The Celestial Realm Project had already progressed to its third round.
As a result, the audition participants were starting their own personal streams one by one, and streamers affiliated with the company running the project, "The Six," were making content out of checking out the audition participants.
[Whoa, is that the interviewer?!]
"Hey, you idiots, I told you not to make it obvious!"
LMAOOOOOOOO As if we'd listen Tester call on Bear the weight of Taesan
Meanwhile, Taesan, a solid mid-tier streamer affiliated with The Six, wanted to watch the audition participants, but was having trouble because of his viewers.
"Just stay still for a bit. Because of you guys, nobody can stream properly."
He wanted to calmly watch how they usually streamed, but dozens of viewers would rush in and spam the chat, causing the audition participant to panic or start talking to Taesan, asking what they should do—completely breaking the flow of the stream.
In the end, Taesan exited the participant's stream once again and checked out other audition participants' broadcasts.
"Seriously, please don't interfere this time. I just want to see their natural streaming."
Ah yes lol You all heard him, right? snrk snrk
After sighing deeply and issuing a warning that clearly didn't get through to his viewers, Taesan scrolled up again. That was when a stream title caught his eye.
[A person of telent or ability who cannot be hidden for long and will eventually stand out ]
"Hidden talent?"
Since Taesan had been scrolling from the bottom, starting with participants who had fewer viewers, most of the streams he'd seen had around 20 to 30 viewers. Miro's stream, with 50 viewers, appeared fairly late.
"Isn't that person… that one? The otaku."
Yeah, that's them lol Quite a few viewers, huh? I went in earlier, it was pretty watchable Just wins you over with their voice alone
Recalling what Miro had shown during the audition, Taesan entered the stream.
On screen was the familiar "ideal type world cup" format that streamers often used.
[What should we do this time?]
'Their voice really is good.'
Everyone's voice has its own unique charm, but by Taesan's standards, it was easily top-tier among the participants.
[What's going on? The chat's moving pretty fast.]
As soon as Taesan entered, the viewers who followed him flooded in, completely wrecking the chat.
"Ah, damn it—seriously, you guys!"
Taesan was about to scold them, but the viewers didn't care at all and piled into Miro's stream even more.
Taesan watched Miro's stream nervously.
Then Miro's avatar, which had been quietly watching the chat, frowned and spoke.
[Taesan? Who's that? Anyway, I'll do this one.]
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Taesan? Total nobody lol Streaming on Twitch and you don't know Taesan? This one's hopeless Just… a washed-up loser lol
Technically, Taesan was even a second-round interviewer, and yet this participant didn't recognize him—but inwardly, Taesan let out a sigh of relief.
I stared at the waiting screen for a famous J-pop ideal-type world cup and pondered.
"Should I do a round of 64?"
Each song is three minutes long, and with a 64-round bracket, that means 64 songs—roughly 190 minutes even with a generous estimate.
Nah, nah, nah Go for 128 Taesan showed up and you're not even greeting him? You've got plenty of time, how about 256? Taesan fanboys, get lost
When I glanced at the chat, I saw occasional requests for a 128- or even 256-round bracket.
'Isn't that way too long?'
With 128 rounds, that's 128 songs… no, that's ridiculous.
"If I'm going to judge properly, I want to listen to every song. Isn't 128 just too many?"
If it's famous J-pop, there probably isn't a song I don't recognize. Still, knowing a song and actually listening to it are different. I might know the lyrics and melody, but for many of these, this would be my first time hearing the full track.
I figured I could use the opportunity to familiarize myself with the songs and see which ones the viewers liked based on their reactions—but 128 was just too much.
But if you do 64, too many songs won't make it in Yeah, everyone do 128 Damn, you're really stubbornly ignoring Taesan;;
As I read the chat, I found myself frowning.
'Who the hell is Taesan, and why are they making such a fuss about him?'
A flood of viewers had just rushed in, and even though follower-only chat was on, there were still disruptive messages popping up here and there.
If I were a desperate audition participant, I'd welcome viewers with open arms—but honestly, not me.
Even when there were only 50 viewers, things were running just fine. Now there were about 100.
"Just a moment."
In the end, I asked for a bit of patience, opened a window on a monitor that wasn't being broadcast, and searched for Taesan.
'Ah, that interviewer from before.'
He was a streamer affiliated with the company running the audition I was currently participating in, Celestial Realm Project, and the one who'd played along nicely with my improvised comment back then.
'But so what?'
I'd been grateful at the time, sure—but right now, this was clearly disrupting my stream.
More exposure was nice, but I wasn't that desperate.
In the end, I made a bold decision.
"Taesan-nim, you're watching right now, aren't you?"
As soon as I said that, the chat stirred, and a message with a streamer verification badge popped up.
