Japan Business Trip
It wasn't as if this was the first time a "sighting" of me had made the rounds online.
Like pretty much every VTuber out there, I'd been getting "Hey, isn't that you?" posts ever since my debut.
Mine came with a special twist, though — since chat constantly went on about how scary my face looked on stream, posts comparing me to actual criminal mugshots popped up in the communities on a fairly regular basis.
So with all that history, my current line of thinking was: it's just a community post, not hard proof — surely this won't be a problem either?
Still, there had to be a reason the Manager looked that rattled, so I hurried back to the hotel.
"Oh, you're back!"
"Yes. Like I said earlier, though — it's a community post. Isn't panicking like this a bit much?"
"You need to see this first!"
Hmm… let's see….
I'm on vacation in Japan, right?
Doing the usual tourist circuit — stopped by Akihabara, wandered into a claw machine arcade, feeding money into the machines as you do.
Then out of nowhere the door swings open and EVERYONE around me just goes dead silent;;
I'm thinking the atmosphere's weird, right? So I look toward the entrance to see who walked in — and it's two women?
Wow.
No exaggeration, one of them was the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life.
Celebrities included.
The woman next to her was pretty too, but my eyes literally would not leave the first one.
I'm dead serious, I almost switched my preferences from 2D to 3D.
Now here's where you might think, okay, so she's gorgeous — but.
I looked away the SECOND our eyes met;;
And I know you're not gonna believe this.
But it was the first time I'd ever seen someone so terrifying I'd lose a staring contest in under ten seconds.
So there she was, stupidly gorgeous, and every single person in that store didn't even DARE approach — we all just hovered around waiting for a chance to slip out.
Eventually she started playing the machines, people began quietly timing their exits, and I crept toward the door — but I was a bit far from the entrance, so with every single failed attempt on the claw machine,
I genuinely started wondering — is that killing intent?????
The mood in there kept getting more and more ice-cold.
So I'm inching my way out, eavesdropping on their conversation as I go, and they were speaking Korean?
And half-dazed, I caught a bit of what they said —
And the insanely terrifying woman was called ROSE-SAN!!!!!!
The moment I heard that I was like, SO THIS is why the members who've met Rose in person looked like they were about to wet themselves?????!!!!!
Of course, I bolted out of fear right after that, so I don't know anything beyond that.
But I'm 100% certain that woman was Rose, yep.
Anyway, I can never trash-talk Rose again. Hope she has a safe and fun trip in Japan haha
TL;DR in 3 lines:
Think I saw Rose in Akihabara, Japan
INSANELY beautiful. Like, absurdly, catastrophically a blue pill
But also for real looks like she could kill a man
Hmm… so it was real….
…Okay, this one caught me off guard.
Now I understood why the Manager had panicked like that.
Until now it had only ever been fake sightings — so of course the first genuine one threw her off.
On top of that, she knew exactly how sensitive I was about my personal information.
"Manager, are there any sightings of Mie-san on Japanese forums or anywhere else?"
"Huh? Ah, no, nothing…."
"Iiiis that so?"
…So she wasn't outed for being Mie-san at all? Only *I* got caught?
Hmm… I'm sorry for doubting you, Mie-san….
If I'm being honest about how this happened — I let my guard down.
It never even crossed my mind that something like this could happen in Japan, of all places, not Korea.
And Mie-san had even told me it was fine to just call her Mie-san — me, a total small fry next to her.
Like I said, I had no idea calling someone by their VTuber name in Japan could get me caught.
No, really — my rational brain was screaming that this should never have worked.
Thinking it over, the evidence was way too flimsy to out me like this. The nickname "Rose" isn't anything distinctive, and my streaming voice doesn't match my real one.
So the reason must have been….
My face, huh….
So all those years of accumulated testimony about how terrifying I look finally circled back around to bite me….
The only reason I'd ever let those rumors spread unchecked was that anyone who saw my actual face would never in a million years guess I did VTubing.
Even the guy who wrote that post couldn't place me until he heard the nickname.
But still… this is how it turned out….
Well, no use crying over spilled milk. Time to do damage control.
First, the comments….
I dug through the other comments and the spin-off threads too.
Hmm… public opinion is roughly fifty-fifty….
That was the verdict after a thorough search. The mood was split right down the middle.
Half believed it, thanks to the details in the post and everything that had piled up about me over the years.
The other half, as always, dismissed it as pure fantasy.
Which means….
"Manager, what was the Wi-Fi password here again?"
"Sorry, why do you…."
"I need to do a little opinion engineering."
If public opinion is fifty-fifty, I only need to tip the scales slightly, don't I?
Once that happens, the other side's arguments will collapse on their own.
Mulling over exactly what to write, I connected to the Wi-Fi, confirmed my IP now read as Japanese, and composed my masterpiece.
