Wahhh
Two days passed, and after washing up, I slipped into my clothes. Today was the day I was finally meeting the Universe 2nd gen members in person. Same jeans and hoodie as last time, topped with a lighter-weight puffer jacket since it was getting warmer now that spring had arrived. I thought about wearing something else, but honestly, I didn't have anything suitable. It suited me well enough anyway.
"Ugh... this'll do, right?"
I shoved my hands in my pockets and headed to the office.
⋯
Beep—!
[Expired pass. Please try again.]
I wasn't getting stopped at the company entrance anymore. As a full-fledged member of Universe now, I'd gotten an online pass from Yuseol. But when I tried scanning the barcode, it wouldn't register.
"Wh-what's wrong with this...?"
Beep—!
"Huh?"
Did she trick me? No, did you trick me, President? Should I call her again? I was deep in serious thought when a voice came from behind me. Korean with a slightly awkward lilt.
"Excuse me, mind if I go first~?"
"Ah, sure. Huh?"
I turned around to see a familiar face—and along with it, some very ample assets.
"Yuzha?"
"Hm? You know me? I don't think I've ever met someone as cute as you~? Wait, but before debut, not many people would know that name..."
"Uh, I'm Neru..."
It was the face from the selfie she'd posted in the Discord room claiming it was her.
Yuzha's eyes went wide as she looked me up and down, then she broke into a huge grin.
"Wow~ You look exactly like your character model? But what are you doing out here instead of going in?"
"Ah, well... it says my pass is expired..."
"Really? Let me check mine."
Beep—!
[Gate opens smoothly.]
The gate slid open effortlessly. Guess it was just mine that was glitchy.
"Ahaha, we can go in together then. Stick right behind me~"
"Y-yeah..."
She was about to press right up against me from behind when suddenly she pushed me ahead of her instead. With her hands on my shoulders, I waddled awkwardly through the gate. The feeling of a mass of soft flesh brushing lightly against the top of my head was so weird.
Damn it. Me, suffering this kind of humiliation!
I'm totally confronting the president about this. Though whether I could do it confidently with her cool expression staring me down was another question.
"Waaah~ We made it through~"
"Y-yeah... so can you let go now...?"
I finally wriggled free of her embrace and brushed the dust off my clothes. Then we rode the elevator together to the break room. When we opened the door, someone was already there—a woman who looked pretty tall, maybe early 170s cm? Her face was delicately pretty, giving off a pure, innocent vibe. She startled when she saw us and quickly pocketed her phone.
"Ah, hi..."
"Yeah, are you...?"
"Ah, yeah... I'm Ren..."
The person I'd pegged as Luna turned out to be Ren. I'd thought she was my type—similar build to mine!
"Waaah~ It's really you, Ren? You're so pretty~"
"Ah, no, not really..."
"I'm Yuzha, and this is Neru."
Yuzha introduced me while I was still reeling from the shock. Ren noticed my stare and looked a bit wary. Her looks were totally different from what I'd imagined, but her personality seemed spot-on.
"Um... why are you staring like that...?"
"Ah, sorry. Just recalibrating my sense of kinship."
"Huh? What does that...?"
"Nothing, just happy to meet you."
After shaking hands with Ren, the door opened again not long after. Ponytail, cap, crop top revealing sharply defined abs.
"Hey everyone! Oh, you're all here already?"
"Waaah... Luna?"
"That's me! I was at the gym—hope I'm not late?"
She was about Ren's height or a bit taller. With that build, why become a VTuber? That was my first thought.
"I've seen Yuzha in pics... so you must be Neru, and you Ren?"
"Ah, no, I'm Ren..."
"Ahaha, sorry! You three are all so pretty!"
I probably would've mixed them up too. I'd thought Ren was Luna at first glance.
And then another familiar face arrived.
"President!"
"You're all here. Have a seat."
"My pass said it was expired..."
"Hm? Really?"
