Now That I Have Become a Woman, I Am a Vtuber - Chapter 1
Defined Career pathI think I’ve lived quite well.
I excelled in studies and sports from elementary school, attracting many friends, a trend that continued through middle and high school.
Crushing the college entrance exams allowed me to attend one of Seoul’s prominent universities in the engineering field.
Despite the tough assignments and classes, I enjoyed my university life attending MTs, hanging out with classmates, and pulling all-nighters on projects.
I believe I belong to the top 1%.
But why now? I looked in the mirror: long black hair, black eyes, a small face, and cherry-like lips.
Have height shrunk by about 10 cm?
Ironically, the clothes I’m wearing fit me perfectly.
“Ah,” an incredibly pleasant voice escapes me.
“Oh,” I spontaneously express admiration for the sound of my voice.
“Hmm,” I intentionally make noise just to keep hearing it.
“Is this a dream?” I’ve woken up as a woman—a very pretty one with a lovely voice.
***
Embarrassingly, I was once obsessed with lucid dreaming, attempting to fulfill my dubious fantasies within my dreams.
Now, as I’ve tried every method I know to determine whether this is a dream, the more I realize this must be reality.
“This is crazy, what’s happening?”
Strangely, my room seems familiar yet different.
The closet is filled with women’s clothing, not men’s, and I’m even wearing a matching set of women’s underwear.
I checked my phone frantically: my male friends are gone, replaced by unfamiliar yet not unfamiliar women.
Moreover, the chat room for my department, which should have been labeled as [S University Computer Science, Class of ’22], was now changed to [G University Design, Class of ’22].
“Damn it!” I curse as I realize my hard-earned spot in the Computer Science department is gone.
Is this really a dream?
My KakaoTalk profile picture, which used to be a photo with my friends, now shows a woman in a black hat and pajama pants, holding a beer at a convenience store—surprisingly beautiful, with a cool, tough vibe.
Then, a surge of intense headache brings unfamiliar memories flooding in.
“Oh, oh no!” I stagger to my bed, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of memories.
“Damn, was I a man? Or am I a woman?”
***
Confused, I recall being a man, but now I’m a woman.
Both memories feel vivid, though the male memories are sharper, yet my current body is female.
The balance seems about right.
My name remains Kim Sohyun, and my educational history is the same, only the details differ.
This world’s Kim Sohyun is, to put it mildly… an otaku? Kind of a nerd, but apparently well-liked.
Thinking about it, I have no romantic experience—is that a relief?
If I had, the male part of me might have been revolted.
Now, will I ever date?
Setting aside such thoughts, there are two immediate problems.
First, I can’t do Design, my new major.
My memories include it, but I’ve never been inclined toward Design—it’s like mixing black and white paint to make gray.
Fortunately, my parents are the same, but there are completely different women in my KakaoTalk chat, not my original friends.
It’s not that I didn’t have female friends, but these are totally different… I mean, they are the girls I only knew by name or talked to a few times during school, and now they have become my close friends.
[Hyejung: What are you doing?]
See, I just got a message now.
Hyejung… In my memories as a man, she was just one of the girls in the class, that’s all I remember about her.
But as Kim Suhyun the woman, she is a really fun and loyal, a good friend altogether.
For now, I put off responding and searched for a cigarette to clear my confused mind.
“What the heck.”
However, I couldn’t find any cigarettes in my coat or on my desk, and then I remembered that as Kim Suhyun the woman, I didn’t smoke.
Male Kim Suhyun started smoking as a freshman, but female Kim Suhyun didn’t.
“Sorry, but it’s my body, so it doesn’t matter, right?”
Well, nothing can be done, I have to go buy some.
Didn’t someone say addiction is a problem of the brain?
It turns out it’s not. Addiction is a problem of the heart.
I put on a coat, pressed down a black cap, and stepped outside.
Fortunately, the location of my studio apartment is the same as when I was a man, and the geography is familiar, though being about 170 cm now, the perspective feels strange.
While walking and observing my surroundings through unfamiliar eyes, I immediately saw a convenience store.
