Chapter 223: Fairy Efficiency (4th Update, Congrats to Sect Master [Wangci])

Chapter 223: Divine Efficiency (Fourth Update, Celebrating Guild Master [Wang Ci] 22)

A light rain fell at dawn, leaving the ground slick and the air damp with a lingering chill that, caught in the early winter breeze, compelled passersby to pull their coats tighter.

Meng Fan’s high-tech running shoes offered excellent traction, so he felt no anxiety about slipping; he maintained his usual pace. The streets were sparsely populated at such an hour, and the rain had thinned the crowds even further, leaving Meng Fan free to run at his own rhythm.

From his residential complex to the West Lake scenic area and back, his route was carefully calculated to cover over 22 kilometers—enough to complete a half-marathon, with enough distance left over to jog a bit more before cooling down with a slow walk home.

With his endurance, strength, and speed each boosted by two points, Meng Fan could keep his pace under five minutes per kilometer, maintaining that speed for the entire half-marathon. He hit physical "limits" at the 12-13 kilometer and 18-19 kilometer marks, but once he pushed through, the rest was smooth sailing, resulting in a final time of one hour and fifty-seven minutes.

He hadn’t exerted his full strength and felt he could have been even faster.

Because his sweat-wicking headband included a weather forecast feature, Meng Fan didn't stop immediately after finishing his run, instead accelerating to dash back into the complex. He miscalculated slightly, however, as the rain began to fall just as he entered, leaving him caught in a brief downpour between the gate and his building.

After a quick stretch, he hurried upstairs to shower.

Both his sportswear and headband were highly absorbent, but they were soaked through from the rain.

A hot shower left him feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Seeing a WeChat message from Wu Tong, and lacking breakfast or the patience to wait for delivery, Meng Fan boiled some dumplings she had left in the freezer while replying to her.

Wu Tong shared that yesterday had gone smoothly; not only had she managed to sit in on the lectures, but she had also met the "target"—a master overseeing the ancient painting restoration—and received his guidance. Her plans had shifted; instead of auditing more classes, she was now heading to the Forbidden City to study the artifacts.

She jokingly added, with a hint of excitement, that she wasn't sure if photography was allowed inside, but if it were, she would send him pictures.

After breakfast, Meng Fan began to paint. He worked until eight, headed to school for a class, then returned to continue his work. Just before noon, as he was about to order takeout, Director Charlie called to say the post-production dubbing for the animated series "Forest Adventure" had been confirmed. He invited Meng Fan to the studio for a meeting and to meet the rest of the team.

Upon learning Meng Fan was home, Charlie picked him up personally, treating him to lunch before heading to the studio.

The Chocolate Factory studio was home to forty or fifty people. About half handled editing and recording, while the other half were voice actors—though even the non-voice staff possessed dubbing skills.

For instance, the bearded Lou Lan, who primarily handled recording, could also voice various characters.

The studio’s voice-acting team was large and talented. Since their primary business was games and animation, female members far outnumbered the men; including Meng Fan, there were only six male voice actors on staff.

In animation and gaming, unless a character had distinctly masculine traits—like a raspy, rugged, or deep voice—female voice actors could handle almost any role. In fact, for handsome male characters, female voices often achieved a better effect, and children or adolescent roles were almost exclusively voiced by women.

For "Forest Adventure," the cast was almost entirely female, with only one other male voice actor besides Meng Fan.

After introducing Meng Fan, they went straight to the meeting. Charlie outlined the project's style, deadlines, and role assignments.

Meng Fan was assigned one more role than he had during the audition, bringing his total to seven, including the narrator.

Once roles were set, they moved on to studio scheduling. Dubbing was usually done individually, with little interaction between actors except on special occasions.

The Chocolate Factory had several studios, but with other projects underway, only four were allocated to "Forest Adventure." This meant the actors had to coordinate their schedules to avoid overlap.

As a newcomer, Meng Fan had no say; he simply took what was left.

Reviewing his schedule, he found the slots weren't too fragmented, so he had no complaints.

He was more interested in game characters, as they were better for grinding experience, but he didn't mind animation work—it was slower for character counts, but excellent for racking up hours.

After the meeting, just as Meng Fan was about to leave, the bearded Lou Lan called him back.

"Iron God, there’s an empty booth now. Want to start?" Lou Lan liked using that nickname.

Meng Fan asked curiously, "Did someone just leave?"

Lou Lan shrugged. "I don't know. She just walked in, said she wasn't feeling well, and left."

"What a coincidence. Alright, I'll take it."

Meng Fan couldn't be sure if his "Luck +1" was at work.

"Iron God, how do you want to record? Character by character, or in chronological order?"

The bearded recording engineer held several edit versions; they could record by character or follow the timeline.

Though Meng Fan wanted speed, he chose the timeline. Even in animation, there were narrative needs and emotional shifts to consider.

Furthermore, he had seven roles plus the narrator; he intended to record everything in sequence, switching voices on the fly.

Usually, actors with multiple roles recorded one character at a time to ensure vocal consistency.

Few chose Meng Fan’s approach; it was either reckless or supremely confident.

Meng Fan was undoubtedly the latter.

The order for "Forest Adventure" was for one season, totaling 50 episodes.

Several of Meng Fan’s seven characters appeared only every few episodes, though Pine Tree Grandpa and Teacher Duck appeared more frequently.

The narrator had the most lines, appearing in every episode with one to three sentences, accounting for over a third of the total script.

In total, there were just over 320 lines.

Meng Fan’s speed was blistering, his efficiency unmatched, and his quality superb. Once in the zone, he nailed almost every take on the first try.

Before 9:00 PM, in less than seven hours, he had finished everything!

On average, that was nearly 50 lines an hour. If the lines were continuous, it wouldn't be fast, but given they were scattered and required constant character switching, it was terrifying.

"Done?"

"Done!"

The bearded engineer, who had been snacking on bread, stared back in a daze.

The other staff in the studio checked the time, their faces filled with astonishment.

What kind of divine efficiency was this!