I Quit Being an Idol and Became a Youtuber - Chapter 56

“Ugh···.”

Agency office.

Lying on the sofa in the president’s office, Hikari sighed.

[Hikari-chan? What’s wrong?]

A voice came through her cellphone.

It was her manager, whom Kobayashi had specially assigned to her.

Well, in reality, it was more of a role of relaying her daily schedule to her uncle.

“It’s just that the game story isn’t unfolding the way I wanted it to.”

[Ah, that’s frustrating.]

After finishing the call with her manager about today’s schedule, Hikari perched on the edge of her bed.

‘This is troubling···.’

Despite the grand name of script editing rights, this object didn’t have much it could do.

At best, it increased the probability of the events the user wanted occurring.

If the probability of that event occurring was zero, then the only option was to throw it away and not use it at all.

Isn’t there a skill that the system recognizes as activated, but won’t activate within the game itself?

It felt similar.

Besides, she couldn’t make wishes that would directly harm someone else.

This situation was a perfect example.

[This character does not have a bad ending route.]

[Editing rights cannot be used.]

It was the message that appeared in front of her when she was about to use the editing rights.

‘If I can’t use the editing rights, you should have told me in advance.’

At this rate, I will d*e of frustration first.

‘But why can’t I use it?’

No matter how popular she was, Ren was undeniably a villain.

She was notorious for meeting all sorts of end in the original game.

There were even routes where she died.

But what did it mean that there was no bad ending at all?

“Ah, I don’t know.”

Anyway, there was a status window, so could anything be wrong?

Since it wasn’t something she could figure out alone, Hikari decided to lean back on the fluffy sofa.

* * *

Even though the dark clouds had cleared, the sky was still dark.

The rain that had been pouring down finally stopped only when night fell.

The hallway was soaked, giving off a gloomy atmosphere.

“····Ren, can I come in?”

Shion spoke to Ren, who was holed up inside the house.

‘Stalker····.’

He had received a call through the police this morning.

Wasn’t he the only one who could be called family?

Normally, that wouldn’t have been a bad thing to hear, but in the current situation, it was absolutely unacceptable.

How long had he been waiting in front of the door like this?

[I know the password. Come in.]

Through the Line app, the long-awaited message arrived.

Beep-beep-!

With the sound of the door lock being entered.

The door opened, and Shion stepped inside the house.

“Ren?”

As he looked towards the living room, he saw her crouching on the mattress.

Shion cautiously approached her.

“····I’m sorry, you’re the only one I could call.”

“That’s okay. It’s nice to see your face after so long.”

Having spent the past ten years together, a month felt both long and short for the two of them.

Especially since it wasn’t on good terms when they parted.

“Hey, do you want to eat this? I bought your favorite.”

“No, I’m good.”

As silence resumed, Shion was the first to break it.

“Hey Ren, I don’t have friends. I’m not good at comforting people.”

Since she always displayed a strong demeanor, he had no idea how to comfort her.

He figured that saying ‘cheer up’ would do nothing for her in her current state.

Even if he asked a passing child, they would know that.

“Still, there’s nothing I can do for you besides this.”

“··········.”

Shion quietly sat down next to Ren.

“That wasn’t your fault. Ren.”

He could only stay by her side.

How much time passed until Ren spoke first, breaking the silence?

“····It was that guy.”

“That guy···?”

“The person who came to me this time was that b*stard I reported for stalking and sent to jail.”

At those words, Shion’s expression stiffened.

The incident when he had stalked her from the venue and followed her all the way to her lodging.

While he had seen many strange individuals since entering the industry, this one stood out in his memory.

“But Ren, are you okay?”

“·····No.”

The shock she received couldn’t easily be healed.

It’s not like the issues of online harassment and stalking are raised as social problems for no reason.

He had even encountered someone who truly attempted to k*ll him, so the effects were amplified.

“⸻But, thanks to you, I feel a bit better.”

It was said that during hard times, having even one person by your side makes a difference.

The trauma triggered by the stalker’s appearance was only temporary.

Thanks to Shion, her mind had returned to a state where she could think somewhat clearly.

