A World Where VTubers Went Mainstream

The reflection staring back at me from the mirror was a remarkably pretty young girl. She had sleek, flowing black hair and wide, sparkling eyes. Combined with her soft, pinchable cheeks and the charming baby fat under her eyes, she gave off an incredibly cute impression. Subjectively beautiful, objectively gorgeous.

"No way... Is this me?"

I pinched my cheeks and splashed cold water on my face, but nothing changed. The beautiful girl in the mirror was definitely me. My gender had literally swapped. Overnight, I had somehow turned into a girl.

Unable to believe this reality, I searched for my wallet to check my ID.

There were two things that shocked me right off the bat: first, my wallet was pink; second, every single piece of clothing in my closet had been replaced with women's wear.

"My name is Choi Minseo. Age, twenty. Did I... get possessed or something?"

Wondering if I had possessed someone's body, I racked my brain trying to recall every web novel I'd read and game I'd played, but there wasn't a single major character named Choi Minseo. Was it possession? Or had I been transported to a parallel universe? Or maybe I had just suddenly remembered my past life? I couldn't tell. But one thing was absolutely certain: I had become a girl named Choi Minseo, and from now on, I had to live in this body.

"Well, I got younger, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so that's a plus, right?"

I was a whopping ten years younger. My face was beautiful, and my voice was so shockingly pleasant it was almost surreal. A gorgeous face, a lovely voice. When I moved my body around, my physical coordination felt surprisingly sharp too. My reaction time was incredibly fast.

"And I'm strong."

Despite being a girl, my physical strength was immense. It felt as if my past self—a hardcore VTuber-obsessed middle-aged guy—and the current Choi Minseo had merged into one. Of course, I was completely missing the plumbing down below now, but in terms of raw physical capability, that was the only way to describe it.

Incredible reflexes. Cute looks. A voice that's easy on the ears.

I closed my eyes and seriously pondered how I should make a living.

A mesugaki streamer?!

No, with this level of physical talent, streaming was the only logical answer. It didn't look like I was attending college either. The computer specs here seemed decent enough, so if I just got a webcam and a microphone, I'd be completely set! A literal rising star of the streaming world. I was good at games, cute, had a great voice, and since I had zero interest in dating guys, I'd never trigger the simps' alarm bells. I could become an invincible, ultimate female streamer.

A cold sweat broke out on my neck. Wasn't this an insane opportunity? A chance to rake in absolute mountains of cash.

Just yesterday, I was a pathetic simp wasting my hard-earned money on a VTuber who had a secret boyfriend. But things are different now. I've become a woman who understands the psychology of the simps throwing money at female streamers better than anyone else.

A man's heart is best understood by another man. To captivate men using a man's own psychology—enduring that very paradox is the true destiny of a gender-bent streamer.

And above all else...

Ultimately, at this very moment, I was a "virgin in mind, body, and soul." The legendary, mythical maiden that the Unicorns wandered the earth searching for. On top of that, I had a fresh, twenty-year-old body. No tattoos, I hated alcohol, and I didn't smoke. I knew all too well how much guys secretly cared about girls smoking. But I was completely clean. Even before my gender swapped, I had never touched a cigarette. I was the literal definition of pure.

My hymen is intact. I've never loved a man, and I have absolutely zero intention of ever falling for one in the future.

Perfect. It was so flawless it was almost terrifying. My excitement was through the roof.

"Hehehe."

The road to success was laid out right before me. The power and talent to breed fifty million simps lay right in the palms of my hands.

Alright! I'll become a female streamer and make tons of—!!

The moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I resolved to chase the money, an image flashed before my eyes. It was Miho.

"Ugh."

A sudden pain shot through my chest. A bittersweet ache. A tight, squeezing throb in my heart.

"No... A webcam stream isn't it. That's not my path."

My ultimate destination wasn't a regular webcam stream. The ache in my chest was telling me the truth. It was telling me the very reason I had been brought to this world.

A VTuber.

I had to become a VTuber. Just as I had dreamed before falling asleep. I had to become an angel for the lost internet otaku who had nowhere else to go. The conviction gripped me with overwhelming, undeniable force. The desire to become a VTuber slowly consumed me. My very soul was screaming at me to do it.

"I have to become a VTuber."

