I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 187

Thanks to my CEO,

I’ve been able to work at the company and continue my utaite activities at the same time.

Considering how most office workers aren’t allowed to hold two jobs, no matter how much I say I’m doing this for the company, it’s undeniable that I’ve been given a considerable amount of leeway.

Which is why, when something like this comes up, I’m obligated to report it to the CEO.

But this time, I was literally on the phone right in front of her—so there was no need to carve out extra time to make a report.

Instead, I had to put up with the task of calming down a CEO who was completely losing her mind.

“Kiri? You’re seriously going to Kiri’s house?!”

“Yeah. That’s how the schedule worked out.”

“And she’s confirmed she’s taking you?”

“She said since we hit the goal we promised, she’s staking her name on it—she’ll definitely bring me.”

Iyura might be reckless, but once she starts something, she never backs out halfway. Even when she went MIA for personal reasons, every single song she ever promised—even verbally—she ended up completing. Frenemy included.

So there’s no doubt she’ll keep this promise too. Which means, with 99% certainty, I’m going to meet the Kiri—every utaite’s icon, a living legend.

Then again, the idol of utaites is often also the idol of VTubers.

After all, plenty of people who are now VTubers started out doing covers because they loved singing. And vice versa—some utaites started out as VTubers.

There’s a ton of overlap.

Even my CEO is a massive fan of Kiri.

“Take me with you.”

“Do you really think that’s possible? I’m only getting this opportunity because of Iyura.”

“Ugh...”

I mean, I’d love to introduce the CEO to Kiri if I could.

But there’s no way I could just randomly spring that on her during a first-time meeting.

From now on, I need to start prepping for how I can make a good impression on Kiri.

Just like I did before I met Crkemang—I’ll need to dig through her personal streams, comb through every bit of info I can find.

That way, I’ll at least be able to exchange a few words.

If I get lucky, maybe we’ll even follow each other on Z.

Whatever happens, I just hope I don’t come back empty-handed.

At the very least, if Kiri gives me some merch in person, I could pass that on to my CEO.

“Please pray that I at least get to have a proper conversation with her.”

“...I really hope you do.”

“You don’t sound that sincere.”

She took a deep breath—huuuuuup—and was about to yell, but let it out with a sigh instead.

It was late, and we weren’t in a soundproof booth.

Couldn’t risk bothering the neighbors.

“I really hope you hit it off so well that you two end up exchanging concert tickets. Even better, I hope that when Kiri visits Korea, she asks you to be her guide.”

“Even if that somehow happens, I don’t think I’d be able to bring you along.”

“...That’s cold.”

“Come on, think about it. Just imagine bringing a random person out of nowhere and saying, ‘This is my CEO, she’ll be tagging along with us today.’ Wouldn’t that just be awkward? It’s not polite, either.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll shut up.”

Sigh.

The CEO let out a short breath and sank deep into the couch.

“I mean, seriously. Ever since you started doing utaite stuff, I’ve never really been jealous. But this time... I am. I’m so jealous it’s driving me crazy. I want to stretch your cheeks out so bad right now.”

“Go ahead. If that’ll help you feel better, have at it.”

Her hands flew at me without hesitation.

“Hi-yah!”

“Ah. Aahh, ahh—”

She played with my cheeks for a while, but then just drooped her shoulders and trudged off to her room like it was all meaningless.

Was she that disappointed?

Her grip was definitely spicier than usual today.

See? This is why I told her not to mess with business and just stick to streaming.

If she’d done that, she’d have 4 million subs by now and probably would’ve already met Kiri.

But it’s too late for regrets—we’ve come too far.

Since I already committed to helping her run the business, I’m going to see it through.

And hey, if I do manage to hit it off with Kiri... who knows?

Maybe she’ll accept my invitation, come visit Korea, and even be okay with the CEO tagging along.

***

Starting the next day, Iyura and I began discussing strategy over the phone.

It was a slightly twisted desire on her part—to work with the soon-to-be-famous me—but still, if achieving that meant helping me succeed first, then hey, her energy over the phone made it obvious she was willing to spill absolutely everything she knew.

[Let me start by giving you a quick rundown of the schedule.]

“Okay.”

[It’s a one-night, two-day trip to Tokyo, Japan. We’ll fly out Saturday afternoon and return Sunday evening. I’ve already booked your flight in business class, so you don’t have to worry.]

“Business class? Economy would’ve been fine.”

[Just think of it as an investment. I’ll put you in business. It’s not like we’re flying to the U.S. or Europe or anything. Just make sure your passport’s ready.]

Since I’m short, I’d have more than enough legroom in economy.

Still, if she’s offering, there’s no real reason to say no—and I’m curious about the whole business-class experience anyway.

“Sure. Passport—got it. Easy.”

[Easy, right? But seriously, make sure you have it ready. One time I planned a trip to Japan with a friend, and on the day of the flight, she realized her passport was missing. I ended up going alone.]

“Yikes.”

[Anyway, once we land, we’ll have some time to do a little sightseeing before the scheduled meetup. When it’s time, we’ll head to Kiri’s house. Just don’t be too shocked when you see her living room.]

