Chapter 11

  Those who can live on dreams are God's favorites.

  Three days after the audition, Ono called Yuka and asked her to attend a callback next week. There were 20 people in total for the callback, but only ten of them could enter this period's training class.

  Yu Guo felt that she had already been taken care of by Guan Zhiyi and Sugita before, so she didn't dare to call them again to ask for advice. Qing Ye must have misunderstood her as relying on connections to get ahead, how could she still go to the two seniors for professional advice?

  Fortunately, there is an otaku brother at home who can be said to be infatuated with ACG. Those questions from Yuzu should all be answerable by him.

  "Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll magnanimously offer life guidance to my dear sister!" Justice held a folding fan in his hand, truly treating himself as the teacher.

  "Huh, I know this!" Yūka, who didn't really watch anime, still had a childhood, and quickly picked up, "Go, Pikachu!"

  "No, no, it's not Qiu, it's Jiu!" Zhengyi slapped the table with his folding fan, "Meng, do you understand, Meng?"

  "Can't you hurry up?" Yu Guo snatched the folding fan from his brother's hand and slapped it against the table twice with a loud crack.

  "Alright, alright, let's get started with the lesson." Seigi took out a DVD and inserted it into the computer. "First off, let's take a listen at how other excellent voice actors perform."

  "Mm." Yūka sat up straight, opening her eyes and looking at the computer screen.

  "This young master, do you think he is a voice actor, male or female, and how old is he?" Zhengyi raised his hand and pointed to the short, finely dressed little boy on the screen.

  "A man, probably no more than twenty years old?" Yūka listened carefully for a while before responding.

  "Wrong, it's a woman, and she's almost thirty years old." Justice raised his hands in an X shape, making a big "X". "Second question, is the voice actor of this man male or female, and how old are they?"

  "Is it a man? Um, forty years old?" Yūka was uncertain, she really couldn't make out the words. "But what's the point of listening to this anyway? What I need to practice now isn't my listening skills!"

  "I'm telling you this to make you understand the variability of a voice actor's voice. Although you're a female mid-tone, it doesn't mean that the production company will always have you play female roles, do you know? If a voice actor gives people too fixed an impression of their role, then they definitely won't have a wide range of acting opportunities. Voice actors' salaries are calculated based on the number of episodes, and for a newcomer like you, one episode is just over 10,000 yuan. Do you think that if you always use the same tone to do voice-overs, how much money can you make in a month?" Zheng Yi said very seriously, looking at his sister with a straight face, "You want to become a voice actor because you see others making more money, right?"

  "Uh-huh." Yūka's face turned a bit red, but she still nodded.

  "There's nothing to be ashamed of, work is about making money, and if you can make a living with your interests, that's the best. However, Yūgo, you should know that the competition in this line of work is fierce. Before you become famous, your days will be tougher than when you used to work two part-time jobs. Can you really persist?

  Seigi, although he's a shut-in otaku, isn't ignorant of these facts. 'If it doesn't work out, then let someone else with dreams take the opportunity.'"

  "I..." Yu Guo raised her eyes and looked at Zheng Yi. Her second brother had always been a good-for-nothing in her eyes, although he didn't help the family with anything, but he also didn't cause any trouble. As his younger sister, she couldn't understand him more than she despised him.

  Big brother had a high fever during the college entrance examination, performed poorly, and failed to get into his ideal university. However, through hard work, he still managed to enter a very good company and got a job. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for him to save enough money to buy a house in just a few years.

  And the second brother is not a fool, but he's too playful and always indulges in the two-dimensional world. He didn't take the college entrance exam, but kept shouting that he wanted to make games. His parents didn't stop him, but he didn't have talent in this area, however, he had a stubborn determination. After several years, he became what he is today.

  If I persist in doing so, will I become like Second Brother?

  I don't know.

  "I'll keep going!" The people of the Izumiyama family, with their completely different personalities and surnames, were all stubborn to a fault. Of course, Yuka was no exception; despite her weak appearance, the thread in her heart was tougher than anyone else's.

  Can't fulfill one's own dreams, that's the justice of being decadent to this point. Some people are even jealous of their own sisters. He doesn't know if supporting Youka now will harm her or not. But as a brother, not giving his sister encouragement is also too inhumane.

