Chapter 15: This is the perfection of ahegao!

“Once your debut is confirmed, you’ll each receive one of these latest model iPhones.”

“You can use this as your broadcast-exclusive contact, but it will also be essential for your future VTuber activities, so don’t lose it~”

Getting a phone upon debut confirmation is nice, but honestly, I don’t really understand why it’s necessary.

I was a fan of VTubers, never originally planning to become one, so I never looked into it deeply.

I only know a bit about streaming or VTuber-related terms, not specifics like this.

The Belus gallery folks didn’t really discuss this kind of stuff either…

Besides, I got into VTubers through Belus, making me, in a way, a Gen Z VTuber fan, so I know less than you might think.

Although my VTuber fan life became quite intense while being a moderator, becoming a fan itself was relatively recent.

“We’re going to download an app onto this iPhone.”

“This isn’t commercially available; we received it directly from a specialized company hired by a virtual company from the mainland (Japan).”

“Uh…”

I don’t really know what it is, but it sounds impressive.

I thought only the rigging was important, but there’s more to it.

“When running this app, the computer and phone need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.”

“Okay, now log in, finish a few settings, and turn on streaming mode~”

A 3D face model appears on the iPhone screen.

It looks a bit creepy.

“Tada~ Now let’s finish the settings and see how it moves!”

Ms. Ari beamed, finished the adjustments, and made a strange face.

Yes… Like the expression of a puppy that needs to poop.

Then, miraculously, Ms. Ari’s avatar on the monitor also scrunched its face and puckered its lips… Wow.

“…!”

It works? It was this easy?

Is this… the civilization of the new era?

Looking sideways, Mao seemed unfazed as if she already knew, but Hoshino looked quite surprised.

Wow, super fascinating. It’s the first time I’ve seen that Tibetan fox-faced girl’s eyes go wide like that.

Honestly, that sight is more fascinating than the feature itself.

“Want to try?”

Ms. Ari handed the iPhone to Hoshino.

Taking the phone, she followed Ms. Ari’s guidance, finished the settings, and tried scrunching her face similarly.

“Hoop…!”

“Ahaha! Hoshino-chan looks like poop!”

That crazy girl.

Mao, that girl, seems to be doing it on purpose. She must be good at Korean.

But seeing that always stoic Tibetan fox face crumpled up is kinda funny. Uhehehe.

“……”

Hoshino glared steadily at us laughing with half-closed eyes.

Ms. Ari’s avatar turned its gaze and made the same expression.

I flinched and quickly turned my gaze back to the monitor.

“Okay, pressing the buttons here can also make preset expressions, okay?”

“This allows you to express things that are difficult just by making faces.”

“Look.”

Ms. Ari took the iPhone back, fiddled with the settings briefly, and drew our attention.

When she pressed a button with her large body, a shadow fell over the avatar’s forehead.

Then, furrowing her brow and lifting her head, Ms. Ari’s avatar looked down on us with eyes full of contempt.

Oh… This is quite…

Next, she pressed another button, and this time, tears started welling up in the avatar’s eyes.

It makes you want to hug it tightly and stroke it gently.

“You can change expressions like this, and experienced users can combine facial expressions and buttons to create various looks.”

“Let’s practice this today.”

“Okay, next turn~”

The iPhone was passed to me.

Oooh… This is the civilization of the new era!

Calming my excited heart, I finished the settings and first tried rolling my eyes.

“Oh… Oooh…”

“It’s amazing, right?”

“Yes.”

It’s incredibly fascinating.

It wasn’t even a difficult process, but seeing the avatar mimic me feels somewhat scary and unfamiliar.

Shall I try sticking my tongue out this time? Will this work too?

“Blehh~”

A bright red tongue popped out from the cute face.

Contrasting with the pale white skin, it’s extremely suggestive.

“Wow!”

“Oh?”

“Oh… The tongue comes out too.”

