Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Myth
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High school days.
Back when other kids were cramming for college entrance exams, I was studying modeling and such to get a job at my father's game company.
'I'm not sticking some guy with no real skills or talents into our company.'
It was around the time I was striving for recognition from my father, the president of a fairly well-known game company.
I came across one Nutuber.
A tiny little channel with an average of just 10 viewers—nothing special, really.
Her main content was chit-chat and Tsukuru games. Pretty standard stuff.
Her banter wasn't particularly flashy, and her gaming skills weren't outstanding either.
She never showed her face, so it wasn't about looks, and she didn't have much cleavage to ogle anyway.
Her only real selling point was her voice, but for some reason, I kept tuning in every day.
Short streams perfect for watching during breaks.
"Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again today."
Her name was Myth.
She claimed it was her real name, but who knows if that's true.
Who names their kid Myth, anyway?
"Today, I've got a major announcement to make."
A major announcement?
Out of nowhere?
No prior notice at all?
I quickly typed in the chat.
My real thoughts were screaming, Please don't retire!, but in chat, I had to play it cool.
"Nah. QWER-nim. No retiring for me. I'm gonna stream for a thousand years."
QWER. That was my nickname.
Just a random string of keyboard letters with no meaning.
It was also one of the nicknames she mentioned most often.
Unlike the other viewers who barely chatted, I was the one who typed a lot.
"So, what's this major announcement? Ta-da!"
With Myth's cheerful shout, the screen changed.
A sloppy PPT with densely packed text.
VTuber?
That thing blowing up in Japan lately?
The ones I occasionally saw on Nutube?
"VTubers might be kinda new to you guys, right? Basically, I go in as a 3D avatar and stream...!"
The next slide showed something that looked like a clay doll dancing.
There was even footage of an avatar's facial expressions changing awkwardly during a stream.
"In my opinion, VTubers are gonna dominate the future market. This is definitely gonna blow up."
"What're you talking about? I am a real high schooler! Sheesh, I'll verify as soon as I turn adult."
"W-well, that's kinda scary. If my identity gets doxxed, I might not even graduate."
Myth was a self-proclaimed high school streamer.
No one knew if it was true.
She insisted she was, but never bothered proving it.
In a stream with basically no real viewers besides me, I was the only one curious anyway.
"Anyway, this is my goal before graduation. Save up from part-time jobs and allowance, then debut as a VTuber right after graduating!"
"Yep. Night self-study keeps me from streaming much now, but once I'm an adult... I'll stream all night every night."
"Alright, major announcement over. Now for today's main content: House of Horror 3: Secret of the Flying Cat...!"
Finding these godawful Tsukuru games every time was a skill in itself.
Then, something unexpected happened.
"—You little brat Gashina! Won't you study?!"
"Eek, Mom?! Ow ow ow, I'll do it, okay kid?!"
Mom crash, maybe?
With the bellow of what sounded like her mother,
Myth left a desperate excuse, and the stream ended.
First time hearing dialect—Busan girl, perhaps?
I chuckled and closed the black screen.
Then I searched for VTuber.
"So that's what it's like."
Seeing way more info than in her PPT, I was impressed.
The industry wasn't getting much attention yet, but this showed the future of modeling.
Purely from a modeling standpoint, anyway. Broadcasting side, who knows.
If perfect 3D modeling could replicate every user action in virtual space—fingers, gestures, even expressions—
"The ultimate 3D model."
I muttered a kinda cringey line.
It reignited my slumping 3D modeling studies.
Seeing 'Myth' as that character, moving, laughing, gaming.
I wanted to witness it with my own eyes.
First year of high school.
The first day I had a dream besides joining my father's company.
What do you think is the most important thing in 3D modeling?
Aesthetic sense?
Understanding of human anatomy?
Character design?
Of course, all are crucial.
But if I had to pick one, I'd say grit.
Quality in 3D modeling is basically proportional to effort put in.
Good sense can yield great results with less work, but top-tier, high-end stuff demands maximum time.
Deep in my modeling tools, I rushed to Myth's stream at the alert.
Ten minutes in, still 3 viewers, but she started anyway.
