Chapter 32: Selling Illusions, Part 2

The next day, after Min Hayoon decided to use the cosplay book as a secret marketing weapon.

-The clothes all arrived, what should I do?

Do Jin-ho sent a message.

The clothes had arrived.

“Then, wear all the clothes that came this time when we go to the recording studio for the meeting. Every single one of them…”

If that was the case, what she had to do was set.

She had to take Do Jin-ho to the recording studio.

Min Hayoon immediately made an appointment and decided to meet in front of the recording studio in about two hours.

And so, they met after a long time.

“You’ve changed from a beast to a human.”

“Huh?”

“Just, saying.”

As Min Hayoon said, he had finally changed from a beast to a human.

A beast who seemed to know nothing about fit, length, or color combinations, thanks to Min Hayoon’s advice, had managed to pull off a fashion that fell within the human realm.

Of course, Min Hayoon was also a novice who only knew about the ‘Monami look’ when it came to men’s fashion…

But the Monami look was several times better than a strange shirt with a mix of bright blue and green.

Since Do Jin-ho was basically a big guy, he looked like a security guard.

“But why are these pants so wide? They make me look like an idiot…”

“Go to a college town. Everyone’s wearing them.”

“Is that so…”

When Min Hayoon mentioned college town fashion, Do Jin-ho reluctantly nodded as if he had nothing to say.

Do Jin-ho himself had no interest in fashion and didn’t care about such things.

He just accepted it, thinking that girls would know better.

“Let’s stop with the preliminaries and get to the main point. I also need to explain why I bought you clothes.”

“Well, yeah. Why did you call me, anyway?”

“Because of that.”

“That…?”

Min Hayoon pointed to the recording studio sign behind her.

“The recording studio. We need to find a recording studio to record with the voice actors we contracted this time.”

“So… why…?”

“These technical people often try to rip you off.”

“Huh?”

“Think about what happens when you go to Yongsan to buy a computer.”

“Ah!”

Perhaps because of the painful memory of buying a 3060 for 1.2 million won during the COVID season.

Min Hayoon had a deep distrust of these self-employed technicians.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that they might get ripped off if just the two of them went.

Although she had heard from professional voice actors that the owner was decent, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

“In short, you want me to be a bodyguard. What else are you going to do with that physique?”

“Bodyguard…?”

“Yeah, just pretend you don’t know anything. You’re tall, and you have a strong face, so you look like a tough guy.”

“A tough guy…”

“It’s a compliment. A compliment. It means you look dependable.”

“Ha, haha…”

Perhaps because he had never heard a woman say he looked like a tough guy in his life.

Do Jin-ho scratched the back of his head, looking a bit down…

“So, I’ve explained why I brought you here… I’ll give you around 50,000 won as a daily wage, so try to act as naturally as possible.”

“50,000 won?”

You can’t keep a long face in front of someone who’s giving you money.

His expression immediately brightened.

For a high school senior with no proper means of earning money, 50,000 won was no small amount.

As if he had never been dejected by being called a tough guy, Do Jin-ho grinned and headed down to the basement recording studio.

“Just follow me.”

Min Hayoon quickly followed him down.

And finally, they arrived at the basement recording studio.

‘Forest Sound’…

“Welcome.”

He’s… listless.

It wasn’t like he was disappointed to see Min Hayoon and Do Jin-ho’s ages.

He just seemed like an engineer who was tired from working all night.

“Could we talk about a recording studio contract?”

“A recording studio contract…?”

Then, the middle-aged man’s eyes widened when he saw Min Hayoon’s face.

‘It’s not a small amount of money for students, what are they up to?’

“I’d like to do some recording with voice actors.”

“Voice actors? You mean like voice actors?”

“Professional voice actors. I’d also like to ask for things like mixing and mastering, so I think we’ll have to talk about money for quite a while…”

“Alright, come into the consulting room first.”

And they’re asking for sound processing.

Regardless of their age, they were paying customers.

“Renting the recording studio is 100,000 won per hour.”

“Are there any discounts?”

“We offer 85,000 won per hour for contracts of 12 hours or more.”

“That’s good. How much do you charge for sound processing?”

