I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 259

After they’d wrapped up all the talk about voice acting, Na Hyun-gon asked,

“So, are you going to keep FanC and Danbi separate?”

“Yes.”

Na Hyun-gon fired back with surgical precision.

“That’s going to be impossible. Once you get into voice acting, situations will come up where you’ll have to sing too. And even for someone like you, Gia, when it comes to singing, you only really have two styles, right?”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

Even though Magia can imitate all sorts of people with her voice impressions—

When it comes to singing, she can’t pull off that same variety of tones.

That’s just not her specialty.

There’s the FanC style, where she pours everything into vocal technique and skill.

And the Magia style, casual and relaxed, singing without trying too hard.

Those two are the full extent of what Magia can show vocally.

But like Na Hyun-gon said, voice actors often do find themselves having to sing.

Whether it’s FanC’s polished style or Magia’s natural one, the situation will eventually force her to show her hand.

Magia thought it over and then replied,

“I want to keep them separate, but... if a situation comes up where it’s truly impossible, merging them might be the only option.”

Na Hyun-gon immediately understood what she meant.

“So as long as no one finds out they’re the same person, it’s fine?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“I figured Gia would want it that way. Then that’s the right answer.”

Hmm.

Na Hyun-gon paused briefly before asking another question.

“Then, I suppose we’d better prepare for a FanC concert, just in ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) case it gets revealed that the voice actor Danbi and the utaite FanC are the same person. We don’t know when it’ll happen.”

“Already?”

“‘Already’? FanC’s been active online for over a year now. Most of her subscribers still rush in as soon as a new song is uploaded. FanC’s popularity is still rising, and half her fans are overseas.”

“Ah.”

“In other words, if we do a concert, we might need to include Japan in the schedule as well as Korea.”

There’s a huge difference between recording songs in a studio and belting them out back-to-back on a live concert stage.

It starts with the basics—breath control.

People who run around on stage while singing tend to have lungs like bellows. Magia isn’t anywhere near that level.

Right now, her limit is maybe one or two songs back-to-back without shaking or losing control.

And now we’re talking about overseas concerts, too?

At this rate, her stamina might just drain to zero.

“It means it’s time to start building up your stamina.”

“Understood.”

Na Hyun-gon smiled.

“Well, full animation production won’t properly start for another two or three months, and it’ll take another half a year before it airs. So even if the truth about FanC and Danbi comes out and we schedule a concert, it’ll probably be next year. Doesn’t seem that rushed when you look at it like that, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Even just building up your stamina over the next six months will help a lot.”

Of course, the ever-busy Magia was already thinking about how to work out while still doing her job.

“It’d be really nice if I could watch broadcasts in multiview while I’m outside. It’s a shame that’s not possible.”

“What about hiring more subordinates?”

“I’m already relying a lot on two people as it is. Adding more now feels a little greedy.”

“Well, leaders do what leaders need to do, and subordinates do what they’re told—that’s how a company works... So talk it over properly with CEO Cheon.”

With a look similar to the one she’d had when first entering the utaite scene, Magia gave a small smile and said,

“Yeah. Anyway, if there’s an opportunity, you have to grab it.”

***

Na Hyun-gon, the producer, promised to assign her a voice acting coach until the audition day.

And for that, I had to rearrange some of my work time.

There was still a mountain of things to worry about with Darami’s debut coming up soon.

But it wasn’t quite as intense as when Ena had debuted.

So I decided to give Seung-yeon, my closest junior, the chance to rise to a senior role this time.

After a week of handing over related tasks, I started commuting directly to CAT Entertainment.

In between that, I answered any questions Seung-yeon had while also receiving training from the voice acting teacher—a legend from CAT Entertainment, someone anyone who grew up watching dubbed cartoons would instantly recognize.

And so one week passed. Then two. Then three.

Before I knew it, it was the day of Darami’s debut as a second-generation member.

[Wol-dungis, thanks for waiting! Joining Parallel's Nearby as the perfect poker face of this world—Darami’s here!]

The person known as Darami didn’t actually need much fixing.

She tended to stream halfheartedly simply because she wasn’t sure of her direction.

But whenever the company gave her a task, she’d carry it out to perfection—like a well-trained office worker.

Especially in RP, she was absolutely flawless.

No matter what happened, she never broke character. She wore her pride as an actor’s daughter like a badge of honor and defended it without fail.

There wasn’t really any need to worry about fan loyalty.

There were concerns, of course—would the fans welcome her into Parallel? Would there be clashes with the original Wol-dungis?

But maybe because the viewers who’d watched me throughout Blitzlight City often overlapped with Darami’s audience—

The viewers blended together without issue.

By the following week, as Darami started joining collabs with the other Nearby members, it already felt like she was part of one big family.

If her guard hadn’t come down, things might have been different.

But once she understood the other members’ sincerity, she lowered her defenses and started to open up.

Now, just like the four first-gens, the four second-gens had grown tight-knit.

Especially when Darami would blurt out weird lines or act goofy or exaggerated—it always cracked the others up.

Where Ena had been the embodiment of radiant positivity, like the sun warming Miho and Orca with her light—

Now Darami had added her own chaotic charm, turning their dynamic into a rowdy party.

