Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Sarah Iris (2)
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Upon arriving at the company building, we hopped straight into the elevator and headed up to the company floor.
"No, so you're saying she came to see me?"
"...I'm not entirely sure, but that's the vibe I'm getting. If she was really targeting me from the start, she would've emailed or DMed me ages ago."
"What if she just happened to be traveling in Korea and wanted to drop by and see your face?"
"If she was coming for a trip, she'd have hit me up and we'd have hung out together."
"Or maybe she's prepping some huge event and came in person to negotiate a contract face-to-face."
"Sarah? No way."
Myth shook her head with absolute conviction.
Her response was so firm that it caught me off guard. Myth was usually unflappable no matter the situation, but this time, something clearly rubbed her the wrong way.
"How can you say that so definitively?"
Myth went quiet for a moment, biting her lip as if deep in thought.
Then, after a brief hesitation—like she was debating whether to spill the beans—she finally spoke up.
"Um, Seol-a. Don't get the wrong idea, okay? I'm not trash-talking or anything."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry. So, what exactly are you trying to say?"
That...
Myth trailed off.
The elevator was almost at our floor, so she rushed to finish.
"Sarah's kind of an idiot."
"...Huh?"
"More like a total airhead, I guess. She's so pure-hearted that her actions are always full of these wild surprises."
Ding!
The elevator chimed its arrival, and the doors slid open.
"B-But she's still a good kid, so you don't need to worry too mu—"
Myth quickly clamped her mouth shut.
Fair enough. Talking behind someone's back like that? Better safe than sorry.
"Ah, there you are. Oh? Legend's here too?"
Sua was fidgeting anxiously right there as the doors opened, waiting for us.
"Hey, Sua."
"Hello, Sua."
"Hi. Come on in, quick. Our president's been groaning all by himself in there."
Groaning?
Was this Sarah Iris girl some kind of power-tripping celebrity type?
I tilted my head in confusion, while Myth let out a soft sigh like she knew exactly what was up.
"Yeah, we gotta rescue our president. Let's hurry."
"Rescue? What the heck does that mean?"
"You'll see when we get there, Seol-a. It's not something that translates well... it's more like agony than anything inspirational."
Agony? What on earth was she talking about?
Sua led us swiftly to the conference room.
We dodged the stares from the employees who always gawked at us like we were exotic animals whenever we visited, making a beeline for the innermost room.
The door swung open, revealing a blonde, blue-eyed girl who screamed "Caucasian" at first glance, sitting with the president.
And we were immediately stunned.
Because inside...
"So, right after the first wave of Corolon ended, I finally became a VTuber—my dream job—and weirdly enough, every stream I did blew up. I felt like a total superstar. But then, after like three or four months of massive popularity, viewer counts just plummeted out of nowhere. At that point, I wanted to quit VTubing altogether, but how could I? Miraculously, I'd gotten Corolon Plus, the variant strain, and—"
...a foreigner who was spewing English nonstop like a manic rapper.
And...
"Uwaaaah! Myth! You came! Thank you!"
...the president, who looked half in tears as he rushed out.
...What a mess.
▶
"Hello. I'm Sarah Iris, the VTuber doing the 'Absolute Tyrant' RP from the States."
After a brief commotion, Sarah bowed her head once we were all seated.
Sarah. Sarah Iris.
She looked even younger than I'd imagined. Way smaller than the average Western woman.
Arms so fragile you worried they'd snap if you touched them. Porcelain skin glowing with that vibrant Caucasian radiance.
She was the kind of girl who made you think, This must be what a fairy from mythology looks like.
Of course, Myth was still prettier.
I bowed back alone, since the president had already exchanged greetings and Myth already knew her.
"Hi. I'm Legend, though I go by QWER as a 3D modeler for now."
"I didn't expect to meet you today of all days. Lucky me."
"Did you come looking for me?"
"Straight to the point? Yeah."
Sarah nodded confidently.
Myth frowned slightly at the sight.
"Sarah. It's great to see you after so long, but you can't just barge in like this out of nowhere."
Myth had a point.
Ever since I'd revealed I was QWER, set up my personal site, and—out of courtesy—made my email public, I'd been flooded with hundreds of collaboration offers and commissions daily, in languages from countless countries.
Honestly, it blew my mind.
I'd forgotten to mute notifications, so my alerts went haywire, and my computer speakers choked on the overload, sputtering static.
Not that I read them all, though.
From massive Korean game devs everyone’s heard of, to big VTuber agencies like DreamLive and RayShojo, even conglomerates like X Corp—they all emailed. Too bad for them.
I barely had enough time for Myth, let alone anyone else.
Oh, right—Dad's game company reached out too.
Dad, you really calling me in because you need me? I could do it for free if you want.
Ignore that. Some employee sent it without knowing you're my son. Just take care of your mom.
...She's my girlfriend, Dad.
Get married already. Where else you gonna find a girl like that?
I'll handle it.
...Yeah, that happened.
Myth had said I had enough money to live off forever—not just for life, but for generations. No need to grind for more.
Which made Sarah's stunt here pretty rude, objectively.
Storming into Myth's agency unannounced, cornering the president to drag Myth out, all to get to me—a near stranger.
"Sorry, sis. But I wasn't planning to meet QWER-nim right away."
"...Fair point, Myth. I only called you at first."
"You were gonna use me to summon Seol-a anyway."
"...True enough. Sarah, you did mess up there."
Myth and Sarah's eyes clashed in midair, sparks flying, while the president desperately tried to mediate between them.
Me?
I kept my mouth shut since I was clueless.
I just did my modeling; I had zero clue how this industry worked.
Best to stay quiet if you don't know what's up.
Instead—in my own way—I gave Myth a subtle hand massage under the table as moral support.
Whatever. As long as Myth won.
"Sarah, did you even clear this with your agency? Going direct to another company's president like this? It could cause you all sorts of trouble."
"Ah. RayShojo went bankrupt."
Silence crashed over the room like a guillotine.
Bankrupt? What?
RayShojo—one of the West's top megacorps, home to millions of VTubers—bankrupt?
I hadn't seen any headlines about it.
The president gaped in shock, and Myth shot me a look like What the hell?
Myth, if even you don't know, don't look at me.
Like I'd know.
Of course, it also showed how rattled Myth was.
As we all froze from the bombshell, Sarah casually sipped the drink in front of me like it was no big deal.
"To be precise, in a week, all us VTubers are leaving RayShojo."
"Sarah... can you explain exactly what happened?"
Myth straightened up in her seat.
Gulp.
The president and I shifted too, leaning in to their conversation.
A major company collapsing?
No one in the VTuber world could ignore that.
Sarah scanned us, then downed the rest of her drink in one go.
A bold move.
Pretending to stay calm but crunching the ice like she was cooling her nerves, Sarah spoke.
"It's not a fun story."
Sarah gazed into space.
It was like she was digging through memories, figuring out where to start.
"Unpaid wages, undelivered merch, CEO vanished, charity fund embezzlement... Where do you want me to begin?"
Wasn't RayShojo all about free creation, fair shares, and "the company exists for fans and creators"?
These were heavy scandals that didn't fit that image at all.
The second bomb dropped in the conference room.