I'm Announcing My Idol Debut!

I already signed with an agency, so there's no real reason to take an MCN contract on top of that.

The problem was, it hadn't even stopped this morning. My personal inbox was still drowning in contract offers from countless MCNs. I'd been ignoring every last one of them, and it had gotten inconvenient enough to wreck my daily life. Anytime I needed a verification email, it vanished under the mountain of unread messages.

I should talk to the agency about this...

The project wrapped this week — main round on Saturday, finals on Sunday. I was making those finals no matter what. I had a killer move prepared for exactly that.

"Still no word from anyone. I don't even have an avatar yet."

I smiled as I offered up the white lie.

"Huh? Didn't you say you had an agency?"

"An agency?"

Choi Wooseok's out-of-nowhere remark sent the science lab into chaos.

"W-where did you hear that?"

I was a little startled myself. The only person who knew I'd signed with an agency was Kim Woojin, and even that had slipped out in a short aside while we were talking about acting.

Ah. Right. This guy was Woojin's friend.

"Who else? I heard it from Woojin."

"Hah..."

I drew a slow breath, settled my shaking nerves, and pulled out my phone.

"Calling him? He won't pick up around now — he'll be at practice."

"He even ran for it... the perfect crime."

I had told Woojin not to say a word to anyone. Not only had he told his friend Choi Wooseok, he'd bolted afterward. I ground my teeth just thinking about him.

Wooseok must have caught the grinding, because he tried to talk me down.

"Okay, just calm—"

"Hey."

"...Huh?"

My voice came out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cold enough to frost the air, and Wooseok's shoulders jumped.

"Don't tell anyone."

"D-don't tell them what...?"

"Yeah. Just like that."

Being friends with a sharp kid like Woojin, Wooseok wasn't completely dense himself. If he'd actually said about the agency? instead of that careful what, my fist might have been airborne.

Calm down...

I tapped my chest lightly and talked my furious heart back into line. Getting angry at Wooseok would only tank my own reputation.

The drama we'd shot aired in May. Until then, I planned to lie as low as a dead mouse and enjoy a pleasant school life. I hadn't understood it when I was grown. Being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in school was the most fun you'd ever have — the one stretch of life where you didn't have to think too hard.

"So... how did we do?"

We'd put on a whole flex session about becoming VTubers just to get into the VTuber Club. Time to hear the results. Not that I particularly needed to hear them.

"Obviously you both passed! Looking forward to working with you. I'm Yumin, president of the VTuber Club. Counting me, there were five of us — with you two, that makes seven."

Yumin stuck out his hand with a sunny expression completely different from the one he'd worn when he first saw us.

"Looking forward to it as well. I'm Lee Jiwoo, first year. And this guy is Choi Wooseok, same class. But... where's the other member?"

Behind Yumin, the upperclassmen were all wearing the exact same smile. Only three of them. He'd just said five — so where was the last one?

"Ah... that one had something urgent today, so they couldn't make it. You'll probably meet them later. They were supposed to be president, actually, but they dumped it on me because it was too much of a hassle... haha. Anyway!"

Yumin clapped his hands and pulled the room back together.

"That one's a girl too, so you'll get along great, Jiwoo."

A girl, huh.

Well, it was easier for a female VTuber to get popular than a male one. The audience watching streams skewed a little more male than female, after all. If I'd reincarnated as a man instead of a woman, I probably would have aimed for something other than entertainment.

Once I joined the VTuber Club, time ran fast.

Saturday. Main-broadcast day for the VTuber Music Project.

I stepped into the waiting room like always, found a corner, and crouched there.

Wow. Creepy.

Nine pairs of eyes pressed in from every side. I'd taken first in last week's vote count, and the hostility was already rolling in. People clustered with whoever they already knew, or whoever they'd gotten friendly with last time, and the conversation blooming among them was all about me. Funny thing was, the subject of all that talk was sitting right here.

Bleak.

Had I become a VTuber to sit here lonely and pathetic? Even in a VR world, a chill wind seemed to brush the bridge of my nose.

Right... I just have to do my part well.

Once this contest was over, I could get friendly with everyone. I'd even tried making friends at school — right up until I noticed that, for some reason, people had started keeping their distance. Until a few days ago they'd come at me with so many questions it was annoying. Then, overnight, it all just stopped.

Did I... mess something up?

I wrung my memory dry and still couldn't find anything I'd done. Which meant — had some incident blown up without me even knowing?!

I yanked out my phone and started tearing through the internet, and that was when the host from last time walked into the waiting room.

"We'll begin now. Please get ready in your assigned order."

