A Second Life
A few days before the announcement of the first-round VTuber auditions, inside Shining Parade’s offices, everyone had been hard at work narrowing the field down to the few promising candidates. Not only CEO Chae Eun, but Sally, the first-generation VTuber of Shining Parade, had joined in as well, carefully reading through each application one by one.
"CEO, just how many applicants are there? So many people applied."
"Right around seven hundred. I was surprised too. That’s all thanks to you doing such a good job."
"I didn’t really do anything... It’s because you’ve treated me so well, CEO..."
While their warm little exchange continued, Sally noticed the documents separated into left and right piles. Which side was the pass pile, and which side was the fail pile? Both stacks looked packed with incredible people, so it wasn’t easy to tell at a glance. As if she had caught the direction of Sally’s gaze, the CEO spoke up.
"This? The left side is the rejects."
"I see."
Sally had also passed her audition once, so she understood applicants’ feelings better than most. With a touch of regret, she began reviewing the rejected applications carefully, one by one.
"If I find someone I think is decent, can I move them to the right? Like a losers’ revival round?"
"Knock yourself out. But I doubt you’ll find anyone."
Doubt there’d be anyone? To Sally, every single one of them looked like a monster on paper. Some had decent broadcasting experience, and others were aspiring streamers from all sorts of different professions.
For people like this to apply too... It made her realize all over again just how huge the VTuber scene had become, and just how much Shining Parade had grown. All except for one person.
"Kim Haru. Broadcasting experience: none, but has done a lot of broadcasting donations..."
The moment the CEO heard the name, she burst out laughing.
"That one was amazing."
"Huh? Isn’t that a fail?"
"I mean amazing in a different way. Keep reading."
Reason for applying.
To reach the summit of Unknown Universe.
For that, Shining Parade’s funding is necessary.
"Pfft."
The instant she read the reason, Sally couldn’t hold back her laughter.
"Did they write that seriously, or was it a joke?"
"Feels serious to me. Which is exactly why I rejected them. You know this too, Sally. I’m not generalizing, but there are a lot of rotten bastards among Un-non users. And when it comes to streamers, well, you don’t even need me to say it."
The CEO wasn’t wrong. Still, Unknown Universe had once been such a massive hit that people had called it a national game, so Sally had played it herself as a nostalgic bit of content before.
The result had been a complete disaster. So much interference kept flooding in that she could barely even proceed. And as for what sort of content it was, once you stripped away the old nostalgia, it was nothing but predatory gambling. The CEO clicked her tongue and went on.
"How is someone with no broadcasting experience supposed to make Unknown Universe their main content? And if they’re doing it under our company name..."
It would never happen, not in a million years, but Sally imagined it anyway. The thought alone made her dizzy, and she shut it down.
"That’s true, but, CEO... Could you at least let them through to the second interview? Just once?"
"Hm? You’re serious?"
When she’d looked at the application, she’d felt a kind of inexplicable jolt, a gut-level click she couldn’t quite explain. The CEO seemed to understand that feeling too.
"I felt that too. Maybe it’s because they were so honest."
"Exactly! The other applications are all pretending to be perfect, putting on masks and acting like flawless people, but this one..."
"Hold on. Can you hand me that file again?"
Come to think of it, now that the CEO pointed it out, the application did look different. Stuff like wanting to be a dog and bark before the interview even began, or asking them to put up a little funding. It was ridiculous enough to make her laugh just by reading it. Was this what unfiltered, pure entertainment felt like?
Even so, the CEO set the file back down.
"Still no. I don’t think we’d be able to handle them."
"Couldn’t you give them just one chance? I’m not asking you to hire them, just to the second round! Honestly, don’t you want to see their face at least once?"
Had Sally ever been this desperate before? Probably not. After a moment of thought, the CEO nodded.
"Fine. Let’s at least see their face once. To be honest, I’m curious just how insane they are too..."
"Thank you so much, CEO!"
With repeated thanks, Sally moved Kim Haru’s application over to the right.
"Whatever. But a final acceptance is probably going to be hard."
"Yes. I know that."
The CEO had already rejected everyone outright during the last interview because there hadn’t been a single decent candidate. Winning her approval was no easy matter. And yet, for some reason, Sally had the feeling this Kim Haru might actually be able to make it as an Unknown Universe streamer.
***
At last, the long-awaited day of the second-round in-person interview arrived. I still couldn’t believe I’d passed the first round.
Even if it was thanks to the Goddess of Luck, why on earth would they let someone like me through? Maybe they’d looked at me and thought, What the hell kind of crazy bitch is this? Or maybe, If we make this bastard an enemy, it’s going to turn into a pain in the ass. Let’s just meet them, say something vaguely nice, and send them on their way.
Whatever the reason, this was still an opportunity I’d never get twice. No, not twice—something that might come once in a thousand years.
Honestly, I had a feeling I was definitely going to fail the second interview anyway. Still, I’d go in without regrets and show them everything I’d prepared.
I looked at my reflection in the bus window. Going to an interview in a gray hoodie and black sweatpants? Yeah, this already smelled like doom. But there was nothing I could do. These were the only clothes I had.
