Chapter 27: Debut Preparation

I was invited to a 3rd generation open chat, where we could set our nicknames, separate from the Discos channel.

I was given some general information in advance.

Former Sarubi.

Somehow we became friends again…

Karen had this setting.

Amano Karen.

17 years old.

A telekinetic who graduated early from a supernatural academy.

And the two who passed the 1st and 2nd recruitment rounds first.

Tsubaki Koharu.

500 years old.

A Taoist whose powers were sealed by a spell.

Mizuki Sarah.

(Eternally) 16 years old.

A chic magical girl.

The ‘eternal’ in her age is quite important, it’s because her age is fixed at the time of her magical girl contract.

As for me, well, I’m a half-elf who returned after defeating the demon king in another world.

My age is also 21.

Interestingly, the RPs and real ages were in perfect reverse order.

Considering that I’m a December baby, making me slightly younger than Karen.

Koharu, who is 500 years old, was born in 09.

The youngest of the 3rd generation.

Karen and I were born in 08.

Sarah, who is 16, was born in 05.

The oldest of the 3rd generation.

*Koharu: Hello!!!

Nice to meet you!!

(An emoticon of a rabbit bowing its head)

*Sarah: Ah, noisy

Koharu: (An emoticon of a rabbit with clenched fists) Unnie..

Are you going to put me down in front of people we just met?–

*Karen: Haha hello~ I’m Karen, a 3rd round pass!

*Ria: Hello.

I’m Ria, a 3rd round pass.

*

Sarah: Nice to meet you~ Let’s get along well!

: Have you two met each other?

*Karen: Yes!

With the boss and the manager

*Koharu: What did you eat?

Did the boss buy you beef?

*Karen: Yes haha

Koharu: He bought us beef too!

I was going to protest to the boss if he bought you something less expensive! lol

*Sarah: Yuna…

Don’t be so loud

*Koharu: Huh?

The boss said not to use real names!

I’m going to tell on you right away

*Sarah: Fine

*Karen: Haha…

You two seem very close

*Sarah: She’s a handful.

I’m so glad you two joined^^

*Koharu: What–

: Unnies!

You can speak casually to me!(^o^)

*Karen: Haha really?

Looking forward to working with you!

*

Sarah: We should all get together, too, right?

*Koharu: There was a place I really wanted to go!

A true pocha that food killers can’t help but fall in love with!

My friend told me that two people emptied 5 bottles of soju (an emoticon of a surprised rabbit)

*Sarah: What pocha..

The two of you might not drink

*Koharu: It’s a food place so you don’t have to drink, you know?

*Ria: If possible, I’d like a place where we can get a room

Koharu: Okay! haha Then let’s look for another place!

*Sarah: Yuna…

That’s why I told you not to be loud

Koharu: Unnie red card.

I’m really going to tell on you this time

*Karen: Haha then shall we make plans before this week is over?

Koharu: Ah I’m all booked for vocal training until the weekend this week ᅮ_ᅮ

*Sarah: I’ll put up a poll.

Let’s decide on a day that works for everyone

***

But.

It wasn’t easy for the 3rd generation to get together.

The boss said to take a good rest for a day because we’re ‘seriously’ starting to prepare for our debut.

There was a reason why he said that.

Originally, the 3rd generation debut was scheduled a little earlier, but it was delayed due to the additional 3rd round of recruitment.

So the preparation process was tight, and it was that dense.

First of all, homework was given every day.

Impressions after watching the 1st and 2nd generation broadcasts.

Things to learn or apply.

Conversely, we had to write down and submit things to differentiate ourselves.

Of course, we had to write the debut broadcast script.

We also had to come up with long-term content plans.

It’s not like you have to set a schedule in advance and strictly follow it.

It was a process of establishing the characteristics and direction of your own broadcast.

The planning team discussed formats that suited your strengths, such as singing, games, talk shows, and drawing.

We also received separate training through Discos meetings and materials.

Information about the VTuber industry that was difficult to grasp just by watching broadcasts.

We were given an explanation of the changes in the latest trends and how to adapt to them.

There was also training on broadcast regulations and guidelines.

Usually it was Sera.

Sometimes other managers.

They taught us platform regulations, copyright, fan management policies, and language guidelines.

Surprisingly, there was even a test on this part.

How long has it been since I’ve taken a test…

Koharu complained several times in the chat room that the questions were too difficult.

It was busy, but I was better off than my peers.

Because it didn’t take much time to plan the broadcast content.

Talk, song, Ori.

The direction was clearly set from the beginning.

I might play other games someday.

But Sera’s opinion was that it’s better not to study or play in advance.

“If you look at Ria’s Ori skills, it seems like you’ll be good at most games.

