chapter 31: Selling Illusions, Part 1

!!!

It was now mid-to-late February.

The Ministry of Education had long since announced the postponement of school for elementary, middle, and high school students, and wearing masks outside had become the norm.

However, there were no legal enforcements of social distancing measures like limiting the number of people yet.

Since going outside wasn’t a big problem as long as one was willing to endure some minor inconveniences.

“I should hurry up and make a contract with a recording studio.”

If social distancing became a major issue, recording studios might be reluctant to sign contracts, but if she could get a contract signed first, she would have more leverage.

“Hmm, hmm….”

Hayoon hummed and searched for a good recording studio

Since the two voice actors who would be voicing the heroines had both said it was okay to record near Seodaemun-gu, she was planning to find a place nearby if possible.

“This one seems to have decent reviews?”

Then, she found a recording studio with many testimonials from working professional voice actors.

It was about three or four bus stops away from the cafe where Hayoon and Arin often met.

The fact that professional voice actors frequently visited meant that the quality of the recording equipment was good, and the owner’s mastering and mixing skills were likely to be decent as well.

Min Hayoon immediately copied the address link of the recording studio and sent it to the two voice actors.

“I’m thinking of signing a contract here because the reviews are good……. Do you have any preferred locations? I’m really new to this.”

-I’m fine with it.

Park Ji-hye expressed her positive opinion.

Of course.

Park Ji-hye had only been to recording studios arranged by her company, so she didn’t know many studios, and even then, she wasn’t the type to remember each one, so she knew very little.

She didn’t care, assuming that Min Hayoon would take care of it.

-The owner here is nice.

-They invest a lot in the facilities, and they process the audio files to A-grade quality, which is great.

The second voice actor, who was one year senior to Park Ji-hye.

She seemed to have experience working at this recording studio, and she scratched Min Hayoon’s itch perfectly.

Min Hayoon sent a message of thanks to the two voice actors.

Now, the next step was…

“What’s Unnie’s number…?”

To call Choi Arin, set a date, and go together…

“….”

Pause.

For a moment, Min Hayoon, who was instinctively thinking of calling Choi Arin, paused and scrolled back up through her contacts.

“I think it would be better to call this person this time….”

Why did Min Hayoon take Choi Arin with her when making contracts?

Because she needed someone who seemed mature.

Choi Arin tended to look mature, and she had a good figure.

And this time…

“I have a feeling that if two girls go, we’ll be looked down upon…”

Regardless of how good the reviews of the recording studio were, she was very worried about being ripped off.

Min Hayoon herself had been ripped off more than once when she went to Yongsan near her house to buy computer parts.

She thought it would be better to bring along a guy to avoid getting scammed.

Since Do Jin-ho was on the bigger side, when else would she use him if not now?

-Ring, ring.

So, Min Hayoon, having made up her mind, called Do Jin-ho for the first time outside of their regular reporting schedule.

The ringing stopped, and silence began to hang in the air.

He had picked up.

And the voice that came right after…

Was slurring as if he had just woken up.

“It’s me.”

-Uh, Mi…. Min Hayoon, uh… why..?

When Min Hayoon announced her presence in a rather blunt tone, Do Jin-ho, who got goosebumps from the sharp female voice, hurriedly tried to figure out why she had called.

-Work? Is it because of that? Isn’t the regular report on Tue and Fri?

At first, he thought she had forgotten about the regular report, but today was Wednesday.

Since he had reported yesterday, there was no reason for her to call today…

“Do you have any clothes?”

-Uh? What?

But Min Hayoon started the conversation with something casual, which made him even more nervous.

“Clothes. Clothes.”

-Clothes, why…….

“You know I made a contract with the voice actors with Unnie, right?”

He heard about it, yeah.

She talked about it in the group chat.

“This time I’m going to take that guy? So choose some clothes and get ready.”

-Ah, okay. I’ll dress up as much as I can.

“Yes, dress up appropriately….”

Pause.