When I’d checked my closet after waking up as a girl, all my clothes had turned into women’s sizes that actually fit me. It saved me money, which was nice, but since I’d never really cared about clothes before, everything in there was just hoodies and track pants.
"..."
Seriously. Ugh.
At this point, I might as well just treat the second interview as attendance credit. Besides, when would I ever get another chance to see the bare faces of a VTuber with 1.9 million subscribers and the hottest VTuber around right now? The infamous “red pill,” as they called it. That alone would be worth something.
The more I kept talking myself into it, the clearer it became that I was really screwed. Why’d that CEO have to go and confuse people’s hearts by passing me in the first round? I mean, I was grateful, sure. But while my feelings tossed back and forth, the bus finally reached the meeting place.
I always lived on the outskirts of Seoul, so coming into the downtown district was a rare treat. The towering buildings, the people rushing about—just looking at it made my heart race. Apparently Shining Parade’s office was somewhere around here. Just how successful had they gotten? If I really did make it, then money troubles might finally be over. That was when it happened.
Flap!
"Ack!"
Out of nowhere, a pigeon flapped violently and took off, ruining the whole atmosphere for absolutely everyone. What the hell was that? Seriously, was doom already settling in? Damn pigeon.
"Phew."
I calmed my startled heart and thought about it. It was embarrassing, but it also confirmed one of the theories I’d been carrying around.
The old me wouldn’t have reacted this strongly to a pigeon flapping its wings. But now I’d screamed like I’d met a ghost.
The more fragile my body had become, the more things had clearly changed to match it. Like how my tolerance for spicy food had gone so far down I couldn’t even handle mild flavors anymore.
Should I be happy about that or not? For the future’s sake, I’d have to make it into an advantage somehow. Just then, perhaps worried by the way I’d yelped, an older woman came up to me.
"Are you all right, dear?"
"Huh?"
"You must’ve been badly startled by that pigeon. Oh, the poor thing. There, there. Would you like a candy or..."
Who was she calling dear? Even setting that aside, taking food from a stranger was exactly how you ended up in serious trouble. She was probably offering out of kindness, but I was about to refuse when...
"Oh, I don’t have any candy. Do you like chocolate bars?"
Chocolate bars?! My mouth suddenly started watering.
For the past few days, I’d been so broke I’d been surviving on a single instant rice pack a day, like some kind of disaster march.
"Ugh..."
But no, I couldn’t. In this world, who could you trust? Wait—should I try using a skill? Something to tell me what kind of person she was.
Insight (SSS) has been activated.
So this skill could be activated manually too, not just by the Goddess of Luck going off on its own. According to the skill, she was an extremely kind person.
Well, then. It would be rude to refuse her kindness. And if I was going to accept it anyway...
"Um, sorry, but do you have something to drink too?"
I’m garbage! I shouldn’t have said that. Now I felt horrible. Still, she kindly handed me an unopened bottle of water.
"Thank you so much."
"Don’t mention it. There are a lot of pigeons around here, so be careful they don’t steal your chocolate bar."
"Oh, that won’t happen."
After exchanging greetings with her, I headed toward Shining Parade’s office. More thoughts kept coming to me along the way. When that old lady had appeared, Goddess of Luck’s Blessing hadn’t activated. So this wasn’t luck—it was just pure sympathy for me that made her help.
Maybe I was trash, but if I could use this look to trigger people’s sympathy, could I somehow make it all the way to final acceptance?
No, what kind of acceptance am I even talking about? Someone like me should just think of this as coming for the interview fee... I told myself that while secretly trying not to expect too much, and kept walking toward Shining Parade.
Finding the building wasn’t hard. What was hard was my body and pathetic stamina; the moment I arrived, I had to lean against a wall and catch my breath.
"Huff... Huff..."
My life was trash, but if I had one thing to brag about, it was my stamina. Even that had disappeared overnight.
While I was still trying to recover, a woman in a suit approached me.
"Excuse me, young lady? Sorry, but this area is off-limits to unauthorized visitors..."
There it was again—getting treated like a kid. I still couldn’t get used to that. I showed her my ID and the text message confirming I’d passed the first interview. Her expression changed immediately.
"Ah! My apologies. The interview room is on the second floor. Please follow me."
"Could I take the elevator? Please?"
"Oh, yes, of course."
The elevator doors closed. In the awkward silence, I spoke first.
"Has a lot of people come?"
"Yes. Even though it’s still ten minutes early, most of them are already here."
Everyone was incredibly enthusiastic.
"Um... did CEO Chae and Sally come too?"
"Yes. They’re preparing inside the interview room."
It was only now really hitting me that I was going to a VTuber agency interview. More than usual, I was nervous.
Ding!
We reached the second floor, where the interview room was supposed to be. The elevator doors slid open automatically. But because the elevator had stopped in such an awkward spot, I ended up drawing the attention of every applicant waiting there without meaning to.
"All right, this way."
"..."
And on top of that, the woman leading me seemed so sorry for having treated me like a child earlier that she was practically escorting me like I was some important dignitary.
"What is this? What is this? Is she famous?"
"CEO Chae’s daughter? No, that can’t be! She’s unmarried."
And just like that, the attention only got worse.
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