Exclusive Rights to An Online Voice Actor

unedited

Did he have any ideas—He could think of many ideas in a moment, but upon closer thinking, most of them would get veto-ed, being too unrealistic.

Qi Jing smiled indifferently, shaking his head slightly, “I don’t have any.”

At least, he didn’t have any substantial ones.

Ninth Lady replied with a soft grunt at the other side of the call, as if not at all surprised by his reply. She only said, “For me… During those last two, three years, I’ve been slowly finishing my old long-running projects, planning to retire by slowly ending them all and not starting any new audio dramas. I only know a very few of the newcomer staff members and VAs, so starting a new project would be a pure self-torture… But if you ever want to ask me, Return Date, I will help you to the end with all my honour.”

Hearing this, Qi Jing suddenly felt warmth in his heart. He thought that there was some worth in voice acting for those three years—at least he made a great friend. “Thank you.”

Ninth Lady went straight to the point. “With me saying this, I guess you already guessed what I’m thinking of.”

Qi Jing didn’t reply for a moment, only smiling silently. After a while, he finally asked in a low voice, “…Are the rights for ⟪Trap⟫ exclusive?”

“I don’t know, but it also doesn’t really matter,” Ninth Lady said decisively, “If it’s not, then it’d be easy, we could just ask the author for the rights to the second version. If it is, then it wouldn’t be impossible to snatch it.”

—Snatch. This one didn’t sound all that nice.

“But if we were to snatch it, that would cause a lot of trouble, right?”

“Hm… It wouldn’t be that much of a problem, but we would probably have to use some underhanded methods, so it wouldn’t give us much of a good look in the public eye, that’s all.”

Snatching the production rights was regarded as rather unsightly in the online voice acting circle, they would usually involve some kinds of schemes behind the scenes. As a producer, Ninth Lady had always advocated for keeping away from the battle of tricks and treachery between other staff members. She just wanted to do an honest-to-god job making the audio dramas and never played with scheming, so when she herself proposed to ‘use some underhanded methods’… It really proved that she thought this problem to be a thorny one.

But Qi Jing didn’t wish for her to betray her principle as the producer for this sake.

“Forget it,” He said cheerlessly, “What good could come out from dirtying your hands because of those people? Aside of that, I have already taught Bronze Sparrow Terrace a good lesson in ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ competition, so it’s not like I need to have a yet another fight with him right away.”

“Then if we can have the second production rights, would you consider it?” Ninth Lady still insisted.

Qi Jing sighed. “First, let’s not even talk about how leaving one edition only to quickly jump onto the second one would blatantly be going against Bronze Sparrow Terrace, a clearly unjust motive. It would invite people’s criticism and sound like I’m caring about getting a revenge against the great god more than about ⟪Trap⟫… Also, you are a producer, you know more than me about how many hardships there are to producing an audio drama. Didn’t you even just say that to someone who’s half-retired like you, being in charge of production and finding people would be a self-torture?”

To create an audio drama, aside of the two VAs for the main roles, there was also a great deal of secondary and background characters that needed them as well. No matter how extraordinary the main roles, if the secondary and background characters couldn’t match their level, it would only create a contrast and ruin the immersion.

And as long as the candidates knew of the animosity between Bronze Sparrow Terrace and Don’t ask for my return date, they would also know that joining them would be equal to publicly setting themselves against the great god—a lot of them wouldn’t dare to enter the muddy waters. This would only make the already difficult process of finding VAs even harder for the producer.

Bronze Sparrow Terrace and his crew’s VA resources were all already there, while if they wanted to make another version, they would have to start from scratch.

Hearing this, Ninth Lady also heaved a sigh, “For VAs, an old-timer like me can still try going around asking the friends. The staff members would be a bit easier, but the only problem would be finding a sound designer—the current producer of ⟪Trap⟫, Lifetime’s Lock’s skills are beyond anything else I ever heard of. I have listened to the first episode, as well as her other works, and she really is exceptional at sound design. There’s nothing I could possibly pick at with her handling of the voice lines and background noises, her use of BGM is also very on point. If we leave her moral quality aside and only consider her skills, I would probably give her a nine out of ten.”

