Chapter 63: Utaite Scarlett Debuts, Part 2

A week later.

Hayoon was at that familiar recording studio.

The recording studio where she had signed a long-term contract after lengthy negotiations.

She was at Forest Sound( The recording studio Hayoon, Hong Seo-hyun, and Seo Ji-woo frequently use.), directing the voice actors’ performances.

Well, the term “directing” wasn’t entirely accurate.

How could Hayoon, a novice, direct professional voice actors?

It was more like advice, guidance on the direction of the project.

Even professional voice actors can’t perfectly interpret characters in every scene.

Even though this was Hayoon’s first time directing, she would give them a word of advice when she felt they were going too far off track.

The voice actors, who fully understood Hayoon’s advice, gradually produced near-perfect results.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

“See you next time.”

Several hours later.

The voice actors’ recording was finished.

Just one or two more recording sessions, and the voice script preparation would be complete.

“Then, I look forward to working with you. Please send it to the usual email address when it’s finished.”

“I’ll work on it as quickly as possible, so don’t worry about that. I’ll be able to give you this one before the end of this month, even if it takes a while.”

“Yes, please.”

The president of Forest Sound nodded, assuring her not to worry about the speed and quality of the work.

Hayoon took her unfinished coffee and sat down on the sofa in the recording studio lobby.

sip

sip

She sipped her coffee through a straw and fiddled with her phone.

It was July already.

Hayoon shivered slightly because of the strong air conditioning and checked her upcoming schedule.

“I’ll finish all the recordings in July and receive all the voice files by August. The outsourced BGM (Background Music) will be delivered by the end of August as well…….”

September and October were Do Jin-ho’s stage.

He would stay up every night, testing for bugs and testing again, waiting for October 31st in as perfect a state as possible.

So, with more than 100 days left until the game’s release date of October 31st.

Hayoon’s task was already decided.

‘As the sun sets, the bustling streets are dyed red….’

Guiding Hong Seo-hyun.

Hayoon felt small when working with professional voice actors, but she still had more prior knowledge than Hong Seo-hyun, who had never been to a recording studio like this.

The recording of Utaite Scarlet’s debut song was also scheduled to be conducted under Hayoon’s direction.

As she was finishing her coffee, checking the Korean adaptation lyrics of “Love” that would be sung today.

“Ah, hello….”

Despite her bold crop top and jeans outfit, she seemed overwhelmed by the dry atmosphere of the unfamiliar recording studio.

Hong Seo-hyun, looking shrunken, opened the door and entered.

And Hayoon.

“Over here.”

“Oh, ah, hi.”

She waved and greeted the timid Hong Seo-hyun.

After placing her empty coffee cup on the table across from the sofa, she took Hong Seo-hyun’s shoulder and entered the workroom where the president was.

There was no particular reason for holding her shoulder.

‘This is comfortable.’

Holding hands was a bit awkward, and putting a hand on her back and pushing her felt like forcing her to go somewhere.

Sometimes, when she went somewhere with Choi Arin, she would hold her shoulder.

Anyway.

“President, I’m going to use the recording studio.”

“What? Didn’t your schedule end today?”

“This is different. I paid for extra time last time, so I’ll go into the recording studio and get ready.”

“Sigh, fine. There are no other clients anyway.”

After signaling to the president that there would be additional recording, she entered the recording studio she often used.

The scene was very familiar to Hayoon, but not to Hong Seo-hyun.

She knew this day would come, but she kept hesitating due to the unfamiliar scenery.

Hayoon slightly tightened her grip on Hong Seo-hyun’s shoulder and pulled her along as if urging her.

And then.

“Stand here.”

“H-here?”

“Yes, there.”

She placed Hong Seo-hyun in front of the microphone.

“You can adjust the microphone height as you like. I saw the voice actors pulling this to adjust the height.”

“Oh, oh….”

A million-won microphone, only seen in recording studios, moved according to her will.

Hong Seo-hyun seemed to feel an indescribable thrill.

“Here, put this on too.”

Hayoon put the headset on Hong Seo-hyun, who was still dazed, and then closed the recording studio door and went outside.

“So, what are you recording? Is it a song, since you put a headset on her?”

“Yes, it’s a song.”

“What’s the MR(Music Record)? What should I play?”