Yuseol scanned my pass, looking mildly surprised as if she hadn't realized, then slipped back into her usual impassive expression.
"Sorry. I've been swamped lately and didn't notice. I'll renew it for you."
"Ah, okay."
We all settled into the plush sofa, and Yuseol started with some announcements. We'd begin vocal training soon, and we'd need time to adapt to RP—Role Play. Oh, and for reference, my RP is an AI from a cyberpunk era. It fits the overall 2nd gen cyberpunk concept perfectly, I think.
'Especially since there's actually an AI living in my head right now.'
From what I heard, Luna's some boss of an evil organization. With that physique, I could believe it. Ren's a classic cyberpunk hacker—suits her quiet vibe. Yuzha's your typical cyberpunk fixer or mercenary type.
But anyway, we'd chatted a few times on voice calls via Discord, but in person, there was still some awkwardness. That's why Yuseol organized this meetup—to break the ice and get us closer.
Luna and Yuzha were the outgoing ones, but everyone was still a bit cautious.
"Hey, should we drop the formal speech first? How old is everyone?"
"Yeah! Great idea! I'm twenty-three."
Yuzha jumped in eagerly at my question. Turns out Luna was twenty-four, Yuzha twenty-three, and Ren twenty-one. When they heard I was twenty-four too, they seemed surprised.
"Really? Then Neru's our unnie?!"
"Same age as me..."
"Y-yeah, Neru-unnie...?"
Of course, on stream we'd probably avoid "unnie" and just use nicknames. That's why Yuseol said we'd do proper introductions later—for RP reasons, and to avoid accidentally calling out real names.
"President, when are we ordering hamburgers?"
"I'll order now. Hang on."
"Yeees."
Maybe because we'd sorted out ages, with Luna and Yuzha's friendliness, we fell into some easy small talk.
Yuzha had been a trainee idol but quit because the restricted life was too stifling. And she was half-Japanese, which explained the slightly unnatural Korean.
Luna had tried for sports college admissions but didn't make it, so she decided to leverage her great voice instead. Couldn't get into sports college with that build? Hard to believe.
Ren had dropped out of college because it wasn't for her.
"...Engineering major?"
"Y-yeah... Computer science."
A pure-looking girl surviving comp sci with its skewed gender ratio. Yeah, that must've been exhausting. I didn't say it, but she probably got hit on a lot.
"What about you, Neru?"
"Ah, I did engineering too. On leave now, though."
"For real? At twenty-four, you're basically grad-ready?"
Pretty much. If I'd always been a girl, I'd have graduated already. But I'd taken military leave at twenty-one, served, came back for a year, then took another leave. I was supposed to return as a junior this year.
I'd taken leave last fall to focus on the AI VTuber project, planning to return last March... but
'With my body like this, no way I can go back.'
Sigh, such is my fate.
When I mentioned making an AI VTuber, Ren took more interest in me. Engineer girls just click, huh? Well, I was originally an engineer guy.
"R-really? That's impressive..."
"Eh, no big deal."
Ren was still shy, not dropping formal speech yet. She said she'd try her best.
As we chatted, Yuseol came back with the burgers we'd ordered.
"Giant Mac for who?"
"Ah, me!"
"Triple cheeseburger's yours, chicken breast burger for Luna..."
(The triple cheese was mine, for the record. My favorite even before the body swap—great value, ate it often. First time since the change, though.)
'...This burger's almost as big as my face.'
Can I even finish this? Serious dilemma.
"Wahhh."
This is bad. No matter how wide I open my mouth, the burger's longer vertically than my mouth is wide. Yuzha was giggling at me from the side, which made me feel utterly pathetic.
"Neru-unnie is just too cute. What do we do~?"
"It's not..."
Nom nom. In the end, I nibbled away bit by bit, and we all got a lot closer with my future teammates. I left half the burger, of course.
"...Feel free to leave some if you're full."
"Y-yeah..."
Yuseol ended up finishing the rest for me.