Chapter 71: The Night before the storm September, Part 1

Back as Streamer Haru, Hayoon significantly reduced her regular streaming schedule to four days a week.

There were two main reasons.

First.

[ON STREAM]

“Ah, I feel like I’ve been too busy lately. It’s driving me crazy.”

[CHAT]

-What’s driving you crazy?

-School?

[ON STREAM]

“Yeah, school. Honestly, thanks to COVID, when I didn’t have to go to school, I could stream seven days a week and still be fine, but not anymore.”

It was a matter of stamina.

Even if she said she was fine, streaming seven days a week was always a bit overwhelming.

Honestly, she wanted to take it easy.

People can only handle crunch mode for so long.

During her hiatus, she felt like she worked even more than when she was streaming, leaving her feeling utterly exhausted lately.

This was a small reward Hayoon gave herself, with both the upcoming game release of Cosplay Holic and the debut of Vtuber Scarlet going smoothly.

[DONATION-1,000 won]

[CHAT]

-Bus fare, and since art is all about talent anyway, you don’t need to stress about school too much. You have more than enough talent. Take it easy. Take it easy.

[DONATION-1,000 won]

[CHAT]

-I agree. In the art world, it’s not the ones who get top grades and perfect attendance but the ones who are good at their craft that make it to the top. With your art skills, you just need to attend enough not to flunk a grade.

This was the second and biggest reason she could establish a four-day streaming schedule.

Donations were surprisingly frequent.

Large donations had decreased, but when added up, the total wasn’t much less than when she was streaming seven days a week.

Despite the long hiatus, the loyalty of her remaining viewers was incredibly high.

This allowed her to maintain a work-life balance by streaming four days a week.

[DONATION-1,000 won]

[CHAT]

-But this Utaite you’re illustrating for, they’re on Bluebird, is that okay?

During a short break after finishing a drawing.

A viewer brought up a topic Hayoon was hoping for.

[ON STREAM]

“Utaite? Scarlet?”

[CHAT]

-Yeah, that person.

-I see the original illustrations on Bluebird, and it’s a bit strange.

-It’s obvious she’s Korean, but sometimes she speaks in Japanese…

It seemed like Hong Seo-hyun was seen as quite eccentric by Hayoon’s viewers.

Korean Vtubers, from their inception, didn’t place much importance on RP.

This was mainly because many no-cam streamers transitioned to becoming Vtubers by simply adding a virtual avatar to their existing persona.

It was natural for Hong Seo-hyun, who was meticulously building her RP on Bluebird, to appear a bit strange.

But.

[ON STREAM]

“I don’t think it’s bad. Ultimately, what you need for streaming is a character, right? In my case, I have the identity of a high school girl who draws lewd art.”

[DONATION – 1,000 won]

[CHAT]

-You’ve never drawn lewd art.

[ON STREAM]

“Suggestive is also lewd.”

[CHAT]

-Bullshitㅋㅋㅋ.

-Geez, you’re just asking for it.

You don’t need to approach RP as something difficult.

The important thing is what kind of concept you adopt when interacting with viewers.

Even in Hayoon’s case, she jokingly claimed to be drawing lewd art, and the viewers immediately responded.

[ON STREAM]

“Hmm, then should I slightly increase the lewdness this time?”

[CHAT]

-Yes, this is it.

-Alright, go ahead and draw it.

And responding to viewers’ preferences in this way was part of her streaming skill.

Especially for isolated streamers like Hayoon, communication with viewers was crucial.

Whenever viewers protested that her drawings weren’t lewd, Hayoon would say she’d increase the lewdness, which had become a familiar template in her streams.

‘Even if you just create a couple of patterns for interacting with viewers about RP, you can use them effectively for a long time.’

Hayoon knew this from experience, and she thought about sending today’s stream recording to Hong Seo-hyun for her to study.

Just then.

[CHAT]

-I think that person might be trying to become a Vtuber.

A viewer made a rather astute observation, which briefly caught Hayoon’s attention before quickly disappearing in the chat.

