《A Female Character Vtuber (Contemporary LitRPG story)》 Prologue Prologue
A month had passed since his twenty-ninth job interview, yet Hirojimi Tanaka had received no reply to his application. He had applied to over a thousand job vacancies, unknown by pride or position, have withstood pain after printing many resumes. Yet, his hands never landed any jobs, So, as he prayed. Unlimited Job Application works. Such was the life of Hirojimi, a thirty-year-old bachelor and NEET who had graduated from a STEM university with an average score. With each passing year, his spirit was crushed as his applications went unanswered. Rejection letters were rare, and most companies did not even bother to contact him. He wondered why he could not secure any jobs. Was it because of his looks? Or perhaps his average academic performance without notable achievements? He concluded that society revolved around appearance or money, disregarding academic talents and loyalty. Today, he would once again dine with his mother, like a parasite, consuming their food without giving anything in return. Tomorrow, he would face another interview. However, after being ignored twenty-nine times, he was no longer optimistic about the process. "Good luck with your interview tomorrow, dear," His mother''s kind words felt like poison to him. Her prayers had remained unanswered for over five years of his unemployment. There was no reason to believe they would be answered now. Nonetheless, he responded politely, playing the role of a good child. "Yes, Mom. Thank you." "Don''t forget to wear a shirt and tie for work, okay? You should dress up a bit." "Even if you dress up a pig, it would still be a pig..." His reply was filled with frustration as he responded to his parents. The parents wore sad frowns but chose not to rebuke him for his language, and they continued to eat in silence. Once finished, Hirojimi retreated to his room to play video games, watch hentai and anime. If there were a degree in porn knowledge, he would graduate Summa cum Laude. Both hentai and JAV were his sustenance, and he had accumulated over 9000 gigabytes of research data on those topics alone. Over nine thousand gigabytes! That amount would require three to five hard drives solely for his collection of porn and anime. When midnight arrived, he lazily retired to his bed after shutting down his computer. It was an unhealthy habit, but he no longer cared. "I wonder if I could be reincarnated. Maybe things would be different then. I could be a hero who saves the princess or become a demon lord feared by all," he muttered, envisioning the amazing feats he could accomplish in other worlds, enhanced by magic and his vivid imagination. However, things did not go as he wished. Tomorrow arrived, and the day of his interview came. As usual, he donned his best shirt, tie, and suit, which his mother had spent over three hundred dollars on five years ago. He had stopped watching interview exercises after more than two years of failed attempts, but he still remembered them by heart and continued to practice. "Welcome to Oxforn Inc. May I help you?" The beautiful lady who had been engrossed in her phone noticed Hirojimi when he stood before the reception desk. She quickly put on a fake smile, interrupting her chat or Instagram browsing. "Hello. Is this Oxforn Inc? I have an interview scheduled today with Mr. James. Is he available?" Despite his introverted nature, Hirojimi still managed to produce a curt reply after enough practice. "Oh yes! This is certainly Oxforn Inc. Please wait a moment while I call our headquarters," she replied, still smiling. She then asked him to wait as Mr. James was currently occupied. This procedure had become a routine for Hirojimi. He never arrived late, but the interviewers always made him wait. Some made him wait for thirty minutes, while others made him wait for over two hours. As he pondered why such a procedure existed and why he should respect a company that did not respect him, he waited alongside five other job applicants, all dressed in similar suits. The key difference was their appearance. They were all lean, while Hirojimi was rotund. The female applicants had meticulously polished faces adorned with makeup, and the male applicants had cleanly shaved beards and tall statures that gave them a sharp demeanor. It was already evident to Hirojimi that he was destined to fail the interview, and his heart sank as he waited for the interviewer to arrive. When the appointed time came, an hour later, he was led to a room where a disinterested-looking man spoke up politely. "Greetings, Mr. Hirojimi Tanaka. My name is James Wyles from Oxforn Inc. Before we proceed with the interview, let''s have a brief conversation. Could you introduce yourself?" James'' words were sugary, and his handsome smile made Hirojimi feel sick. He wondered how many times he had to repeat his introduction, but he did it nonetheless. "Greetings, Mr. James. My name is Hirojimi Tanaka. I am applying for a job at your company. I am a thirty-year-old bachelor with a degree from a reputable university." Hirojimi began his introduction, following the typical format. First, he stated his name, then his education, and finally, he mentioned his hobbies. Since he had no work experience, he tried to embellish his resume with excuses like volunteering for charity work, hoping to deceive potential employers. He couldn''t help but wonder if this was some sort of new torture devised by ingenious devils. Why should he repeat everything that was already written in his resume? Was it meant to shame him? Or was it a way to expose his lies? "I see. Thank you for your time in meeting with us today. If you meet our selection criteria, we will get back to you in less than a month." The interview concluded before Hirojimi realized it. He had received this mundane response several times throughout his interviews, yet it still pained him to hear that he hadn''t been successful. "Thank you for taking the time to interview me. I sincerely hope that my skills can be beneficial to your company, and I invite you to take a closer look at my resume," he smiled in return and departed. He intended to return home, to immerse himself in his fantasies of other worlds and indulge in hentai. However, he needed to answer nature''s call, so he spent a few minutes in the company restroom. