A Second Life

"At the summit...?"

That was a pretty shocking message. First, I should eat a cup ramen while I look over it in detail. If it goes badly, I can always just not do it. Lucky for me, I’d won the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lottery and made a net profit of 4,000 won. Breakfast today was going to be deluxe.

As usual, I went with spicy ramen, plus cheese.

Then, what the hell—let’s throw in a hot bar and a drink, too! At this rate, I was basically spending today living large and then dying satisfied.

But then I hesitated.

My body was so slender ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and fragile—could I even handle spicy food? And if I bought too much, would I really be able to finish it all? Probably not. In a situation where every last won mattered, there was no point taking a gamble that didn’t even promise a reward.

So I put the spicy cup ramen back and picked up a small mild-flavored one instead. Mild had its own charm, too. Yeah.

"Please ring this up."

I’d been too busy buying the lottery ticket earlier to notice, but was the part-timer really this tall? Or was it just because I’d gotten smaller? It was probably going to take me a long time to get used to seeing the world from this height. I poured hot water into the cup ramen and sat down on the chair as usual, and then...

"Whoa..."

My feet didn’t even reach the floor. Just how was I supposed to become the summit of Unknown Universe in a body this tiny? Couldn’t I just not do it? Wouldn’t it be better if I was allowed to be satisfied with doing things on a small scale? Just then, the hot bar I’d microwaved was done.

"Ah, hot."

Things that wouldn’t have meant much before now felt surprisingly intense. So it wasn’t just spicy food I had to worry about. How was I supposed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reach the top in a body like this? Really, couldn’t I just not do it? There wouldn’t be any penalty for refusing, would there...

"How am I supposed to..."

That was basically just a knife pressed to my throat.

Even if my body was weak and female now, the fact that I was free of debt alone utterly crushed my previous life.

I’d thought my life was going to turn into a pink, happiness-filled fairy tale, but instead I’d fallen straight back into Unknown Universe’s filthy ditch.

So what exactly was this thing called the summit? There had to be criteria, right?

I was going to lose my mind. This was way harder than I’d expected.

If the goal was the summit, the number one spot, then of course time would have to be poured into it. But the most important thing was money. I’d already shoved in over a hundred million won and barely clawed my way to the upper tier by the skin of my teeth. If I wanted the summit, that meant I’d have to throw even more cash at the game.

"Haah..."

This damn life wasn’t going to be smooth just because it was my second one. No, scratch that—should I call it the life of this woman now?

A little while later, the cup ramen was done. I blew on it harder than usual and took a bite. Even though it was mild, it still had a slight kick to it, so I grabbed my drink and took a sip. If I’d ordered the spicy one like usual, I might not have been able to get a single mouthful down.

With this body, the summit of Unknown Universe was now something I’d have no choice but to chase.

The one lucky thing was that I had Insight and the Goddess of Luck’s Blessing. With just those two, maybe I could make this cheap after all.

And as unbelievable as it was, I was now a woman. That alone would probably work to my advantage in a huge way.

There’d definitely been a point in the criteria for reaching the summit that mentioned becoming the top internet broadcaster, right? Good, actually. I’d been planning to do internet broadcasting anyway.

If a woman streamed Unknown Universe, the donations would come in in proportion to how much she spent. It was a game crawling with simps.

Embarrassing to admit, but I’d been one too. Of all the debt from my previous life, a pretty high percentage had gone into donating to streamers.

I’d been so happy when they called me the chairman just because I’d thrown a lot of money around. Thanks to that, I knew internet broadcasting inside and out. So this was the day that knowledge would finally be useful.

But there was a problem: I didn’t have the equipment to stream. And I didn’t have money to buy it, either. In the end, everything circled back to money again. Wouldn’t this be exactly the time for the Goddess of Luck’s Blessing to kick in?

"..."

It didn’t. It felt like it was telling me to take five thousand won and get lost. Seriously, what was I supposed to do? Borrow money? No way. If I touched a third-tier lender again, my new life would be no different from the last one.

For now, I should at least search for something—anything—about internet broadcasting. There had to be a way through this. Maybe there was some kind of government support? Of course not. Just as I was fumbling with my phone, I saw something.

VTuber. A shortened form of virtual YouTuber; basically, it meant someone broadcasting while acting as a character from an anime or game. That was the easiest way to think about it.

