TS Vtuber Streaming Life - Chapter 74

“Well… let’s meet and talk first?”

Click.

I ended the call after arranging to meet Ms. Se-young at the company with the manager.

Then I immediately called the manager.

“Manager? Do you have time?”

[Ah, yes. I’m free.]

“Do you happen to know about my alternate character-related matter?”

[Alternate character? Why? Is there something going on?]

“Don’t be surprised.”

[…Yes.]

“I just got contacted by Se-young to perform at the music awards stage.”

[Oh, really?]

…Why isn’t he surprised?

“…Did you already know?”

[Yes.]

…How? Didn’t I just say I was contacted by Se-young?

[It seems like they contacted me and Ms. Se-young almost simultaneously. That’s why you were on the phone.]

“Oh, is that so?”

I took my phone away from my ear and checked the screen; I saw a missed call.

…I must have been too flustered to notice.

Wait a second.

“Then why did you say you didn’t know about the alternate character-related matter?”

[I thought you would refuse the stage offer. So I wondered if there was something else that I didn’t know about.]

“Oh.”

…That’s true.

“It’s just… this is such an unexpected situation that it goes beyond my imagination… And I haven’t decided to do it yet.”

[Is that so? So, did you contact me for advice?]

“No, I just talked with Se-young after meeting the manager at the company, and we were going to discuss it in detail.”

[…You contacted me to pass the annoying task onto me, didn’t you?]

“That’s just part of a manager’s job.”

[…I understand. I’ll be waiting.]

Click.

…The music awards stage?

I still can’t believe it.

If I think about it, since the featuring track has been at the top of the charts for a long time, it’s only natural that they’d reach out for at least one award or stage.

But since it’s such a great song, everyone must be curious about the identity of the featured artist, whom no one knows.

So naturally, if I appear on stage, it would draw attention from the public.

Listing out other reasons, there was no reason not to accept the invitation for the awards stage.

“Sigh….”

For now, I decided to think of other options on the way and left the house after getting dressed.

***

Having arrived at the company, I met with the manager and Se-young to start the meeting.

“What’s the most important part—what’s the pay like?”

“Ah, it’s about this much….”

Hmm… That’s high….

Why is it unnecessarily high…?

If it was low, that would have been the first option for me to refuse.

“How about using someone else instead of me for the featuring?”

“…I asked, but they declined.”

Well, that immediately broke the second option as well.

“But please, do as you wish! I’ll follow your opinion!”

“…What if I say I’m not doing it?”

“That’s….”

Aoo… Looking at his expression, it seems they can’t perform without me….

If it’s a matter of me refusing and being the only one not participating, that’s fine, but if it’s something that would harm Se-young’s career…

Hmm… It seems I have no choice but to do this.

When I weigh the pros and cons, doing it is undeniably beneficial.

Seeing such people and getting on a somewhat influential stage can only be beneficial, not harmful.

…But the problem is, this is an alternate character.

“Seeing how you’re acting, it looks like you’ll go for it. Then let’s move on to stage-related discussions.”

…The manager has been observing me for over six months, and it seems my understanding has increased.

Since we decided to do it, I quickly stated my conditions.

“First of all, my face and hands must be completely concealed.”

It’s non-negotiable. If that doesn’t work, I would drop out.

“Let’s agree on hiding the face, but why the hands?”

I simply answered Se-young’s question.

“I’ve been on broadcast even once.”

Some crazy people can identify red medication with just the veins on my hand, so I have to be cautious.

“I agree with hiding the hands, but wouldn’t it be better to just show your face? Even if your face is known, no one would approach you since it’s your face!”

“That’s right! And! Hiding that face would be too wasteful! It’s an opportunity to be recognized in the world!”

“…Are you all intending to break me as a group?”

“Ah, no… I just… that’s all….”

“I-I’m sorry….”

…I furrowed my brows. After the Chinese restaurant incident, I’ve become somewhat sensitive to comments about my face, and it seems I inadvertently tensed my forehead.

“Anyway, I simply dislike showing my face.”

Having protected my identity with so much trouble at that Chinese restaurant, would I simply give up like this? At least I want to avoid any further problematic incidents—

…d*mn! A flag!

“Sigh….”

“Why, what’s wrong…?”

“…It’s nothing.”

After setting up plenty of flags until now and retrieving all of them, I’m left lamenting my intelligence for raising another flag today.

…By now, it’s about time for one to miss.

