We’re Here - 1
【ABCD_DoDa Channel】
[Subscribers: 148,000]
Live Now: DoDa Never Dies lol it’s been a while since I drank lol Friday calls for a drink anyway, let’s go
-Live viewers: 12,422
Friday evening.
It wasn’t a broadcast with any special plan behind it.
Even so, the live viewer count was more than three thousand higher than usual. With other VTubers temporarily suspending activity, people had flooded in out of a kind of evacuation instinct.
Yeah. At this point, just grab the safe ones instead.
From Monday, when the advanced management bill was announced, through Wednesday, it had been nothing but chaos. But things had at least settled enough that everyone was left half-resigned, half-stunned.
At least there are still people left...
And so some fans from smaller VTuber fandoms had begun to stay with ABCD.
As proof of those chaotic days, an extra notice hung in the corner of DoDa’s stream screen.
【Urgent Notice】
1. No talking about “that bill”! For details, see the official site, channel community, and SNS. (Short version: ABCD is fine, no need to worry.)
2. No talking about other groups either. (I don’t know much myself....)
3. Live Future? lol... hahahahahahahaha....
4. That still doesn’t mean you get to start political baiting.
5. If you’re here, have a drink~
For the first time, DoDa turned on her hand cam. Then, with a white-gloved hand, she popped open a can of beer. A crisp fizz rang through the microphone.
Hiss—!
White foam surged out of the can. Apparently she’d shaken the bag around while carrying it home from the convenience store, because it was gushing over like a waterfall.
DoDa’s flat voice drifted out.
“Oh. Foam.”
DoDa’s fandom, the Dodari, burst into snickers.
-No way lol did you shake the bag all the way here?
-This is the first time I’ve seen her drink lol
-DoDaDaDa
-Back on Live Future, she drank pretty often lol
-One beer and then ranked matches lol
-Whoa, I thought she sounded like a kid, but she’s an adult?
-LMAO true
-DoDa feels like an adult woman....
-Was Aki-chan the only one who never did drinking streams?
-Hehhehheh
“Thanks for the donation. And keep your backseat advice to yourself, thanks.”
At last, the beer can slipped out of the hand cam frame. Then, from beyond it, a vulgar slurping sound rang out. The sound of her absorbing the foam that had spilled over.
Chup-chup
Chuwup—
Chup....
After she drank all the foam, DoDa gave a small burp.
“Ugh, buuurp! Wow, that’s delicious.”
After a little wave,
the hand cam switched off.
“I’m going back to 2D. Hold on a sec. Wait a bit.”
Blue waves rolled across the screen, and the stream shifted to a standby screen. In the meantime, the Dodari were losing their minds. To them, that sound had been a reward.
-?
-That slurping sound was kind of sexy....
-Huh?!
-Hey, idiot, you’re a virtual idol first and foremost
-What the hell, why is this suddenly a service stream
-ABCD is quitting idol work as of today!
-(excited)
-LOL what the hell lol
-Why is everyone getting horny over a hiccup sound...?
-Whoa.
-Is this an adult broadcast?
-Cow, what are you even saying?
-What the hell lol
-Well, that’s because they’re Dodari....
-Huuuuuuuh lol
-Are you insane lol
-So hot
-Can they really get away with this? lol
By then, DoDa had returned to her 2D portrait.
She skimmed the chat once. Seeing them latch onto the strangest thing, she let out a snort. Then she took another gulp of beer and said calmly,
“The manager unnie and the boss only said they don’t want me to fart during the broadcast, so as long as I keep that one rule, it’s fine.”
-No way lol
-Why is this conversation topic like this, holy crap lol
-Farts are insanely hot
-BigMan should,,, open a,,, luxury restroom,,,!
-Wow, is this what shitty company management looks like?
-Baek Su-cheol’s tears....
-Enough!! Stop!!
“What’s the big deal about farts? Don’t you guys fart? Don’t you take dumps?”
-You do? lol
“Every day. Ptoo-rrt. If anyone asks who the ‘Woman of Proper Bowels’ is, that’s me.”
-LOL the confidence is throwing me off
-This household is not easy....
