First Stream! (1)
JO Entertainment company office.
I'd come in for dance practice like any other day, only to get seized by the back of the neck and dragged along by Kang Hoyeon.
"Un...nie? What on earth is this...?"
"That's my line. That Japanese girl from yesterday—she's staying at the dorm now, isn't she?"
"Ah.... you knew?"
Just as she said, Tsuki was currently commuting from the company-provided dorm to vocal academy.
I'd figured we'd get caught eventually. I just hadn't expected it to happen this fast.
"I'm sor—"
I started to apologize with a guilty look, but Kang Hoyeon covered my mouth.
"I didn't come here for an apology. I just happened to pass by the dorm yesterday and saw her. The CEO and everyone else still don't know."
So she hadn't told anyone else yet.
"But I need to hear why you did it."
"Well, the thing is..."
I'd heard that while Tsuki was in Korea, she'd booked the cheapest motel near the company. She wasn't staying with a friend, and she didn't know a soul in the country. Worried, I'd held out a hand.
"Haa..."
A heavy sigh slipped from Kang Hoyeon. From the look on her face, she wasn't making an issue of Tsuki living in the dorm with me.
"Tsuki... can you even trust her? What if she's dangerous?"
I chuckled and patted Kang Hoyeon's shoulder.
"It's fine. After talking with her, she doesn't seem dangerous at all, and she's working incredibly hard right now. She's definitely not that kind of person."
"Really...? If you say so, Jiwoo... alright."
Kang Hoyeon nodded, but the worry in her eyes refused to fade. At this rate, nothing I said would wipe it away.
Put simply, our relationship was a business one. Nothing more, nothing less.
I didn't see it that way, though. Even a business relationship can grow closer. You can still become genuine with someone. I sincerely believed that.
"Unnie."
"Yeah."
"I think I like you."
"W-what are you talking about?"
Kang Hoyeon looked flustered, a little embarrassed, and ducked my gaze. It was kind of cute. I smiled.
"I haven't been with this company long, but I can feel it. How much you expect from me. And... how much goodwill you've shown me."
I'm not an idiot. I know how the company thinks about me, and how much consideration they've given me.
"So there's something I want to say."
"...What is it?"
Kang Hoyeon waited, a little anxious, for the words to leave my mouth.
"I... want to stream."
The VTuber idol group JO Entertainment was putting together still didn't even have a name. The only thing decided was the number of members.
Five in total. Only two of them had been chosen.
One was me, Lee Jiwoo. The other was Lee Yuwol, known as Luna.
Three members still hadn't been decided. We couldn't keep waiting forever for people who might never show up.
Even if the lineup came together, choreography and songs got written, everyone practiced, and we debuted without a hitch, it would take at least two months—maybe half a year. Viewers weren't going to wait that long.
Even now, the VTuber who'd placed second was getting more famous than Kuro, the project winner. We needed to start streaming now and pull viewer interest our way.
Put off internet streaming for later, and you might as well be obsolete.
"Wait! Calm down first. You're too excited."
Oops. I'd gotten carried away without realizing it.
"Well, that's the idea. Rather than sitting still, we need to drip information to people little by little."
"You're not wrong."
Kang Hoyeon nodded in agreement. The atmosphere was good. At this rate, I could start streaming any day now...
"But."
Just as I thought that, Kang Hoyeon's firm tone made me clamp my mouth shut.
"I understand what you're thinking, Jiwoo. But... there are problems with streaming."
"Prob...lems?"
I tilted my head. What problems could there possibly be?
"Listen carefully. Even if we set every other issue aside, there are two big ones."
Kang Hoyeon held up two fingers.
"Streaming itself? We're in favor. Maintaining popularity that way is a huge plus. But... you can't stream for long on a winner's title alone, with no vision behind it."
I conceded that. Song-only streams would bore people. We needed other content.
"Second, you have no streaming experience, Jiwoo. A flood of viewers is going to hit all at once—can you handle that? There'll be trolls, too."
Trolls...
I really hadn't thought of that. I'd only considered the benefits of going live. A mistake.
I crossed my arms and started working the two problems over. There had to be a way. Even if the sky fell, there was always a hole to crawl through. That mindset alone had gotten me through hellish corporate life in my previous life.
Think... think... come on.
"Ah..."
A thought flashed through my mind.
"Then how about this?"
"You have... a method?"