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. After finishing his business, his plan was to head home. During the company''s break time, he noticed Mr. James dining with his friends at a large table in the nearby cafeteria. One of them was the receptionist he had seen earlier. Realizing they might be discussing the job applicants, he discreetly positioned himself behind one of the pillars, eavesdropping on their conversation. "So, Mr. James, who will be our new coworker?" the female receptionist inquired. "Well, I''m not sure. I think we will pass on this group. None of them really stood out to me," Mr. James replied. "Except the overweight one?" the female receptionist giggled, and the whole table erupted in laughter. Those laughs pierced Hirojimi''s heart more deeply than the sharpest knife. Nonetheless, he remained still, eager to listen. It was his only chance to understand his shortcomings. Perhaps he could change for the better. He didn''t know why he had consistently failed in all his interviews over the years. Nobody had offered him any guidance, and even if they had, he still would have faltered in the interviews. Now was a rare opportunity to hear directly from the interviewer himself. "Nahh! He caught my attention in a negative way, haha. There''s no chance we would recruit him, not in a million years." "Oh? Why? Despite his appearance, he was quite polite," the female interjected. "Are you seriously asking that?" Mr. James chuckled. "Well, not really. But I wonder why he is unappealing." "It''s true that his appearance is off-putting. That''s a major disadvantage. However, just having a good appearance is no longer sufficient to join our company. The higher-ups want us to expand our network. We''re seeking employees who are well-known on social media or have real-life connections with the government. That''s why I rejected all the applicants today. I had my eye on some handsome and charming candidates, but that''s not what the boss wants, so no deal." "Ouch. So evil. We posted a job vacancy but rejected them all." "Well, such is life. We no longer need low-level workers. We need extraordinary workers with special skills or connections, and if possible, at a low-level worker''s salary. With modernization, one or two low-level workers in the industry are enough." He sipped his coffee and took a bite of his sandwich. The realization hit him like a truck. Everything he had been striving for was not enough. He would never land a job simply because he was antisocial and considered unattractive. Rage consumed him as he looked upon those who mocked him. However, he chose to leave the scene without causing a commotion. He didn''t raise his voice or vent his anger at James and his company because, deep down, he knew they were right. He was a NEET with no friends, no work experience, and an average score. He had nothing to show off or take pride in. However, despair and a sense of unfairness filled his heart as he walked back to the bus station and arrived home. His mother greeted him, but he didn''t respond. The downcast expression on his face spoke volumes, and he retreated to his room. Out of habit, he turned on his computer and sat down to watch anime. However, none of the anime''s content registered in his brain as he stared into the 2D world with empty eyes. Knock, knock "Hiro! Come outside. Let''s have dinner," his mother knocked on the door. Hiro was unwilling to interact with anyone that day, but his mother insisted. "I understand that you had a disastrous interview today. Just keep going, okay? Don''t give up. Keep applying for more jobs. Some of them will definitely give you a chance." "SHUT UP!!" Hirojimi finally snapped. "I''VE BEEN TRYING FOR FIVE YEARS, AND THEY DIDN''T EVEN GIVE ME A CHANCE TO PROVE MYSELF!!" In his rage, he threw his chair at the door, venting his frustration. His mother fell silent and then spoke softly, "At least eat dinner, dear." She was attempting to comfort him but failed. The dinner that evening was eerily quiet. Ever since Hirojimi''s interview failure, his relationships with those around him grew strained. The silent treatment persisted for a week until Hirojimi stumbled upon an ad on YouTube:
Details regarding Virtual Idol auditions
Do you have what it takes to be next Virtual Idol? Be Your Anime Character! Join now and Get your free Live2D Character!
- English speaker (Japanese speaker is a plus) - Able to sing as a female character (any gender may apply) * Please see the application URL for further information. Additionally, Japanese residents can also apply. https://forms.gle/**** * Deadline: 11:59 AM JST, January 29, 2019 Press Release: https://VeeIdol.com/****
He scoffed at the advertisements. However, man was a curious creature. The bleaker his despair, the brighter the flicker of hope. He had hoped numerous times to secure a job, even falling victim to job scammers on occasion. His hopes had been repeatedly dashed, leaving him callous. Yet, what if he were to be accepted? What if, despite his current despair, he could achieve success? And so, he clicked on the registration link, swearing to himself multiple times that he wouldn''t spend a single dime on them, no matter what. He had no expectations that his application would be received. He couldn''t sing, and he couldn''t speak Japanese. Nevertheless, some sort of drive compelled him to click on the link. The submission form required his name, his desired alias if he were to become a real VTuber, his gender, and a voice sample. After completing the form and hastily recording a voice sample of him attempting to sound cute, he clicked the submission button and went to sleep. He never anticipated being accepted, but at least he could dream. Since a week ago, he had ceased applying to any further jobs. He was exhausted and no longer had the desire to try. Mister James'' words had deeply wounded him. Moreover, it was not something he could easily fix. The fact that he lacked friends and had an unsociable nature remained unchanged. Regardless of his proficiency or school grades, it didn''t matter because he wasn''t a team player. However, just two days later, he received an email from VeeIdol Studio. He was scheduled to have an interview the following day. Chapter 1 : GIRL Chapter 1 : GIRL
Hirojimi was perplexed as to why the application went through, but he decided to come nevertheless. The building resembled a refurbished house turned into an office space. It had a small, startup company vibe. Hirojimi wasn''t picky about the size of the office, as he had applied to numerous startups in the past, only to be ghosted for two months after the interviews. Upon entering, he noticed that the workers were dressed casually. Some even wore loungewear, which seemed bizarre to him. However, there were a few, including the receptionist, dressed in suits. Hirojimi tilted his head, trying to understand the work culture in this place. Some seemed diligent, while others appeared lazy, glued to their phones while lounging in their cubicles. "Excuse me, are you Hirojimi?" The receptionist greeted him as he was lost in thought. "Yes, I am." "Please come in. Mister David has been waiting for you." The receptionist guided Hirojimi to a room where a well-dressed, handsome man sat with a teenage girl who couldn''t have been more than 17 years old. "Is she his daughter?" Hirojimi wondered silently. Even if she was the CEO''s daughter, hiring a teenage girl seemed unusual. Moreover, while her father was dressed in a suit, the girl wore casual clothes. Both of them smiled at Hirojimi as he entered, and a chair was reserved for him in front of the