If selected, we will provide everything needed for broadcasting free of charge. Please apply comfortably.

This was it. It felt like an audition arranged just for me. I’d originally been planning to stream with my face hidden anyway, since with this tiny body I felt like only weird people would end up hanging around me. So applying and trying out being a VTuber didn’t seem like a bad idea.

But where had I heard the name Shining Parade before? It sounded familiar. I searched it immediately.

Company Name: Shining Parade

CEO: Chae Eunseo

Chae Eunseo?

Where had I heard that name before? There was a hyperlink to her NewTube channel. I clicked it.

Chae Eun

Subscribers: 1.9 million

That was her. I remembered now. I think I’d seen her while watching internet broadcasts before. She and the VTuber Sally underneath her were both famous. So she was trying to expand by recruiting more talent.

With 1.9 million subscribers, she had to have made a fortune. She’d even gone so far as to found a company and train VTubers, so she was bound to have plenty of funding available.

I couldn’t miss this chance. I should apply right now. Just then, a notification appeared that only I could see.

Come to think of it, it was supposed to work on characters too. A status window appeared over the character Chae Eunseo was using—what people would normally call her avatar.

...

...

"Oh..."

So she really was a 1.9-million-subscriber NewTuber. She had a lot going on. It was a long explanation, but in the end, the message was simple: if a lifeline was being lowered, I’d better grab on tight.

Filling out the application wasn’t hard. The internet was good these days, so all I had to do was fill in the blanks like I was taking a survey.

The first question was basic information and self-introduction, along with why I was applying. It was a perfectly ordinary question, no different from any other company’s.

But if I gave a perfectly ordinary answer, I’d be eliminated on the spot, right? Honestly, I hadn’t even considered writing an ordinary answer from the start.

My goal is to reach the summit of Unknown Universe.

For that, I need Shining Parade’s funding.

Wouldn’t writing that make me look like a total lunatic? I didn’t know. But that was the actual reason I was here. Let’s go with the straight path.

Next: "If you’re accepted, what kind of stream would you want to do?"

Same answer as before: A stream aimed at the summit of Unknown Universe.

I carefully answered every other question too, trying to sell myself. Before I knew it, I’d reached the final question.

Lastly, do you have anything else you’d like to say?

If you don’t pick me, my life is ruined. Please, just think of it as saving one person and please, please choose me. If I get accepted, I’ll become Chae Eun’s loyal dog. No, I’ll become your dog right now—woof woof, growl growl, bark bark! (That means thank you very much, and please take good care of me.)

I looked back over what I’d written and thought it over. No matter how I looked at it, there was no way this would work. I’d better look somewhere else. Still, it felt wasteful to throw away something I’d gone to the trouble of writing, and there was always the chance that something in this world might just happen to work out, so I submitted it anyway.

"Oh. Right."

I hadn’t filled in my occupation. My job had always been the same, then and now: Cosmic Blade, the one responsible for carrying the romance of Unknown Universe.

"Hoo..."

Done. It had seemed like no big deal, but I think it took over an hour. But why did I suddenly have this weird feeling? Like I’d made some huge mistake.

"Ah."

Shit. I’d written a game class in the occupation field! I started hammering the back button in a panic, but the message that appeared was devastating.

"Aaaagh!"

I was screwed. The already slim chance had shrunk until it was practically zero. To blow such a precious opportunity so carelessly—honestly, that was exactly like me. My appearance might have changed, but how could a person stay so stubbornly the same?

Fine, whatever. I’d never make it anyway. I should go look somewhere else. But then why did I keep feeling disappointed?

***

Several days later, I’d been holed up in my room so long I’d lost track of day and night, turning the whole thing over in my head. Forget the summit—I still hadn’t even made an account. Of course, the reason was money. Forget playing a game; just feeding myself was already a struggle.

There was nothing I could do in this body, so the money I already didn’t have was running out even faster. The one lucky thing was that, with a frame this gaunt, I didn’t need to eat much, so I could save on food costs.

"Ugh..."

I was letting out one long sigh after another when, all of a sudden—

"What, what!"

The goddess was looking out for me! No time for this—my lottery ticket, now! But why didn’t this activation have a duration attached? Right then, almost at the exact same moment as the message, my smartphone chimed with a notification.

"Huh?"

Don’t tell me this was the luck?