Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Florence's Regular Meeting
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The regular meeting of the VTuber group Florence... was just fancy talk in name only.
This so-called regular meeting had long since devolved into nothing more than an online dinner chat.
The only agenda worth mentioning was the two older sisters discussing ways to support their youngest member's streams.
Since VTuber activities themselves weren't going well, there weren't any real group matters to address anyway.
Hanami had done her homework on the industry as a VTuber.
From what she'd learned, Florence wasn't a proper company yet.
Everything from one to ten was handled haphazardly.
They couldn't commit to solid activities, so the revenue split was left vague too.
And yet, they randomly got avatar support, which was the funny part.
The half-baked contract was plastered with "to be negotiated upon renewal."
If they couldn't find their footing during the contract period and sort things out properly at renewal, this amateurish setup was bound to blow up spectacularly like child's play.
...But so far, there were no notable results.
They had debuted, but the domestic VTuber market was still tiny.
Forget good or bad reactions—there were hardly any reactions at all.
Just persistent, inertial prejudices trailing behind them.
They'd gone all-in on becoming VTubers, but the response wasn't what they'd hoped.
The Boss declared it was within the expected range, nothing to worry about.
But she couldn't hide the tremble in her voice.
Hanami and Yuuri were streaming veterans with subscribers who'd stuck around for dozens of months straight, so they could afford some slip-ups.
Iruka's streams, on the other hand, were a daily struggle.
If her big sisters hadn't deliberately showered her with raids, she might've folded already.
Maybe this was the price for debuting as a VTuber based solely on their bold promises...
Iruka, a die-hard fan of the Boss from way back, had a tendency to indulge whatever nonsense she spouted.
"So just lure him in somehow!!"
"...What do you mean 'somehow'?"
"Figure it out yourself!!"
"Argh, seriously."
But even that wouldn't hold out forever.
Hanami swallowed yet another sigh, who knew what number it was.
Old sayings were never wrong.
People can't be fixed once they're broken.
Nami had endured it long enough to get somewhat used to it, but how must Iruka feel?
"Pfft!! Haha, that's hilarious."
...Maybe she wasn't bothered at all?
In any case, Nami even admired the maknae a bit.
She was grateful Iruka could laugh it off like that.
The girl was refreshingly straightforward and bold, true to her spirited nature.
Of course, the situation wouldn't last forever like this.
One big scandal, and the group imploding wouldn't be surprising.
"Stir it up! Stir it up no matter what! We have to stir things up somehow!!"
Hunami agreed they desperately needed some turning point.
But leaving it at "somehow" was what pissed her off...
"Easier said than done."
"Just stir it up!!!"
"Sis. Doesn't 'stir it up' sound kinda crude?"
"Iruka. Your sisters are having a serious meeting here."
"Stir it up!!!"
"Ahaha!! Sis, you sound just like some desperate old uncle!!"
...Total chaos.
Hanami secretly wiped away a tear.
While the two kept chattering, she glanced at the Boss's screen shared on the call.
Charts analyzing search volume, SNS mentions, view trends, and such were up.
It was decently put-together data. It showed how serious the Boss was.
Even if she talked like that, the Boss was desperate in her own way.
...If it weren't peeking through even here, she might've just quit and run away.
The hefty data pile stopped at a certain point, letting them bicker.
The thumbnail at the top of the screen was unmistakably Hanami's channel.
More precisely, it was decorated by the so-called veteran who'd skyrocketed it.
"I get it, but... we've already collabed once."
"A collab's not enough."
"Then what? Make him debut or something?"
"Exactly!!"
"Hey, you reckless idiot!!"
This time, Nami couldn't hide her sigh.
They weren't in a position to hold back on little things anymore.
"So what do we do? All I know is he's a college student and a sensei."
"We know he's got a killer voice too."
"Girls' voices don't faze me."
"Top-tier skills and he's blowing up."
"How old is he anyway? Younger than me? Then I escape maknae duty?"
His voice suggests he's around that age... but that's not the point.
"Even if we want to hook him for streams, we can't just ask outright."
"Why not?"
"Like, what? 'Hey, you like streaming...?'"
"Tell him I'll take responsibility for your life and confess hard—then bring him!!"
"Die. Total thot."
Iruka casually tossing in quips was annoying.
The two seemed oblivious to Nami's frustration.
"College student, so max 23? Nah, senior on leave or something—he could be my age."
"Gap year or whatever, could be older."
"Hey!! Cut the side talk and let's move on!!"
Another few minutes of the conversation derailing.
The Boss cleared her throat and finally got serious.
"Ahem. You know why I'm so reckless."
"TSLA stock?"
"I said don't bring that up, Iruka!! Don't make me bring up NVDA!!"
"Kyaaah!! I forgot!! I had forgotten!!"
