Exclusive Rights to An Online Voice Actor

Chapter 3

“Bronze Sparrow Terrace? Are you being legit?”

One could tell just how shocked Ning Xiaoxiao was by what she just heard just from that Kentucky fried chicken that fell off from her trembling hands onto the table.

First was her screaming, followed by her dropping her food. It was unprecedented for Ning Xiaoxiao to make these two unladylike actions in public, which goes to show just how into this CV she was.

Her armed policeman boyfriend became visibly restless as his face turned green.

Qi Jing tried to contain his laughter and very gentlemanly picked up the piece of fried chicken that his junior dropped on the table. He then placed it on the boyfriend’s plate and said with a smile, “We shouldn’t waste food, right?”

That armed policeman boyfriend had heard of Qi Jing’s sexual orientation from Ning Xiaoxiao. In his girlfriend’s words, “The probability of Senior going after you is much higher than him chasing me,” as such he wasn’t hostile to Qi Jing. However, being teased by the other party when he knows that he’s gay still caused the young lad’s face to change from green to red as he scratched his head rather shyly.

This time, it was Ning Xiaoxiao who turned green.

Bronze Sparrow Terrace was a CV truly deserving of being called Godly.

To be able to invite him into their crew was no doubt regarded as the highlight of a producer’s career within the community.

Accordingly, this CV comes from a professional voice acting background, so needless to say, the quality of his voice was really good, He’s also received rave reviews for his sense for getting into character. Although he joined the circle later than Qi Jing, most of the dramas he voiced as the lead were all adaptations for hot and trending novels. Coupled with a famous STAFF team, he quickly shot up the ranks to become one of the big shots in the community.

“My ears are gonna get pregnant,” a phrase the fans often say.

The magnetism of his august Gong voice which reminds one of a dignified emperor was really attractive to adolescent young girls. He even had many fans amongst the working class age group and was one of the male CVs regarded as an idol within the circle.

When talking about this “Godly” title, one would definitely have to bring up some statistics.

Just by comparing the number of followers on Weibo alone, for someone like Qi Jing who was a little famous, his followers only amount to one-tenth that of Bronze Sparrow Terrace. Not to mention the six whole fan groups under him—the official VIP one with 1000 people and the other knock-off groups with 500 people.

—It’s clear to see how big his fan base was.

He’s in the official group and there are two chairpersons running the group.

One of the chairwomen set her ID as “Da Qiao” and the other followed suit, calling herself, “Xiao Qiao”. They were without a doubt, alluding to the phrase “Tong Que Chun Shen Suo Er Qiao”, which goes to show how much they wish to lock him in their harem, the perfect example of a lovestruck fan.

All in all, Ning Xiaoxiao concluded Qi Jing’s situation in a single sentence, “Senior, you’ve landed on something good.”

As a CV, if he played as a CP with the Godly Bronze Sparrow Terrace, putting aside the fact that the show would garner lots of attention and be on trending, his fame would surely rise. This was the perfect opportunity for a breakthrough.

“Something like fame, I don’t really care about it. We’ll just see how it goes,” Qi Jing said with a tone just as calm as his expression. But it caused Ning Xiaoxiao’s brows to crease up together, “Senior, what are you talking about? Your junior here has been in this circle for so long, I’ve heard countless voices. Given your conditions, there’s no reason for you to stay unknown, it’s just that your 3D life is too busy and you have too little dramas as the main lead. In the past, you’ve also rejected it when Ninth and the others wanted to create a fan group for you. This is such a good opportunity, as long as you seize it, more people will definitely come to like you!”

What Ning Xiaoxiao said was true.

There were several CVs that became famous overnight after forming a CP with him on a drama. One of the most representative of that lot was the Shou CV, Crossing the bridge noodles’

, who was currently in the centre of attention. Because he played the Shou in one of Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s more popular works, he became so hot everyone wanted a piece of him, and had an endless stream of works waiting for him. The “Moss” ship between him and Bronze Sparrow Terrace also became one of the hottest topics on the forum.

The few other Shou CVs whose popularity skyrocketed also had similar experiences. Even if they didn’t manage to become a popular CP, all their other works would also ride on the coattails of the successful collaboration and garner lots of attention from fans.

And of course, the production crew would be more than happy about this kind of celebrity effect.

“Bronze Sparrow Terrace is very god—”

“Yes, I know he’s very godly, I do frequently scroll through the forums and read up on some gossip,” Qi Jing cut off Ning Xiaoxiao’s lamenting sigh just in time.

