Community Uproar - 3
After the VTuber billion-won incident broke, community users spent the next day trading information about them.
The once-phantom-like ABCD had finally come up for air. But the attention they received was mostly the mocking kind.
“I heard the one who got the 1 billion donation this time belongs to them. The only domestic VTubers I know are Romantic Drive and the indie streamers who all swarm around each other. Were there even more people in Korea besides them? lol?”
“I’m guessing they tried to rip off a Japanese corporate VTuber idol thing and package it as a ‘3D performance idol group,’ but the company ran out of money and crashed. lol This is so damn funny.”
“I worked in the industry for a bit, and this case is always brought up as the reason you should absolutely never, under any circumstances, try to make an idol-style VTuber project in South Korea. lol They were famous in those circles.”
The more I dug, the stranger it got. It was basically a ghost story.
This was exactly the kind of company people meant when they talked about it.
Aurora Prism Entertainment.
A small, struggling startup that had jumped into the VTuber bloodbath as a latecomer and, afflicted with some kind of art-world fever, dreamed of making “true virtual idols” as an unlisted company....
The idiot startup’s VTuber idol group was ABCD.
Users were clutching their stomachs, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
That joke-and-mockery cycle kept going for hours.
And just when even the ridicule was getting old, they wanted a fresh hit of dopamine.
Hello, this is Aurora Prism Entertainment.
Thank you for your great interest in our company’s virtual idol plan, the ABCD project.
We have also been discussing this attention and concern, and we are aware of the various speculations and opinions surrounding it. With that in mind, we would like to address a few questions that have come up.
(1) Regarding the 1 billion-won sponsorship
This donation was made at the donor’s personal discretion, and, in accordance with platform policy and company regulations, it will be paid out to the talent as normal.
(2) Regarding the operating direction of the ABCD project
The direction of the group idol project will not change. We will continue the project normally according to the plans we have already prepared. In addition, respecting the opinions of our talent, we are planning even better content and activities.
We will keep working to repay your support with even better content and stages. We also plan to share new updates through the official channel community in the near future, so please look forward to them.
Thank you.
The reaction from users was split down the middle. Given how miserable everything they had shown so far had been, it was still hard to trust them.
One thing, however, was certain: at the very least, that announcement had turned some people from mockery to anticipation.
I was walking through Hangang Park.
...On a unicycle.
“Hoit, hoit....”
Creak, creak—
The white unicycle shot down the bike path without the slightest hesitation.
When I joined the circus troupe in that other loop, I could even juggle with a longsword... but the frustrating thing is, the really technical stuff doesn’t get carried over.
Even so, people around me looked entertained.
“Whoa, is that a unicycle?”
“He’s really good.”
Under the warm sunlight, passersby snickered as they looked my way, but they also seemed genuinely impressed by how well I rode. The kids, especially, loved it.
“Wow! It’s a circus!”
“...Not right now.”
“Mister, are you a clown?”
“Not right now.”
“You’re really good!”
“Thanks.”
I took out some candy and chocolate from my pocket and handed them to the children trailing after me. They squealed and snatched them up.
“....”
Then, still creaking forward, I approached an old man picking up scrap metal.
He was wearing a shabby vest and pulling a handcart, eyeing me suspiciously.
What the hell is this crazy bastard?
Without a word, I got off the unicycle and handed it over to him. That only made him look at me with even more suspicion.
“...?”
“Take it as scrap metal.”
“Looks perfectly fine to me.”
“I’ve had my fill of it now.”
“...What a weird guy.”
Even as he said that, the old man casually loaded the unicycle onto the handcart.
“....”
I pulled ten thousand won from my pocket and handed it to him. His eyes widened.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
“Buy some makgeolli with it.”
“....”
He snatched the money away. Then, in a voice as tiny as a mosquito’s, he muttered, “...Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Hmph....”
“....”
“...Wanna have a drink with me?”
“No, I get horrible hangovers if I drink makgeolli.”
“Aw, screw you....”
“Take care.”
With that, I got rid of the unicycle and sat down on a bench.
“....”
Man, I’m bored.
Isn’t anything fun going to happen....
Still, the kids laughing, and the old man’s tsundere act, were pretty amusing.
They were the kind of people I’d never once met in the middle of a regression.
Human emotions were more interesting than anything else. More interesting, even, than diving out of a luxury airliner. The feelings of people I had never once encountered during any of my loops were far more fascinating.
If even this small happiness had gone numb on me too, I probably would’ve gone insane from repeating regressions over and over.
In that sense, that sudden huge donation was....
“...Ah.”
Right.
Aki-chan.
I took out my phone and checked Aki-chan’s channel. But even today, the stream was off.
I tuned out the reactions on the community boards and social media. They were just a bunch of people yapping in whatever direction the wind blew, without knowing a damn thing.
“Did she quit?”
Tilting my head, I even checked the agency’s homepage.
And then I saw the notice posted there.
“....”
Basically....
We’re doing this for one more year!
That was the gist of it. There was no sign of them worrying about money and chasing some efficient “change.” They were simply, inefficiently, honestly just going to keep moving in the direction they had always been heading.
“Should I call it an artist’s sickness, or a craftsman’s pride....”
Honestly.
It was a very rare kind of feeling.
I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Heh heh....”
I think I’ve met some interesting people in this loop.
If you’re going to show up, then show up already. I’ll smack the hell out of you with donations.
The crime of making me laugh was a serious one.
The more fun I had, the more fun they had better be having too, or I wouldn’t be satisfied.
Come on. Let’s go crazy.
*
After posting the notice, ABCD decided to take a short maintenance break.
“Once the money comes in from the platform, let’s settle the payment right away and start preparing for the 3D debut. The actual work is already finished, so they said they can hand it over quickly.”
“Then do our lessons start again too?”
“Yeah. We’re preparing so we can renew the contract right away.”
While they were getting ready to take flight again, Aki sat tensely in the conference room.
Across from her sat the company president, the operations team leader, and the head of administration. They had no choice but to listen carefully to the words of the talent who had become the company’s pillar in a single leap.
Aki opened her mouth, her voice shaking.
“O-of the money I’m going to receive....”
“?”
“I’m going to reinvest 100 million won into the company.”
“...What?”