༺ This is Blind Hate! ༻
It was seven o’clock in the evening.
Sitting in front of the monitor, I placed the delivered chicken in front of me and pressed the full screen button.
「Okay~ Everyone has been waiting for a long time~」
Inside a small rented room, the cheerful voice of the host flowed from the monitor speaker.
「YM’s Metaverse Project ‘CLOSER’ Third Round Audition! Now, let’s meet them together!」
Every audition was streamed live this way.
Since the keyword of the project was ‘Metaverse’, even the place where the judging took place was in the virtual world, VRWorld.
The map resembled a large streaming studio set and gave off a feeling of an actual idol survival show.
「Then let’s meet the judges right away!」
Following the host’s words, the judges took their seats one by one.
There were four judges in total.
Until the second round, there were only three of them, but it seemed like they added another one this time.
「Okay, Judges. Please take turns introducing yourselves!」
The judges’ avatars opened their mouths in turn at the host’s words.
「Yes. Hello. I am Shisho, YM Entertainment’s resident vocal trainer~」
Shisho was someone who had served as a vocal teacher on a real idol survival show.
This also crossed my mind the moment I saw it, but why did this person use that avatar?
Shisho’s avatar looked exactly like a ruffian you’d expect to see in a Japanese downtown.
Seriously, it would be better to put your face there instead.
It always felt strange to see people whose faces were already known sitting in avatars that didn’t suit them.
「This is Ha Saem, the team leader of the YM Metaverse Team.」
Ha Saem, who introduced herself as the general supervisor of this CLOSER project, was using a red-hair witch avatar.
Again, I couldn’t understand why she was using that avatar.
「Haha~ Nice to meet you all~」
However, in terms of recognition, there was no judge who could beat this person.
「This is THE streamer, Blackstone!」
The man himself was using a black stone avatar that matched his name.
While the avatar looked insignificant, he was literally the most popular streamer.
Blackstone was one of the pioneers of streaming and the first streamer to ever popularize VR content in Korea.
He said that he was specially invited to this occasion through YM’s casting.
The response was very positive.
This was because he was someone with a deep understanding of both the new technology called VR and streaming.
Lastly, the new judge.
The avatar he used looked like a Taoist with a long beard.
「Hello, everyone. This is the first time I have greeted everyone this way. It feels fascinating.」
His voice sounded familiar, but… Who was he?
While I was still foolishly trying to guess who it was, the chat had already turned chaotic.
[huh…!]
[Wait… Why is that person here?]
[fr?]
[OH LMAO IT’S HIM HAHAHA]
‘What? What’s going on? Why are people like this?’
Though, his following words made me completely understand why they acted like that.
「I am Yoo Ho Seong, the CEO of YM Entertainment.」
Ah…?
No, wait. This ahjussi is coming out?
It wasn’t uncommon for the president of a talent agency to appear at an audition, but the CEO of YM seldomly appeared on such occasions.
「It’s very refreshing to think that I’ll be having conversations and meeting participants in a virtual reality world like this.」
Ahjussi.
Anyone could tell the tone was that of a middle-aged man new to young people’s technology.
「I don’t think it will happen, but I hope that all the participants won’t feel pressured and can all perform what you have prepared for today with ease. Hohoho.」
This… It felt like hearing the division commander telling you to take it easy in the military…
I started to worry about Luka.
She wasn’t the type to get nervous on stream, but she became remarkably timid when it came to the audition.
It was obvious, considering what happened during the last stream when she was clearly worried about her song choice.
She sighed several times like she had a headache and seemed a little too shaken by the audience’s comments.
But, she should do well…
Anyway, which song did she end up choosing?
「Then, let’s go ahead to meet our first participant!」
The first participant to be called was a streamer called Yuhwa.
「Hello! My name is Yuhwa!」
With her greeting alone, she already exuded the aura of an active idol.
An avatar with shiny blonde hair waved her arms in the air.
「Okay. Yuhwa-ssi. Now that you’re in the third round and you’ve beaten quite a few competitors, how do you feel?」
「Uh… I was really very surprised. ‘I made it?’ I had many thoughts like that.」
「So, what kind of song have you prepared today?」
「Ah~ The song I’m presenting today is…!」
The first batter Yuhwa sang an idol song that was extremely popular a few years ago.
