Chapter 13: Voice Acting

Despite accepting the offer, Catherine wasn't expecting much. Mike was a dropout, and it was impossible for him to get any hidden lessons when he was so busy since he dropped out of school. Learning the Japanese language would take at least two to three years, and Mike only started making his games last year. Even if he had some spare time throughout that time, it still wasn't enough to be skilled at the language. This was also the case for the vocal training itself. Trying to be a vocal coach wasn't easy. They needed to know how to actually guide a person so they could voice act convincingly. That's not something that could be learned through the internet.

She knew about it. She aspired to be a singer and voice actress from Japan but quickly learned how hard it was, and her parents were also against it, so she ended up doing another course and just satisfying herself with her own hobbies. So even if she trusts Mike due to his personality, she doesn't believe he could actually make any improvements. She would still try, though. It was a game that Mike made, and she always wanted to voice act in an anime-styled game.

So even if the result would become lackluster, she would still try her best. Mike might demand something higher for them, but she was sure that after some time, Mike would learn that he couldn't just create a miracle.

That was a week ago.

The first day, she felt her concerns were validated when Mike simply told them to read some of the scripts he gave them in the soundproofed booth and then told them to repeat those scripts in other pitches. After that, they just messed around by either using the booth for singing anime songs or manipulating the recorded voice through the sound equipment in the operation room.

The next day made her a bit surprised when Mike had an actual action plan as to how they could improve their tonal shifts. He gave them some tips for breathing exercises and then gave them some vocal rehearsals before they started reading the scripts. This time, it wasn't an English script but rather romanized Japanese scripts.

The script alone showed Mike's meticulousness, as it showed when they should use lower pitch and higher pitch on each syllable. There were even some explanations why those syllables needed to be held longer or cut short.

The following days, Mike's training for them became better. What she considered just a way to pass the time turned into something she felt like committing to as she realized that she was actually improving. Within a week, she could freely change her pitch without hurting her throat for a few minutes. The breathing exercise he taught them also helped her speak longer sentences without pausing.

"So what do you think?"

Just as they were in the middle of the meal in a certain fast food chain, Mike took her out of her thoughts. Catherine tried to form some response, likely a shout as to how he managed to teach them how to improve their vocals, but instead she spoke calmly to him after a short sigh.

"Okay... I didn't expect you to be good at being a vocal coach. Where did you learn? It felt like we were being taught in a professional studio..."

"I told you right, I dabbled for a bit and learned a few things on the internet. You'll surprisingly see a lot of stuff on the web." He said with a shrug.

"Uhee~ Now I can finally commission my voice to act in those naughty comics!? Oh wait, I think it's enough to voice some of those hentai games at witch.io!? You know, that stuff that's locked behind paywalls in Partners... Uwehehehe!~"

Their conversation was interrupted by her lascivious, no-good friend of hers who wore a long white hair wig and a hoodie that covered most of her figure. Catherine glanced at this girl before smacking the back of her head with her palm.

"Elly... we're in public. Behave yourself!" She hissed at her.

This girl whose mind was always in the gutter is Eleanora Pangilinan. She was her childhood friend and was the actual reason why she even became an otaku. She was the one who introduced her to the wider world of anime and also forced her to do cosplays and sometimes even dived on raunchy sites out there. She basically corrupted her, though thankfully Catherine had the mind to not go over the line. She didn't want to end up the same as this shameless woman.

"Mike, thank you for giving us this opportunity. Your teaching helped me with my career, so I'm really grateful!"

That was Sunshine Ortiga. One of her high school friends who loved singing Japanese songs. She always wanted to sing an original Japanese song of her own, though her voice doesn't really go that high compared to most female Japanese singers, much to her shame. She also couldn't handle the longer notes, and her accent was a bit weird, so even if she wanted to, it really couldn't be helped. At most, she managed to achieve a level that was good enough for a hobbyist. This woman has been working as a singer in a local bar, using the skills she cultivated inside her home so she could at least earn, though she wasn't really satisfied singing pinoy love songs.

"Mhm, you're the best, Mike!"

