I Want to Be a VTuber

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The filming set that I had promised with director Kakeba Hiro was an empty alley.

There was a playground nearby, suggesting that the two scenes might be connected.

‘There are many actors in school uniforms.’

Of course, among them, there weren’t many actors who were actual high school students. Most were adults. I heard that the female lead and several actresses were playing high school students.

“I didn’t expect to meet you like this.”

Kakeba Hiro was a tall man with a robust presence. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and had an appearance that could be described as quite handsome.

It’s no wonder he had many female fans among young actors.

“K-Kakeba director says it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m glad to meet you too.”

Seo-yeon bowed slightly in response. Then, she pondered whether she should add something more to the conversation.

Since she had never watched any of Kakeba Hiro’s works, she found it challenging to know where to start. Seo-yeon subtly glanced at Sora, signaling for help.

Receiving Seo-yeon’s gaze, Sora began to translate with a familiar expression.

“It’s an honor to meet the renowned Kakeba director from Japan. I’m Joo Seo-yeon, an actress from Korea. I heard you mentioned something about a cameo. If you guide me, I will do my best.”

I didn’t know what she was saying, but judging by Kakeba Director’s expression, it seemed like it wasn’t a bad line.

‘This is convenient.’

Kakeba director couldn’t speak Korean. So, whenever Seo-yeon casually spoke, Sora would translate appropriately. Of course, if Seo-yeon could speak Korean, she would have said it herself, but there was nothing to be done if she couldn’t.

For now, Seo-yeon had a chat with Kakeba director in their separate seating.

By the way, also present at that spot was:

“It would be good if you could talk a bit about ‘The Chaser’ as well.”

Yuito, the journalist who made today’s arrangements, was there too. He seemed quite happy with the meeting he had arranged, his mouth nearly reaching his ears.

The meeting of Joo Seo-yeon and Kakeba Hiro. Whichever way you wrote the article, the views were guaranteed.

“Oh, I will be watching ‘The Chaser,’ so please don’t tell me anything. I need to feel it without any prior knowledge.”

“Oh, I see! That’s true.”

“By the way, you mentioned someone named Furihata, right? Thank you. Because of you, I was able to meet actress Joo Seo-yeon.”

Furihata is Yuito’s surname. Despite it being a rather sudden contact, Kakeba readily agreed because he had thrown Joo Seo-yeon’s name as bait.

Sent via DM was a photo of Seo-yeon.

Kakeba had no choice but to bite.

He was certainly interested in Seo-yeon.

‘I want to see her act in person.’

That’s why he hoped she would at least make a brief cameo.

“But what kind of role is it?”

“It’s a cameo, so it won’t even last a minute. Just think of it as a high school girl passing by on the street.”

A conversation exchanged through Sora’s translation.

But what’s this “high school girl” supposed to mean?

Upon seeing Seo-yeon’s reaction, Sora added, “In Korean terms, it refers to a quirky character.”

“Oh, I know that, of course.”

I just thought it was a character with more of a flair than one might expect for a cameo.

And the reason was simple.

The character was created on the spot by director Kakeba upon seeing Seo-yeon in an outfit resembling a quirky schoolgirl.

The impression of Seo-yeon he had seen in a photo served as the inspiration for the character.

‘What a nice script.’

The lines I received were written in Hangeul, complete with pronunciation and meaning. The length of the lines was at most around 10 seconds.

From appearance to disappearance, it would be about one minute in total, as Kakeba mentioned.

“First, please rest a bit before we prepare for filming.”

After the brief exchange, Kakeba rose from his seat. Yuito followed him, likely to discuss something separately.

“Then we should wait nearby.”

There were quite a few eyes on Seo-yeon, who was conversing with Kakeba director.

‘Is that an actress from Korea?’

‘Why all of a sudden? Who are they anyway?’

Many from the Japanese actors looked at her with curious eyes.

While there were some negative looks, Kakeba Hiro was someone deeply sincere about his work more than anyone else.

He wouldn’t simply invite someone based on popularity or a favorite actor.

He preferred someone fitting for his drama who could deliver their role properly.

Even if it was an extra.

“I heard they were in a variety show not too long ago.”

“Oh, that’s why I feel like I’ve seen them before.”

“But what should I say…”

Some of those watching Seo-yeon gulped nervously.

Seo-yeon was quietly perusing her script, an image that looked like a painting.

I’ve seen my share of handsome and pretty actors in the entertainment industry, but she stood out remarkably.

“Honestly, with looks like that, a little lack of acting skill wouldn’t matter, right?”

