"Things are gonna blow up big time if you do well today...?"
I tilted my head, unable to make sense of what the president had said.
"What's gonna blow up?"
"Oh, uh, [Find Rain]. You've prepared so thoroughly too, so I really think it's gonna be huge."
I nodded, relieved to hear that.
I'd been worried that plopping down in the middle of the 1st Gen like a black hole would make the game too easy, but if even our president acknowledged it, that meant it wasn't an issue.
Either way, it meant my practice had passed muster?
It was my first time voicing out on a stream, so I'd really put in the work.
Feeling great, I couldn't stop my lips from twitching upward.
"Hehe. I'll do my best since I get to game with you, President."
* * *
I'd brushed it off casually to avoid making a fuss.
But in truth, Cheon Do-hee had frozen solid after seeing Ji-ah's Rain impression.
"This girl's got some real talent after all..."
Who was she, anyway?
Until Cheon Do-hee hired her, Ji-ah had been scraping by with part-time gigs, binge-watching VTuber streams, and pulling all sorts of nasty stunts.
But when she was put in charge of bonuses as a manager, she'd handled it surprisingly well.
When she was brought into the company proper, she nailed every task assigned.
In other words, she wasn't the type to proactively seek out things to do on her own, but give her an order, and she'd execute it flawlessly.
The perfect type to shine under a good boss.
That was why Cheon Do-hee, after much deliberation, had handed her the company's toughest job.
Could you handle this too?
And she'd crushed it without breaking a sweat.
Just look at how the 1st Gen treated her like an indispensable part of the team—it said everything about how diligently she tackled her assignments.
But that effort had always stayed within normal bounds.
Meaning she'd never conquered areas that people generally thought required innate "talent."
Things like streaming, variety shows, singing, impressions, and so on.
So during dinner one evening, Do-hee had asked Ji-ah directly.
"Ji-ah, have you done impressions like that before?"
"No. First time."
"First time?"
"Yeah. If you hadn't told me to join the content, I wouldn't have even prepared."
First time?
Impressions required keen observation skills, the ability to analyze and replicate, and the performative flair to deliver without a hint of hesitation—all in perfect harmony.
She'd nailed the unique accent and prosody of a returnee, even Rain's freakout moments, to the point that aside from innate tonal differences, it was beyond mimicry—practically a perfect clone.
'No one masters an impression like that on effort alone.'
Ji-ah had revealed a talent she'd kept hidden all this time.
She just hadn't done it because no one had asked.
But if told to, she could.
In a way, a hermit genius.
"Have you prepared a song too, by any chance?"
"Since it's Rain, I prepped a rap. But I'm hoping the viewers don't call for it."
"You prepped that?"
"Have to, right? You said to prepare for content since fans might request a song."
"Oh, right. Yeah."
By then, the tendon we'd ordered arrived, and Ji-ah promptly piled shrimp tempura and veggie tempura half-and-half over the fluffy rice grains, stuffing a huge bite into her mouth.
Her mouth opened about the same as usual, but because her jaw was so small, it took her forever to chew.
She thought it was inconvenient taking so long to chew, but to the person sitting across from her, it was unbearably cute.
Watching her work so hard with that tiny mouth.
Do-hee imagined Ji-ah singing in her head.
'...Come to think of it, there's zero data on that.'
Do-hee knew Ji-ah had clean vocalization.
Not many noticed because she'd deliberately started trailing off her words to fix her clipped speech from years of isolation.
But when she spoke comfortably, it was just plain cute.
No forced cuteness either—it was easy on the ears and sustainable.
What was it? A clear high-low range that never got old?
But at company dinners when they hit karaoke, Ji-ah showed zero interest in the mic, too busy banging away on the tambourine.
For a girl like that to practice singing—no, rapping—how could Do-hee not be curious?
"Want me to check if your singing's any good?"
"No thanks."
"Why not."
"Embarrassing to sing in front of you, President. Practicing alone is enough."
Today's content was expecting ten thousand viewers?
That was fine because she wouldn't feel their eyes on her?
Or because the president had ordered it?
"What if I told you to sing one at a company dinner?"
"Yeah."
"...Why?"
"Because you told me to, President."
No wonder she was impossible not to adore.
That was why Do-hee ate dinner with her every day.
Worried this skinny girl might collapse from malnutrition out of nowhere.
But by now, even Do-hee had a question.
How far did this mad loyalty go?
"You'd even debut as a VTuber if I told you to."
Ji-ah paused at that.
Her diligently working lower jaw ground to a complete halt.
She roughly swallowed the half-chewed food, then muttered.
"I'd do it if you told me to. But knowing your personality, President, you'd never say that."
