Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Vtuber (Illusion Magic) Debut
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I was reborn as a commoner in a fantasy world.
I shouted for a status window, but nothing popped up.
I wasn't particularly strong or from a high-status family, so I figured I'd spend my days farming potatoes with my parents until I kicked the bucket. But surprisingly, I had the talent of a grand archmage.
No wonder I was good at mental math.
I was dragged off to the Magic Towers, where the Tower Masters showered me with recruitment offers.
Here are some excerpts from those offers.
"Join the Crimson Magic Tower as my disciple, and I'll grant you the wisdom to burn half the world to ash!"
"Come to the Azure Magic Tower, and I'll guarantee you the successor's seat. With your talent... slaying the azure dragon of the deep sea and reclaiming the lost ancient undersea city of Atlantis would be a breeze!"
"The Golden Magic Tower will give you a fortune in gold the moment you move in—free of charge!"
"U-Um, the Violet Magic Tower doesn't have much to offer, but... if you're interested in illusion magic..."
Amid all those powerhouse pitches, one total loser stood out.
The Violet Magic Tower specialized in illusion magic research, which was so useless it had zero popularity and even less funding.
In this brutal fantasy world, raw destructive power was the top priority for any mage.
Messing with someone's mind using illusions? Better to just blast them with a fireball for higher DPS.
Creating fake distractions with illusions? A massive fireball upgrade puts out about a million candelas of light. Distraction and damage in one go.
So while the other Tower Masters confidently unpacked their fat stacks of incentives, the Violet Magic Tower Master had no choice but to awkwardly shill her magic like some desperate nerd.
For wealth and glory, you had to ignore the Violet Magic Tower at all costs.
Just pick any of the other three, and my second life was set on easy street.
But in that crucial moment, the demon from my past life messed with my head.
Like the devil tempting Buddha, it whispered sweet nothings that shook my resolve.
After that, my days were spent honing my magic in a dingy, underfunded lab.
I refined the modeling with illusion magic, rigged it up... It was grueling, but so damn rewarding.
Sometimes, an interrupter would barge in.
"Um... if we push through this quarter's funding, you'll... really make something useful, right?"
"Yes."
"M-My disciples are furious... They say we can't keep funneling funds to some random newcomer forever, that you'll... s-steal the money and bolt to the Crimson Magic Tower..."
"Watch me."
"Uh, y-yeah..."
"Done. All finished."
"F-For real...? The magic that's eaten up two years of funding... it's actually complete? Wh-What kind is it...? Something for war? Will it make our tower blow up big...?"
"Virtual Idol Heart. It's done."
"?"
A dress with black-and-red two-tone accents. The avatar was shaped like the heart symbol from a deck of cards.
Its 3D quality blew 2D screens out of the water. The illusion magic produced a hologram so meticulously detailed, you couldn't tell it from a real person.
I made her do a cute dance.
Her skirt and hair fluttered perfectly. The morphing was spot-on, the kind that just makes you smile watching it.
To check for any flaws, I inspected everything right down to under the skirt.
Satisfactory.
There was a slight knee pop, but it was a minor bug.
I fixed it on the spot from my chair.
"Um... wh-what is this...?"
The Violet Magic Tower Master was so moved by my creation she could barely speak.
Then she snapped out of it and started asking about the details.
"What... what kind of effect does this magic have...?"
"She can move, dance, and sing."
"N-No mass destruction features or anything...?"
"Nope. But I prepped ten different panty models instead."
"Gulp."
The Violet Magic Tower Master flopped backward, her twintails flapping.
She must've been so overwhelmed by her disciple's achievement that she passed out.
A bit later, she came to and wailed, "Next quarter's funding is totally toast!" while throwing a tantrum. True to her illusion mastery, her tears turned into butterflies and ostriches fluttering everywhere.
Sure, I'd been sucking the tower's finances dry, but it wasn't like I ignored our budget entirely.
The Tower Master bawled her eyes out, blind to the terrifying potential lurking in Virtual Idol Heart-chan, but I could see a bright future ahead.
The Middle Ages.
No entertainment.
In an era where commoners' endgame content was watching executions, a Vtuber was bound to be a game-changer.
Of course, I knew full well that a virtual YouTuber's real draw was the charm of the person puppeteering it, more than the model itself.
And in a world without the internet, I'd have to figure out how to monetize a Vtuber.
One step at a time. First, I needed an operator.
For Heart, that'd be... me.
"Ah. Aah. Ahem."
Illusion magic's wonders extended to sound too. I'd sampled voices from ten women beforehand and blended them into TTS. Voilà—Virtual Idol Heart spouted whatever lines I fed her.
"Kyaha☆"
Perfect.
A TRPG Game Master has a duty to craft an immersive world. Sometimes that means role-playing passing merchants, goblin raiders—whatever boosts player immersion.
That includes the heroine.
Whether voicing a tough female knight, a pure black-ops girl, or a 30-year-old unemployed, high-school-grad shut-in knitter... that was me...!
In my past life, I never actually voiced them. No one wants a gravelly guy voice croaking, "I've... always liked you..." in a innocent heroine's tone.
Text chats only.
But deep down, I'd dreamed.
If I were filthy rich, I'd hire a pro voice actress... or wait for some monster TTS tech to slap voices on.
Now that dream was real.
"Heh heh heh... Ahahahahaha!"
I puppeteered Heart into a villainess cackle and grinned like a fool.
I'd climb to the top of isekai Vtubing as her...