“I heard she’s famous for being a genius actor in Korea.”

“Honestly, with that face, you could promote her as a genius actor.”

There’s a saying that handsome actors are relatively lacking in acting skills. Especially when young, they tended to rely more on looks than acting ability, meaning one could cover a poor performance with charm.

Thus, even as they harbored doubts about Seo-yeon’s acting skills, they accepted it.

With that face, it seemed like she could get by even if she wasn’t the greatest actress.

“Well, I’ve heard she completely doesn’t know Japanese. Is that okay?”

“I know she has few lines, but if even a couple come out awkwardly, it could make the scene feel off.”

Such whispers floated through the filming set as actors cast sidelong glances at the girl quietly standing off to the side.

It was none other than Koto Reika, the female lead in the ongoing drama ‘First Love Moment.’

A girl with a relatively pure appearance befitting the female lead.

This year, she is nineteen.

She was well-regarded among her peers as a talented actor, making her quite prideful.

‘But of all scenes…’

‘She has to appear with that Korean actress.’

Of course, it made sense that the female lead would have a moment captured in a scene.

However, honestly, it was burdensome.

Since it was a cameo with few lines, her visual presence would have to stand out even more.

“We can rely on acting skills.”

“Exactly, Reika.”

The most successful actress of late.

Hence, the number of her followers in the current filming set was not small.

Their words soothed her slightly, but her unease didn’t change.

‘What the heck am I doing?’

There was still some time before filming began.

Seo-yeon said she needed time to look over her script and practice a bit.

It’s only a one-minute role; why does she need to practice at all?

There were only a few lines.

‘Quirky girl. And a character who just appears to criticize the male lead.’

The scene is like this.

Coincidentally, the male lead Kusakabe Kento and the female lead Sato Mio had a small misunderstanding in the morning, leading them to part ways for a while.

As Kento sits alone in the park, contemplating whether to apologize to Mio, a group of girls approaches him.

They would be tossing hints at the handsome Kento or something along those lines.

Naturally, it ends with Mio, who had been watching Kento’s reaction from a hiding spot, running out and shooing them away.

Nothing particularly critical, just a petite happening.

‘It’s just that.’

Watching quietly, Sora continued passing the script to a girl called ‘Sora’, repeatedly asking her to read it. Why was she making others read it instead of looking over it herself?

‘Ah, is she not an actress?’

A manager? Or just an interpreter?

If she were also an actress, treating her like a maid would be quite arrogant.

Being called a genius actress, her ego must be high.

While Mio was musing this, she suddenly said, “Reika.”

“Yes?”

“I know that girl over there reading the script.”

“Oh really?”

Upon hearing this, it seemed she indeed was an actress.

Moreover, she appeared to be an aspiring actress.

“I used to work part-time at a theater once. I think I briefly crossed paths with her back then.”

“But why with a Korean actress?”

“I heard she was going to Korea to train as an action actress… anyway, she seemed like a weird girl.”

A weird girl, huh?

Apparently, she criticized Japanese action acting for being different from what she expected.

Did she run away to Korea because of that?

‘Well, that’s actually a good thing.’

Reika chuckled as she said, “To go to Korea and only end up being a maid….”

Saying that, she suddenly froze.

Seo-yeon’s eyes were on her.

She hadn’t noticed when she turned her head.

‘W-Wait, could she have heard what I just said?’

No way.

They were quite far apart, after all.

And the bustling atmosphere around filming would drown out any of their whispers.

‘Besides, didn’t I hear that she doesn’t know any Japanese?’

Even if she did hear, she wouldn’t have understood.

The red eyes that had been directed at her soon shifted back to Sora.

Finally, Reika let out a sigh of relief.

“Sc-scary, isn’t it, Reika?”

“I don’t know if she’s a genius actress, but it definitely feels… unsettling.”

Reika couldn’t help but empathize with the other actors’ words.

Joo Seo-yeon was, for some reason, a chilling presence.

*

“Now, we’ll start filming.”

A little later, Kakeba Director returned with those words.

The staff moved around busily.

Seo-yeon had just disappeared for a moment for costume fitting.
I guessed filming would commence once she finished changing.

“Narumi-san, do you think actress Seo-yeon has prepared her script well?”

At that moment, Yuito, the journalist, quietly approached Sora and spoke up.

At first, Sora didn’t realize he was calling her.

Since coming to Korea, she had been called more by her name Sora than her surname, Narumi.

‘So I’m Narumi, and Seo-yeon is actress Seo-yeon.’

Sora forced a smile at the thought of this distinction.