table. He handed them a large brown envelope containing his resume and job application, copied from his previous interviews. Unlike his first and last interviews, this time, he had no hope for this company. "Greetings, my name is Hirojimi Tanaka." "Hello, I''m David, the branch director here at Vee Idol branch studio. This is Marienne, an employee of our studio. Are you an expat? Your name seems Japanese," he inquired after hearing Hiro''s name. Hirojimi''s name was Japanese, but he was born in the USA. The name had simply been given to him by his parents, who had naturalized there. He didn''t know a single word of Japanese either. "No, my parents naturalized here." "So, you applied here even when you stated in your application form that you could not sing and lacked Japanese. May I ask why that is?" David asked with a smile. Knowing that, Hirojimi wondered why they had even selected him for an interview. With nothing to lose, he answered nonchalantly. "It was written that it was optional, and while I do not know if my voice was satisfactory, you could judge it yourself. The form asked for my voice sample," Hirojimi sarcastically answered, trying to maintain a polite demeanor. However, to his surprise, the interviewer didn''t seem angry and instead smiled, though the girl was frowning. "I thought you would sound more like a feminine boy from your voice. Is it truly your voice?" the girl spoke. Unlike Hiro, she had a beautiful voice and pretty looks. He would believe it if she were in the idol industry. What a waste that her pretty looks were being underutilized as a virtual idol. "Yes, it is my voice recorded from my phone." "I see. Alright, let''s put this aside for now," David said, moving Hiro''s resume into his drawer, unwilling to read the many exaggerations that had been put into it. "Do you know what we are working on?" "Yes, I followed some of your company''s profiles on the internet. You are hosting some kind of virtual idol agency, right?" "Yes. Do you know what a vtuber is?" "Umm¡­ it''s a 3D anime character that can move in real-time," Hiro answered. Being a Summa Cum Laude nerd, he knew almost everything anime-related. However, the vtubers themselves left little impression on him. He only knew about Silly, the cute idiot Vtuber, who was the most popular with twenty thousand subscribers. "Yes. So, I will jump right into the matter. Will you become a vtuber?" David said. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Yes," Hiro answered. At this moment, he would just say yes to anything to get a job. "Good! Well, then. See you on Monday. We will get you through the training," David replied. It was so sudden that Hiro didn''t know how to respond. "Huh? Wait? I got accepted?" "Yes. Well, that depends on your performance during training. If you feel you don''t want to be a vtuber, you can always back out. But if you do, I shall welcome you to our company," he smiled. Hiro was taken aback as he was guided out of the building. He wondered if all of this was a dream. But when he looked back at the dilapidated building on the outside but neat on the inside, he knew it wasn''t a dream. He clenched his fist and yelled. "Yes!! Finally, my first job!!" His shout drew glances from bystanders. With an embarrassed gesture, he bowed and left the premises. But he couldn''t help but skip his steps toward the station with a grin plastered all over his face from top to bottom. When he got home, his mother annoyingly asked him about the interview during dinner. Hiro reminisced every word David had said to him. "They told me to come back on Monday for training. That means I am accepted, right?" "Well, if they said training, that means you got accepted. No employer would bother training others just to reject them," his mother nodded, smiling. "Okay! Whatever they throw at me, I will crush it!" Hiro said with a smile. His attitude was met with a smile from his mother as if their tense relationship from yesterday was a lie. Meanwhile, at the VeeIdol Branch Company, David was questioned by Marie. Marie was another Vtuber hired by VeeIdol, not David''s daughter, a fact that Hiro would soon find out. Little did he know that David was still a bachelor, even when his office was surrounded by beautiful girls. "Why did you hire him?" Marie sulked a little. "Hm? Maybe because he was interesting?" "What can he even present to the viewers? He said himself he couldn''t sing and has no talent." "Well, you could always teach him, right?" "Even I was scraping by. My talents are only singing and dancing." "Well, Vtubers are not well-known on this side of the world. Even in their home country of Japan, they only have several tens of thousand subscribers. So, our recruitment pool is surprisingly small," David said as he reviewed the resumes he had received. Even when he lowered the bar to almost nothing, only 10 job applications reached him. The Vtuber industry was seen as more of a side job, and it was hard to get by in life working in it. It is not unlike the talent agency in Japan, where idols have to perform side jobs like becoming hostesses in restaurants and so on. "Yeah. Nobody knows us yet," Marie sighed. "So, let''s eliminate these seven who didn''t respond to the email or didn''t show up. Three came: an ex-idol cum actress, another teenager looking for a side job, and him." "The teenager..." "No. We have too many teenagers already," David said. He didn''t want his agency to be filled with only underage children. Moreover, they tended to have problems with their work schedule due to their schools, exams, or parents. Complications could also arise if the children did something unimaginably against the law, which fortunately hadn''t happened in his office. "Then the ex-actress..." Marie whispered. "Tell me, which one is more interesting: a fat male otaku trying to become an anime waifu or an experienced actress playing the role of a female Vtuber?" David whispered. Like a whisper of a devil, Marie gulped. However, despite things getting interesting, she resisted the idea of Hiro becoming a female character. Both of them had heard the sound recording that Hiro had submitted to them before the interview. Being popular was like winning a ticket lottery. Sometimes it was related to their skills, and other times it was due to pure luck. People in the entertainment industry have tried to research various methods on how to become popular, but they only arrived at a simple answer. Refusing to accept that becoming a popular idol was unrelated to skills and beauty, they referred to it as "hidden talent." "The star is a hidden talent where an idol can shine." Marie, the beautiful teenager, was aware of this. She had worked for this company for almost a year now. She had accumulated efforts to finally reach three thousand subscribers. Her subscriber count afforded her a sustainable life, though with limited luxuries. "Do you think he has the star, the talent that every popular idol possesses? I mean, looking at the sound recordings¡­" Marie looked at him, her expression apprehensive as she breathed in, trying to quell her dissatisfaction. "Do you believe that people are born with the star?" "Well, I have seen idols climb through the ranks like it was nothing. What else could we assume? Star is an innate talent." "I see. We shall see. Whether he fails or succeeds, we shall see. After all¡­" David said, raising his hand. "We only seek Female Character Waifus! Their 3D form in this world is irrelevant! As long as they have a waifu in their heart, we should welcome them! VeeIdol will exhibit their waifu soul from their heart. Anime is Justice!" There was a fine line between genius and insanity. Whether David fell into the former or the latter would be decided later. Marie could only sigh as she continued with the paperwork while glancing at his resume. "We need to introduce him to the other members¡­" Her whisper was heard by nobody. She facepalmed with stress as she re-listened to his meowing sound again. "How will we even train him?