Chapter 61 : Voiceware update complete!

Naturally, Kawasaki’s drawings weren’t some lewd adult manga.

If they were, Miley would have already dragged her out.

It was just a little, *slightly*, peculiar manga.

“Is this… what they call… yuri?”

CEO Cha looked up with a strange expression, having examined the manga Kawasaki drew on his smartphone.

At the end of his gaze was Kawasaki, thankfully having regained consciousness before we had to call an ambulance. She was kneeling in *seiza*, a traditional Japanese posture, her face stiff.

She’s already small, but sitting like that makes her look even tinier. Like a quail.

“Kawasaki-san, you were secretly drawing this without informing the company, or even the chairman?”

CEO Cha said, feigning a cold voice.

After a moment of hesitation, Kawasaki took a light breath and slowly stood up. She looked at me with determination in her eyes, then—

“I have nothing to say, even if I had ten mouths to speak with…”

—*Bang*. She slammed her head on the floor.

It was practically a head dive. Even I was surprised.

“This is all my fault! I dare to cause trouble to the chairman and the company! I sincerely apologize…!”

Well, she really *did* slam her head down. It looks pretty painful.

CEO Cha freaked out, stopping Kawasaki.

“Ah, no. Wait, stop. I wasn’t trying to make you do *dogeza*. Why are you suddenly doing that?”

“I apologize!”

This is crazy. It’s a total mess.

While CEO Cha was trying to stop the *dogeza*, I swiped through Kawasaki’s manga on the smartphone again.

I was too flustered by the content earlier to notice, but it’s pretty well-drawn. Super sparkly art style, you could say? I don’t know much about webtoons, but the quality seems beyond amateur. You can feel the considerable effort in the elegant lines.

Of course, the fact that this art style depicts a character resembling me and a character resembling Miley blushing at each other is a little disconcerting, but…

Honestly, isn’t this good enough to make a living as a webtoon artist?

“Kawasaki-san.”

“Y-Yes! Chairman. I am truly sor… ”

“Forget the apologies. You’re this good at drawing, why were you being exploited at a black company? You could be an illustrator.”

Kawasaki hesitated before replying.

“That’s… because my dream was to be a Vtuber…”

I narrowed my eyes.

“…So, you let this amazing talent rot because you wanted to be a Vtuber? Are you stupid?”

At my words, Kawasaki’s eyes changed.

“That’s not what I meant!”

Kawasaki said, slightly lifting her head from her *dogeza* position. I wish she’d stop with the *dogeza*. There’s a red mark on her forehead now.

“Being good at drawing helps with being a Vtuber! Of course, I wasn’t talented at broadcasting, so I moved to support… But even in the support team, my drawing skills were helpful!”

“…Hmm.”

“Of course, in the end, I failed, and the company I joined went bankrupt…! But…! Just like how I was able to join TS Media, just like how I was given another chance…!”

Kawasaki, now starting to tear up, exclaimed,

“Please don’t call pursuing a dream stupid!”

“No, but drawing yuri manga is a separate issue, isn’t it?”

At CEO Cha’s mood-killing words, Kawasaki slammed her head on the floor again. And then she started chanting apologies.

“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorrythisisalllmyfaultI’llcompensateforallthedamagesI’vecausedI’msorry.”

I watched her, organizing my thoughts.

A few ideas tumbled around in my head like puzzle pieces. Of course, the puzzles I came up with didn’t quite fit. That’s how things are in the world. There’s no way you’ll only get pieces that fit perfectly.

One, I can fill that gap with ‘skill’ or ‘the power of money’. I have the skills, and almost as much money.

It’s money I won’t be able to spend in a lifetime anyway, so I can invest it in dreams, right?

“Kawasaki-san.”

“IfyouwantmetocommitseppukuIwill… Yes?”

I slowly approached and lifted Kawasaki up.

Oh dear, her mascara is all smudged from tears. I patted her back. Yes, being short is good for this. I can pat her back. Not her waist, but her back.

I liked Kawasaki, who is shorter than me, a bit like a quail, incredibly good at drawing, and

sincere about her dreams.

“Say cheese.”

I snapped a picture of the dumbfounded Kawasaki with my smartphone. Her eyes returned to normal.

“You said you failed at being a Vtuber before, right?”

“Huh? Th-That’s right. I wasn’t very good with character building, and even with the company’s support, I failed, so I’m not talented…”

“Forget about that dumb company. They probably didn’t give you any real support. And your character building and talent don’t seem bad at all.”

Even what she’s doing right now is funny.

In my opinion, Kawasaki has a lot of potential if she approached things from a different direction, not just gaming.

“Be a Vtuber. It’s an order from your chairman.”

Kawasaki’s eyes spun.

“However, not just a simple Vtuber. As a multi-platform broadcaster, including virtual reality. We’ll need collaborations and all sorts of things. We’ll discuss this separately.”