After all, she had yet to act in a proper drama.

Though she had appeared in a small play or played extras, her significant role in [Mine] was the first.

Only after [Mine] had Sora begun to consider herself an actress.

“Yes, it seemed she memorized the script in less than ten minutes.”

“Oh, that’s quick! Then what had she been doing until now?”

“What she has been doing?”

Earlier, Sora had only been reading the script nonstop.
At first, she thought they’d rehearse together, but that wasn’t the case.

Ah, that part had also surprised her a little.

Having heard the explanation from Seo-yeon late helped her understand the reason.

“Oh, that’s—”

Just as Sora was saying this,

“Ohh!!”

A commendation erupted from somewhere.

Curious, she turned her head to see Seo-yeon appear in her quirky costume.

‘It actually suits her really well.’

When I saw her in the hotel last time, she had merely worn the outfit. But today, her makeup was on point.

Seo-yeon’s looks merged seamlessly, even with that outfit.

No, rather it seemed to fit surprisingly well.

“First, let’s start lightly.”

At Kakeba director’s words, clapping his hands, everyone nodded.

Shooting usually doesn’t happen in one or two takes; often, it takes quite a bit of time.

At that, Seo-yeon’s eyes moved rapidly.

She was likely trying to get a sense of the camera positions.

However, there wasn’t much to gauge.

In Japanese drama filming, there aren’t as many types of cameras as in Korea.

‘The main cameras are quite expensive, but the quantity is small.’

From the beginning, there was a clear difference in the personnel involved.

Not many people were available to use a variety of cameras.

‘It’s probably due to budget limitations.’

Fundamentally, the production budget provided for dramas in Japan is much less than in Korea.

Even just looking at the filming set, it was obvious.

An alley and an open space near the playground.

I initially thought nothing of it, but after reading the script, I could see it wasn’t a “perfect” filming location.

Perhaps the location permitted by the local government was extremely limited.

Seo-yeon took a deep breath and observed the actors standing at the designated spots one by one.

Watching them, she recalled the drama she had seen since yesterday.

[First Love Moment].

She virtually layered the film’s tone over it.

Not a Korean drama, but a Japanese drama.

The difference wasn’t merely in the equipment.

‘I’m a cameo.’

My appearance time is one minute.

Just a single appearance, followed by a few lines—that’s the entirety of the role.

Of course, that didn’t mean she intended to slack off.

While the motivation may have had some self-serving feel to it, that did not mean it was a separate matter from being an actress.

“Ah, I don’t know! Kusakabe-kun, do as you please!”

“Sato, what are you doing now!!”

Exaggerated actions and bickering.

Compared to other Japanese dramas, the difference in acting is considerable.

But still, it was different from the Korean approach.

As Seo-yeon recalled the drama she had seen yesterday, she began to mimic the intonations Sora had mentioned earlier.

Following the feel of the emotions laced in their dialogues with her tongue.

The tone.

And the color of the drama.

In simpler terms, it was like picking paint.

Picking the right hues to layer onto her acting.

Unlike others, this was an extremely familiar and natural act for Seo-yeon.

‘What the?’

As Seo-yeon’s turn approached, the other actors preparing to make their appearance with her flinched.

The previously expressionless girl bore an added color to her face.

A somewhat sullen, unpleasant-looking quirky girl.

Her distinctly changed presence made those poised to move hesitate.

“I mentioned earlier why I was the only one reading the script.”

Watching this, Sora opened her mouth.

“Actually, I’d been practicing a bit since before receiving the script at the hotel.”

“Practicing, you say?”

To respond to the question Yuito had just asked.

However, Yuito’s gaze was already fixed on Seo-yeon.

Holding a pen and notebook.

As if he would miss not a single moment.

“Yes, what I mean is about the tone of the acting.”

“…the tone of the acting?”

“And the pronunciation.”

There were lines, and she knew how to read them, but it was all in Japanese, known for its unique lilt.

The emotions captured in the words.

She needed to understand that.

Therefore, Seo-yeon listened repeatedly to the script that Sora was performing, interpreting the character in her own way.

Mixing Japanese acting tones with Korean ones appropriately.

“Hey, are you alone, handsome brother?”

The sultry voice of a creepy girl.

A slightly exaggerated tone mixed with a more dramatized emotion than usual.

But it didn’t sound awkward.

It was sultry yet adorable, a silly type of quirky girl.

Giving off her particular character.

With that, the presence was amplified but not excessively so.

That delicate balance.

Even though she’s just an unnamed extra, all eyes began to converge on her.