Interviews
"If you're that confident, then… well, we can't not test it, right?"
Tae-san narrowed his eyes at the contestant on screen—Miro. On the surface, this could've looked like classic overreach. But with her clear voice, crisp diction, and zero hesitation, the viewers weren't annoyed—they were intrigued.
"Our audience here are experts in their own right, you know."
lmao true
Ever heard of the 10,000-hour rule, kid?
At best you're late twenties, how can you call yourself an expert lol. I've been reading manga for 30 years.
Cue the old man brigade charging in.
Oh wow, big flex—you read a lot of comics.
First to pick Slam Dunk = instant pass tbh.
What is this, "Boomer Dunk"? Go polish your dentures.
Glancing at chat, Tae-san pushed aside the prepared questions and started freestyling.
"If you had to pick your top three manga of all time?"
"Hm… tough, but… Slam Dunk, Dragon Ball, and Bleach."
LOL classic
Bleach? Really?
The first two, sure, but Bleach… meh.
Didn't you see the new Bleach season?
God, here come the boomers again.
Wouldn't you rank GTO higher?
"Oh? Any common thread between those three?"
"They shook my soul."
LMAO
Based answer.
Dude's got taste, fr.
New anime just doesn't hit like that anymore.
"Shook your soul, huh. Interesting that they're all a bit older, though. Mind if I ask your age?"
"Oh, I'm an 18-year-old high school girl."
"…Wait, what? You're a student?"
"Oh, no, I don't actually go to school."
"…But your application says 21."
"..."
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Protect her, lmao.
High school girl (doesn't attend school)
She lies with the straightest face ever, lol.
But how would a 21-year-old know all that old stuff?
"Well, either way, impressive. Not exactly titles most high schoolers would know, and yet you declared them masterpieces."
"By the way, what did other contestants usually say?"
"Hmm, stuff like Inuyasha, Haikyuu, Demon Slayer, or Jujutsu Kaisen."
Yep, that's the girly lineup, lol.
Makes sense, girls love those.
"Ah… I see."
"What's that tone? Don't tell me you're looking down on them?"
At his playful jab, Miro let out a low chuckle.
She offered no explanation—and Tae-san, smelling blood, pressed further.
"Whoa, do you really dislike those? Isn't picking masterpieces just a matter of taste?"
"No?? Not at all. I just thought… I'm jealous."
"Jealous? In what way?"
"They still have so many masterpieces left to discover, right? Wouldn't it be fun to hit up a manga café with them sometime?"
For the boldest of the first-round survivors—and technically the youngest—her cheeky reply made Tae-san laugh out loud.
"This one's gonna do well."
In his experience, streamers needed thick skin. The more brazen, the better.
And Miro—this brazen, sharp-tongued, silver-voiced girl—had promise.
That was it.
Good voice. Clear delivery. Confident attitude.
With some luck, she might blow up.
Satisfied, Tae-san wrapped up Miro's interview and called the next contestant.
"Phew…"
The moment the second-round interview ended, I ducked outside for a smoke.
In another quiet alley, nicotine filled my lungs as I replayed the interview in my head.
"…Did I overdo it?"
Compared to the other contestants, who had no real edge, this felt like the best I could do. But maybe I'd pushed too hard.
"Whatever. What's done is done."
I wasn't the type to dwell. You couldn't change the past anyway—might as well focus on doing better next time.
I stubbed out the cigarette and headed back home, settling into my chair at the desk.
Time had passed since the interview—enough for reactions to pop up online. I pulled up a forum thread.
[Miro <— probably the best one tbh]
Today's interviews were boring as hell but at least she gave us some clips, right?
Did she even read those manga? Just name-dropped the famous ones.
Can't sing tho.
She's above average, you're just hating.
It's an idol audition, above average doesn't cut it.
Bruh it's not idols, it's Vtubers.
Do you not know they're hiring pro composers for singles? Idols lite at the very least.
"Hmm… I did read them though."
That comment stung a little. But what was I gonna do, recite plot summaries to prove it? No way.
Worse was the "can't sing" remark.
"…The fuck. I'm not bad."
I'd never once been told I couldn't sing. That guy was just salty.
[Miro seems older tbh]
No way a modern 21-year-old girl's into Slam Dunk, Dragon Ball, Bleach. More like late twenties to thirty.
She said she's 21.
That's just paper, she could've lied.
Classics are timeless.
Yeah right, ask any girl around you if she's actually read them. At most they've seen Slam Dunk's new movie.
