Meeting
While Miro was clenching his fist and cheering,
the community flared up like a reflex.
[Miro f*cking made it LOOOOOOL]
(Miro's default avatar picture)
What?? You're telling me Miro didn't make it?
Stop bullsh*tting lol
From today on, this gallery belongs to Miro.
Can't believe this actually happened
ㄴ She was already top tier in viewer count, would've been weirder if she didn't make it ㅇㅇ
WTF, they ditched Habin for Miro?
ㄴ Who the hell's Habin? lol
ㄴ That rapper girl
[From today, she's the Gallery Queen]
(GIF of Miro cheering after her audition result)
Pretty face,
beautiful voice,
great singer—
Truly… the audition G.O.A.T.
Don't talk nonsense
How would you even know if she's pretty? She streams with an avatar, idiot. What, got X-ray vision?
ㄴ Bro, with that voice you think she's ugly?
ㄴ (Whatever you imagine is reality, con)
[Miro cursing when she thought she lost]
(Clip of Miro muttering after the 5th winner announcement)
"Ah f*ck, so that one made it huh…"
She thought she was a shoo-in, but when it looked like she might lose she started panicking—kinda hot tbh 😂
ㄴ What's a bot match?
ㄴ She was literally playing LoL bots right before the announcement lol
[Alright kids, we've played with this toy long enough]
(Miro's default avatar picture)
Time to find a new toy, don't you think?
Kids?
Wait… Gallery Queen's a toy now? Haa… bring me the whip
This guy's lost it lol
[F*ck, Miro winning pisses me off so bad…]
Other contestants work their asses off—new games to keep viewership, making content nonstop, singing like crazy.
Meanwhile, what has Miro done?
She just streams whenever she feels like it, chats a bit, and boom—viewers flood in and she wins the audition.
So unfair… If I had a good voice like her, I wouldn't have to slave at construction tomorrow, huh?
Wow, this guy's serious
Cope harder, should've been born a woman lol
ㄴ Even if you were, you'd need a voice on Miro's level 😂
Stop trying to rationalize it and just accept it, dumbass. What can you even do?
ㄴ Bro, that's harsh
ㄴ Harsh? Miro's an official winner and you're just some laborer scrub 😂
Deep stuff, man…
Even after the results, the community kept blazing with takes.
Meanwhile, once Miro's stream ended, she got an invite to a Discord channel.
After the results show was over, late at night, the company arranged a meet-up for the winners.
They also set up a Discord server that looked like it'd be used for the long haul.
[Celestial Project 1st Gen]
If they're calling us "1st gen," that must mean there'll be a 2nd, 3rd gen too.
Or maybe it's just for show.
"Uh, h-hi hello?"
Everyone else was already in the call, so I felt a little late as I joined, but the others warmly welcomed me.
"Miro's here!"
"Oh! Welcome!"
"Nice to meet you!"
"Hello!"
"Glad you could join."
Right away, I felt… conflicted.
Was I too influenced by female Kim Soo-hyun?
Honestly, this bubbly atmosphere was a little overwhelming.
"Ahaha… nice to meet you all."
My awkward reply made the women on the other end burst out laughing.
"What? So that's your vibe? Hahaha!"
A hearty woman's voice—that must be Mile.
She'd been streaming already before this, and even boldly made a new Twitch account with a fresh avatar just for this audition.
"You're really shy, huh?"
That higher-pitched voice must be Maho.
She's been uploading J-pop covers on YouTube for a while, with that anime-ish speaking style.
I thought it was just for show, but… nope, she actually talks like that. Guess she treats this call as work too.
Truly professional.
"Miro, you're really 21 years old?"
This softer voice must be Haru.
Sounds like the kind of youthful voice that would have a fanbase.
"Yes, that's right."
"Wow… can you call me 'unnie' just once?"
Unnie…?
Even both versions of Kim Soo-hyun—male and female—haven't said that word much.
But hey, we'll be working together now, right? How hard is it to say?
"Haru-unnie?"
"Wow… wow… that feels weird."
"What about it?"
"I'm an only child, so no one ever calls me unnie."
"Ahh, same here. Aside from cousins, I never hear it either, so it feels awkward."
Not just the title—this whole situation felt awkward.
Could they just chat without me?
"Oh? Then call me unnie too!"
"Me too, I wanna hear it from Miro."
"Same here."
That was Maho, Mile, and Roa in order.
…So I'm the youngest, huh?
Well, at 21, I'd be the youngest almost anywhere anyway.
"Alright, let's make a group chat first."
The one who saved me from the awkwardness was Anna, likely the eldest.
With her gentle voice and light laugh, she steered the topic.
"A group chat? Sounds good!"
"Then let's all exchange numbers."
But a group chat?
I immediately thought of my profile picture—me, holding a beer outside a convenience store.
A picture I personally thought was gorgeous.
But… I decided to change it.
If I kept it, then when we met later, they couldn't be surprised with, "Eh? Miro, you were this pretty?"
