You Knew And Still Brought This?!

After sending Eo and Rina out of the room, I spent a short while discussing work-related matters with the CEO in her office.

"Hey, do you know Goddess of War: Athena?"

"I know it, yeah…"

A mobile gacha game from a domestic studio. Early on it had gone viral as a trashy "booty-shaking game" full of female characters crude enough to make your eyes water, and as a shamelessly overpriced "scam gacha" on top of that. But once you actually dug in, it turned out to have a solid story that mixed sweet and salty just right, plus a surprisingly generous pity system. At its core it was basically an arcade-style rail shooter.

"Their company reached out. They want to cast 'Woo Yeonha' as the voice of a new character."

"Uh… me?"

"Yeah. You."

"…What exactly about me made them decide that?"

Woo Yeonha was still a bottom-rung employee with exactly one stream and two voice cameos to her name.

"How should I know? Guess they liked your voice."

Looking thoroughly uninterested, the CEO dug a single sheet of paper summarizing the contract terms out of her bag and held it up for me to see.

The number written there was… kind of huge?!

"Umm…"

What was this?

A sum so large it made refusing feel almost impossible.

Was she trying to buy me off—buy Woo Yeonha off—with this? How dare she?

…Or rather, how thoughtful of her?

"So. You taking it?"

"…"

I thought it over for a moment.

I didn't know the voice-acting industry that well, but I did know you couldn't just waltz into the job because you happened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to have a nice voice. On top of that, a complete newbie like me would need a director or client sitting there giving real-time direction. And with Yeonha's current situation, leaving the building was… complicated.

I couldn't exactly walk into a studio for direction, and doing it as a remote recording would only expose how green I still was…

"…It's a shame, but maybe it's better if I turn it down?"

Regretfully, I was going to have to pass.

My parents used to say it all the time: don't stick your hand into work you can't actually finish and end up making trouble for everyone else.

"So I should send the rejection?"

"Yeeeah… Not much choice, right?"

No matter how I looked at it, this wasn't right.

If I took the job and something weird ended up in the finished game, it wouldn't just be my problem. It would paint Star Live—no, the entire VTuber industry—in a bad light. The industry's image was already kind of a dumpster fire. There was zero reason for Woo Yeonha and Star Live to volunteer as the first ones to take the hit.

"Got it. I'll tell them we're declining."

"Okay!"

Clack-clack-clack…!

The CEO hammered the keys for a few seconds, then looked back at me and continued.

"Second item. About Yeonha's next stream."

"Urgh…!"

The unavoidable second stream. I swallowed the urge to run—

Sliiiide…!

"Don't even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think about slipping away."

"Ah, I just kind of… automatically…"

Crap. My unconscious had activated its ultimate technique and put distance between me and the CEO without my permission.

The blood of a combat race flowing through me had—

"Get over here. You little bitch."

"…Yes, ma'am."

In the end I planted myself back in my original seat.

"The broadcast time will shift depending on the kids' schedules, but I've put together a rough list of content options. Pick one."

She slid three proposal documents across the desk. Ones that looked oddly familiar.

"Oh…? I get to choose?"

"I already narrowed them down. Just pick whatever you want. I'll take it under consideration."

I picked up the one on top.

StarCraft I & II Campaign All-Nighter Clear

…Right from the start, something completely insane was sitting there.

"…CEO?"

"What?"

Even under the look I was giving her, she answered like she couldn't see the problem.

"Do you… happen to know how long the StarCraft I and II campaigns actually take?"

"Roughly a hundred hours combined, yeah?"

"And knowing that, you still brought this?!"

StarCraft.

Affectionately known as "Star 1" and "Star 2." The legendary RTS that built the foundation of the overseas studio that later made Overwatch—now basically a Korean folk pastime. The campaign modes that told those games' stories and settings were still considered genuinely worth playing even decades later; everyone agreed the content was excellent.

Unfortunately, they were also content that had absolutely nothing in common with a part-time streamer like Woo Yeonha who only turned the camera on for special events.

"What's the big deal? Tell the fans you're doing a hundred-hour all-nighter clear and nobody's going to complain."

"I'm the one complaining!"

"What exactly is your problem? I'll even let you sleep in the middle. During the all-nighter."

What do you mean, what is my problem?!

"I could wrap a normal stream in a few hours, but you're saying I have to broadcast for a hundred?! Including sleep time it might be even longer! And if I can't clear the campaigns it stretches out even more!"

"So we scrap this one?"

"Obviously we scr—"

I bit the words off mid-sentence.

The slip of the tongue from a moment ago had just come back to haunt me.

"…apping it would be a waste. Let me look at the others first before I decide."

"Suit yourself."

I examined the second proposal.

Yeonha's 3D Maid Café

"…CEO?"

"What?"

"We're actually doing something like this?"

I thought we were a dating-sim agency.

Are we even allowed to do this kind of thing?

"What's the problem? You were the one who tried to make the kids do this."

"Ah—?!"