I hope it’s this time….

Noticing my mood, Se-young quickly offered an alternative.

“How about wearing a mask when you go out?!”

“A mask?”

“Yes! Nowadays, there are variety shows where they sing while wearing a mask to hide their identity!”

“That sounds good.”

It was one of the methods I was also considering.

“Ah! Then! I’ll contact the variety show staff and get a mask made!”

“Really? Se-young, have you appeared on that variety show?”

“Ah! Yes! I ranked first for three consecutive weeks before I went down!”

…That seems way too fast compared to before?

From my memory, I thought she appeared about a year later and got eliminated quickly by meeting a truck.

But even with that elimination, both of them performed so well that they were often discussed among people even more than at the final stage…

Anyway, she already went out?

…I knew she was gaining more popularity after I featured, but was it at this level?

Once again, I realized why they wanted to bring me on stage.

“Then, you prepare the mask as you see fit. And the song will be live, right?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm… live…”

“You sing live well, don’t you, Yeon-woo!”

“…There’s a huge difference between being stuck in the soundproof booth at home and performing on stage.”

Since I’ve never sung in front of people, I have no idea how nervous I might get.

“Yeon-woo? Nervous? No way.”

“…Manager, what does that mean?”

“I know you won’t be nervous. I always feel that you undervalue yourself too much.”

“Really! I always hear that I do well! Do well! Cute! Cute! But I don’t believe any of it…!”

“…What do you mean by cute?”

“Ah! That, that—”

“Well… please don’t explain….”

In conclusion, doesn’t that mean I’m not the type of person who gets nervous with such situations in front of others?

The only ones who can view me more objectively than I can are others, so I should trust them.

So we continued the meeting.

“Hmm… Shall we wrap this up for today?”

It seems I’ve said everything I needed to know right away?

“Yes, for now, I’ll take care of all the other troublesome matters. I’ll let you know the essential points you need to be aware of.”

“Ah, thank you.”

After wrapping it up with the manager, I chatted with Se-young.

“But isn’t it a bit harsh to reach out after such a long time and land this kind of job on me?”

“Ah, um, well….”

“No… I’m not saying that on purpose….”

“I’m s-sorry!”

…I think I’m slowly going to develop ‘I’m sorry’ PTSD.

Why do I automatically say I’m sorry when trying to initiate a conversation…?

***

The next day.

Se-young quickly arrived at the broadcasting station to make Yeon-woo’s mask the next day.

With Yeon-woo’s personality, he’d probably have a lot of feedback on the mask, so I should hurry!

“Wow, I can’t believe you contacted me first.”

“Ah! Thank you for your help!”

“But where’s this needed?”

Oh! I can say this, right…?

“I got invited to perform at the music awards stage!”

“What? Are you going out there wearing a mask?”

“No! The person who featured on my song is going to be there!”

“What?!”

I flinched!

I was startled by the sudden loud reaction and flinched my body reflexively.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We’ve heard so little news in our industry that there were rumors that you’re an AI….”

…Yeon-woo is being heard as an AI for both his main character and alternate character.

Uh… now that I think about it, he does look a bit AI-like?

Wow! That means he’s that perfect?!

Of course, he’s Yeon-woo!

What’s more, since he is kind-hearted, despite his reluctance, he’s doing this stage for me!

He protected me during the previous Chinese restaurant incident as well!

The more I know him, the more I can’t help but like him!

As I was lost in thought, praising Yeon-woo as usual, I barely snapped back to reality when I heard a voice.

“But you’re not showing your face there either?”

“Ah! Yes!”

“Hmm… Is it because you’re not good-looking?”

I flinched!

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to insult the featured artist.”

I could undoubtedly describe how beautiful Yeon-woo is in 5,700 characters without taking a breath, but I knew that if I did that, Yeon-woo might dislike me, so I suppressed the urge.

…If he reveals his face, I’ll just have to wait and see!

Hiding my feelings, I let out an awkward laugh.

“Hehe… He’s someone who dislikes having their personal information exposed….”

“Hmm~ There are many people like that.”

How dare someone who knows that insult Yeon-woo’s appearance?!

A little… um… not just a little! Ah… not even a little….

It’s just that he looks really scary! He’s a goddess in herself!

She’d win against Aphrodite, no doubt!

For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that it would be possible to pressure her with Yeon-woo’s unique atmosphere to win, but I ignored it.

Originally, having positive thoughts and doubts is a crime.