Chapter 70
Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Sara Iris (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We headed down the stairs just like that and entered the meeting room.
Perhaps because the sun had set, the company lights were almost all turned off.
Well, it was quitting time for everyone, after all.
It felt like we'd only been up there for about an hour, so I felt bad for making them wait unnecessarily.
"Sorry. Our talk dragged on, so we're a bit late."
"Huh? No, you're here. Sit down quick—the food's getting cold."
"Eek, what's all this? Can we eat all of it?"
"Better than not having enough."
The meeting room table was covered with a mountain of food.
Jjambbong, jjajangmyeon, fried rice, yangjangpi, sweet-and-sour pork, kkuiba roast pork, even japchae rice.
There was no way three women and one guy could finish it all.
"Sara said she hadn't eaten anything today, and that she was curious about Korean food, so I ordered a ton."
The president spoke up. He'd been using honorifics earlier, but had we gotten closer in just an hour?
Myth smiled and pulled the jjambbong toward herself.
"This is Chinese food, though."
"It's fine—China doesn't have stuff like this. Anyway, where's Sara? She went up to find you and Legend."
"Oh, we must've missed each other. We came down the stairs."
"I'll go look for her."
Even if this was safe Korea, I couldn't help feeling uneasy about letting a foreign girl who sometimes coughed up blood wander around alone.
The moment I stood to head to the rooftop, the meeting room door opened.
"Ah, hello."
"Good, Sara's here. Right on time."
For some reason, Sara's face looked incredibly flushed.
With so many companies in the building, had she maybe witnessed some PDA somewhere?
Or was it something else?
"Um, did something happen?"
"No, no problem! I'm definitely fine, you don't need to care me."
"Uh... what?"
"She said it's nothing, don't worry about it."
Myth said that as she sat down.
Man, Myth's English was pretty good.
I vaguely followed her lead and took the seat next to her.
Sara went back to her original spot—across from us—and sat.
Her face was bright red, and she kept avoiding my eyes while subtly trying to meet Myth's gaze.
"Umm... Shin Hwa? Are you couple always that hot?"
Sara said something, looking at Myth. But with her native accent and rapid speech, someone like me who'd tossed studying aside couldn't make it out.
"What—America's got even hotter people."
"No...!"
They were talking about something, but I could guess, so I didn't ask.
I blushed and picked a dish.
"Legend, pick what you want."
"I'm fine with leftovers. I can eat anything."
"That's something adults say. Have what you want. I'm good with anything too."
"Then fried rice for me."
"Sure. There's japchae rice and more, so eat as much as you like."
We kept chatting over dinner.
I wasn't sure if holding a meeting while eating was normal, but it was getting late, and we couldn't do it after anyway, so dinner meeting it was.
"Oh, right—we should start with that. Seol-ah, you wanna tell her?"
"Yeah."
I looked at Sara.
She'd been slurping her jjajangmyeon—Korean black noodles, yummy~—and lifted her head.
"I'll do it. Map creation."
"...Really? I didn't even think it'd work when I pitched it."
"It's a good cause. Think of it as a donation. No charge."
Clack. Thud.
Sara's chopsticks slipped from her hand and rolled across the floor.
Oh dear, those are gonna be dirty now.
Just as I went to open a fresh pair of wooden chopsticks for her, Myth beat me to it and handed some over.
"Here, Sara—use these."
Ahem. I gently set my spare chopsticks aside, and Sara panicked big time.
"N-No, I can't. If I don't pay fair value for the work, it'd be no different from Rayshojo's behavior."
"Since when do donations require that? I just want to help those kids. Oh, but it's not like there are no strings attached."
"Strings?"
Sara's expression relaxed.
She'd seemed uneasy at "no strings," but brightened at the mention of conditions.
Was this what being a working adult was like? It still felt foreign to me.
Though she said there were conditions, I had no idea what they were.
I side-eyed Myth.
She popped a piece of sweet-and-sour pork in her mouth, chewed, nodded, swallowed quickly, and spoke.
"Yeah, we'll talk details later. Don't worry, Sara—it won't be bad for you."
