Broadcast-Parasite Hybrid VTuber with Bootleg Commentary

"The defendant is not guilty."

A ripple of unrest ran through the courtroom.

The man in the dock covered his face with both hands.

Someone in the gallery spat a curse; the victim's family finally broke down and wept.

"Hey, you son of a bitch!! And you still call yourself a lawyer!!"

"Quiet. Order in the court. Even after a trial has concluded, I ask that you maintain proper decorum."

I could feel the victim's family's stares burning into me.

Haa.

I stacked the thick sheaves of paperwork, then dragged both hands down my face.

This was never supposed to drag on this long.

The back-and-forth had stretched further than expected, and I was more drained than I'd realized.

A verdict is not handed down on emotion.

The evidence had been insufficient. There had been procedural defects in the investigation.

Even the witness statements submitted into the record had been riddled with oddities.

I had simply explained all of those facts.

I had simply done what a lawyer is supposed to do.

To someone, that would be salvation. To someone else, an unacceptable reality.

I was used to it.

I simply do my job.

The moment I stepped out of the courthouse, the reporters waiting outside swarmed me like a pack of dogs.

"Attorney Cha! Do you have anything to say to the victim's bereaved family?"

"Do you consider today's verdict just?"

Questions rained down.

I did not break stride.

Justice?

Since I first started practicing law, I had lost count of how many times I'd heard that word.

And at the same time, I had learned how its definition could shift depending on the circumstances.

The law realizes justice?

No. The difference between what can be proven and what cannot is what decides victory or defeat.

In this case, the defense's alibi had simply been received more favorably.

Thanks to that, I made money.

And my name got out.

The name Cha Jinyoung would be called one of the most expensive lawyers in the Republic of Korea.

Click.

I opened the car door and collapsed into the driver's seat like a discarded rag.

"Huuu..."

I still had a little time before my next appointment...

I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the screen.

"Hmm... The news headlines aren't bad."

Already, breaking reports of the trial result were flooding the internet.

The world really did move fast.

I set the predictable stories aside for the moment and tapped an AI-related piece floating on the side of the feed.

My brow furrowed.

"Ha. Fucking hell. Of all times..."

AI advanced by the day.

I had only just reached the point where I could call myself a lawyer I wouldn't be ashamed to introduce anywhere...

And now those little data scraps were about to snatch the whole table out from under me.

It had been quiet for so long, and only now was the trend exploding. The timing felt spiteful.

"If I'd known it would come to this, I would've done something other than law."

Easy enough to say... but when it came down to it, I had no idea what else I'd even do.

I shook off the idle thoughts and turned the ignition.

...Back then, I had no idea.

That I would actually be given the chance to choose another profession.

Evening. The sun had set, and the light had gone dim.

I had left important documents in the car.

"Ha. I should've just made copies. What a pain in the ass."

Hm? But there was someone... standing in front of my car?

A hat pulled so low I couldn't see a scrap of their face.

"Uh... do I need to move my car for you, or...?"

"...!"

The mystery figure registered my presence.

He tore the hat off and flung it aside.

"Huh?"

A familiar face.

A defendant from a case years ago, one where I had been appointed as public defender.

I'd heard he'd been released after serving his sentence for the guilty verdict, but... shit. This did not feel good.

"Cha Jinyoung."

The man ground his teeth hard enough that I could hear them scrape.

I couldn't even begin to measure how furious he was.

I scanned the surroundings, but there was no one to call for help—and the cramped underground parking garage offered nowhere worth running.

"Because of you, my life was ruined."

He pulled a long blade from his pocket and wrapped his hand around it.

He meant it.

If this went wrong, I was going to die.

So what was my choice?

"You should pay the price for what you did."

"Still blaming other people? Looks like you never learned a damn thing."

"You son of a bitch!!"

The man, wound tight with rage, charged.

Exactly the situation I wanted.

I blocked the first wide, telegraphed strike. The blade skimmed my skin and left a cut, but nothing fatal.

Tak!

"Aaagh!"

I struck the hand holding the weapon and neutralized it.

Now you're de—

Thuk.

"Ah?"

Thuk.

A vicious pain bloomed in my side.

