Since I Became a Woman, I’ll Do Cosplay - Chapter 96
They say there’s nothing to do in the countryside.
However, there is such a thing as a grade in the countryside too.
First, anything with “City” after the place name shouldn’t even dare to take out the character ‘Si’ (City).
That’s because it’s a real insult to the true countryside.
Especially, Daejeon.
People who call Daejeon a no-fun city have never truly lived in the real countryside.
“I’m bored…”
A girl with a husky voice said this while facing the sea breeze.
The sea wind wildly tossed her t-shirt around, revealing her subtly tanned skin and the contrasting whiteness of her undershirt.
However, there were no peers around here to tease her about it.
“Seongsim bread shop…”
It was only natural. This area was such a remote village that it didn’t even have a single franchise bakery.
There were far more uncles who would leave at dawn on boats to catch squids than there were delinquent boys hanging around who would dare tease a high school girl’s tan.
“Ah…”
There’s nothing to do in the countryside, but if that countryside happens to be an island, the typical country boredom doubles.
Even going to the nearby island is limited to just a few times a year because you need to pick the right days. This wasn’t like the “fake countryside” with its “countryside lakes.” This was the real deal.
“Let’s go home…”
As she had done every day, a girl wearing a broad straw hat looked toward the western island before standing up and starting to head home.
If she stared into the western horizon and enjoyed the wind for about an hour, her daily escapade would be considered over.
“Go home, eat, use my phone a bit, and then use the computer…”
Unlike boys who can get excited just by kicking a ball around, as a delicate island girl, she had nothing to do outside her home except for enjoying the sea breeze like this.
“What song should I post next week?”
This is where her hobby came from—posting J-pop cover songs on the NTube platform.
Of course, the equipment was cheap, and she only managed to afford the most basic illustrations. Her mixing and editing skills were self-taught, and compared to the major corporations, the quality left a bit to be desired.
However, despite the less-than-ideal working conditions, she managed to gain a small following and hit 150,000 subscribers.
For this girl, the process of communicating with her illustrator once a week, choosing a song, singing it, editing it, mixing it, and endlessly reworking it till it resulted in a satisfactory product to upload on NTube for public reaction was one of the few joys of her rural life.
This was an island in the ambiguous small eastern peninsula.
Ulleung Island, where she lived her high school life, was, to her, a lifeline of sorts—a saving grace for something enjoyable amidst an environment that offered little to none.
“Hey, Jiwoo, are you home?”
“Yes, Mom. I’ll be singing, so I might not be able to come out even if you call.”
“Alright.”
To start with, this was largely due to her having a wholesome hobby.
Because of this, she even gained support from her parents at some point, the most prominent example of which was the soundproof booth they provided.
“Hmm, maybe ‘Byakurenhua’…”
Creak. Creak.
Seo Jiu leaned against the backrest of the soundproof booth chair while repeatedly shifting her weight, searching for the MR (minus one track) of a song that popped into her head.
Even though she loved operating her cover channel, she was human, so naturally, her schedule often became tight when preparing uploads.
Naturally, unless she came across a particular favorite song, she mostly went with whatever was currently trending.
Seo Jiu selected the MR, carried out the initial vocal recording, checked the results, and spent some time in rhythm with the music.
Today, she would be doing the guide vocals, then applying mixing, to get a feel for the first draft.
However, the painfully slow mixing speed and the fact that she needed to do the mixing today were causing stress, leading Seo Jiu to occasionally get distracted.
“Huh?”
Weird, there was an email.
Seo Jiu’s inbox was typically full of spam, and when real people did email, it was usually illustrators telling her to transfer money for completed artwork.
Therefore, receiving an email from someone who wasn’t in her contacts was a rare occurrence.
And the one offering such an unusual experience was…
“Ha, Hayou!”
An up-and-coming mid-tier VTuber.
Scarlet, who was now celebrating her debut’s first year.
The person subtly revealed to be the president of the company Scarlet belonged to and also Hayou’s manager – a truly talented individual.
Who else but the VTuber ‘Hayou’?
[Hello. I’ve reviewed the email you sent.]
-If possible, I’d like to meet you and discuss details. Where would you prefer we come to meet you?
A reply had to be sent immediately.
