Business Trip to Japan
After lunch, we stopped by a convenience store to pick up something to drink.
"Hmm…."
I'd heard Japanese oolong tea was good, so I bought a bottle to try, and it really was tasty.
"It's the kind of flavor you crave once in a while."
"That's rightu, isn't it?"
"Yep."
Not the kind of taste I'd want often, mind you. Still, it rinsed all the greasy sweetness out of my mouth, so I was in a good mood.
"So, where to next?"
"Fufu! Roze-san, you like anime, rightu?"
"I do."
Most of what I'd watched pre-regression, so I haven't seen much lately — but at my core, I'm an otaku through and through. Why else would I be doing the whole VTuber thing after regressing?
"Let's go to Akihabara!"
"Akihabara?"
…Are you sure it's okay for you to go there, Mie-san?
I'm pretty sure that's where they sell all the VTuber merch, too….
"Mie-san, is it really fine for you to go there? Won't your red medicine get exposed?"
"Haha! It's okayu!"
"Why is it okay?"
"Roze-san! Have you seen my streams before?"
"I have."
"I still keep up my pure-maiden RP even now!"
"Oh, do you?"
"Hai! On stream and in everyday life, I'm completely different people! My voice sounds different too, so it's fine!"
"Oh…."
So the conclusion is: you can roam around freely?
The whole "pure maiden RP" thing makes me a little nervous, but I guess it'll be fine.
She said so herself, so I decided to trust her.
"Then! Let's go!"
"Right."
We took the subway. I'd heard Japanese trains were confusing and had studied up in advance, but all that effort went to waste in the best way — a local guided us, and getting around was a breeze.
And so we arrived at Akihabara Station.
"Whoa…!"
Huge anime characters plastered across billboards I'd never seen the likes of in Korea — it was genuinely fascinating.
"Roze-san! Over here!"
"Ah, coming."
I'd been gawking at everything around me when Mie-san called me back to my senses, and I followed along.
"Here! This shop has lots of our senpais!"
…You are a VTuber whose red medicine hasn't been leaked, right?
Why do you seem so desperate to get your identity exposed?
Ah — or is it that you're confident you won't get caught even going this far?
…God, I hope it's the latter.
Still, curiosity won out, and I followed her inside.
"This is amazing…."
The moment we stepped in, life-size figures of famous VTubers stretched out before us.
…Including a Mie-san one.
Tch… this really is okay, right?
I looked around nervously, but no eyes turned toward Mie-san, so I relaxed and started browsing.
"So this is character liquor, huh…."
…Should I buy a bottle?
I am kind of curious what it tastes like.
"Mie-san, what's the best thing they have here?"
"Hmm…! This one! This one's deliciousu!"
"Really?"
I decided to keep browsing and grab it on the way out.
"Oh, figures."
Will we get our own figures someday?
Maybe in about three years or so….
But to come out at this level of quality….
We'd have to price them reasonably, too….
I was supposedly here as a tourist, but I couldn't shake the work-brain, and before long I found myself back out on the street.
Ah, I did buy the liquor.
As we walked along, one place in particular caught my eye.
"Oh, Mie-san. Let's try that place."
"Ah! A crane game!"
When in Japan, you've got to play a claw machine at least once, right?
"So many kinds…."
Which one?
"Oh! That one! Pocketto Monstar!"
"Shall we do that one, then?"
"Hai!"
The method was the familiar one — a pathetic-looking claw that lifts the prize and drops it in the chute. I exchanged the bills I had for coins and fed them into the machine.
I set my target on the most famous chubby yellow electric mouse of them all and started maneuvering the claw. It was even flimsier than I'd expected — it wobbled alarmingly with every movement — but I'd already paid, so I pressed on. Picking something else would've been a hassle anyway.
"Roze-san! You can do it!"
"I can, but this isn't really something effort can fix, you know?"
Having a TS body doesn't exactly come with a secret technique for winning claw machines in one try.
"…Roze-san, you really were a T."
"Excuse me?"
"N-nothing…."
Anyway, my first attempt failed spectacularly.
"Hmm…."
I fed in another coin and tried again. Failed again.
"Tch…."
When the third attempt failed too, I froze for a moment.
"R-Roze-san…?"
"What?"
"Y-you're scary…."
"Ah."
Apparently I'd been scowling with maximum intensity while concentrating.
"Bear with it."
"H-hai? I must have misheard…?"
But I had to win this one.
Until then, I asked only that she endure.
A little while later.
"You've got to be kidding me…."
…I'd burned through every coin I had.
Should I put in another 5,000 yen?
Considering the YouTube money rolling in, plus the climbing coins and stocks, it'd still be net positive….
No, wait. If I can't win it after spending this much already, isn't that the real loss?
Okay. All in.
After a brief deliberation, I exchanged another 5,000 yen for coins and tried again.
"Ah…! You—!"
That one went in, didn't it?! It almost dropped!
For a second I wondered if this thing was rigged — but the people around us—
Huh? Where did everyone go?
"Mie-san?"
"H-hai?"
"Where did everyone who was standing here go?"