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-mcvszd0yM Chapter 2: Technical Detail Chapter 2: Technical Detail
Monday came unexpectedly fast. After some self-studying during the weekend, Hiro returned to the dilapidated office. Before him, all the office workers wore casual clothing, which made Hiro tilt his head in confusion. "Hmm? New guy?" A passerby office worker greeted him. "Um¡­ Yes. Mr. David said I would be trained for the work I was going to do¡ª "ARGGHHH!!!! DAMN YOU ALL!!"" A scream resounded from one of the private rooms in the office. Hiro stared at the door agape. "Is the door not closed properly?" An office worker sighed, and a janitor hurriedly scampered toward the door, closing it with a thud. "Wait, wait. Wait a minute. Why is that girl screaming?" But before Hiro could ask further, a petite girl with bob-cut hair opened the door and apologized with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, everyone. I just lost a Mario Kart tournament. Please don''t mind me." She said and closed the door properly this time. Her bell-like sound betrayed her death-metal scream earlier. "Ah, Hirojimi Tanaka? This way, please." Marie said as she welcomed him from behind. Hiro arrived at noon. He frowned a little at the work ethics of the CEO''s daughter as she brought him to her office. It was an empty room with a computer, two monitors, a headset, and a mic. It was pretty similar to what he expected from a YouTuber''s setup. "So, first of all, welcome to VeeIdol Corporations. I am Marienne, your fellow Vtuber senior working in this company. First of all, log into your account, and there, you will see your status."
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Lore
Name: None Races unknown
Age None Sex unknown
Biography:
Stats
Rating: ¡î¡î¡î¡î¡î
Follower/subscriber 0 Favourites 0
Average Views 0 Membership 0
Total Views 0 Status Active
"Ahh, I see. But there are a lot of empty fields here." Hiro asked his first question. He finally realized that Marie was not related at all to David. Idols were often recruited young, and in fact, Marie was already a bit too old for the idol industry. "She must be a former idol or something. That''s why she was hired despite being young." Hiro thought to himself, finally getting rid of the idea that Marie was a spoiled CEO''s daughter. "Yes. Since you are new, we have not made your avatar yet. Please think of lore for your character. You will be trained using our default practice Live2D program named Yui." She booted up her computer and turned on the camera located on top of the monitor. It showed Hiro''s ugly and obese picture, which made him retch. However, the image soon turned into a cute anime girl. The software incorporated inside the computer read Hiro''s facial expressions. It used the data to mold the Live2D anime facial expressions to match Hiro''s. When he moved his head, the female character also moved hers. Hiro was elated when he saw his fugly face turned into an anime girl. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "Live2D tracks head, eye, and mouth movements. With it, we can create anime expressions in real-time. That is the foundation of what we do." Marie continued with her customer service explanation, her voice devoid of emotion. She didn''t like Hiro, but she knew her prejudice was simply because he was ugly and overweight. His very being was an antithesis of what an idol is. But she didn''t like being prejudiced, so she tried to present herself as an impartial professional. While some might say she was cold, Hiro respected her impartiality. Hiro was flabbergasted at the anime character in front of him. He had always thought the anime characters shown on YouTube were scripted beforehand with 3D models such as MMD or Blender. He also thought millions of dollars and an outrageous amount of time were spent making it by an expert who graduated from Visual Effects and Animation Major. However, this program could make his female character move without much training and also in real-time. "Ah, but how do I broadcast it on YouTube? The character is inside the monitor. Do I need another camera to point at the monitor?" "With a program called OBS, it can capture a specific application or your entire screen. Here, let me show you. First, you choose an image or a video as your background, then put it inside a source tab beside the scene tab in your OBS." "Then, in the settings, you can choose the YouTube service for streaming. You need to put a streaming key into it. But, since we have yet to make your channel, we shall skip that for later. By the way, we do not exclusively stream on YouTube. There are Twitch and Discord as well," Marie explained to him as her hand deftly maneuvered the mouse. "Understand?" "Yes, I understand." Hiro nodded. Marie looked at him, surprised. "Good. You are a quick learner. Could you test it?" Hiro did exactly as she showed him. Computers were his forte, as he had spent more time on them than in the outside world. He smiled in glee as new knowledge was poured into him. This time, what he learned would directly influence his real job, unlike those scamming schools where he had spent over twenty years and still came out jobless in the end. He silently cursed his school and college, as none of the knowledge they gave him helped him at all in this new job. "Alright, nice work." "But what about this green screen behind the character?" Hiro asked. "You can remove it with the chroma key. Select the image inside OBS and then put a filter on it. Then put the chroma key to remove the filter. Or, you can delete the background directly from the Live2D app itself. It was made compatible specifically with OBS." "Ah, thank you." https://youtu.be/QVIAkPV6VqY Hiro moved his head, opened his mouth, and winked. His less-than-attractive face drove a stifled giggle from Marie as she watched him warmly. After several minutes of playing around, Marie continued with her lecture. "So, Hiro. What kind of vtuber do you