And this girl who only clapped with a bright expression is Laika Salvador. She was a gamer, but unlike typical gamers, she loved going outside. She doesn't really mingle with strangers, but she always roamed around Manila, discovering many places that sold weird homemade game emulators and collecting them in her house. She also said that she has a work-from-home job, though she still hasn't revealed what job it is.

Mike scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed at the praise of the opposite sex towards him. Even if they were his acquaintances, he was still weak to women. He was someone who hadn't gotten in a relationship since his 27 years of being born.

"Thank you. I really appreciate your words." He faked a cough before continuing. "Anyway, this entire week is all about conditioning your vocal cords for the following script. On Wednesday, we will start with the actual voice acting. I've already given you the script for the characters you will be voicing, so I hope you review it later so you can be prepared."

"Back to business... really..." Catherine could only shake her head. Even though there were four women sitting beside him, Mike was still focused on the job. She felt that Mike was too numbed at the appeal of the opposite sex, and it made her feel a bit frustrated.

But those were just a small part of her mind. Most of her thoughts were occupied with the Cute Girls Academy itself.

After they learned about Cute Girls Academy, they immediately joined the CGA server and introduced themselves there. Every member welcomed them warmly. After they joined, Catherine and the other girls started putting in their voice clips, auditioning themselves in the server.

They did this because Mike said this was required. He might have asked them to voice for his game, but it was up to the owners of the characters themselves which voice they would accept. Of course, Mike announced that they only had four available voice actresses, so they could only choose from the four. Catherine thought that might be a bit overwhelming, but with this game still being in its infancy and with it being Mike's request, she decided to just do it anyway. The other girls also thought of helping out.

Anyway, with that announcement, the creators of each character listened to their voice clips. They made three voice clips each. One was their normal voice, the other their cutesy one, and the next was their deeper voice. The scripts they used were all sample scripts that don't exist in the game but were universal enough that any character could say them. Words like being hurt, laughing, or asking someone who they were were just a few examples of these sentences written on those sample scripts.

After a few days of deliberation, their role has been set in stone.

Elly was chosen to voice the following characters:

Syura Atlanta, the last surviving atlantean in her world. Shork's original character.

Mochizuki Yamiko, a scythe-wielding chuunibyo who held the power of darkness. Mr. Red's original character.

Klee Randoseru, the child-looking, very old high elf who loved throwing all kinds of explosives. Bambambakudan's original character.

And then there's Schwarz Leipzig, a ninja wannabe who always tried to act cool but always failed at everything she did. Stellar's original character.

As for Sunshine, the characters she got were these ones:

Crystal Maiden, a lonely nameless priestess who lived in a land filled with colorful crystals. Mimicry's original character.

And then Rose Garden Mary, the shy and innocent forest mage of the modern world. Mino's first original character.

Laika Salvador had also landed four roles. These were:

Anubis, a mysterious woman with a fragment of the god of death, and stuck in a ruined world that was caused by her awakening. Shirocc's original character.

Lilith Pandemonica, the true inheritor of the demon goddess' realm of monsters. DemonGod's original character.

Magium, the ancient witch slumbering beneath the magic-deprived continent. Leyline's original character.

And then there's Masamune Fukina, a kunoichi in an ancient Japanese era who was brought back to the modern world to fight against the rampaging spirits from the netherworld. Lima's original character.

Finally, there was Catherine. And she voiced three characters. These were:

Marilyn Moonlight Caldera, the witch of the hollowed springs at the peak of the broken mountain. Mino's second original character.

Argosia, the savior of another world who slew five demon kings. Desperado's original character.

And finally, the one that Mike personally chose for her. The Record of Phantasm, Phantasmic!

He reasoned that, even with the principal not having any voice, it would be weird if the mascot of the game itself didn't have one too. So he has been looking for someone to voice Phantasmic, and after three days of checking their voice recordings, he finally chose Catherine to voice this character.

