Volume 1 - CH 6

“Wait, are you a fan of Vtubers, Mr. Sakiyama?”

The following day, in the office break room.

Due to the nature of our work, we can’t all take a break at the same time, so I finish my lunch just before 2 pm, and then watch the video of Itsuki Shinda, whom I had thoroughly defeated the night before.

However, because I was up all night, I am extremely sleepy and almost drop my smartphone. Suddenly, someone calls out to me.

“— Eh? Ah… Hi there, Jinbo.”

“Wow, you’re drooling a lot. You must be really tired.”

Jinbo Himari is a contract employee who works in the call center of the company where I work.

She is three or four years younger than me. With her medium-length brown hair, cute face, and bright, lively personality, she is quite popular in the company.

“No, I was up late playing a game, so I’m, well, tired.”

“Ah, I get it. When you’re having fun, you end up staying up late, don’t you?”

“That’s true. Although it’s not ideal for a working adult.”

I give a vague explanation, as I can’t exactly tell her that I was streaming. Though Jinbo and I are just acquaintances, if word got around and it rubbed my boss the wrong way, it would be no laughing matter if I were to get fired.

“Can I guess what game you were playing? Was it Stap?”

“…? How did you know?”

“Because Itsuki Shinda is synonymous with Stap.”

“You know about Itsuki Shinda, that’s surprising.”

I didn’t mean to sound prejudiced, but I thought Jinbo, being the extrovert she is, wouldn’t know about or even be interested in this kind of thing.

However, she raises her index finger and waves it side to side, saying,

“You’re underestimating it, Mr. Sakiyama. There used to be a lot of prejudice, but now otaku culture is mainstream among young people. Even extroverts like me talk about streamers and Vtubers all the time.”

Her statement, which seemed to read my mind, made me feel a bit out of place – has society changed so much while I’ve been caught up in work?

“Plus, Stap is popular among teenagers, too. Her tutorial videos are famous for being easy to understand for beginners.”

I thought she would first bring up the controversy, but she mentioned Itsuki Shinda’s coaching skills first, so she seems to know a lot about it.

“Huh, so Itsuki Shinda is really popular then.”

“Well, among all Vtubers, she’s more of a mid-tier, but within her agency, “Virtual Gaming,” she’s top class.”

“Virtual Gaming?”

“It’s a Vtuber agency. They focus on game streaming and have a group of talented players who have achieved results in online tournaments.”

“Oh, so there are agencies like that.”

“Their catchphrase is ‘Strong and Cute’, and with the popularity of PC games, they are a rapidly growing agency.”

“You know a lot, don’t you?”

“Well, this is basic knowledge.”

“Is it… really?”

“You might even say you’re a bit behind the times, Mr. Sakiyama.”

“Hmm…?”

People often say that once you fall into a rabbit hole, you’re in it for good, but it seems like all young people these days are in it up to their shoulders. As I was thinking about this, Jinbo started fiddling with her own smartphone.

After a few seconds, she showed me her screen, and when I took a look, there was a character with pink wolf cut hair, blue eyes, and a cute smile displayed on it.

“By the way, if we’re talking about Virtual Gaming, this one’s my favorite.”

“…Suganuma Marin?”

“She just debuted three months ago and only has about 20,000 subscribers, but her character is light-hearted and bold, which is quite entertaining.”

“One would expect you to be a fan of a more famous one, but choosing a newbie makes you seem quite dedicated.”

“That’s why I’m spreading the word about her. Even if it’s just a snippet, please watch and let me know what you think.”

“Does this girl play Stap too?”

“Yes, she does. She’s currently at Mercenary Rank 2.”

It might be a bit late to mention this, but Stap is divided into eight ranks excluding Emperor, which are: Mob, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Mercenary, and Braver, in that order.

From Mob upwards, each rank is further divided into three sub-ranks: 3, 2, 1. From this, you can see how impressive it is to reach the Emperor rank and how much of a novice I am.

“Reaching that rank in three months is impressive.”

“Most of the newbies debuting in VG are already skilled at games. The agencies won’t hire them unless they have some kind of unique talent or specialty.”

“That makes sense. Even with such talent, there’s no guarantee of survival.”

“Exactly. So, please, lend your pure support to Suganuma Marin.”

With that encouragement, I felt compelled to support her, so I opened Suganuma Marin’s channel and was about to hit the subscribe button when suddenly I hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah… well, I was just thinking that maybe I should subscribe to Itsuki Shita first.”

“Wait! Even though she’s your favorite, you’re not subscribed?”

“Well, it’s not so much that she’s my favorite…”

I’ve been greatly indebted to Itsuki Shita. It felt somewhat awkward to subscribe to Suganuma Marin before subscribing to her.

Well, there’s no way she could know any of that.

“Subscribing, liking, donating, and subscribing are the three main duties to your favorite. Please do them properly.”

“Yes… I’m sorry—three duties?”

“But… I wonder when she’ll be back. Her fans are worried too.”

“Hm, ah… are you talking about the Emperor incident?”

“I believe that there’s nothing as worthless as a bystander bashing someone. But, at that time, she had a whopping 40,000 concurrent viewers on her streams.”

40,000 viewers is a figure that even top Vtubers rarely see.

If her popularity ignited because of that…

“She must have attracted too much attention from the spectators, and it got out of hand.”

“That’s right. So, when she returns, please support her with a donation as a fan. Oh, and don’t forget about Marin-chan too.”

“Alright, alright. Well, there’s a chance she might not return.”

“No, that might not be the case, you know?”

“? Do you have any information?”

“Not exactly, but… there’s a rumor going around that if she’s going to return, it would be around this time.”

◯

“――…Yes, my health is fine.”

“Good to hear. Have you played Stap again?”

“A few times, it doesn’t seem like there’s much rust.”

“Understood. Then we’ll plan for your return beginning next week.”

“Understood.”

“Initially, there might be many haters and gawkers, but you don’t have to read the comments. We’ll handle any severe slander.”

“…Right. I’ll try not to look too much.”

“Remember, you don’t need to push yourself. Go at your own pace. Also, about the DM Cup…”

“Sorry to trouble you, but can I confirm my participation?”

“Understood, then we’ll proceed as such―”

“But, I have one condition.”

“? Yes. Is this about the leader role?”

“No, it’s about being the leader, but…”