39. Peaceful Rindo Today... No, the Yumeno Ai Gallery
Another peaceful... no, formerly peaceful Yumeno Ai Gallery.
VTubers are basically an underground culture to begin with... and since these are Japanese VTubers rather than domestic ones, the gallery's active members are pretty much fixed.
Of course, being Japanese VTubers means they're at odds with certain domestic fanbases... but since every fandom has some group they're hostile toward anyway, we can ignore that and just treat it like we're all WWE wrestling buddies.
This single post was the spark that started it all. Honestly, Yudong at the time had that "red pill maintenance" clause, so I could understand it, but the problem with VTuber fandoms like this is that most of them are in pseudo-romantic relationships.
Once a piece of bait like this starts burning in a gallery like ours, suspiciously new accounts pop up out of nowhere. Most of these people have zero interest—they're just the kind who live for watching others suffer, fueled by pure hate.
That day, the Yumeno Ai Gallery resolved the chaos after 3 mods got hammered, replacing the head mod and recruiting 4 new mods. Afterward, the IP from the Shinjuku hotel Haru had used got banned for 31 days, and the bait fizzled out fast.
*
-Beep beep.
5 AM. I woke up to Byulstar's alarm. I'd blocked pretty much all NewTube notifications because they were too aggressive, so if a message got through anyway, it had to be from someone I knew.
The reason I'd blocked NewTube was simple. After monetization kicked in, comments exploded and the algorithm went wild. Sure, I had to block spam, but we compromised—I'd check occasionally and delete them myself.
Something like... Yuri-unnie, huh. But I'd anticipated this too. No matter how weird it is, good packaging turns it into a solid excuse.
They say you can't spit on a smiling face. I basically hit Yuri-unnie with a preemptive excuse technique. Show her 'I made it just like you asked, why you do this,' and she'll think, 'Oh... she was just super eagerly following my request.' Leaves her speechless.
Heh heh... This is all Yuri-unnie's fault for being too nice. If she'd thrown a tantrum like the goddess of tears, even I'd have switched the song.
Heh heh... Going according to plan. Must be how that guy felt trying to become a new world god only to end up as a mere instrument. Sora Group's president definitely has killer business sense.
The hype for Goddess Girl's Requiem came not just from the lyrics, but from people freaking out over the original video's dance and reacting to it—that was another big driver.
It created a viral-on-viral-on-viral loop, even dragging in Korea's mainstream crowd—who mostly despise VTuber culture—for a brief moment.
Of course, everything I told Yuri-unnie was a lie. In the man's memories, Goddess Girl's Requiem was a mega-hit that smashed past 100 million views.
There were original VTuber songs tied to Yuri-unnie's hair color like Purple Mage or ones you could link to it, but their views were too iffy to call a total smash.
Even at 1 won per view, 20% revenue... that's 20 million won? Yuri-unnie owes me big time.
After driving the wedge home, I burrowed back under the covers. My attachment doll #1 was in the wash from yesterday's torment, so nothing to hug, but my heart was light. Life is... potatoes... no, miracles.
Not like I had much time to sleep anyway. I fired up the computer and started making the MR after the first verse. Whew... Adding the avatar's look to Yuri-unnie's real body type?
"Urgh... drool coming out."
Kids are great, but even better are tinier kids... though I'm the younger one here. Yuri-unnie could be a bit flatter, but that's cheating, so I held back.
"Sigh... and I have to sing this later..."
Does that mean the NewTube upload has to be my version? Making it in Vocaloid takes time too. Might as well prioritize new song MRs—that's more efficient.
Though I should make a Vocaloid track sometime. Letting a premium Vocaloid program worth hundreds of thousands of won sit unused is just wasting money.
"Ugh, so sleepy..."
Pulling all-nighters and waking early like some reverse circadian kid from another country—my stamina's on the edge. I snuck out of my room to the mini-fridge where Dad keeps his overtime energy drinks, swiped one, snuck back, and chugged it.
Aigoo, so good, slurp slurp... why's it taste this amazing... Wait, snap out of it. Must be the dawn vibes hitting my emotions.
Honestly, as a high schooler, I figured clubs would have ghost stories or at least 'self-directed club where I snag the city's S-rank cool beauty super girl' plotlines. But thinking about it, joining one would probably make me the S-rank cool beauty super girl.
Imagining second-year me getting confessions from underclassmen going 'Senpai, I like you!' in a self-directed club made me chuckle. ...Wait, I'm such a loner. Die, all you popular kids.
After finishing some work, I got to school and half-listened to class as usual, pondering in my head. With cramming getting me these grades... zoning out a bit seems fine. I'll carry the vibe of one song straight through—not going full 'I'm the death beam saintess with a kitchen knife, kuaaa' from Food Knife Saintess, but Goddess Girl's Requiem gets a proper 'Eye Beam☆' ad-lib.
-Poke poke.
"Uh... huh? What?"
"Zoning out again?"
During break, lost in thoughts of the next song, Jisu poked me with her pen and spoke up.
"Haru, you doing some part-time gig? Money drop or something?"
"Part-time? As if I'd ever need more money."
"True..."
I shot back seriously at Jisu's words. Part-time? Please.
Back in the man's memories, part-time was essential to survive alone, but now we're well-off financially, and NewTube paid subs are rolling in—no need.
Hmm... what I'm doing now counts as part-time, I guess?
"Then why do you look so beat? Dark circles won't budge even with makeup."
"Nah... just been restless nights lately."
"Really? Eat lotsa lettuce. Lettuce makes you sleepy."
Lettuce, huh... It's advice, not nagging, so no need to get touchy—I said sure and brushed it off. Have I been pushing too hard lately?
I debated uploading 17 songs straight to NewTube to claim the throne, but normal prep takes 3 months minimum, so nah. Already swamped with this one.
There was a request to wrap it in 2 months max, so today I decided to hang with Jisu. Honestly... I hadn't kept promises lately, so we bused 30 minutes to a mall.
[Sports Play]
We entered this 26,000-won-for-2-hours activity-packed physical experience spot. Coming to a place like this with someone... especially a friend... was nonexistent in the man's memories, so I was pretty hyped.