The amount of gossip he’s seen might even be more extensive than her.

“Well, isn’t your crew’s producer quite impressive? She even managed to bring in someone so legendary to play as one of the leads,” Ning Xiaoxiao tried to express her excitement from another angle.

“Look at what you’re saying, you’re making me feel pretty embarrassed for being in that team now,” Qi Jing chuckled, “Ms producer really shouldn’t have asked a nobody like me to partner up with a legend. Not only would I hold them back, I will also lower the attention people have for the show.”

Hearing his words, Ning Xiaoxiao immediately glared daggers at him and pinched his forearm, “Senior, did you even listen to a single word that I said just now!”

Whenever his junior transforms into a demon, the best course of action was to avoid talking back to her, “I did, I listened.”

“Even if you’re not popular now, you surely will be once you’re done with this drama!”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

“Once you become acquainted with that legend through this production crew, then I’ll be able to hook up with him as your close friend!”

“I see, so that was what you had in mind this whole time,” Qi Jing exclaimed as if he had only just realised as he rubbed his chin.

“Of course, I really really love our Godly Bronze Sparrow Terrace~” her excitement shot through the roof, beyond what could be expressed in words.

“Erh... sorry to cut you off for a bit, your boyfriend’s face turned green again.”

After dinner, Qi Jing saw his junior and her armed policeman boyfriend onto the bus before heading for the subway. His long-awaited holiday was finally here. He should properly relax during this time, like going out to watch a movie, or singing some KTV with his colleagues from the TV station. However, Qi Jing chose to go home to do some recordings for his dramas.

How surprising.

Even he was surprised by what an important part of his life voice acting had become.

《Trap》’s production crew had contacted him two days prior and arranged for them to meet up at 9 PM tonight in a YY room to PIA. It’s mainly for the scenes between the two leads.

Most of the STAFF involved in the PIA-ing will be there, including two people who are friends with one of the STAFF cum fans of Bronze Sparrow Terrace. Actually, there were other fans of Bronze Sparrow Terrace who requested to join in the YY room as part of the audience, but the producer feared it may be difficult to control the crowd if too many people were inside.

It was only 8 PM when Qi Jing got home. He supposed that most of the crew weren’t online yet so he took the time to look through the script once more and familiarise himself with the lines.

To be honest, he didn’t think that Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s voice was suitable for the role of the policeman in the story.

Based on his impression of the novel, the nature of that character should be someone who was very honest and upright. He’s not trying to say that one could simply play a character just with their voice and no acting, but in a special area like audio dramas, the first impression that audiences get from the voice they hear was key.

While it’s true that Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s voice could reach 0.8 and above, that may be too much. He’s definitely a strong Gong, but based on Qi Jing’s past experiences when listening to audio dramas, his acting always feels too imposing and doesn’t really match with the character’s descriptions. However, perhaps much like Qi Jing, he didn’t like being limited to a specific type of character. And since Bronze Sparrow Terrace was considered God-class in the circle, he could probably bring the character to life with his acting—well, that’s for the director to worry about.

Just as he was thinking about it, the penguin at the bottom right corner of his screen started beeping, pulling him out of his thoughts. It was from the production team’s chat group.

Producer – Rouge Flower: Good evening my lovelies! ~\\(≧▽≦)/~

Director – Knives cutting in from four corners: Oh, it’s little Shou Rouge, I gonna decisively push you down!

Script-writer – Puppet Show: Decisively push you down! +1

Sound designer – A lifetime’s lock: Decisively push you down! +2

Producer – Rouge Flower: You guys... TAT what’s this in broad daylight, ah no, I mean, what do you think you’re doing, launching a sneak attack on the producer in the middle of the night when the wind is high!

Director – Knives cutting in from four corners: Pfft, producers are meant to be attacked, you mean you didn’t realise this painful truth until now? ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Script-writer – Puppet Show: Hahahaha, as expected of Knives cutting! You’re so good at adding a cut where it hurts!

CV – Don’t ask me for my return date: (Smiles) Moving a chair over with some popcorn in hand to watch the show.

Producer – Rouge Flower: QAQ!! Return date-sama, you....!!

Sound designer – A lifetime’s lock: Aiyo! So this is the other lead playing the Shou in this drama, Don’t ask me for my return date-sama! Strongly onlooking!

CV – Don’t ask for my return date: Good evening everyone.