Kawasaki nodded blankly.

Good. She seems to get it.

I patted her shoulder.

“And, keep drawing that manga.”

CEO Cha immediately freaked out.

“What? No, wait. Chairman, what are you saying?”

“Well, Miley is going to be on the broadcast anyway, so why can’t our cruise ship create some yuri bait with a manga? Think of it as a media mix with our own IP.”

“No, really? Is this right?”

“We can sell the manga, so it’ll make a profit, right?”

Only then did CEO Cha declare seriously,

“Let’s do it immediately.”

Kawasaki’s Vtuber project needed a little more time. We had to build a new team structure, figure out the profit sharing for Kawasaki, and create her ‘avatar’. I found out that making a 3D virtual reality avatar takes quite a bit of time and money.

Of course, that’s the company’s job.

My job is broadcasting.

As always.

“Hello.”

A few days after the *dogeza* incident. As I started the broadcast, countless Tadpoles greeted me.

[Seongha~]
[Seongha~ Seongha~]
[AndroidChu]
[What are we doing today?]
[Huh]
[What’s with the outfit??]
[Noona… Heung]
[Heung]

However, there were more… interesting comments than usual today. It’s because I was wearing a new outfit.

A slightly see-through black tee, a luxurious dark gray suit. I even wore a small choker. I don’t know if this outfit was put together by our company staff or an outsourced agency, but I guarantee they’re a bit of a pervert.

[The background changed too]
[Looks like a studio]
[Seongwon noona doing a photoshoot?]
[Heung]
[So what are we doing today? What are we doing today? Play Black Ops!]
[Black Ops please]
[How long are you going to be #1 in SoulFrame?!?!?!]

I checked the chat.

About half of the Tadpoles were talking about my new outfit. And the other half were the Black Ops Tadpoles and Soul Tadpoles screaming about what game I’d play today.

However, it wasn’t either of those today.

It’s finally time to show the results of my practice.

“My Tadpoles. I have some unfortunate news. Surprisingly, the main event of today’s broadcast isn’t a game.”

[??]
[Red Robot what are you talking about]
[No, are you going to go over 50% interaction and hit 100%?]
[Nooooooooo!]
[That’s not allowed That’s not allowed Oh God Buddha Allah]
[Karl Marx, Stalin, please]
[Really just chatting?]

No way.

I shrugged and announced,

“No, today is a singing broadcast.”

That’s right. Today’s the day I show off the results of my vocal training.

Of course, I’m not some earth-shatteringly amazing singer. I’m pretty good. A little above amateur, maybe.

But it’s enough to sound decent when I sing on a live stream. I used a few tricks, so to speak.

I’ll continue with vocal training, but for now, I’ll reveal my new weapon like this.

“So, I’m taking song requests. What should I sing?”

However, my announcement threw the Tadpoles into chaos.

[?????]
[What’s she talking about]
[Huh?]
[Seongwon can sing too?]
[I mean, her voice is nice, but suddenly?]
[LOL]
[Now she’s updating her game functions with viral functions AND voiceware functions ;;;;;;;]
[Soviet technology is awesome~~~~~]

“I’m serious. No song recommendations?”

I lightly snapped my fingers and turned on the interface.

Then I created a microphone object.

“It’s really a singing broadcast, so give me some song requests quickly.”

[I think she’s serious]
[Is she really broken?]
[Update beep boop]
[Lottery go go go]
[Yeah yeah yeah]

“Should I? Then I’ll spin the wheel. It’s the first song, so I’ll honorably pick just one person.”

I turned on the lottery wheel to pick one of the Tadpoles. After a short time, one person was selected. It took a while to draw because of the high number of viewers.

“Let’s see. The winner is…”

[TheThiefWhoRanAwayWearingSeongwon’sDiscardedBearCostume]

“…Well, the Gulag is guaranteed just for the nickname.”

[LOL]
[How can a person’s name be LOL]
[Birds of a feather LOL]
[A thief defying the viral girl ;;;;;;;]
[You’re scamming LOL]
[Is this for real? Is this for real? Is this for real? Is this for real?]

[TheThiefWhoRanAwayWearingSeongwon’sDiscardedBearCostume has donated 1,000 won!]
[I’m going to die anyway, so I’ll make my request!]

“Okay, what is it?”

[TheThiefWhoRanAwayWearingSeongwon’sDiscardedBearCostume has donated 1,000 won!]
[Soviet March!]

[LOL]
[A knowledgeable thief LOL]
[Well done, a glorious death]
[You’re worthy of being dragged to the Gulag]
[I’ll remember you!!!]

I knew it.

I sighed deeply.

“Okay.”

[She’s accepting it]
[What?]
[LOL really?]

Well, I knew this would come up.

So I practiced.

Don’t underestimate TS Media, Tadpoles.