Chapter 163
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Geum Sihyeon Releases Poison into the Central Plains (2)
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"The goods have arrived!"
"Thank you."
Three days later.
My big brother had whipped up the upgraded Mind-Image Sword Debate device in no time flat and sent it over... Now that the debate function was gone, it was just a VR headset. Anyway, the package had arrived.
Time to give it a test run.
"Oh."
Pretty much all the features I'd requested were there.
Avatar customization, background stage setup, and so on...
That's right.
It was the basic setup for doing virtual streaming—in other words, becoming a VTuber.
Truth be told,
if I actively imported modern concepts and turned them into content, there were plenty of things more appealing than VTubers.
For starters, if I modded the Mind-Image Sword Debate into single-player games like a musou-style beat 'em up or monster-hunting action instead of 1v1 fights?
It'd shake up the Central Plains' entertainment scene overnight.
But there were two problems.
For one, it could tank my main business, mahjong, completely.
And two, there wasn't much room for me to get a piece of the pie.
I wasn't a developer or anything.
I'd just toss out ideas and say "make it happen."
At best, I'd get some modest royalties for the ideas, or maybe become the poster boy for Game Creation Subscriptions, the face of this new world.
But VTubing?
That was content where sponsorships exploding on MuTube went straight into your account—creating something from nothing.
Of course, once it took off, copycats would flood the market like spring bamboo after rain, ushering in a Warring States era.
To be precise, I had no intention of making money as a VTuber myself.
Was I crazy enough to slap on a female skin and go "Hi hi! I'm Geum Siyu!" while acting all cutesy?
You're only making a small batch of these devices? Just for you, exclusive supply?
Seemed kinda weird to strip out the debate function entirely.
They probably won't even sell well anyway...
Eh, if it's your eye for this, Si-hyeon, you've got a big picture in mind. I'll draw up the contract and send it over.
Limited production of exclusive devices.
And exclusive supply to the Geumhyeon Sect.
This...
Couldn't fail even if it tried.
.
.
.
"Geum Sihyeon...! What in the world is this?!"
Even after achieving the glorious feat of being the first VTuber protagonist, Yeon Hongun's reaction was far from thrilled.
Wasn't the most classic response supposed to be,
"Eh, what's this...?"
"What else? It's your new prosthetic body that'll put you on a pile of silver. They call it a 'virtual avatar' in the Western tongue."
"No, you madman! Why is it a woman's body?!"
"'Cause it's cuter that way."
Yeon Hongun shot me a look like I was some lunatic, but I stood tall.
"Think about it. You wanna watch some hairy brute turn on a stream and start acting cutesy?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then obviously, a woman's form is the way to go. How can you not grasp this simple logic?"
"So, your grand business plan is to have me dress as a woman and play up the charm—"
"Selfish jerk, me!"
Whoops, a habit slipped out.
Anyway, for a guy who'd once plotted a gender-swap boom across the Central Plains, this was way too sensible, and it rubbed me the wrong way.
"So you'd rather have your wives out there flirting and coquettish in front of other men to rake in the cash?!"
"—What."
Yeon Hongun staggered, at a loss for words, pierced by my heartfelt rebuke.
I didn't think it was wrong at all.
Truth be told, there was no need for all this elaborate setup.
I could've just made something like 'LuriTV' and had them do 30 minutes of soft, bouncy exercises a day to make a fortune.
But...
I didn't want that.
Those treasures were for my eyes only.
Well, Luri might love it if I gave her a jiggly avatar and told her to VTuber, bouncing around happily—but then it wouldn't be proper pozzak content.
"B-But, still..."
Yeon Hongun was clearly wavering.
Whatever, it wasn't embarrassing for me.
Time to dial back the persuasion a notch.
"There's a saying: A man understands another man's heart best."
"...!"
"Was the will and spirit that drove you to spread the Jade Transformation Preservation across the land to save people all a lie, Yeon Hongun? You gonna give up over something this small?"
"Urgh...!"
The clincher.
"If you don't wanna, fine. Plenty of others who will."
"...I'll do it."
Test subject secured.
The long-awaited first broadcast.
"This... is really gonna work?"