-I heard Berry doesn’t poop~ She says she’s a pretty girl, so she absolutely never goes to the bathroom and only marshmallows come out~
-True
-Aki-chan also talks around it when she has to go to the bathroom lol
-What about Clara unnie?
-I remember Clara just said she was going to the bathroom too
-This is definitely getting archived on the wiki
-Member-specific toilet nicknames? Whoa.
-Get the hell out, you perverts lol
“Wow, this topic is really not easy. Okay, poop and fart talk is officially suspended from now on, nya.”
-The cat speech finally shows up lol
“Okay, you go outside for a bit and reflect on your sins. Still, thanks for the donation, nya.”
-Then at least tell us about the live prep lol
“The live? Ah.... Just thinking about it hurts my heart, nya.”
-You don’t even have a heart!
“Get out.”
Click!
The Dodari who had told the truth was banned for five minutes. Then she started talking about the canceled live preparations. Of course, it was all within the publicly approved range they’d agreed on in advance.
Since the live had been canceled anyway, the point was to at least make some conversation out of it.
“So Aki-chan was handling everything like a total pro. Even during lessons, she was checking my and Berry unnie’s posture, giving Clara unnie a back massage....”
-No way, the age issue is coming up here lol
“Anyway. While we were preparing all kinds of stuff, the whole mood was like, ‘All right! Our adventure starts now!’ I really thought we could do way better than the showcase.”
-But as you all know, the result was....
“....”
DoDa drank her beer in silence.
The live-prep stories continued after that.
The blue madwoman’s talk was completely unguarded. Swept up in that shameless, deranged energy, people who had come merely to get out of the rain slowly began to settle in.
Then, at that moment,
a gunshot rang out.
Tang—!
“....”
And DoDa froze in place.
The mouth that had been chattering without pause shut at once.
“....”
-?
-??
-A gun...?
-What’s going on?
-??
“Ah, that was just a text message sound. Sorry. I was checking it for a second.”
-No way lol
-Is this woman insane for real lol
-Agh lol
-Damn... I didn’t see that coming
-Are you kidding me lol
“....”
But DoDa gave a low groan.
“....We’re screwed. Talking about the live is banned again. Let’s talk about something else.”
-What are you talking about?
“Better yet, how about we start praising BigMan? It’s time for that.”
-A surprise worship attack, whoa
-Come to think of it, that guy hasn’t shown up today
-Uh
-Ah....
-Wait, why are you making this weird....
“Don’t worry, nya-nya. BigMan is with us.”
-?
DoDa raised her beer can and shouted,
“Screw it! It was a joyful life! Kyiioooooot—!”
-Why is she like this...?
And like a hero of old,
she gulped down the beer with refreshing ease.
“Phew. Starting next week, let’s try hard again. Our adventure starts now, nya.”
-?
“And starting next week, we’re doing the PC room again.”
-??
*
【ABCD_Berry Channel】
[Subscribers: 137,000]
Live Now: Shy ☆Talk Time☆ with Berryri (Let’s not talk about sad things anymore...!)
-Live viewers: 9,484
Berry did a casual chat stream. She had also seen an increase of about three thousand live viewers thanks to the evacuation effect. So she was doing her best to keep the mood bright and composed.
Mostly, she was talking about live preparation stories.
Since the live had been canceled anyway, that was the only topic she could talk about with any ease.
“So, you see! That was, um....”
Then, in the middle of it,
she paused after getting a message.
Heartu heartu~!
“Huh? Just a second. I’ve got a message....”
Even that tiny action
was met with absurd enthusiasm from Berry’s fandom, the Boomerangs.
-Berryri’s notification sound is cute too?
-Berryriiiiii~
-I make that same sound as Berryri
-Berryri is the cutest in the world
-Being able to live in the same world as such a pretty girl like Berryling is an honor
-Hey hey, why are you stating the obvious? lol
The evacuees were just trembling in place.
-This stream is not easy
-No way lol
-So this is what the vibe was like
-It’s addictive like a comforting smell of aging feet....
Berry checked her phone. Then she visibly jolted.
“Hoet?!”
-Even Berryri being surprised is cute
“....”
-Berryri?
“W-well, you see. Ahaha.... Yeah, uh....”
-?