There were at least ten of them, weren't there?
"…They trickled away a little each time Roze-san failed."
…Am I really that bad?
No, I mean, I do look kind of intimidating….
Hmm… come to think of it, I have had similar experiences….
…Not just similar — apparently it happens a lot.
"Even I would have left if I weren't Roze-san…."
…You really didn't need to tell me that.
Once I calmed down and played at my own pace, I finally succeeded.
…So the secret to winning is giving up on greed, huh?
Tch… now I'm having an existential crisis.
"Mie-san. Present."
"Eh!!! Hontou???!!!"
"Yep."
"F-for real?! It's okayu?!"
"Yep."
Looking at her, memories of today would come flooding back and it'd be my heart that ached, not hers. Besides, I wanted to give her something — she'd been guiding me around for free all day.
Back at lunch, when I'd tried to pay the bill, she'd blocked me from doing it.
"Hehehe!"
"…Are you that happy?"
"Hai! I'm going to brag on stream that Roze-san gave me a present!"
"You can't mention that, though?"
"Eh."
"The fact that I'm in Japan is a secret. Just say a friend gave it to you."
"Ah! Nemp!"
"So, where to next?"
"Ah! Um! There's a place I want to go with Roze-san!"
"Really? Lead the way."
"Haissu!"
We left the arcade and followed Mie-san to our destination….
"…It's a maid café."
"Nemp!"
Oh, a maid café.
I'd always wanted to try one after seeing them on YouTu—
Hold on. Just a moment.
"D-do I have to do the whole moe-moe-kyun thing with my omurice?"
"…I-I don't know."
Okay. We're not going.
I spun on my heel and started back the way we came.
"Ahh! Roze-san!"
"No."
"J-just once!"
"No."
"You'd definitely be cute!"
"Mie-san."
"…I give up…."
Wandering around other places after that, the hours slipped by, and before we knew it, it was time for dinner.
"I want to try an izakaya. Do you know a good one?"
"Ah! I do!"
"Let's go."
The place wasn't far, so we headed straight there.
"Oh."
Nice atmosphere.
It was the very image of what comes to mind when you think "Japanese izakaya."
The menu was written in Japanese only this time too, so I ordered with Mie-san's help.
"Oh, so this is nama beer?"
The moment the draft beer arrived, I took a sip right away.
"Whoa!"
Wait, this is insanely good?!
It's not even in the same league as the Japanese canned draft beer you get in Korea!
"Fufu! This place's nama beer is the best!"
"Seriously… should we tour the brewery tomorrow?"
This stuff is too good.
"Eh?! You won't play with me tomorrow?!"
"Sorry?"
"I want to go to Disneyland together!"
"Disneyland? Hmm…."
I had wanted to visit Disneyland at least once….
Fine. This trip is for hanging out with Mie-san anyway.
"Tomorrow, then."
"Yatta!"
"Now then, Mie-san, your number… I should get LINE, I guess…."
"Ah, I have KakaoTalk!"
"Sorry?"
How much do you love Korea, exactly?
"Do you like K-pop by any chance?"
"Hai! I love, love, love K-pop!"
Ah, so that's why. K-pop fan.
"Do you have a favorite group?"
"I like Dynamic!"
Hmm, the group with Do Hyunwoo in it?
They have gotten bigger since their recent comeback, I suppose.
"And! I like Evermore! That's how I first found you, Roze-san!"
Hm, plenty of people found me through that, true.
"Also! Not a group, but! I love Bae Seyeon-sshi!"
…Why does everyone who comes up keep being connected to me?
"You like that song too, rightu?! You play it every single time you stream! I was so happy we have the same taste in music!"
…So she has been watching my streams.
"That's right. I love that song too."
"Every time I listen, I wonder who the featured vocalist is!"
"…I wonder myself, sometimes."
After a delicious dinner, I promised to meet Mie-san again tomorrow and headed back to my lodgings.
"Ah, should I grab some snacks from the convenience store?"
Lying motionless in my room, I was suddenly struck by a craving for Japanese pudding, and bolted straight out the door.
Arms loaded, I stepped out of the store and surveyed my haul.
…Did I buy too much?
I'd grabbed everything that caught my eye, and it came out to two full bags….
Eh, I'll just give some to the Manager.
With that thought, I called her.
"Hello, Manager?"
[Ah! Yeonwoo! So you've seen it too!]
"Sorry? Seen what?"
[Oh… you haven't seen it yet…?]
"Seen what, exactly?"
The panic in her voice told me something was seriously wrong, and my own anxiety spiked right along with it.
O-okay, let's game out the worst-case scenario!
My red medicine? The company stock crashing?! My alt identity dug up and exposed?!
Ah! Don't tell me one of the members got outed for school violence?!
That last one is genuinely not okay!
[There's a post on the community saying someone thinks they saw your red medicine, Yeonwoo!]
Not that my identity got leaked — just a post saying someone thinks they saw it?
Hmm. Is that really worth panicking over like that?
The Manager really needs to study up on how communities work….
And getting worked up alongside her was starting to feel more than a little embarrassing.