This bastard had a second knife?

"Uwaaaaah!"

With the blade still buried in my side, I put everything I had into a slap across the bastard's face.

Crack!

He toppled sideways and hit the ground, and after that he didn't move.

"Aaagh..."

Strength drained from my legs.

My vision blurred.

Looking down, I saw the floor soaked dark with the blood I'd already lost.

When did I bleed this much...

My phone... I'd left it at the office.

My voice wouldn't come out properly.

My eyes kept wanting to close.

I die like this? This is so fucking unfair...

The life-flash people talk about at the end.

I had defended countless people, and yet my own face was nowhere in the reel.

Shit... this isn't even my life, is it?

It was my last regret, and far too late.

I collapsed where I stood, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠closed my eyes, and sank into a deep sleep.

At the time, I really thought I was dead.

No—I probably was dead.

Otherwise the situation I found myself in made no sense at all.

When I opened my eyes again and looked in the mirror, I nearly stopped breathing.

Because the reflection staring back was a woman I had never seen before.

Huge eyes.

Hair a curious color somewhere between red and brown.

She was tall, and her body was... well. Pretty damn startling.

And above all else—

"Ah. Ah. Voice test. Oh..."

The voice was insane.

Perfect diction.

Even to my own ears, it was a beautiful voice.

And just like that, I began my second life as a woman.

My memories of my previous life hadn't vanished.

Civil law. Criminal law. Courtroom technique.

If I put my mind to it, becoming a legal professional again would only be a matter of time.

But... I had no intention of becoming a lawyer a second time.

I had worked myself to the bone and still gotten murdered for it.

Once was enough of that experience.

This time, I wanted to do something fun.

So what I ordered was this!

A full streaming setup.

I ordered an all-in-one package—PC, streaming gear, the works.

"Hehe."

A laugh slipped out at how smoothly the preparations were going.

How did I get the money?

Looking at my ID, the name Cha Harin sat next to a very conspicuous age: twenty-two.

Every won I'd saved as a lawyer had vanished with my previous life, so there was no way I could afford high-end equipment on my own.

So I borrowed from my parents.

The parents of this life actually tried to give me more than I asked for.

I'll make it, I swear. I'll repay you with the best filial piety you've ever seen.

Still, I had no intention of showing my face.

Even just remembering the sensation of being stabbed sent chills down my spine, and the mere imagination of a stranger following me made cold sweat break out.

Personal information would be locked down completely.

And that was how, as if by fate, I discovered VTubers.

If I hid myself well enough, I could live online as someone else entirely.

A female character with brown hair and golden eyes.

Hm? What was this—she looked a little like me.

But I had no plans to show my real appearance anyway.

The quality-for-price wasn't bad either.

As for the name... ah, my head hurt.

I had zero talent for this kind of thing.

...Should I just use my previous life's name?

And that was how the handle Cha Jinyeong was born.

I thought it was a pretty decent name.

The viewers, apparently, did not.

Shit. You're going to mock a person's name like this? You want to get sued?

Anyway... it had been almost a full month since I'd started streaming.

And yet...

Ugh...

I'm fucked, aren't I?

Strange. Other people's streams hit three digits, with sound effects and everything going off.

At first it had seemed like I was growing a little.

I'd even hit a peak of fifty concurrent viewers, but...

Then it had started dwindling bit by bit, until now the only ones ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left were this seven-man special ops unit, with no new blood coming in.

What was the problem?

Should I just ask them...?

...Should I just ask an AI instead? Ha. Shit. Still feels annoying somehow.

"Today... let's take some time to talk with everyone."

...! So that was the problem!

Had living as Cha Harin narrowed the scope of my thinking?

I hadn't even realized I was trying to free-ride my way through streaming!

And yet these seven still hanging around were the real hardcore fans, weren't they?

"I love you all."

I knew what the problem was now... so what was I supposed to do...

LOK.

Line of Kings.

A game where five players form a team and win by destroying the enemy base's core structure—the Warp Gate.

Through countless combinations of aliens, future humans, anomalies, and more, it generated thousands of scenarios and delivered pure strategic warfare.

