I Want to Be a VTuber

The next day.

Seo-yeon hurried to school, forgetting her usual stop at the convenience store.

She planned to ask Lee Ji-yeon if what she saw yesterday was real.

“Uh, Ji-yeon said she’ll be late this morning because of a shoot…”

Right, that’s how it is.

Seo-yeon squeezed her eyes shut.

Thinking about it, Ji-yeon was busy too.

She was currently filming a drama and apparently had gotten some CFs as her popularity was on the rise.

‘Besides, it seems she got close to PD Jung Min-jae after [Looking Back at the Past].’

Ji-yeon was great at communication, unlike Seo-yeon, who, in her past life, became a popular Vtuber in no time, thanks to her talent.

“…Yeah, let me know when Ji-yeon arrives.”

Saying that, Seo-yeon trudged away. Consequently, Ji-yeon, who had been called by Seo-yeon, suddenly became the center of attention among the girls in class.

“Why, what’s going on?”

“I’ve never seen her this close; her face is so small. Is she really a celebrity?”

“Looks like Ji-yeon really is a celebrity.”

The students chatted among themselves, commenting on the situation.

The truth was, they were friends who were too familiar, but currently, Ji-yeon had been in the entertainment industry longer than Seo-yeon, so she had more people who recognized her.

It’s just that being too close often led to ignorance about one another.

Moreover, the shock from filming [Looking Back at the Past] was still fresh in their minds.

“I want to talk to her, but…”

“It’s a bit scary.”

There’s a saying that if someone is too beautiful, they’re intimidating.

That perfectly applied to Seo-yeon.

If she smiled a bit, it would be different, but Seo-yeon maintained a straight face all the time.

It wasn’t intentional, but she gave off a rather chilly impression to her classmates.

If Ji-yeon were there, she would have said, “You’d be more liked if you smiled like when you go to the convenience store,” but Ji-yeon wasn’t present at the moment.

Fast forward to fifth period sports class.

During the joint physical education class with the other class, Seo-yeon finally got a glimpse of Ji-yeon.

“Just play some dodgeball. Be careful not to get hurt.”

As always, the sports class was dodgeball.

It was more like study time than actual dodgeball.

How many students really played dodgeball? Surprisingly, since dodgeball was included in the upcoming sports event, some students took it quite seriously.

Anyway, since the school focused heavily on arts and sports, there were many students confident in sports.

‘I want to talk to her.’

Seo-yeon, who was wandering nearby, ended up caught in the dodgeball match with the other class, falling into deep contemplation.

She spotted Ji-yeon standing there with a tired expression.

Maybe it was because she came straight from the early shoot; her face looked really worn out.

Opposite Seo-yeon, a girl from Ji-yeon’s class looked at her with sharp eyes.

‘Joo Seo-yeon.’

Even among the other girls, her appearance shone brightly.

Is she really an actress?

‘But…’

The girl tightened her grip on the dodgeball in her hand.

Yeonhwa High School’s dodgeball team was consistently in the top 4 in national competitions.

While she was merely a substitute, she was undeniably part of the dodgeball team.

‘I’ll show her properly.’

It wasn’t a trivial jealousy or anything like that.

No, really.

It wasn’t at all because Seo-yeon stood out too much or because she disliked the way she captured the boys’ attention, or because her senior in the dodgeball team seemed to have a crush on Seo-yeon.

Not any of those reasons at all!

‘Now’s my chance.’

At the moment Seo-yeon was looking at Ji-yeon, the girl’s arm moved.

“Haaap!!”

She threw the ball with all her might.

Aiming for Seo-yeon, who was distracted, the ball flew fiercely.

Tak

“?”

It was way too easy for Seo-yeon to catch it with one hand.

It wasn’t even a bounce; she just caught it with one hand.

The ball had become slightly indented in the shape of her fingers.

‘Is her hand really that big?’

Why did she catch it?

How much grip strength does she have?

No, before that, she hadn’t even been looking!

In the moment of those thoughts, Pang!!

“Ah!!”

The dodgeball returned and hit the girl in the waist, knocking her down.

She couldn’t have seen it coming, and attempting to catch it was out of the question; dodging was already too much.

Ji-yeon, witnessing this, thought to herself.

‘…That girl is starting again.’

Seo-yeon had a proud look on her face after hitting three people at once.

While others saw her expression as calm, Ji-yeon understood it.

“Hmph.”

Seo-yeon was clearly high on her dazzling dodgeball play.

It was noticeable she wanted to say something, but that changed the moment she threw the ball.

To be precise, it shifted when the surrounding girls went “Wow!” and started clapping.

“Concede.”

“Ugh.”

Thus, Ji-yeon casually conceded.

Because getting hit by Seo-yeon’s throw would really hurt.

*

“So, are we filming the movie or what?”

“Yeah.”

After Seo-yeon’s team finished dodgeball and took a break, the two sat down and had that conversation.

‘Aren’t you always playing villains?’

Seeing Ji-yeon silent and deep in thought, Seo-yeon bit her lip repeatedly.

Bringing up the topic of her YouTube channel wouldn’t be easy.

It would be straightforward to just ask, but…

‘Red pill!’

Seo-yeon chewed on her lower lip.

Asking here would mean exposing herself to the red pill situation.

Well, it would be the blue pill in Ji-yeon’s case, but still, it was uncertain if she really created her channel for Vtuber content.