The reason why Rouge Flower used to try her hardest to put up with all the troubles caused by Lifetime’s Lock and DaXiao Qiaos, even imploring everyone else to endure it with her, was precisely because she knew that it was way too hard to get a sound designer this talented.

Although it was only because Bronze Sparrow Terrace played the main role that Lifetime’s Lock took on this audio drama, aside from the voice acting being out of character, the sound design part of the finished product had almost nothing to pick about. Although Lifetime’s Lock character wasn’t particularly pleasant, she had definitely mastered her craft. Within the online voice acting circle that currently put a lot of importance on the sound design, it had to be said that she brought up the quality of ⟪Trap⟫ by more than one level.

That’s right.

Producing an audio drama was different from a voice acting competition—it didn’t only rely on the VA’s performance, both the script and the sound editing were crucial to whether the outcome would be good. Not a single one of the three could be compromised.

Ninth Lady also understood that.

“I keep saying that I’m a veteran, but to be truthful, I don’t know that many good sound designers, even more so if we’re talking about those at Lifetime’s Lock’s level. During all those years, I only got to know three—the first one’s character was even worse than Lifetime’s Lock’s, she has already gotten cancelled into oblivion back in the day and disappeared from the scene; the second one fell down the abyss of online games and from that point on, she became a complete passerby in the online voice acting sphere. I heard that because of her continuously putting off her work on the recordings, the production of the audio drama she took on two years ago flopped miserably, so I wouldn’t trust this kind of person. And for the third one… She went off to marry and have a child. She’s way too busy with her IRL, so she has no way of accepting any new projects.”

“…Then what’s the difference between this and just saying that ‘there’s no better sound designer out there’?”

“…None.”

Qi Jing held his forehead in his hand. “Even if we manage to fight for the double production rights, what’s the meaning if the second version doesn’t outdo the first one?” He smiled bitterly. According to his understanding of Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s fans, it could even end with them getting criticised for it instead.

“That’s true as well,” As rare as it happened to her, Ninth Lady’s tone turned gloomy. “Our chances aren’t very high if we don’t find a good sound designer…”

“Haha, don’t worry about it anymore. I didn’t really intend to create my own version in the first place.” Qi Jing chuckled and said to comfort her. It should be him feeling dejected now, but now it sounded like Ninth Lady was more dejected than him, so he naturally felt sorry.

Later, they chatted about all kinds of stuff for a bit, but because of the time difference, it was already her rest time, so she went offline after a short while.

After she went, Qi Jing took a look at the time. There was still half an hour before he had to go, so he just spaced out while looking at his list of contacts on QQ.

He clicked on the “group chat” section&#k2014;the group chat they created before the competition was still there. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he opened it and typed a message there, sending it.

Don’t ask for my return date: I heard about the matter with ⟪Trap⟫. I’m sorry, I’m partially guilty for that too… I hope that all three of you can find peace of mind and continue making amazing works. ^_^

After sending this message, he was about to close QQ, but he didn’t expect replies to appear in the group chat.

Puppet Show: /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~ Aaaaaaah, Return Date-sama!!

Knives cutting in from four corners: Aaah! Return Date, you actually took an initiative to contact us… QAQ (I’m kinda moved)

The script writer and the director were still there, only the producer’s avatar was still grey.

Qi Jing moved the cursor, checking Rouge Flower’s signature. When he saw that ‘Already retired, will no longer use this account’, he felt a hard to explain pang of pain in his heart.

Puppet Show: Rouge had retired yesterday… I don’t know if you know that or not Sir… ┭┮﹏┭┮

Don’t ask for my return date: Mn… I know, but I didn’t know that she would even abandon her QQ account.

Puppet Show: She only used this account for the online voice acting, so naturally, she wouldn’t use it anymore after retiring. ┭┮﹏┭┮

Don’t ask for my return date: I heard that you two also left the production.

Puppet Show: Yes, although I can’t say I’m completely out yet, since the second episode has yet to come out, and they’re still using the script I wrote… ┭┮﹏┭┮

Knives cutting in from four corners: Hehe, I was telling Puppet to just have them give the script back to her, but she’s such a softie. She got pushed around by the sound designer and went along with it. ╮(╯_╰)╭

Puppet Show: Knives Cutting, you… don’t nag me like this, you’ve been doing it for long enough already… /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~

Knives cutting in from four corners: Right, Return Date, I went to listen to ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ after that.

