The Interview
Regardless of my mental state, time kept moving.
Before I knew it, it was already the day of the audition.
As for the first round of document screening, I'd assumed I'd pass it without a hitch, so I barely remember it.
Frankly speaking, with this face, they'd probably pass me out of sheer curiosity even if I'd submitted nothing but a photo with a blank application.
But trivial things like that didn't matter. What mattered was right now.
I dug out something reasonably presentable and put it on. The look on my face did its best to transform whatever neatness the clothes provided into something intimidating, but still, it was less frightening than a full suit would have been.
Whew, my nerves are…! Actually fine.
I suppose I'd always had a pretty strong heart, but after going through something as absurd as a TS transformation plus regression, I seemed to have built up an immunity to most ordinary stress.
…Though there was also that thing a few days ago.
When I pushed open the company doors, I could feel everyone glance at me for a moment before quickly turning their heads away.
It was a look I'd grown very familiar with over the past three weeks. The slow upward scan from feet to face, followed by an immediate head drop.
If you can't meet my eyes, that's medically a sign something's wrong with you, so in the generosity of my heart, I'll forgive it.
Occupied with such pointless musings, I arrived at the waiting room and plopped down in whatever empty seat I could find, fiddling with my phone.
Ooh, this! This could be fun, right? It'd definitely show off my personality too.
I had no particular attachment to passing this audition, but I had a feeling this particular idea would haunt me with regret if I didn't do it. So I decided to go through with it.
I was in the middle of doing something on my phone with this suddenly inspired idea when someone entered the room.
"Alright, as announced beforehand, we'll proceed with individual interviews, starting with candidate number one."
My number was eight, so I wouldn't have to wait long.
Sure enough, before much time had passed, my name was called.
"Candidate eight, Lee Yeonwoo!"
"Yes!"
Walking into the interview room, the first thing I saw was three people staring at me in shock. The one seated in the middle looked familiar, so I rifled through my memories.
Ah! The CEO of Gaon Entertainment!
…Wait, the CEO was personally conducting interviews?
I took the chair placed in the center, and the interview began in earnest.
"Lee Yeonwoo?"
"Yes."
"Um… you've never worked as an idol trainee or a model, correct?"
"Correct."
They really wanted to double-check that one. Fair enough. Even if it were me, if someone with this face claimed they'd never done any public activities, I'd ask what they'd been doing with their life.
"What's your motivation for applying?"
"Watching internet broadcasts was my hobby, and I've always had a strong interest in animation and things like that, which is what led me to apply."
"Any history of school bullying or anything similar during your school years?"
"No. I kept to myself."
"Do you have accounts on any online communities?"
"I lurk every community without ever writing a single post."
The early round of questions was all this sort of basic screening. Expected, I suppose. There were a lot of questions probing my character and background.
"Then, could we hear a short sample of your singing?"
"Of course. I'll sing a short bit of one girl group song and one Japanese song."
Once my vocal demonstration ended, I carefully studied the interviewers' faces.
That landed!
They asked whether I had any other special skills, and so on, until only the final question remained.
"Then, finally — is there any reason why we should pick you?"
This. This was the moment I had been waiting for, counting down every second.
With the grimmest expression I could manage, I said:
"My entire net worth is on the line."
"…Pardon?"
This was what I'd been doing on my phone back in the waiting room.
"I invested my entire life savings into Gaon Entertainment stock. Today."
"Excuse me?!"
Their earlier question had carried a whiff of what is she talking about? This one radiated a much stronger what on earth is she saying?
"Just now, in the waiting room, I bought Gaon Entertainment shares with every won I've ever saved. If you'd like, I can show you the confirmation right now."
"Uh…?!"
"Which means, in order to drive the stock price up, you absolutely have to hire me."
"Ah… yes…"
Hm? That's it?
…I'm a little disappointed.
I'd been expecting the reactions to be way more entertaining when the idea first hit me….
And so, in a state of mild disillusionment, the interview came to an end.
Results would take up to two weeks, they said.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Since the interview was already done, I dropped by the family home for the first time in a while.
"Nayeon! I'm here!"
Both my parents worked, so they weren't home yet.
"What? Why are you here?"
"Came because I wanted to. Why, is that a crime?"
"Sure. Like a total homebody would ever abandon her home base just because she got a new place."
Apparently I'd missed her, seeing her after so long.
"Yeah, yeah. I missed you too."
"I'm going to study, so don't bother me."
"Oh, so you actually do study?"
Well, she had gotten into a decent university, whatever I might say.
…And she'd at least landed a better job than I had in my past life, so I had no room to talk.
"Ah! Hey! Don't come into my room!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Leaving our joyous reunion behind, I headed into my own room.
Mm! My room, after so long… wait…?
This was not the visual I remembered. Suspecting something, I hastily combed through my memories as a woman — and even back then, it hadn't looked like this.
The room before my eyes was stuffed to the brim with every manner of random junk.
…No wonder the house had seemed so tidy.
"Ugh…"
Letting out a long sigh, I walked into Nayeon's room instead.
"Ah! I told you not to come in!"
"Yeah, yeah."
I ignored her and flopped onto her bed.
"Hey, the least you could've done was tell me you were using my room as a storage unit."
