I'm an Actress, but I Do VTuber Streams

The life of a streamer who isn't one of the big names is a truly grueling one.

"Ugh, why won't this guy just die."

"Quiet, quiet. I'm trying to concentrate right now, okay?"

This was nothing like the chat windows of those so-called corporate-tier broadcasts. This was the raw, unfiltered kind — the sort of stream atmosphere people usually call the underground.

"It's my stream, so I'll do whatever the fuck I want. If that bothers you, go start your own and do whatever the fuck you want."

"…Alright, banning that one."

"What do you mean, fact ban. I'm way past hako level at this point."

A real hako doesn't even get chats like that. I knew that well enough — I'd been one myself.

Those days feel like forever ago.

These days I averaged a whole three hundred viewers, but there had been a time when not a single message would crawl across the chat….

"Ah."

"…They counterpicked me this game, okay? I'll prove myself next round."

"Ugh, I don't know, I don't know. Riho doesn't know anything. I'm just a baby, so stop being so mean to me. Manner chat, please."

"Everyone quiet down. Haa… other streams cover for you when you're a little off, so why is it only my chat that's like this…."

"Hey, you really don't need to do that…."

"…You know what, I'm just banning all of you along with that last guy."

Even so, they were all precious money… no, precious viewers — so I didn't actually ban anyone.

Just a light temporary timeout, nothing more.

"Haa… how did my stream end up like this…."

It hadn't always been this way….

I'd clearly set out to do a skill-based stream at the start…. So how on earth had it turned into this comedy show….

"…You're getting banned too."

Iron IV, sixty LP — and still, today, Riho dreamed of a skill stream.

It happened on a mild spring day, with a cool breeze in the air.

When I opened my eyes, a woman's face filled my vision.

"Must be because she's my daughter — she's gorgeous, of course~."

"Right~? It's not easy for a baby to be this pretty… maybe this is the power of good genes."

I could hear the woman and another woman chatting happily nearby.

Judging by the uniform, the one she was talking to seemed to be a nurse…. And the woman holding me had a face that felt strangely familiar, too….

My head was spinning too hard to think straight. What on earth was going on?

I was definitely….

I couldn't remember the details clearly, but I'd gone out to a convenience store for the first time in a while, gotten hit by a truck…. Then I'd been lying on the ground in the rain, listening to the distant wail of an ambulance, and that was the last thing I remembered before blacking out….

Hmm….

What even was this.

I tried hard to work it out, turning the situation over in my mind. But a crushing wave of exhaustion hit me almost immediately, so I decided to sleep on it and figure the rest out when I woke up. I closed my eyes.

Time kept flowing after that, and before I knew it I was a high school student.

And in all that time, here was what I'd figured out….

I had been reincarnated. As the child of a famous idol, no less.

If you asked me how something like that was possible, I wouldn't have an answer. I hadn't been able to accept it at first either.

But this was a world where plenty of even more ridiculous things happened, so by the time I was about three I'd made my peace with reality, and now I was living out my second life the best I could.

Looking perfect again today.

Black hair, brown eyes, and this tiny little mouth.

It felt a little weird saying this about my own face, but….

She's ridiculously pretty. Like, unfairly pretty.

I pressed a finger into my cheek. It sank in and bounced right back, and a little smile slipped out of me.

How could anyone be this cute and this beautiful? Seventeen years of looking at this face and I still wasn't tired of it.

So this was the power of good genes, huh.

"Mm~. Huh? Ria, are you looking in the mirror again?"

Ah — the woman who'd passed those genes down to me must have woken up. Her voice came from behind me.

I turned my head, and there she was: a woman smiling at me with her eyes curved into crescents.

This woman was my mother — and the biggest idol in the industry at the time of my death. Yoo Seol-ah.

Yoo Seol-ah, thirty-five years old, currently a full-time housewife.

If I had to sum her up in a single word… she was a star.

That was how beautiful she was, how brightly she shone. There was a reason she'd been such a massive success.

"Ria really should have been an idol…. How about giving it a try even now?"

"No."

"Why not? You take after me — you'd be great at it for sure."

"I still don't want to."

Because right now, I was doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the thing I actually wanted to do.

The moment I'd realized I'd been reincarnated, I'd made up my mind — and in the end, I'd made the dream come true.

The dream of becoming an actress.

The truth was, I'd wanted to be an actress in my previous life too.

I'd even had the talent for it. Back in elementary school I'd been well-known enough as a child actor to land roles in major dramas.

But….

I hit the ugly phase hard as I grew up….

It wasn't like I hadn't taken care of myself. I'd managed my appearance consistently, and I still got hit with "Wait, that's the same kid?" levels of reverse glow-up.

And if it had stopped there, I might still have scraped by on pure acting ability. But….

My voice was disgustingly good on top of a face that didn't match it at all.

So sometimes I failed auditions because my voice didn't fit the role, and sometimes I failed because my face didn't fit the role.

Still pisses me off thinking about it.

Why did God put me through that….

Sure, that great voice of mine had helped me do reasonably well in the streaming world…. But I'd wanted to be an actress.

Haa…. Whatever, whatever. No point dwelling on things already long gone. Better to live this life right.

Fortunately, I hadn't hit any reverse glow-up this time around. From childhood straight through to now, I'd ridden my mother's name recognition, this flawless face, and my acting chops into role after role, paving a smooth road as an actress.

Before I knew it, I'd been working as an actress for a full twelve years….

I'd become a reasonably well-known actress at a young age….

"…Okay, why did I die there?"

And as a hobby, I did VTuber streams.

Why a VTuber? The first reason was simple: so I could let my ego run completely wild.

Becoming a successful actress had been great. But….

Life was… way more stifling than I'd expected.

In short, I didn't have enough places to let my real self out.

I couldn't even post whatever I wanted on social media… and since people could recognize me on the street, I always had to manage my image, walking around like I was still performing….

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I'd been living like this since I was a kid, and it was suffocating. My dopamine levels were critically low.

So I'd tried gaming to fill the tank, but playing alone got boring ridiculously fast — and when I thought about finding people to play with… I realized I didn't have any friends.

And making new friends now just to game together felt like it would deal catastrophic damage to my public image, so….

I figured I'd just slap a model on screen, go VTuber, and play games with my viewers. That way, at least, I didn't have to worry about my identity getting out.

Well… the leftover attachment from my previous life probably played a part too.

Anyway, that was how the VTuber Riho was born.

Why the name Riho?

Simple. I took one character from the surname and one from the given name of the GOAT — my idol, my light, my life, and myself made flesh.

"Siuuu!"

Maybe it was the GOAT's blessing. My stream climbed steadily and grew fast, and within a year I'd hit the incredible number of three hundred average viewers.

If I kept growing at that pace, becoming a top-tier actress and a corporate-level VTuber someday didn't even feel like a dream.

Or so I'd thought.

Reality, as it turned out, was not nearly that kind.