I checked the number I'd been given. Last time, seventy-two had been a special kind of hell — too late in the lineup to step out, too early to just zone out. Nothing but waiting and boredom, on and on. Today I was number five. I'd be up soon.

Sure enough, they called me before long.

"Next, number five! Number five, please get ready!"

"Yes!"

I shoved up from the corner I'd been stuffed into and walked onto the stage with a confident stride.

"Ah! It's Kuro!"

The first judge to spot me was already waving. Luna, lighting up the judges' seats again this week just like last. No matter how many times I saw it, that Luna avatar was pretty.

And then there was the seat beside her. Dongsuk, who hated me so openly I could practically feel his avatar's brow crumple the second I appeared, plus two other judges. Four in total.

"Kuro."

"Yes."

The first to start questioning was the male judge on the far left.

"You took first in the vote count on last week's broadcast. How did that feel?"

The question I'd been expecting. I hooked a grin into the corner of my mouth.

"I was so... so~ happy. I never thought I could actually come in first, and then I did, against every expectation. I still feel like I could fly."

The instant I finished, I hit the hotkey I'd programmed.

Click. Click.

The gears fixed to my virtual body turned, and the clock hands moved with them.

"Oh... is that a reaction?!"

Luna's voice jumped a little with excitement.

"Yes. One of the reactions I'll be showing off on my stream someday. Getting it working in VR... the person who built it for me said they nearly worked themselves to death."

According to Lee Boram, who'd made my virtual model, she'd pulled three straight all-nighters just to add this one feature. Thanks to that, she'd been late to her part-time job the next day and gotten chewed out by her boss — a grievance she had very thoroughly unloaded on me.

"Wow... if that's only one of the reactions, that means you're already thinking about streaming?"

"That's right. Being here is partly so I can start broadcasting, after all."

Luna smiled, clearly pleased with the answer.

That was when it came.

"Then why aren't you streaming yet? I hear a lot of MCNs have been sending you love calls, and you've been ignoring every single one..."

Dongsuk's barb came flying. His shoulders ticked up a little, like he thought the hit had landed.

Too bad for him. I was ready for this one too.

"That's... because I'm already with an agency."

"An a-agency?"

Dongsuk's voice cracked with panic.

"Yes. So I couldn't reach out to any MCN, and I figured no reply was the most polite option. If I answered and gave someone false hope, that would just be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a waste. If anyone was waiting, I'm sorry."

I bowed my head toward the camera.

"E-even so... wouldn't it be better to at least send a reply? Everyone's been waiting..."

Hah. Dongsuk. That's the best you could come up with?

"You're right... I wasn't thinking far enough ahead. Then I'll say it here. Kuro already has an agency. So... to every MCN president who sent a love call — more than fifty of you — I bow my head and offer my deepest apologies."

"F-fifty...?"

What? Shocked it was more than you thought?

I'd been surprised too. I'd expected love calls, sure — ten places at most, or maybe none at all.

I looked at Dongsuk. So? What's the next attack?

"Th-then... which agency are you with..."

That was his idea of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an attack? Digging at the agency?

I flicked the mic off for a second and clicked my tongue.

"You can't advertise here right n—!"

"It's about time, so let's move on to the song!"

The host's cue landed at the perfect moment. Dongsuk's mic cut out and sliced his sentence off at the waist. The instant it died, I heard him click his tongue.

Come better prepared next time~

"The song I prepared is..."

The number I'd been drilling until dawn for this very day.

"I-I'm lateee!"

The second cram school let out, Tsuki stomped the pedals at full speed and raced home.

"Welcome back."

"Yes! I'm going to study, so please don't come in no matter what!"

She bolted into her room, locked the door, and hit the power button on her computer. The monitor flickered to life a moment later, and she logged into NewTube on her Korean account.

"I-I'm late... did Kuro-chan's turn already pass?"

She scrubbed the timeline backward and checked.

"Hah.... Kuro-chan's turn hasn't gone by yet."

She let out a breath of relief and cooled the sweat she'd worked up on the bike.

And not long after—

"K-Kuro-chan!"

Kuro had finally appeared. Even the light talk she used to fill time before the song was a joy for Tsuki.

"That... Poopsuk? Dongsuk? How dare that bastard talk to Kuro-chan like that! Die!!"

She typed slurs into chat and ate a ban for it, slammed her desk to bleed off the rage, and after that little stretch of vengeance had passed—

"The song I prepared is... I'm Announcing My Idol Debut!"

The title, and then the backing track blooming under it.

"Wow..."

Even after the song ended, Tsuki couldn't sit back down.

"JO Entertainment... I really do have to go to Korea."