Chapter 66: Voice (2)

Chapter 66: Voice (2)

It turned out to be a bigger deal than I had thought.

I realized that the day after I received a list of voice actors from Lee Suchang.

“Boss...”

“Yes?”

“Did we underbid our rates too much?”

Yang Gilsang asked.

It was a sentiment I deeply shared.

The voice actors brought in by Lee Suchang were all top-tier stars in the industry.

In other words, their fees were at a level that could be astonishing.

What I had expected was at best hidden talents or voices that people had heard of once, and the proposed fees were in line with that.

However, the actors they brought in far exceeded those expectations, making it quite a tricky situation.

“What should we do?” Gilsang’s question was crucial.

In this industry, it’s a well-known fact that you need to build good relationships with various related professions.

For a fledgling company like ours, it’s even more critical.

If, by any chance, we treated external talent carelessly and word got around, it would have a significant impact on the company’s image.

Thinking about the future, it was even more concerning.

The star voice actors on the list now would likely be the giants handling all the major roles in the gaming industry within 2-3 years.

If our relationship with these people soured, it would become very difficult to bring in voice actors.

A cold sweat ran down my back.

Putting on a calm front, I said, “When is the day they start working?”

“Next Thursday. We’ll record the prologue and chapter one... and then the dialogue recording.”

“Please bring the contracts again. I’ll negotiate the rates myself to a reasonable level.”

We had to negotiate the rates properly, no matter what. It’s just good business practice.

***

A week passed like that.

We were well-prepared, but all our preparations turned into scraps of paper.

“It’s okay! We’re thankful for this opportunity!”

“Hello, Director! I really enjoyed playing Hellic 2!”

“Hmm?”

The voice actors didn’t negotiate their fees. They just sent grateful messages in languages I couldn’t understand.

I was puzzled.

“Director, can we start recording right away?” Lee Suchang, the voice actor, asked.

I nodded.

Rewind’s recording studio was small. Compared to other dubbing companies or major game companies, it was just the right size for four people.

“Seniors, please take care of us!”

The most humble junior bent at a 90-degree angle to greet us.

Even if I told him not to, he wouldn’t listen, so it was getting awkward.

Suchang clapped his hands and said, “Enough. Lift your head. If I make a talented guy like you bow, people are going to curse at me?”

“Who in the world...!”

“Save your throat. We’ll be shooting soon.”

With a sharp intake of breath, the junior held his breath.

His gaze felt uncomfortably burdensome.

Suchang awkwardly smiled and said to the other juniors, “Let’s do well today. Thanks for accommodating my unreasonable request.”

These juniors were more talented than him.

But they were also grateful juniors who always showed respect.

Suchang reminded himself not to belittle himself in such situations.

“I shouldn’t think like this.”

He cleared his throat with a smirk.

Fortunately, he had consistently taken care of his voice management, even after his livelihood became difficult, so it served him well today.

His condition was no different from usual.

However, there was something different for sure.

Suchang looked at the script.

“Clear your mind, Suchang.”

There was someone who remembered him in those moments.

Suchang’s gaze turned to the recording booth behind the soundproof glass.

Yeonho was there with another young-looking sound engineer wearing a green jersey.

Not only Yeonho but also the young sound engineer were both looking at him with shining eyes.

He recalled the previous incident.

“C-Can you do that for me...! weaker..person than myself...”“I don’t listen to the words of a weaker person than myself.”“Ugh...”

She trembled, clutching her heart. Her figure at that moment was still vivid.

Certainly, that young sound engineer had also grown by watching his acting.

He held back those emotions, refined and sculpted them, and placed them in a corner of his heart.

“I’ll take the shot!”

With the cue, the screen in the recording studio displayed the cinematic.

Among them, what Suchang was the barbarian.

It had taken about ten days of script readings to get to this day.

As Yeonho had said, the barbarian had similarities to the Black War Tyrannomon he had portrayed ten years ago.

The direction of torment was similar, as was the refusal to bow to anyone.

However, the two roles were different.

The direction of their torment was different, their life experiences were different, their paths were different, and even Suchang himself, portraying him, had changed.

Suchang decided to accept that.

So at this moment, there was no Black War Tyrannomon in Soochang’s mind.

Just an unnamed barbarian.

That role was all that existed.

[Boom!]

[Ahhhhh!!!]

Vibrations, explosions, and screams.

They heard that these were sounds collected by the sound director.

The realism in the resonance was overwhelming, and Suchang’s thoughts were stifled.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Suchang was someone who immersed himself deeply in his roles, seeking to gain total immersion.