Sound designer – A lifetime’s lock: What an adorable little Shou, looks like our Bronze Sparrow Terrace-sama is blessed this time round as well~

This sound designer just joined the group recently, she wasn’t here when Qi Jing first joined. He recalled that when he was scrolling through the chat history, it seems like this sound designer was highly-skilled and a fan of Bronze Sparrow Terrace. Most production crews won’t even be able to invite her and Rouge Flower was even thrilled for a long time when she joined.

Qi Jing was currently checking the members in the group—but it seemed like Bronze Sparrow Terrace wasn’t inside.

CV – Don’t ask for my return date

: Hmm? The great god still hasn’t joined the group?

Producer – Rouge Flower: TAT Erhm, the thing is, he said he isn’t adding people on QQ anymore, but he DMed me saying that he will be in the YY room at 9 PM, I’ve already sent him the room number.

Sound designer – A lifetime’s lock: Pfft pfft, it seems like our little Shou can’t wait to see him? You sound so anxious~

Script-writer – Puppet Show: Since he is the Godly Bronze Sparrow Terrace!

Sound designer – A lifetime’s lock: He’s in too many crews, if he were to add every single one of them, there’d be no end to it. If you want to see him, you’ll probably only be able to see him in the official group, but that’s been long filled, there aren’t any more vacancies!

Producer – Rouge Flower: Locky, are you in the official group?

Sound designer – A lifetime’s lock: of course.

Producer – Rouge Flower: TAT Can you check if Bronze Sparrow Terrace-sama is online?? Just remind him that the PIA is at 9 PM and it’s almost time. If he’s there please ask him to go onto YY.

Sound design – A lifetime’s lock: Ok, I’ll go have a look, but if his status is invisible then there’s nothing I can do either ╮(╯_╰)╭

Seeing that it’s almost 9 PM, the sound designer came and told them that Bronze Sparrow Terrace didn’t seem to be online. Rouge Flower knew that this was a rare window to catch Qi Jing when he’s free so she dare not delay it for too long. She got the rest of the crew to go onto YY and get ready first while she continued trying to contact Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

Qi Jing did not have any issues with that.

Too many things could happen in the 3D world. Maybe something really came up, holding him up from coming online, just like Qi Jing himself. In his line of work, the probability of him encountering an unexpected event was really high, so he did have at least this bit of patience for this situation.

For audio drama, in addition to serious matters like the voice acting and production, the communication behind the scenes was just as important.

The interaction with the other crew members before the official start of the recording process was actually Qi Jing’s favourite part.

For example, the director, Knives cutting in from four corners, she’s the type that enjoys using cute emoticons when texting, giving people the impression of a cute and sweet girl. However, once she opened her mouth, her voice was actually that of an elegant and mature lady through and through, which was very surprising.

For example, the seemingly sharp and meticulous script-writer, Puppet Show, was actually a little klutz who couldn’t even adjust her mic properly.

Or for example, the producer, Rouge Flower, was an authentic Wuyue local who spoke in a very mellow and gentle tone.

Qi Jing even considered the idea that if he stopped working as a reporter, he’ll retire and write a documentary type novel. It would be very worth it to note all these various kinds of people in the community in writing.

Before they knew it, it was almost 10 PM. Even the two fans that came in to watch their great god had lost their enthusiasm to all the waiting. The two of them started chatting about Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s recent works in the group chat, in a little world of their own.

Meanwhile, Rouge Flower was in a mess, constantly joining the YY room then leaving, rushing around, poking everyone she could to ask about Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s situation.

The sound designer got tired of waiting and went offline after saying, “If Bronze Sparrow Terrace comes, remember to record it, I’ll listen to it tomorrow.” After she left, the two fans also left soon after.

“So sorry, Return date-sama,” the director, Knives cutting in from four corners, said apologetically.

“It’s alright. Just nice, I can take this time to discuss some awkward-sounding part in the script with the script-writer, so it’s not like there’s no progress at all,” Qi Jing replied with a smile.

“This is my first time working with Lord Return date and I feel that you have really good work ethics and are very dedicated! You even picked out all my typos and missing words in the script. Aaah, I’m so embarrassed as the script-writer!” the script-writer, Puppet Show, continued the topic and added, “Hehe, in the past when I’ve heard many people talk about you, but all I heard was that you enjoy playing dead...”

“Puppet!” Knives cutting in from four corners got such a shock from her words she couldn’t help but interject.

“What are you so anxious about, Knives cutting, let me finish, “ Puppet Show said before clearing her throat and continuing, “I heard that although you like playing dead, you are also very serious and dedicated to your voice acting. And that was precisely the feeling you gave me tonight.”