Don’t ask for my return date: You did? ^＿^

Knives cutting in from four corners: And actually… Uncle Yan also went, aaahhh! And he also became a double champion, Uncle Yan is so cool!! I just knew that he’s got the skills!! QAQ

Puppet Show: Aaaaaaaaah, Uncle Yan!! Speaking of him, Return Date-sama, did you actually keep in contact with him all that time!!

Puppet Show: So after that time he asked for your QQ number, you actually became friends in private!!

Puppet Show: You know that I went to listen to the competition live, but I didn’t dare to believe it when I listened to that voice (his voice isn’t all that distinct, it’s not my fault… _(:з」∠)_ ). It only got confirmed when he revealed himself on spot, I was simply howling from the excitement at that moment!!

“Hehe…” Qi Jing chuckled subconsciously.

They counted as the first group of staff members who heard Geese Fly North doing a youth voice, so when compared to their “first meeting”, the excitement brought by meeting again this way was even stronger.

Even more so since at that time, “Geese Fly North” and “Don’t ask for my return date” had once again performed together for them to hear—

He quietly smiled for a while, then decided to reveal a part of the truth to them.

Don’t ask for my return date: Mhm, we turned out to live in the same city. And later… We actually had a lot of interactions IRL.

Puppet Show: Σ(っ °Д °)っ

Knives cutting in from four corners: Σ(っ °Д °)っ

Knives cutting in from four corners: I-, I-, I-, IRL?? You two met IRL?? And even live in the same city?? (Heavens, my little heart almost skipped a beat, ahhhh!)

Puppet Show: I knew it!! I just knew that you two had to contact each other afterwards, and that you would certainly hit it off!! Especially during that one opening during the finals… My heart condition also almost acted up!! °。°(((p(≧口≦)q)))°。°

As long as he didn’t touch upon their relationship as boyfriends, only touching upon the subject shouldn’t do them any harm. Qi Jing believed so because he trusted those two quite a bit. After all, there was no third party that knew about him and Shen Yan having a run-through together before. The sheer fact that even after the surge of gossip caused by the ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ competition, it didn’t get brought up by people, was enough to prove that they were all tight-lipped gals who knew how to keep their tongues at check all the way through, even during the heated debate of gossip theories.

Don’t ask for my return date: I will have to ask you two to keep this a secret, please don’t make it public to anyone.

Knives cutting in from four corners: Don’t worry! I don’t know how many staff members and listeners came to us to ask about the story behind you and Uncle Yan meeting through ⟪Trap⟫. Me, Puppet and Rouge had already talked it through beforehands, and agreed to not disclose it to anyone. (Fortunately the sound designer didn’t know with whom you’ve done that run-through with, phew…)

Puppet Show: /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~ Right, right, please rest at ease, we won’t be causing you any troubles~

Don’t ask for my return date: Thank you. ^＿^

Knives cutting in from four sides: Return Date, I know what you’re thinking of. You’re both getting a lot more popular these days, but if the news of him replacing Bronze Sparrow Terrace for the PIA could even end up attracting a lot of hate, and even if it didn’t, making it public under these circumstances would still remain dangerous… We also more or less know the rules in this circle, and wouldn’t involve you into gossip for a short-lived pleasure of sharing it.

Don’t ask for my return date: I’m actually indifferent to it myself, but he’s a rather low-key person. It was already challenging for him to take part in the competition, so I hope that he can continue voice acting in peace without getting disturbed by the outside world. ^＿^

Knives cutting in from four sides: Yup!! It’s kind of a pity that a VA this good stays so low-key, but it’s his choice, and we will respect it.

Puppet Show: Yup!! We’ll respect his choice!! (shakes fist)

Knives cutting in from four sides: But I have to say… Your audition with you two in ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ was so, so, so beautiful!! For a director like me, this level of performance was simply a pure pleasure to my ears, I cried while listening to it… 〒▽〒

Puppet Show: I agree so much, it was extremely beautiful!!