For this reason, he looked at the world through the eyes of the barbarian in the midst of that spectacle.

He deduced the life of the barbarian in that way.

“You are...”

The leader of a tribe.

Yet, he always stood at the forefront, with the tribe’s warriors following behind.

“Ferocious.”

After finishing the cinematic, he had read the script for the prologue chapter.

Then, he had read a few lines of dialogue and interaction lines.

But he didn’t feel like he had “read” them.

At that moment, Suchang had become the voice of the barbarian, losing control of himself.

It felt like his energy had drained away, and his back was already soaked with sweat.

He raised his head, regulating his breath.

Suddenly, Suchang felt something melting in his chest.

Nothing had changed.

Suchang was still a voice actor struggling with the hardships of life, and this role was just one of the many roles he had played so far.

Yet, he felt like something had changed, and he eventually realized that it was a change in his mindset.

Suchang encouraged his juniors and left the recording studio.

Yeonho, who had been waiting, spoke.

“It was amazing. We can really never find a voice actor like you”

“Re-really...! Wow! Our staff can’t produce such voices... Ouch!”

Yeonho poked the side of the girl’s rib.

At that moment, Suchang burst into laughter.

“We have done well. There’s still a long way to go.”

“They say the start is half the battle. You’ve already done half of it.”

Yeonho said there were six more chapters left, and he didn’t even know how many cinematics would be included.

There would be more lines to record.

Despite that, Suchang felt a sense of enthusiasm that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

He felt fulfilled instead.

“Bo-boss!”

The girl tapped Yeonho’s arm.

Yeonho, while lightly tapping the girl’s forehead, said, “I’ll contact you as soon as the next schedule is set. Thank you.”

His words were delivered with confidence.

There were no excessive compliments, but there was nothing to criticize either, which made it a proud moment as a voice actor.

His emotions surged.

Suchang finally released the emotions he had been holding back in a corner of his heart and added one more thing.

“There’s a line, you know. The one Black War Tyrannomon said.”

“Yes?”

“To be honest, I didn’t really like Black War Tyrannomon’s lines. I liked something else better.”

It was a somewhat disjointed remark.

“At the end, Black War Tyrannomon asks Bugmon how to live, and Bugmon replies.”

At that moment, Yeonho’s eyes widened slightly.

Suchang said, “If you want to know the purpose of life, you have to live hard.” [TL Note: I had a feeling it was Digimon Franchise ha ha ha]

That was what he had just remembered.

Suchang’s wrinkles formed a smile.

“You have to live diligently. You have to earn a living.”

He didn’t say anything more passionate.

He just wanted to say that the smoldering passion inside him had begun to shine again, thanks to you.

“See you next time.”

Suchang bowed deeply and then turned to the juniors who had followed him.

“Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a meal.”

He no longer felt lethargic.

***

The game now had voices.

To put it more precisely, “my” game had voices for the “first” time.

It was a voice I really liked.

Hey, you there.

I replayed the prologue several times.

But rather than getting lost in the experience, I analyzed it aesthetically.

“It really suits well.”

Click clack, I moved the console pad connected to the computer.

It was a demonstration of the prologue chapter.

I will kill you!!!

The third phase from the perspective of the barbarian.

The dialogue was quite witty.

In addition, the character’s motions were smooth, and there were no noticeable bugs.

This should be enough.

I was thinking.

Ring!

I received a message from Yang Gilsang.

[Urgent! You should come and see this!]

I was already familiar with the urgent message delivery method.

I paused the game for a moment and went upstairs to Yang Gilsang’s office.

Then, Yang Gilsang shouted, making a fuss.

“Boss! Something big happened!”

“Yes?”

“Yes? Not just yet! Did you forget? It’s the first week of the Hellic 2 console release today!”

Ah, that’s right.

“Has it already been that long?”

It was already late November.

The final model of the PS3, the Super Slim, was released, and at the same time, the console version of Hellic 2 was released on the market.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the sales. I was ignoring it because I didn’t think it would sell well.

Well, I already had significant pre-order sales, and there was no additional market share to gain, even if I tried to attract more customers.

Maybe Yang Gilsang was making a fuss because of the poor sales.

I tried to calm him down.

“It’s expected to underperform. Let’s calm down...”

“It’s not underperforming!”

Yang Gilsang grabbed my shoulders firmly.

His face was tense, and his mouth was twisted up to his ears.

“It’s sold out! It sold out spectacularly! We hit the jackpot!”

My body froze.

“?”

What does that /RomanceMTL