customer, so I prepared this. I’m glad you came today.”

“Ah, thank you so much.”

The drink wasn’t too expensive, but I gratefully accepted her thoughtful gesture.

As I finished putting my items into the bag, I pulled out the snack I bought earlier and placed it on the counter.

“This is my gift for you.”

“Huh?”

“Actually, today is my last day working here too.”

“What?!”

“I’m heading off to a supermarket now, so please accept it.”

“Hahaha… What’s this?”

Seeing the cashier puzzled as she took the snack from me, I turned to leave.

“Uh, um… Bye, take care!”

“Yes~ No pressure, enjoy the snack and I hope everything goes well with your work!”

I said this as I left the convenience store.

‘… Was that a little cool?’

The thought crossed my mind, instigated by my male instincts.

*

Back home, I first brought up my avatar and sang a song. Though it was merely a video of the avatar swaying and singing, it was mesmerizing to watch when the avatar did its justice.

And after overlaying the audio file of the song I recorded earlier in the studio, I ended up with a rather satisfying video.

After editing this almost miraculous video, tweaking it with my modest editing skills and adding subtitles, I sent it to the company email, and I felt completely relieved.

I had done all I could.

Now, it was just a waiting game for the results.

**

I opened a cold can of beer I had bought from the convenience store earlier and took out my snacks.

Having finished everything, I was planning to relax and watch the last broadcasts of the other participants.

Entering Dwitch, all participants except for two were broadcasting under the title “Last Day.”

Naturally, one of those two was me.

The other one…

“Was it Loa?”

I remembered seeing a participant with a sky-blue-haired avatar and blue eyes singing K-pop songs a few times.

How strange, it was the last day, and they weren’t streaming. Maybe they’ll go live a bit later?

Thinking that, I sipped my beer while watching the other participants’ broadcasts.

**

All the videos of participants from the fourth audition of The Six had been uploaded.

As I had expected, most of the participants sent in their self-introductions and highlight reels from their broadcasts, with most videos ranging from at least 10 minutes to around 20 minutes in length.

And then there was one video.

A short video, just 3 minutes and 45 seconds long.

Clicking on this video, which had a surprisingly high view count, I saw a pink-haired avatar with tiny horns sitting alone in a cozy room.

The avatar’s green eyes sparkled as it shook its head to a bouncy melody, and a refreshing voice rang out.

“Wow… This is really good.”

As I listened to this delightful song, I slowly scrolled down to check 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! Dinner is ready!”

– “Why is this comment section like this?”

– “Queen Miro..! Queen Miro..! Queen Miro..! Queen Miro..! Queen Miro..!”

– “Damn, this is adorable… Damn, this is adorable… Damn, this is adorable…”

– “I need to clean up this comment section.”

“Ahhh… I really shouldn’t get too caught up in this.”

Seeing the overwhelming comments praising me made me smile with satisfaction.