Knives cutting in from four sides: Your acting was even more perfect than during your first run-through together! I didn’t even think that Uncle Yan would also be so terrific at playing a villain, and you were amazing too, Return Date (so sad about the double runner-up situation), I wanted to just run outside and scream “I KNOW THOSE TWO VA” aaahhhh (but I had to endure)… 〒▽〒

Don’t ask for my return date: Haha, thank you girls. After that time, I also completely gave up on retiring from the circle. From now on, I will continue to play with all I’ve got, I hope we’ll collaborate again in the future if there’s a chance~ (づ￣ 3￣) づ

Knives cutting in from four sides: For sure!! ┭┮﹏┭┮

Puppet Show: For sure indeed!! ┭┮﹏┭┮

After talking with those two girls, his previous regret about ⟪Trap⟫ receded slowly.

He had finally figured it out for himself—

Some people voice act for popularity, just like Bronze Sparrow Terrace; some people voice act to overcome their disorders, just like Shen Yan; some voice act to forget about being lonely, just like himself. There were all kinds of reasons to become a VA, but what he ultimately figured out was the same as Pu Yuzhi had said before.

It was only when he discovered the excitement and joy he brought to the listeners that he realised that there was a value to his hard work, and found pride in it.

For this one particular matter, he and Shen Yan could both openly say to Bronze Sparrow Terrace: “I won.”

And with the outcome already decided, there was no need for further fighting.

It would of course be nice if he could voice act ⟪Trap⟫, but if he couldn’t, then he wouldn’t insist on it. He realised that after losing this audio drama, he gained so much more valuable things: confidence in himself, respect, mentors, friends, and family—he was already content.

So satisfied even, that during their flight to Beijing, Shen Yan, who was sitting beside him, asked why those two days he would space out alone, smiling to himself. “What are you thinking about? Seems like it’s something pleasant?”

“I’m not really thinking of anything.” Startling back to reality, he gave this man a radiant smile, pulling cheekily on his fingers below the blanket provided for the flight. From the start to the end, he didn’t tell Shen Yan about the mess within the ⟪Trap⟫ production crew. He felt that there was no need to make one’s vexation a two people’s problem, especially since he wasn’t vexed about it anymore.

Now, they could finally focus on their trip to Beijing.

“When we get there in a while, should we split and act separately?” Qi Jing seriously considered whether he should go with Shen Yan while he lowered his head to look at the map provided by the organisers.

“No need to.” Shen Yan replied lightly, “Just come with me.”

“My voice is easily recognizable, aren’t you afraid that your fans would recognize me, making it into a problem?” The introductory event of ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ voice acting cast was open to the public, so most probably, there would be quite a bit of fans showing up. Qi Jing himself wasn’t afraid of getting recognised, only saying so jokingly as he watched how Shen Yan would reply.

Shen Yan shook his head slowly, returning the grip of his hand. “If you’re not afraid, then there’s nothing for me to fear.”

If it wasn’t for the passengers in the adjoining seats, as well as the stewardess going back and forth, Qi Jing would really want to scoot over to give him a big kiss on the cheek.

It was snowing that day in Beijing, leaving the sky and earth covered in a white expanse of snow. The last time Qi Jing came it was already past the snowing. This time, the tiny specks of snow were still falling, melting as they touched on his cheeks, while the snowflakes that fell onto his scarf and collar remained there like a fine display of sifted frost, both exquisite and adorable.

Fortunately, the hotel arranged by the company behind ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ was very close to the metro, so it was easy to get there directly from the airport. They didn’t have to spend too long of a time bracing the snow outside.

This hotel’s first and second floor provided all kinds of food and recreational facilities, as well as a couple of venues for business events, one of which would be used this time for ⟪Order to End the Heaven⟫ developers to throw the official introduction event. From the third floor up were the hotel rooms, which was where the contestants were supposed to check in.

Originally, Qi Jing was prepared to get another room for himself, but he didn’t expect that when Shen Yan went to the reception desk, the receptionist would take a look at his data and tell them that the room the developers prepared for them was a standard double room, allowing two people to check in at the same time.

“So is it okay for just anyone to check in?” Qi Jing was astonished.

