The chat window’s intensity was still overwhelming.
[Let’s go!]
[Wah! It’s Su Mi Ho!]
[Ohhhhhhh!]
[Huh? Fox ears leaked!]
[Kya kya kya!]
[Huh huh!]
[It’s coming, it’s coming!]
[The ears leaked!!!]
[It’s really a fox!]
Su-a’s fox ears.
In other words, Su Mi Ho was currently in a situation where only her pristine white ears were visible against a black screen. She was supposed to pull her avatar’s full body up and greet everyone, but…
[Bigger thing is coming!]
[Moo-ha~~~~]
[Moo-ha!]
[The ears are twitching, hahaha!]
[Huh huh huh huh!]
…that wasn’t possible. She could barely gather her senses.
Crackle! Crackle!
Su-a’s brain was suffering from overload.
Actually, she had already been dazed. It was only natural, considering she had overexerted herself recently to liberate Yeon-joo’s Yeoncheon-kyung. Su-a’s mind hadn’t fully recovered yet.
“…”
Therefore, anyone seeing Su-a now would find her appearance quite strange. Her left eyeball pointed at 7 o’clock while the right one pointed at 2 o’clock.
Ultimately, the solution that Su-a came up with was:
“Help! Su-a Association! Help me!”
Naturally, she turned to the Su-a Association.
However.
-I don’t feel like it.
Unexpectedly, Su-a was startled.
“What, what, what did you say? You don’t want to?”
Betrayal? Just as Su-a was struck by lightning in her mind.
-We don’t mean we don’t want to help you, Su-a Senior. However, this time, it’s better if we don’t intervene. It’s best for Senior to compete with your true self.
“…True self?”
-Yes. Or you could say it’s a matter of market difference.
“Market difference? What’s that?”
Su-a kept asking Kim Yu-han to repeat himself because she didn’t understand anything from start to finish.
-Look back on the path you’ve taken as an actor so far. It wasn’t easy, was it? There were many twists and turns, right?
“Yeah. Despite having special privileges, it was pretty tough.”
-The actor’s market is very strict. You always have to prove yourself in this field. Simply put, it’s a place where people are prepared to filter you out.
“Isn’t that the same for virtual YouTubers?”
-Ah, the current situation is quite different.
Kim Yu-han shook his head.
-This market is based on the attitude of ‘being ready to love virtual YouTubers’. You can be adored simply because you’re a virtual YouTuber or the youngest member of NeoLive.
“Ah?”
-In fact, hiding behind the avatar can turn even Su-a Senior’s negative image in reality into an advantage. Virtual YouTubers are practically pets inside the screen. If they’re cute to me, that’s all that matters.
“Uh, um, ah, um…”
Su-a didn’t really understand what Kim Yu-han was saying.
-Simply put, the market is Su-a-friendly!
“Aha!”
Su-a finally understood. So, this place is where Su-a can act naturally without any problems?
-Think of it as losing your special privileges for a moment and broadcast. Meanwhile, we’ll lay low for a while.
Later, the presence of the Su-a Association really did fade, making Su-a feel uneasy. After all, they say that the better the equipment, the more noticeable the absence when it’s gone.
…It felt like her mind had suddenly gone completely blank.
“Ah…”
[Just making ah sounds]
[When will it start???]
[Hurry up and say something]
[I’ve been watching the ears twitch for 5 minutes now]
[Respond, respond, respond!]
Embarrassing as it was, Su-a knew that time and viewers wouldn’t wait for her forever. She realized she really had to do something now.
[NeoLive Gallery]
[Subject: What is this Su Mi Ho?]
[She hasn’t said a word since the broadcast started]
-I came to the gallery wondering if only I couldn’t hear anything
-I wonder if the broadcast was turned on by mistake
-Holy cow, this youngest member is precious
[Subject: Only breathing sounds keep coming]
[Did you turn on the broadcast and start pounding rice cakes or something? What are you doing?]
-O
-O….