I hesitated over what to use, then just saved some random trending anime girl picture for my profile.
Too weeb?
Please. For a beauty like me, using an anime pic is reverse charm.
Might even get old classmates or my dropped-out college peers messaging me:
"Soo-hyun, you watched that too? I did, it was fun."
Sure, it's peak delusional, but looking at my unread-message-filled chat inbox, it's not like anyone's reaching out anyway.
After quickly changing my profile picture, I dropped my number in the Discord channel.
Anna saved them all and made a group chat.
[Anna Lin invited Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Ah-rin, Maho Hyun, Lee Yuri, and Han Na-ri.]
So everyone's using their real names, huh…
Anna Lin must be Anna, and Maho Hyun is Maho. The rest I had to piece together.
"Okay, everyone's in, right? Now, drop your nicknames in the chat. As you can see, I'm Anna."
(Lee Yuri): I'm Mile~
(Han Na-ri): I'm Haru.
(Kim Ah-rin): Roa here.
(Me): I'm Miro.
(Maho Hyun): Maho. Anna-unnie, you just pulled yours from your real name too, huh?
I went over the names twice, carefully memorizing them. Except for Mile, everyone's nickname was close to their real name, so it wasn't too hard.
"Couldn't we just say this over voice?"
"It just feels better having it written down in the chat, you know?"
"I see…"
Listening to their voices through my headset, I clicked through everyone's profile pics.
Anna's was a giant close-up of a white cat—guess she has one.
Mile had a photobooth strip with a friend.
Haru used a travel pic with her friends.
Roa's was food she cooked—guess she's into cooking.
What the hell, why are they all so normal?
Even Maho, who uploads J-pop covers and talks like she came straight out of an anime, was pretending to be normal—her pic was just a dog.
Only mine was an anime girl bust shot.
"Oh? Miro, you watched Oshi no Ko?!"
Noticing my profile pic, Maho's high-tension voice shot up.
"Ah, yeah… I liked it, so I used it."
"Oh, I know that one! Viewers mentioned it—how was it?"
Mile chimed in next.
"Mm… probably the best of the recent releases, I think?"
"Ooh, Miro, you sound picky about anime and manga."
How does she know that? Did she watch my stream?
"You watched my streams?"
"Of course! I bet everyone here did."
Mile's words threw me off. Sure, I'd been pulling top viewership lately, but my streams were shorter, and I figured other contestants were too busy with their own streams to watch mine.
"Eh? Why though?"
"Well… you always pop up when we ego-surf on the community boards."
"Ahh…"
That was Anna's answer. So even Anna googles herself.
"I saw it too. They called you the 'Gallery Queen,' right?"
"What's a Gallery Queen?"
"Oh, it means the person the community likes best."
That came from Haru, Roa, and Mile in order.
So they'd all seen me in the community before checking out my streams.
Tch… embarrassing.
But hey, I ego-surf too. Who doesn't? Especially when you're in an audition like this—you have to check reactions.
"That's right!"
Just then, Maho clapped like she'd remembered something.
"Miro, that song you uploaded—it was amazing! I've heard tons of covers of that track, and yours was the best."
"Yeah, that song made me see you differently."
That was Maho and Anna, one after the other.
Praise from a Japanese cover YouTuber and a former musical actress…
I'd never gotten much praise for singing before. My shoulders couldn't help but rise.
"Ahaha… you're all great singers. I just practiced that one song nonstop."
"I could tell you really understood the song."
Understanding? My vocal teacher always stressed that—and now Anna was saying it too.
"Really?"
"Yes. By the way, how did you choose that song?"
"Uh… just… because I liked it? Or used to like it."
"I knew it. You can hear the love for it."
Coming from a musical actress, that praise kept rolling in.
If they thought it was that good, shouldn't I sing it here for them?
"Ah… was it really that good? Should I sing it for you now?"
It felt natural to offer.
What's the point of learning if you don't show it off? On stream I'd wait until I had more songs, but here, one piece I'd practiced for weeks—I could share that with my new teammates.
"Eh? Really?"
"That would be amazing!"
Seeing their smiles, I cleared my throat.
Yeah, they're all decent singers, but I should set the tone early.
This song, at least, I had confidence in.
I adjusted my mic, set up echo, and pulled up the instrumental I'd downloaded for practice at vocal lessons. In my head, I reviewed everything I'd learned.
I even pushed my chair back and stood up.
Singing uses your whole body, from toes to head.
Straightened my back.
Engaged my core.
Drew in half a breath, slow and steady, waiting for the timing.
I'd sung this song close to a hundred times.
Timing was perfect.
As the intro ended, I began with full confidence.
My practice didn't betray me.
"Woooow!!"
"Amazing!"
"Whoa, it's even better live!"
For the first time, I heard genuine cheers—not from a teacher, but from my peers.
I nailed it.
"Ah, I can't just sit here after that. Maho's turn!"
"Then I'll go after!"
And just like that, what I'd feared might be awkward turned into a lively night, our first get-together as audition winners stretching late into the evening.