I do kind of hope she takes the Harem Queen title that’s stuck to me, too...

But that’s not something that can happen right away.

It’ll have to wait until she’s broken down the wall with the first-gens, too.

So for now, I’ll just keep an eye on it slowly.

On the surface, Darami seems like a flawless “ike-onna” type, but there’s a strange darkness lurking underneath.

She needs careful management.

Anyway, her debut was a success.

One week after Darami’s debut, I took Seung-yeon and J.C. out and bought them whatever food they wanted as a thank-you.

“You two worked hard. Looks like the department can keep running fine without me for a while. If you really need help, make sure to talk to the team leader.”

They nodded, but—

“Ugh... What am I supposed to do without you, Team Lead? Who’s going to buy me pineapple pizza now?”

“Aren’t you actually happy? You won’t have to eat forced ‘pa-pi’ with me anymore.”

“We’re already addicted! Right, J.C.?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

I shrugged and continued.

“Then order it yourselves sometimes, even without me. Or just message me—I’ll have it delivered to the office.”

“Ahh, that’s too much....”

“I’m fine with it.”

“Wait, if J.C. says that, how am I supposed to respond?”

“Well, it is delicious.”

“There you go. Just send me a DingTalk message. I’ve got enough to feed the juniors working their butts off in my place.”

At that, Seung-yeon suddenly bowed her head in a wave of emotion.

“Honestly, when I hear my friends talk about their work lives, I feel like I’ve had it way too easy.”

“Really? Isn’t our workload pretty hard?”

“Well, sure, the hours and volume are a lot. But it’s fun... and honestly, having zero stress from your boss is the best.”

“I could’ve become a demon boss, but it’s because of you that I didn’t.”

“See?! You’re praising me again like I’m amazing. My friends all say their self-esteem gets crushed the moment they step into their office.”

After saying my goodbyes to the two juniors who didn’t want to see me go—

I headed straight home to pack for my flight to Japan that night.

It had been half a year since I’d last been to Japan, back in October of the previous year.

I posted about the trip in the group chat I share with Kiri, just in case—and their responses came instantly.

[Kiri: Swing by my place.]

[Kiri: Shakei’s bringing her kid too.]

[Shakei: Don’t you dare run off—stop by, got it?]

[Me: I won’t run.]

Originally, I’d planned to head back on a late-night flight after the audition.

But for some reason, I felt like it might be good to hang out with those two while I was there.

So I revised my schedule to sleep over at Kiri’s place and fly back the next day instead.

[Kiri: Hmm, what kind of cocktail should I make this time?]

[Shakei: Hey, what about me?]

[Shakei: You didn’t say a word about drinks until Gia said she was coming—unbelievable.]

[Kiri: What kind of dad drinks in front of his kid? Bad papa.]

[Shakei: What?!]

[Shakei: I’m giving her formula, okay?!]

Leaving off with that last line of friendly banter between the two of them—

[Me: Anyway, see you tomorrow night.]

I sent the message and turned in early.

Normally I’m a night owl, so whenever I need to switch my schedule, I tire myself out with exercise to make myself sleep.

And thanks to the exercise I’d done consistently over the past few weeks, I had more stamina... but ironically, that made it harder to fall asleep.

Maybe it was anticipation for a new challenge.

No matter how fluent I might sound in Japanese—

It’s still a language I’m mimicking.

Whether I could actually compete against real, local voice actors was another matter entirely.

Chances are, I’d fail.

I’d lose the audition, hang out with Kiri and Shakei for a bit, and then head home.

「Since this is our first class, let’s start with this. What do you think is the most important thing for a voice actor?」

「Um... acting ability?」

「Wrong. Confidence.」

「Confidence?」

「That’s right. Confidence.」

Even so—what does voice acting mean to me?

What kind of mindset should I have?

How can I perform like a pro, even without experience?

If I just hold on to the things my teacher taught me...

Even if I haven’t learned that much, even if all I’ve done for over ten years is listen and listen and listen to people’s voices—

Maybe I can still stand out among these heavy-hitters.

「Already good at vocalization? Then what you need is confidence. No hesitation. You must believe without doubt that your vocal method is the best for acting.」

「So... I don’t need to change my vocal technique or anything? I’ve never actually studied it properly before.」

「I listened to your samples over and over. You’re already polished enough that there’s no real need to adjust anything. Although—rather than expressing your own emotions, you seem more like someone imitating others. That’s probably a side effect of not being formally trained.」

「I figured as much.」

「Even so. If your imitation is perfect—sometimes it can beat the real thing.」

That’s what my teacher said.

A perfect fake is indistinguishable from the real thing.

If the real thing falters, it might even lose to the fake.

「I don’t think you need to walk the same path as other voice actors, Danbi. It’s not even your main job, is it?」

「It’s not like I wanted to learn it half-assed either though.」

「Haha, so what? It’s not like you’re committing a crime. Besides—what’s the whole point of this audition again? Isn’t it to pick the person who most resembles the existing voice actress, Kayami?」

That’s right—the whole point of this audition is just one thing:

To decide who’s the most like Kayami.

「In auditions like this, the one who gets picked becomes the real deal.」