The Knight's Oath
Finally, RP! (2) I hadn't expected anything. Not even the slightest bit of hope… I knew this would happen. I've grown, after all. But still. This is just too much.
“What? The queen of staring contests… and I’m supposed to greet everyone with ‘Hey, loser, do you know me?’ Isn’t that just asking for a fight?” Even I wouldn’t go that far. That line… it’d definitely earn me a punch to the face. I’m not that clueless. They’re treating me like a total idiot. I mean, I am an idiot, but not a super idiot. I can think. I can understand. I’m just a little slower than everyone else. So… this is them calling me a super super super idiot!
“Please don’t do this!! Just give me good RP. From now on, I’m rejecting all the bad ones.”
Yet the suggestions kept coming.
“Queen bee. Buzz buzz… and the bees throw money at you.”
That actually sounds pretty good, right? Whoa. Money. Does that mean cash just rains down? This feels like solid RP.
“How do I use this? Seon-a is the queen bee… buzz buzz. Money. Money. Then they donate?”
“No… thank you, GodBee! I’ll give you a reaction. Whoa! Ddirooririri. Whoa! Ddirooriririri. Uwahaha. Whoa!”
“Thank you, everyone. Encore whoa!”
I checked the next RP suggestion. There were tons of ideas. Fox, idol, alpha male, furry, vampire, queen… so many. Way too many. But none of them clicked. They all felt off, like they didn’t suit me. Alpha male? That one actually sounded fun… but I wouldn’t last long with it. I’d run out of lines fast. I need something I can actually pull off. Over-the-top stuff is better left alone from the start.
“Um… guys, is there really nothing that feels right?”
“No… thank you so much for the hundred thousand!! Whoa!! Uuuuuwah!!”
A hundred thousand won was a huge amount, but I wasn’t trying to make “asking viewers for content” my content. I pushed back directly.
“Please call it ‘content coordination.’ That sounds cooler. If the viewers are happy too, that’s great!! If I bring something weird, you’ll all get dizzy.”
“Oshi? What’s oshi?” Oshi… oshi? What’s that short for? I had no idea. Original… maid? Something like that? My little sibling used to like idols, so I roughly knew some idol terms. One of them was “maid.” So I’m an original maid. I’ve been watching that VTuber for a long time. I’m the only one who can be that VTuber’s maid! Is that it?
“What does oshi mean? Original maid? Is that what it is?”
“Ah… it’s Japanese? I don’t know Japanese.” What? It wasn’t Korean? I really didn’t know. I never even dreamed it was Japanese. I didn’t mean anything bad by it.
“What’s oshi-hen again? Original maid… hentai? Pervert!!” One of the few Japanese words I knew. Did I get it right? It came out pretty naturally.
This was getting complicated. Did I have to know all this stuff just to be a VTuber? Couldn’t I just wing it? Was there no Korean version?
“Do I… really need to know this stuff to be a proper VTuber?”
I watched the chat closely. Some said the Korean style was different, others said I should follow the original. I leaned more toward the “Korean style is different” side. Because I was Korean… Surprisingly, even the culture of RP wasn’t originally Korean. Shocking… It came from Japan… and made its way to Korea… mind-blowing.
“Ah… I see.” The more I learned, the more surprising, fascinating, and terrifying it felt. The concept of RP, which I’d never thought much about, suddenly felt dizzying once it got deeper. For a full thirty minutes, I received a lecture on VTubers from my viewers. But what was even more shocking was… how did these people know all this? They were incredible. I just kept watching.
“Huk. Yes, you can. What caught your eye?” What had she been poked by? Was it because of “got hurt last time”? Or “wine lady”? The first one was way too mean, but “wine lady” wasn’t so bad, right? I wasn’t sure.
“Aren’t you streaming today, Maru?”
“Welcome. Maru. We’re happy to have you. Everyone, clap… clap clap clap clap.”
Everyone clapped. Maru must be satisfied, right? After the applause, I spoke up.
“I’m thinking of making an RP right now.”
I stared at the chat. Maru… when would her message come? I waited.
“I feel like my VTuber sensibility is lacking. The reality I think of and the reality VTubers think of are different… I want to close that gap.”
After seeing Maem’s shocking answer today, my mind was in chaos. If I couldn’t close that gap… I’d never understand their culture. Then… I’d make mistakes. If I made mistakes… they’d hate me. That can’t happen. We all have to hold hands and become friends. That’s the right world.
“She might just really like typing ‘lol.’ Why are you all like this? No bullying our Maru.”
I wouldn’t forgive anyone who bullied my one and only god, Maru. I was Maru’s knight.
“Knight Commander Seon-a, protector of Princess Maru… how about that?”
It just flashed into my head, so I muttered it out loud.
“Why not? I thought it was nice. Yes, Princess. Give me others.”
It sounded cool. Really cool. I even moved myself saying it. Wow… a knight… and Knight Commander at that. The highest rank.
“You approved it? I’ll build the world once. First, Princess Maru. Me as Knight Commander. Now… Princess Maru… someone to write the story…”
The moment I tried to write it, my mind went blank. I wasn’t good at long-form writing. Someone help.
“Whoa! That’s amazing. What storytelling!!”
I was genuinely surprised. So this is what a big company does? Look at how smoothly it flows. How could I not respect that? I couldn’t. Really. Incredible. I had no choice but to pray again.
“Thank you.”
“As expected… Maru. Then… I’ll call you on Discord.”
I had to put on a performance. Since she gave me the RP, I had to do the inauguration ceremony. I needed to receive the Knight Commander title from the Princess. Right now, I was nothing. I had nothing. Neither knight nor princess… existed yet. Only by officially announcing the RP could it become real.
“If I made an RP… I have to announce it to the world. Princess Maru has to grant me the Knight Commander title… and now you have to get kidnapped. That’s when my RP activates. That’s common sense.”
Would Maru not know the common sense I knew? Of course she did. As expected of the smart one. Her sense for reminding the viewers was outstanding. I really needed to learn from this.
“Uuuuwaaaaaah.”
I warmed up my voice. I couldn’t be coughing or chuckling in front of the Princess, so I was practicing in advance. If I messed up when the Princess granted the title… that would be bad.
“I’m ready. Please come in, My Princess.”
If anyone else had suggested this idea, I would’ve hesitated or ignored it. But since it came from Maru, I had to make it work. Today, I would receive the title without crashing the stream. That was my wish for today. The viewers must have felt how much I respected Maru. I was sincere.
My feelings of respect… Maru must have felt them. That was enough. Yes, that was enough. My Princess. Maru must have definitely felt my respect. As expected of an incredible person.