“Isn’t that a cliché?”
Then, a scene from the memories of female Kim Suhyun popped into my head.
The protagonist, who had turned into a woman, goes to the convenience store, and the part-time worker is shocked by her appearance…
Why did she watch that?
TS novel?
Female Kim Suhyun, who had searched for novels about men turning into women, she clicked her tongue at the memory.
“It’s more than I imagined.”
That aside, she’s severely into everything from comics to anime, and even Japanese VTubers, to the extent that there’s no area in otaku culture she hasn’t touched.
She even chose her career path by watching anime and drawing pictures during her middle school years.
Kind of a dark evolution of Kim Suhyun, right?
Is that the right term?
Objectively, comparing the lives of male Kim Suhyun and female Kim Suhyun, I would vote for the life of male Kim Suhyun, but…
Female Kim Suhyun, who has been watching Japanese animations since elementary school, touched light novels in middle school, and watched VTubers in high school, seems to have had more fun and lived better.
Well, with a look like this, there’s no way she couldn’t live well.
While thinking about these things, I arrived at the convenience store and opened the door, half expecting the reaction of the part-time worker.
Who was the part-time worker here?
According to my memory, it was just an ordinary guy…
“Oh..”
“Welcome!”
Contrary to my expectation, the part-time worker was a woman.
And a very pretty, young woman at that.
“Ah, hello. One Mild Seven, please.”
She seemed shorter than me, her features soft and warm, contrasting with the sharp and cool cat-like features of female Kim Suhyun.
“Sure~ Could I see your ID, please?”
“Here it is. Oh, and a lighter too, please.”
Her smile was beautiful, and if I were still male Kim Suhyun, my heart would have raced so much that I would have continued thinking about her even after going home.
But well.. Now I’ve become a woman, haven’t I?
After a brief greeting and receiving the cigarettes, I left.
“Phew.. Clack! Cough!”
As soon as I stepped out of the convenience store, I lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, but immediately choked as if it was my first time smoking and tears came to my eyes.
“Cough! Cough! Ah…”
Suddenly, the taste of smoking dropped dramatically, so I threw the cigarette butt on the ground and shoved the rest harshly into my pocket.
“Shit.. Cough! Cough! Ah…”
‘I should smoke slowly.’
Or maybe it’s time to quit as I trudged back home.
The air outside was quite chilly, so as soon as I got home, the warm air enveloped me.
[Hyejung]
As soon as I lay down on the bed, my phone vibrated with a message.
“Lee Hyejung.”
Quite a dressy female college student and a friend of female Kim Suhyun.
Like Kim Suhyun, she’s a popular dance major student at G University.
I quickly reviewed my memories to recall how I usually interacted with Hyung before answering the phone.
“Hello?”
[Suhyuni~]
As soon as I picked up, I was greeted with a high-energy voice.
However, it didn’t feel awkward.
“Why, what’s up?”
[Are you only supposed to call when something’s up?]
“That’s not it.”
Male Kim Suhyun wouldn’t understand that phrase, but to female Kim Suhyun, it made perfect sense.
[Anyway, why didn’t you look at KakaoTalk yesterday?]
Yesterday?
Was it yesterday… I took out my phone to check the time, and the units of the date had changed.
“Ah, I feel like I’ve slept all day because I was so tired.”
It seems I was out for quite a long time after gaining the memories of female Kim Suhyun.
Realizing that made me start to feel hungry.
[You slept all day? What did you do yesterday?]
“Yesterday? Well, um… I just couldn’t sleep, so I was up late doing this and that.”
[You were probably watching anime or reading novels again, right? Anyway, do you find that interesting?]
…What kind of life had Kim Suhyun lived to deserve such memories?
Honestly, I’m surprised she still has friends, as she prefers staying at home.
[Have you eaten?]
“No, not yet.”
[Then, want to come out? Let’s have a meal.]
“Sure. What are we going to eat?”
I just said it to get closer, but I hear a surprised voice from the other side.
[What? Really? No backing out?]
