Now That I Have Become a Woman, I Am a Vtuber

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“Ah! Ah! Moshi moshi?”

I was a little amazed by the voice coming through my earphones.

Is this the voice of a 1.6 million Vtuber? I felt it last time, but hearing it again is really nice.

“Ah, can you hear me?”

“Hai!”

“Um, uh… how should I greet you? I’m a bit at a loss here. Should I study Japanese?”

“Long time no see!”

And then, at that moment, somewhat proficient Korean came out from the other side.

What? They’re doing much better than last time!

“Um, did you study?”

With Korean being this good, do I even need to use my half-baked Japanese?

“Yes, I studied!”

“Oh… that’s impressive?”

It was a heartfelt compliment. After all, studying a language from another country isn’t an easy task.

I recall it was tough while cramming for the college entrance exam back when I was a guy.

“Exactly! It was hard! I studied to play games with Miro, but she never showed up!”

“Uh… g-gomen nasai.”

“Oh, no problem! Let’s start the game!”

“Ah, yes.”

So, I began to game with this industry friend, even with some language barriers.

In Royal Ground, if you drop in a less popular outer area, there’s some peaceful farming time.

While wandering around houses and continuously farming items, I chatted with this Japanese friend.

“By the way, what should I call you?”

“Um… Tenshi-chan?”

Tenshi-chan?

The “-chan” suffix is a bit…

It might be a common cultural thing in Japan, but it feels a bit embarrassing for me, having lived in Korea my whole life.

“Um, Tenshi-san.”

“Tenshi-chan!”

“Tenshi-san, where should we go?”

“Um, the magnetic field is coming, so we should hurry?”

It feels nice knowing that my counterpart understands me and I can speak comfortably…

“Eh, nani? Can you say that again?”

“Uh… it’s been a while. We need to go now.”

“Ah, hai.”

Ah, is it still hard for them to understand too difficult words?

This is tricky; I can’t figure out what words I can use and what I can’t.

As I was pondering on how to phrase it, Tenshi spoke up first while we were on the move in the car.

“I watched Miro 24 hours!”

“Huh? You watched that?”

“Yeah! I learned a lot of Korean! It was really fun!”

Uh… there were some Japanese folks on Miro 24, but was Tenshi one of them?

“You must have picked up a lot of Korean. You watched my broadcast too.”

Basically, an internet broadcast integrates the internet culture of that country, unlike dramas or movies which are on a different level for domestic use.

But watching it for fun means a lot of studying, right?

“Oh, no. There were many parts I couldn’t understand, but the atmosphere was so good that I kept watching it.”

Atmosphere?

What kind of atmosphere was it during Miro 24? Well, it started alright, then there was a cooking segment where an accident happened, and afterward, it was just gaming and chit-chat in the early morning.

And I remember completely burning out because I overslept.

But overall, the vibe was not bad given that everyone came over afterward and it ended quite lively.

“Ah, I see. So do you watch my broadcasts frequently?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t watched for a while…”

“But?”

“Why are you playing such strange games these days?”

“Eh?”

“Also, please don’t hit Japan too much.”

Ah…

Thinking back, I have indeed beaten up Japan quite a bit in the Civilization game lately.

Once upon a time, they were on equal footing with Germany in this Miro’s game, but now Japan’s fallen to being just a defeated nation periodically getting stomped by me.

Well, they did exhaust their resources too much in the war, so all that looting was necessary for recovery.

But hey, it’s a game, right? I can hit a little.

“The chat keeps bashing Japan. Miro-dan is bad.”

Um…

“Uh… gomen nasai. That’s my fault for not managing it well.”

It’s fair that I should apologize here. We may joke like that as a meme, but it might feel weird for Japanese viewers.

“It’s okay. I know there’s no bad intention.”

Fortunately, our Tenshi-san was understanding. Well, she is a broadcaster too, so she’s probably used to this culture.

If anything, being a Vtuber from the homeland, she might have thicker skin than me.

“Thanks for understanding, arigatou.”

“Then, could you please stop that game? It’s really hard to watch.”

“Um, I can’t do that.”

Well, it’s about time to wrap up, but shouldn’t I at least see the ending?

“Miro is bad. Miro-dan all the way.”

“Hey, that’s a harsh comparison.”

Comparing me to Miro-dan? Are they picking a fight with me?

That’s an utterly intolerable statement.

“Hahaha, I’m just kidding. But hey, Miro, do you have any thoughts about collaborating with me?”

Collaborate?

That came out of nowhere.

“I think it’d be fun to play games together on stream! Miro is quite popular with our listeners.”

Collaborating… If it’s with a top-tier Vtuber like Tenshi, it could only be beneficial and not harmful at all.

The very act of her suggesting collaboration is a huge favor to me.

But…

“Thank you for the offer, but gomen nasai, I don’t have any intentions right now.”

“Eh-? Seriously?”

It’s a disappointment, but I had to decline the collaboration.

Why am I even playing Civilization?

Of course, it’s fun, but I’m trying to build a smaller, more solid viewer base here.

If collab-ing with Tenshi brings in more external viewers, that could be counterproductive, plus I’ve had ample opportunity to do so already.

“I’ll suggest it first when I have some free time later. What do you say?”

“Hai! But you don’t have to awkwardly mix Japanese in!”

“Um… hai…”

Was my consideration a bit too awkward?

“You seem considerate in the oddest ways!”

“Ugh, is that a compliment?”

“Yes, it’s a compliment!”

“Uh, thank you.”

“No problem at all!”

More than that, she has a really bright personality.

She seems even more cheerful than when we collabed last time!

This isn’t even a broadcast, and her excitement is off the charts.

