Now That I Have Become a Woman, I Am a Vtuber - Chapter 153

[Wait, so you’re getting a new avatar?]
“Oh, yeah. My manager is already working on it. I called for nothing.”
[Whoa.]

I was on a call with Anna for the first time in a while.
Actually, was this our first proper one-on-one call?
Either way, I was telling her about the conversation I had with my manager before.

[You should’ve told me! Why make us all anxious?]
“Well, isn’t it supposed to be a surprise? It’d feel better getting it out of the blue like a gift.”
[Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Should I not have asked?]

She felt relieved after prying it out of me, but now she was regretting losing the surprise factor.
A bit of a shame, I guess.

[Still, I’m excited. We’re gonna look amazing, right?]
“Amazing? Watch your word choice.”
[What! You, of all people, are saying that?]

Geez.
Now that I think about it, Anna’s different from my first impression of her.
These days, she’s kind of… No, if I keep thinking about it, I might insult her, so I’ll stop.

[Why’d you go quiet? What are you thinking?]
“You’re quick to notice… I’m hanging up now.”
[What? No, tell me—!]

Click.
I hung up just like that.

As much as I wanted to talk longer, I had somewhere to be.
I put my phone away and stepped into the building ahead.
Heading downstairs, I found a surprisingly clean door for a basement space.

When I opened the unlocked door and stepped inside, I saw a small crowd gathered.

“Oh, you’re here?”
“Been a while.”

Kanghyuk, who was greeting people at the entrance, acknowledged me as I walked in.
Ugh. There were way too many people here.

Well, of course there were.
Today was the day Hyunsoo’s album was finally complete.
Everyone involved had gathered at his studio.

Looking past Kanghyuk, I spotted people from the last get-together, including middle-aged figures and even some familiar faces from TV.
In other words, this was a rather intimidating crowd.

So, instead of standing in the center of the lobby, I quietly slid toward a corner.
If I could just sit down and keep a low profile—

But then, my eyes met Hyunsoo’s.

“Oh, you’re here, noona?”

Damn it.

Since the host himself had spoken up, all eyes naturally turned to me.

“Ahaha, hello, everyone.”

Considering I was probably the second youngest here after Hyunsoo, I figured a polite greeting was the way to go.

“Oh, we met before, right?”

A middle-aged man near Hyunsoo recognized me and greeted me warmly.
I remembered him from our last gathering—he was a singer even Jang Yeo-sa knew.

“Yes, it’s been a while.”
“Haha, I heard you did a feature on this album. Looking forward to it~”

Since the eldest person here was speaking to me casually, others started to take interest as well.

“Ah, excuse me for a moment. You guys keep chatting.”

So, I pretended to get a call and slipped further into the corner.

Phew. That was close.

But I wasn’t alone in my new hiding spot.

“Oh?”
“Oh.”

Standing alone in the corner was none other than Lee Hyunjun.

“What are you doing here?”

He’s not the type to avoid celebrities—he is one.

Hyunjun smirked at my question.

“They’re all big seniors in the industry.”
“Ahh.”

Yeah, that would be uncomfortable.
If I imagine being in a room with a VTuber who debuted 20 years ago…
…Yeah, I’d feel suffocated too.

“Are you feeling out of place too, Suhyun?”
“They’re all celebrities.”

I, an ordinary person, had no place among them.

Hearing that, Hyunjun made a weird face.

“What?”
“…Nothing. How’s work?”
“Oh, work?”

He must mean my VTuber activities.
It’s going well, obviously. Didn’t we just get a new recruit?

“It’s great. Got a junior now too.”
“Ooh, a junior?”

Hyunjun sounded impressed.
Well, as an idol, he’d probably understand what it feels like to get a junior.

“How does it feel to have one?”
“It’s nice.”

It’s proof that The Six is growing.
And besides, I actually like them.

“Hmm… I wonder how long that’ll last.”
“What do you mean?”

I frowned at Hyunjun’s cryptic remark.

He made an exasperated face.

“You’ll feel differently once you’re competing with them.”
“Ohhh.”

Well… Maybe that’s true.
Juniors might seem adorable at first, but in the idol world, they’re competition for the same audience.

But that’s idols.
VTubing is a bit different. We share a lot of our audience.

And besides…

“Would they even be competition?”

Compete with me?
No way.

Sure, I do some audience filtering now and then, but that doesn’t mean I slack off.
My concurrent viewership is solidifying, and my YouTube subscriber count is steadily climbing.

Unless a monster-tier rookie shows up, no junior is taking my spot.

“Wow.”

Hyunjun let out a small exclamation, sensing my confidence.

“I like that attitude.”
“I know.”

Miro is a character built on confidence.
And honestly, I’m not much different.

“Hmm, but you haven’t forgotten our bet, right?”
“Our bet?”
“Yeah. Today’s the perfect time.”
“Oh.”

Right.
We had a bet on whose feature would be better.

I had almost forgotten, but I wasn’t worried.
My recording session had gone really well.

“You sure about this? You never heard my version.”
I had heard his, but he hadn’t heard mine.

“I can feel your confidence. Well, the people here will be the judge.”

Hyunjun gestured at the crowd.
Yeah, the industry seniors would decide.

But that made me wonder.

“Can you even ask them? Aren’t they intimidating?”
“Haha.”

Wasn’t he literally hiding from them earlier?

But Hyunjun just smirked.

“They’ll love this bet the most.”
“Oh.”

Yeah… If two rookies showed up and asked industry veterans to judge their showdown, they’d probably enjoy it.

After all, they were here to listen to the album anyway.

“Alright, let’s do it.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah, looks like their conversation’s wrapping up.”

Wait, was he keeping track while talking to me?
Idol awareness is something else…

I followed Hyunjun back to the center.

“Oh, you guys came over?”
“What were you two talking about in the corner?”

As soon as we approached, people started teasing us.
Had they been watching us?

“You were watching?”
Hyunjun voiced my thoughts.

A woman shrugged.

“You guys just drew attention naturally.”
“Yeah, no way not to notice.”
“Aha.”

I guess we did stand out, even in the corner.

“So, what’s up?”

A middle-aged man asked, prompting Hyunjun to explain our bet.
We wanted them to judge whose feature was better.

“Ooh, that sounds fun.”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“A bet, huh…”

Everyone seemed intrigued.
Then, they started glancing between me and Hyunjun with knowing smiles.

Oh no.

“Ah, youth.”
“How cute.”
“…It’s not like that.”

I knew it.
They were misunderstanding.

Like hell I’d risk my life dating an idol.
I once drew fanart for Beastz and got annihilated by their million-strong fandom.

“Haha, Suhyun, don’t be so serious.”
“Aw, Hyunjun got rejected.”
“This is all part of growing up, Hyunjun~”

Ah.
So this is why he was hiding earlier.

These people lived to mess with their juniors.

“Alright, let’s hear the album.”
“Yeah, let’s get started.”

The first songs played were our feature tracks.

When they finished, the votes were split evenly.
Only one vote remained—Hyunsoo’s.

“Who do you pick?”

I shot him a silent warning.

“…Hyunjun hyung.”

“…What?”

“You can’t just threaten people, noona. That’s a minus.”

…F***.