I've Always Thought VTubers Resemble Magical Girls
"Phew. Everyone. This young lady too, but since my junior's a minor, we really gotta be careful, okay?"
"Yep."
"^^7"
It was all because Su-yeon had poured oil on the fire by calling herself something ridiculous like "Yareyare Ojou-sama" that was a pain to even say.
We finally reached a rough consensus to call her "young lady," and that's how we barely resolved it.
"You little rascal, you."
"Ow. Ow. Owww, that's how it is~"
Poking Su-yeon's side repeatedly as punishment for her insolence aside, the chat reactions were fine overall.
She was a body aiming to debut as a VTuber in my room's audience, after all. Compared to a guest who didn't know internet culture well, she meshed super well.
"Actually, though. Don't you think we should be more careful of big sis over there than us?"
"Hey, you."
We meshed too well, which was something to consider.
"Ow!"
In the end, a solid flick to the forehead quelled the chaos.
"It even made the news?"
"It was already over anyway. Better to just spill than keep holding out against something they couldn't stop," Seong-yoon added.
I was surprised the chat even mentioned clashes between the government and awakener groups, but then Seong-yoon chimed in. Hmm. Bold choice, even if it was done and dusted. Of course, they conveniently skipped the government's "non-mandatory" recruitment attempts, which felt pretty savvy.
"Hmm."
"Hmmteresting~"
For a split second, I thought about going full throttle right then, but Seong-yoon nailed my intentions with that "please stop" face, so I held off. Well, we'd gotten what we could anyway...
"Tell them not to just hide that, but keep their family under wraps too."
"They're already doing that."
Sure enough, give 'em what they deserve and it's meta. We quickly wrapped up a backroom deal off-mic, then explained the story matching the public info beat for beat.
"...So yeah, that's how they just tied their feet loosely."
"No, totally different. Comparing to liquid nitrogen is an insult to the Geukbing title, insult. I guarantee 0% aftereffects."
Well, at magic-manipulation levels, regular freezing is easy to fix anyway. But my attribute power was on another plane. If I wanted, I could freeze anything solid no matter the counterattack. But if I decided not to harm, it melted clean with zero issues. Pure attribute power's foundation was control, after all.
...Of course, whether the mind stayed unaffected was up to them. Experience changes people.
"Umm, the info we got says no major aftereffects either."
"Ahem."
What can ya do? Magic's the new update, so science needs one too.
"Whoa whoa, that's the guard cup thing."
The bait trail shifted next to the star of the "egg" topic, prospective magical girl Su-yeon.
Fun as vs. games are, no need to discourage the kids.
"Sure, initial power might be strong, but it's got pros and cons. Adaptation's the key."
Like a main supporting character debuting around episode 3 of an anime season. Big impact, but who knows how it'll end.
"But it worked, right? Have a drink~"
Thankfully it landed well, and the risky debate fizzled out.
"5? We got that many domestically?"
"Yup. Minus senpai and the young lady, that's 3."
I'm the irregular, so excluding me, plus Su-yeon makes 4?
"Japan's got just Susanoo Tempest as their only magical girl, and America's only 3 too."
Small land but advanced country with lotsa magical girls? But relatively, yeah, it's a bunch.
"It's still early days, mung? We're the vanguard, mung. Qualified ones are rare, mung."
"They'll increase more?"
"Not by a ton, mung."
Makes sense—Earth's got tons of countries. One per nation and you'd have over 200 already. With mascots jetting around worlds contracting girls, this vanguard number means heavy investment in Earth. Their worlds ain't that big, after all.
"Got it. No territory overlap then."
"Situation here's special, but territory matters for magical girls."
Over there, unless juniors or teaming up, etiquette says don't butt into others' turf.
"Didn't know that. Hmm. Seems like I'm the only nationwide active magical girl here."
"Oh? Other juniors aren't response teams?"
"Nope. Blade Fang sticks to Dongtan New City, Lightning Circler to Seoul. Don't know their civilian looks."
"Surprisingly by-the-book."
I figured Seong-yoon or Aris types were standard here.
Gov affiliates or not, monsters on the mountain? They jump in.
"...I'm here, y'know. This junior's nationwide too."