“Usually starts at 400,000 won.”

“I did some research, and that’s quite expensive, isn’t it?”

“The quality is guaranteed.”

“Then, how about 75,000 won per hour for the recording studio rental…”

“Haha, student. Do you think I’m a fool who can’t even do math…?”

‘She’s doing well on her own, why did she bring me along…’

He scratched the back of his head and remained silent, not knowing if his presence here was even helpful.

“No, sir. I’m not just going to contract for 12 hours, I’ll be contracting for 24 hours since I have two voice actors, so we’re not just going to see each other once or twice…”

“If you’re going to see each other more than once or twice, you should pay more…”

“Then, sir. I’ll contract for a generous 36 hours, so could you adjust the price as much as possible…?”

“Even so, 75,000 won is too much of a bargain…”

Even so, Min Hayoon naturally attempted to negotiate the price, and the middle-aged man kept giving her leeway as if negotiations were possible.

As such, the haggling between the middle-aged man and Min Hayoon continued endlessly…

‘A serious expression. A serious expression.’

Do Jin-ho thought he should at least help somehow, so he kept a serious expression and glared at the middle-aged man.

About two hours later.

“Haaaah! We did it!”

Min Hayoon cheered and came out of the recording studio.

77,000 won per hour for recording studio rental.

350,000 won for basic sound engineering.

It was a triumph Min Hayoon had achieved in a fierce battle of wits with the middle-aged man.

And…

“I didn’t do anything…”

Do Jin-ho, who had witnessed the whole process right next to her, felt a sense of awe at Min Hayoon’s incredible drive.

Isn’t that so?

Usually, high school students.

No, even college students can’t confidently express their intentions in front of adults old enough to be their parents.

It’s common for high school and even college majors to be decided according to the wishes of their parents.

But what about Min Hayoon?

A middle-aged man old enough to be her father.

She negotiated with the owner of a well-known recording studio and came out with a contract favorable to her.

“I really just rode on your coattails…”

However, Do Jin-ho had really just been carried along…

He felt embarrassed and muttered to himself, and Min Hayoon patted his back, making loud thumping sounds, and offered encouragement.

“From now on, just stand behind me with a serious expression in these situations. I’ll do all the negotiating anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Unnie didn’t do anything either. She just sat there and drank coffee.”

In the end, both Choi Arin and Do Jin-ho were just devices to help Min Hayoon make the negotiations go more smoothly.

Choi Arin filled in for Min Hayoon’s lack of maturity, and Do Jin-ho was a safety device to prevent her from being pushed around.

“But, whether you just drank coffee or just kept a serious expression, the important thing is that you came.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, negotiating alone as a seventeen-year-old and going with someone who at least looks like a college student are completely different.”

Min Hayoon then explained in detail why two people are better than one in a negotiation, and Do Jin-ho had to endure Min Hayoon’s dizzying negotiation theories on the way back.

It was time to return to their respective roles.

Do Jin-ho’s stop was just ahead, and the conversation between the two was coming to an end.

“So, I’ll continue with the coding. I’ve drawn up the story text and image scripts up to the demo portion. It should be finished in a few weeks.”

“If possible, can you finish adding the voice scripts by the end of March?”

“Uh… if there are no serious bugs?”

“Great. Then, please work with the idea of releasing the demo with the voice scripts added by the end of March.”

Min Hayoon set a firm deadline.

“It’s not about trying, it’s about having to do it. Keep that in mind. You have to think that I’ll suddenly die if we can’t release it by the end of March.”

No, it was beyond setting a deadline, it was an implicit threat that she would actually die.

It would be much better to die than to have the failure penalty activated and turn into a furry.

“Ugh, alright. I’ll try my best to meet the deadline, so don’t say such scary things.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get off first. Bye.”

Of course, Do Jin-ho just looked at Hayoon as if she were crazy and got off the bus.

Min Hayoon immediately switched targets and contacted Choi Arin.

There are two heroines in this work.

Naturally, there should be two cosplayers.

-?

“Debuting in the modeling industry as a cosplayer, isn’t it cool?”

-???

Min Hayoon started to lay it on thick.