Chapter 2: Rehearsal

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[Abyss 1st Gen VTuber Debut Info]

[Comments: 3]

[ㅇㅇ: What’s this no-name MCN now?]

 [Punisher: Why are there so many new VTubers popping up lately?]

ㄴ [ㅇㅇ(111.137): For real, lol]

To be honest, the response to our debut announcement was… underwhelming at best.

But that wasn’t surprising.

We weren’t some major corporate-backed MCN with guaranteed visibility.

We were barely even a startup—just a microscopic indie outfit with a single VTuber recruit (if she even counted as one).

“…Hmm.”

I was bracing for some complaints or tantrums from the invader, but luckily, her attention seemed to be elsewhere entirely.

“This world is quite convenient, isn’t it? You don’t even need to use detection spells to gather this much information.”

Well… that was fair.

For someone who had been floating around in a literal void until recently, this world probably did feel like a playground.

“Um, so… can we stop this now?”

“…Hmm?”

“This is getting kinda weird…”

Still, her discovering this new “method” of information absorption was… technically a good thing.

Because ever since yesterday—since we first met—she’d been hogging my chair, saying she needed to absorb knowledge.

And to do that, she’d pulled me into her lap, facing her, and had been holding me in a tight embrace ever since.

“I already told you—I’m learning this world’s basic knowledge and customs.”

“…But do you really have to do it this way?”

To be more accurate, she wasn’t just hugging me—she was also wrapping me up in a mess of black tendrils sprouting from her body.

“For any invasion to succeed, intel is vital. And so far, this is the most efficient method available.”

I understood her logic.

She had no baseline knowledge of this world.

So if she wanted to become a functional VTuber, she needed data—lots of it.

But even so, this method was… extremely high-risk.

Sure, maybe it was efficient.

But the only knowledge she was extracting was from my brain—and let’s face it, 90% of my mind is just anime, memes, and subculture nonsense.

What if she got infected by my weirdness?

‘…Actually, wait. That might be a plus?’

If she ended up absorbing my nerdy bias, it could become a unique character trait.

“Quit squirming so much. If you move too much, I might accidentally digest you.”

“Wait—what?”

“This is just how I consume things normally. But don’t worry—I’m only absorbing brain data right now. I’m exercising restraint.”

If it weren’t for the part where I might get digested alive while in her arms, I’d actually be willing to offer myself up.

Oh, and it’s not like I had a choice anyway.

Until her official debut, I had to be her “energy source” and help maintain her existence here.

“Hrmm~”

“…What are you doing now?”

I’d been feeling increasingly faint, slumped against her shoulder like some lifeless doll, when I noticed her scribbling something in the air with black, misty energy.

“I’m writing down the usernames of the people who commented on the debut post.”

“…Why?”

“Do you want to know?”

Her grin, as she tilted her head toward me, sent a chill down my spine.

I immediately lowered my gaze and shook my head.

“Just to be clear, you can’t eat humans in this world.”

“…Oh? Really?”

“If you do, our contract is immediately voided.”

I added that part just in case, and judging by her reaction, I was very glad I said something.

“Fine, I’ll just keep feeding on you instead.”

“Thank—wait, what?”

“It’s fine as long as I don’t completely digest you, right? Feel honored, human. You are now officially linked to me.”

I slumped again.

This bizarre method of “learning” was apparently going to continue.

Then, out of nowhere, she asked me a question.

“By the way, human. What is your name?”

Right.

Unlike beings that float in the void, humans have names.

And of course, I was no exception.

“…Haru.”

When I quietly whispered my name, she blinked and looked at me with interest.

“Please just call me Haru.”

“Haru… what does that mean? Like… mayfly?”

“…You’re already giving me nicknames, huh. Haha.”

I laughed it off at first, but…

That nickname stuck in my ears longer than I expected.

‘…I mean, I am kind of like a mayfly.’

A fleeting existence, not much time left.

In that sense, she wasn’t wrong.

“Alright then. What’s next?”

“…We do a rehearsal stream.”

“Rehearsal? Oh, you mean practice? Is that really necessary?”

After staying connected with her for hours, I was finally freed.

And now—finally—I could begin the thing I’d been looking forward to the most: her VTuber debut rehearsal.

“You don’t know this, but—it’s pretty standard for agency VTubers to rehearse thoroughly before their debut.”

“…Hmm?”

“I mean, I only know this secondhand, but most of them do practice streams in private rooms, working with their managers to polish their delivery and presence.

And since we’re not doing this as a joke, we’ve gotta do the same, right?”

I was betting everything on this project.

So I planned to rehearse as much as possible and eliminate every possible variable before the big day.

“…But, uh, Haru?”

“Yes?”

“What exactly is a stream?”

She tilted her head and gave me an innocent look.

“I picked up fragments of information, but I still don’t quite… get it.”

“…Haah.”

Oh no.

I didn’t see this coming.

Where the hell do I even start with that?

“Alright, first, have a seat here.”  

“Oh, there are some curious machines here.”  

“So you do know what machines are?”  