Startled, Kang Hoyeon widened her eyes. I nodded and laid out the idea I'd just come up with.
"That would definitely wipe out both problems. And on top of that..."
"We can promote our VTuber idol group again. Plus member promotion—two birds with one stone."
"Good. I'll talk to the higher-ups."
Kang Hoyeon answered with total confidence. One thing still bothered me, though.
"What if the CEO doesn't allow it?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll grab him by the collar if I have to and get permission! This is why family is great!"
Watching Kang Hoyeon's back as she flung open the conference room door and bolted toward the CEO's office, I found myself smiling.
"Unnie looks cool when she runs. Then I should..."
I had things I could do, too.
On a spacious desk sat three monitors, with three connected PCs underneath throwing off flashy LED light.
With practiced ease, Luna hit Start Live on NewTube. After about ten minutes of waiting-room stream, she moved her hands.
"Hello, everyone! Luna's back on stream after a week!"
Matching her movements, the Luna avatar on the monitor moved with her.
The usual chat was flying in Luna's stream today, too. Everyone was roasting her with their words, but less than ten minutes after going live, the viewer count had already passed five hundred.
It wasn't a huge number compared to other famous VTubers—but how many people could pull five hundred viewers at 3 a.m. on a weekend morning?
"Aww, there you go again. You all missed Luna and you know it. For the record, I didn't come alone today... Keep trolling like that and I might just send our guest home."
Luna glanced at the woman sitting in the room with her.
Coming back from a forced week-long hiatus only to drop a collab? Chat exploded with hooks, everyone biting at once.
"See? This is streaming. One word from me and their brains bounce all over the place. Fun, right?"
One line from Luna, and the comments poured in. Watching from the side, I almost laughed out loud.
Ding.
A distinctive alert chimed through the speakers.
"Ah~ ReallyCurious's ten thousand Walnuts! Thank you. So who came, you ask? That would be.... drumroll, please...!"
Luna glanced sideways at me. Sensing my cue, I brought up my avatar on the computer next to hers and waited for her signal.
"Drumroooll... in sixty seconds! I'll reveal it then!"
Luna's teasing sent chat into utter chaos. The clean filter forcibly clipped the actual swearing, but near-curses kept flooding in.
"Puhahaha—!"
Luna was laughing, delighted by the viewers' reactions. Was messing with chat really that fun?
"Ah, that's hilarious. Huh? Sixty seconds already? This time I'll actually tell you. Okay, everyone, drumroll..."
The corners of Luna's mouth stretched toward her ears. She was clearly having the time of her life with the chat's reactions.
Meanwhile, the viewer count was slowly dropping. I felt a little uneasy. Was this really okay? But this was Luna's instinct, honed over a long streaming career. As a complete beginner, all I could do was trust her and follow along.
"Alright, here she comes!"
Luna's avatar stretched both hands toward me.
I grabbed my avatar with the mouse and pulled it onto her screen.
Kuro appeared. It had been about two weeks since the project ended, and here she was on stream again—her first broadcast, no less, on Luna's channel.
"Hello. I'm Kuro, your idol."
But they do say the world never goes the way you expect. Chat froze as if it had locked up.
"Uh...? Luna-nim? Chat isn't moving.... Is it broken?"
"No way."
Luna briefly covered Kuro's avatar to check the status.
Chat went berserk. I had no idea what was happening, still reeling, when Luna quickly settled the viewers down.
"Shh, everyone. Kuro-nim's struggling right now. You should know today's her first stream."
Gasps filled the chat, and even the donation alerts stopped.
"Ahem. Ta-da! Hello, everyone! Your idol Luna is here to stream with Kuro!"
Then Luna hammered at the keyboard, changing the stream title from Returning from Hiatus to A Fun Collab with Kuro~.
Kuro's name had barely been in the title, and the viewer count was already climbing steadily. It soon passed one thousand.
"Wow... I've never seen numbers like this on my own stream. She really is..."
Luna marveled, looking my avatar up and down.
"Expensive really is better! You all should donate a little for Luna, too!"
Luna's plea was thoroughly ignored.
Ding.
A donation alert rang out—aimed at Kuro. That was only the beginning.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Affectionate donations poured in, all for Kuro.
"Uh... everyone... thank you?"
"You lunatics! Cut it out!"
Luna's scolding landed—and Kuro's first stream began.