Shouldn't You Know Better Than This?

I really hope my voice leaking for a moment didn't cause too much of a stir. …Or at least, that's what I want to believe.

Since the Star Live Gallery is already flooded with all kinds of random chatter, it wasn't like I was spamming the place by myself or anything. But the flood of debut requests aimed at me was intense.

It was a special situation—a broadcast accident. On top of that, my voice, which even I had to admit sounded cute, got mixed in. In just a single day, the Star Live Gallery was bombarded with fierce demands for my debut. It even reached the CEO's ears.

"No way. Absolutely not."

I waved my hands frantically at the CEO's suggestion. Debut? That was ridiculous. The VTuber industry wasn't that easy. Sure, a gender-bent girl's looks might be top-tier, but so what? That face wouldn't even show up on screen anyway. If I was going to do anything, I'd rather be a female cam streamer. Why become a VTuber specifically because of the whole gender-bender thing? Are you stupid?

"Not at all? Boss, you know this industry isn't just about the voice! You need character interpretation skills! Content planning! Aegyo! Communication with the chat, real-time ad-libs—everything!"

"I have none of it?"

I knew my limits. If I started streaming like this, even if I got a pretty model, I'd probably just freeze up, babble nonsense, and drive all the viewers away. I couldn't sing, I didn't have any standout talents, and she still wanted me to debut? What kind of—

"……"

When she put it like that, I had no comeback… Or did I?

"It wasn't my usual setup, so I accidentally pressed a key and the in-game mute got turned off!"

It was because you told me not to change the settings!

"But you've never made a mistake like that at the company even when using different setups, right?"

"Ah! I actually have something to say about that!"

"Go ahead."

Even if she crossed her arms and glared, it was useless. I'd already laid down enough foreshadowing.

"I definitely told you before! My mind and intelligence are regressing along with this body—it's turning into ttyuttya mode!"

"It's your fault for not believing me—"

Grab!

"Kyaaang!"

She grabbed my cheek again. Since I'd become a girl, there was nowhere else to hit, so it looked like this had become my official punishment method.

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"…Then what?"

The CEO stared straight into my face with her grey eyes, then continued as if daring me to test her.

"Uh… what happens then?"

Swoosh…!

One of the CEO's fingers unfolded.

Swoosh…!

A second finger unfolded.

"…I'll do my absolute best."

I wasn't sure why it was 4th gen instead of 3rd, but…

"Yes, ma'am."

Anyway, that's roughly how the whole incident of Ha Yeon-woo's voice leak was glossed over and forgotten.

"Umm…"

…It wasn't glossed over after all.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…"

Normally her Korean was clumsy like a Japanese person's, but when she was cursing, her pronunciation was terrifyingly accurate. Honey Eos kept hammering away at her smartphone, her anger boiling over.

A merciless storm of messages that refused to accept any rebuttal whatsoever.

"Haa…"

Only after some of the heat had left her did she…

…heat right back up and turn her phone screen on again.

"…Huh?"

Thud—!

The sudden message from Ha Yeon-woo made her hear the sound of her sanity snapping. Stop it you bastard? Bastard? To the director who personally recruited her, he dared call her a bastard?!

"The only person in our company who would talk like this is…?"

Clench—!

…Her sanity snapped right back into place.

"…No, that's not it!"

Realizing something was off, she hurriedly changed the subject in the chat.

"The CEO should really think about her age first…"

There's more than a ten-year age gap between her and that guy. What line is she even trying to get in?

"Huh?"

At the CEO's message, Honey Eos tilted her head in confusion. Can't meet anyone? What does that even mean?

"What?! What the hell happened that he can't meet anyone?!"

She shot up from her seat and checked her schedule.

"…It's a day off."

Perfect, she had time. There was only one thing to do.

"Done. Problem solved."

"Phew, thank you."

Swoosh swoosh—!

I got my phone back from the CEO. The member known as Honey Eos was someone even I couldn't handle—

. . .

…What the hell?

"Boss?"

"What?"

"What is this SCP-like chat window?"

Swoosh swoosh—!

From the moment I handed the phone back to the CEO, every message up to the latest one had been completely wiped. I didn't know what kind of SCP had passed through here, but I felt like I needed to report this to the Foundation as quickly as possible.

Swoosh swoosh—!

"Eos just used too many inappropriate words, so I deleted everything with my CEO privileges."

"Ah…"

Fuck… Of all things, it had to be our company's SCP. Even if you stabbed that one with a horsewhip, nothing would happen…

Swoosh swoosh—!

"…Boss?"

"What?"

I wanted to turn my head and look behind me. But the soft sensation I felt on the back of my head screamed that I shouldn't, so I kept staring at my smartphone and asked.

Swoosh swoosh—!

"…Didn't you say you were going to work? How long are you going to keep stroking my head?"

"Ugh…!"

Swoosh swoosh—!

Still, our CEO usually kept her word. Ten minutes later, she stood up, now dressed for work, and waved at me.

"Even if I order delivery, they can't come up here."

I couldn't go down from the third floor. The entrance to the stairs and elevator from the master living room had a CEO-only security key installed. In other words, it was all just a pie in the sky.

"For real?!"

"Whoa…!"

What a crazy high-tech mansion. To think it even had a function like that! It was almost like it had been designed from the start to imprison someone…

…

…No way, right? Surely not?

"Have a safe trip."

Shaking off the incredibly ominous feeling, I returned to my room. There, waiting for me like an old friend I hadn't seen in ages, was my new companion.

"My computer!"

My computer and all its peripherals that the CEO had personally brought over. Now I just had to set this up in a suitable spot…!

Squeeze…!

"Uh…?"

The heavy weight I felt in my palms. The case didn't budge an inch from the floor, so I grabbed it with both hands again.

"Nngh—!"

There's no way I can't even lift this much…!

"Pfft…!"

Okay! I give up! I can't lift this! GG!

"Huff… huff… Maybe buying a big tower was a mistake?"

My computer was a full big tower. The case alone weighed around fifteen kilograms. Add the power supply, motherboard, graphics card, cooler, and all those heavy components, and it probably came close to twenty kilograms. Maybe even a little over.

"…I'll have to ask the CEO later."

For today, I'd have to borrow the office computer instead. It wasn't exactly fitted to my hands, but writing up a broadcast plan was still much better on a PC than on a phone.

"Alright then…"

Without thinking much, I opened the door and turned on the office computer. Before using it, I first asked the CEO for permission.

"As expected of the CEO! She gave permission right away."

I hated it when other people used my computer. But our CEO was generous, so she accepted immediately.

"She told me to write an apology notice first, right?"

I logged into the official cafe and wrote an announcement regarding yesterday's voice leak incident.

'It's me, you fucking bastards.'

"Ah, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠accidentally wrote my true feelings…"

I fixed it immediately.

"Hmm… It feels a bit weak."

Should I add 'Now get lost' at the end? I held back that thought and pressed the 'Post' button.

"These crazy people… Are they on permanent standby or something…"

The constant stream of notifications made me curious, so I checked the comments on the announcement.

"Ugh… seriously…"

Well, if it came down to it, I could just turn on a stream and apologize. Regular fans probably didn't even know there was someone named Ha Yeon-woo inside the company anyway—

"…Director Eos?"

In this situation, shouldn't you know better than this?