Catherine actually preferred it. Out of every character, the one she got most interested in was Phantasmic. This mysterious being was the one who urged the Principal to leave his former decaying aspirations and erect a school for cute girls. Throughout her playthrough, Phantasmic always acted playfully and was always seen as either dumb, annoying, or suspicious. Though there were subtle hints about her cunning nature that slipped whenever she spoke to herself. She always uttered cryptic words whenever she was shown briefly after important scenes.

Also, she occasionally breaks the fourth wall.

There was a depth with this character that made Catherine attracted, and she wanted to peel away those mysteries as she voiced this character. She also thought that if she pulled it off, she could proudly declare herself a true voice actress because Phantasmic's character was that deep.

She wondered just how Mike thought of a character like this.

Even with that, she doesn't underestimate the other characters from the community. They were all made creatively. Mike also planned to put in more characters, and there was already a lineup of accepted OCs that was just waiting for their implementation. He still hadn't put them in yet because the game content was still lacking in his eyes, and also there were no voice actors yet.

The four of them eagerly accepted the bulk of paper Mike handed to them. Each bulk was bound neatly, which made it easier to know which character those scripts were for.

All of these women were excited. After Mike proved that he knew what he was doing, they also wanted this project to succeed.

"Ah, and also, here's your payment for today."

This was another thing. Most of the girls, except Sunshine, don't really need pay. Catherine, Eleanora, and Laika were all daughters of the rich. Catherine, even more so, as a few of her relatives were active members of the government, and some had large companies under their names. Still, they accepted the payment. At first they actually rejected him paying them, but they don't know why Mike was so insistent on doing this to the point of annoying them.

'You're the one coaching us. Why are you paying!?' She couldn't help but scream that internally.

Anyway, after that, they talked for a bit more before they returned back home. Catherine doesn't really mind driving all the way to San Jose. She has a car, and her friends really liked visiting Mike, mostly now that he was more open to welcoming them than in the past when he was still busy trudging around with his low-salary jobs.

"Hey, sis. Don't you think that studio looks so small?" Elly's words made them perk up.

"... Don't be so rude. It's something Mike made after years of hardship!" Catherine really wanted to nod at her, but she felt it would be rude so she unintentionally scolded her.

"Yeah but... can't we help him? He's guiding us for our voices. Like, I didn't think I could voice act like an anime character!" Elly exclaimed. "Come on, I know you also want to help him!"

Elly's urging made her contemplate for a bit. There was some truth in her words. Mike truly has done something that couldn't be achieved easily. The way he taught them was so comprehensive that within a week, they could control their own pitch and at least understand how to get in character while reading scripts. Those kinds of skills were beyond what a professional vocal coach could do. He was masterful with his guidance!

The least they could do was help him out with his expansion.

'That's right. He's looking for more voice actors, right? Then he needs a larger studio!'

With those thoughts in mind, Catherine was already thinking about places she could buy.

"Yeah, when we have time, do you want to look around and find some spot for a studio?" Catherine offered.

The three girls gazed at her for a brief moment before they smiled.

"Of course!"

"That would be lovely!"

"Sure."

Once more, without Mike's awareness, his friends were planning something behind his back.

____________________

Mike was happy with the improvements he got. After the first time he tried out coaching his female friends for voice acting, all the expenses he spent on the creation of the voice-over studio, along with the potential profits that he could gain from that day, were all calculated by his power, and then he activated the multipliers and the boost. As it was a studio that was public and available for everyone walking on the streets, along with having used the studio itself to train his friends, his power considered the whole studio operable and calculated the losses he got from it for his boost.

This meant, not just CGA, this studio became a separate establishment that could earn him money. Just like CGA, Castro's Vocal Studio has also been added within his mental display of products or services that were in the red. His talent for voice coaching and operating the sound systems in this studio increased drastically, along with the general knowledge he needed for maintaining this kind of establishment.

"It's also good that I made a secret patch on the game..."

During the time he was training Catherine and others, he had also used DeepV to translate the opening scene into Japanese. Naturally, it was rough, so he put a disclaimer telling the players that the feature was experimental when they chose the Japanese language.

With that small patch, he gained some improvement with his Japanese comprehension skills. This improvement might be small, but it was already huge to him, as he could now understand common sentences that the typical Japanese citizen usually used.

