Chapter 57: Vocal Competition, Part 4

It seemed that 15 seconds was all Do Jin-ho needed to evaluate a song.

-♪♫JE.

The intro plays.

-Before I held you, I didn’t know……

“Cut. Cut. Cut.”

He gives the cut sign before a single verse is finished.

“Why again? This song is really famous. And it’s not even a guy.”

“Geez, you’ve been listening for how many songs now, and you still don’t get it?”

Choi Arin answers curtly, but Do Jin-ho is clearly frustrated.

“Get what?”

“This is obviously a normie song. What would someone who sings a drama OST like this know about otaku games? If they’re in the visual design department, they’re probably into realistic art, and if they’re in computer science, they’re just here because their parents told them to.”

His evaluation criteria were firm.

“We do need a female vocal, but there’s no reason to necessarily pick someone from school. So, if they bring a song that doesn’t fit this code, at best, they’re on hold.”

“Hmm….”

Choi Arin still seemed unsure, but since Hayoon, sitting next to her, didn’t show any signs of discomfort, she accepted it for now.

Hayoon was the real leader of this club.

The leader’s silence was as good as an OK, and if that was the case, Choi Arin had no reason to make a fuss.

“I’ll play the next song.”

Confirming that the difference in opinion between the two had been narrowed, Hayoon moved the previous song to the pending folder and moved on to the next one.

-| -| -!! -!!!! – – – !!!!

This song had a powerful hip-hop beat.

“Oh.”

Do Jin-ho seemed unfamiliar with this one, letting out a small exclamation and gradually immersing himself in the beat.

But.

-Yeah, oh.

-Yeah, yeah.

“Cut.”

As soon as a husky, swaggering voice emerged, he cut it off without even listening to a proper verse.

“Hah, I had my hopes up thinking it was a female rapper.”

“A female rapper?”

This was a new and intriguing reason.

If it’s a rapper, it’s a rapper, and if not, then not.

What did he mean by he had his hopes up for a female rapper?

“Why, in this genre, there are almost no cases where rap is used for character songs or opening/ending themes, right? So, if it was a female rapper and her skills were decent, I would have given her 4th or 5th place and watched the situation…. If it’s a guy, it’s just a dime-a-dozen hip-hop wannabe, so no.”

“Ah, rarity.”

“Right, I was looking forward to it because of the rarity. Since it’s not a female rapper, it’s meaningless.”

It made perfect sense.

Even Hayoon thought that if a female rapper sang the opening or ending of a visual novel, it would definitely stand out from other soundtracks.

People like Hayoon and Do Jin-ho even have playlists dedicated to visual novel OSTs.

If a catchy rap sound and verse were inserted among them.

“It would have been nice. Definitely.”

“This scene actually generates a decent amount of revenue from music. It’s not a bad experience to try something different from others. Of course, let’s not do anything crazy like using male vocals or male rappers.”

“Of course.”

Hayoon and Do Jin-ho.

The two were on the same wavelength.

Choi Arin, who was much closer to an ordinary person compared to them, struggled to keep up with the conversation, wondering what they were talking about.

‘Uh…….’

However, even while she was stumbling, the music continued to play and stop repeatedly.

But even after hours had passed and over 100 songs had been played, Do Jin-ho rarely gave an OK.

It was natural.

By Do Jin-ho’s standards, male vocals were an automatic fail.

He didn’t want to deal with normies who sang the latest pop songs or drama OSTs.

He didn’t even bother looking at hip-hop because they were just wannabes.

Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut.

He kept giving the cut sign, and finally, the 111th song appeared.

“111, it feels like a good number?”

Maybe he felt awkward just cutting songs all the time.

Do Jin-ho made a lame joke and played the music.

Hayoon and Choi Arin were munching on the Shy Burgers they had ordered for a late lunch.

.

“Huh?”

A familiar intro played.

This was JPOP.

Up until now, only guys had sung JPOP.

So, they were eliminated in the document screening without even listening.

But this time, what would happen?

-If all of this is just a dream, how wonderful would that be?

“A girl!”

“It’s a girl!”

Hayoon and Do Jin-ho shouted simultaneously.

Hayoon quickly swallowed the Shy Burger she was eating and shouted.

She hastily gulped down some water to help it go down.

-Even now, I still dream of you.

“Huh?”

Only then did she realize the lyrics were in Korean.

This wasn’t just JPOP, it was a Korean cover.

“She can even adapt the lyrics?”

“Wow, this is something special….”

Hayoon and Do Jin-ho, who had momentarily turned from cold judges back into JPOP fans, started listening to the song in silence.