The first exclamation was mine, the second was Mao’s.

The third, naturally, belonged to our Ms. Hoshino. I’m seeing many new sides of her today.

Shall I tease her a little more then?

Eyebrows sad, eyes crossed towards the center, tongue sticking out. My face feels tight, so I just pressed the smile button.

“Blehh-“

Tada. The completion of Ahegao!

Slap-!

“What do you think you’re doing right now!”

“Kyahng!”

A sharp pain flared across my back, and I let out an involuntary cute scream, turning around.

It seems Ms. Ari, not my intended target, had slapped my back, her face flushed.

It’s the first time I’ve seen her actually use violence.

Anyway, Hoshino’s gaze, like she’s looking at a pitiful child, is truly a critical hit.

……I’m not hurt. Really. Yes.

The day’s schedule ended, and free time arrived.

It’s 11 PM now. From now until lunch the next day, we’re free to get late-night snacks through the manager or sleep soundly.

At first, seeing schedules like those of idol trainees from training camps or the internet worried me quite a bit, but after adapting, it feels surprisingly relaxed.

It really feels like a lodging just to test VTuber aptitude, personality, and minimal social skills.

Excluding dance or vocal training, or learning and adapting to various VTuber functions like today, most of it was character education, advice on stream progression, and analysis of Crystal members’ and other VTubers’ broadcasts.

Sometimes Ms. Ari sends sharp glances, probably watching to see if anyone slips up like the two who were kicked out on the third day.

Well, anyway, after finishing the day’s work like this, we usually don’t go straight to bed.

Everyone looks like they’d be shaking their butts at a club at this hour, but as expected of people with streamer blood, they all tend to hole up in bed watching Twitch streams or YouTube until dawn.

Right now, the gyaru Mao is on my bed, peering into her small smartphone screen together with me.

…A sweet scent wafts from beside me, making my body heat up.

Even after being mixed among women all day during the lodging, I still can’t get used to it.

This is why I’m a single, loser, failure male…

[No, Bae, Baeksu-ya. Lilius-ya. You son of a b*tch!! C’mon!!!!]

“This person curses well. Watashi wants to learn this!”

“Don’t learn things like this. Please.”

Do you want to get teased by the Rainbows for having a pirated Korean language patch?

The stream we’re huddled together watching now is from ‘Hojin,’ one of the most famous streamers on Twitch and YouTube.

He’s a familiar streamer since I watched his broadcasts the most before becoming a VTuber fan. Mao wanted to know about Twitch’s broadcast culture, so I recommended him, and coincidentally, his stream was on, so we’re watching.

Actually, I wanted to watch Haruka’s or another member’s stream, but no one streamed today.

Lately, the members’ streaming hours keep decreasing, causing Belus withdrawal.

Before, so many streamed at once that it was hard to watch them all.

“Kotori-chan. Not fun?”

“Hm? No. It’s fun.”

Mao asked, tapping my shoulder gently.

The area she touched tickled, making me smile awkwardly.

I’m pointlessly sensitive.

It’s probably because my body is overly tense, still not accustomed to women.

Anyway, Mao in her comfortable pre-sleep attire, with her heavy gyaru makeup removed, is extremely dangerous, so it’s her fault.

“I want to debut together with Kotori-chan.”

“……Me too.”

Maybe because we’ve stuck together for a week, although her makeup scared me a bit at first, I see many positive sides to her now.

Like how she has a surprisingly cute face when she removes the heavy makeup, how she eats neatly, or how she sometimes looks like a modest, good wife and wise mother when she ties her hair back.

I’ve grown quite fond of Mao too, so it would be very sad if we couldn’t debut together…

Including my previous life, she’s the only one I could barely call a friend, excluding fellow VTuber fans.

“Anyway, if we debut, are you going to live in Korea?”

“Yes! Work visa? Need to get that.”

“Work visa? Do they issue those for broadcasters?”

