VTuber RP Is Not a Concept - Chapter 110
The dim studio lights gradually turned on. A small clock on the table pointed precisely at 9 PM.
The lamp indicating the start of the recording slowly lit up, and a red LED next to the camera lens blinked.
Seated in front of the microphone, Song Ki-hwan gently adjusted his headphones.
Habitually, he turned the dial with two fingers to balance the settings and glanced once more at the analog mixer in front of him.
On the right monitor, a countdown and subtitle title appeared simultaneously.
3, 2, 1—
He leaned closer to the microphone.
With a slightly lower yet steady voice, he began to speak.
“Once a week, we take some time to bring out the emotions and songs that have been stored away.”
He took a light breath and tidied the corner of the script with the tips of his fingers.
“Taking care of your Saturday night, this is DJ Song Ki-hwan.”
He smiled briefly. Accompanying his voice, subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen.
〈MNS Music Radio – Every Saturday night at 9 PM〉
〈《What Songs Leave Behind》┃DJ Song Ki-hwan〉
Beyond the glass window in the back, the technical director gave an OK sign with his fingers.
Across from him sat this week’s guest. The recording camera slowly shifted focus to his face.
Song Ki-hwan reached out to select a track on the digital audio panel beside him. Quiet music began to flow within the studio.
After the first song ended, Song Ki-hwan lifted his head.
Across from him.
An unbelievable face was sitting in this spot.
‘I never thought I would see someone like this… here.’
He turned his head toward the microphone.
“The person who has come to join us today is someone everyone who listens to music these days will surely know.”
He looked at the other person and smiled lightly.
“Please welcome singer Yoon Chae-dam.”
“Hello, I’m Yoon Chae-dam. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a broadcast with this kind of atmosphere.”
“You’ve been active as the main vocalist in the idol group QTLAY, and after transitioning to a solo career, you have expanded your musical horizons by writing and composing your own songs. When I heard you would be joining us, our PD was quite surprised. I was too. I think Yoon Chae-dam’s fans would have thought, ‘Why there?’”
“I’ve actually heard that a few times,” Yoon Chae-dam replied with a subtle smile.
“First of all, I’m curious about this. Did you already know about our program?”
“Yes. I remember hearing your voice a few times on past radio shows.”
Yoon Chae-dam nodded lightly in response.
“Not exactly this broadcast, though. My father used to work in an outsourced music team at a broadcasting station, so I would occasionally hear related materials. It felt nostalgic, as if the emotions from that time are still preserved.”
As they conversed, there was a vague connection.
“Oh, then Chae-dam’s father… he must be the person I met in the studio when I was recording my first album.”
“Yes. I did suggest this part, but… I felt this would just be a place to let the music talk.”
“I appreciate you saying that. Then, shall we start with Yoon Chae-dam’s new song and discuss it afterwards?”
Thus, they played various songs starting from the new track and engaged in conversations about music with the guest in between.
As the end time approached, Song Ki-hwan slowly skimmed through the list of songs written in his script.
Originally, this segment concluded with a personal recommendation song from the DJ.
However, today, he wanted to present that song with a little more significance.
After all, the guest was a “young” person with whom he could sincerely talk about music.
“Chae-dam, have you heard of the profession called Virtual YouTuber?”
As the question ended, the PD behind the transparent glass tilted his head slightly. It seemed he had noticed that Song Ki-hwan had said something that wasn’t in the script.
Yoon Chae-dam widened her eyes slightly in surprise.
“Excuse me? Virtual YouTuber?”
At her reaction, Song Ki-hwan chuckled briefly, as if he had expected it.
“It seems there are quite a few streamers these days who work with avatars. Among them, there are friends who are seriously working on music.”
Yoon Chae-dam carefully nodded.
“Well… I don’t really know much about that side, but for younger kids, it might be another way to perform.”
In the meantime, the PD quietly asked into the microphone.
“It’s not on the writer’s list. No, this song… hasn’t even been reviewed for selection?”
The technical director looked at Song Ki-hwan. His expression silently inquired.
‘Are you really going to play this?’
Song Ki-hwan took a breath and nodded briefly.
“This is a song I really wanted to share with our listeners today.”
He reached out to the digital panel.
“Esumi Ria. This is an original song by a rookie Virtual YouTuber who is active in the virtual space. The song title is… ‘That Day’.”
The song, which started a bit abruptly, soon reached its end.
Even after the last reverberation of the voice faded, no one in the studio could speak for a while.
Yoon Chae-dam took a small breath from the microphone and exhaled again. After a moment, she cautiously spoke.