"...Sis, that look in your eyes feels a little pervy."
"...What're you even saying? Anyway, contract tomorrow. For today, let's just settle the basics on the work."
Oh shoot.
Myth paused mid-sentence and turned to the president.
He'd been inhaling fried rice and looked up at her gaze.
"President, you can make it tomorrow, right?"
"Huh? I'm basically a company ghost anyway. No worries."
...Tomorrow's Saturday.
Did the president not care about that?
Myth, me, and Sara had blurry weekdays-weekends anyway, but the president shouldn't.
I suddenly felt the weight of his position, even indirectly.
"So, live stream next week?"
"After blowing up Rayshojo, posting our withdrawal notice, teasing lawsuits... probably just announce it then and do the actual stream tomorrow?"
"What about the plan? Don't we need to coordinate everyone else's schedules?"
"Huh? It's just me."
What?
This time, my chopsticks rolled across the table.
Sara caught my shock and waved her hands frantically.
"Unlike Japan's Dream Live, we're all solo acts. Lots of people don't get my actions anyway. 'Just get refunds after the lawsuits and donate then? Why should we stress?' That kinda thing."
America was more individualistic than the group cultures in Japan or Korea.
If they'd started as a team, maybe, but bunching up big egos meant personal bonds but thin team spirit.
Myth asked with a serious face.
"So no one's helping at all?"
"Oh, no—not like that. I can't give exact amounts, but most members donated what they could. But a live means syncing up, and without MMD, pure live takes forever to rehearse..."
"Solo's better for polish, huh."
"Exactly. Rehearsing dance while streaming, gathering lawsuit docs all week—not easy in a studio. Korea's tiny, everything's in 3 hours, but America's huge. Even meeting up's a hassle."
Ah, those kinds of headaches too.
Korea's compact—daily life radius under 3 hours. Dream Live folks cram into Tokyo for smooth ops. But America's landmass? Insane.
"A few might send pre-recorded vocals. But pure live dance and song..."
"That's all yours."
Sara nodded.
Yeah, that vibe.
Rayshojo VTubers had their own lives—hard to judge.
"What kind of map do you want?"
"A stage map, something hopeful for the kids... Um. Not sure. Honestly, I've never thought my creativity was that great."
I started pondering as Sara explained.
Stage map. Hopeful stage map.
No ideas jumped out at me either.
"Who owns the copyright for Rayshojo's current stage map?"
"Probably me. I outsourced it personally."
I'd asked just in case, but this company let VTubers freelance their own assets?
Wow.
Gave me chills. Rayshojo was even worse than imagined.
"Can I see it?"
"Sure, of course. One sec."
Sara pulled out her phone, tapped around, and handed it over.
I took it. On-screen, Sara's avatar was dancing powerfully while singing.
Come to think, real-life Sara was a petite blonde frail beauty, but her avatar 'Sara' had pale blue-tinted hair to her shoulders, tall woman vibe.
Overcoming illness, powering hope to kids—instinct said yes.
"Whoa."
The stage was surprisingly stellar.
No joke being #1 in the West—it rivaled mine in scale.
...Bit exaggerated. Up close, flaws everywhere. But absolutely? 'Great map' vibes.
First thought after watching:
'Why bother?'
Fancy effects, clean design. Sara knew it intimately after years at Rayshojo, fans too.
To erase Rayshojo traces, light retouches could make it look brand new.
Bigger than remaking from scratch threshold.
Blueprint formed in my head.
"Sara."
"Yes?"
"If it conveys hope, succeeds the fundraiser... would a map even matter?"
The world loves novelty.
My avatar creations.
My maps.
'Firsts' were set.
Next: something I'd studied lately. Perfect chance to try.
One hitch—using this symbolic thing for others?
Our eyes met Myth's again.
She smiled brightly.
Unlike before, total confidence.
Yeah, gifting Sara this wouldn't lose Myth points.
She's Myth, and I'm here.
Sara's eyes held questions, curiosity, sparkling hope—fixed on my mouth.
I smiled and spoke.
"How about a music video?"
Her eyes flew wide at the unexpected words.