Official) Rich
If you’re a VTuber—or any female streamer, really—there are certain days you simply cannot take off.
Year-end, New Year’s Day… those kinds of days.
And the absolute king of them all is Christmas.
It’s the quintessential couples’ holiday. Take a break on a day like that and what happens?
Viewers start dropping like flies, muttering, “This bitch is ditching us to go play with her boyfriend? Time to make her pay.” Trolls swarm in. And before you know it, you’re freefalling into the abyss.
So I’d planned to fire up the stream first thing in the morning and go full twenty-four hours. That was the plan, until…
“…An event?”
“Yeah. That cosmetics brand you’re the model for—Herian. They’re holding a Christmas event and want you there. You’re free, right?”
“…I am the opposite of free.”
“Then make yourself free. Oh, my boyfriend’s calling. Bye~.”
“Wait—”
Click.
“….”
I stared blankly at the darkened phone screen.
What kind of bolt from the blue was this? An event on Christmas?
My twenty-four-hour stream plan had just been forcibly vaporized. The fun WWE time with my viewers was gone, replaced by a World War II of VIP schmoozing.
“I don’t wanna go….”
Stuck all day in uncomfortable clothes, babysitting VIPs… absolute nightmare fuel.
I became an actress because I love acting, not because I wanted to do this….
“Haaah….”
A sigh escaped on its own. Just imagining it was horrifying.
…What if I just no-showed?
Even my idol no-showed once in Korea and still thrived afterward. One little no-show wouldn’t trash my image that ba—
Yeah, right. Of course it would.
My track record was nowhere near that person’s to begin with, and they’d no-showed in some far-off foreign country. I’d be no-showing on my own home stage.
No matter how I spun it, I was fucked. Worst case, it hits the news, my image tanks, and suddenly no one books me ever again.
Which brought me to this moment….
“…Reading the room….”
I eyed the chat warily and double-checked the stream title I’d typed out.
[Taking a break for Christmas. (It’s not what you think. I have my reasons….)]
Yeah….
Violent. That was the only word for it.
A female VTuber firing up a stream with a title like this this close to Christmas… this was pure insanity.
But what choice did I have? I couldn’t think of anything else.
Frontal assault was the only option left.
“…Hello?”
Everyone had clicked in after seeing the title, so they’d definitely listen to my explanation to find out what was going on.
And my viewers were kind souls. They’d go, “Ah, so that’s what happened,” and understand….
“….”
Yeah….
My mistake.
Even kind people are still just individual viewers. Of course this was the reaction I’d get.
“…Everyone just calm down for a second.”
“….”
I hadn’t expected the chat to go this nuclear.
A little pushback, sure… but this much?
…Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m fucked.
But it was fine. Who was I again?
Twelve-year veteran actress Great Ria, that’s who.
I’d been more fucked than this plenty of times. And every single time…
I’d clawed my way through somehow.
“Alright, alright, everyone settle down. Nobody knows what the future holds.”
“You’ll be thinking about me a lot before bed. But it can’t be helped.”
“It’s not like I’m taking the day off to cosplay as a sexy Santa and do Christmas specials with my boyfriend….”
“No, seriously—I was originally going to stream twenty-four hours straight from morning into the next day. Then work came up.”
I hurriedly pulled up the KakaoTalk screenshot my manager had just sent.
Important parts cropped out, of course. No way I was outing my real identity over this.
Just the bit that said I was going to Busan, the end time of the schedule, and the return time. That much should be plenty for my viewers to understa—
“….”
Huh….
Turns out the trust between me and my viewers was thinner than I thought.
No choice, then.
Time for the secret weapon.
“Okay. Since it’s come to this, I’m pulling out the secret weapon.”
Even after announcing the secret weapon, chat was still a complete dumpster fire.
But it was fine. Maybe I really was an emotionless psychopath, because none of this even made me flinch. If anything, it made me smile.
Yeah. I was smiling.
Because I could already see the public opinion flipping in real time.
“The second the schedule ends, I’m hopping in a taxi and coming straight back. I’ll go live in the middle of the night.”
“I can just say I’m heading back early. Tell my coworker to enjoy the big room.”
Nothing stopping me. They’d booked the room so I could rest comfortably before returning, that was all.
Leaving early wouldn’t cause any real problems. I’d just be a little more tired.
Okay, not a little. A lot more tired. But still….
What wouldn’t I do for my adorable viewers? Sacrificing this one body was nothing.
“Anyway, that settles it, right?”
A little suspicion lingered, but most of them had bought it.
See? The trust between us wasn’t that thin after all.
“Alright, let’s play some games.”
“Yes, all Just Chatting Walkers, please exit now.”
Just Chatting Walkers were the viewers who only stuck around for the talking segment before the actual game started, then dipped the second gameplay began.
Well… there were only like ten of them anyw—
Fifty people left.
“…Fuck.”
“Even so….”
It still felt weird….
Ugh, whatever. Whatever.
“Let’s just play.”
I immediately pulled up an icon on screen.
Today’s game was the greatest AOS masterpiece in this world, where you pick one of 173 characters and fight—
“…Just kidding. I prepped a different game.”
“….”
Unfair. What’s wrong with League?
And “dogshit play”… isn’t that a little harsh?
I’m at least Iron-level brain, okay….
Ugh… maybe my flashy plays just don’t come across well on stream….
Shame….
I was letting out a slightly sulky sigh when one particular chat caught my eye.
Maybe the storm had passed and I’d let my guard down.
I read the chat and, without thinking at all, answered:
“I can just take a taxi back.”
“Ah.”
Reading the chat, I realized I’d just put my foot in my mouth.