Now I understand why she’s so popular back home.

With a great voice, a bright personality, and gaming skills like hers, who wouldn’t want to watch?

That’s a part I need to learn from her, being a junior Vtuber.

“Enemy ahead! Be careful!”

“Ah! Hai!”

So, I played three games with Tenshi-san.

Afterward, we needed to exchange contacts, but since we used different messenger apps, there were several hilarious moments with Discord friend requests, but we wrapped things up nicely, promising to meet again.

And around dinner time, after having a hearty meal with Mrs. Jang, I switched on my real job, the broadcast.

“Today, we’ll do that thing again.”

“Hey everyone, nice to see you!”

– Ah, so excited! Civilization again today!

– Seriously, how long are you going to keep playing?

– Please… stop it already.

– It’s fun, so no trolling!

– Oh, Civilization is fun~

– The ones saying it’s fun are the real problem!

These guys have started the broadcast and are fighting amongst themselves without so much as a greeting to me.

“Guys, why are you fighting from the start? Stop it!”

– No, those guys started it!

– You could just not play Civilization, you know?

– It’s good to have broadcasts, why stop?

– If you don’t want to see it, just leave, you idiots!

“Hey, it’s the last day for Civilization, so please stop fighting.”

I said that because I thought we’d see the ending today, and the chat began to stir.

– Really?

– Let’s have a showdown!

– Honestly, Civilization was good, why can’t we keep playing?

– Ugh, not this again, you’re planning to play for two more hours, aren’t you? Sigh.

– Just play more Civilization!

…?

Wait a minute.

What is this?

So they all actually liked Civilization?

“Why’s the reaction like this? Isn’t it a good thing if we’re not playing?”

“[Username], thank you for the 1,000 won donation!”

I mean, isn’t it more reasonable to just play for two hours and switch than to play all night on Civilization?

Am I the foolish one here?

I feel like I just got blindsided.

Wasn’t most of them against it?

Was it a good cop, bad cop situation?

But I did see a fair amount of viewers drop out…

– Honestly, it’s fun to watch after all, haha.

– I bought Civilization because of you, keep playing.

– Next time, let’s hit Japan!

“[Username], thank you for the 10,000 won donation!”

Honestly, if the host says Civilization is fun, what are we supposed to do?

– Seriously…

– What can we do about it?

– We can just sit back and enjoy it now.

Sigh… So everyone was enjoying Civilization after all.

So, has my original plan failed?

No, no, that’s not it.

Since there’s no trolling from the viewers in this situation, I’d say it’s effectively filtered out to some degree.

“Well, still, once I finish Civilization, it seems like I won’t stream it again for a while.”

To be honest, I would like to play more, but it’s starting to wear me out.

Broadcasting until the early morning every day isn’t something a body can take too lightly.

Keeping that up would harm my health, and I can’t keep this up.

This girl, Kim Soo-hyun, is good at everything else, but my stamina is just too bad.

Should I start going to the gym or what?

Or maybe I should delegate the dog-walking duty for Bok-sil to Mrs. Jang?

I mean, since I’m usually at home, I might as well take her for a walk myself.

– Ugh…

– Honestly, not too disappointed, haha.

– It was fun, but I guess they’ll switch to something else.

– Now, let’s get ready for League of Legends?

– I’d like to see logs too.

“[Username], thank you for the 1,000 won donation!”

While Miro was doing Civilization, the Café piled up quite a bit, so you’ll look at it later, right?

“Ah, should we take a short look at the Café before starting?”

I actually like looking at the Café posts.

They are filled with memes about my broadcasts, and these are the posts my fans create, after all.

Is there a certain thrill in viewing them? Plus, it’s fun for me and receives good reactions from viewers, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone.

“Alright, let’s check them out before we start.”

– Oh, haha.

– Amazing Miro!

– Haha!

– Should we just look at the Café today?

“I’ll just glance at the popular posts. We’ll go through them properly later.”

No matter how poorly my viewers utilize the Café, given its scale, there were always posts being consistently added.

Look, there’s a freshly posted post that seems has high viewership and just made it to the popular section.

“[I searched for Miro’s stats today, is this correct??]”

Hmm, the title is a bit odd, but…

– ???

– What’s that?

– Click it fast!

“Ahaha, actually, I played a few rounds earlier because I was a bit bored.”

“[Username], thank you for the 1,000 won donation!”

According to that Café post, didn’t I duo with that Japanese Vtuber? Miro, are you seriously trying to make me angry now?

“Uh, I just popped in for a second, and they invited me to play.”

– No way, you should have streamed that!

– If you’re bored enough to play, why did you play Civilization yesterday???

– Aaaaah!! Anna!! Mile!!

An explosion.

The viewers who’d been suppressed by Civilization.

Sigh, the viewers had thought, “Well, if Miro wants to play Civilization, I guess we’re stuck with it,” but now they’re all shaking their heads, realizing they’d enjoyed the extended stream.

– Seriously, Miro, why are you playing behind the scenes?

– You need to be streaming that!

– Did you record it with that Japanese one, or not?

– Why did I watch nine hours of Civilization yesterday…?

“Uh… um…”

What should I do?

Is it really my fault here?

Can’t I just log a few rounds?

And I wanted to have a casual chat too.

Broadcasting is something I enjoy, but it’s also part of my job.

Every conversation I have is heard live by thousands, and it’s an endless sequence of moments recorded forever.

I think I’m speaking comfortably, but I can’t help but feel the pressure.

So…

With confidence…

“Um, then I’ll do a logging broadcast tomorrow…”

Sigh.

This is the quick route, but why is it like this?

Today, I maintained the peace of Miro’s broadcast.

Being responsible is such a laborious task.