“…If I say something, it feels like the emotion will break.”
She lowered her eyes and twisted her fingers. After a moment, she managed to continue.
“I’ve cried many times after listening to songs, but with this one… it felt as if something had shattered. But that’s… not a bad thing.”
She lifted her head again, looking a little dazed, but the corners of her mouth rose slightly.
“To be able to be introduced to a song like this makes me feel really glad I came today.”
At that remark, the PD slowly bowed his head. The confusion and wariness he initially showed disappeared, replaced by a cautious respect in his gaze. The technical director also nodded.
Song Ki-hwan smiled in relief, feeling that those around him seemed to share the same emotion.
He closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at the microphone and spoke.
“Dear listeners, the song you just heard was ‘That Day,’ an original piece by the Virtual YouTuber Esumi Ria. It might have felt a bit unfamiliar and awkward, but I think this song conveys that there is no set format for how music touches the heart.”
He added one last line to finish.
“I hope it became a song that remains in someone’s heart this weekend— thus, we conclude ‘What Songs Leave Behind.’ I sincerely thank singer Yoon Chae-dam for joining us today.”
***
Esumi Ria had few areas where she was clearly deemed lacking compared to her fellow 3rd generation students.
Some might say that her shamelessness and quirky traits indicate a lack of awareness and common sense.
But that was merely a subjective evaluation.
Objectively speaking, there were hardly any aspects where Ria fell short.
Above all, Ria was the most successful Virtual YouTuber among her peers, achieving swift and overwhelming success.
One of the few categories where Ria clearly lagged behind her members was,
the view count of her original song’s music video.
Ria’s original song was a purely self-composed track with Korean lyrics. Moreover, the genre was not the typical ballad or idol style, but an epic narrative that depicted a medieval war and the memories of a soldier who left his hometown.
In contrast, her peers’ songs were cover songs infused with J-pop sentiment. They were already popular songs with Japanese lyrics and typical Virtual YouTuber-style music videos — when it came to view counts, comparing them became a challenging structure.
In fact, the figures that had emerged so far were only possible under the brand of Ria.
However, the situation began to change due to a post that someone uploaded on social media.
《What Songs Leave Behind》
Thank you for joining today’s broadcast.
At first, it felt unfamiliar, but thanks to the host DJ Song Ki-hwan, it felt like reading an old diary.
And at the end of the broadcast,
I was introduced to a song I had never heard before.
The name of the Virtual YouTuber ‘Esumi Ria,’
In fact, I heard it for the first time that day.
But that song felt like an emotion I had known for an unusually long time.
It’s a somewhat heavy and quiet song.
But undoubtedly, it will resonate with someone’s heart.
‘That Day’ — I recommend it.
#YoonChaeDam #SongKiHwan #WhatSongsLeaveBehind #ThatDay #Esmilia #RadioListening #RecommendedSong
[Real-time Best Gallery]
[Today’s… Yoon Chae-dam mentions Esumi Ria, from QTLAY]
[Yoon Chae-dam discusses Esumi Ria with AraBoza]
[Static Gallery]
—
Title: The Downfall of Trendsetters… real
Content: If you don’t know about Virtual YouTubers now, you’re the one who’s falling behind, hahahaha.
How can they ignore it when Yoon Chae-dam, one of the hottest singer-songwriters right now, directly praised it?
If they continue to disregard Virtual YouTubers like before, they’ll get lynched by the ‘Yoon Chae-dam fandom’…
Ah, hahahaha, I’m the viewer who leads pop culture as a Virtual YouTuber!
—
Comments:
– It’s not the Virtual YouTuber, it’s Ria.
– How far will Ria rise?
– Let’s help Ria get out of being a Virtual YouTuber now…
└ Who says? Being a Virtual YouTuber is something to be proud of.
– This is the end times, really…
– The world is turning upside down.
– Why are they invading mainstream when they’ve gathered followers like this…
– Why choose something like this when Chae-dam likes it…
└ Just a complaint from a fallen group.
– I find the situation a bit hard to believe.
└ There’s a ‘Why is she here?’ level celebrity like Yoon Chae-dam appearing on an old radio show > And there, the senior introduces a Virtual YouTuber song > And Yoon Chae-dam genuinely likes it and shares it on her Instagram, hahahaha.
└ Is this for real???
– Hey, wasn’t the opening song of the radio broadcast done by that singer Ria?
└ That’s right. Song Ki-hwan.
└ Then didn’t Ria know she would be introduced there in advance?
└ The connections are amazing…
└ Haha, that’s hilarious, how does a 50-year-old man have connections with a Virtual YouTuber?