…Now that she mentioned it, this was the exact proposal I had submitted years ago for the second-generation trainees. I still remembered how the whole thing had fallen apart when the kids threw a fit and insisted they would only do it if I played the customer.

"I-It already flopped once back then, so I'll pass ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on this one too!"

"Suit yourself."

After filtering out two proposals, only one remained.

"…Yeonha."

"It's Yeonwoo, I keep telling you."

I shot her a glare at the forced name change that was already starting to get old. Only for a second, though.

"You not hearing me anymore?"

"Hearing what?"

"If you can't hear it, fine. Just read the damn thing."

"…"

I deliberately ignored the chill crawling down my spine and picked up the last proposal.

Yeonha Horror Game Stream (With Haptic Suit)

"…Huh?"

For reference, a haptic-suit stream is exactly what it sounds like: you stream while wearing a suit that delivers physical stimuli under specific conditions. Streamers and VTubers use it as a classic punishment bit all the time.

"…CEO, is the actual goal here to get Yeonha's channel permanently banned?"

She had just casually dropped content that sometimes got reclassified as adult material the moment a streamer started making the wrong kind of noises. The sheer nerve…

"Real haptic suits don't have that kind of function. Most of the time people are just faking it for the clickbait."

"Ah, really?"

That was kind of a shame.

I'd been hoping I could weaponize a ban to escape this whole mess.

"…Don't tell me this is also an all-nighter clear?"

"Of course it is. Who knows when we'll get another chance to stream after this."

"Uh…"

In that case there was nothing left to consider.

I set all three proposals down, then pushed one of them back toward the CEO.

StarCraft I & II Campaign All-Nighter Clear

"I'll just tough it out with my body."

Better a marathon of pure physical suffering than a maid café overflowing with secondhand embarrassment, or a haptic-suit stream whose future I couldn't even begin to predict.

"…That so?"

The CEO smiled sweetly, stared straight at me, and kept talking.

"But Yeonha. Do you remember something?"

"Remember what?"

"I said I would only take it under consideration."

Sliiiide—!

She lifted the proposal I had handed her and gripped it with both hands.

"…CEO?"

What exactly was she about to—

Riiip—!

She tore the proposal in half, crumpled the pieces, and tossed them into the trash. Then she pushed the remaining two documents toward me.

"Well look at that. Two left now, Yeonha."

"…"

"Pick again. I'll take it under consideration this time too."

…Is this even allowed?

Whine whine…

"I absolutely cannot be late today!!"

She clocked out the second the hour struck, sprinted home, and threw herself into the chair in front of her computer. After settling the hundreds-of-thousands-of-won headset she had bought just so she could hear Nene's songs a little more clearly onto her head, she opened the browser and typed in the address she had saved in a notepad.

StarLive Staff Yeonha

Above that name floated the word "LIVE" framed in a red line.

"Ah, I didn't miss it, right?"

She glanced at the clock without thinking.

7:55. Nowhere close to late.

"Even if archives are banned…"

She quietly launched a recording program under the table and settled into the chat to feel out the atmosphere.

Plenty of fans had clearly been waiting for Yeonha's stream; the viewer count was already solid.

5,800.

It was nothing compared to the 35,000 Star Live had scraped together with every last ounce of strength the first time, but it was still more than enough to land high on the popular rankings. That much was undeniable.

"…No, it's still climbing."

In the short moment she looked away the number had already broken past 8,000. People finishing late shifts were probably overlapping with the end of the workday, and others were still trickling in because the announced start time hadn't arrived yet.

"What on earth did they prepare…"

Why would CEO Kang, who usually hyped streams so hard, sound that confident when she said the content would be "rich"?

While she was thinking that and ordering chicken for dinner, a familiar greeting rang through her headset.

"…Huh?"

The chat plunged into chaos in an instant.

Reason? Simple.

The Yeonha-style greeting a second ago had not been Yeonha's voice—it had been the CEO's.

Kang Haneul's avatar appeared in the corner of the screen, smiling awkwardly as she spoke toward the chat.

At the same moment, Yeonha's avatar popped into existence right beside the CEO's.

"Holy shit Yeonha is actually adorable!!"

Of course the person inside was just an ordinary woman in her twenties, but the virtual character the world saw was pure broken-tier design.

Beautiful silver-white hair.

Golden eyes.

A petite frame that leaned loli.

And a face that looked a little fierce yet somehow made you want to tease it endlessly.

"This is a genuine masterpiece…"

While she was busy drinking in Yeonha's face with that thought, the real greeting finally rang through the headset.

"This is it!!"

Yeonha I love you so much lick lick!!

Yeonha's expression flattened the moment she saw the chat flooding in.

"Yeonha… No matter how you look at us, we only like it more."

For a short while the chat turned into a one-sided bullying session—basically a mini WWE match against Yeonha—until the impatient voices started rising.

Answering the impatient questions climbing the chat, Kang Haneul stepped forward once more.

Click!

A mouse click, and the screen changed.

What appeared there was…