You even have girls around you to ask, loser?
But her voice sounds early twenties.
Didn't she claim to be 18 too? lol.
"…Ha."
Unforgivable.
I slammed out a reply under an anonymous throwaway.
(Me): It's not my fault today's kids don't read masterpieces, idiot. Stop with the age-shaming.
I ignored the flood of notifications that followed.
I was the kind of person—well, woman now—who didn't look back.
Closing the tab, my messy desktop came into view.
Files and programs were scattered everywhere.
Most of them were design-related—remnants of female Soo-hyun's old life.
"…Feels wrong to delete them."
She'd poured hours, even weeks, into polishing those works. Trashing them outright felt cruel. So I shoved them all into a single folder.
"There. Nice and tidy."
Now only games and messenger apps cluttered the screen. And among them, one game in particular caught my eye.
"…LoL?"
It was that game I used to play back in high school and sometimes in college PC cafés. But seeing it here now felt strangely fresh.
Come to think of it, female Kim Soo-hyun used to play this game a lot… wasn't her rank something like Diamond IV?
"Maybe I'll give it a shot."
From her memories, every time she played, she would rage like crazy. But really, what's the point of getting that mad over a game? Back when I queued up with friends at the PC café, even losing was still fun. So, with an easygoing mindset, I queued up.
I picked ADC—the role female Soo-hyun usually played—and the match began.
Four hours later, I hurled my mouse across the desk.
"Goddamn useless piece of trash!"
Why do they play like that? No—why are people's mentalities here so fragile?
Every little thing—ff@15, I'm not playing anymore, mid gap, straight-up ragequitting.
This is Diamond, right? Supposedly top 2% of players? Why the hell are they all tilting like bronze?
At least I did well. My original rank was nowhere near Diamond, but I guess I had talent—throughout the matches I more than held my own.
But my match history? Loss, loss, win, win, loss, loss, win, loss.
Four hours and my LP hadn't moved an inch.
"Sigh… what a waste of time."
Before I knew it, I'd played until dawn. Tomorrow I was supposed to submit my withdrawal form to the school, too…
This was why people called it a disease of a game. I felt it deep in my bones as I closed the client.
"Yeah… I should cut back."
Since I suddenly had free time, I might as well invest in myself.
First priority: vocal training.
It's still early to say, but if I make it through to the fourth audition, they'll be releasing an official track, right? I couldn't afford to let singing be my weak point. So I searched for nearby vocal academies.
Luckily, there was a highly rated one just ten minutes away by bus, downtown. I booked a consultation for tomorrow afternoon.
Morning: submit withdrawal at school.
Afternoon: vocal lesson consultation.
After that…
"What should I do?"
Sure, I could just lounge around on my phone all day, but since I'd be out anyway, I wanted to do something more. Maybe hit up a manga café or something.
While brushing my teeth and making rough plans, my phone buzzed.
[Hye-jung]
By now the name was familiar. I picked up immediately, and Hye-jung's cheerful voice greeted me.
[Not asleep yet? What're you up to?]
"Just brushing my teeth before bed."
[Yeah? You free tomorrow?]
"I've got the evening free, why?"
[We're having a little high school reunion, gonna grab drinks. Wanna come? You didn't say anything in the group chat, so I figured I'd ask.]
"Group chat?"
Oh, right. That group chat—the one female Soo-hyun muted with +300 unread at all times.
"…Sure, I'll come. Where's the spot?"
[You will?? If you'd rather stay home, no one's forcing you—wait, seriously? You're actually coming?]
That reaction… I'd heard it a few times now, but it still surprised me. Just how much of a shut-in was female Soo-hyun that people acted shocked every time she agreed to go out?
[What's gotten into you? Kim Soo-hyun, of all people, showing up to a drinking party?]
"Is it really that shocking? I just happen to be going out tomorrow anyway, so I'll drop by."
[Still! You never come. Everyone's gonna freak when they see you.]
"Tell 'em the legendary Pokémon is spawning—make sure they dress up nice."
[Are you insane? Not showing up was your whole brand.]
"Rarity has always been valuable in every era."
[You're nuts…]
Click—
The call ended. I spat out the toothpaste foam and rinsed my mouth.
Now that I thought about it, this would be my first time hitting up a drinking party in female Soo-hyun's body.
What should I wear?
A skirt… felt like too much. Pants it is.
"…Tch, I'll figure it out tomorrow."
With a body like this, pretty much anything would look good anyway.
With my plans set, I went to bed.