The Femininity Challenge (Difficulty: Hard)
“C’mon, you’re wearing a skirt and you’re spreading your legs like that? What are you doooing…”
“Ah.”
At Ha Jiyeon’s pointed remark I snapped my legs shut in a panic.
That was close. Without thinking I’d sat with my legs apart exactly like I did back when I was a guy. It wasn’t the full-on manspreading you see on the subway—just shoulder width—but it was still dangerous.
The outfit I had on right now was a skirt. The kind of ridiculously, obscenely revealing clothes where even the slightest parting of your thighs while sitting would flash your panties. A wave of embarrassment rolled over me.
“You really are completely defenseless, Arin. It’s a good thing no one’s around, but what if someone had seen you?”
Ha Jiyeon plopped down beside me and held out a cone ice cream. I took it with an awkward “Th-thanks for the food” and accepted it clumsily. Thank goodness the area really was empty… yeah.
“I figured it out. You’ve barely ever worn clothes like this before, right?”
While I was licking away at the ice cream, Ha Jiyeon grinned and said that.
“…Huh?”
“Well, just now and the first time we met you were in that drab tracksuit, so it looked like you don’t really care about fashion.”
“Mm… that’s true.”
“Right? No wonder your walking form in a skirt looked so awkward… ufufu.”
Guess it’s obvious to another woman. To be honest, walking around had felt incredibly awkward. The breeze blowing up from below was straight-up spine-chilling. It made me waddle a little.
“So why do you only wear tracksuits? Is there a reason?”
“…They’re just comfortable?”
“That won’t do! You’re just coasting on your face, aren’t you? Huh?!”
“N-no, I’m not coasting…”
“This is serious! From now on you’re going to keep doing fitting gigs with me and learn how to be more feminine!”
“Haha…”
She keeps buttering me up while sneakily trying to recruit me as her fitting model. Still, I like how honest she is. I do want to keep doing the modeling… yup.
Anyway—femininity, huh?
I definitely felt the need to change from how I was now. After all, being a VTuber is basically a job where you engage in pseudo-romance aimed at male viewers. Trying to become a VTuber while still thinking like a guy? That’s not gonna work.
I’d even casually dropped an “fuck” on stream yesterday. If I were a big-company VTuber, that would’ve caused a scandal for sure.
Okay. Time to change. Shin Arin Female Project—ON.
“Boss, I have a favor to ask.”
I looked at Ha Jiyeon with a dead-serious expression. She must have been startled by the sudden shift in mood because her shoulders twitched.
“Y-yes? What kind of favor…?”
“Please teach me about girls today.”
“Ehhhhhhhh?!?!”
“……?”
What’s with her reaction? Did I say something weird?
While I stood there confused—
“W-wait a second! Arin… I’m a girl, you know?”
“Ah.”
Seeing her embarrassed reaction, I finally understood.
She’d totally taken it the wrong way. This person has quite the wild imagination. A mischievous urge bubbled up inside me.
“I know. Is there a problem?”
“Hic…”
I said it with a perfectly straight face. Ha Jiyeon’s face instantly turned beet red. She started waving her hands wildly in the air and babbling.
“I-I’m sorry but I don’t swing that way… wait, actually you’re so pretty that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but still that’s a bit—!”
“I’m joking.”
Pfft.
Her reaction was delicious.
Shin Arin Female Project. It sounded grandiose, but in practice it was basically just experiencing how girls hang out together.
I left the entire itinerary to Ha Jiyeon and we wandered around to various places. We ate a late lunch at a famous restaurant, went shopping, hit up a café. I’d done all of them at least once as a guy, so none of it felt especially new.
Oh, but taking those trendy photo-booth sticker pictures at the end was a first. According to Ha Jiyeon it’s a mandatory course when girls meet up… hmm.
To be honest I still didn’t really get it. Since I didn’t feel much of anything while we were playing, it seemed like learning femininity would take more time. At least I’d gotten used to walking around in a skirt.
Well, it’ll work out somehow. If I keep living as a girl, eventually I’ll be able to do reactions like the other VTubers: “Waaaah~ Thank you for the donation, XXX-nim! Mwah~!”
‘…Fuck.’
Just imagining it was harder than I thought. Being a VTuber is a tougher job than it looks.
Graaaagh.
“Arin, today was seriously so much fun! Let’s hang out again whenever you’re free, okay?”
Anyway, it was time to part ways. I gave a small nod.