want to be? Ah, by the way, I did not ask you to answer something abstract like ''I want to bring a smile to everyone'' or ''I want to bring happiness to my audience.'' I want something more concrete. What do you plan to present to your audience? We mainly sing or play games. Some offered consultation as a place to chat." Hiro was silent. He got the job just yesterday, and while he did his homework and watched several vtubers from VeeIdol Corporations, he never thought he was going to be asked such questions. "Our company currently has four English vtubers and ten Japanese vtubers. Have you watched some of our vtubers?" "Yes, I have watched Ruru Rirulia, Sherlie Watason, Ana, and Justina Bitterly. Sorry, but I haven''t watched the Japanese ones due to the language barrier," he replied. "I see. Good. So, what kind of impression do you get from them?" "Well, Ruru has that sweet voice but that deathly metal scream when she loses a game. Ah! Was that one Ruru?" "Yes," she smiled. "Then Sherlie focuses on chatting. Most of her stream is just chatting with her viewers." "Then Justina has that sexy voice with big boobs." "And what about Ana?" Marie''s eyes sparkled as she mentioned the name. Little did Hiro know that Ana was Marie, and he stupidly gave an honest answer. "She is normal, I guess...." Hiro said. He could not pinpoint anything wrong about her, and neither could he identify anything good about her. She was a normal idol. She is good at singing, but not as good as the Ak47 group idol. If he had to take note of her, it is that she is the most senior member of the group. "Ugh... so what if she is normal!! Is it bad?" Marie lashed out. She has taken critical mental damage due to Hiro''s honest report. "Ahem. Sorry. Continue on. As you can see, these members all have their own persona that they project to their viewers. Did you know that they also have their own lore? Did you know, for example, that Ruru was a vampire?" "Well, their species was never mentioned outside of their introduction. But yes, I know them." "And that''s what I want you to think about starting now. Envision what kind of vtuber you want to be. Start out with your lore. The faster you do this homework, the better because that means more time for the artist to draw your model." Marie concluded their orientation. "Alright. Please come again tomorrow. Your homework for today is to design your background and work on your vtuber persona." Marie sent a message to Hiro about what he should do for tomorrow. It looks short since it only consists of background design and the character''s lore, but the abstract wording made Hiro raise an eyebrow. Hiro had never designed anything in his life. He was an inexperienced engineering graduate. However, in the world of engineering, designing was all about safety. Aesthetics and UI were alien to him. When Hiro was about to go home, Marie called out to him. "One more thing, Hiro. There is an explicit taboo in this industry. You must not, under any circumstances, tell anyone else about your identity as a vtuber, nor should you tell anyone else about others'' vtuber identity. This is an ironclad rule, and violation of this rule could lead to severe repercussions." "Huh? Why?" "Well, the persona we present to our audience is like a second life to us. It would be a massive spoiler to let the audience know that the persona they saw was just a normal human, right?" Marie smiled, but she strained her voice to emphasize the importance of this rule. "Okay. I will keep that in mind," Hiro replied. He didn''t go home immediately. If he went home, he felt he wouldn''t do his job and would instead play games or watch anime, so he chose to sit in the open office lounge and stare at his worksheet. "Ah, you didn''t go home?" Marie asked. Her blouse was neat and tidy. Now that he was relaxed, he appreciated how fancy her fashion sense was. Unlike her, Hiro wore a formal suit, so he didn''t look out of place except for his physical appearance. But when he looked at her, he knew how significant the disparity in their social skills was. She was fancy and pleasing to the eye, while Hiro could not even look himself in the mirror without disdain. "I felt like doing the homework here," he replied. "Good. Nice attitude. We allow our talents to work from home, but working here is better since they would lend you their computers," Marie answered. "Hmm? Aren''t they supposed to provide us with the equipment anyway?" "Yes, but you may not bring them home. Are you having trouble providing the equipment at home? To ensure smooth streaming, we require some high-end computers, after all." "It is fine. I still have a gaming laptop. I saw the computer''s specifications in your room. My laptop is about the same. It is enough," Hiro answered. His laptop was an i5 gen 9, while the company used an i3 gen 11. He assumed his comp was better, but he did not want to belittle the company on his first day. All that he needed to buy was another monitor, or maybe he could just plug in his old TV at home to become his second monitor. Some of his old TVs had HDMI or VGA ports, which means they could connect to his computer. "That''s good." Marie smiled genuinely this time. She was impressed by his work ethic. Hiro then contemplated his vtuber characters the entire day and what he wanted to show. Chapter 3: Birth of Female Character Vtuber Chapter 3: Birth of Female Character Vtuber
Hiro arrived on time the following day, setting aside anime and gaming to focus on his Veeidol company homework. After tinkering with editing software like GIMP and Photoshop, he finally crafted his masterpiece background for his character. Walking with confidence, he encountered his senior, Marie. They exchanged greetings before heading to the streaming room. "I''ve completed my homework!" Hiro exclaimed, eagerly presenting his work. The blue background adorned with flower petals reflected his favorite color. To add a feminine touch, he included a spinning flower petal on the background. While it wasn''t his personal preference, he needed to embrace a more feminine character for this job. "Hmm? Your background looks like Windows XP..." Marie delivered a candid critique right off the bat. Hiro was taken aback by her comment. Hiro wasn''t living in a wish-fulfillment novel where all his initial efforts were met with praise and hailed as groundbreaking. Hiro, who had never designed anything before, naturally struggled with his assignment. Some might consider it unique, while others might deem it unattractive. https://youtu.be/XatBhzY9iyU "Don''t say it looks like Windows XP! I''m not that old..." Hiro retorted. How did she even know about Windows XP? Hiro himself only encountered it in elementary school. "I''m not that old either!" Marie shot back. "Sorry. So, is my background rejected?" Hiro inquired, his face losing its color. The excitement he''d felt the day before had been quashed by Marie''s candid critique. "No. The key allure of being a Vtuber is the direct connection