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

"If you do well today, this might be huge..."

I tilted my head, not understanding what the boss meant.

"What do you mean, huge?"

"Oh, Find Rain. You’ve put in so much effort preparing that I really think this could be a hit."

I nodded in relief.

I’d been worried that, compared to the talented first-generation members, I’d stick out like a black hole and make the game too easy. But if even the boss thought I was doing well, then I guess that wasn’t the case.

So my practice paid off?
This was my first time speaking on stream, and I’d really put my all into it.

I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from twitching up.

"Hehe. Since I get to play with you, I’ll do my best."

***

I played it cool, but in reality, Momo had been completely stunned by my voice impression.

"I can’t believe she actually has talent..."

She knew exactly what kind of person I was.

Before she hired me, I was just scraping by with part-time jobs and spending my free time trolling VTubers.

But when she made me a manager as punishment, I turned out to be surprisingly competent.
And when she brought me into the company, I did every task thrown at me to perfection.

I wasn’t someone who took the initiative, but when given a job, I saw it through to the end.
The kind of person who only truly shines under a good boss.

So after some thought, Momo had given me the hardest job in the company.
A challenge, to see if I could handle it.

And I did.

Just looking at how the first-generation members relied on me now was proof of how seriously I took my role.

But my efforts had always been within the expected range.
I never thought I could master anything that required talent.

Like streaming, entertainment, singing, or voice acting.

So, during dinner, Momo asked me directly.

"Magia, have you ever practiced voice impressions before?"

"No. This is my first time."

"Your first time?"

"Yeah. If you hadn’t told me to participate, I wouldn’t have even prepared for it."

First time, huh.

Doing a voice impression wasn’t just about mimicking a voice.

It required keen observation, analytical skills to break down the mannerisms, and the confidence to perform it without hesitation.

I’d nailed Rain’s Korean accent, her awkward English transitions, and even the exact moments when she freaked out.
Aside from the natural difference in voice tone, it wasn’t just an imitation—it was practically a full-on replication.

'You can’t pull that off with effort alone.'

I’d just casually revealed a talent I’d never used before.

Not because I was hiding it.
Just because no one had ever told me to do it.

An accidental genius.

"Did you prepare any songs too?"

"Since I’m playing Rain, I prepared a rap. But I really hope the viewers don’t ask me to do it."

"You actually prepared one?"

"I had to, right? You told me to prepare for the segment, and if the contestants ask me to sing, I need to be ready."

"Oh, right. I did say that."

As our food arrived, I picked up a tempura shrimp and a vegetable fritter, piling them on my rice before stuffing a big bite into my mouth.

My mouth opened the same way as before, but since my jaw was smaller now, it took me a lot longer to chew.

I found it kind of annoying.
But from across the table, Momo just thought it was adorable.

She watched me eat with this look, as if thinking, She’s trying so hard with that tiny mouth.

And then, she pictured me singing.

'...Come to think of it, I have no data on this.'

She already knew my voice was naturally clear.

Because I’d deliberately softened my tone over the years to avoid sounding toxic, most people hadn’t noticed.

When I spoke comfortably, I just sounded cute.
It wasn’t forced, easy on the ears, and I had a good sense of pitch.
Like… my voice had a natural rise and fall that kept it from getting boring.

But even during company karaoke nights, I’d never touched the mic.
I just played the tambourine.

And now, suddenly, I’d prepared a rap?

Momo was dying to know.

"Want me to check if your singing is okay?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because singing in front of you is embarrassing. Practicing alone is enough."

Tonight’s stream is expecting 10,000 viewers.

But that’s fine?
Because I won’t actually see them?
Or is it just because the boss told me to do it?

"So if I asked you to sing during a company dinner, would you have done it?"@@novelbin@@

"Yeah."

"...Why?"

"Because you told me to."

Seriously.
She’s impossible to hate.

This was exactly why Momo had dinner with me every night.

I was already skinny enough. She worried I’d drop from malnutrition if she didn’t make sure I ate properly.

But now, she was genuinely curious.
Just how far did my blind loyalty go?

"At this rate, if I told you to become a VTuber, you’d probably do it."

I paused.

My jaw stopped moving entirely.

Then, after roughly swallowing my half-chewed food, I muttered,

"If you told me to, sure. But knowing you, you’d never say that."

…Wait. So you’d actually do it?

"What are you even saying?"

"You were super strict about picking the first-gen members. There’s no way you’d randomly throw someone in as a company face."

"...Fair point."

"And like you always say, a VTuber shouldn’t debut unless they’re fully prepared."

"Did I say that?"

"Yeah. Back when you interviewed the first-gen members, you literally yelled it at the candidates who showed up hungover."

"Oh. Yeah, I did say that..."