“Shacho (CEO) said there’s a way. But debut comes first.”

“I guess so~”

Well, I know there’s something like an entertainment or long-term visa, but I don’t know if it applies.

“Kotori-chan. Shall we live together?”

“Eh?”

Impossible. Just being in the same bed sometimes during this lodging makes my heart feel like it’s going to explode, and you want to live together and sleep alone together every night?

In the first place, I’m going to spend my first night in the same bed with Haruka…!

“No way no way no way no way no way no way no way no way-!”

“Ahahaha! Like an anime character!”

Mao burst out laughing, slapping my back repeatedly with her palm.

This foxy wench.

They said on the gallery that’s flirting.

There’s no place for you in my heart, which belongs only to Haruka!

“What? What’s going on?”

Perhaps because we were noisy, Sumire, who was typing away on her laptop wearing headphones, tilted her head.

Ah, Sumire said she was going to try lightly mixing what she learned from the producer today.

She mentioned having professional equipment at home; I wonder what she does.

Is she really a former Utaite?

“Gasp. Were we loud?”

“Hm? No, no. I was just wondering what mischief you two were plotting. The manager was complaining today that one of the second-floor toilets is clogged; it wasn’t you guys, right?”

“Plotting mischief…”

I feel hurt.

Does Mamang think of us as somewhat lacking kids who need looking after?

While we were both earnestly assuring Sumire it wasn’t us, a delicious smell wafted in from the hallway.

Bang-!

“Anyone want chicken!”

Bursting through the door was Azusa, the Jirai-kei girl with dark, red-tinged hair, who hadn’t even thought of removing her heavy makeup despite the late hour.

She wore a bright smile completely unfitting her appearance, holding up chicken in both hands.

“Squeezed it out of the manager!”

Poor Ms. Ari… Overworked at the company and now getting money extorted by the applicants too.

But contrary to my pitying heart, my hand raises automatically.

During the lodging period, I had been barely surviving on gift cards, the little remaining money I had, and the small lodging allowance sent by the company, so this free late-night snack was an opportunity not to be missed.

“Watashi!”

“Me too. I’m starving.”

“Me too!”

Mao next to me also shot her hand up, and Sumire, who usually wouldn’t touch late-night snacks at this hour, raised her hand too, saying she was hungry, probably from focusing on her work.

And Miyuki, the amber-haired girl who was friendly with Azusa, didn’t miss out either, answering energetically.

However, Hoshino, who strictly manages her body, glanced at the chicken, then put on an eye mask as if planning to sleep and lay down on her bed.

I can see you drooling, buddy.

But that Tibetan fox-like girl would definitely refuse if asked to join, so I just went outside and followed Azusa.

Anyway, where did the two inconspicuous ones go? I saw them carrying bath baskets somewhere earlier; did they go to wash up?

“Let’s eat here!”

The place we arrived at was the terrace where we first gathered on the first day of lodging.

Some people who were there then are gone now, but instead, we’ve become quite close.

Actually, those who were kicked out back then were among those who needlessly started fights, so it was more like the muddying fish were removed, and the water naturally purified itself.

“Huh? Kohaku sunbaenim started streaming.”

“Really?”

“Let’s watch together!”

“I’ll put the stream on.”

Sumire placed the laptop she brought where everyone could see easily, and we set up the chicken, each grabbing a piece.

The drumsticks went to Azusa, who brought the chicken, and Sumire, the eldest sister figure.

Looks delicious… Hehe.

“Pfft. Here, Kotori, you eat it.”

“Gasp… Thank you.”

I must have been staring too intently.

Sumire, who had opened her mouth wide to take a bite of the drumstick, met my eyes, blinked a few times, and gave it to me.

Heung, Mamang. Not as much as Haruka, but I love you.

“Ms. Sumire would be a good mother. Don’t you have a hidden child?”

Uh oh, who is it? Don’t pick a fight with our Mamang.