"Sinha Sinha~ Nice to see you all."
"Of course. QWER-nim. I even brought my virtual character design draft. Was pondering today's chit-chat topic anyway—perfect."
Myth put up an image of a cute girl with arms outstretched.
"What do you think? Adorable, right?!"
An overall Eastern-style cute girl.
Black hair down to her waist, cool-looking eyes.
Stars within them.
Definitely a well-drawn design.
I snuck a screenshot, wondering if that was okay.
"What? I drew every bit of this myself. I've got the golden touch."
I was genuinely shocked.
Having grown up around concept art and designs under my game company prez dad, it had no real flaws... well, some, but for amateur level, it was stunningly beautiful.
"Yeah, whaddya think? Awesome, right?"
"Ugh. I've been drawing since I was little, you know? I'll show you my Seoul art school acceptance letter and you'll all praise me."
"For real? QWER, just you wait."
After that, we chatted about the design details, then the stream ended.
No one else in her room today, so it was basically a private convo between us.
"...A hundred times better than before."
I fixed the overly braided hairstyle and removed all the jangly accessories.
N-not because it was a pain to model, absolutely not.
I copied the final design screenshot and stuck it on my wall.
"...Fighting."
Second year of high school.
The day I got a blueprint for my dream.
(Self-proclaimed) high school streamer Myth's streams grew farther apart as time went on.
She said senior year classes were intense, and juggling part-time work made it hard to keep up, so only 1-2 streams a week. Who knows if that's true.
With already low average viewers, longer gaps meant losing what few regulars she had.
"Ah~ So today school was..."
"Huh? QWER-nim's in high school too?"
"No way. What zodiac?"
"Quick answer makes it seem real... but not same-year same-zodiac fakeout, right?"
"Heh heh. Yeah, probably not. Wow, wild though. You don't study?"
"What, vocational high school?"
By now, Myth's streams were basically our private 1-on-1 chat room.
After nearly two years, she opened up about personal stuff too.
"After graduation, wanna meet up? If you're really a high schooler, it'd be fun for a grad celebration."
"Discord friend add then? That's fine, right?"
She'd tempt me sometimes, but I wanted to stay pure fan and streamer.
Time flew, and soon it was summer break, senior year.
One day, Dad asked.
"Legend. What're you making these days?"
Ugh.
I shuddered at my name.
Last name Jeon, first name Seol.
Together, Legend.
My name. Teased a lot as a kid, but by high school, I'd grown into it.
Id been hiding my VTuber modeling from game modeling, scared he'd get mad...
But yeah, I was stuck on my current project.
Self-taught 3D modeling worked okay, but making it look good on stream? Lost.
"Wanna see?"
Clutching at straws, I showed Dad my work-in-progress.
Project: Myth.
A surprise gift for one obscure streamer.
Dad was shocked.
"...You really made this?"
"What do you think? Pretty good, right?"
"No, it's trash, you idiot son. What the hell is with this insane polygon count? Individual movements for every single hair strand? Are you insane?"
"Huh? More polygons mean more natural and better, no?"
"There's a limit. To run this smoothly, you'd need a supercomputer."
Crack.
I froze.
All that meticulous polygon tweaking for nothing?
As I teared up, Dad shook his head.
"The attempt wasn't bad—probably learned a ton. Not a waste. But cut polygons down, then focus on 'shaders'."
"Shaders?"
"Best model in the world is just a clay doll without shaders. If modeling's the face, shaders are makeup. That's what hits users first."
"Aren't you too hands-on for a prez, Dad? Presidents don't usually dev."
"Idiot. That's why you're capable enough to be prez."
Dad stood up.
Patted my shoulder.
"Shaders are pricey paid ones. I'll cover that, so do your best."
"You sure you're not overdoing it?"
"Not for a kid who skipped academies like others. Just work hard."
"Yes!!!"
"Having a goal and chasing it is good. You're doing well."
First praise from my always-critical dad.
I grinned like an excited kid.
Perfecting this model to join Dad's company,
And waiting for Myth to debut with it—both thrilling.
Senior year of high school, I ran endlessly toward my dream.