Chapter 13: The Studio Where the Imperfect Tyrant Was

Producer Kim Hyunmin and Trainer Lee Jia were flustered.

When they tested the cute girl’s vocal range, her notes definitely went high, but that didn’t mean she could sing well.

And indeed, for Kotori, who couldn’t even hit the pitches correctly, that song was far too difficult.

This notoriously difficult synthesized song had such a high difficulty level that even renowned Utaite singers rarely performed it live properly.

The only person they had seen handle it comfortably, as if it were their own song, was just one.

Haruka, from Belus’s 1st generation.

She had appeared during her individual debut stream with the intro of this song, captivating the viewers at the time with an absolutely overwhelming performance.

When she confidently belted out the high notes as if declaring ‘I am the king,’ even Lee Jia, who had taught prominent singers and idols known for their singing, got goosebumps all over her body.

Furthermore, the shouting added as a chorus near the very end seemed unreachably distant,

and indeed, she later showcased singing skills on a different level from existing VTubers known for singing, firmly establishing herself as the top vocalist.

And when she sang this song on stage for the grand finale at the large-scale Minecraft collaboration concert hosted on Twitch, it was the song that forced even those who had harbored the slightest doubt to acknowledge her vocal prowess.

But that song, sung by that girl who clearly doesn’t look like she’s sung much?

“The song is starting. Let’s be quiet for now.”

Leaving their anxiety behind, the song began, and as expected, Kotori’s pitch wavered wildly, and she couldn’t even keep the rhythm properly.

Even her pronunciation was poor, making it hard to listen to.

Kim Hyunmin, wondering if he should stop the music immediately, looked at Lee Jia with wavering eyes. He sighed and nodded at her signal to wait a moment.

The high-note parts hadn’t even arrived yet.

For feedback purposes, it was probably right to listen for now.

“She’s matching the rhythm now though…”

Perhaps adapting as she sang, she started matching the rhythm, but the trembling pitch remained the same.

It sounded like she had never sung properly before, singing entirely with an untrained voice, and her breathing was so messy it was hard to listen.

However.

“Aah-!”

“Huh? Just now?”

The voice during the brief high-note section was distinctly different.

Gone was the wavering pitch mixed with a nasal tone; instead, a beautiful falsetto, perfectly matching the notes and reminiscent of someone else, briefly emerged and disappeared.

Thinking they might have misheard, they stared with wide eyes, soon noticing they both wore the same expression.

“…Could this possibly be.”

The song had just entered the high-note section.

Haruka, no, Kotori, visible through the window, roughly pulled out her earphones.

“…!”

Kim Hyunmin’s eyes widened as he shot up from his chair.

Turning his gaze, Lee Jia was also gripping her arm, goosebumps visible, her eyes wide with shock.

This… This was her high note.

The high note of Haruka, hailed as the best vocalist among VTubers, which, for some reason, could no longer be heard live.

The pent-up emotions exploded in an instant, and compared to the firm yet beautiful high notes, the unrefined vocal production—perhaps described as rough depending on the listener—fiercely ravaged the inside of their ears.

Though impossible, they felt a heavy weight, as if something had settled on both shoulders.

They felt a deceptive sensation of their chests being blown wide open, yet their bodies instinctively shrunk.

Like a vassal facing their king.

“Look at the goosebumps on my arm…”

Trainer Lee Jia showed Kim Hyunmin the goosebumps that had risen on her arm.

Kim Hyunmin also slumped back into his chair as if drained.

The high-note part that had thrilled everyone listening passed by like an arrow.

The trainees, who had tilted their heads after hearing just the first phrase, now stared at each other, mouths agape.

They already knew someone who sang this violently.

“Certainly…”

“Yes, apart from that part earlier, it’s a mess.”

The disastrous low-note part passed through their ears once more.

A terribly unbalanced ability to digest the song.

Regardless of their feelings, wondering if they were dreaming and digging at their ears, another enormous, rough wave soon surged towards them.

Startled, they turned their gaze to see the girl inside the recording booth singing passionately, her face bright red.

Her eyes were tightly scrunched, and her mouth was wide open, revealing even her uvula.

It was quite a comical sight, but no one present could laugh at it.

Though the pronunciation was funny, her emotions were conveyed properly.

A wave of emotion crashing in like a tsunami.

The unrefined, rough vocal production felt more fearsome and overwhelming than anything else.

They wanted to jump out of their seats, unable to listen passively, but couldn’t dare to move under the aura that seemed to press down on them.

And just when they thought the consecutive high-note parts were finally over, she opened her mouth again.

“Haaa~! Ah- Aah~!!!!!!”

“…!”

A shout so distant it was almost Haruka ( distant).

It was a chorus absent even in the original synthesized song.

This was Haruka’s signature chorus, something only she had sung, only she could handle.

The ultra-high shouting, far surpassing the song’s highest note of C# in the 4th octave, sent shivers down the spines of those who couldn’t just listen with slack jaws.

“Haah… Haah…”

Silence lingered for a moment in the studio where the incomplete tyrant had resided.

Clutching my chest, which felt like it would burst, I gasped for breath laboriously.

This song is hard.

