Everyone Get In Here, You Bastards!
"Come on in, you bastards!"
Phew… That was easy.
Yeon-ha is invincible. My sniping is straight-up divine. No matter how sniper-friendly the map was, who would’ve guessed I’d completely wall off the enemy at the very first plaza?
The wave of praise from my teammates made my whole body tingle.
In my head I wanted to grin like an idiot, spam chat, and scream about my sniping carry in voice. But I held it in.
Right now I’m Star Live employee Yeon-ha. Every single action represents the company.
“Mhehehe…!”
I couldn’t hold back the laugh that slipped out from all the praise. This new body really is weak to compliments.
“Part three, huh…”
The CEO always says the relationship between streamer and viewer is like an online romance. In short, you can’t just push or pull in only one direction.
“Then for the last segment, part three will be…”
I closed Underwatch and glanced through my game library.
Yeon-ha’s goal is, above all, to avoid debuting. Even if I’d wrecked the stream with that high-handed, rude attitude, I couldn’t keep piling up bad karma as a Star Live employee.
Everyone watching right now was a Star Live fan. Before ending the broadcast I had to clear away at least some of the bad feelings I’d caused.
Of course, while preserving Yeon-ha’s trash-tier image as much as possible!
“Come on in, you bastards! Let’s have a proper match!”
The game I chose was Fall Guys. It was the same title the previous CEO had gotten absolutely destroyed on by the viewers—a simple competitive game where you just dodge obstacles and ever-changing terrain to cross the finish line.
“Yeah. I’m not expecting anything. And I’m not a kid!”
With that, I jumped into Fall Guys with the part-three crowd. Of course, that’s just a nice way of saying it.
“Hey!! Why are you only grabbing me?! You fucking bastards!!”
“Move!! Hey!! I need to get through, you bastards!! If I can’t get in I’m just leaving for the next round by myself?!”
“Aaaaaaaaah…! This is seriously not fair! This!!”
“S-save me! Please!! The finish line is right there! Aaaaah!!”
The old viewers who had been waiting for a chance to get back at Yeon-ha flooded in and collectively lynched me. It was basically a cathartic revenge show.
No matter how good Yeon-ha’s physicals were, there was no winning a 1-vs-63 fight.
“I’m done! I’m done! Part three Fall Guys ends here!”
“What are you drawing?! You crazy bastards!”
After becoming the viewers’ personal toy for the entire third segment of Fall Guys, I put up the black background the CEO often used.
“Um… I sincerely apologize for causing unnecessary misunderstandings among the fans who love Star Live because of my thoughtless behavior.”
I bowed my head seriously and apologized for everything I had done earlier.
“I repeat: the recent comment-deletion incident was entirely the fault of Star Live employee Yeon-ha, who had taken over the CEO’s account. There is absolutely zero discord between the CEO and the members.”
The chat slowed down, the viewers clearly thrown off by my sudden change in tone.
“Then I’m out. Later, bastards.”
With that surprise sign-off I immediately ended the stream.
To stop the flood of complaints, I froze the chat entirely.
“And with that, the apology broadcast is over!”
Satisfied that I had finished a big assignment, I flopped straight onto the bed.
“Now let’s see how the gallery’s reacting…”
I had just pulled out my phone to check the reactions when—
Knock knock…
“…Can I come in for a second?”
“Uh…”
The voice from outside the door made me hurriedly turn off my phone and shove it back into my pocket.
“……”
“……”
It was Karen—the person I had completely forgotten about.
“I heard everything from the CEO.”
If I had to describe it, Karen was one of the most difficult Star Live members to deal with. All the other members were carefully chosen by the CEO for their pretty, cute faces, but Karen operated on an entirely different level.
A face you’d believe belonged to an idol trainee. Proportions and a figure you’d believe belonged to a model. Beautiful, yet bordering on sexy. The others felt like coworkers if you kept a reasonable distance, but with Karen it felt like I’d cross the line myself if I didn’t stay constantly on guard.
That was why, unless it was important business, I always tried to avoid running into her. Last time when she said she’d grant me one request, I had to try extremely hard not to ask for anything perverted.
“…It doesn’t look like you’re going back to your original body?”
Karen looked me up and down carefully, her voice full of concern.
“Nope… It’s been quite a while and nothing’s changed, so…”
“…Are you okay staying like this? What about Yeon-woo?”
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
It wasn’t even a question of whether it was okay or not. There was no way to go back in the first place. Or rather, even if there was, I wouldn’t know.