However, it didn’t seem like a fight, as Miyuki snatched the drumstick from Azusa with an innocent expression and handed it smilingly to Sumire.

Azusa, robbed of the most delicious part right before her eyes, looked almost like crying, her shoulders slumped.

“Uuuh… My leg…”

“You already ate two hamburgers earlier. Endure it for your weight. Here, chicken breast.”

“That’s the same thing… It’s still fried…”

No, don’t make virgin-like expressions with that flashy face.

Seriously, the mismatch between her appearance and actions is dizzying.

Shaking my head to clear the dizziness, just as I was about to bite into the drumstick, this time Mao tugged hard on my t-shirt from the side.

As the neckline pulled down, my pale shoulder, bra strap, and the straight crease of my armpit underneath began to reveal themselves.

Let go, let go. You pervert…!

“Kotori-chan! Kohaku-senpai is shining!”

“What?”

Swallowing the thought ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’, I turned my gaze to the laptop. On the stream screen that had been turned on, Kohaku was indeed shining.

“……?”

High twin-tails of amber hair, round beast ears beside them, playfully upturned eyes, and shining pupils the same color as her hair.

And fitting her mischievous earth spirit concept, she wore a short dress of a drab color but cute design. Her model, with a mouse tail swaying beside it, was obscured by a bright yellow, glowing fluorescent body.

[Now! Your fairy has descended, so hurry and praise me!]

[- Bullshit show ON]
[- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[- Hilarious ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[- Why is an earth fairy shining? Why is an earth fairy shining? Why is an earth fairy shining? Why is an earth fairy shining?]
[- Ahh.. Haku-yam.. Dizzying..]
[- Really want to slap her just once ffs ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[- Ahh here we go again]
[- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is this b*tch on drugs?]
[- Did she not take her meds or did she take meds she shouldn’t have?]
[- Today’s really not easy..]

A rather spicy chat compared to other VTubers.

Their playful insults signify that Kohaku’s stream is usually like this, so it’s familiar.

I also enjoyed Kohaku’s streams, so I’m used to the antics of the one called ‘Crazy Mouse,’ ‘Drugged Jelly,’ ‘Craziest VTuber in Korea,’ but honestly, I’ve never seen anything like this.

Putting aside how she did it, which I have no clue about, just thinking of doing something like that suggests her thought process is different from ours.

Like… A lunatic on another dimension?

[What? Looks like I didn’t take my meds? Yeah~ Rainbow reflection~]

Flash-

This time, she glows in rainbow colors.

Seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—become translucent fluorescent lines revolving around her.

Overwhelmed by the screen-filling glare, I dropped the chicken drumstick and covered my face.

Ah… The sauce got everywhere.

[- Kya ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[- This is it!ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[- Rainbow Kohaku! Rainbow Kohaku! Rainbow Kohaku! Rainbow Kohaku! Rainbow Kohaku!]
[- Ahh.. (Sick)God..]
[- Haku-ya I’m scared..]
[- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[- Crazy btch.. Crazy btch..]
[- Please stop]
[- Ugh]
[- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ahh ffs teeth grinding]
[- Eye-blinding crazy b*tch]

This thing is my Haruka’s colleague…?

Now… Now I really don’t know anymore.

“……”

The fellow trainees, who had been watching her stream while eating chicken, also froze with their mouths agape.

It seems they couldn’t overcome the immense shock received from the new-age civilization that humans were perhaps not yet ready to encounter.

A VTuber who might become their senior shining in seven colors.

I’ve never heard of such a thing.

“Kotori-chan… I can’t do that kind of thing.”

Mao, who had been tightly gripping my clothes, marveled with an expression of having hit a wall.

A Korean VTuber making a junior from the VTuber mecca surrender.

“…Maybe I underestimated what being a VTuber is……”

No, Mamang. Don’t look so sad.

As far as I know, among VTubers, she’s the only one who does stuff like that.