"Ah, did I not mention that?"
"Nope."
"Then get lost, couch potato."
"Sure thing. Thanks."
That was her way of saying: don't bother me and keep quiet.
"Hey!"
Oh, did I misread that?
"I'm taking vocal lessons now."
Not wanting to pick a fight with the sister I hadn't seen in ages, I quickly changed the subject.
"Really? You trying to become a celebrity or something?"
"Ah, did I not mention that?"
Nice, topic change successful.
"What?! You're seriously becoming a celebrity?!"
Watching Nayeon gape at me in astonishment, I added some clarification.
"Not a celebrity, exactly. I dropped out of university, too."
Even if it was just as a VTuber, being signed to an agency technically made me a celebrity, didn't it? Hard to say. Well, whether I'd even pass was up in the air anyway.
"Huh?! What — this isn't some kind of scam, right? …Guess not."
How touching, to be trusted like that.
"I'm going to be doing internet broadcasts."
That was all I told her.
"Gasp! Unnie! Why would you make that choice!"
"…What's with that reaction?"
Was internet streaming still frowned upon back then? No, it wasn't?
"If the world ever finds out what you're really like, how do you plan on ever getting married!"
Not getting married. Can't get married.
"I'm going to live alone."
"Throwing away those genes of yours seems like a waste, don't you think?"
"I didn't have them back then, so I'm fine."
We traded a whole round of pointless banter like this.
"Also, watch your mouth when you're streaming."
"Me? I barely even swear."
"No, I mean, try to have some empathy with your viewers."
"Please don't make me out to be an empathy-less jerk."
At that, Nayeon scrunched up her face and asked:
"Remember what you said last year when I told you I was cold?"
"I said it was winter, so of course it was cold."
"See! If you say stuff like that on stream, people get hurt!"
"Then what am I supposed to say?"
And honestly, what else is there to say when someone complains about being cold in winter?
Should I tell them to put on more layers?
"Anyway! Just watch your mouth while you do it! These days people get cancelled left and right for saying the wrong thing!"
And yet, judging by her tone, Nayeon apparently didn't actually believe I'd fail.
"If you think I'm going down in flames, why aren't you talking me out of it?"
"Whatever kind of streaming you do — even if you show your face and have three viewers — with that face, you'll multiply that by a thousand, won't you?"
…She wasn't wrong.
Time passed, and my parents came home.
"Oh? You're here?"
"Mom, a little heads-up that my room was being used as a warehouse would've been nice."
"Ah, I forgot."
So that's how it is.
"Where's Dad?"
"Sorry."
Simple as that.
"Are you staying for dinner?"
"I'm staying the night, actually."
"Then consider dinner your lodging fee. Make us something. Nayeon says your cooking's gotten really good."
Mom remained as cool as ever.
"Dad, what should I make?"
"Hmm… spicy braised chicken?"
Braised chicken, huh…
"Do we have chicken?"
"Yep."
Then we're set.
I stepped into the kitchen, took out the chicken for the braised dish, trimmed it up, and got rid of any gamey smell. Then I pulled out a pot, added the chicken, and poured in just enough water to cover it. While that came to a boil, I roughly chopped up the vegetables from the fridge.
By the time I finished prepping, the water was boiling, so I skimmed off the scum with a spoon, grabbed the minced garlic from the fridge, and added two generous spoonfuls. In went the vegetables, then chicken stock, soy sauce, and chili powder, seasoning it all to taste.
"Dinner's ready!"
The family's verdict on my braised chicken was as follows:
"Go get married already. I made you into a doll, but if you end up being as hopeless at romance as you are at being one, what then?"
That was Mom.
"Our daughter — Daddy's still not ready to let you go."
That was Dad.
"Is there more?"
And that was the pet pig we raise at our house. We keep her around because it's fascinating when she talks like a person.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Back home, I was rolling around on my bed when I remembered something I'd forgotten.
Ah, right. I'd gone there partly to tell my parents I dropped out of university, too.
Eh, it'll be fine.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
And then, a few days later, the interview results arrived.
Summarizing the text message briefly, it read:
A perfect three-line summary.
So I texted back that every day worked except Friday, and stretched with a satisfied groan.
"Yesss! Nailed it!"
Even so, achieving the goal I'd set for myself felt pretty good.
Come to think of it, back when I was a man, this group had five members in total, didn't it?
So now, would it be six including me? Or did someone get cut, keeping it at five?
Time flowed on, and the day of the individual meeting arrived.
Since I'd already made the trip once for the interview, getting there this time was much easier.
When I stepped into the room, I saw two women mid-conversation, and they stopped the moment they noticed me.
Huh? Both of those women were at my interview, weren't they?
"Hello, I'm Min Jiyu, and I'll be serving as the manager of the new VTuber group."
Oh, a manager.
"And I'm Lim Jua, the head director in charge of the VTuber group."
She looks young — turns out she's pretty high up?
"Hello. I'm Lee Yeonwoo, one of the finalists this time."
"Ms. Yeonwoo."
Hm? Why the serious faces?
"Yes?"
"This may sound ridiculous, seeing as we're the ones who picked you, but…"
What are they about to say?
"Yes?"
"…Are you at all interested in being an idol or a singer, rather than a VTuber?"