“That’s enough about the live~ E-eh! Shall we all talk about something else together? What should we talk about, hmm....”
-What happened?
For a moment, her reaction was awkward enough to break character entirely.
Berry rolled her pink eyes back and forth, then suddenly winked. After that, she dropped a surprise announcement she was able to make right then and there.
“How about we do Berryri Land again next week?”
-?
Somewhere viewers couldn’t see,
Berry’s phone held a sudden message from Clara. The core of the long text was just two things.
1. The live was still going to be prepared as originally planned
2. BigMan had personally contacted them and sent the budget
The budget that had been delivered was....
“....”
Three billion won.
“...Hawawa.”
*
Aki was lying dazed in the convenience store break room. The lights in the first-floor convenience store were off, but she didn’t feel like going home. So she had just lain down in the break room on her own.
“....”
No part-time work,
no broadcast, and nothing to do.
And the live was canceled too.
It was the first time she’d ever had complete free time.
“....”
After the live had been so abruptly shut down, a hollow feeling had surged up inside her chest.
So for a little while, she wanted to stay like this.
However hard things got,
she should be doing what she could, but....
For now, she just wanted to stay like this a little longer.
She felt a little guilty, as if she were using it selfishly, but still.
“....”
You can use it anytime, even when it’s not your shift.
In truth, Seonwoo Taek himself had given her permission to use it comfortably.
But Aki had never once come when Taek wasn’t there. She always slipped by the first-floor convenience store and went up. On days when no one was around, she turned back.
Because....
...I want to see him.
That was as far as her rest went.
Aki closed her eyes.
“....”
From their first meeting
to the present, memories came back one after another.
Her pounding heart remembered.
-Is life not hard for you?
-From now on, please call me Manager.
-That feeling. It just never came back. Same space, same restaurant, same people, and yet.
-It’s heavy. The sincerity of one person. It’s too heavy for me to carry.
-The people who like Aki-chan all seem kind.
-I support you.
On the other side of hearing those words, there was herself, not an idol.
And there was that conversation on the rainy day.
[Of course, Manager.]
[Yes.]
[Why do you make money, Manager?]
[Because there’s something I want to see.]
[What is it?]
[Achieving a dream.]
[Yours, Manager’s?]
[No.]
In the eyes that looked at her
there had been the self she was trying to become, an idol.
Being with him,
the life that had stopped began to move.
At his side,
she could dream again.
The moment she remembered those eyes, she knew it by instinct. It was a vague imagination, but one she could no longer pretend not to consider. A question she had hesitated to ask again and again.
“....”
He was...
almost like....
BigMan.
“....”
Making money,
treasuring people’s hearts,
and cheering her on....
A strong but lonely giant.
“....”
-I support you.
[I support you.]
-Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.
[Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.]
It was a foolish thought.
And yet somehow, she had that thought.
What kind of person could there be like that in this world?
Manager Taek, Seonwoo Taek, BigMan....
Could they all be the same person?
When he was away,
the donations sometimes stopped.
The things he said from time to time.
Those clues kept feeding the idea.
Why?
Because she simply wanted to ask.
Not out of fear, or suspicion, or dread....
Just as her heart was beating.
She wanted to ask whether things had been hard for him.
“....”
I should ask him. Whether my brother really is BigMan. It’ll be over as soon as I ask once anyway.
The moment she thought that,
a sound came from in front of the break room door.
Step....
“!”
Aki looked at the CCTV. The person walking past was Seonwoo Taek. She immediately ran out. With a rush, she flung the break room door open.
Bang!
“!”
He turned around.
He looked a little startled.
“Ms. A-yeong. Are you here?”
“....”
The instant she saw that expression,
her mouth moved before she even knew it.
A wildly abrupt question burst out.
She had no evidence.
Only emotion was ahead of everything else.
It was a foolish question.
She had hesitated to ask it.
But in the end, it came out.
All she needed was one line.
“Are you BigMan, oppa?”
“....”
He fell silent. He looked utterly thrown by the question out of nowhere.
“....”
“....”
Minutes passed.
“....”
“....”
She hadn’t even managed to say hello yet.
“....”
“....”
An awkward stretch of time went by.
“....”
“....”
And then.
He nodded.
“...Yes.”
“....”