But even to a non-expert like me, it just seemed average?
In fact, they had already gone through a round of vocal screening, so it was safe to say that those with terrible tone deaf and beat deaf had already been weeded out.
I was curious to see what the judges thought.
「Who will go first?」
The judges hesitated, then decided in what order to speak.
「How about me?」
The vocal trainer, Shisho, spoke first.
「Thank you for your song. Yuhwa-ssi. By the way, you know that this is a competition and that I’m here to judge the singing skills of the participants, right?」
「Yes.」
I could feel Yuhwa’s voice shaking.
「I’ll be honest, I think it would be a bit difficult for you to participate in the project based on your vocals alone.」
「Your ability to hit the high notes is quite lacking, and even the lower notes fall short in comparison to your natural voice.」
「Of course, this audition isn’t for choosing a pure singer, so there should be more things to consider, but I personally think if you were to join us, you’d need to put more effort into your singing.」
Ooh… Spicy.
In the second round, they’d still be more accepting even when a contestant did badly, but it seemed like the judges would be going more harshly at them in this round as it was like selecting a debut group.
「Then, is it my turn now?」
The Metaverse team leader with the witch avatar took the baton to commentate.
「As for Yuhwa-nim, I know that you are mostly a horror game streamer. I’ve known who you were since before the auditions…」
「Yes.」
「If you were to join our project, you will most likely be more restricted compared to how you are used to streaming.」
Indeed… This was a project made by a large agency, so it was natural to ask them to avoid streaming with overly provocative content or a lot of profanity.
The evaluation of concept and suitability followed, and Yuhwa was almost beaten to a pulp with facts before being allowed to leave the stage.
“Brutal. So brutal…”
I said to myself as I bit into a chicken leg and popped a pickled radish into my mouth.
But the good news was that quite a few streamers had similar evaluations to Yuhwa.
People could watch in real time as most of the participants were unable to escape from the vocal trainer’s harsh words and were mentally crushed by Blackstone’s streaming theories.
「Hoho. This is really difficult since this isn’t about choosing all of these friends to become real singers.」
The President, in his Taoist avatar, gave an awkward smile.
「There are many different aspects to consider.」
After the flurry of criticism, the next contestant appeared.
「Ah~ This participant is~」
The judges began to whisper to each other.
As for me, instead of cleaning up my food, I sat there without moving.
The participant had a bobbed light green hair.
Resting on her face was a round pair of thin-framed glasses that seemed to be her main charm.
「Hello. I am Leah.」
With the appearance of Leah, a formidable dark horse for the debut group, the chat went into overdrive.
[Leah-chan! Let’s goo!!!!]
[BEST SINGER! BEST SINGER! BEST SINGER! BEST SINGER! BEST SINGER! BEST SINGER!]
[Ah~ The pro player who showed up for the amateur soccer game~]
Watching the stream was fun, but the dramatic chat was also a treat that shouldn’t be missed.
「Then shall we start right away?」
A gentle accompaniment flowed, and Leah began to sing the first verse.
「Winter without you is painfully cold.」
Woah…
Her singing was amazing.
There weren’t any difficult techniques involved in that first verse, but I got goosebumps all over my body.
As if everyone felt the same way I did, the chat was filled with enthusiastic responses again.
[kyaa! this is it!]
[Actual skill diff. No way she won’t be chosen with her skill level lol]
[I LOVE YOU LEAH! I LOVE YOU LEAH! I LOVE YOU LEAH! I LOVE YOU LEAH!]
「Please love me again. Like yesterday.」
When Leah’s song ended, the judges applauded.
「I think Leah-nim could have gone to a real audition, not the Closer Project.」
Enthusiastic praises came pouring in from them.
「Wow… I can’t see any problems with this. I felt the same way during the previous round, but I think you’re already complete in terms of vocals.」
「Hoho… Do you happen to have an account where you post your music? I will also follow you now.」
Even Blackstone praised her.
After a series of evaluations that made you think that this person was really going to make it, the host brought the next batter on stage to keep the excitement going.
「And now we have our next participant! Luka-nim! Please come out!」
“Fuck!”
Why did Luka’s turn have to come after her?!
As a hardcore Luka simp, my limbs were shaking.
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