-Holy-
-Ya ya ya, pull down the comments
[Subject: Do we really need the youngest member?]
[I think NeoLive is already diverse enough. Is there really more character we can squeeze out? I’m not sure.]
-Yeah, it feels like everything that could come out has already come out
-Everyone does have distinct features
-‘Youngest member’ being the only characteristic will undoubtedly lead to failure in a day or so. The older ones all have distinct personalities.
[Subject: So when is it starting?]
[Let us know in the comments when it starts]
-Bell alert
-Bell alert 22
-Bell alert 333
Since it was a place where people interested in NeoLive gathered, there were many related discussions. Expectations and concerns were mingled together. Then, at some point…
[Subject: Hey, she finally spoke]
[Go go go go]
Word spread that Su Mi Ho had finally spoken.
[Subject: A charming Su Mi Ho here, angnyang! (˃⩌˂)]
[42,000 viewers]
“Uuuu…”
Su-a had to take a deep breath. A quick glance showed that the number of viewers had exceeded 40,000. Her lips trembled.
“…Hello everyone.”
Now the Su Mi Ho avatar had only slightly raised her eyes.
[Hello]
[Mu ha mu ha]
[Wow]
[Her voice is pretty]
[Show the whole avatar!!!]
Good. Greeting was successful.
Meanwhile, Su-a was currently speaking in a higher tone than usual to disguise her identity. However, since the modulation sounded too artificial, she adjusted it this way. Thanks to her special privilege singing lessons, it was possible.
[Your tone is really high]
[It really feels like a fox]
[Show your face]
Changing her voice successfully.
The problem was…
“…”
…that Su-a had once again gone silent.
It wasn’t intentional; her ability to filter chat messages had deteriorated. Su-a squinted as she looked through the chats.
‘Which chat should I respond to? I have no idea…’
Then, this happened.
[User has tipped 2000 won]
[Youngest member, we need to start the RP! What are you doing?!]
Su-a quickly recalled something – sponsor messages should take priority over regular messages.
Moreover, that’s right. RP. There seems to have been something like that.
“Ahhh…”
But how was she supposed to do RP? Hmm…
Damn, it feels like walking off a cliff with your eyes blindfolded. One wrong step and it feels like you’d fall to your death? Su-a opened the messenger on her PC.
▶ Eun-bi
▶ What were RP precautions?
▶ What happened during Shikarin’s debut?
Why, the read receipt indicator showed that the Deer – Go Eun-bi had seen the message, but there was no reply. Su-a grew anxious.
▶ Reply please, I’m in a hurry.
But soon the answer came.
[????]
[??? ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Is that Shikarin?]
[Red pill? Red pill? Red pill?]
[Emergency!]
[Neo Live Emergency!]
[Expand Shikarin’s picture]
[Is that really Shikarin’s face?]
[So beautiful]
[Huge accident!]
“Ah? Eh? Eeeeee…?”
Su-a mumbled unconsciously.
At the same time, the manager’s exclusive chat exploded in activity.
▷ Su-a
▷ If there’s something you want to say to me
▷ I told you to do it through this messenger
▷ What the hell
▷ You know…what…what…
It finally all came back.
What Eun-bi had meant was not to contact her in real-time for questions but to use the real-time manager chat instead. She had only remembered the last part out of haste.
“…”
Su-a was dripping with cold sweat.
First, she dragged the avatar away, completely hiding it off-screen, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
[Youngest member haha]
[You’ll be summoned after today’s broadcast]
[What is this red pill?]
[Shikarin crying haha]
[What are we going to do about this?]
[NeoLive emergency!]
[Summon the boss!]
Unconsciously, Su-a bit her thumb.
She had made a big mistake right at the start. What should she do…?
[Momonitoring Room, NeoLive]
“Shouldn’t we turn off the broadcast immediately?”
Deer – Go Eun-bi said urgently.
‘Damn it, I forgot that Su-a has servant syndrome!’
