chapter_0114

114 – Why Do You Ask Me About My Debut?

114 – Why Do You Ask Me About My Debut?

The next day, Monday, March 12th, dawned.

It was the first day of the training course for the members, which would last a total of three months until June 15th.

I thought Serena, now Ena, would be the first to arrive.

But unexpectedly, someone else arrived before me and was looking around.

It was Hanbada, Hanaumi Orca.

I had intentionally come an hour early, before the training time.

Fast, really fast.

“Hello. You must be Hanbada?”

“… Ah. Hello.”

For reference, since I only attended about half of the interviews for the second generation, Orca and Miho have never seen my face before.

Today is the first time I’m meeting them in person, not just in photos.

The reason I only attended some of the interviews was that I was extremely busy with various tasks (including broadcasting).

The Boss and the HR manager had reviewed the interviews beforehand, and if they found someone a bit odd, they scheduled it so I could attend the interview with them.

In fact, the two successful candidates came from interviews I didn’t attend, which shows just how thorough our Boss and HR manager are in their evaluations.

Anyway, since it was our first meeting…

‘Wow, she’s really tall.’

Dora, the tallest among the members, is 171 cm, but Orca is even taller at 173 cm.

She even looks much bigger than Dora, who usually slouches, because she stands straight with her chest out.

With a straight fringe similar to a hime cut and long, flowing hair, she is an attractive girl, but her restrained demeanor is very sharp and well-defined.

As noted in her documents, she served as a non-commissioned officer for three years before her debut.

I’m not sure how similar she is to active-duty soldiers since I delayed my military service for four years to work before becoming Majiya, but she seems a bit too rigid.

She stands stiffly, waiting for orders like a soldier in front of a superior, which makes me feel a bit sorry for her, so I approached and poked her in the waist.

“Ugh.”

“Relax. You don’t have to be so stiff.”

“Ah, yes…”

This is one of the very comfortable aspects I feel after becoming Majiya.

During the first generation, I spent nearly an hour just telling everyone to relax, which was quite a hassle.

Anyway, Orca’s stiff posture relaxed a bit as she dropped her shoulders.

Now would be a good time for self-introductions.

“Let me introduce myself first. I’m Majiya, and I’ll be acting as a homeroom teacher here for the next three months. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Just a heads up, if it’s not related to broadcasting, I might not be able to answer, so it would be great if you could stick to broadcasting-related questions.”

Orca’s sharp eyes widened.

“So you really are the homeroom teacher! You look just like your avatar, so I was wondering. It’s an honor to meet you! I’ve heard so much about you before I got accepted!”

“What have you heard?”

“Well, people were saying that having Majiya’s support would make broadcasting easier, and it was a topic of conversation among those preparing for their debut.”

“Now that you mention it, I feel like a sweet drop of water.”

“… I didn’t mean it like that!”

I playfully caught her off guard with a little tease, and it worked well.

“I know, I’m just joking.”

I smiled slightly to indicate it was okay.

One of the reasons I’m spending three months with the new debuting members is to check these little habits in advance.

Based on that, I can create management guidelines for the members, making it easier to respond if any issues arise in the future.

In Orca’s case, there’s a peculiar way she compliments others that feels a bit off. I’ll need to gradually let her know about this as time goes on.

However, since it’s our first meeting and we need to get to know each other better, the conversation didn’t continue much after that.

It seems we were both a bit awkward.

Orca isn’t very talkative, and since it’s our first meeting, I was a bit shy too.

She kept sitting up straight, staring straight ahead, making it a bit awkward for me to start a conversation.

So aside from necessary conversations about where the bathroom is, where to sit, and what we would be doing today, we remained quiet.

But I genuinely liked Orca as a person.

Someone who is tight-lipped won’t leak information.

If there are no leaks, my workload decreases.

Success.

Moreover, I was worried she might bring up my debut story, but she didn’t seem to have that thought at all.

Still, this atmosphere is too stiff.

The only ice-breaking method I know is to joke around, so I decided to do that.

“Do you dislike talking to me, Orca?”

“Did you mishear me?!”