Despite having illustrations of questionable quality, Seo Jiu, also known as Lucy, had managed to secure 150,000 subscribers with her distinctively boyish singing voice.
That Lucy wouldn’t be missed by Hayou, who had sent her an email suggesting they meet.
This was an opportunity.
“I’ll come, please, please let me come. I don’t need transportation fees or anything, just please…”
An excuse for the island girl to visit the mainland.
An excuse that would convince her parents for something that sounded plausible.
Hayou might have sent the email with the idea of signing a contract in mind, though it couldn’t be confirmed.
Still, just from today’s email, there were plenty of reasons that could be interpreted that way.
In that case, it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince her parents to let her visit the mainland.
“Ah, where does she live? Busan? If so, I want to see Haeundae. If it’s Daejeon, I want Seongsim bread, if it’s Incheon, then clams. If it’s Seoul… well, Seoul… Rather, let’s do a one-night, two-day trip…”
The excited Seo Jiu started making travel plans on her own.
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“Hmm, it’s cold…”
Hayoon entered a classroom where the heater was broken, wearing a fuzzy cardigan focusing on warmth over her school uniform.
“Hoo, hoo…”
Blowing on her hands to warm them up in the cold autumn morning, Hayoon realized belatedly that the heater was broken.
As she was adjusting her body to the cold, she looked up and saw…
“You’re here…”
“Hmm, are you okay, Senior? I don’t understand why the weather is like this lately.”
“My word…Yesterday, it got so hot suddenly that I didn’t bring a coat, and I nearly died…”
Hong Seohyun shook her hand weakly with a face that looked half-dead.
Suddenly hot, suddenly cold.
Cold in the morning, hot at lunch, and cold again in the evening.
The weather in November was totally out of control. However, it seemed like the weather was finally getting genuinely colder, as the forecast predicted a steady drop in temperature from today until December.
It was likely because you won’t see a sudden temperature rise to 20 degrees in December, which meant it was time to prepare for winter jackets.
“Still, it’s better here. Those boys who open the windows claiming it’s too hot, are crazy, I tell you.”
Ugh…
Hong Seohyun seemed to recall the freezing cold from class and explained her reasons for fleeing to this warmer room.
She felt like she wanted to stay here all day.
But still…
“There are already many students who have jobs secured, so it’s like we have half a day off, isn’t it?”
Even so, there’s still some sense of duty.
You should still be in the classroom, right?
That was what Hong Seohyun was going to say…
“Aah!”
“Wha, you scared me… Why?”
“Should I ask Teacher Park? Since the news about me getting the job is already out and about and I’m just sleeping in class anyway, can I just come here to this warmer room? Right? That makes sense, right?”
“Uh…?”
What is this bizarre nonsense?
Had she become so accustomed to nonsense chat with her audience after a year of broadcasting?
Hong Seohyun, proposing such an absurd suggestion, said she would negotiate with Mr. Park and headed towards the faculty office.
Even with the well-known lenient Park Geon-su, it seemed unlikely he’d agree to provide special treatment again when it was just about a month or two left until the graduation.
“Fight…!”
Still, you can’t not cheer someone on.
As Hong Seohyun walked away, Hayoon, who sent her a small cheer, started messing around with her phone while enjoying the warm air from the heater.
“Uh, what is it? There’s an email.”
Around that time, she confirmed that she’d received a reply to the email she’d sent yesterday.
It was a response from Utaite Lucy.
The content of the email was similar to…
I’ve read the email you sent.
We’d like to make a better offer.
If you have some time, can we meet? If you’re okay with it, please let us know your location, and we’ll try to accommodate as best as we can.
This is the type of email she remembered sending last night.
And it seemed she received a response overnight.
I wonder what the reply is?
With some anticipation, she opened the email.
“I’m coming. Just let me know the location.”
There was only a title with a short reply that said all that needed to be said.
“Ah, come on… these days, huh…”
Faced with the unexpectedly cold short reply, Hayoon was at a loss for words.
Then, seemingly exasperated, she rolled her eyes at Lucy’s behavior, who was her age.
Somehow, she felt like she was being a know-it-all…
“This is really not cool…”
She was a bit hurt unexpectedly.
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