I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 18

This is Broadcast Material!

A month quickly passed since Blue LUV’s first broadcast practice.

During that time, the members either came to the company or practiced at home, pushing forward with their debut.

Kang Ha-neul, who had been watching over them, sensed that it was about time to drop some hints.

After all, one of the biggest advantages of corporate VTubers is their aggressive marketing even before debut.

However, from the company’s perspective, the downside is that this marketing requires a significant amount of money. But Kang Ha-neul didn’t need to worry about that at all.

And for good reason—she wasn’t just an ordinary company CEO. She was also “Ha-neulbom,” a massive female streamer with nearly 1.1 million YouTube subscribers and an average viewership of over 8,000.

“Hi, hi, everyone. Sorry I’m late today. I was busy taking the kids out for dinner.”

As usual, she turned on her stream and casually apologized for being late, subtly mentioning Blue LUV.

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

  • Bomha
  • Bomha
  • Who are these kids?
  • Since when did you have kids?
  • Did you speedrun having a kid?

As expected, several viewers immediately bit the bait.

She pretended to be annoyed by the nonsense while secretly smiling inside and continued speaking.

“Ugh, what do you mean ‘those kids’? I’m talking about our Blue LUV members.”

  • Blue LUV?
  • Mentioning the color blue at this time… hmm…
  • At least it’s not red, lol.
  • Oh no, that’s not allowed.

“Hey, you know if you roll with that kind of bait, you’ll get banned, right? Everyone, behave.”

Even though there was a chat moderator, she went into the admin menu to set an example.

She clicked on a viewer who was about to bring up a political topic.

As soon as the cursor hovered over the “Permanent Ban” tab, emoticons flooded the chat.

  • (Head-banging emoticon)
  • (Head-banging emoticon)
  • Everyone, hands off the keyboard!!!!
  • Almost gotcha~

“Ah, I’ll let the ‘almost gotcha’ slide this time. But there won’t be a second chance, okay?”

Compared to other streamers, her chat moderation rules were relatively lenient.

Knowing this, the viewers quickly shifted gears and applauded her generosity.

  • For real, lol.
  • Can’t help it if it’s an ‘almost gotcha,’ lol.
  • Thank you for sparing me…
  • Wow, she didn’t ban anyone this time, lol.

The atmosphere seemed just right to start mentioning things more seriously.

Kang Ha-neul seized the moment and began talking about Blue LUV.

“Ah, it’s almost time for our kids to debut. Time really flies.”

  • It’s already that time?
  • How many members are there?
  • Are they pretty?

“Of course they’re pretty, they’re our kids. There are five members, and the PV will be up in a couple of days. Stay tuned.”

  • Oh…
  • So the models are pretty?
  • If they’re actually pretty, why even be VTubers? Lol.
  • For real, lol. They’d just do girl cams and make money.

Unlike Japan, where the VTuber market is well-developed, Korea’s market isn’t as mature yet. As a result, some viewers started posting more aggressive comments due to their preconceptions.

Kang Ha-neul flared up and banned a few viewers as an example.

“Hey, everyone’s crossing the line now, huh? I said attacking our kids is the same as attacking me, right?”

  • Ah, it’s you again, Light Gangseok…
  • I worship you, GOAT.
  • But didn’t you say you were recruiting four members at first? Why are there suddenly five?

“Ah, that? I was originally planning to recruit only four, but after the interviews, there were just too many talented kids I couldn’t pass up. Especially the last one—she’s so cute. I just wanted to hug her, you know what I mean?”

It seemed like one of the viewers had flipped a strange switch.

Kang Ha-neul suddenly changed the topic and started rambling about the fifth member.

She went on about the member’s personality, how cute she was, and other trivial details.

  • Who the hell brought this up?
  • Hey, someone stop her.
  • No wonder she’s a weeb. She gets all excited when it’s about something she likes.

The viewers groaned as Kang Ha-neul rambled on about the topic for almost 20 minutes.

At least if they could see how cute the girl was, it wouldn’t feel so unfair.

But the viewers hadn’t even seen her face or heard her voice, so it was hard to empathize.

“She’s also really kind. I guarantee you’ve never met someone as kind as her in your life. She always puts others first.”

  • We get it, please stop…
  • Just bring her on already, damn it.
  • At least let us hear her voice or something.
  • Here we go again with the toxic behavior, Tenny.

As the viewers continued to plead, Kang Ha-neul’s eyes lit up as she watched the chat.

‘Even if we can’t reveal her voice, maybe we can let the viewers chat with her beforehand?’

After all, hearing her voice for the first time during the debut stream would have the most impact.

Plus, it would be a shame to reveal Da-jeong’s cute and charming voice now.

But maybe a Discord chat would be fine.

Kang Ha-neul began seriously considering the idea.

‘This wasn’t part of the plan… but let’s ask.’

Even though she was the CEO, this was clearly outside the original plan.