After bombarding her with questions for about 30 minutes, the second member arrived.

“Hello… Is this the training room for the second generation?”

Her bright ash-blonde hair stood out in stark contrast to Orca’s jet-black hair, which looked like it had been dyed with ink.

However, her entrance was completely timid and awkward.

It was An Si-ho, Tokoyo Miho, whose evaluation on the Boss’s report stated that she wanted to appear as an “in-crowd” type.

“Please take a comfortable seat here.”

“Ah. Yes!”

However, despite wanting to be in the in-crowd, her movements were hesitant as she approached to choose a seat.

Naturally, she chose the leftmost seat among the three that were lined up.

Since Orca was sitting at the rightmost end, the center seat was left empty.

Ena, who arrived late, was set to be the glue connecting the two of them.

When a team has an odd number of members, there’s always someone who feels left out, but Ena would hold both sides together in the middle, so there was no need to worry.

Unlike Orca, who was stiff and staring straight ahead, Miho was glancing around, but her gaze kept returning to me.

Both Orca and Miho were cautious, but there was a sense of pity in Miho that made it hard for me to just leave her alone.

I decided to start a conversation and repeated the self-introduction I had done with Orca.

After hearing it, Miho’s reaction was?

“Wow… I had a feeling, but you look just like your avatar…”

If you want to be in the in-crowd, you shouldn’t say that, teacher.

You should speak with a bit more confidence.

But the video she submitted when applying was pure madness.

According to the Boss, she was mimicking a character with a strong personality that seemed familiar, and the resemblance was so high that when I called her, she couldn’t even make eye contact during the interview, which was quite shocking.

It seems she’s someone who has dabbled a bit in voice acting, so there’s a significant gap between reality and online personas.

I’m amazed at how such individuals keep popping up, realizing just how high the hurdles are for virtual YouTubers.

“Um… by the way… are you also debuting with us?”

I wondered if she had already forgotten that I said I would be acting as a homeroom teacher.

But I would like to reference the Boss’s interview evaluation again.

‘Often forgets what was just said.’ Although I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD at the hospital, I am quite scatterbrained.

“No, I’m here to help you with your debut, not to debut myself.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Why did you think that?”

I wondered if she had heard the rumors circulating in the community that Majiya would debut alongside the second generation.

“I thought there were three successful candidates since I saw the seating arrangement. With four seniors, if we have three members, the numbers don’t match. So I thought maybe Jia would debut too.”

Miho isn’t a fool; she’s just timid.

She has a remarkable ability to deduce, and when watching mystery novels or movies, she usually figures out the plot before the resolution comes.

Just now, she spoke clearly while making direct eye contact with me, unlike when she was saying other things, just like the elegant female inspector in the drama she submitted.

However, she enjoys the deduction itself and isn’t particularly concerned about the accuracy of the evidence.

So I need to consistently remind her not to bring up conspiracy theories about other virtual YouTuber groups or politically or socially significant issues.

Still, it’s clear she’s not just any successful candidate; when the Boss and HR manager put her through an endless quiz show during the interview, she managed to escape even while tearing up.

She ended up crying at the end when she felt completely cornered, but she managed to escape five times before that and received a passing score.

In other words, Miho seems likely to become a type of broadcaster who skillfully extracts broadcast angles while subtly slipping out of the spotlight.

So it seems the Boss has mentioned that she would be a focus for close monitoring.

Another person has joined the ranks of those receiving the enthusiastic attention of the operations team, following the leak expert Maru.

But that’s my job anyway, so I’ll let it slide.

‘… Surprisingly, everyone seems to believe me without question?’

It seems the perspectives of virtual YouTubers and viewers are indeed different.

For viewers, as long as it’s entertaining, that’s all that matters. They’re all excited about my debut.

But from the perspective of virtual YouTubers, whether I debut or not, as long as their broadcasts are doing well, and their peers are thriving, and the company is growing, that’s what counts, right?

It’s not that the first-generation members don’t tell me to debut while watching me stir things up here and there.

It seems they like me for taking care of them as part of the operations team and promoting them through broadcasts.