(Taesan): Yes. I'm really sorry. I was just checking out the participants, but my viewers ended up causing trouble.
"No, no, there's nothing to apologize for."
As I said that, I clicked on Taesan's username.
"I'll unban you later."
After saying that, I immediately banned Taesan.
When it comes to problems, it's best to pull them out by the root.
The people muddying the chat right now were obviously Taesan's viewers, weren't they?
Without Taesan, they'd leave soon enough.
After banning Taesan, I looked away from the chat.
"Alright then, shall we listen to the first song?"
It was obvious the chat would be on fire right now, so I didn't even look and just clicked on the song video.
"I'll focus on the music for a bit."
And with that, I focused on the song. Normally, I preferred to listen with my eyes closed, but since I wasn't very good at Japanese, I watched the video to read the subtitles as I listened.
'It's good.'
In the video, a female singer steps forward with a guitar slung over her shoulder, playing along with the band as she sings.
The lyrics, about longing for a man she'd dated for a long time before breaking up with him, struck a chord somewhere deep inside. The highlight sections scattered throughout were pleasant to listen to as well. The performance was flawless, and above all, the female singer's ability to convey the lyrics was outstanding.
Damn, lol This is it Just… GOAT Easy first pick
After the song ended and I looked at the chat, it seemed to have calmed down. Everyone was typing their impressions of the song.
"This song is famous."
As I recalled information about the track—things I'd deliberately pushed aside while listening—I evaluated it.
"The song itself and the performance are impeccable, and it conveys that emotional line perfectly: the mix of longing and relief that comes from letting go of a man after a long-term relationship. So, by my objective standards, I'll give it a 3 out of 5."
??? Why is it a 3? Isn't it at least a 4? That's a perfect 5, isn't it?
"The full score is 5, yes. As for why two points were deducted—first of all, I just can't really relate to these lyrics."
?? Why? Never broken up before? Never been in a long-term relationship?
"I've never gone through a breakup, so I can't really empathize with breakup songs. And while the song is good, I'm not that into ballad-style songs."
This was one of the few things male Kim Su-hyeon and female Kim Su-hyeon had in common.
Ballads… honestly, to me, they're more like songs you sing at karaoke. For some reason, this kind of ballad just doesn't really stick with me.
Just then, a ding notification sounded, and a donation message popped up.
[Thank you for the ₩1,000 donation, ]
"Do you have a boyfriend right now?"
"A boyfriend? I'm an idol—having a boyfriend wouldn't be allowed."
That was purely my personal opinion.
An idol exists to be an object of admiration for their fans.
An idol having a boyfriend?
Personally, I wouldn't try to stop idols from dating—they're young people in their prime, after all—but at the very least, I think they shouldn't make it obvious to their fans.
Well, to be honest, I don't have some grand sense of duty as an idol, and what I'm doing right now is closer to being a pseudo-idol anyway. Still, it's true that I don't have a boyfriend, and I doubt I'll have one anytime soon.
And besides…
'Don't they go crazy for stuff like this?'
I couldn't deny that there was at least a little bit of calculation involved.
"Oh? Suddenly this many subscriptions? Thank you."
Just look at that.
Simply because I said I'd never had a relationship, five out of fifty viewers bought paid subscriptions.
I read out each subscriber's username and thanked them, smiling inwardly.
'Five subs… how much is that?'
Once the payout comes through, wouldn't that be more than minimum wage, at least?
Acting as if nothing had happened, I played the next song and listened.
This one was sung by a male artist.
In the music video, a gentle-looking male singer walks calmly through the streets, singing a love song. The scene is steeped in that distinctly Japanese residential atmosphere, and combined with the singer's excellent voice and a unique melody, it was the kind of song that's simply enjoyable to listen to.
Damn, lol Hey, this one hits hard too Easy second pick It's really good
This song was well received too. But then again, every song in this tournament was famous—there was no way the hardcore otaku viewers watching a VTuber stream wouldn't know them.
[Thank you for the ₩1,000 donation, "Song Critic Miro."]
"Miro, what score would you give this song?"
I took a moment to savor the song.
"Hmm… first of all, this unique melody is right up my alley. And the vibe of the music video is just so good."
Having never traveled abroad even once in my life, that music video of someone walking through Japanese streets stirred a deep sense of romance in me.
"My personal rating is 4 out of 5."
Saying that, I selected the male singer's song.
Why was one point deducted?
"Why the deduction? Because I'm not that into love songs, so minus one point."
I shrugged as I said it.
Then, while listening to the next round's songs, I glanced at the newly updated list of paid subscribers and smiled to myself.
'Well, it's not like I lied.'
It's my honest opinion, after all—so it's okay.