She decided to ask Da-jeong first, and if she agreed, she could inform the viewers later.

[Me] – Da-jeong, are you free to chat for a bit?

Without hesitation, she sent a message to Da-jeong.

Within less than 10 seconds, the “1” next to the message disappeared.

As expected, Da-jeong was the most responsive and kind member of Blue LUV.

If only the group’s third oldest, who was always lounging at home and barely responding to messages, could learn from her.

[Our Cute Da-jeong] – Yes!
[Our Cute Da-jeong] – What’s up, CEO?

While dreaming of such an impossible scenario, Kang Ha-neul checked the incoming message.

She couldn’t help but smile as she imagined Da-jeong’s energetic response.

But now wasn’t the time to get sentimental.

She quickly started typing to explain the situation.

＊＊＊＊＊

While marveling at the performance of her new computer and playing a game with Yu-na, Da-jeong suddenly received a message from the CEO.

She tilted her head in confusion.

Shouldn’t the CEO be streaming right now?

“Yu-na, I got a message from the CEO. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  • Okay, I’ll keep playing. Don’t worry about it.

“Thanks.”

Disconnecting from the Discord call with Yu-na, she checked the message.

Is she free to chat now?

Well, she is, but why would the CEO message her at this time?

[Me] – Yes!
[Me] – What’s up, CEO?
[CEO] – Actually, my viewers are really curious about you.
[CEO] – Would you be willing to make a brief appearance?
[CEO] – You don’t have to show your face or voice, just chat on Discord.

“Whaaat?!”

A-a broadcast appearance?

A shocked voice escaped her lips at the sudden request.

Come to think of it, there was a pre-debut video where one of the Blue LUV members chatted with the CEO.

She remembered it was Yu-na, or rather, Yukiko.

“But why is it me this time?”

“Ugh…”

Honestly, it’s really nerve-wracking.

What if I mess up my answers and end up causing trouble for the CEO?

Besides, the CEO is a huge corporate streamer.

There must be thousands of viewers watching. Will I be okay?

“…No, let’s do it.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, I clenched my fists and made up my mind.

It’s not like there’s much time left until debut. What’s the point of being scared of a broadcast appearance?

And it’s not like my voice will even be heard.

I can just think of it as a one-on-one chat with the CEO, like usual.

The only difference is that the CEO will read our conversation to the viewers.

If anything, this is the time to do my best and help raise interest in our Blue LUV members!

Let’s go, let’s go!

[Me] – Yes, I’m okay with it!

[CEO] – Got it.

[CEO] – Don’t stress too much. Just answer naturally.

Even if she says that, I’m still nervous…

Well, there’s no helping it.

Let’s just think of it as a process to build familiarity with the CEO’s viewers before debut.

It’s natural for everyone to feel awkward at first.

Click—

I entered the CEO’s stream in incognito mode to check the viewers’ reactions.

Since my debut name hasn’t been revealed yet, I saw a screen with the Discord chat window open, with only my name hidden.

The CEO started typing.

[Ha-neulbom] – Hey.

[Ha-neulbom] – What were you up to?

Ah, I forgot to change my Discord name for the CEO.

I’ll change it later.

It’s confusing otherwise.

[Me] – I was playing a game with a member!

Since I can’t say Yu-na or Yukiko here, I used the term “member.”

The CEO’s reply came quickly.

[Ha-neulbom] – A game? Was it fun?

[Me] – Yes!

[Me] – Thanks to the computer you got us, I’m having so much fun!

[Me] – Thank you!

It’s so different from my old computer, which took 30 seconds just to open the internet.

Lately, I’ve been realizing the true joy of a high-performance computer.

I wanted to express my gratitude, so I sent the message. Then, from beyond the stream screen, I heard the CEO’s proud voice.

『Wow, did you all see that? I got our kids some really good computers. I’m not a terrible boss, am I?』

  • Savage.
  • So savage.
  • If you’re being coerced by CEO Kang, wave a carrot.
  • She’s so good at socializing, lol.

『Hey, what do you mean savage? Stop spreading rumors!』

Huh? That wasn’t my intention…

I feel like my response just made things harder for the CEO.

But I, Jung Da-jeong, know the ins and outs of streaming after years of lurking.

I know that putting the CEO in an awkward spot makes the stream more entertaining.

It’s what you’d call “toxic behavior.”

Of course, it might be hard to pull off with the Blue LUV members…

But the CEO isn’t technically a Blue LUV member, so, yeah.

I can handle this much.

[Me] – CEO, is this how I’m supposed to say it?

[Me] – It’s written like this in the script you just gave me.

[Ha-neulbom] – ?

The CEO responded with a single question mark, encapsulating all her current emotions.

Even though there’s no camera, I can somehow imagine the CEO’s expression right now, and I can’t help but laugh.

Hehe. I feel a little sorry, but this is all for the sake of the stream.