chapter_0085

85 – My Pet? Why?

85 – My Pet? Why?

Here’s the English translation of the Korean novel excerpt:

The next day at 4 PM.

After finishing preparations for the year-end party, Seungyeon received a call while resting at home.

[I’m so jealous!]

“Oh really?”

[Of course. It sounds like it’ll be so much fun. There will be lots of famous broadcasters there. Even Bachoo KR vtuber will be coming…. Anyway… I’m really jealous! You have to tell me all about it when you get back, okay?!]

“Bachoo KR is…. Never mind. Anyway, I got it. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow and the day after. Make sure to rest up well, since you’ll be working hard through the end of the year and start of the new year.”

[Okay! Have a safe trip!]

Somehow the person staying behind seemed more excited than the one actually going.

But regardless of what others thought, for me this was clearly a business trip and meeting.

I need to be serious. There’s a lot riding on this.

I stuffed my phone into my coat pocket and squeezed my feet into the dress shoes I had left by the front door.

I had bought them to match my outfit, so this was the first time wearing them.

Not wanting my heels to get scraped up, I even put bandages on preemptively.

You have to be fully prepared when going to work, after all.

Click.

As the door locked and I walked down the entryway, the fierce December wind whipped between my legs.

It seemed to be heralding the start of true winter, with the first snow coming soon.

I watched my visible breath fade away as I headed towards the subway station….

Bzzzz. My phone rang in my pocket.

“Yes, Boss.”

[Are you really going separately? The kids really want to see you.]

“I don’t want to be trapped and tortured in the car. I’ll go on my own.”

It must have been on speaker, because the members were making a commotion.

[No, turn on video call! I’m curious! What are you wearing?!]

[Unnie, I’m curious too. Hurry.]

[Calm down, you guys….]

[Holy Park Seat. Let me sleep a little!]

“I’ll see you all later.”

I immediately ended the call.

They’re scary even through the phone.

Having been thoroughly harassed by those four at the Christmas party a few days ago, I’ve already exceeded my quota for the first generation.

Trapped in a car getting grilled again?

That would be hell.

An hour later, somewhere in Gangnam.

The spacious hotel lobby was absolutely packed with people.

It seemed to be taking some time for identity checks, as the line to enter the banquet hall stretching from the lobby all the way inside was as long as a snake.

It just kept growing longer without getting shorter, to the point of obstructing people’s passage.

Since I needed the Boss to be able to pass through the entrance, I decided to just wait in the hotel lobby.

Even if it seemed like it might be boring, I had my trusty friend YouTube to keep me company.

And if I looked around, there were surprisingly many things to see.

First were the familiar faces.

It was amazing enough to see familiar faces in a place like this, but even more amazing that some of them were people I had been playing with on the server until recently.

Just at a glance I could see Mugeon, Ronje, Rupko, and Kamik – four people.

The fact that I only noticed guys was because I hardly ever watch female streamers.

I only watch vtubers, and I immediately forget real identities as soon as I see them.

Anyway, I watched what those familiar people were up to for a bit….

Second were the beautiful people who caught my eye.

They all had good style like the Boss, so it was fun to observe them.

After becoming smaller, I lost my hesitation about where to look, so I stared quite openly.

Maybe because my appearance itself was harmless, even when our eyes met as I was staring, they just chuckled.

Even now, everyone I made eye contact with giggled and glanced in my direction.

… Their pretty smiles were making me feel good too.

That person over there even came in quite high quality cosplay.

I should casually ask to take a picture together later.

As I was enthusiastically observing like that for a while, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘It’s not uncomfortable like before.’

How long has it been since I’ve been able to stand in such a crowded place without being conscious of others’ gazes?

I used to have a habit of immediately looking for a corner in crowded places.

Maybe I’ve gained some confidence from mingling with the Boss and members, as I was quite far from any corners.

However, I couldn’t deny the fact that I was still relatively close to a corner.

Above all, it’s only because I’m hiding behind an avatar. If I had turned on my camera and streamed…

Since 50,000 people watched the official broadcast live, wouldn’t at least a few have recognized me and come running?

Of course, the peace didn’t last very long.

Rupko, who had been chattering with his seniors and juniors in the lobby while eyeing the entrance line, suddenly looked in my direction.

If that was the end of it, it would have been fine, but he suddenly turned his head side to side while saying something, and then Mugeon and Ronje looked this way too.

Only Kamik, who wasn’t very close with me yet, tilted his head in confusion.

Fortunately they didn’t come towards me, but since the distance wasn’t very far, I could clearly hear Rupko’s chilling mutter:

“Isn’t that Majiya?”

For once, Mugeon helped me out.

“This bastard really doesn’t know vtubers. Is there anyone in the world who makes their avatar look exactly like themselves?”

“Is that so?”

I almost got caught right then if I had reacted even a little.

But wait, was what Iona said true?

Am I that easy to recognize?

Dora did say she drew my avatar to look like me.

I actually felt it looked similar when I saw it too.

But recognizing it immediately doesn’t make sense, right?

Especially since I’m not even wearing the work outfit from the avatar today.

I should pretend not to know until the end since I’m feeling uneasy.

The moment I show even a hint of recognition, they’ll swarm over.

It’s bound to be revealed when the members arrive anyway.

But having the members as a shield versus not having them is different.

In a large crowded place, you can use allies as shields to some extent, then run away and hide.

Like in Battle Colosseum.

Take cover and shoot. Run and take cover.