Miho and Orca feel the same way.

… By the way, it’s quiet.

How can three people be even quieter?

This time, I had no choice but to turn to Miho and throw her a question.

The quiet atmosphere that had been lingering for a while was broken by the last arrival, Ena.

And as soon as she arrived, the rumors about Majiya’s debut reignited.

“I thought so. When the Boss didn’t wait and immediately talked about debuting, I figured there must be some circumstances…”

Her deduction was similar to Miho’s, but she had originally aimed to be in the third generation.

Even though she accepted the proposal to debut as a second-generation member, she must have thought there was some reason behind it.

However, with Majiya present and the number of people dropping to exactly four, she misunderstood.

She thought the savior called in to fill the two empty spots was herself and Majiya.

“Not debuting means you were lying because I’m not yet a Parallel person, right?”

So it was a natural deduction rather than a baseless assumption.

Majiya shook her head, insisting that couldn’t be true.

“If I debut, Ena, you wouldn’t like it.”

However, Majiya’s words, conscious of Yeon Seong-muk, made Ena shake her head in rebuttal.

“I never said I disliked it… Whether you debut or continue as a working person while broadcasting, or even if you do both, I don’t think it would make much difference to us.”

Once again, Maru’s words were referenced.

Majiya is even cooler because she can’t be definitively categorized as a virtual YouTuber or a working person.

“More than anything, Jia doesn’t seem to need to feel obligated to broadcast like us. The atmosphere among the viewers has already formed that way, so I think it would be enough to broadcast only in special cases like now.”

“And why not? Isn’t it okay to have at least one virtual YouTuber who helps promote while being a fan of their company’s members? Or is it not?”

However, Majiya had never seen such a precedent.

If you’re an idol, you’re an idol; if you’re a working person, you’re a working person.

A working person concept idol seems a bit strange, doesn’t it?

‘… Or is my perspective too narrow?’

Virtual YouTubers are continuously increasing,

And the RP has become even more diverse.

From a prime minister in the Joseon Dynasty, a noble from the Renaissance, to a martial arts sect’s late-period character…

Now, almost any RP has emerged, and it has reached a level where I’m curious about what new ones could possibly come out.

“There are many people who broadcast like a monthly event in Batchu Batchu.”

“That’s because their music activities have increased.”

“That’s their job, and Jia’s job is managing virtual YouTubers. If work gets busy, it can’t be helped.

And even if the break is long, those who want to watch will watch. Why? Because I’ve dabbled in idol fandom, and in the end, if it’s not your favorite, you won’t be interested, right?”

With that, Majiya began to reconsider the debut proposal that Cheon Do-hee had playfully thrown out a few weeks ago.

No matter how much it was a joke, the fact that there were only two successful candidates was a crisis situation.

In such a crisis, Cheon Do-hee recognized Majiya as someone who could be brought in as a joker card.

The reason was likely due to what Ena had just mentioned.

There are people who will support you no matter how casually you do what you want, and it becomes a topic of conversation.

If Ena hadn’t been positive about joining right after graduation, Majiya might have actually debuted.

This means that Cheon Do-hee considered Majiya as a card for the role of a firefighter.

‘Should I at least prepare myself mentally?’

In the meantime, when Ena’s identity as the graduated Serena was recognized, Miho and Orca’s eyes sparkled with curiosity about the details.

Both seemed to be asking, “What’s going on? Is Ena’s statement true? Is Jia debuting?”

As a result, the picture was completed where all three members of the second generation thought Majiya would debut.

Regardless of the direction, it matched Cheon Do-hee’s prediction.

In situations like this, Majiya’s answer had always been a consistent “no.”

But today was a bit different.

Even if I’m not debuting right away, it’s better to receive training with the current members to prepare for any eventuality.

And for the sake of that “just in case,” it wouldn’t hurt to get close quickly.

Even though I had no intention of debuting, Majiya, as always, revved up the malicious engine.

“Since you all have such high expectations, shall we give it a try?”

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Due to personal circumstances, I won’t be able to update this weekend…!

I ask for your understanding!!!!

Always… I love my readers!!!!