And he kept improving as he had a huge loss at establishing his voice-over studio. He would continue exploiting that by not asking for their payment. In fact, in a flash of brilliance, he had decided to be the one to pay the others to train them.

His power couldn't dictate how he handled his business. It only detected what could potentially earn him money. It doesn't factor in what he was currently doing to earn that money.

'Now... If it's only possible to block my source of income, I'll actually go for it!'

Sadly, his power wouldn't work if he blocked every way to profit from a product or a business. It was why he even put a PayBud link on his witch.io account. That's because, if he didn't do this, his power wouldn't recognize his games as potentially profitable. Without any way to profit at all, his power would ignore whatever product he put on the internet.

His power has this weird rule where, unlike physical products, digital properties like games must have a way to profit, like having a donation link to them, before it recognizes them. Thankfully, it could be interpreted vaguely, making it so instead of blatantly putting the donation link in front of their eyes, he could simply link his games in association with his company, which was called Castro Games. His PayBud was linked to his company name, Castro Games, and because his game company symbol was put in any of his games, it was vaguely connected to his donation link, which was enough for his power to recognize these games.

This was also the same for his studio. With it being a physical establishment, instead of putting a donation box or something, he simply needed to put something that could potentially earn this studio money. He didn't want to rent this to others, and he didn't want to earn money by coaching others. What he chose, though, was something ridiculous that any person would look at him in befuddlement due to the sheer idiocy of it.

He could only gain money through his contracted voice actors and actresses. He already had the contract drafted in his office and was just waiting for anyone willing to be his studio's in-house voice actors. He essentially turned his studio into a voice actor company, even though it was too small and he has no contracted voice actors. It doesn't matter though because his power recognized it.

He felt like he managed to fool his power. He might have the contracts drafted, but he doesn't plan to find one at all. His plan was to only train his female friends and then find other girls who also liked anime stuff like him around the country so he could train them. What he needed were the voices, and he thought coaching them would at least help them in any profession they might pursue that needed this kind of technique, like being a singer or a dubber.

Without these small restrictions, he would have chosen to close his donation links after getting enough money to survive and just have fun raising his skills with Idle Power.

"It cannot be helped. Just have to be satisfied with it."

He shook his head out of those thoughts and focused on the present. Currently, he was making all the finishing touches for the twelve characters's different postures, Live2D features, and the implementation of the entire side stories, bond stories, and character stories. The main story was still not up yet, as the game modes were still lacking in his eyes.

Unlike the three story modes, he was the one in charge of the Main Story. There were still few characters in the game, and it was still in its early development phase, so he doesn't focus on that part yet. He wanted to finish the gameplay first before moving on to the story itself.

These three story modes were easy to implement. They were written by the owners of the OCs and the world where these OCs originated from, so he could just copy it through the archived backlogs on the dedicated RP channels of the CGA Server. It only took him this long because he was busy perfecting his illustration skills.

Now he could do it fast enough that he only needed an hour before he was done. He doesn't need to make an outline to start his drawing. His talent for imagining what he wanted to draw rose enough that he could vividly imagine what he was drawing. This effect is thanks to the large multiplier from the actual loss of CGA.

"After putting these, next is putting the voices." That's the plan anyway. The next update will be all about putting voices in the game and implementing these three story modes.

He spent the majority of his days developing CGA, while the remaining ones were put on Idle Power. He barely needed to put his attention on his first game. His skills improved enough that any art asset, BGM, and codes could be done in a short time.

____________________

On the day of the script acting, Catherine and the others were excited. Now they would actually start stepping into the world of voice acting. What they did here would be reflected in the game, so the girls were nervous even when they tried to hide it with awkward laughs or straightened postures.

They go straight to voice acting using the Japanese language. It was romanized, but along with it were the original Japanese script and the translations of those scripts, which gave them context for what these sentences meant.

