NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20
The recording of the debut song is all finished.
Starting with me and Maho, followed by Loa, Anna, Haru, and Mile, everyone went to the workshop and completed their recordings. After distributing parts and mixing, the track was created in just a little over a week.
The music video is in the making, and once it’s done, it will be released along with the song, but this part is entirely taken care of by the company, so I didn’t bother about it.
The song’s title is “Celestial Realm.”
I did create it to fit a concept, but the lyrics are just like any girl group song.
Should I say it’s a somewhat pure concept?
The song was really good.
The different vocal tones of the six members harmonized beautifully, enhancing the quality… though I can’t say it’s entirely objective.
Still, even if it fails, at least the song is good enough to listen to, right?
After pondering alone, I decided to get an evaluation from a third party.
So, I chose Hyejeong.
She listens to a lot of music as a hobby and is quite sociable, so she should have a decent sense of what’s good and what’s not.
“So you want me to listen to the song?”
“Yeah, just give it an objective evaluation.”
At my request for an objective evaluation, Hyejeong gave me a vague expression.
“Can I really be objective?”
“Well, I couldn’t just show it to someone completely clueless; that would violate the secrecy pact.”
“Isn’t it not really a violation for me, though?”
“You just need to keep your mouth shut.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to it at least.”
“Here, put on the earphones. I’ll keep watch.”
“You’re funny; what am I smuggling here? If drinks come out, go get those.”
Mumbling, Hyejeong put on the wireless earbuds I handed her, and I watched her listen to the song. When the buzzer rang, I went to get the drinks.
As I placed the drinks on the table, seeing Hyejeong with her eyes closed seriously listening to the song started making me a bit anxious. What if she thinks it’s terrible? I can’t change it now.
Should I have just kept my mouth shut? No, it’s better to face it head-on.
After a few minutes of waiting with my heart racing for her to finish listening to the song, Hyejeong opened her eyes and nodded, speaking admiringly.
“This is really good!”
“Really?”
Her words melted away the worries piled up in my heart. Even if it were an empty compliment, it gave me some relief.
“Yeah, and is this really you?”
Saying that, Hyejeong handed me one of the wireless earbuds.
“Where?”
“About 30 seconds in when this part starts.”
Ah, I struggled a bit with this part. The composer was so picky… but since the song turned out well, there’s nothing really to complain about.
“That’s me!”
“No way, are you sure?”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t like this in karaoke, right? Plus, the voice is different.”
It seems she was surprised that it differed so much from how I normally talk or sing at karaoke.
Tsk tsk… this is what happens with regular folks; they don’t realize how diverse a person’s voice can be.
“People think a voice is just one thing.”
“Isn’t it one?”
“Nope.”
“What? Are you doing impressions?”
“This is what it means to use one’s voice.”
“Is that even possible? Like, can you do it when you sing too?”
“I can produce a pretty diverse range of sounds.”
“Wow…”
Seeing Hyejeong with a look of disbelief at my versatile talent made me chuckle. I didn’t even know I had this much talent.
Did I have these skills back when I was a guy?
If I had known this would happen, I would have just studied moderately and taken up more hobbies like female Kim Soo-hyun.
“Anyway, the song is great; what should I say? The part distribution seems good; everyone’s voices are so varied.”
“Right? It has a nice listening experience.”
“And who’s the high note here? Better than most singers!”
“Where?”
“Right here.”
I wondered if it was my part and felt a bit hopeful, but of course, it wasn’t. Honestly, I’m still not that confident with high notes.
“It’s Loa.”
“Loa?”
“Yeah, she’s one year older than me and sings really well.”
Loa must have handled this debut song most comfortably, right?
She’s always been a good singer, but this song is practically her specialty.
I struggled a bit with the recordings, but Anna, Maho, and Loa finished quickly.
Learning at the vocal academy for a few weeks was way tougher than singing with people who had been practicing all along.
“I still think your part is the best. Your voice is a bit varied, so it can be confusing at times.”
“Exactly! I nearly died getting that out!”
“But now you know it’s possible, right? The composer must be talented.”
“True, just look at the hit songs.”
“What hit songs are there?”
“Well…”
After listening to Hyejeong’s impressions of the debut song, I felt relieved and chatted about various things before parting ways.
****
Returning home, I rested for a bit before starting my broadcast.
– Hi!
– It’s been a while since you showed up!
– What’s “Nangjungjichu”?
– New viewers, just sit tight!
As soon as I turned on the broadcast, I watched the flood of people coming in.
Thanks to the company organizing collabs with big streamers and letting me ride the wave, there were quite a few viewers, even though I hadn’t been live for long.
