Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Myth's Solo Live (5)
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At the sound of the staff's voice coming from somewhere, Myth closed her eyes.
It was her essential pre-broadcast routine.
To her, overlaying imagination onto reality was an absolute must for any VTuber.
The moment she opened her eyes again, the company studio had transformed into a dazzling concert hall.
Myth glanced at the monitor showing exactly how she appeared on screen.
...It's a seriously perverted thought, but.
I'm wearing the avatar you made for me, standing on the stage you created for me.
'It feels like I'm wrapped in your arms, Seol.'
So, it couldn't be helped if a little fantasy sent shivers up her spine.
So, watch closely, Seol.
This live is dedicated to you, who missed my debut that day.
"Ahem. Alright, viewers around the world! You watching?"
The flood of chat messages took the place of her gaze.
Imagining you somewhere among them, Myth shouted.
"Don't you dare look away? Tonight is definitely going to go down in history!"
"Haa."
Late at night in a Tokyo apartment.
Japan's top VTuber, Yurasaki Mika, watched the TV without hiding her trembling eyes.
She couldn't even breathe properly, and the snacks and drinks she'd bought just in case sat pathetically waiting for someone to eat them.
An hour into unnie Myth's first solo live.
"...I can't compete. For real."
Mika let out a hollow laugh.
Even to her Japanese ears, the pristine Japanese songs were flawless.
Dazzling footwork, clean dance lines, all made possible by that ridiculous avatar and its rigging.
And seeing the map perfectly supporting such a Myth, nothing but a hollow laugh would come out.
Aah, really.
I'd never imagined it would be this absurd.
No, honestly—
"For the map... I honestly thought maybe they couldn't make it."
A hopeful wish, perhaps.
Watching the absurd map perfectly propping up the absurd avatar, Mika smiled bitterly.
She'd seen unnie Myth's avatar so much over the years that she'd grown numb to it.
So Mika focused on the map while watching her live.
It's clean.
Absurdly clean.
The longer you work in this industry, the stronger your influence grows, the pickier VTubers become about avatars naturally.
Not just because it's their face.
Precisely to minimize anything viewers could nitpick.
Even if 99% of an avatar or map is perfect, that 1% flaw catches the eye more.
But there were no flaws.
No flaws to the point where she wondered if this was even allowed.
Even with industry veteran of veterans Mika scrutinizing for weaknesses, she couldn't spot a single one.
'If I had to nitpick, the map itself isn't anything special.'
The map where unnie Myth was dancing right now was a standard concert hall anyone could find.
A dome-shaped venue.
Classic layout—anyone with even a bit of knowledge in architecture or map-making could churn it out given time.
But that insane quality made the map one-of-a-kind.
"How can someone pull off a 3D map like this?"
The map was massive.
Massive to the point of absurdity.
Utterly incomparable to a single avatar in scale, yet every part received no spotlight.
That's why map creators usually don't detail every nook and cranny.
It's unnecessary.
So they pour everything into the main stage and skimp on resources elsewhere.
But this map was different.
Dynamic camera movements.
Especially the top-down views and the rotations around the stage—Mika marveled watching the live utilize them aggressively.
'Even if they skimped on some parts to highlight the stage, the overall quality is leagues higher.'
The live production team knew it too.
That's why they could spin the camera around, showing off the entire stage.
Look, this is Myth's avatar.
Look, this is her map.
Camera work asserting it aggressively.
"And the most ridiculous part... the background."
The dome shape was for this, wasn't it?
Mika was in awe.
Above where Myth performed stretched a vast Milky Way.
A sea of stars we'd never seen, born and raised in modern cities.
Dancing under a sky where stars seemed ready to pour down, fitting her nickname 'Idol from Space'—it exuded overwhelming presence and emotion just by itself.
"It's a shame. I thought she'd be catchable soon."
At this growth rate, I figured I'd surpass unnie Myth within the year.
Wonder how far behind I am now.
Mika fired up her community tabs to calculate, her brain whirring.
Tweets or X reactions would give a rough estimate of the growth.
Then her phone rang.
A call this late?
Who could it be?
Mika picked up the phone with a small sigh.
Yeah, who else would call at this hour but that idiot.
"Why."
"Heyy~ Mika. You watching?"
Maki's signature cheerful voice came through the receiver.
Bright and lively, pure Maki.
But Mika caught the slight tremble in it.
"Of course. Watching. It's ridiculous, seriously."
"At this rate, like you said, we might just be eating her dust all the way to graduation?"
"Nah, I don't think so."
Eh?
Maki's flustered voice followed.
"What? Didn't you say we might only see her back?"
"I did, but seeing this map changed my mind. Might take like three years to catch up now."
"Oho. Our songless genius Mika thinks so? What's the reason?"
"They went too perfect right out the gate."
Maki tilted her head at Mika's words.
Perfect is good, right? What's the problem?
"Give me a chance to explain to this dummy."
"How long do you think it takes to make a map like this?"
"...Dunno? I'm a pure streamer, no clue about that stuff."
Streamers just need to stream well—what's with needing to know that too?
Mika chuckled at Maki's grumbling and answered her own question.
"My guess? Even if they spent a full seven years on this map, it wouldn't be an exaggeration."
"So QWER's been MIA all this time because map production takes so long?"
"Nothing else explains it."
Maki declared.
Current tech wouldn't take seven years, but assuming they started seven years ago made the quality feasible.
No—without those seven years, the map's quality was incomprehensible.
But now, that very quality was poison.
"Dropping an absurd map like this from the start raises viewer expectations way too high."
The VTuber scene had evolved to releasing different maps each season lately.
Spring: a park.
Summer: the beach.
Fall: a leaf-strewn walking path.
Winter: a snow-covered mountain.
Unlike dynamic avatars, static maps tire quickly.
But you can't suddenly drop the quality.
Viewers don't want change.
They want constant growth to the next level.
The internet market changes daily at breakneck speed, so you had to deliver dopamine at matching velocity.
"I respect the craftsmanship. Only QWER could make something like that. But if it were me, I'd churn out several at slightly lower quality."
"Same here. Spring, summer, fall, winter—one each would allow way more variation."
With a map like this, the next one had to be even more painstaking.
'Probably no new map until unnie Myth graduates.'
Mika thought.
This would widen the gap hugely, but Dream Live still had the growth edge.
The distance grew, so catching up takes longer, but it's still possible eventually.
"Unless they pump out maps like this every few months, it's just a matter of time."
Mika declared.
"Achoo."
Legend, reveling in the live from the living room, sneezed with a jolt.
Tsk.
Winter blues, maybe.
Heating was on full blast, yet here came a cough—must be a draft somewhere.
Nose itchy, throat a bit scratchy.
Probably nothing.
"Myth's so pretty."
On the map I made, the you I sculpted is singing and dancing.
A sight impossible seven years ago.
I fiddled with my unrelenting smile, glued to the TV until the live ended.
Into the deepening night, watching your debut stream I missed seven years back.