Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: I Met the Prism Company Members!
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How the heck did things end up like this?
Yeah, getting kidnapped by Rine-chan and dragged to this hotel—fine, whatever.
Even feeling intimidated by how ridiculously luxurious the place was? That was okay too.
But what the hell is this situation right now...?
【It's really Lulu?! You're this cute in person too? That's cheating! Total cheating!】
【Yeah, I get why Rine's so obsessed. She's the type that really stirs up protective instincts.】
Surrounded by two mysterious women.
No, make that three women including Rine-chan.
Sitting in the hotel lounge, just stammering away—what is this?
【You two, I told you not to bully Da-jeong too much.】
【We weren't trying to bully her!】
【Yeah, we were just observing because she's so fascinating.】
Rine-chan, who'd been watching these strangers shove their faces right up to mine.
Finally flashed a wry smile and pulled the two away.
The suffocating pressure on my chest eased up a bit.
Phew.
I almost suffocated to death there.
Mental asphyxiation, I guess you could call it.
【Da-jeong, sorry. Introductions got delayed. These are our Prism Company members, Anise and Kyow. You know them, right?】
【Huh? Oh, Anise and Kyow...?】
She handed me some kind of drink from who-knows-where.
My eyes went wide at Rine-chan's words.
No wonder their voices sounded familiar.
Of all things, they turned out to be Prism Company members.
【Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Charlotte Allen, performing as Anise. Just call me Charlotte.】
【I'm Kato Shuri, going by Kusakabe Kyow.】
I-I don't know if it's okay to say this.
But it's like they've dumped a massive red pill on me.
The real-life Prism Company members, whom I'd only barely glimpsed on streams, right here in front of me.
【Anyway, nice to meet you all. I'm Jeong Da-jeong, performing as Lulu. Feel free to call me Da-jeong.】
"Da-jeong? That's a pretty name. It suits you."
...Huh?
Suddenly hit with fluent Korean, I blinked.
That wasn't Rine-chan's voice just now, right?
It sounded like Kyow—no, Shuri-chan...
"Sh-Shuri-chan, you speak Korean?"
"Yeah, to some extent. I love Korean dramas and movies."
"Whoa..."
That explained it.
Her pronunciation was a little off, sure.
But way more fluent than Rine-chan, who could only handle basic greetings.
Learning foreign languages from dramas and movies really works.
I did the same when I first wanted to pick up English and stuff.
I learned by watching news clips, movies, whatever I could find.
【But sorry, I don't really like being called by my first name. I'd appreciate it if you used my family name.】
【S-Sorry! Come to think of it, casually using first names is rude in Japan, right?】
In the middle of chatting, Shuri—no, Ms. Kato—looked a bit uncomfortable as she spoke up.
I hurriedly apologized and bowed my head.
Hope I didn't come off as rude right from the start.
【No, that's not what I meant. I just... don't like my first name much.】
【Huh, why? It's cute.】
But learning she disliked being called by her first name for such an unexpected reason.
I tilted my head in confusion.
Shuri.
I thought it was a really nice name.
Why hate it?
【My personality's kind of blunt, you know? But my name has this cute vibe, so I got teased a lot as a kid.】
【Ah, I see...】
【Yeah, so it feels awkward. That's why I made my avatar name more masculine too.】
Ah, that makes sense.
Kusakabe Kyow.
It did strike me as a bit manly when I first heard it.
Sure, Kyow is used for women in Japan sometimes.
But it's closer to a masculine name, honestly.
Who knew there was such a backstory to it.
【If it bothers you, Ms. Kato, I'll call you that... but I think Shuri suits you perfectly.】
【Huh...? R-Really?】
I didn't want to argue if she felt that way herself.
But I had to share this honest thought.
Ms. Kato's face flushed even redder.
【Yeah, Ms. Kato. You get all blushy when called by your first name—super cute. You might not realize it, but you're plenty cute.】
【Th-Thanks. Almost no one says that to me...】
【For real?】
I glanced at the other two to check.
They both nodded with wry smiles at the same time—Rine-chan and Charlotte-chan.
Guess since she put it that way herself.
No one wanted to butt in and call her cute or tell her otherwise.
【Hehe, don't worry. To me, you're super cute, Ms. Kato. No need to stress over it.】
【Got it. I'll keep that in mind. And sorry for switching, but... you can just call me Shuri.】
【Huh? You sure?】
【Yeah, I think it'd be okay with you.】
Whoa.
Letting me call her that means Shuri-chan's opened up to me, right?
I'm thrilled.
【Got it! Shuri-chan it is, then. Nice to meet you again, Shuri-chan.】
【Nice to meet you too.】
As we shook hands with Shuri-chan.