Probably just where they live. No discrimination intent. Capital area's dense, so higher odds anyway.
"And that's not the important issue right now."
No, this was a serious problem.
"We've got two more juniors in the country, so why's only this one coming to me?"
"Am I not satisfying you, senpai...?"
"Wait, hold up! Stop!"
My serious dilemma hit peak goroshi timing.
No, Seong-yoon was leading the charge.
"Boo~ Didn't think you were like that, big sis~"
"This one's gotta add her two cents!"
With a rotten veteran egging her on, it was pure madness! I calmed Seong-yoon, who struck a tragic heroine pose biting some mystery handkerchief that wasn't even visible on stream.
Why'd she even pull that out?
"But I'm not wrong...! Cuter juniors are great, but more juniors are better!"
Riding the issue wave, the stream wrapped up with nonstop magical girl talk.
"Phew. You two did great."
"Su-yeon was super fun~!"
"Hehe, me too."
Stream ran a bit long, but their faces were bright. Good thing they enjoyed it like I said.
"Sun's already down—wanna stay for dinner, Seong-yoon?"
"Dinner?"
We'd scarfed snacks for lunch due to stream. Gotta feed 'em dinner to save senior face.
"Uh... not that weird octopus again, right?"
"Got that too."
"Octopus? Su-yeon loves octopus~!"
"Tons. Eat up."
Hates cephalopods? I skipped pushing on Seong-yoon's iffy face.
Whip-whip, table set in a flash. Boiled octopus, sesame oil-salt dip. Repackaged pufferfish soup post-incident, stir-fried pork. Side dishes, my leftover stir-fry.
"Big sis. What's that?"
"Uh... the news one."
"Senpai. No way."
"Yup. Sanrochi veggie stir-fry. Tasty."
Just conger eel sauce (store-bought) with veggies and sanrochi meat stir-fried. Delicious, highly recommend. Safety double-checked for times like this. Snake fish might not be her taste, so casually showing only.
"Thanks for the food."
"Itadakimasu~"
...Not biting. Glances while eating others say she's intrigued, but couldn't overcome the aversion. Makes sense—monster meat.
"Dunno what monster, but super tasty~"
Su-yeon chomping octopus happily after explanation was boldly fearless.
"Plenty, so don't hold back."
"Then can Su-yeon try this meat too~?"
Seong-yoon eyed the fearless chopsticks shakily, took a deep breath, then spoke carefully.
"S-Senpai."
"Yeah?"
"Um... mind if I ask a favor? Like, some sanrochi or octopus parts. For research."
Ah. My corpses are public now. Makes sense they'd want.
"Hmm."
Not using 'em anyway, so minus eating meat's fine. But can they handle? Processed yes, but mishandle and boom.
"Little's okay, I guess."
"Ehehe. Th-Thanks, senpai. I'll make sure to collect proper payment."
"That eases my mind."
Basically junior gift, but gotta charge those exploiting my soft spot.
Meal continued smoothly.
"What about the other magical girls?"
"Eh, met once or twice. Couldn't talk to Lightning Circler... just saw her fight."
"Name suggests magic circle combat?"
"Yup. Like you said, lays electric fields and does stuff. Barriers too."
"Wow..."
Specialist type. Useful these days for defense efficiency.
"Blade Fang—oh, right. Meant to tell you. Forgot."
"What?"
"After meeting you, I checked out internet streams."
Not planning to do it herself. Just curious seeing senior me. So Seong-yoon browsed from regular streamers to VTubers and discovered something shocking.
"Blade Fang looks like a VTuber."
"Eh?"
"Eeeeh?! VTuber? Where VTuber desu~?"
VR shock for Su-yeon! I wasn't fazed.
"I've always thought VTubers resemble magical girls. This one's no stretch."
Separate persona from real self. Hide identity best you can. Even if close ones know or it leaks, deny links max. Tons of overlaps.
Maybe why I dig VTubing.
"Her transformed look matched a VTuber avatar I recognized."
"...Huh?"
Wait, actual VTuber basing avatar on self? Nah. Prob superfan copying fave VTuber.
Topic hit a dead end. Why dead end? Can't just barge in red-pilling. Dead end.