“Of course. I’ve invaded mechanical civilizations a few times before.”  

“Oh, then this will go faster. This is a camera that recognizes your face, this is a monitor that shows the broadcast screen, and this monitor shows the chat and stream settings… Wait a minute.”

Even though I had no choice but to do a rehearsal, I had prepared myself to explain everything from the beginning. 

But then, I suddenly realized something and turned to her.

“Wouldn’t it be faster if you just read my thoughts?”  

“Weren’t you the one who said that felt weird?”  

“Let me borrow one of your tentacles for a moment.”  

“…Hey.”

I tried to grab one of the tentacles that she had been dragging on the floor like a tail, but she quickly turned her body and muttered in a low voice, glaring at me.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch my tentacles without permission.”  

“Understood. But I’m making an exception this time.”  

“…Huh?”

I felt bad for her, but when it came to streaming, I had zero intention of compromising.

“I said, don’t.”  

“Oh, that expression and line delivery just now were great. Let’s use that in the stream.”  

“…….”  

“Anyway, back to the explanation…”

Luckily, although she initially gave off a murderous aura and warned me, once I brought the tentacle to my forehead (it stuck on like a suction cup), she flinched a bit but reluctantly agreed.

“Well, I’ve learned the basic knowledge by reading your mind.”  

Oh, already?  

“Yeah. So, if I press this, the ‘broadcast’ starts, right?”

To test things out, I spoke to her in my thoughts—and realized that we could communicate without even speaking aloud. 

I quietly smiled.

“Ooh, how fascinating. My image is being shown through the thing called a camera.”  

The VTuber model isn’t applied yet, so just imagine it’s on and try it out.  

If it worked this way, maybe real-time feedback could be possible even without chat or verbal communication during the actual debut stream.

My brain did feel kind of itchy for some reason, but I’d take an itchy brain over a disastrous first stream any day.

“Hooh? Ooh…”  

Alright, now let’s set up the basics for the stream.  

With that thought, I gave an order to her, who was now curiously tilting her head toward the broadcast cam.

“Let’s see, I’ll just title the stream ‘Test’ for now…”  

Oh, you sound like a pro already.  

“…I still don’t really get what’s what, but if it’s just this, invasion would be a piece of cake.”

Fortunately, it seemed that just consuming me wasn’t enough to satisfy her energy needs, so the alien girl obediently followed all my instructions.

“So, what do we do now?”

Just as we were exchanging thoughts and doing various practice runs for about 10 minutes—

Ding♪

My smartphone suddenly started buzzing with a flood of notifications.

“…Huh?”

I unlocked my phone, puzzled, and could only stare blankly as the alerts kept coming in real-time:

> [From: ★Magical Girl Yoo Haneul★] I’m taking the day off~!  

> [From: Lucia von Grave] I woke up with a terrible fever and sore throat, so I have to cancel today’s stream. I’m so sorry 😭  

> [From: Lee Ari] Guys, I had a fortune reading today and it said not to stream. Sorry…  

> [From: Heavenly Demon Wolhyang] The feng shui currents aren’t right, so I’ll be skipping today’s stream.

All the VTubers I was subscribed to were, as if they had coordinated it, posting stream cancellation notices at the exact same time.

> [SupernaturalMayhem: All creators will be taking today off due to external commitments.]  

> [SKYLIVE-KR: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the April 8th Korean debut stream has been postponed.]  

> [MetaControl: Due to technical issues at the studio, all April 8th streams are canceled. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working on a fix.]

Up to that point, I could’ve chalked it up to coincidence.

But then, MCNs themselves began posting official notices one after another.

> [GloVerse: Due to scheduling issues, the planned 7th anniversary stream will be rescheduled to tomorrow…]  

> [RealLink: Due to internal circumstances, today’s large-scale collaboration stream is canceled.]  

> [Q-Station Media: Virtual Streamer Competition Cancellation Notice]

As even major overseas MCNs started posting their own announcements one after another, I felt the hairs on my body stand on end and slowly raised my head.

Hey.  

“Hm?”  

This opportunity… you absolutely must not miss it.  

I didn’t know what was happening, but this had to be a divine, once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Start the stream. Right now.

I gave a serious command with that thought in mind. 

But upon hearing her reply, I couldn’t help but freeze for a second.

“I already started it, though?”  

…What?

Right then, the chat window on the sub-monitor standing vertically beside the broadcast screen began to scroll downward.

***

Meanwhile…

Elsewhere, the VTuber industry was peacefully engaged in their usual squabbles over slice-of-the-pie viewership.

> [To all contractors across all dimensions, please be advised.]

But on what had seemed like any other day, a sudden storm unlike any before crashed down on all the VTubers who were about to start their streams.

> [An X-Class Dimensional Emergency has been declared.]

Even those who were usually full of complaints about upper management couldn’t utter a single word of protest this time.

> [You must connect to the committee within five minutes. No exceptions.]

After all, the once-feared horror that had ravaged entire dimensions had now appeared—unnoticed—within the last remaining peaceful zone.