Breaking through even a game you’re encountering for the first time with just your physical abilities.

You can build an image of a ‘streamer who is good at games’.

Or it could be entertaining that you’re not very good at other games.

It could be a twist, like, ‘How can you be so bad at other games when you’re so good at Ori?’.”

Either way, it’s better not to try other games at all.

That was the conclusion.

Actually, before I knew Ori, I dabbled in phone and PC games, but I only know Ori for VR games.

Koharu was in the opposite situation.

Koharu had almost no experience playing games.

It was a fun element for a broadcaster to be bad at games, but it’s important to avoid giving too much ‘frustration’.

So playing games every day was also given as an assignment.

If there’s one more difference between me and the other members, it’s that I’m exempt from all voice-related training.

Practicing speaking in a tone and manner that suits the character.

No one even mentioned this.

Pronunciation, vocalization, and improving delivery.

This was also exempted on the first day of training.

And singing…

“Ria, there’s no teacher who can teach you, right?

Even I think you sing better than most vocal teachers.

If you get training here for no reason, there’s a risk that the individuality of your singing style or emotional delivery will be weakened.”

Since the boss said this, it was replaced by occasionally singing a song or two alone to warm up my voice.

If I had to find a personal assignment given only to me, it would be growing my Ori sub-account.

I wanted to achieve not only the level where I could play ranked games, but also a higher tier.

The minimum standard was Diamond.

Diamond is easy, but I thought it would be boring on stream if it was lower than that.

Since it’s a sub-account, I almost never played archer.

Anyway, like this, everyone is busy for various reasons.

Since everyone has different assignments, our schedules don’t match.

The 3rd generation gathering kept getting pushed back.

In the meantime.

The 2D model and rigging work to set the model’s movements were completed.

The 2D avatar I received looked like what my face would look like if it were made into an anime-style drawing.

I was quite satisfied because it seemed to resemble me even more than I expected.

I heard that the illustration itself was completed very quickly.

I heard that the illustrator who received the picture I sent was inspired and worked all night…

It is said that a confidentiality agreement was signed regarding the fact that the actual face and the VTuber model are the same.

After that, the full-scale broadcast rehearsal began.

With the support of the company, a soundproof booth was installed in my room, and Sera also visited my house once.

She taught me how to set up broadcasting equipment and how to use various software.

These days, technology is so good that the avatar reflected most expressions through face tracking.

When my body heated up, I blushed, and I followed the expressions of laughter and anger well.

“When you’re doing emotional videos or story games, you know?

You can cry as much as you want.

In the past, you had to manually change to a crying expression, but not now.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever need to check that feature.”

After answering Sera, I tested other saved options.

No matter how good face tracking technology is.

There were special expressions or actions that had to be shown by pressing a button.

After several test broadcasts.

One day, the boss called all of the 3rd generation to Discos.

***

「What we’re going to do today is real-time feedback.」

The boss’s voice was heard over Discos.

「You’ve done a few broadcasts in a secret room, right?

This time, you’ll do it with your peers watching, not the manager.

When you watch other broadcasts, you watch as a viewer.」

「That sounds like fun!」

The bouncy voice belonged to Koharu.

「Hehe, will it still be fun after it’s over?」

「What do you mean, boss?」

This time Sarah asked.

「This time, it’s practice for responding to chat and dealing with unexpected situations during a live broadcast, right?

So, the chat should be as random and weird as possible.

And the person who’s broadcasting shouldn’t ignore it at all.」

Karen raised an objection.

「Boss.

When we were being trained, we were taught that the manager would ban weird chats.

And to ignore questions that break the flow of the broadcast.」

「What you learned in training is the basics, this is an application.

The manager can’t always filter out all the malicious chats.

And sometimes there will be ambiguous situations.

That’s why you need training to be able to handle the situation well on your own, rather than just ignoring or banning.

This is a much more important skill in real situations.」

「Yes.

I understand.」

「Okay then, the first order is Koharu!」

「Whoa, I’m suddenly nervous.」

On the screen of the secret room, the avatar of a cheerful-looking girl Taoist was displayed.

Hmm…

If the training is to be helpful, I have to say the harshest things possible.

“Ahem!

The cute Taoist who wishes everyone happiness is here!”

-Sarah: Can you say you’re cute with that face?

-Karen: Not me?

I’m not getting any happier?

What are you going to do about it?

-Ria: Your chest is a cutting board.

It’s too uselessly soft to even be used for cooking.

「Guys, wait!

Wait!」

The boss’s panicked shout echoed through Discos.

「I didn’t mean for you to write such malicious chats!

There’s no need to even look at those, they’re an immediate ban……」