Chapter 221: Human Tank

Chapter 221: The Human Tank

Meng Fan’s previous voice-acting skills were certainly not nonexistent; after all, he had undergone fairly professional training and long-term practice. Otherwise, relying solely on the timbre, range, sound quality, and vocal control gained from his "singing ability," combined with his natural charisma, it would have been impossible for him to step into the role of a voice actor so quickly.

At the very least, being able to gain Director Charlie’s approval was not merely due to his vocal cords and charisma; his own foundational skills were also a factor.

Consequently, having gained "Voice Acting Skills +1" this time, he was able to rapidly internalize it as his own ability and apply it to the subsequent recording sessions.

To the bearded man and his colleague, Meng Fan had completely found his rhythm, improving with every take.

Both of them had risen to become professional voice actors on the wave of the booming animation and gaming industry, starting as mere enthusiasts. Over the years, they had seen many voice actors and collaborated with numerous masters through the "Chocolate Factory." If one were to call them monsters or geniuses, they had truly seen a few.

In their eyes, Meng Fan could be classified as a monster or a genius.

Excellent sound quality, wide range, rapid vocal modulation, strong mimicry and performance ability, and high-density emotional resonance—Meng Fan possessed almost all the conditions that voice actors crave and struggle to acquire through training. Relatively speaking, his only weaknesses were the technical basics like dialogue timing, lip-syncing, and pronunciation, which could be honed over time.

Of course, these were only "weaknesses" relative to his other gifts; in reality, he was already quite strong.

The other man was shocked to learn from the bearded fellow that Meng Fan had never done professional voice acting before. Yet, it seemed reasonable; the only flaw—or rather, the only area for improvement—in Meng Fan was his lack of experience.

"If he keeps growing, he will definitely be another master. His talent is terrifying!"

"Tell me, why is there such a huge gap between people? Is it just one talent that separates a genius from an ordinary person? No, it’s a whole host of them!"

"Oh? How so?"

"You have no idea, this guy has incredible talent in other areas too! Do you know that yesterday..."

The bearded man regaled his colleague with stories of Meng Fan’s exploits, his face filled with awe and envy.

...

"Are we done?"

They say there is no concept of time in the pursuit of the Dao, and Meng Fan felt something similar in the recording booth. When he suddenly heard the bearded Lou Lan say it was over, he was stunned. Looking at the time, it was already past six in the evening. Including the initial setup, he had been in the booth for over four hours.

"We're done."

Lou Lan said, "All the roles Director Charlie assigned to you are finished."

Meng Fan stepped out of the booth. Although his sportswear had a temperature-regulating function, staying in an enclosed space was still uncomfortable, especially when not recording.

Checking his progress, apart from the five or six roles in "Forest Adventure," Meng Fan had voiced about eighteen characters in total, with sixteen deemed successful by the system. He didn't bother to investigate why the other two failed; this success rate and progress were already sufficient.

Of course, the reason for such speed was that they were mostly game and animation characters with limited lines; otherwise, he could never have finished so many in just a few hours.

He was also lucky they weren't major roles. If they had been, the sheer volume of lines for a single character would have made him want to cry.

"I'll be heading off then."

Knowing it would be difficult to record more today, Meng Fan said to the bearded man, "If there are any game roles that suit me, please try to save them for me."

"Will do."

Meng Fan’s strength had won the bearded man over, and he didn't find Meng Fan’s "big shot" attitude inappropriate at all.

"Where’s Meng Fan?"

Charlie returned from his business to find Meng Fan gone and smiled bitterly: "I was going to throw him a welcome dinner today."

He then asked the bearded man how Meng Fan’s recording session had gone.

...

After leaving the "Chocolate Factory," Meng Fan headed to the Damei Studio. Most of the staff were still there. When Meng Fan asked if they had eaten, everyone looked at him with the weary expressions of people exploited by capital.

"Order some food, my treat."

Meng Fan waved his hand grandly. He didn't know much else, but he knew how to act as a boss.

"I'll order."

A staff member immediately took on the heavy responsibility of ordering.

"Qiangzi, is Yanan not here today?"

Meng Fan looked around but couldn't find Wang Yanan or Zhang Zhouwei, so he asked Chen Daqiang out of curiosity.

Chen Daqiang laughed: "Maybe, perhaps, probably, it seems..."

Meng Fan laughed heartily. Hopefully, that "king of trash talk" Zhang Zhouwei could actually step up when it mattered.

Before the delivery arrived, Meng Fan wandered around to check on their current projects.

Guidance?

Meng Fan watched more than he spoke. If he found any issues, he recorded them with his live-streaming assistant to lecture on them later when he had time, unless it was something that could be solved in a word or two.

Meng Fan never intended to get involved in the studio's management, so he tried not to interfere. Most of his stroll was spent chatting with the members in a joking manner, which helped him get to know them better.

Especially for the members working on the post-production of his manga, Meng Fan gave some specific instructions on the details of the artwork; after all, he was the client.

After eating and staying for another hour, Meng Fan ran from the Damei Studio all the way to his residential complex. Seeing that his "Divine Fleet" progress was at 8, with 11 kilometers left to finish, he checked the time he had spent on the previous dozen kilometers and turned back toward the school. His pace was decent; if he finished a half-marathon, he could likely break the two-hour mark. Otherwise, even if he finished the remaining 11 kilometers, he wouldn't complete the eighth stage of his progress.

"Iron God, running this late?"

"Do you have to be so hardworking?"

"Look at Iron God, so talented and yet so diligent!"

"Have you noticed? Meng Fan has really slimmed down lately!"

"Yeah, we can't call him 'Fatty Meng' anymore, should be 'Strong Meng'!"

"Turns out fat people really are potential stocks!"

"Tall, strong, handsome, rich, and talented. It’s a pity he’s so devoted!"

"How do you know he’s devoted? As long as you swing the hoe well..."

"Forget it, his rival is Wu Tong, no hope there!"

"What’s wrong with Wu Tong? She’s beautiful, fit, has great taste, a good personality, is smart, athletic, and comes from a good family... Honestly, someone like Wu Tong could easily turn me!"

"Damn it, forget the internet cafe, I’m going for a run too!"

"You won't last! After all, you don't have a goddess like Wu Tong running with you!"

From the school gate to the track, Meng Fan encountered many people greeting him and many whispering behind his back. He entered the track.

The track was crowded, but after Meng Fan ran a few laps, everyone automatically cleared the innermost lane for him.

There was no other reason; Meng Fan ran like a human tank. The pressure of him passing by was immense—who would dare block his way?