“Yep… let’s do that. I had fun too~”
“You really did, right? Ufufu. Oh, right! We never exchanged numbers. While we’re at it, let’s follow each other on Instagram too!”
“I don’t use Instagram.”
“What? I was sure you’d have one… ugh, make one right now!”
“……”
In the end I was forced to create an Instagram account before we separated. As we parted she also asked me to post a picture wearing the free outfit she gave me today… I should probably do that. I did eat a lot of her generosity today.
Anyway.
By the time I got home it was already 6:30. Since my regular stream time is 7 p.m., I had to start preparing immediately.
I hurriedly ripped open the delivery packages, set up the monitor and microphone, and quickly finished the stream setup. The moment the clock hit 7 I turned the broadcast on.
Stream Title: VTuber Training - Day 1
“Oh.”
The second I started the stream, thirty people flooded in instantly. That was honestly touching. I’d felt too guilty to post another “stream starting” notice on the gallery today, so I’d just turned it on.
“Hey hey~ Were you all waiting for me? I really didn’t believe it at all~”
“Just kidding, just kidding~ Hello everyone. It feels so real now that you guys are spamming Mwing-ha the second I turn the stream on. Heh.”
When I said that, the chat filled with lively replies like “Mwing-ha is catching on,” “How are you a VTuber without a flat board, you 10-year-old lol,” and so on. Honestly I still wasn’t a VTuber yet, but I could really feel that I’d become an actual streamer. It felt good.
“Did everyone have a good day? It’s 7 p.m. so you’re probably all on your way home from work… yeah.”
“Pffft… I was just asking. What’s with the reaction? Anyway, I had a pretty wholesome day today.”
When you start a stream you usually begin with casual daily talk instead of jumping straight into the main content. I followed that pattern.
“First of all~ I got a second job! How about that? Can you see my burning passion for becoming a VTuber?”
“What do you mean weird? What’s weird supposed to mean, you degenerate… pffft. It’s not that. I’m a fitting model now~”
The moment I said I got a fitting model job, the chat was flooded with question marks. These guys seriously don’t believe me? But it’s true, what am I supposed to do?
I was about to explain myself when the 1,000-won donations started pouring in first.
ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!
Fitting model? lmao you’re talking big when you don’t even have a cam
CatchingACold donated 1,000 won!
This girl said she’s pretty on the gallery too, looks like she’s building up the blue pill arc lmao
ImmortalMessi donated 1,000 won!
I understand Mwing lol I’m in a meeting with an overseas buyer while watching the stream right now lol
“N-nooo~ What overseas buyer nonsense? I’m telling the truth!”
This is so unfair. I was seriously thinking about showing the hourly wage I earned today to prove it… but nah. There was no need to go that far. What matters for a VTuber isn’t real-life appearance! …Though there are cases where taking the red pill makes you even more famous.
“Think whatever you want. It’s obvious who’ll be crying when the twilight hours come, but I’ll gladly play along. Heh.”
“…So what are we doing today? Hmm.”
I hadn’t prepared any content yesterday, so this time I came properly prepared.
I opened up a notepad on the stream screen and started typing.
Tap tap tap.
"Training to Become an Absolutely God-Tier VTuber!"
“Okay okay~ Can you all see this? Before I debut as a VTuber I’m going to build up the fundamentals. Take a seat, take a seat~”
“Ugh, stop being sarcastic and listen! I’m being serious.”
I typed “Go!” in chat once and thought to myself.
It’s true I can’t be a VTuber yet because I don’t have an avatar… but more than that, I judged that my basic skills were too lacking to challenge it right now. Until yesterday I had been a guy, nothing more than a fan of VTubers. So starting today it’s VTuber Training Day 1. I plan to keep studying until my official debut while also listening to viewer feedback.
The first thing on the agenda today was—
“First, I’m going to change my voice into proper VTuber mode.”
The chat looked confused. Ignoring their reaction, I cleared my throat.
Ahem.
Then I put as much force on my tongue as possible and opened my mouth.
“Hewwo evewyone~ Mwingi has arriwed~”
It sounded like a whining noise with my tongue half gone. The chat filled with straight-faced emotes and question marks.
Ugh… seeing that reaction suddenly makes me feel super embarrassed.
Still, it can’t be helped. A lispy voice is the default for VTubers!!
“H-how’s this voice? Cute, wight~? Heh.”
What the… Is this not it?