‘D-does this guy even know how to dress?’

This was a very serious problem.

The fashion sense of high school boys who are not interested in fashion is a disaster.

Min Hayoon had experienced it herself, and it had caused her a lot of embarrassment.

And Min Hayoon instinctively felt that Do Jin-ho was one of them.

“Can you take a picture of what you’re going to wear and show it to me in advance?”

Min Hayoon, feeling a deep sense of unease, immediately requested a photo.

After hanging up.

A short time later.

[Photo]

She received a photo of the clothes Do Jin-ho had taken…

“I knew it….”

It was exactly as she had expected.

A bright blue and green checkered shirt, skinny-fit jeans, and a belt that made his waist look even more awkward because it didn’t fit.

-How is it…?

And this message added with a hint of anticipation was just irritating to look at.

“What color are your socks…”

-Gray?

“Haaah.”

It was confirmed.

This guy is hopeless.

He might even be more hopeless than Min Hayoon, who used to skip class and sleep while drawing in high school.

“Call the LP if you need anything.”

Min Hayoon decided to take drastic measures.

She couldn’t just take Choi Arin to every contract meeting, and she would need Do Jin-ho to carry heavy things like boxes of merchandise at offline events.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch Do Jin-ho dress like this, so she sent him links to combinations she usually enjoyed wearing.

-What, clothes worth 300,000 won, if this……

“I’ll cover the expenses.”

-Thank you. Boss.

Choi Arin and Do Jin-ho are Min Hayoon’s only two team members.

She had no intention of letting her team members go around looking like beggars and hearing things.

“Give me your account number.”

-Yes.

She was planning to go to the recording studio as soon as Do Jin-ho’s clothes arrived.

She thought she would probably have to wait three or four days.

#

A few days later, while waiting for Do Jin-ho’s contact.

One day in mid-to-late February.

“The progress is faster than I thought, so I think the demo version recording will go pretty smoothly too.”

She had gotten a good response.

Of course, they hadn’t made a contract with the recording studio yet…

But even if things dragged on, the contract would be finalized within this month, and recording only the demo portion would take less than two weeks, even with a generous estimate.

“This is great.”

With this, they could release the demo in the best condition…

“Marketing…”

Actually, this was the most important part.

She will properly market it and make sure to earn more than 20 million won in revenue.

She will earn 20 million won on time and eliminate any worries about penalties.

The important thing is what that ‘marketing’ is…

“Cosplay?”

Besides funding, the only marketing tool Min Hayoon could use was cosplay.

Going around events like AGC or Surf and handing out printed QR codes was definitely effective…

“It’s ambiguous….”

The problem was that there was no opportunity to use it.

Then…

“Online streaming?”

Begging the viewers to buy while streaming?

Well, she had been steadily appealing to them, so she could increase the number of purchases a little…

“It’s weak….”

Min Hayoon wasn’t a streamer with tens of thousands of followers, so she couldn’t secure a significant number of buyers through streaming alone.

Then, that means she needs to increase the size of her stream…

The way to increase the size of her stream in a short period of time is…

To expand the area of the camera.

But, right now Min Hayoon is…

“Small….”

Small.

She’s definitely not the type of female streamer who can appeal with her body.

Well, she’s still in her first year of high school, so there’s room to grow…

But a full A cup can’t become an F cup in a month.

Then…

“I’ll have to sell an illusion…”

She won’t make an appeal.

It’s obvious that no one will buy it if she tries to appeal with her non-existent chest.

Here…

“I’ll hold the cosplay book hostage.”

She will sell the illusion that the cosplay book of a no-cam streamer with a small A-cup chest might actually belong to a busty F-cup female streamer with a great figure, in exchange for selling a cosplay book of a female streamer who has only shown her hands so far.

Of course, that illusion can only be seen by buying the game.

“This is good…?”

This is the best method Min Hayoon can use right now, and the ‘Girl’s War’ users, who are one of her main viewer demographics, will be easily swayed by this bluff.