While thinking this internally…
Of course, even ‘servant syndrome’ wasn’t entirely true, but to Eun-bi, Su-a was certainly a very lacking friend. How could she have forgotten that broadcasting itself was dangerous with Su-a?
‘I guess I only saw her recent appearances on TV. She’s been acting so excellently that I unknowingly forgot. I forgot that Su-a is a fool!’
Yet, why was it?
The personnel’s expressions were very peaceful.
“Team leader…”
Then the team leader smiled at Eun-bi.
“Eun-bi, doesn’t Su-a have incredible broadcasting skills? Now I understand why she’s been a hot topic online recently. This person thoroughly understands the essence of VTuber broadcasting.”
“Huh?”
Eun-bi’s wide-eyed response prompted the team leader to continue.
“Do you remember, Eun-bi? We once discussed using your red pill as a marketing tool. Could we naturally incorporate it somehow?”
“I remember. Ultimately, it was abandoned.”
“That’s right. We couldn’t find a natural way, so it failed. While the red pill is a great advantage for a cute VTuber, the moment it’s revealed as staged, public sentiment crashes.”
The team leader chuckled.
“Still, Eun-bi, you know, right? Your red pill is quite excellent. You likely take good care of it yourself, and keeping it hidden is a big loss for you.”
Eun-bi prides herself on her appearance and always dresses well.
“I think I’m quite decent. But what about it?”
“The red pill of a VTuber – if I must make a metaphor, it’s like a man’s…well, you know, or a woman’s chest.”
“Excuse me?”
“While it’s a crude metaphor, there’s no better one. When others praise the red pill, it becomes something great, but if you flaunt it yourself, you become a fool.”
Eun-bi finally understood.
After all, the value of appearance drops sharply when you self-praise. It only becomes effective when acknowledged by others.
“That’s why, in the case of excellent VTubers like you, there’s always a dilemma. If the red pill leaks naturally, it could be a huge advertisement, but creating such a situation is hard. But how about now?”
“…Ah?”
“Su-a has borrowed the concept of ‘unexpected accidents.'”
The team leader emphasized his words.
“She created a very natural situation for the leak. Su-a doesn’t seem to merely focus on her own tasks but also considers your broadcast’s success.”
“…”
“We couldn’t find the answer, ultimately abandoning the plan, but Su-a has solved it instantly. Isn’t that right?”
Eun-bi’s mouth hung open.
There was no denying it.
Moreover, she had only thought the broadcast was forced due to Eun-bi’s request, never once considering that Su-a could be caring for Eun-bi’s broadcast. That’s why the shock was greater.
The team leader rubbed his chin and continued.
“Your profile picture has a black mask, right? But the beauty is evident from just your eyes and figure. I see this as a calculated move. It’s too hard to uncover your identity this way. People will simply think ‘She’s pretty’ and move on.”
“…”
“Su-a doesn’t seem to merely play the given roles. She creates personalities needed for the situation. Perhaps we should consider her talent as a broadcaster bordering on genius.”
The Deer was simply overwhelmed with emotion.
Was Su-a really thinking that far ahead?
Upon reflection, the Deer had subtly hoped for her red pill to leak. Imagining things like ‘If people know the real me is prettier than the avatar, wouldn’t that be great?’ would be a lie to deny.
And now, it’s happening in its most optimal form.
The Deer felt a peculiar emotion, slightly moved.
The team leader crossed his arms.
“The broadcast has just started. Wonder what interesting content she’ll show during the remaining time? Surprisingly, it’s resonating well.”
“I agree. This might have good broadcast performance. Su-a’s apparent awkwardness is exquisite.”
“Strangely, I want to sponsor her. Should I create a secondary account?”
Everyone began watching Su-a’s broadcast with great interest. There was no sign of worry on their faces, only anticipation.
Suddenly, Eun-bi muttered a word that popped into her mind.
“Broadcasting genius…?”
A massive misunderstanding began to solidify.