Of course, it’s a bubble that will pop over time, but after announcing the debut song and doing some promotion, it should somewhat maintain or even attract more viewers.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
– What are you doing today?
– When’s the song coming out?
– When are you playing ranked League of Legends?
– Have you leveled up?
“I’ve stabilized what we’re doing today… Oh, I’ve leveled up a lot. I played a bit with the other members.”
I bought XP boosts, so I leveled up quickly. At this rate, I might hit my first placement next week?
[Odin, thanks for the 1,000 won!]
Where do you think your placement tier will be?
“Thanks for the 1,000 won. For the placements? Since it’s my first time, I think it might be pretty high.”
I should be able to reach Platinum quickly, considering my original skills.
Now that I think about it, I haven’t played on my main account because I’ve been focusing on my broadcasting account. Overall, aimless normal games with the members are comforting rather than the stress of solo queue.
– Expecting bronze, huh?
– You seem like you play well based on your past records.
– From what I saw last time, you should be around Gold 2.
“You’re totally underestimating me; it’s not that low.”
– Want to bet?
– Isn’t the underestimating coming from you?
“Bet? What would we wager?”
[Master Miro, thanks for the 10,000 won!]
If you fail, play a horror game; if you reach Platinum, I’ll give you 100,000 won.
While I was pondering the bet, a familiar patron threw a topic my way.
“Thanks for the 10,000 won! Ah — horror game, huh? Okay, I don’t mind.”
I’m not particularly desensitized to scary things, but I readily accepted the challenge. I’m not confident I would lose, and if I back out now, I’d be unfit to be a streamer.
– Awesome!
– I’m in, haha!
– 5-minute waiting crew ON!
– I’ll be waiting~
The chat buzzed at the mention of playing a horror game if I lost. Is it really that enjoyable?
“Want to snipe me? Go ahead, but don’t mess it up.”
I meant it sincerely. Who am I? I’m someone with top 3% skills. I’m confident I can carry through at least a placement game.
– ???: Go on, snipe me~
– You asked for it.
– Just block! Haha!
“Anyway, let’s talk again when I reach the right level for placements, and by the way, the song recording is finally done!”
– Really?
– When’s it coming out?
– I heard it already when Anna was streaming yesterday.
– The song? Do you think we’ll praise that garbage, calling it an original song? Haha.
– (Deleted message)
“Hey… please leave.”
There was a chat that crossed the line, so I immediately banned that user.
“Making false claims about my debut track on my stream will get you banned.”
Many people from the company and members are participating in this song; it’s not fair to criticize it without even listening.
Even if my viewers can be a bit rough around the edges, this is a rule that needs to be respected.
– Oh wow!
– Uh-oh.
– Gasp!
(Note-taking activated.)
“Make sure to write that down for your notes; just don’t use it in my stream. As for when the song will come out? How about checking the café set up by The Six for updates?”
– That place…
– It’s boring since only stiff people hang out there.
– Yeah, for real.
“Stiff people? Are you sure you’re not the delinquents here?”
– 🤬
(Note-taking activated.)
– I’m disbanding my fan membership (meaning I’m pulling support).
“Are you asking me to check and announce the details? Well, I’ll let you know if the manager passes the information along.”
– Good!
– Let’s do well!
With this, I felt a bit lenient towards the viewer’s snappy comments, as I could at least share this much information.
I don’t want to get into a power struggle with the viewers. We’re supposed to help each other out.
[StationeryEraserThiefMiro, thanks for the 1,000 won!]
But did you know your fans aren’t really in that café? Haha.
“What? What do you mean by that?”
– 😂
– Hahaha!
– Seriously, there are none.
– I went there and left because no one was around.
– I got banned too.
After reading the chat, I decided to check the café out of curiosity.
It hasn’t been long since it was made, but there were still some members, so it was apparently operational…
As per the viewers’ comments, I checked each member’s bulletin board.
Anna, Mile, Maho, Haru, Loa.
Their boards seem to generate new posts every few minutes.
For an early fan café, it looks quite active, but mine seems desolate in comparison.
The most recent posts were just to draw attention when I came to the café during my stream.
“Why is it like this?”
– Went there and got banned too, haha.
– They say no swearing.
– Too boring, haha.
– You don’t write there either, idiot! Haha.
“Why do you all act like the chat in my room in the café?”
– Then what should we do?
– Just write like in a community.
– Why should I follow the rules?
– Maybe change the rules for your board!
Seeing these audacious comments made me facepalm.
“Oh… this is a disaster.”
It looks like my stream is becoming an isolated island.