with the audience. Unlike traditional idols whose interactions with fans are often managed by their managers or companies, Vtubers engage with fans directly. Your fans will be the ones to guide you and provide corrections¡ªprovided you have any fans, that is. The world of YouTubing is unforgiving for beginners. I look forward to seeing you grow," Marie said with a smile. "I see." Hiro nodded. "Do I have any specific targets to meet?" "No, there aren''t any specific targets for you to achieve." "I see. So, can I stream whenever I want?" "Ah, you still need to stream at least once a week or your status will be marked as ''hiatus,'' and you might lose followers," Marie replied. "By the way, our company doesn''t really focus on your follower count. They''re primarily concerned with how much you earn." "I see." Hiro nodded. He was somewhat taken aback by her straightforward honesty. He had often heard advice from his mother to not be too honest, that all his words should be carefully veiled in politeness and kept away from self-interest. For instance, rather than promoting products for the company''s profit, he should frame it as promoting products that benefit the customer. Even if he were selling seemingly useless items, he should present himself as caring about the well-being of his customers, using that as the reason to promote his products. "I thought you''d say that followers are number one or that active members are important," Hiro mumbled. "Well, that''s important too. However, our programmatic advertising on YouTube doesn''t place a heavy emphasis on your follower count, only your view count, which directly ties to our revenue." "So, subscribers or followers aren''t important? Why do so many YouTubers beg for subscribers, then?" Hiro tilted his head in confusion. "Having a high subscriber count and positive ratings can push your channel to the front page in certain tags. So, while it might not directly affect your revenue, some consider it more significant than patronage or view count," Marie explained. "Okay, thank you for answering. I appreciate it," Hiro nodded. "Now, let''s work on your character''s lore. What will her name be?" Marie asked. "I''ve already thought about that. Her name will be Lily," Hiro replied. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Hmm... how unoriginal," Marie commented. "Vtubers usually have an eye-catching name nowadays. You might suffer hardships if your names were too common or ordinary." She seemed to be speaking from experience. James thought. "Well, I did consider unique names like Lodewess, Wareway, or Lichess Saint. But somehow, ''Lily'' just seemed to stick." James said "Why did you choose that name?" "I don''t know. I just thought about her this morning. When I was asleep, I dreamt of a girl from another world. She was a slave who later became a ruthless tyrant. People called her the Immortal Ice Queen." Hiro closed his eyes as he recounted the dream so vividly. A lonely throne, backstabbing underlings. When the queen glanced in his direction, her eyes were empty, devoid of emotion, like a frozen flame that was cold outside but ignited brightly on the inside. After describing his lore about the Ice Queen, Hiro opened his eyes. Marie let out a silent gasp as she looked at Hiro. His demeanor had changed. His eyes, which had once looked defeated, now gleamed with a sharp light. However, this transformation only lasted a moment, and Hiro soon returned to his previous defeated look. Marie cleared her throat slightly to break the tension and continued with her orientation. "Good. It seems like everything is in order. You can practice using that background in this room for your debut. Remember, you need to practice as a female character." "Okay. Thank you." "Do you have any social media accounts?" "Nope. I don''t have any social media account," Hiro immediately replied. His resolute answer was a testament to his lack of social connections. "Sorry. That doesn''t matter, as everyone needs a new social media account for their characters anyway," Marie apologized, acknowledging the somewhat pitiful statement from Hiro. "Why did you ask then?" Hiro, with his keen sense of feeling slighted, questioned her. "We usually ask our new members to indirectly mention their new characters on their social media as a form of advertising," Marie explained. Hiro''s shoulders slumped further as he realized he couldn''t get very far in life without friends. "So, the company won''t help?" "We will help, of course. Our company''s profile will mention you, and our advertisement section will also feature you. Don''t worry. Just don''t have high expectations compared to your recent coworker." "Alright." Hiro nodded. He never aspired to be number one. He simply wanted to be competent enough within this company. Competing against individuals with prior experience and beautiful girls with a fashion sense like Marie seemed impossible anyway. "Your debut will be in a week. Practice hard for your debut, okay? I will forward your homework to our artist. Maybe he can tweak your avatar a bit." "By the way, I''ve seen the company''s profile. Who are the new members you mentioned? I didn''t see them. All the members are at least one year old, except for Ana." "Yes, we have three new members who joined last month. They will also debut next week," Marie answered. Her response raised Hiro''s eyebrow as he questioned the timing of his recruitment. "Was the recruitment last month? Why was I recruited then?" "Let''s just say David was interested in you because you came not from our official channel but from an advertisement. The click-through rate from that is usually below 0.1%, and almost no one actually fills out the form," Marie sighed. She and David had promised never to use such a form of advertisement ever again. It was expensive and proved to be useless. "Will I get to meet the new members?" Hiro asked. "Of course. You will meet them officially in three days, and then we can play some games to strengthen our bond," Marie smiled. "Alright!" "Ah, by the way, you are the only male member in our group. Please be polite, alright?" Marie dropped a bomb right off the bat. This greatly surprised Hiro. He didn''t expect to be the sole male member of the group. "Huh? There aren''t any other male members? But aren''t there male vtubers in your company?" "Yes, we don''t have English male members yet. We only have four Japanese male vtubers. By the way, remember, you are a female character." "So, am I the only one with different characters and real-life genders?" Hiro asked something that perhaps he shouldn''t have. His curiosity got the best of him. "Yes," Marie answered decisively. "Why?" Hiro couldn''t believe that he was the only one. As an anime fan, he had seen many gender-bender or cross-dressing characters, so why weren''t there any guys in real life or female vtuber avatars? He understood that vtubers were still in their infancy, having only started two years ago. However, he was bewildered