...So she would do it anyway?
"What're you saying."
"You screened the 1st Gen super strictly. It doesn't make sense you'd pick a VTuber to be the company's face half-assed."
"...True."
"And like you always say, an unprepared VTuber shouldn't debut."
"Me? When did I say that?"
"When interviewing the 1st Gen, you yelled it at that hungover applicant the day before."
"Oh. Right. Yeah... you're spot on."
Even paying them big bucks, VTubers quit easily over mental strain.
If their own drive was weak, they couldn't endure the constant malicious comments and smears during streams to go the long haul.
Like Ji-ah said, even if she forced herself because the boss ordered it, she'd burn out and drop fast.
'Gotta give her a bonus if she wraps up the content well.'
She'd made her refusal clear, so no need to bug the girl who already had plenty on her plate.
Unless she showed her face once and people started online protests like "Free Magia," but that was unlikely.
* * *
Evening 8 PM.
— Open the doorrrrrr
— Rain sis I'm so parched I'm cracking
— Clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap
With a whopping five thousand people waiting before the stream even started, [Find Rain] kicked off with 1st Gen Aoyagi Rain's entrance.
[Oh hell yeah! Can you hear me!]
— Rainnnnnn
— Thought I was gonna die of thirst ㅠㅠㅠ
— Loud and clear
— Hell yeah~
— Reha~
— What's with sis's voice it's weird
[Today's actors, uh, they're using voice changers, right? So I, did a little faking too. Garit? Puddles?]
— Faking my ass
— No wonder it sounded robotic lol
— Look at her fancy word choice
[Anyway, today's content is right away right away right away—Find Rain——!]
— President's lost it
— First VTuber ever to shower pizza by the truckload ㄷㄷ
— Geez pizza doesn't fit in sleeves lol
As the chat reactions showed, viewers were betting on Rain's wallet getting raided.
Her unique speech pattern made it inevitable that she'd slip up if kept talking, per the community buzz.
So for the content to really shine, I'd have to step up.
"Hoo.... Haaa..."
In the single-person broadcast booth attached to the company's motion studio, I took deep breaths to tamp down my nerves.
Standing in front of people didn't faze me, but screwing up a task from the president did.
Oshi had trusted me with something this important.
Fail? Not an option.
Today, I was showing everything I'd prepared.
Finishing my meditation, I focused on Rain's lines.
The actors were up next.
[– So, to whoever guesses right, a full pizza pie! Okay, everyone get it now? No dummies? Then let's bring out the actors. Today's me-A-Rain followers: B-Rain, C-Rain, D-Rain. Let's go!]
At Rain's cue, I dragged her latuda hidden at the screen bottom all the way up.
— Whoa look at it filling the screen
— Insane four chopping boards ㄷㄷㄷ
[Four chopping boards, what the fuck. You band. Puddles! I'm B-cup. How many times do I gotta say it?]
— Dang
— Four boards and four knives she's fast~
— H... Honestly B-cup still counts as board...
Meanwhile, I checked if Rain's character rising onto the screen moved right.
She followed my motions perfectly—kinda trippy.
What was it, like my troll instincts awakening?
If I said something funny now, could I troll Rain?
'...Gotta hold back.'
If her fellow 1st Gen did it, it'd be content gold, but as staff, people might take it seriously.
Unfair as it seemed, that was the weight ops team carried.
A shadow following the stars must never outpace them.
While I wrestled my inner prankster, my turn arrived.
[Alright. D-Rain, introduce yourself?]
What I'd shown the president earlier was "how Rain talks while gaming."
For her opening stream lines, I'd practiced separately.
Energetically. A bit scratchy in the throat—like I'd learned on Nutube, not perfect—with a feeling of clearing a fresh path from mouth to lungs!
"Oh, hell, yeah. Puddles! Droppin' Rain from the heavens. Here to soak today's parched earth too!"
But practice was practice.
In the real deal, it wasn't that simple.
Just the sweat soaking my palms after the impression proved it.
That's why I respected our girls so much.
How they delivered these embarrassing lines every day like it was nothing.
VTuber life, no joke.
'...Why's it so quiet though.'
Real Rain had been cackling uncontrollably during B and C's intros, but now she was dead silent.
Even the chat, which had been busy laughing at "obvious fakes," was now all.
— ?
— ???
— ??
— ?
— What
— ??
— ? Huh?
— Ain't A the real Rain?
— Puddle my ass
— Dropped a serious punch outta nowhere
— D's legit board vibes
— Oh 1p2r?
— Difficulty what the hell lol
— Breasts detected ㄷㄷㄷ
— Nah C was pure gag lololol
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