Even if you paid someone to stream, a VTuber could easily quit due to the sheer mental strain.

If their willpower wasn’t strong enough, they wouldn’t survive all the haters and slander that came with the job.

Just like I said, even if I was forced into it, I’d probably burn out fast.

'If she pulls this off tonight, I should at least give her a bonus.'

I’d already made it clear that I wasn’t interested, so there was no reason to pressure me further.

…Unless this stream went viral, and people started an online movement screaming "FREE MAGIA!"

Then, well—who knows?

***

8 PM.

— OPEN THE DOOOOOORRRR
— Rain, noona, I’m drying up, I’m cracking…
— CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP

With over 5,000 viewers waiting before the stream even started, Find Rain finally kicked off with the arrival of first-generation member Aoyagi Rain.

[OH HELL YEAH! Can you hear me?]

— RAAAAAIN!!
— I was about to shrivel up and die ㅠㅠㅠ
— We can hear you!
— HELL YEAH~
— Reha~
— Wait, why does your voice sound weird?

[Ahh, today, the actors, uh, they’re using voice changers? So I also… did a little tweaking, get it? Puddles?]

— "Tweaking" LMAO
— I thought I heard a bit of robotic noise lol
— Damn, the vocabulary on this one

[Anyway! What is today’s content?! It’s none other than— FIND RAIN—!!]

— Boss has lost it again.
— First VTuber in history to throw pizza from a truck.
— Come on, pizza doesn’t fit in your sleeve.

As chat reactions made clear, viewers fully expected Rain to be the one losing money today.

Her speech patterns were just too unique—if the actors kept talking, it’d be obvious who the real Rain was. That was the general consensus on the forums.

Which meant, if this content was going to be truly entertaining, I had to do my part.

"Hoo… Haaah…."

Sitting in the single-person streaming booth attached to the company’s motion studio, I took deep breaths to steady my nerves.

It wasn’t stage fright—I didn’t care about being in front of people.
I was just hyperaware of the fact that I had to nail this.

My oshi trusted me enough to put me in charge of something this important.
Failure? Not an option.

Tonight, I was going to show everything I’d prepared.

I refocused on Rain’s words as the actors were about to enter.

[— So, if you guess correctly, you get a free pizza! Alright, everyone gets it now? No idiots here, right? Then let’s bring out the actors! Today, we have… B-Rain, C-Rain, and D-Rain! LET’S GO!]

At Rain’s cue, she pulled up her Live2D avatars from the bottom of the screen, revealing them all at once.

— Damn, look at the whole screen getting filled up.
— Holy shit, four chopping boards lined up.

[FOUR CHOPPING BOARDS?! Which son of a—You’re banned. Puddles! I’m a B-cup! How many times do I have to say this?!]

— GONE.
— The chopping boards even have knives, that’s why they’re fast.
— Tbh, up to a B-cup is still a chopping board.

Meanwhile, I checked to make sure Rain’s avatar was moving properly.

It was strange, seeing the avatar move in sync with my own movements.

Like… it triggered some deeply buried troll instincts.
If I said something dumb right now, I could completely ruin Rain’s image.

…No, I have to hold back.

If her teammates did it, it’d just be content.
But I was an employee. If I crossed the line, people might actually take it seriously.

It might seem unfair, but that’s just the burden of being part of the operations team.
If we were the shadows supporting the stars, then we could never outshine them.

While I was busy wrestling with my inner chaos, my turn finally came.

[Alright. D-Rain, introduce yourself!]

What I showed the boss earlier was "Rain while gaming."
But I had also practiced "Rain’s intro."

Energetic. A slight scratch in the throat—
Not perfect, since I learned it from YouTube—
But a sound that felt like it blasted through my body and out my lungs!

"Oh, hell, yeah, puddles! Drop the rain from the sky! I’m here to drench this dry land once again!"

But practicing was one thing.
Executing it in the moment wasn’t quite as easy.

The sweat on my palms after that line proved it.

This was why I respected our talents so much.
How did they say cringe lines like this every day without hesitation?

Being a VTuber is seriously no joke.

…Wait, why is it so quiet?

Earlier, Rain couldn’t hold back her laughter when B-Rain and C-Rain introduced themselves.

But now, she wasn’t saying anything.

And chat—normally bursting with people pointing out the obvious fake—was instead filled with:

— ?
— ???
— ??
— ?
— What?
— ??
— ? Eh?
— Wait, A wasn’t the real Rain?!
— I’m scared of this puddle…
— That was a straight-up knockout punch.
— D is the real chopping board.
— Wait, is this one person doing two roles?
— Why is this so damn hard??
— THE SLEIGHT OF HAND.
— Wait, C was a joke but this is different.