Chapter 21: Showcase!

༺ Showcase! ༻Joining a new group of people would always feel awkward.

In a voicecord server reserved for Closer members.

[Woah! Nice to meet you everyone!]

Jennifer unnie, de facto leader of the group, started the conversation.

[hiiii~~]

Fumurin, the established cutest maknae.1T/N: The youngest of the group (CUTEST!)

[Nice to meet you!]

Clover unnie, who I was already acquainted with, gave off mature big sister vibes.

[Hello.] 

Leah, the rich-toned main vocalist.

[im luka~ nice to meet you~]

And watashi, Luka, the one in charge of the otakus.

Seeing everyone gather like this, I felt that our group was perfectly balanced.

As expected of a big agency, they weren’t considered big for nothing.

They nicely sorted out the candidates who were involved in the slightest bit of controversy, and all the members who had passed each had their own unique personalities.

[Ah. I’ve been dying to talk with everyone since we passed the audition, but the server only just opened up ㅠ﹏ㅠ]

[Tell me about it. We’ll be having our showcase this weekend, and I’ve been worried if we’d end up being awkward there ㅎ_ㅎ]

Although this was not the first time we’ve talked, everyone was indifferent about each other, so these messages felt more fake than friendly.

[Have you heard? Biya’s our debut song writer.]

Seeing Jennifer unnie’s message, I immediately typed in Biya into the search bar.

Who on earth was that?

When I saw the search results, I was surprised.

It turned out the person was a composer who had actually written many of the super-hit songs for YM Entertainment’s idols.

[This is dope. o_o wow… me? Working with a star composer…?]

[it’ll be okay if i just do well then… sob]

Just like a maknae, Fumurin, immediately began to worry.

We continued chatting for a while. Suddenly, a notification that someone new had entered the server rang.

[Hi. I’m Park Jinah, and I’ll be your manager starting today.]

It was a different person than the one who previously contacted me regarding Closer’s activity.

[I’ll be supporting your smooth idol life for a year, so if you have any problems, feel free to reach out to me anytime.]

I’d really have a manager…? No way…

This person wasn’t the kind of manager who was only there to manage the chat during my streams, but a real one, the kind who’d accompany actual celebrities. A strange feeling overwhelmed me.

Kim Doah, are you really going to be an idol?

Although we were virtual idols, and we wouldn’t be showing our faces, they sent actual professionals in the entertainment industry to help out our group.

[First of all, as you may have been notified this week, the first thing on your schedules is your debut showcase, right?]

The manager gave us a run-through of how the showcase would proceed.

[We’ll also have a Q&A session where reporters will come in with their avatars.]

[Like, real reporters?]

[Mhm. Some major newspapers have also expressed their interest in participating, so you can take a look at the list of questions we’ve sent you and prepare for it!]

…Is this for real? S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

I couldn’t believe they were telling me, who couldn’t even speak properly in front of my professors, to talk in front of the reporters.

It hadn’t even started, but I felt like the nervousness was sucking the life out of me.

At least I didn’t have to show my face.

With my avatar as my shield, I was invincible.

It’d give me a double attack buff, or something like that.

Of course, that was limited to the viewers of internet streams, but at least I had this cute pink-haired avatar to rely on.

[Erm… Is there a script or something like that? Or some PR response that the company wants?]

Perhaps feeling nervous about the matter, Leah quickly asked the manager.

[I don’t think there will be any harmful questions that you won’t be comfortable answering, or that are meant to slander you. You’ll just have to be honest and natural, and if possible, try to add some wit to your answers!]

[If you’re having trouble preparing your answers or would like to have them checked, please contact me privately and I’ll help you out!]

I had never actually met the manager, but I felt like I had a super-educated, glasses-wearing, elite unnie looking out for me by my side.

[That’s all for today, and have fun chatting! Oh, and by the way, they’ll also ask you questions about your first impressions of each other, so I’m looking forward to seeing your exciting chemistry!]