that there had been no attempt at all. "Well, a long time ago, there was an indie vtuber. He was a man, and then his software accidentally revealed that his cute catgirl character was actually voiced by a man..." Marie''s gaze turned distant as she reminisced about the unfortunate vtuber''s experience. "Then?" Hiro asked, intrigued by the fate of his predecessor. "Then his followers were split into two groups. One was disgusted and angry at his trickery, while the other praised his success," Marie sighed. Then, she turned her gaze toward Hiro. "Do not repeat his mistake, okay? If you get exposed, it won''t be your only problem. It might even affect the entire company." Hiro nodded decisively. His heart raced with a mixture of fear and excitement. It had been a long time since he felt this way. Now he understood why he needed to keep his secret hidden. If he were exposed, it could mean social suicide for him and potentially harm the company. "Ah, please come back tomorrow. You can meet the new members that way." "Huh? Isn''t it supposed to be three days later?" "That''s for the official meeting. Vtubers often meet each other unofficially. And such interactions are encouraged. Our fans like it when we get along, after all. And while you need to remain absolutely silent, you can even watch your seniors, or ''senpai,'' working up close." "Alright, I''ll be there tomorrow." "See you!" Chapter 4: Genmates Chapter 4: Genmates
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Hiro found himself seated in a lounge, attempting to relax. His demeanor was a bit peculiar. On one hand, he tried to appear at ease but was cautious not to appear too relaxed, as that might be deemed impolite. So, he maintained a somewhat formal posture, resembling a young person waiting for a job interview. His behavior drew a few curious glances, especially considering he was dressed quite formally. While the receptionist wanted to approach him, his typical resting "resting bitch face" expression was a bit intimidating, leading to his isolation. "Hiro? You''re already accepted into this company, right? Don''t be so tense. And you''ve also arrived way too early," Marie said when she arrived about three hours later. Hiro glanced at the clock, which showed 2 PM. He tilted his head, trying to understand the meaning of her words. Unaware that Vtubers usually work during the evening, sometimes even into the late night hours. The regular employees here, like janitors, receptionists, and accountants, maintained regular office hours. However, he didn''t realize that he was an exception. He had intentionally arrived slightly later at 11 AM, not wanting to disturb his senior Vtubers. Little did he know, even that was considered too early. "Sorry. I wasn''t sure when the senpais would be working, so I aimed to arrive around noon, a bit later than typical working hours," Hiro explained. https://youtu.be/YngOkFvZOto "Justina, Sherly, and I will prepare for our streams at 4 PM. I''ll be streaming at 4.30, Justina at 6, and Sherly at 8. Ruru often does surprise streams, so her schedule is more random," Marie explained. "Alright, thank you for the information," Hiro replied with a nod. The automatic door opened again, revealing an unfamiliar girl who greeted Marie. "Good afternoon, Marie Senpai," she said. Hiro quickly deduced that she was one of his new coworkers. While her appearance wasn''t as polished as Marie''s, she still dressed stylishly and exuded a mature, composed aura. Her calm voice was pleasant to hear. "Hello, I''m Hiro," he introduced himself. "Hello, I''m Lucy. Marie, should I reveal my vtuber name to him? He works here, right?" "Ah, yes. Let''s move to the streaming room," Marie suggested. Once inside, Marie explained to Lucy that Hiro was her new coworker. "Lucy, this is Hiro, your new coworker at VeeIdol company. His avatar is named Lily. Hiro, this is Lucy, your coworker here at VeeIdol company. Her avatar is named Luna Wayfarer. She''ll be debuting with you in three weeks," Marie introduced them. "Hello," Hiro extended his hand for a handshake. "Eh? A man? And a male vtuber? But Lily sounds like a girl''s name," Lucy said, surprised. "Yes, he was the recruit from that ad our CEO posted on social media..." "Ah, the one about female characters," Lucy nodded in understanding. "Yes," Marie confirmed. "Our CEO sure likes to play around, doesn''t he? Do you think he could even play female characters?" Lucy chuckled. "I''ve talked to him, and he said as long as we can guarantee the secrecy of his identity, he''s willing to try it. The worst-case scenario would be if his fans abandoned him," Marie replied. "Alright, I''m new to this. Please treat me well," Lucy bowed again. "Me too," Hiro returned the bow while retracting his hand. Lucy was blonde, but she behaved in a very Japanese manner with the bowing. Hiro was a bit puzzled, but he followed suit nonetheless. Apparently, anime culture was already prevalent in this company. "What do we need to do for the preparations?" Lucy asked. "We open OBS and set up the scenes, then do rehearsals for what we plan to stream today." "Eh? That''s all?" "It depends on what you''re planning to stream. For games, you must have them installed from Steam and carried on your external SSD. So, leaving them inside was not recommended, as modern games could reach 120GB each game. It is not feasible to have everything installed here. And absolutely no pirated game. If you plan to chat, then you also need to prepare your topic for today. Keep in mind that these computers might be shared among fellow streamers." "Only within this company''s vtubers, right?" "Yes. All the applicants have signed NDA agreements. However, you still need to be cautious. That''s why I chose to come here early. You should be polite if the next streamer decides to use this room." "I understand. How many rooms do we have?" "We currently have about 4 rooms." "That seems a bit limited, doesn''t it?" Lucy commented. "Well, there used to be only one streaming booth, even when we grew to four members. It didn''t seem like an issue at that time since we streamed at different times. Additionally, some members streamed from their own computers occasionally. However, for collaborations, they need to be here. That''s why we now have four computers," Marie explained. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Hiro grasped the situation. He also planned to stream from his own computer at home. For collaborations, you would need to link the computers together or use a single powerful computer capable of running two OBS and two live2d instances simultaneously. And you''d also need two cameras. This was feasible for individual streamers with high-performance gaming computers. Still, it required a certain financial investment, which the company understood well. "I see. Thank you." Marie was a diligent worker. Besides streaming, she also had a side job of helping David manage the company''s official website. She essentially served as a bridge between the busy talents working as vtubers and the regular employees. Then, the promised time arrived, and Marie finally began her streaming session. Hiro opened his smartphone to compare what she did in reality to what appeared on YouTube. Since Marie had instructed them to remain silent, Hiro used his earphones to listen to the stream. With one ear tuned to the microphone to his phone and the other to the real Marie, Hiro''s brow furrowed as he noticed a slight difference in sound and delay. The delay is huge. It could go as far as 300 milliseconds or even more. Moreover, despite her excellent voice, the voice from his phone was slightly toned down. Maybe it''s because the OBS tuned down her voice so it can stream seamlessly. He might need to reconsider his plan to stream from home and opt to stream exclusively from the office until he can acquire a better microphone. The audio quality was distinctly different. However, he had no idea how to operate a soundboard. The company''s microphone required a connection to a soundboard and then to a laptop. Hiro presumed that Marie''s voice was being modulated through this setup. Her voice came across clearly in the stream, unlike in Zoom calls, where background noises and buzzing often interfered with the sound. Twenty minutes into the stream, Lucy nudged Hiro to leave the streaming room. Marie was engrossed in her interactions with viewers and didn''t notice, nor did she mind, that they had left the booth. Hiro exited with Lucy and sat at the lounge outside the room. "It''s quite tiring, isn''t it?" Lucy remarked. "Yeah." Hiro could only imagine the effort Marie put into her work. She conversed naturally, but her eyes constantly shifted between the two monitors ¨C one monitoring the YouTube chat and the other focusing on OBS, preparing for the next scene. "So, what type of content will you be creating?" Lucy asked. "Just the usual. Playing games and possibly creating memes," Hiro replied. He had never dabbled in creative work, and he aimed to be like everyone else ¨C normal. Therefore, he decided to emulate the content of other vtubers. "I see." "What about you, Lucy? What kind of content do you plan to offer?" Hiro inquired. "I think I''ll have personal chats with my fans alongside gaming," Lucy answered, nodding. Hiro raised an eyebrow. Lucy appeared reserved, but he quickly dismissed his doubts. She had the appearance, and Hiro believed she was likely more socially adept than him as a real woman. She probably didn''t need any assistance. He was the one in need of help. "Hello, Lucy! You''re here early!" The other members arrived an hour later. Hiro frowned at their casual demeanor. Marie had been streaming for an hour already. She was almost done while they just showed up now? "Nana and Luna! How are you?" Lucy greeted. "You were here before Marie started streaming? How''s she doing?" Nana asked. "Oh, yes. I think vtubing is tougher than it looks. Marie was managing two monitors simultaneously. By the way, have you both prepared for our debut next week? What kind of content are you planning to stream?" Lucy inquired. "I''ll be playing games. I''m going to be an FPS streamer," Nana responded, displaying her phone to show the others. "Look! I already have a thousand subscribers!" "I see. It''s great that you already have a fanbase," Lucy said with a hint of envy. "Yeah, it''s pretty clear who''s going to lead our generation," Nana added. "Did you know that a male vtuber is joining our generation? Marie Senpai told me last night," Nana whispered a bit too loudly, looking like the typical gossiping girl that Hiro disliked. His feelings towards real-world women went from bad to worse, especially with her presence. "Oh, I know. His name is Hiro. Here he is," Lucy answered. Their expressions visibly soured upon hearing Hiro''s name. "Hello, I''m Hiro. My in-game name is Lily, a female character vtuber," Hiro greeted, forcing a stiff smile. He attempted to make his smile seem as natural as possible, but the discomfort from Nana''s presence was unmistakable. "What on earth was Mr. David thinking when he hired him? I thought he was a feminine guy, but he turned out to be an obese, repulsive male. Well, he does have that otaku look, I suppose. Maybe that''s what caught his attention?" Nana uttered her words with apparent disdain. Hiro felt a sting from her words, but he had become accustomed to such treatment and brushed it off. Like an advanced polite AI, he responded with a rehearsed tone. "It''s nice to meet you." Hiro maintained a customer service smile. Surprisingly, his forced smile didn''t seem to put off the girls, and they returned smiles of their own. Hiro began to wonder if his extensive training in interviews had finally paid off. He didn''t like putting on insincere smiles like this, but since they seemed to prefer it over his genuine smile, he decided to treat them as he would interviewers, something he loathed. "So, did you guys want to watch Marie''s stream?" Lucy asked. "Not really. I just wanted to meet the new members. We''re going to be on the same team, after all. I thought it would be good to get to know you better. How about hanging out, Lucy? Oh, and you''re invited too, Hiro," Nana replied, putting on her professional smile, just like Hiro did. "Sure!" Lucy agreed. "The debut is next week! As usual, I''ll be streaming my FPS game. What about you, Hiro?" Nana, the de facto leader of the team, took charge of the conversation. They were at a family restaurant now, and Hiro, being the only male member among the girls, attracted some attention, but he ignored it. When Nana mentioned hanging out, she simply obtained permission at the reception desk, and they went on their way. Hiro was impressed by the flexibility of these vtubers; they could work whenever they wanted. According to his limited knowledge, regular employees usually couldn''t leave their workplace until their designated time was over. "I''ll be streaming games too, mainly visual novels or anime games. I''m not very good at FPS," Hiro replied. "Visual novels? I see. We could use that angle too, right? Luna, your voice is soothing. You could play inexpensive visual novel games and voice the female characters," Nana suggested. "Oh, you''re right! Thanks, Hiro. As expected of our otaku consultant," Luna chimed in, smiling now. Hiro didn''t mind that his idea was being borrowed. He was willing to contribute something to their newfound friendship, especially since he planned to gain a few followers from Nana. "How about you, Lucy?" Hiro asked. "I''ll be playing casual games like Candy Crush and chatting with my followers." "I see. So, we''ll each have our own specialties. Luna will handle visual novels, I''ll take on FPS, Hiro will tackle open-world games or RPGs, and you''ll focus on casual games," Nana summarized. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Alright! See you at the debut!" Nana exclaimed. After another two hours of unimportant chatting, they all headed home.