"Can I do something for you, Kochou?" (Catherine)

"Kyahahaha, it is I, the empress of darkness, Mochizuki Yamiko! Praise me, Kochou!" (Eleanora)

"Ano... uh... No, its nothing..." (Sunshine)

"Good morning, Kochou." (Laika)

Each of them was voicing lobby lines for the characters. Mike said that it would be too harsh if they immediately started voicing the extra story contents. Lobby lines, or the lines from the characters that players would see in their main lobby, were simple to implement. It was just randomly playing recorded lines from the characters, and most of the time, it only had fewer lines than a short story script.

After the first recording, Mike immediately suggested things they could improve on. He doesn't want to demand anything, so he simply suggested it.

"Hmm... I think that sounds too low. I think it will be better if you say it with more energy, like you're trying to project your voice all over a stage. Imagine a stage actor. I think you can do it like Yamiko acting on a stage and then exaggerate most of the delivery so it sounds a lot more obnoxious than it is."

"Argosia's line is a bit dull-sounding. I think if you deepen your voice for a bit here..."

"Try to imagine being scared of offending someone. I think it will elevate your acting of Rose if you make her sound more shy."

"Laika... well, I think you nailed Anubis's voice. Keep it up!"

The girls found most of his advice helpful, so they tried to do that on the second recording. After a few times recording the lines repeatedly, they were done, and they could go back home.

The following days, they recited the same lines once more, but this time in English. Mike doesn't want to limit his game to Japanese voices only. He knew other players preferred English voices, so he also wanted to implement it.

They did this for an entire week before they were finally satisfied with the results.

"Wow, did I actually speak like that!?" Elly exclaimed in excitement, her eyes wide.

"... Well, I can hear that cheeky tone from those characters. It really sounds like Elly..." Catherine said.

"What cheeky? It's called youthful!"

"Pfft, more like annoying," Laika stated with a deadpan stare.

"But really, you nailed Rose's character, Sunshine. I didn't think you could act like a docile hamster!"

"Uh... thanks, I guess?" Sunshine felt a bit happy, even as she scratched the side of her cheek in embarrassment.

"Hmm... Voicing serious and emotionless characters really suits me. Maybe I should try using it on my work..." Laika muttered under her breath.

While her friends clamored to each other as they listened to the voices that would be used in the game, Catherine was busy in the booth voicing another character. Unlike the playable characters, the one she was voicing was the mascot NPC of the game itself, Phantasmic.

Phantasmic doesn't have any lobby lines because Mike changed it so that only students could be there. What Phantasmic did was be the tutorial girl, the one who greeted the player when opening the game, and basically the one who explained everything in the game. Those were the ones she was voicing right now.

Not just that, Catherine was also voicing the entire prologue by herself. It's only Phantasmic and the Principal in that scene, and because the Principal doesn't need a voice, that scene was basically her own stage to showcase her skills as a voice actress.

"Let's do this!"

____________________

Catherine still remembered Mike's explanation of Phantasmic. She usually was playful, annoying, and sometimes too cryptic to the point of being suspicious. She acted like a clown, always unserious about everything, much to her detriment. She was like the butt of every joke. The one who was always punished due to her own doing. Even if it wasn't, she would somehow still fall to misfortune, encountering disasters that were either naturally inflicted or artificially inflicted by someone or something.

She's basically the type of character who looked like a big shot at first and then became disappointing the next second.

Despite that, weirdly enough, in the prologue, Phantasmic acted differently. The way she acted in the prologue was drastically different than how she usually acted in the game proper. She was calm, spoke concisely, and acted so mysteriously.

Taking note of all of those traits, Catherine started recording.

"Oh my goodness, you are still clinging to an ideal that has long since passed?"

"This realm has already become a Withered Paradise. Are you really going to doggedly grasp onto an unfulfilled dream?"

"I see. You definitely lived up to your title, the Long Dream. However, your current situation is just too sad. As the embodiment of imagination, I cannot just forsake someone who shares a deep relationship with my symbol."

"In such case, allow me to expose you to new concepts that will change your perspective on the world. I am confident it will be beneficial for your paradise!"

"Welcome to the new Wonderland. It is still in its infancy, yet it is already superior to the desolate wasteland from a while ago."