“It’s just a house, right? Is there something unusual about it?”

[She had one entire wall turned into a bar.]

“She must really like drinking...”

[Not exactly. Kiri has this rule—if someone visits her house, she always serves them a cocktail she made herself. She decides what kind based on her first impression of you. Mixing cocktails is her hobby, apparently.]

“She sounds pretty cool.”

[She is. And tall, too—around 174 cm, I think?]

So about the same height as Orca?

That’s pretty tall.

[Anyway, when we get there, we’ll sit at the bar table, chat with the people next to us and do introductions. You don’t have to just sit still—you can move around and talk to the other guests too. Since it’s your first time, I’ll introduce everyone one by one. There’ll be just over ten people, so it won’t take long.]

“Thanks.”

[Do you drink? If not, non-alcoholic options are fine. No one’s going to pressure you. It’s just a casual, one-or-two-drinks kind of vibe.]

I don’t even know what my alcohol tolerance is.

At staff dinners with the members, I’ve never actually had anything to drink since I’m usually stuck cleaning up.

Even when I’m relaxing at home, I avoid alcohol—gotta stay sharp so I can review their streams and write reports.

And the most important thing here is to naturally connect with the people there.

So I should probably stay sober.

“Then I’ll stick with non-alcoholic.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

[Just be careful, okay? Some of the drinks in the fridge look like soda but aren’t. Don’t just grab anything.]

“I can read Japanese. I’ll pick carefully.”

[Mm, alright. That’s a relief. Now, where was I...]

“You were saying I could sit at the bar or walk around while you introduce the guests.”

[Ah, right. This next part is important. Pretty much everyone there is either a utaite, a VTuber, or a singer. Basically, it’s a gathering of people who love music.]

Hearing that made me pause. Was it really okay for someone like me to be there?

“I don’t actually love singing or anything. I’m just doing it for a goal.”

[Not everyone there sings for pure love of it. Some people like money and love singing because it brings them money. Some love connecting with fans and love singing because their songs are loved. It’s not all noble.]

“Yeah... I guess I’m not in it purely for the love of it either.”

[I only mentioned it because the people at the exchange are so into music that even the penalties for games are music-related.]

“Games?”

[Yeah. The host decides the game for the night—this time it’ll be Kiri—but the penalty has always been the same.]

Since most of the guests are also YouTubers, it makes sense.

The person who loses has to sing a song chosen by the winner and upload it to their channel.

The catch? It has to be the winner’s original song.

Even if the song doesn’t suit the loser’s voice or style, they still have to make it work and post it.

Apparently, that’s the kind of punishment only people who are beloved as singers could handle with pride.

But to me, this sounded like a massive opportunity.

Think about it.

Kiri—a ten-million-subscriber YouTuber, a legend of J-pop since the 2020s, an icon of the utaite world—singing my original song and uploading it to her channel?

There’s probably no bigger boost I could ever get.

Even Frenemy blew up largely because it was a duet with Iyura—a strong point of comparison.

If Kiri were to sing Frenemy, or even Common Fan?

The promo impact would be unreal.

And if that wave of attention carried over to our girls?

Even better.

'Okay, that’s wishful thinking.'

First things first—win the bet.

Even if Kiri doesn’t pick my song, every person there is a prominent singer.

“Do you have any idea what Kiri might choose as the game?”

[Hmm... the topic for the game...]

After thinking for a bit, Iyura mentioned a certain fighting game that’s been popular not only in Japan but globally.

[Have you heard of Sok?]

“Soul Clash? Yeah, of course.”

[Kiri sang the ending theme for the latest Sok game, and she started playing it too.]

So she played it to better understand the atmosphere and reflect that in her song?

That’s a next-level approach.

[We’ll have to wait and see, but from what I’ve seen on Z, she still plays it now and then. It’s only been three months since it released and it’s still pretty hyped up, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she picked that.]

“Has she used games as bet topics before?”

[Not exactly, but a few years ago she did something similar. Back then, after a string of anime theme covers, she had everyone try to guess characters from short, edited voice clips mid-episode.]

“I see. Then I guess your prediction has a good chance of being right.”

[Why? You planning to practice in advance?]

Today was October 7. The exchange event was two weeks away, on October 20.

Two weeks should be enough time to prep at least a little.

I’d pick the psychological-warfare character I liked best,

and then mix up overheads, mids, lows—hit them with nonstop pressure—

K.O.

If I got lucky, I’d earn the honor of Kiri singing one of my songs.

“Yeah. Two weeks is enough to get my skills up.”

[Ooh, confidence. Have you played Sok before?]

“Nope.”

[...Where is this confidence coming from?]

I never mentioned it because our girls cover so many different games already—

But about six months ago, during tournament prep, the first-generation girls got really into Soul Beast, the previous title in the Soul Clash series. That lasted about a week.

And I still had the contact info for the coach who helped them out.

All I had to do was ask if he had time.

“I’m gonna find a teacher. I pick things up really fast.”