Haruka sang it relatively easily, making me wonder if it was secretly not that difficult, but trying it myself was really tough.

Honestly, I don’t even know if I hit the pitches right, if I raised the high notes properly, or even if I kept the rhythm correctly.

I think I stumbled a lot at the beginning.

And the higher the notes went, the more my head hurt, so I just ended up screaming at the top of my lungs.

My wife truly lived on a different plane…

“Phew…”

My head is throbbing as if someone is shouting inside it, making me dizzy.

Besides, perhaps because I kept recalling Haruka’s singing while performing, my lower abdomen feels hot, and it seems like some kind of liquid is flowing out.

“……?”

The studio is quiet.

There wasn’t this kind of reaction when the other trainees sang before.

Everyone is staring at me as if they’ve seen a ghost.

‘Was I that bad?’

‘Was stumbling so much at the beginning the final straw?’

‘Watashi… Could my singing ability be at the Australopithecus level…?’

“…You worked hard.”

“Shall we have you come out for now?”

The nonchalance I felt when I first chose this song was gone, replaced by a sudden wave of embarrassment.

As I nervously darted my eyes around, Trainer Lee Jia’s voice sounded.

I took out the earphones I had briefly put in to hear their voices and cautiously opened the recording booth door and stepped out.

Mao, Hoshino, Sumire, and Ms. Ari, whom I had become friendly with, looked like they had a lot to say but just moved their mouths without speaking.

‘What, did I mess up that badly?’

‘I thought I’d at least get some comfort.’

Just as my anxious gaze shifted towards CEO Kim Kanghyun, who was stroking his chin and staring at the floor as if deep in thought, Lee Jia finally spoke.

“…Ms. Kotori, you must absolutely receive training from me.”

“No, even if I fail to teach you, I’ll bring my own master if necessary to make sure you learn to sing properly.”

“…Was it that serious?”

“?”

Lee Jia shot me a look that screamed, ‘What kind of idiot is this?’

‘Don’t look at me like that.’

‘I’m in a fragile baby state right now.’

“You’ve never learned singing before, have you?”

“No… Just occasionally at coin karaoke by myself…”

‘Of course, that was also when I was male.’

“Haaaah……”

Her deep sigh made my shoulders flinch.

As I squeezed my eyes shut and trembled, a somewhat resigned voice came through.

“It’s because it’s such a waste.”

“A waste.”

“It’s not like you can’t sing low notes either, what on earth have you been doing with that talent until now…”

“Eh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“We can start now.”

“Anyway, Ms. Kotori’s talent is far more splendid than you think, so straighten your shoulders.”

“You look like my puppy Ppoppi guiltily eyeing me after tearing up toilet paper, I can’t stand watching.”

“Hul.”

What harsh words.

‘Anyway, I have talent?’

No, I know my original singing ability.

It must be Wooseo Woo who has the talent, not someone like me.

‘Wooseo Woo, you weren’t just good at drawing?’

Maybe this body was more amazing than I ever imagined.

“Anyway, everyone worked hard today.”

“I’ll give you my number, so those who passed can do as they please, but contact me if you have questions or need help.”

“For the rest, I’ll arrange a schedule, so come here for training according to the schedule.”

“CEO.”

“Shall we dismiss them now?”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work, Trainer-nim.”

“Not at all.”

“It’s my job… And I saw an interesting kid today.”

“Hahahaha… Right?”

‘What.’

‘Why are you two looking at me with such amused expressions?’

As I narrowed my eyes and looked at them suspiciously, Kim Kanghyun burst out laughing at me and approached.

“Ms. Kotori.”

“It said on your application that you sing well, but rather than well, it seems more accurate to say you have talent?”

“I wrote that I sing well…?”

“Hmm? Didn’t you?”

Wooseo Woo submitted the application, not me, so I didn’t know.

‘Then did the original Wooseo Woo really sing well?’

‘…Maybe I’m not drawing out 100 percent of this body’s talent.’

“I enjoyed the song.”

“As expected of someone from the Canary fandom.”

“No, simply calling you a fan seems insufficient.”

“You must really like Haruka?”

“Huh? Of course, that’s obvious.”

Why ask something so obvious?

‘Anyway, I don’t understand why this topic comes up after hearing my song.’

‘Is it because I sang her symbolic song…’

Maybe it’s because I tried my best to recall her singing while performing.

Actually, during the song, the voice hitting my ears through the earphones was so distracting that during the high-note sections, I pulled out the earphones and sang imagining only Haruka’s voice.

So I don’t know if I sang well enough to elicit this kind of reaction.

The voice heard through recording and the voice I hear through my own ears are different.

“Haha… By the way, Ms. Kotori, you don’t have any strange female community accounts or secret alternate accounts, right?”

“Eh?”

‘What is this lunatic saying?’

‘If he had asked if I used male-dominated community sites, that would have been really dangerous.’

I stared at him with a ‘Why are you asking such a thing?’ look, but despite the random, strange question, his eyes looked quite serious and desperate.

Like someone who’s been burned before.

“……Huh?”

‘Could it be…’

‘There was a ghost story floating around the gallery that the 1st generation originally had 5 members, perhaps…?’’