“Huh? What?”
No wonder she reacts like that to a simple meal.
Kim Suhyun, a woman who often made excuses not to go out, even for a common meal in the neighborhood.
[I’m at home, I’ll get ready and come out in 30 minutes!]
Home? Ah, if it’s Hyejung’s house, it must be nearby. It would be nice to meet up and eat more often.
What should I do for the next 30 minutes?
After pondering for a moment, I opened the phone and tried to remember what Kim Suhyun usually did.
Watching anime, reading novels… Hmm…
Interestingly, Kim Suhyun watches content for both men and women.
It seems she is not particularly inclined towards any specific genre and mostly lurks in communities.
She also uses social media.
More often Twitter than Instagram.
Since she’s always at home, she tries various things out of boredom.
‘Then, why not just go out?’
According to Kim Suhyun’s memories, there isn’t any trauma preventing her from going out; she enjoys it once she’s out. It’s just that she doesn’t go out.
It seems it’s just her nature to be a homesick.
Well, I can understand that.
‘I read comics too.’
How many comic books did I read in a bookstore following an older friend in middle school? Even as an adult, I often went to comic cafés.
There are plenty of things to enjoy at home in the world.
The comics Kim Suhyun usually read were old black and white comics from the ’90s to ’00s, while Kim Suhyun, the woman, watched more recent animations, a bit of a generational difference?
‘The age is the same, though.’
Anyway, with these random thoughts, I logged into Twitter on Kim Suhyun’s phone.
Most of the posts were pictures she had uploaded, and Kim Suhyun’s drawing skills were objectively impressive, which is probably why there were quite a lot of likes, comments, and shares.
It seems she quite enjoyed the attention she received in this way.
Then…
“…Hmm.”
There was also a trace of an argument with a user who had a Sailor Moon profile picture.
-Isn’t this to commercialize young women?
ᄂIt’s your mother lol.
ᄂDid you not learn anything; why resort to insult mother;
ᄂYour mother hahaha
ᄂNo wonder you get cursed out
ᄂI’m a woman too; just like your mom lol
It seemed that Kim Suhyun was proud of her artwork. The only time she wrote anything was when she retaliated against someone belittling her art.
No wonder…
[If you insult my art, I’ll make fun of your mom jokes.jpg]
Such a meme had spread on Twitter. Kim Suhyun proudly saved a screenshot of it.
As I pondered this enigmatic Kim Suhyun, I realized it was almost time to meet up, so I did some basic makeup and went outside.
I was about to go out, but Kim Suhyun’s memories held me back.
I wore a casual grey hoodie and black leggings and walked a bit when I saw Hyejung coming from afar.
In a simple white T-shirt, jeans, and a beige cardigan, Hyejung waved vigorously at me.
“Suhyun~!”
In my days as a man, I would have thrown a punch if a male friend called me by that nickname, but now I felt indifferent.
“Hey Hyejung, come on.”
I waved back casually, causing Hyejung’s face to crumple.
Oops, was that too stiff? Definitely different with the opposite gender…
“Oh, oh! Are you using that thing you learned online?”
Ah, it seems Kim Suhyun was more outgoing than I thought.
From what I remember, Kim Suhyun liked staying at home but was not introverted.
Rather, she was straightforward, like a extrovert that speaks what’s in its mind.
And she was quite a beauty, knew how to dress up, had a nice voice.
No wonder she kept her friends even without going out.
As Hyejung and I walked side by side, I saw my reflection in a window.
Even dressed simply in pants and a hoodie, I looked as stylish as a celebrity in airport photos.
Personality and skills seem to operate independently.
If she had liked going out, she might have been living a very popular life by now.
***
“So, what should we eat?”
“How about that?”
In response to Hyejung’s casual question about what to eat, I instinctively raised my hand and pointed to the ‘sundae gukbap’ restaurant I frequented during my days as a man.
For a moment, I regretted it, but Hyejung nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it’s been a while since we had gukbap. That’s good.”
Luckily, it seems Hyejung also likes gukbap.