“Thanks,” Qi Jing chuckled lightly and teased, “I will press on and continue playing dead.”

Just as those words left his mouth, a loud wail, like the world was ending, came from his headphones.

And the loudest and clearest cry came from the producer, Rouge Flower.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Return date-sama! I’m sorry...” something was off about Rouge’ Flower’s voice. If he listened carefully, it sounded like she was sobbing softly.

Clever as he, he could roughly guess what was going on.

However, he wasn’t part of the STAFF so it wasn’t good for him to be the one to say it out. He could only comfort her, “Calm down, take your time.”

“One of the chairpersons of Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s official fan group, Xiao Qiao, just got back to me. She said that he has a gathering tonight and didn’t hear anything about PIA-ing. I think... I think I might have forgotten to tell him... This is all my fault for not confirming with him one last time. B-But he really did say that he was coming in the DMs...” the more she spoke, the shakier her voice got, she even sniffed a few times.

Everyone fell into about five seconds of complete silence, all of their lights stuck in a grey-coloured state.

After a pause, Rouge Flower asked fearfully, feeling like her heart was in her mouth, “Return date-sama, are you... angry?”

Qi Jing hurriedly replied, “No no, I’m ok.”

He just didn’t know what to say to comfort her.

Given the content of the texts she’s sent to the group, she was probably a big fan of Bronze Sparrow Terrace, however, the stand of a STAFF was ultimately not the same as that of a fan.

Anyway, it looked like Bronze Sparrow Terrace won’t be appearing tonight—

Knives cutting in from four corners sighed, “How? It’s already 10.30 PM, are we still going to rehearse the lines?”

Puppet Show suggested meekly, “Can we just do Return date’s part?”

Knives cutting in from four corners was obviously hesitant about that idea as seen from her silence, so Qi Jing answered the question for her, “I think the director finds it more intuitive to notice certain problems with both actors playing against each other, and she can also directly guide the CVs on how to achieve that chemistry. This is more effective when there are two people working together instead of one person recording by themselves, especially since there are quite a lot of suggestive scenes in the first episode.”

“Right, right right, that’s what I had in mind.”

“But Bronze Sparrow Terrace isn’t here...”

“How ‘bout you temporarily take on the role of the Gong and rehearse with Return date, Knives cutting? Since you’re the director anyway,” Rouge Flower asked apprehensively.

“Erh...” the awkwardness in the voice behind the microphone could be heard from miles away.

Qi Jing chuckled in understanding and helped save the director from this sticky situation, “I don’t think that’s really good. After all, everyone here is a lady except for me, and the lines between the main leads are a little too bold. Even if I can get into character, I’m sure it would make you girls feel uncomfortable.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, the director sent him a private message on QQ.

From the group “《Trap》Production Crew”—

Director – Knives cutting in from four corners: Return date-sama, you... you really are such a sweetheart!! ┭┮﹏┭┮

CV – Don’t ask for my return date: Pfft, you’re welcome. Pats you on your head.

After learning about Qi Jing’s concerns, Rouge Flower decided to find another male CV who can come online as a temporary replacement.

“I’ll go ask around to see if there is any male CV who is free. You guys go look around too, if there is, quickly pull them in.”

“I just asked two guys just now, neither of them are free... sigh...”

“All those that are online at this time are either recording, or gaming with their QQ notifications turned off.

“...Is a weak Shou voice ok?” they felt too embarrassed to say that it’s the kind of Shou voice that can never play a Gong.

“...That’s a firm no.” In fact, they might even end up with the opposite effect.

Qi Jing didn’t want to make it so hard on them. Just as he was about to say, “Why not let’s just schedule another meeting?” the script-writer, Puppet Show, started shouting with such force, it was probably comparable to the excitement Christopher Colombus felt when he discovered the New World.

“I have it! There’s one!”

“Who? Who?” Knives cutting in from four corners also started shouting with her mature voice. Her pitch kept going up to the point where her voice was turning into that of a loli.

“Uncle Yan! Uncle Yan is free!” Puppet Show said with a pause, “I almost forgot that he’s also in this production crew.”

“Who is Uncle Yan?” Qi Jing asked curiously as he’s never heard of this nickname within the circle.

Rouge Flower replied a little hesitantly with a wry smile, “Gong-kun’s... Grandpa.”

Lilies: I went to read the reviews on novelupdates and one of them had a spoiler which was actually the main reason I decided to read this book lollol