Our awkward first greetings wrapped up nicely.
Whoosh—
【Whoa! Amazing, Da-jeong! You cracked that cool Kato open!】
Charlotte-chan suddenly hugged me from behind.
Rubbing her head on my shoulder like crazy.
Hard to believe we just met—she was incredibly friendly.
And calling her Kato, huh.
Even the other members had been using her family name all along.
Even someone as outgoing as Charlotte-chan.
Anyway, I'd safely greeted all the Prism Company members...
...Huh? Wait, all of them?
Something felt off.
Didn't Prism Company have four members?
That's right.
Looking around, I realized one person was missing.
Beatrice Triminia.
Or Bea-chan, as she's called.
Beatrice boasts nearly 2 million Mityube subscribers.
She's called the world's top Virtual YouTuber.
At the same time, she's known as the most committed to RP.
Her character concept is basically chuunibyou.
She keeps up that speech and behavior pattern throughout her streams.
Most RP diehards burn out mentally fast.
So their streams are usually short.
But Beatrice maintains her RP for an average of 7 hours straight.
Fans even joke she's probably like that in real life too.
Anyway, that Beatrice was the only one not here.
【Um, Rine-chan. Where's the last member?】
【Oh, Lily's probably sleeping.】
【Sl-Sleeping?】
Charlotte-chan answered instead, and my eyes went wide.
Lily must be Beatrice's real name.
But it's not even 9 PM yet—already asleep?
Well, sleeping at this hour isn't weird.
Virtual YouTubers usually flip night and day, so it felt off that she's already in dreamland.
Maybe jet lag or something?
【Lily's full of energy on stream, but a total sleepyhead off-camera. Gives the staff tons of headaches. Can't get confirmations half the time.】
【I-I see...】
Her starry-eyed tone turned pretty biting as she trashed Beatrice.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Isn't that a bit too risky?
If she can't even get confirmations, work must suffer a ton.
Still, she's undeniably the most pushed member in Prism Company.
Guess it's thanks to her overwhelming streaming skills.
【I'll introduce you sometime! But she won't wake up till at least tomorrow morning.】
【How late did she crash...?】
【Hmm, a bit after Rine left, so... around 3 AM?】
That's at least 6 hours already.
If she sleeps till 8 AM tomorrow...
Gasp, 17 hours.
She's amazing for pulling off streams in that routine.
【Lily's pretty lazy normally, but rock-solid on stream. We joke that all that sleep is why she crushes it.】
【Y-Yeah, maybe...】
Reading my expression, Rine-chan said it half-jokingly.
I nodded along, looking convinced.
Fair enough—maintaining RP that long probably needs massive rest.
【Anyway, Da-jeong and I are heading up first. Kinda awkward lingering where everyone's staring.】
After all that chit-chat.
Rine-chan grabbed my hand, pulled me from the chair, and said so.
Time had flown—nearly 10 PM now.
【That's mean, Rine. Share a little!】
Charlotte-chan pouted right away.
I'd enjoyed talking to them too, so parting felt disappointing.
But bedtime was approaching.
Honestly, after running around all day, I was wiped.
Craving my bed right now.
【How about we all crash in Rine's room for an all-night girls' talk...? Ow!】
【Cut it out, Charlotte. Da-jeong's been dragged around by Rine all day—she needs rest.】
Charlotte-chan's compromise got shot down by Shuri-chan's knuckle rap.
But even Shuri-chan eyed me with a hint of regret.
Squeeze—
I couldn't help it—I approached them both.
And hugged them tight with both arms.
【Ehh...?!】
【D-Da-jeong?】
W-Wait!
Even if we're getting along, we're still basically strangers!
What am I doing?!
They're all flustered!
Face burning, I pulled away fast.
Fidgeting with my hands, eyes upturned, I looked at them and said,
【I-I want to talk more too... but we can meet again before I leave tomorrow. Right? G-Good night, see you tomorrow.】
Looking down at me, the two...
【Is Da-jeong maybe high attack because her defense is low?】
【Yeah, this might be tough to tank.】
Muttered some cryptic stuff and nodded.
Then bent down to my eye level and hugged me gently.
【Good night, Da-jeong! Sweet dreams.】
【If Rine pulls anything weird, come running.】
【O-Okay...】
I doubt Rine-chan would do anything creepy to me.
Anyway, I nodded, pulled back, waved to them.
And headed up with Rine-chan.
Swish—swish—
In the rising elevator.
Rine-chan stared at me with eyes like I was the cutest creature ever.
Endlessly petting my head.
Why does everyone want to pet my head on sight?
I'm not a pet.
Not that it feels bad, though.