The tone was excellent.

The clear voice unique to women was a given.

Even though she was singing Japanese lyrics in Korean, there was no sense of the rhythm being off.

-Deep in my heart, a lingering regret, the bitter scent of lemon.

-Until this rain stops, I cannot return.

And the climax.

This was also perfect.

Even in the Korean lyrics, she faithfully conveyed the emotions of the original song.

A few more lines of lyrics followed before the 111th song finally came to a complete stop, the first full song they had heard.

“…?”

Hayoon and Do Jin-ho were speechless.

Choi Arin looked at them, trying to gauge their reactions.

She wondered if they didn’t like this one either, but it was the complete opposite.

“Wow, that’s good….”

“Her mindset is hardcore otaku. People who listen to or sing Korean adaptations are usually extremely strong in their own ego, and this is it.”

“Right. Just the fact that they listen to and sing in Korean when everyone else is listening to and singing in Japanese shows that.”

They were very satisfied.

Being able to adapt the lyrics into Korean meant she had a basic musical understanding.

It also implied a considerable understanding of the Japanese language.

“Should we put her in first place for now and think about it?”

“I think that’s the right move. If she can adapt a Japanese song into Korean and sing it, she’s no ordinary otaku, and her vocal skills were decent. Considering that visual novel songs are generally based on easy listening and have a straightforward composition….”

“You’re saying there won’t be any shortcomings in terms of skill.”

Nod.

Nod.

Hayoon and Do Jin-ho exchanged glances and nodded repeatedly.

Choi Arin wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but she laughed, saying she thought the singing was good too.

After that, they listened to a few more songs.

Among them were some songs with the JPOP and female vocal combination that Hayoon and Do Jin-ho wanted most.

However, none were good enough to threaten the first place that had already been decided.

#

A few days later, Monday, the start of a new week, arrived.

They say it’s hard when your hobby becomes your job.

Because it’s hard to treat your hobby as just a hobby.

Still, studying and enjoying your hobby on your own isn’t as hard as you might think.

Because that study is also part of the hobby.

But when someone else makes you study your hobby, the situation changes a lot.

Especially if you have to submit assignments every week.

“Sigh…”

Lately, Hong Seo-hyun’s life has been quite tough.

Her hobby is recording music.

To delve deeper, it includes adapting lyrics.

She respects the charm of the original songs, but she feels compelled to sing them in Korean.

When she uploaded them to Soundcloud, the response wasn’t bad.

The number of people who liked the original covers was absolute.

But those who liked the Korean covers, though fewer in number, were more tightly knit.

Hong Seo-hyun liked that small but enthusiastic response.

So, she took a leap of faith and enrolled at Yongsan IT High School to learn video editing.

As a visual design major, specializing in video.

She planned to use those video editing skills to start a YouTube channel.

She wanted to become a full-fledged Utaite specializing in Korean covers.

That was the plan.

Unfortunately, life isn’t that easy.

“Assignment, assignment, assignment, and more assignments.”

She can’t seem to escape the swamp of assignments.

This is a typical case of studying something because someone else told you to.

Moreover, video editing was just a skill for her to take the next step.

She only needed to know how to do basic cut editing and add simple effects.

She didn’t want anything more.

But Meister High School is a place to learn practical skills for employment.

It wasn’t a place where you could just learn the basics, even if you wanted to.

She couldn’t skip classes or half-ass her assignments.

Hong Seo-hyun’s personality wasn’t ruthless enough to drop assignments without an excuse.

Now, she doesn’t even have time to sing as she pleases.

It’s a complete reversal of priorities.

She wondered when she would be able to debut as an Utaite YouTuber.

Hong Seo-hyun felt deeply depressed and went to school like a half-corpse.

Then one day.

“Vocal contest…?”

Hong Seo-hyun wondered why this school, which usually only cares about employment, was holding a vocal contest.

“Game Release Club?”

Apparently, some club was holding a contest to find a vocalist to sing the opening song of a game.

The first prize was three chicken gift certificates.

She had no idea why the Game Release Club was holding a vocal contest.

But.

“Whatever, let’s try it.”

That wasn’t important to Hong Seo-hyun.

A chance to sing.

She needed an excuse to confidently skip assignments and sing to her heart’s content.

She took a picture of the contest application email on her phone.

She sent in her recorded song just before the deadline.

Then came Monday.

-Ah, ah. Hong Seo-hyun, a 2nd-year visual design student, please come to the Game Release Club room. Again, Hong Seo-hyun, a 2nd-year visual design student, please come to the Game Release Club room.

She was immediately summoned.