"Do you like it?"

"This property will be a sanctuary for many lovely females. It makes no difference if they are men, gods, angels, demons, saints, or monsters. In this Imaginary Wonderland, we will embrace them as youth in need of direction and nurture them within our great institution, which is full of hope, dreams, and youthful ambitions."

"Lead us, Kochou. I, the Record of Phantasm, shall be with you until you achieve your ideal paradise."

"Let us continue your dream and begin our tour across dimensions..."

"Let us start our Cute Girls Academy!"

____________________

Catherine doesn't know whether to feel moved at having voice acted such a high-level character or cringe at the lines she was spouting. She knew the emotions Phantasmic wanted to convey. It was filled with the casual confidence and youthful innocence of a girl. Though at the same time, it hinted at something deeper than that. It was written in the script what kind of emotion she should be trying to convey to the audience.

It still felt embarrassing, though. Phantasmic's lines were both mysterious and childish. She doesn't know what's up with the title drop on the last part of the prologue.

"Is that even necessary?"

"Of course it is! It's Phantasmic!" Mike simply responded as if it was the natural thing in the world.

Catherine could only slump her shoulders in defeat. She couldn't argue with him. He was the creator of that character, so it's natural he knew more than her.

"... Well, what do you think?"

"It's good. You nailed Phantasmic's voicelines. Thank you for doing your best." Mike turned to her, saying that with a straight face as he bowed for a bit.

Catherine felt a bit flustered. "Hey! No need to be so formal! You asked for help, and I always want to be a voice actress, so it's a win-win for both of us! Don't be so reserved!" She chided.

"Right... Sorry." Mike scratched the back of his head. "... Anyway, wanna retry? I think you can improve upon it more..."

"I thought you said I nailed it? Is that a lie?" Catherine's eyes glinted, and she faked a pout as she crossed her arms.

"What... I mean, no, I don't mean it like that!" Seeing her smirking, Mike immediately noticed she was just teasing him. "Really...?"

"You're so focused on work. Relax, Mike. We should take a break first before thinking about improvements."

"... Right."

Once more, Mike felt a bit embarrassed having that pointed at him. Catherine smiled, a bit happy that she could help Mike like this. Whenever he got into something, he would always throw himself into what interested him until his body collapsed. Catherine was always concerned because Mike was stupid like that.

"Well, it's already afternoon. Wanna have a late lunch?" Catherine was the one who invited him.

"... I'll treat."

"No, I'm the one inviting you here. It's my treat!" Catherine said, putting her foot down as she glared at him.

"Okay..." Mike could only resign himself to accepting that.

It felt embarrassing, but Catherine herself was the one inviting him. He could only accept or else risk angering her.

"... Oh! Already planning a date? How bold!"

"Tsk! It's not a date!"

Elly's interruption made Catherine flustered. She immediately smacks the back of her friend's head.

"Why!?"

In the end, the other girls also joined with their lunch after talking for a while. Catherine was pouting for a bit, while Mike felt a bit awkward.

____________________

In late February, Mike and Catherine spent ten days in the studio, revising and then improving the prologue script for both japanese and english languages. Then, before March approached, Catherine also voiced the tutorials, welcome message, farewell message, sign-in bonus message, daily quest dialogues, menu dialogues, and even her shop dialogues.

When March arrived, Mike quickly finished putting all the recorded voices in the game, made some optimizations, added all the english and japanese subtitles, added all the extra stories, and then finally added all of those additions to the update log in his witch.io account before he uploaded the update. The update was put on both the witch.io page and the CGA server.

And to make sure that nothing untoward happens, he added a small disclaimer at the start of the game that basically said something like this.

["This game is a non-profit, community-driven game. The developer strictly suggests not to waste your money in this game. Please do not donate to Castro Games!"]

He didn't just put that at the start of opening CGA. He also put those notices at the start of the game description and even at the CGA server.

'I won't let you ruin my skill improvements! ' He thought to himself.

Thus, at the start of March, Cute Girls Academy v0.2.1 has been uploaded.