“It’s a song called ‘Love’.”

“Love?”

“Yes, it’s a JPOP song, quite a famous hit, so you should be able to find it easily.”

“This one?”

“Yes, yes.”

The president pointed at the album cover of “Love” and asked, and after Hayoon gave the OK sign, he turned on the microphone connected to the inside of the recording studio.

“Alright, student. I’ll slowly increase the MR volume, so tell me

when it’s at a good level.”

-Okay!

Hong Seo-hyun’s voice came through the speakers, and Hayoon crossed her arms and watched.

During the voice actors’ recording, there were moments for Hayoon to intervene, but the song was entirely Hong Seo-hyun’s domain.

She looked into the recording studio, anticipating what kind of result would come out.

-This is good.

Hong Seo-hyun gave the signal.

The MR volume adjustment was done.

Now it was time to start recording.

“Is it okay to start recording right away without a warm-up?”

-Yes, I drank a lot of water on the way here, so it’s fine.

“Okay, then I’ll play the MR, so just do as you please.”

The president gave Hong Seo-hyun the stage, and after a short intro of about 10 seconds.

–As the sun sets.

-The bustling streets are dyed red.

The lyrics that Hayoon had just checked flowed out of Hong Seo-hyun’s mouth.

Certainly, even if her technical skills were lacking, her tone was innate.

The song choice was also excellent in that regard.

‘Love’ is less about skillful technique and more about the original singer’s unique, overwhelming tone and impactful session.

The session uses the original MR recorded by the original singer, and since Hong Seo-hyun’s tone wasn’t inferior, it was a song that maximized her strengths.

It was perfect as Utaite Scarlet’s debut song.

-Something I’ve always kept in my heart.

-Something that becomes invisible one day.

-Something that stays by my side wherever I go.

-I always end up thinking about it!

The recording proceeded smoothly.

Hong Seo-hyun, as if she had practiced dozens of times, went into the highlight of ‘Love’ without any hesitation.

“Sounds good.”

“Wow, her tone…”

Good.

It was Hayoon’s short but intuitive evaluation of Hong Seo-hyun’s singing, and the president chuckled as if he had found a gem.

Indeed, Hong Seo-hyun’s tone was exceptional.

She was certain it would be a hit.

“Please take good care of her, president.”

“Oh, oh, don’t worry. One-take vocal recordings are much easier to work with than usual. I’ll be able to finish it quickly. I’m more used to this.”

Hayoon politely asked the president to take care of Hong Seo-hyun’s song.

 

***

 

After a few re-recordings, they chose the best recording out of several takes, and the recording session ended.

Hong Seo-hyun was still dazed, either because she was overwhelmed by the fact that she had recorded in a studio used by professionals or because she was finally relaxed.

She was trembling slightly with a blank expression.

“I’ll come back next week, president.”

“Okay, see you next week.”

Hayoon greeted the president and led Hong Seo-hyun outside.

This girl, wearing a crop top that showed her belly button, was acting so shocked.

It was ridiculous.

Since she was still out of it, Hayoon held her shoulder and took her to the bus stop.

“Get a hold of yourself. Okay?”

“Oh, uh…. N-no… I’m just so, nervous…. No, I’m relaxed, so I’m a bit dazed….”

“Really….”

Hong Seo-hyun, who finally came to her senses, rubbed her face and shook her head.

“Haaa….”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“I-I think so.”

inhale, exhale

Hong Seo-hyun, who took several deep breaths, finally regained her color, and waited for the bus with Hayoon, boarding the same bus.

“You’re taking this one?”

“Yes? Why?”

“No, just curious.”

And she naturally joined Hayoon on the two-seater.

Hayoon fiddled with her phone and went into Haru’s fan cafe.

‘I’m going to debut a new Utaite soon, as the illustrator, so please check it out…… I worked really hard on the illustrations…’

All Hayoon, who was on a long hiatus, could do was use the loyal fans in the fan cafe as a stepping stone to somehow get Hong Seo-hyun’s first video into the algorithm.

She uploaded the carefully written post to the cafe and was about to get off the bus, thinking it was time to go home.

“I’m getting off here….”

“Me too….”

For some reason, Hong Seo-hyun got off at the same stop.

Here……

This is the bus stop in front of my apartment complex…?