(attached photo: a dolhareubang stone statue — captioned "YouSpraySprayBastard")
I felt killing intent from this one too. Is this Rose?????
And look how absolutely murderous it is?????
OH MY GOD!!!!!! Was Rose on a trip to Jeju Island this whole time???!!!!!!
There. That should do it.
"Manager, what do you think of this one?"
"…I honestly have no words."
Verification acquired, I hit post.
A little while later.
Into what had been a dead-serious debate, I dropped a post openly mocking the original sighting — and it turned out to be exactly what the "it's all fantasy" crowd wanted to hear. Parodies started spawning off my post by the dozen.
(attached photo: a demon)
You can't tell me you don't sense killing intent from this guy? lmaoooooo
(attached photo: a succubus)
Demon + woman + terrifying + hot
Yep. This is Rose.
And there we go. Opinion engineering: successful.
"Crisis averted, right?"
"…Yes."
"I told you it was fine — it's just a community thing."
"…Yes."
"Why do you sound so drained?"
"…I'm simply reflecting on how fortunate I am that you're on our side, Yeonwoo-nim."
Excuse me?
How did my question earn *that* answer?
Anyway, crisis resolved, so I handed over the snacks I'd picked up at the convenience store and shared them with the Manager.
"Eat these and recharge."
"Ah… thank you…."
"Well then, I'll head back to my room."
"Yes…."
Back in my room, I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, ready to sleep.
But just as I was drifting off….
Wait, hold on — this is actually so unfair?!
Mie-san doesn't get exposed, but I do?!
How does that make any sense?!
All because of my face, I have to go through nonsense like this — I grumbled my way into sleep.
The next day.
"Mie-san, please stop calling me Rose from now on."
"Eh! Does that mean we are, the cutting-of-ties?!"
"What? No? Just call me by my name."
The very moment we met, we settled the matter of what to call each other.
"Ho, hontou?!"
"Yes, hontou."
"Th-then… Rose-san's real name is…."
"Lee Yeonwoo."
"Ye, Yeonwoo-san…?"
"That's me."
"Hehe! I am so happy, desu!"
"Is it, now?"
"Hai!"
Was simply using someone's name really something to be that happy about?
"I'd like to know Mie-san's name too."
"Ah! I am Miyuki Coco, desu!"
"Oh… your real name and your stage name are pretty similar."
"Hai! I took it from my real name and made it, desu!"
"Then may I call you Miyuki-san?"
"Eh! O-of course, desu! B-but if, if you're going to anyway, then, C-Coco-chan—"
"Let's get going, Miyuki-san. We're heading to Disneyland today, remember?"
Ah, I dodged that one again.
"H-hai!"
Well, if it were actually important, she'd have said so.
And so we arrived at Disneyland.
"Oh…!"
It was strange and oddly nostalgic, seeing the mascot costumes of characters I used to watch in Disney cartoons as a kid.
"Yeonwoo-san! Photos! Let's take photos, desu!"
"Ah, I'll pass on the photos."
"Eh."
"…Why that face?"
Miyuki-san's expression crumpled into a tearful pout at my answer.
"We have been hanging out for two whole days and I don't have a single photo with Yeonwoo-san, desu…."
"It's fine. The members don't have any photos of me either."
"Eh."
When it came to photos, I'd been through this with the members more times than I could count, so I brushed her off and headed deeper into the park.
"Wow…."
How should I put it — it felt like the childhood I'd buried long ago was sprouting back to life?
Plenty of people were in cosplay, and there was the castle I'd seen at the start of every Disney movie without fail.
"Fufu! It's amazing, isn't it, desu?!"
…Who exactly has been applying Korean patches to this woman?
"Yes."
Though to be fair, the awe had come out of me completely unprompted.
We rode the rides, grabbed a meal, and eventually wandered into the gift shop.
"Y-Yeonwoo-san…! Just this once, please…!"
"Hmm? What is—"
…A headband?
What Miyuki-san held out to me was the famous mouse-ears headband.
"Onegai…!"
"No thank you?"
"Onegai…! If you wear it, I will grant you a wish, desu!"
"I don't have anything to wish for, so I'm fine."
"Then I will grant you three wishes, desu!"
"Hmm…."
The human heart truly is a strange thing. I didn't have a single wish to make, yet the moment "three wishes" entered the picture, I found myself hesitating.
"No."
But after yesterday's red-pill sighting, today's me was operating at ninety-eight percent rationality. Impulse purchases were simply not happening.
"F-five wishes?"
"Tch…."
"Ugh, fine! Wear it for just ten seconds and I'll grant you TEN wishes, desu!"
"Give it here."
Rationality, as a rule, always folds in the face of overwhelming dopamine.