After the manager’s status turned to offline, the members started to talk rowdily.

[mom! im on the news~]

[No. This can’t be real.]

[…I should probably start writing a script now, so I’m off!]

The members who had downloaded the list of anticipated questions were all eager to end the chat, saying they had to prepare for it.

And I was no different after I opened the PDF.

“Argh… When will I get this all ready?”

I already had it hard doing a presentation in front of thirty people. And I had to do this in front of God knows how many people during our showcase…?

* * *

[doah. did your cousin lend it to you?]

With that message, Junseok sent a sticker of a detective clasping his hands together with his elbows on the desk.

I wondered if the interrogating pose was meant to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

[yes! he says he doesnt use it much these days, so he can lend it to us until the end of the semester!]

[ooh, really? did he ask for a rental fee or something like that?]

[uh… he just asked me to buy him a cup of coffee, so i sent him a gift card.]

I just watched with a meaningful look on my face as the fictional story traveled over the airwaves.

But hey, Luka-tan.

At least you didn’t charge your group members.

Though, if she was on stream, I bet she’d have charged a fee.

She’d probably be yelling, ‘I found it! A pot of gold!’ with her avatar’s mouth wide open.

[okay. then, doah, could you go into the vr world with that first? I heard it might not work depending on the computer specs.]

Having known the whole truth, I found the situation hilarious.

Junseok, her computer specs were insane…

The computer Luka was using before was already high-end, but now, after she passed the audition and joined a large company? Yeah, the specs would be out of our league now.

She said that a super-ultra-high-end computer not meant for home use had been delivered to her home.

Luka had bragged about it in her last stream, saying that her old computer would be used for streaming and her new computer would be her main one.

[ah… okay. ill try it out and get back to you.]

[good good. try it before the end of the week and get back to me before monday!]

[yes!]

He said by the end of the week, but Saturday was already coming to an end.

In a way, this might seem like a rush, but for Doah, all she needed to do was say that she had installed it and it worked.

Easy. Super easy.

Closer’s showcase was scheduled for today at 8pm.

Even though the official YM channel said it would start in 30 minutes, the pre-stream was already up.

Naturally, the chat became a playground for viewers.

There was nothing on the screen, but the people who had already become fans of Closer were just happy to play by themselves.

[ahhhhhh… im getting tired of waiting.]

[i cant wait for fumurin, her avatar looks CRAZY]

[Speaking of Leah, she’s pretty reserved irl so she should be better here.]

[When’s the debut? I’m dying~~~]

It was just a collective monologue of otakus.

With the music on, I waited for the stream to turn on.

When the clock hit 8, the pre-stream slowly faded out.

The viewers, who were expecting to be taken straight to the showcase screen, flooded the chat with question marks at the sudden imposing BGM.

[jennifer noonaaa~~~~~]

[Luka-tan I love you! Luka-tan I love you! Luka-tan I love you! Luka-tan I love you! Luka-tan I love you! Luka-tan I love you! Luka-tan I love you!]

[Look at those visuals…]

A video with similar vibes to an anime opening played.

After the initial group shot, each member was shown in close-up.

Their names were written in English, accompanied by a signature colored background to match their avatar’s hair color.

Showing how much effort went into their avatars, the frills of their dresses, which resembled magical girl outfits, fluttered animatedly.

Naturally, Luka’s signature color was pink.

Against the light pink background, Luka raised her hand high, with her index finger pointing skyward.

Ha… So cute…

Watching with glee and spamming heart emojis, I couldn’t wait to get to the interview.

When the short two-minute introduction was over, the screen switched to reveal what looked like a small stage.

「Hello everyone~!」

A male avatar wearing sunglasses began the program in an energetic voice.

「The virtual idols leading the next generation of YM! We present to you! Closer!」

Bam bam bam bam

A trendy beat kicked in, and the wall behind the stage split in half.

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but smile broadly at Luka’s beaming face.

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T/N: The youngest of the group (CUTEST!)

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