4. Viral
“How did it end up like this…”
I muttered unintentionally when I saw the number of viewers waiting for stream at a level where there would be no problem even if I called myself the top VTuber.
I didn’t know how many times I had repeated the same word.
◇ Turn back the time a little ◇
After the case of forgetting to end my stream, I called Suzuki-san to apologize.
It was entirely my responsibility for exposing my ugly side of myself to the world, even though it was triggered by a PC malfunction.
I would not complain even if she were to say that I should take a break for a while, rather I was prepared to correct my inner ‘Oji’ during that period, and I even prepared to not drink my favorite water (STZERO), which had become one with my blood, anymore. [TN: ‘Oji’ means old man, but in this context, it means ’pervert man’, because in japan sometime, old man = people with bad behavior.]
But…
“Ah, I definitely want you to never forget to end your stream again. But it’s okay to drink alcohol.”
“Huh?”
What Suzuki-san said was the exact opposite of what I expected.
“Eh? Why are you fine with that? You know what I did right?! It’s a big accident at the level of character change?! It was like Mahatam Gandi has suddenly become the champion of bloody street fights!!”
“No, it was Yuki-san after all, so the higher ups in the company had already assumed this might happen…”
“Huh?”
What those people talking about me? It’s true that many Live-On VTubers are said to have a crazy personality as a whole, and Live-On company often said as a hangout place for ‘dangerous’ people, but they really will just let big incident pass like this?
“I mean, wasn’t Yuki-san like that at the time of the interview? Don’t you remember?”
“Ah! What do you mean?! What did I do in the interview ?!”
“Well, don’t you really remember? You left a too strong impact at that time, and even now I feel uncomfortable with Yuki-san, who are like this…”
Even though it’s been about 3 months since the interview?!
“I mean, didn’t you aim for this moment? You pretend to be ‘Seiso’ all this time, so that the gap in your character feel more impactful? I completely thought so you know.”
“No!!!!”
“But for me, Yuki-san is a mess like Yujiro Han** and Heihachi E.” [TN: Yujiro Hanma from Grappler Baki and Edajima Heihaichi from Sakigake!! Otokojuku]
“Eeehhh…..”
I didn’t remember what I was doing because of the tension at that time, but what I was doing in such an important situation…Aahh!!!
But with this, I know the reason why I passed the interview.
The guys at Live-On, who interviewed me must thought that I was a super-class dangerous person and found it interesting, so they decided to accept me, yeah, definitely that’s the case!!!
“Well, well, I can’t believe a land mine like me got accepted…”
“You see, at that time they were troubled too you know? But to be a VTuber on Live-On,《Someone who could shine》is the recruitment standard. And it can be felt from Yuki-san.”
“I think I’m more like muddy water that has stagnated. I can’t shine.”
“Not at all, you’re shining right now. The character Kokorone Awayuki has become the focus of attention. Certainly, there were a few negative comments because it had too much impact, but it’s not at the level of a total backlash.”
Certainly, I was surprised at that fact too.
Actually, after that, I tried to do ego searching while feeling terrified, but even though there were a lot of remarks, surprisingly only few that could be taken as slander. Rather, most of them thought that it was fun and were hoping for the next stream.
“That means, many people are paying attention to, interested in, and attracted to Yuki-san, no matter how you are.”
“Is… that so?”
“Otherwise, they won’t wait for the next stream. Well, I’ll watch all of Yuki-san’s stream from now on, so if I think you almost crossed the line, I’ll stop it. So一 why don’t you try break free from the shell once? “
“Break free from the shell …”
“I’m sure the results won’t be bad. Rather, you’ve come to a point where you can’t go back anymore, you know? If you go back to pretend to be ‘Seiso’ again in your next stream, you’ll feel heaven-piercing discomfort.”
“Urrk!”
It hurts right on the spot….
In the end, Suzuki-san said that she would return to work and so the call was over.
“Hmm?!”
Within a minute of hanging up, the ringtone for the next call started ringing again.
It was… Hikari-chan.
Urkk… this is so awkward.
But I can’t just not answer it right…
Alright, I need to prepare my resolve.
“H-Hello?”
“Ah! Awayuki-chan, good morning! And congratulations! It’s really become a viral! It’s no.1 in the world! No.1 in the world! I don’t know that the usual Awayuki-chan is such a fun person! Somehow, it makes me got excited too!”
“Ah, ahahaha …”
Hikari-chan cheerfully congratulates me with her usual voice.
That was probably not a new way of insulting, but a truly words that came from the bottom of her heart. I understood it because I had been with her since the debut.
The usual Hikari-chan was almost the same as when she was streaming. Always bright and positive.
Hmm? Isn’t this my antonym that is second to none if it’s both sides?
“Ah, also, there was one thing I was curious about!”
“What is it?”
“You see, I just saw the clipped video that was cut from your stream because I was curious.”
“Yeah yeah”
As expected, it was clipped. lol
“I was curious about the word “Dochashiko” that Awayuki-chan said when watching Hikari’s stream, so I asked the manager!”
“Eh”
“Then, my manager told me that it means, Hikari is really attractive!”
Oi! Hikari-chan’s manager! What in the world are you doinggg?!!
You’re definitely said it on purpose, right?!! You were definitely grinning when you were telling her, right?!!
“Seriously! You made me embarrassed! Fuhehe… Let’s collab again okay, bye bye!”
Hikari-chan ended the call with a storm in my heart.
Well, of course, I was heartbroken about the fact that my true nature was being known to other VTubers.
After that, chats and calls arrived from the other VTubers from the same company ‘Live-On’, such as Chami-chan. Regardless of whether they were senpai or not, what everyone said in common was that it was fun and happy to see what my true self.
Well, when I think about it now, I may have been somewhere away from everyone by hiding my true self.
Aah, somehow when I’m thinking about various things like this, I feel like I could live freely whatever I want.
◇ Back to the present ◇
“Alright, let’s do it…”
PUSH! (Sound of opening a pull tab)
I don’t know what to think about it anymore, so I decided to not give damn anymore… whatever!
As someone stuck in the rabbit hole that is vtubers, this story speaks to my soul.
All I can think when reading this is a few of nijisanji debuts