  "Alright, let's continue learning about the self-cultivation that a voice actor should have." Seigi stood up and took down a stack of DVDs from his bookshelf. "You're a mid-tone voice, Yuka, and in this world where not being cute will kill you, you might end up dying a terrible death. However, if as you said, your seniors have taken special care of you many times, that means you still have potential. Apart from going down the idol route, you can also develop into a voice actor with actual skill."

  "Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Yuka nodded vigorously. She had also been looking up information about Sugita and Seki Tomokazu online recently. Although she didn't know what kind of works they did, their credentials were impressive enough to be intimidating. Being able to bring out the best in oneself must have seen some potential benefits too.

  "I'll find you some works by female voice actresses with similar vocal tones to yours, listen to them more." Seigi rummaged through the pile of DVDs and finally found a few works that were suitable for Yuka to watch.

  "Thank you, brother." Yu Guo's eyes shone with tears as she felt that her previous attitude towards justice was too terrible. She had denied his hobby without understanding anything about it. Now that she needed help, she came to seek her brother's assistance, feeling awful.

  "Thanks, you're the pride of our family!" Zhengyi raised his hand and rubbed Youguo's head. This action hadn't been done in many years, seemingly after Youguo exceeded 165cm in height. Although he himself was also 188cm tall, his sister's deliberately ignoring gaze still made him feel quite powerless.

  Should I go find a formal job now?

  My sister is working so hard, and if I continue to be a useless brother, it's really inexcusable.

  ============================================================================

  In the second week, Yu Guo and nine others who passed the initial test, along with five new recruits from other channels by the company, attended the re-examination.

  The content of the re-examination is basically similar to that of the initial examination, but the difficulty has increased a lot.

  For example, the review meeting randomly selects a script and has two students engage in dialogue. Without communication, they understand and handle the emotions in the lines on their own. Not only do they need to perform well themselves, but also consider the level of the other person. When dubbing for animation, sometimes there will be wonderful sparks in the performance on the spot. Of course, this depends on the personal preferences of the voice director.

  And there were also a few more reviewers than before, apart from Seki Tomokazu and Sugita, Yuka also saw a young man wearing glasses, slightly chubby. According to another student who applied together, this person is called Ono Yutaka, and he has recently become popular for voicing a competitive anime.

  Yu Guo found that among this batch of re-examined students, the voice lines were extremely rich. Although Lao Ge said that Moe sound is more marketable, but there are also several girls with medium and low voices like herself. Among males, all kinds of voices can be heard.

  After the audition was over, the judges didn't say a word and quietly left the audition room. Only Kōchi and Sugita glanced at Yuka before leaving.

  I don't know if it's good news or bad, but Yu Guo only felt his heart beating faster than before the re-examination.

  Onoe handed out a promotional material of the Orangutan Society to everyone before they left, which also included a detailed brochure of the training class.

  It's already late April now, so the re-examination results will be announced directly on the second day. Then, in the following week, qualified candidates will start entering the training class for study.

  After studying the materials, Yuka found that the training class of Saru no Shippo was different from other voice acting schools. Their curriculum was very tight and the intensity of the training was high. Generally, a voice acting school requires two years of coursework, but the training class can be completed in just one year. Moreover, even before graduating from the training class, there will be opportunities to participate in anime voice acting work.

  Of course, all of this is also thanks to the good reputation of the agency in the industry, sufficient connections and the high quality of its graduates. Otherwise, in such a competitive voice acting circle, it would take at least two to three years for Yuka as a newcomer to officially become a voice actor.

  The tuition fee for the training class is not cheap, but if you are willing to sign a contract with the company in advance, the tuition fee can be reduced accordingly. However, it still costs several hundred thousand yen per year.

  So when Yuka received the passing notification call from Ono, she wasn't particularly excited. The training school's curriculum was much tighter than that of a public high school, and if she wanted to work part-time, her body might not be able to handle it.

  But You Guo didn't consider giving up at all, she had been constantly giving up since childhood. She always thought of herself as an ordinary and unremarkable girl. Everything she fantasized about was just a soap bubble that couldn't be touched.

  But now, there is an opportunity in front of her. Even if the road ahead is a thorny path with unsatisfactory iron spikes, she will do her best to walk to the end. Even if she is covered in scars and bleeding until the last drop, she won't give up!