"Ah... my head hurts. This'll never end."
Stock talk went on forever.
Only after a while did the Boss return to the main topic.
Her main points were as follows.
First off, consider the avatar costs as sunk investment costs and forget them.
"While singing all day on stream?"
"That's for stream appeal!!"
"Honestly, they were too expensive."
"We got you expensive ones, so you like 'em!! You're using them well!!"
They were nice, sure...
Iruka and Nami exchanged glances.
"Too expensive, that's the problem."
"So we compromised on the first batch, right?"
Yeah, expensive was good.
But there were limits...
No one in this call was a time traveler from five years ahead, so no way to know.
Back then, compared to five years later, avatar production know-how was lacking, and average quality was lower.
"I wanted to dress our kids in the best!!"
"Still, limits exist..."
Forcing quality up meant one way: money, pure money, more money.
And they were 100% P(layers)—whales.
Impulsively dumping savings hiked the quality.
Breaking a deposit account jacked it up more.
"Just pissed off the creator."
"Japanese creator, right? Pretty famous, so had to pay up."
"Hiring talent like that with extra spending..."
MBTI was trending hard back then too.
VR avatars were insanely pricey, with terrible ROI.
Thanks to whale-level spending, the results were top-notch...
But the price became unrealistically high.
"Anyway, at this rate, the project's dead. The 3D avatars we splurged on, the VR talk collabs we planned—all wasted effort."
"Can't let it be wasted money."
The Boss's voice started trembling midway and stayed that way as she moved on.
Second main point: separate from investments, they needed scalability.
"Rushed to claim the VTuber market, went too fast."
"Yeah, probably."
"Couldn't sleep or eat thinking it was premature."
"You never eat anyway."
"Quiet. Anyway, then this huge wave hits."
The Boss caught her breath and continued.
"Why don't VTubers catch on in Korea?"
"...They don't?"
"No. Demand's there. Latent VTuber fans exist!!"
Korea's streaming scene coexisted with subculture fans, boundaries crumbling daily.
Yuuri had die-hards who'd fake-die for her words; Hanami had the broadest base among no-cam streamers.
Iruka had streamed with just a mask, overflowing with spirit.
This could work.
It had to!!
"There was a time we thought that."
"Never happened."
"Big oof for our sis."
"That's why I said don't rush business blindly."
"Uwaaah!! Stop hitting me!!"
The streamers were convinced of a latent VTuber market and became VTubers.
But they underestimated the massive resistance.
Vague prejudices.
Unreasoning aversion.
Even self-proclaimed subculture fans weren't exceptions.
Of course, vague aversion fades with a tiny spark.
So... a few years would naturally dissolve it.
Once VTuber culture boomed, they'd laugh: "Why'd I hate it so much?"
Yeah. In a few years.
After the Boss's ambitious project crashed.
Her will wasn't broken, though.
Just one step... or a few, maybe.
She was convinced turning that doorknob would reveal a blue ocean flowing with milk and honey.
But with all metrics flashing red, doubts crept in about pouring more money.
"Didn't expect massive success from gen 1."
Gen 1 was just for building foundations.
Providing avatars first only to two close contacts was part of that.
Plan was big corps banding for fixed viewers, easing in, then launching gen 2 grandly.
"Was, anyway."
"..."
Lukewarm gen 1 response risked killing the project.
Time flew mercilessly; talents she eyed slipped away.
Prospects for gen 2 grew or left one by one.
"Then this chance drops. Know 'Great Delight Mountain'?"
"Ah, yeah. The Uncanny Valley?"
"Right. Korea's VTubers are climbing that valley."
"Korea's VTubers are just us three."
"Anyway!! People going 'What's that weird thing? Avatar? Uncomfy?'"
The Boss shifted data to show a chat window.
"They ignore VTubers!!"
"Uh..."
"'Cause there's something way uncannier next to 'em!! But that thing's insanely good at games!!"
"And the voice is pretty too."
"Climbed Great Delight Mountain!! With VR talk content prepped but held back, this is a once-in-a-lifetime shot!! It'll work!! Guaranteed!!"
"Sis, you saying it kills the persuasion..."
Still, Nami got the gist.
She'd been looking forward to their planned content too, so she sympathized.
But... so what now?
For real?
Just straight-up "Like streaming?"
Meant for me to do that?
"...Argh, what do I even write."
I kept typing in the voice chat DM, dragging to delete it all, typing again—repeat.
I'd lost track of what I was doing.
First couple tries spat something out... but felt off, so delete and rewrite looped until now I had no clue what to say.
The recipient was Hanami, the streamer from our previous collab.
Less advice, more begging for help—but opening the convo was tricky.
Wasn't it too shameless?
Bluntly: "I want to stream!"
Couldn't just say that, right?