As we entered the restaurant to the familiar sound of the bell, the neat yet wooden interior caught my eye.
“Welcome! How many are you?”
“Two,” I replied.
As I sat down and looked at the menu, I ordered the special sundae gukbap that I always had.
“The special sundae gukbap, please.”
“Yes~”
“Can you eat all of that?”
Hyejung noticed that I had ordered the special size. Surely different, especially since my robust physique would have significantly reduced.
I frowned for a moment then realized, even though there’s a difference between men and women in terms of eating, I had become a rather slender woman from the man I was, so my appetite might be different.
“I’m quite hungry.”
I might be able to eat it all since I almost starved last night.
“I’ll just have the regular size.”
We ordered and chatted before the food arrived.
Kim Suhyun, the homesick woman homesick has nothing much to say and I couldn’t talk about my days as a man, so I quietly listened to the stories Hyejung shared.
“Then do you know what Yunjae said? He told me…”
Yunjae is Hyejung’s boyfriend. They’ve been dating for about five years since they met in a tutoring class during high school.
I was engrossed in various stories from school, assignments, trolling in group projects, to encounters with difficult customers at part-time jobs, when suddenly my phone vibrated.
The unknown number made me hesitate, but I answered, and a young man’s voice came through.
“Is this Kim Suhyun’s phone?”
“Who is this?”
“Ah, this is Kim Chaehoon from the student council, why weren’t you at school today?”
Kim Chaehoon? The university I, as male Kim Suhyun, attended was different, so all reliance must be on the memories of female Kim Suhyun.
Trying to recall the university life memories, I remembered him as a loud blonde guy.
“Ah, I was too tired to go.”
“Tired? What were you doing yesterday?”
I evasively handled the school issue and was planning to think it over after some sleep, but this guy is persistent.
We were just acquaintances, but from the way he asked if it was really Kim Suhyun on the phone, it seemed like it was his first time calling.
“Who is it?”
Hyejung asked, watching me talk.
“Student council.”
“Your department?”
“Yes.”
I replied to Hyejung and hung up, and she looked at me astonished.
“Why? Why would you hang up like that when talking to a guy?”
“Ah, I’m planning to drop out.”
“What??”
That was my immediate thought upon seeing the design department.
The school was a downgrade from the one I had attended, and the department neither suited my skills nor my interested.
Oddly, I felt a strong certainty that I would live in this body for the rest of my life.
Then, I should quickly re-plan my life, right?
I’m only 21, and I haven’t even been to the military.
Honestly, what I can’t do?
“What will you do then?”
“Maybe retake the college entrance exam?”
“You? You hate studying.”
“Right. Thinking about studying for the college entrance exam again makes me nauseous.”
“Yeah, why would you retake it? Why drop out of the school you were attending?”
“Hmm…”
“And weren’t you doing internet broadcasts? What about that?”
“What?”
Internet broadcasting?
I was clueless until the memory suddenly hit me.
I used to watch VTubers in my room and was tempted by the donation income.
I’m not inherently introverted.
I even had enough initiative to buy a microphone, facial cam, and even an avatar.
What? Did I buy that?
I immediately turned on my phone and went to Coupang, and it was indeed being delivered today.
While recalling past memories, I had been slow to recall the recent ones and realized that just now.
“Did you apply for an audition?”
“Me?”
“What, were you drunk at that time?”
“An audition.. right, I did.”
“Where am I going with this?”
Despite the fleeting desire to grab my throbbing head, the idea didn’t seem too bad.
Honestly, the voice of female Kim Suhyun is quite good.
I’m still amazed by it when I speak.
Plus, I was a man, and female Kim Suhyun is deeply immersed in the otaku industry, making her perfectly suited to manage otaku guys.
I shivered at my own crazy idea and put down the spoon.
It turns out, in stories where a man turns into a woman, the protagonist always did internet broadcasting.
“Ha… Hyejung.”
“What’s up?”
“I think I’ve decided on my career path.”
“What?? What is it?”
“An idol.”
A 2D world idol.