The chat’s atmosphere didn’t change much.

No one seemed to care about the Vtuber topic.

‘Wow, that was close…’

Hayoon swallowed dry, feeling momentarily panicked.

If viewers had started discussing Vtubers, she might have accidentally let something slip.

It was fortunate that the conversation naturally moved on.

But on the other hand.

‘I guess those in the know are already sensing it?’

She was now convinced that there was a demand for Vtubers in the 2020 Korean streaming scene.

The COVID-19 pandemic.

Internet usage had skyrocketed worldwide, and Korea was no exception.

Many people had encountered overseas Vtubers and were now craving Korean Vtubers.

‘It’ll work. It’ll definitely work.’

This was more than enough to turn Hayoon’s slight unease about the Vtuber project into complete confidence.

If even her viewers, who were mostly there for suggestive art, were talking about Vtubers, it meant that the presence of Vtubers was growing, even if subtly.

[ON STREAM]

“Ah, should I take requests on a free theme for a change?”

After a moment of contemplation, Hayoon naturally shifted the topic of her next drawing.

Initially, she had planned to draw an improvised original character in a bikini, but…

Since things had come to this, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to draw some Vtuber illustrations to attract that audience.

‘And then I can naturally direct those Vtuber fans to Scarlet.’

Hayoon couldn’t help but admire her own perfect plan.

 

***

 

She streamed four days a week but went to school five days a week.

What did this mean?

“Sigh….”

It didn’t mean much, just that going to school was still a pain.

Hayoon sighed as she headed to school, drying her sweat under the AC as usual.

She hadn’t gone to school with Hong Seo-hyun today.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the tranquility unique to the Game Release Club room, with the AC acting as white noise.

“Just two, two and a half more years… sigh….”

And in this tranquility, she strengthened her resolve.

School.

This damn school.

She hated it, but she was determined to graduate.

As her sweat gradually dried.

“Oh, you’re here early?”

“I always come early.”

Hong Seo-hyun entered the club room and greeted her.

Coming to the club room early to dry off had become a routine for not only Hayoon but also the other Game Release Club members.

Hong Seo-hyun naturally pulled up a chair next to Hayoon.

Hayoon, after a brief greeting, immediately got down to business.

“Did you watch the video I sent you yesterday? Yesterday’s stream is a perfect example of RP utilization.”

“RP utilization…?”

“Yes, you don’t need to overthink RP. It’s just a concept, and you fill the stream time by talking about that concept. Think of it as a lubricant you can use comfortably.”

“Uh-huh, that’s….”

Utaite Scarlet’s debut as Vtuber Scarlet was fast approaching.

Since Hong Seo-hyun didn’t usually watch internet broadcasts, Hayoon was giving her a crash course, concerned that she might struggle with streaming.

“It’s a bit difficult…”

It was hard for someone who didn’t watch streams to learn how to use RP just by simulating it in their head.

“I’ve been trying to simulate it in my head, but I can’t get a feel for what it’s like to interact with viewers.”

She had never streamed before and wasn’t a “reincarnated” Vtuber.

It was too much to ask Hong Seo-hyun to master the techniques Hayoon had learned through trial and error just through simulation.

But.

‘She can’t just keep messing up early on. There will be a lot of initial interest because there are so few Korean Vtubers, but those who leave won’t come back…’

Having a lot of initial interest doesn’t mean she can afford to be bad at streaming.

Even if viewers were eager for Korean Vtubers, they wouldn’t wait forever if Hong Seo-hyun’s streams were terribly boring.

They could just watch their usual no-cam streamers and wait for the next Vtuber to debut.

So, Hong Seo-hyun needed to learn streaming skills as quickly as possible.

And the best way to do that…

‘A collab stream, maybe…?’

The pieces started to fit together in Hayoon’s mind.

‘Vtuber rigging… one month should be enough, right?’

A great idea struck her at the perfect time.

It was September now, and Scarlet’s debut was just a month away.