“……”
Karen bit her lower lip as she stared at me with a frustrated expression.
“Don’t do that. You’ll make it bleed.”
“…Right.”
At my urging she stopped biting immediately and let out a short sigh to cool her head.
“So you’re planning to keep hiding at the CEO’s house from now on?”
“Yep. There’s no other option.”
“…And that’s why you asked Eos and Rina for help?”
“Uh… yeah.”
I hadn’t exactly asked them, but that was how it turned out, so I nodded.
“…Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Uh…”
When exactly did we become that close?
“Even if you didn’t want to ask for a favor, why didn’t you at least tell me?”
“W-well…”
“I would’ve helped you with anything if you’d just said something…”
“Y-yeah, but…”
“If it’s what you wanted, Yeon-woo, I could have done so much more…!”
“K-Karen…?”
Your eyes are scary… You look like a predator that just spotted prey…
“…Don’t you have anything to say to me, Yeon-woo?”
“Uh…”
…Did I miss one of Karen’s illustration requests or something? I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I finished everything.
“……”
“……”
Since I really couldn’t think of anything, I unconsciously avoided her gaze. A moment of silence passed.
“…I understand.”
Had my reaction displeased her? Karen stood up with a look of firm resolve.
“Yeon-woo?”
“Y-yes?”
“You’re going to keep living here from now on, right?”
“Uh… I guess so?”
I can’t let anyone else find out, after all.
“I’ll come visit often. I can help with your daily life too.”
“? How?”
From what I’d heard, there were only three security card keys for the third floor. More could be made, but they were specially produced and took a long time. The CEO had one, and the other two had gone to Eos and Rina…
Swish. A card key slid naturally out of Karen’s hand.
“…Huh?”
Why do you have that?
“That stupid blue-haired girl got fired from waiting on you starting today.”
“Um…”
Stupid blue-haired girl—that meant Aomiya Rina. It looked like Karen had taken the card key that had been given to Rina in exchange for letting her through.
“Of course I could lend the key to Rina if the situation calls for it, but I’ll be managing it as the default.”
“I-is that so?”
Honestly, it didn’t make much difference to me whether it was Rina or Karen…
“Or are you unhappy with me?”
“Uh…”
“Do you… prefer Rina?”
Karen brought her face so close our noses almost touched and stared straight into my eyes.
“……”
It felt like saying I was unhappy—even as a joke—would be dangerous, so I quickly shook my head.
“…No?”
“……”
Karen seemed satisfied with my answer. The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile and she pulled back again.
Thud! A tuna sushi set landed on the table. It must have been the one Rina ordered earlier.
“Today was your first broadcast, so it must have been tough. Eat this and rest well.”
“Th-thank you?”
I was about to bow and thank her for the senior advice when—
“…Ah, Yeon-woo?”
“Yes?”
Just before leaving the room, Karen turned back. She looked at me with a determined expression and continued.
“I’ve always liked girls more than boys.”
“…Pardon?”
“…Except for one person.”
Bang! Karen left the room after dropping that cryptic line, closing the door behind her.
“Uh…”
How should I put it… I’ve felt this way ever since I started working at a company full of women…
“…I just can’t understand how women think.”
I guess it’s because I’m a basement-dwelling internet addict.
“Good work on the broadcast, Yeon-ha.”
“…It’s Yeon-woo.”
I puffed my cheeks in protest at the CEO who casually kept changing my name.
“So how was it? Your first broadcast?”
“Well… After the initial script I just went with the flow of consciousness, so I don’t really have much to say.”
“Was it hard?”
“……”
…To be honest, it was a little tough. I wasn’t sure if it was because of nerves or the effect of this changed body, but the moment the broadcast ended I felt sleep rushing over me. Karen coming in had stopped me from passing out right then, though.
But saying that outright wouldn’t be proper for an employee, so—
“It was manageable? More than I expected?”
I tried to act a little tough. After all, today would be Yeon-ha’s last broadcast—
“That’s good to hear. Then let’s do it from time to time going forward.”
“…Pardon?”
Come again?
“Today’s stream was definitely too raw and stream-of-consciousness to use as is, but if we polish it a bit the results won’t be bad at all.”
“N-no, CEO…?”
“I’m not telling you to debut as an official member or employee. Just stream occasionally when one of the girls has a long break and there’s empty time, or when they’re short on people for some content.”
“……”
“You can do at least that much, right, Yeon-ha?”
Faced with that smiling expression, there was only one answer I could give.
“…It’s not Yeon-ha, it’s Yeon-woo!”