It demanded elite individual skill and seamless teamwork, and it was currently a worldwide phenomenon.

Only my gender had changed; the game had been famous in my previous life too, and I even knew a few of the big-name players.

It wasn't that I hadn't thought about it.

No—I'd planned to try it from the start.

The problem was...

I was a failure...

I couldn't even beat the practice AI. I had zero talent...

I understood how the game flowed, but my physical talent for actually jumping into it was at a despairing level.

If I queued into online matches like this, even the remaining seven would peel off.

Ha... but I also couldn't just ignore a guaranteed ticket to popularity. This was driving me insane.

The only thing I was good at was running my mouth...

"Um, I'm studying so I can try it."

"Why am I your noona? I could be younger than you."

"Oh, please..."

Well. I played along just enough.

On another monitor, I started gathering information on LOK.

Then a massive banner caught my eye.

<LOK Pro League>

The advertising was so aggressive I got curious and clicked—and found myself looking at the official LOK pro league broadcast.

Might as well watch this.

I confirmed the rebroadcast permissions and put the feed up on stream.

The red side: Eternal Fox.

The blue side: The Guardians.

Even the player intro videos were pretty gripping.

Reactions weren't bad, at least at this level.

Watching the footage, I started analyzing—hoping to fix my pathetic play.

If I just copied the pros' styles, couldn't I at least get up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to average civilian level?

As I watched, I pulled together player profiles floating around the internet for easier reference.

"Hmm... Eternal Fox's Crasher is an aggressive player..."

Hm? But something was off.

One or two skirmishes after the game started.

Crasher wasn't joining the fights.

He arrived a beat late every time and was catching heat for it.

"Even looking at his career highlight reels, this isn't how he's supposed to play. This is weird."

In the end, Eternal Fox tasted defeat in the first game.

In the next match as well, instead of locking in aggressive characters, Crasher chose buff- and heal-oriented picks—playing like a team player.

The official broadcast casters called it a safe selection.

"This isn't a safe pick. This feels a lot closer to a choice that was forced on Crasher."

"The Guardians know it too—that something's wrong with Crasher's form. That's why they're targeting only that. I think they'll go for Crasher first again this time."

The moment the game started, three Guardians players infiltrated Eternal Fox's side of the map and set a trap.

"Crasher's going to get hooked, and the teammates nearby need to cut him loose without hesitation and run, but..."

In the end Crasher died, becoming the first kill of the map, and I clicked my tongue.

The camera cut to Crasher.

His face was flushed red.

"Responding emotionally, then blaming the other side's fault once the situation turns against you."

"A classic pattern."

"Provocation is not grounds for exemption. There's no room for mitigating circumstances in Crasher's judgment here."

Something about this was landing.

I was just saying whatever came to mind while watching the match—and they liked it!

The official casters were also saying that The Guardians' center, Step, was making mistakes.

"It's not a mistake."

"He's baiting them on purpose. He's ready to catch them the moment they walk in."

The very next beat.

Two Eternal Fox players took the bait.

But in that instant, Step's play changed completely.

Without a second of hesitation he burned a special skill and held the line until his teammates rotated in.

What Eternal Fox had thought would be an easy kill turned into a fatal misread—and two Eternal Fox characters went down.

"...Welcome to everyone just joining. I'm just a VTuber who likes to talk a lot."

The corners of my mouth slowly curled upward.

Of course, with a cheap VTuber model, no one could see it.

Even if I couldn't play the game, there was a way to enjoy it.

Judging the right and wrong of the data on the screen.

I was more confident in that than anyone.

"Alright. I'll give you the conclusion first."

"Eternal Fox wins today's match."

"Ah, just watch, I'm telling you."

While the match between the two teams was still deep in progress, a video titled something like "The VTuber Who Called the Match Result Before the Official Casters" was posted to a certain community site.

Isn't that just trash-talking the other team? Who does this person think she is? The commentary is actually kind of fire, though—and so on.

In the middle of the heated response, the view count crossed ten thousand in a single hour, heralding the arrival of a monstrous rookie only one month into her debut...

"Whoa, today's an all-timer."

...but the person in question had no idea any of that was happening.