As Seo-yeon’s gaze darted around, trying to find her bearings…

“And about variety shows,”

Ji-yeon spoke before Seo-yeon could open her mouth.

“What about cable variety shows?”

“Cable?”

“Well, there aren’t any suitable public broadcasting variety shows right now, and they can be a bit overwhelming, right?”

[Looking Back at the Past] was indeed a public broadcasting variety, but due to its extremely low viewer ratings, its status was quite similar to that of cable.

Seo-yeon’s current recognition was that of a former child actor returning after ten years.

She was kind of a hot potato after causing quite a stir in recent variety shows.

If she wanted, she could definitely appear on public broadcasting, but… honestly, she had never truly participated in a proper variety show, which made it daunting.

[Looking Back at the Past] felt more like theater than a variety show.

‘Cable variety shows.’

Seo-yeon did think of a few.

But cable variety shows often leaned towards more mature or raw content.

And would they help neutralize her villain image? Who knows…

“Oh.”

As Seo-yeon was contemplating that, a thought sprang to mind.

‘It wouldn’t have ended yet, right?’

Thinking back, there had been a cable variety show that had wrapped up around this time.

It was rare for a cable variety show to positively impact an actor’s image.

It was one of those shows frequently mentioned in the community.

“Well, there’s one that comes to mind…”

Wondering if it was appropriate, she mentioned it to Ji-yeon.

“…What is it?”

The look on Ji-yeon’s face asked if she was serious.

Which was understandable.

The cable variety show Seo-yeon wanted to participate in had been aired for a whopping ten years on a cable game broadcasting channel.

*

As Seo-yeon confirmed her participation in [The Chaser], she finalized plans with her agency.

Nova Entertainment.

The agency she would belong to from now on.

Taking a moment to exhale a nervous sigh during an outing with her mother after a long time.

“By the way, is Seo-yeon’s mom okay? I genuinely believe there’s a lot of potential,”

“Oh my.”

Seo-yeon’s mother, Suah, smiled awkwardly as if flustered at the words of Kang Chan-yul, who came to see her contract as well.

…That must be a joke, right?

Seo-yeon looked at him, but surprisingly, Kang Chan-yul had a serious expression.

‘Mom looks a bit young, but…’

Seo-yeon sneaked a glance at Suah’s face and lowered her gaze.

That presence was definitely still strong.

Seo-yeon looked back down again.

This time, focusing primarily on herself.

It didn’t particularly hold any significance.

There was really no meaning to it, but…

‘…Am I going to grow more here?’

Is it because she’s my mother?

It feels sufficient now, but if she was like my mom… maybe a bit too…

Honestly, it seemed uncomfortable for acting.

“Uh, I’m sorry. I’m busy with housework.”

“That’s a real shame.”

Kang Chan-yul looked genuinely disappointed.

Suah’s appearance was incredibly remarkable, so it made sense.

Is that really the face and body of a woman nearing forty?

It’s no wonder a passerby actress would ask what kind of cosmetics she used.

Anyway, being an entertainer is out of the question for her.

Aside from her looks, her personality made her the type who couldn’t mingle well with others.

Unlike me.

“So, have you made many friends at school? Of course, excluding Ji-yeon.”

“…”

“Hm? Is there something wrong with your school life?”

I fell silent at the sudden sharp spear that struck me.

It was as if he had read my thoughts.

“I can count all of them on both hands.”

“Very well.”

Taking Ji-yeon out of the equation, that was an honest fact.

Kang Chan-yul nodded, thinking my school life was fine.

“It’s important to maintain amicable relationships, even if you often have to skip. You understand?”

“Yeah.”

“If your friends want to come visit later, let me know in advance. They are students, so they’d likely want to see celebrities, right?”

“Y-Yeah. I’ll bring them next time for sure.”

What do I do?

I chuckled dryly while worrying.

At least it was fortunate that there was no set time frame.

“Well then, the contract is done, and this is Park Eun-ha, the manager who will now be in charge of you.”

Having thought the conversation was wrapped up, he introduced the woman next to him.

She appeared to be in her late twenties and had a very gentle demeanor, yet she seemed quite stiff.

“She was originally in charge of actress Hwang Min-hwa, so she knows the industry well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

“Yeah.”

I responded like that while observing Eun-ha’s face.

If she was the manager who looked after actress Hwang Min-hwa, she must have paid special attention to me.

There was also something puzzling.

‘Is she already preparing to leave?’

Typically, a manager doesn’t change unless there’s a special circumstance.

Since you usually spend time working together, switching would entail various risks.

Furthermore, she appeared excessively tense, especially for someone managing a major actress like Hwang Min-hwa.

‘…I’ll have to investigate this later.’

Perhaps there was a multitude of events surrounding actress Hwang Min-hwa’s transfer.

When considering it, letting go of a ten-million actress would be quite unusual from Nova Entertainment’s perspective.

Indeed, it’s uncommon for a company to hand over a prominent star to another agency.

‘Hmm.’

I sensed there was something behind this transfer.

However, since I lacked any information, I decided to keep an eye on the situation for now.

If there were issues, they would inevitably surface soon.

And then, two days later.

“Okay, everyone is here, right?”

Director Bae Jin-hwan smiled as he surveyed the gathered actors.

His face radiated pure satisfaction.

Especially, the intensity of expectation in his gaze fixed on me.

“All right, let’s get started.”

The movie [The Chaser].

A hauntingly doomed film that concluded with a total audience of 2.5 million.

The filming was about to commence in earnest.

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