Is this the positive influence of a visual novel protagonist?

Indeed, there was a reason to plug in an idol day after day.

‘····No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.’

It wasn’t just a simple stalking case; the sentence he received was two years.

There wasn’t much talk about parole, so if you consider the time, he must have just gotten out of prison, yet how did he find her address in such a short span of time?

For someone to find out personal information, there should be enough time and resources.

“Did you not spread my home address or something?”

“Would I do that?”

The question, which was asked out of concern, received a firm denial in response.

Still, logically, unless someone spread it····.

“···Huh?”

In that moment, it suddenly dawned on him.

There were others besides Shion who knew her home address.

No, there was a group that knew it.

“You don’t mean···.”

He cautiously looked at Shion. His complexion was dark, as if he had exactly the same thought.

“····Is it this insane company?”

If the company was involved, it could explain everything.

‘Honestly, it doesn’t make much sense for a company to target an individual and share information, but···.’

Thinking about it, this world is essentially a visual novel game.

As long as the protagonist and heroine have a decent relationship and the service scenes come out well, it’s a work that’s already half successful.

It felt a bit absurd to treat it as a mere game, but since there was a status window anyway.

It was thought to be sufficiently probable.

“····For now, I’ll see what I can do about this.”

How to resolve it; he wasn’t sure how, but it felt strangely reassuring to receive that answer.

This is what being a protagonist means.

The reason he and Cornelia had kept quiet for the past month was simple.

Because Ren didn’t want that.

He believed that forcing a victim to relive an event they didn’t want was something unforgivable.

‘However, the story is different now.’

Not just meaningless comments tossed around on the internet, but she had actually suffered direct harm from a stalker.

This was no longer something to passively observe.

“If you want it, I will do my best to clear your name.”

Of course, that would be impossible with just Shion’s efforts.

But there were still some people left in society who would support Ren.

From the other members of Cornelia to Director Tatsuya.

And some other celebrities they had worked with.

Just as he had done for the original Hikari, if Ren wanted, he would find a way to make it happen.

‘That doesn’t mean, however, that I can create false evidence····.’

Considering the possibility of the other side presenting evidence, there was a real risk of being countered.

Moreover, Ren would never like to have her name cleared in such a manner.

“····Ren, those kids aren’t kids anymore.”

Even though there wasn’t much of an age gap.

Ren’s attitude towards the members was always the same.

Like a mother to her daughter.

She always let them hear only good things and tried her best to keep them away from bad situations.

He didn’t know the reason behind it.

If he had to guess, it might be her way of giving the love she didn’t receive from her parents to others.

Thinking that way, he felt a pang of sadness for her.

“We can’t keep protecting them forever. Isn’t it about time we let them go?”

Once in the entertainment industry.

Cornelia without Ren would also be swept away by the waves of the industry and would have to learn how to survive within it.

And from Shion’s perspective, they were already more than ready.

“····I understand.”

Ren had no choice but to agree to those words.

Setting aside the responsibility of bringing those kids into the industry, they had to have proper experiences.

There had been many idols who had gone through various hardships like this in their previous lives.

This might be an unavoidable trend.

“By the way, I didn’t know you would think like that.”

“Oh, this? I just recalled a line from a game.”

Ah, so you basically copied that from somewhere you heard it?

Pinch-

“Ouch.”

Feeling somewhat annoyed, she playfully pinched Shion’s cheek.

Being too honest for no reason.

This is why he doesn’t have a girlfriend with that kind of appearance.

How the hell could he get married with this face? His mother must be worried.

As someone close like family, it pained her heart.

“····But what should we do now?”

Now that I think about it, my home address has been exposed.

Since I already had one stalker, I felt oddly uneasy about continuing to live in such a place.

A rebuttal is one thing, but I have nowhere to stay right now.

“Oh.”

Could it be that he hadn’t thought of this?

Shion’s face flushed with embarrassment.

“Umm····.”

Was it not long before he thought of an alternative?

After a brief pause, Shion replied with a slightly red face.

“How about you come to our house for now?”