I steeled my resolve. What brought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me here was likely my lingering attachment, my sincerity, and my unextinguished love for Miho. If so, it was only right to use this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opportunity to become a VTuber. I had to enter the world of VTubers, a world where people wanted to love and be loved. I had to save those who had fallen into darkness and despair after being betrayed by their oshi's dating scandals. I wanted to be a VTuber who would never suffer an oshihen. I wanted to be the one and only in everyone's hearts.

If I'm going to be a VTuber, there are two paths ahead of me.

Whether to go indie, or join a corporate agency. I had to decide this first.

Indie versus corporate. Each has its own pros and cons.

Going indie meant preparing and debuting entirely on my own. The downside was that I had to handle absolutely everything myself. From preparing the avatar—the "skin" as we call it—to setting up streaming gear and audio configurations, it all had to be done by my own hands, out of my own pocket. But being a corporate VTuber was different.

The agency provides the avatar, and they handle most of the logistics.

From protecting you against malicious comments and stalkers to managing the chat and handling promotions, the company takes care of it all. In exchange, they take a massive cut of your earnings.

Sometimes, a greedy agency will take upwards of sixty percent of what you make.

There were also black companies to worry about. Leeches that did absolutely nothing to manage you while pocketing your money. Agencies that extorted you, withheld payments, or tricked you into predatory contracts, all while providing a garbage-tier avatar. There were even cases where companies completely imploded because they favored their second-generation talents over their first.

But as for me right now...

I had no choice but to go corporate. My bank account balance was practically zero. Besides, having an agency's backing made it much easier to participate in various events and gave me a foot in the door to rub shoulders with major streamers.

But overseas giants like Hululive or Zinisanni are out of the question. Japanese and English are basic requirements there.

Actually, I could speak a bit of Japanese. Having lived as an otaku for thirty years, I could perfectly mimic the speech patterns of anime girls. But anything beyond that was a stretch. Reading and writing were out of the question, and I could only manage basic conversation. At least I could sing along to J-pop. But even putting the language barrier aside, the chances of me getting into a top-tier global VTuber agency were close to zero. Why?

Because they rarely hire Koreans.

Maybe if you were Korean-American or Zainichi Korean, but they never recruited pure native Koreans. It was harder than passing through the eye of a needle.

Moreover, the corporate headquarters believed that women from countries where radical feminism had become a major social issue were highly likely to be ideologically compromised.

There was even a precedent where an all-Korean VTuber group had completely imploded. It was a five-member group, and the oldest member turned out to be a radical feminist. After a series of internal conflicts and bullying scandals, overseas agencies had completely washed their hands of the Korean market. In the end, this meant I had to choose a domestic agency.

"Where should I apply? Starship sounds good. Flower Live seems decent too..."

No, wait. Just as I was about to search for VTuber agencies currently holding auditions, a fundamental question struck me. Is this world even the same world I know? I still didn't know if I had possessed a girl's body or if I had just remembered my past life.

It might be a world I know absolutely nothing about.

I began surfing the web. I had only briefly checked the computer specs earlier, but I hadn't properly looked into how this world actually functioned.

"What in the world..."

After digging through the internet for about thirty minutes, I discovered one crucial fact.

"This world is..."

A golden age of VTubing. There were thousands of VTubers in Korea alone, and over tens of thousands globally. It was a world where VTubers with every imaginable roleplay concept—the kind of stuff that would drive any simp wild—were alive and breathing.

Agencies were overflowing, and so were the talents. On top of that, VTubing had integrated with all kinds of virtual reality games, spawning massive events like the VTuber Grand Athletic Meet and the VTuber Iron Fist Tournament.

"There are VTubers I've never heard of, alongside the ones from my old world."

Famous agencies still existed, but many unfamiliar ones had cropped up too. Technology in this world must have advanced at an astronomical rate. You could tell just by the fact that they had fully realized virtual reality games capable of simulating the five senses.

The domestic market is unimaginably massive. I can actually make this work.

It was completely different from my original world, where the domestic market was tiny and survival was a constant struggle. This was a world of endless possibilities. A world where VTubers thrived. A world where VTubers had stepped into the mainstream!

I immediately started looking up auditions. I'd pick a few promising agencies, audition, and become a VTuber.

I had spent years as a loyal simp for Miho. But now, I would become a VTuber who surpassed her. I would aim for the throne of the VTuber Emperor. Whether I could do it or not, I had to try. Pushing forward to the very end—that was what being a VTuber was all about.