“That’s right. The booking is only under Mr Shen’s name, the other one isn’t specified. You can check in as long as you have an ID.” The receptionist replied to him with a standard business smile.

Yet Shen Yan didn’t appear surprised, only saying lukewarmly, “The tickets were for two people’s worth, so it’s not all that strange for the room to be double as well.”

It sounded logical, but it was a bit… beyond expectation. It was kind of unimaginable for a business company to be this generous.

It was especially when they entered the room to leave their luggage and saw that the standard room had a double bed, leaving Qi Jing blinking, full of disbelief. “…Just what are the organisers thinking? What if the one accompanying you isn’t me, but your normal friend or a normal fan?”

Shen Yan only smiled without a reply.

After the two of them left their luggage, they took a look at their watches and noted that they still had some time left. Qi Jing remembered that there was a coffee shop nearby, and since the freezing day made him want to drink some hot beverage, he went down with Shen Yan to buy some hot coffee. Along the way, they watched Beijing adorned in decorations for the upcoming Christmas.

After strolling outside, they still had half an hour before the start of the event, but at some point, the signs for the ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ introductory event got put by the hotel’s entrance—it seemed like the organisers had already arrived.

“Seems like the people from the company already came to prepare the event. Do you want to come in now?” Qi Jing asked with a smile. Contrary to him who came under the name of a “fan”, Shen Yan was one of the candidates. It could perhaps make the impression he left on the producers better if he came before time.

Shen Yan stood silently in the snow, as if not intent on going there right away.

Qi Jing noticed that the vapour escaping his lips was a bit heavier this time, denser, shielding his expression from perceiving.

“What’s wrong?” Even though he couldn’t see clearly, he could feel that Shen Yan was uneasy.

“It’s nothing,” He released a long exhale, the white vapour rolling and breaking apart as he spoke, making the snowflakes on his hair ends sway before finally dropping, “…Let’s go, we’re going in.”

Walking into the hotel, Qi Jing brushed the layer of snow off their clothes before walking into the lift.

As he watched the lift door close, Qi Jing suddenly saw a man walking over, seemingly wanting to go upstairs as well, so he hurriedly reached his hand out to stop the door from closing.

The other man seemed to have heard the sound of it opening again, and so the previously lowered eyes looked up and met Qi Jing’s gaze. Then, he nodded his head in thanks.

Qi Jing returned the nod with a smile, shifting a bit to make him some place.

After the man got inside, Qi Jing secretly sized him up, curious.

It was a young man of a slender build and with black square-rimmed glasses, which paired with his somewhat stern look gave him a very particular aura, adding even more flavour to the already attractive face. He seemed to have also just come from the outside, there was still some snow on his shiny leather shoes and his coat was hanging neatly from the crook of his arm. He was wearing a standard black suit, probably scrupulously ironed beforehands for it to look so perfectly straight—from the very first glance he looked especially well-bred and orderly.

—Was it someone from the ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ company? Or maybe a guest staying at the hotel for his business trip?

Qi Jing couldn’t guess that right away, so he smiled politely and reached his hand in preparation to push the floor button for him, “Excuse me, which floor would you like to go to?”

The moment he spoke, that person lifted his head in surprise, staring fixedly at him for a moment. In the end, he faintly said two words with an inquiring tone.

“Return Date?”

When Qi Jing heard his voice, he also stared at him, dumbfounded, eyes going wide.

He completely didn’t expect to hear the voice he recognised from this man’s mouth—because his impression of this voice was so completely in dissonance with the person before him, so far away from his expectations.

“Eh…” He gave a weak, awkward smile, afraid that he would call the wrong ID, but he just had to make sure for himself, “…Noodles?”

A/N:

Kitty’s Papa, there’s a love rival ahead of you! (no there’s not)

Don’t forget that Beijing is the homeground of the Time Limit shippers (sips tea) ← Actually, the author a captain lingreader of the Time Limit ship (Hey)

T/N:

Lucilla: I love them smooth-voiced but stern-looking, lanky four-eyes xD We’re over 100 chapters into the novel, nearing the end of it, but damn, if I’m not enjoying this little non-canon side-ship… Joining the author for that one!