"Of course. Depends on how well you perform, though. Who'd sponsor someone obviously hating it?"
"Oppa! You can do it!"
"We've been training you hard!"
"Should I play the pipa from the side?"
In addition to my threats, a barrage of cheers from Yeon Hongun's wives.
At first, some (mostly the martial artist types) had erupted in fury at the idea of pimping out their husband.
"Sparkle sparkle—"
But they couldn't resist the flashy lighting effects enveloping the room.
"This looks fun!"
Surprisingly, there were former courtesans in the lineup,
and they'd eagerly joined me as accomplices, aiding in Yeon Hongun's descent into femininity.
The result? Right here, today.
"Hoo... Fine. For my beloved wives, I'll cast aside such pointless pride...!"
Muttering lines like he was relinquishing the Death Note's ownership, Yeon Hongun stepped into the studio I'd prepared.
"Oppa, fighting!"
"You can do it, Yeon Hongun! You're beautiful, Yeon Hongun!"
"Heh heh... This is a delicacy too..."
Now,
the dice were cast.
A week passed.
『Ah! Moyong Unhak Daehyeop! Five taels of silver donated! This girl's super hot! Hot hot!』
"...Fuck."
Watching Yeon Hongun—now fully corrupted into V-femininity under his VTuber alias Yeonhong—put on his shrieking spectacle, I swallowed a twinge of regret.
Still...
Five taels of silver.
One nyang of gold.
Ten taels of silver.
One tael of silver.
Forty taels of silver...
Sponsorships exploding like mad.
This was the power of streaming.
And the power of cat ears.
Well...
At that rate, he could easily support his own harem depending on his effort, so no need to keep tabs anymore.
Honestly, if not for the investment, I wouldn't even monitor it.
Why would I watch V-femininity for fun?
My true goal lay much bigger.
[Interested in the project. Please reply.]
[Can you sell a VTuber setup to me too???]
[When does sign-up start?]
[This old man is bored in his later years and wants a hobby...]
"Heh heh heh."
Inquiries were pouring in from people blinded by the cutting-edge system.
Men, women, young, old—no discrimination.
Just as I'd expected.
Strictly speaking...
They weren't charmed by VTubing itself.
They just needed a mask to hide behind.
Especially compared to modern folk,
martial artists had precious little anonymity.
Most MuTube live streams featured faces right out in the open.
And besides,
if you swung a sword once on the street?
- Ooh, that's the Plum Blossom Swordsmanship of Mount Hua we've only heard rumors about! Petals scattering everywhere, over thirty strands of sword qi firing at once—looks like about five-star enlightenment. Gotta be a direct disciple, a Plum Blossom Sword Expert! And that ponytail with the sharp eyes... It's gotta be Mount Hua's Divine Farmer, Cheong Soso!
The old geezers and errand boys on the street would spit out reactions non-stop.
Plus, with busybodies everywhere ranking the world's top hundred masters, the Twelve Extremes, the Five Greats of the Rivers and Lakes, the Ten Demonic Savages of the Evil Factions.
A mid-tier sect leader in Zhongjing gets drunk and does a naked strip show? Straight to the Martial Wiki.
No wonder there was demand for cyberbullying—or rather, cyber personas.
That was exactly what I'd targeted.
So...
[Thank you for your support.]
[Thanks for your interest in the 'Virtual MuTuber' project. Due to limited stock of our exclusive devices, we unfortunately can't offer them to everyone. We'll hold a lottery among entrants and ship to winners. We have a total of 5 units available at headquarters.]
[▶ Enter Now ◀]
[※ More entries = higher win chance.]
One entry ticket.
Just one nyang of gold.
Viral marketing deployed. Time to reap.
.
.
.
An hour after posting.
Clink, clink, clink.
Gold nyang piling up in my Wan Geum Pay balance.
At this rate, I'd recoup the investment and provide long-term financial boost to the Geumhyeon Sect.
And
my second aim hit dead center.
Entry required shipping info for the device, naturally.
These primitive ancient Central Plains folk had no fear of "personal information," so personal details flooded in.
Among them.
"Gotcha."
Six permanently banned accounts later, the culprit had made a new one and blundered right into my net.
A keeper.