After that, I naturally tucked myself into a corner and waited for about 20 minutes, and the entrance line shortened considerably as the area in front of the entrance gradually became less crowded.

The 4-person party including Mugeon had somehow grown to 10 people and entered through the now less crowded entrance.

Thinking it was about time for the Boss to arrive, I took out my phone and headed in that direction, when suddenly someone appeared in front of me.

Not quite angry-looking, but definitely with eyes that showed some attitude.

Overall distinct features, and eyes the color of violets, perhaps from colored contacts.

If that was all I had seen, I would have just thought “What a pretty person” and moved on.

But I realized when I saw the earrings.

A round character with + and – symbols like horns dangling from the hoop.

It was Iona’s fan character “Plusma Squad” hanging from the earring.

But since there was pizza on the line if the other person recognized me first, I kept my mouth shut for now.

Then Iona spoke.

“Found you. It’s you, right?”

“Who are you?”

“You’re pretending not to know right away like this.”

Iona whispered in my ear.

“It’s Jia-nim. Your voice is like a fingerprint.”

Congratulations.

The prize is a pineapple pizza and there’s no right of refusal.

“…I’ll send you the pizza gift certificate when I get home later.”

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“Wow. I’ll enjoy it.”

–

Actually, Iona had already been inside the year-end party venue.

However, while her peers and juniors were going around forming connections here and there, she periodically walked out to the lobby and just stared at the area near the entrance.

Because she had an important task to do.

Meeting Majiya, that is.

[Team Leader Yeon Seong-muk: When you meet Jia-nim, bring them to our table right away]

[Team Leader Yeon Seong-muk: We don’t have much time so I’ll just thank Jia-nim and leave]

[Iona: Okay]

At first it was just going to be Iona meeting alone to express thanks.

But suddenly today, on the way to the party venue no less, she got a message from the operations team leader.

Apparently thanks to mentioning Lapiz on the Wicker server, Serena had grown tremendously. Lapiz had benefited overall too, so they wanted to express gratitude on behalf of the company.

So she had been constantly watching for when Jia would arrive.

Since the team leader kept saying they didn’t have much time, it seemed right to quickly show Jia’s face and let them go take care of business.

Then suddenly there it was.

Among the many people, one uniquely small person.

She called out just in case, and got back that deflating office worker tone.

It was definitely Majiya.

“Just how detailed was Maru’s description?”

“It wasn’t really detailed… She just said you look like your avatar?”

Majiya nodded as if that made sense.

It seemed even he acknowledged the resemblance to his avatar.

“More than that, your eyes are really interesting. You look foreign.”

“It’s from my great-grandfather.”

“Was he really a foreigner?”

“He’s Korean. My great-grandfather is American.”

As they chatted briefly like that, soon the operations team leader who had been waiting in the banquet hall came running out, adjusting his tie and clothes.

Iona stretched out her hand to point at the bespectacled operations team leader approaching.

“I’m suddenly sorry about this, but our operations team leader said he wanted to express his gratitude when he had the chance. I only got the message just now so I couldn’t let you know in advance, but would it be alright if I introduced you briefly now?”

“Ah. Of course. But gratitude for what?”

“For the help we received on the Wicker server before. That’s why.”

“Ah I see.”

Majiya felt puzzled.

He wondered if repeatedly mentioning the Lapiz Potion was really something to be so grateful for.

He thought it might even be a warning about tormenting Iona with her dark history in the Demon King’s Castle.

Still, this was a rare meeting between industry people that would be difficult to arrange otherwise.

Following the PR team leader’s advice, it was proper to hand over the business card he had brought first.

Sure enough, the approaching Lapiz operations team leader also held out his own business card first.

A natural exchange of business cards, as if it had been prearranged.

[VIRDESS]

[Operations Team Leader Yeon Seong-muk]

The company Lapiz belonged to was an entertainment agency that also managed regular singers and celebrities, so it had a somewhat different feel from Parallel which specialized only in vtubers.

But the team name was specifically Operations, and the glasses frames were thin wire like Kang Ji-ho’s.

Thinking that he must perform a role similar to Team Leader Kang Ji-ho’s at Lapiz, Majiya couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of familiarity.

Reflexively, Majiya reached out his hand, and it was natural for the other side to accept and complete the handshake.

After shaking hands, Yeon Seong-muk asked Iona:

“Ona, could you step aside for a moment? So we industry folks can talk.”

“Suddenly?”

“It’s an important conversation.”

“Ah, okay. Well. I’ll go get some fresh air for a bit.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

After dismissing Iona, Yeon Seong-muk looked around for a while before speaking.

It was the behavior of someone conscious of the gazes around them.

“First, I want to thank you for looking after Serena on the Wicker server.”

“It’s nothing. I just helped out since I saw Merisha-nim and her working hard together.”

“And also for promoting Lapiz while you were the Demon King.”

It wasn’t really promotion, but he decided to go along with it.

More importantly, why was Iona sent away when expressing gratitude?

Was he finally revealing his true intentions?

Was the Lapiz Potion actually a subtle attempt at Goroshi?

What was with the dark history videos of the 4th floor members in the Demon King’s Castle?

Before Majiya could ask out of curiosity,

Yeon Seong-muk provided the answer first.

“We’ve been observing what you’ve been doing on the server, and we can clearly see you have talent for broadcasting. Your pleasant voice and voice acting skills go without saying.”

“Ah. I see.”

“So I was wondering, have you ever considered debuting as a vtuber?”

Majiya blinked for a long while before asking back.

“…Me?”