Huh, I thought the newspaper article was already quite the coincidence, but for applications to open on this same day as well... I guess the coincidences today aren’t over yet. Though, now that I think about it, applications being today isn’t so strange. The first ViLS generation debuted somewhere close to a year ago, and the second generation half a year after that. The third generation having its debut another half a year after the second does make some sense.

This deadline, though… It seems a bit close, honestly. The debut date for the first generation that was shown on the page about the ViLS members was the 2nd of December. If I’m correct in assuming that the third generation will have its debut at ViLS's anniversary, then that means there will only be 2 weeks to have the applicants prepare for their debut after the deadline. Now that there’s auditions, though, I guess I can check the application requirements to see if it allows foreigners to apply.

I click the link in the Flicker message, and am taken to a page that feels somewhat bland after coming from the ViLS website. It shows the same 'Become a part of the future of streaming!' line, followed by- ..oh, it's the requirements for applying. Let's see...

So foreigners are allowed. But besides that....is this all? No prior experience in doing something like this needed? It seems awfully easy for people to just apply on a whim if it’s like this. Won’t you get a lot of applications from people who have no idea what they’re doing? It seems unnecessarily hard to find the right people this way. Well, I guess Sakusei is confident in his selection process if it's like this. But.. no, surely this can't be all. There's probably something else on the next page.

I click the 'Next' button, and am taken to a page that actually has things to fill in.

Some personal information, hobbies, interests, a talent and your motivation. Once again, it feels really easy for people to just fill this in on a whim. Of course, they’ll probably select only applicants who seem good for the job, and I assume they’ll have something like an interview as well, but it still feels.. too easy. It probably takes an absurd amount of effort to keep up a schedule like the one needed for this. Delivering content probably means streaming, so these people would have to do a stream at least three times a week, every week, for at least a year. It sounds easily do-able if you say it like that, but people also have school or a job, so it quickly becomes harder to keep up the schedule. If it’s not the lack of time that gets to a VTuber, it might just be burnout that does them in.

Let me just see if there’s anything about an interview on the next page, though.

I click ‘Next’ again, but this time nothing happens. Huh? I click again, and nothing happens again. It can’t be a bad connection or a bad PC that’s causing this, since both should be the best available on the market. Then what- ..oh, you have to fill out the form before you can continue. I guess that makes sense.

..let’s just fill them in a bit so I can look at the next page. Let’s see..

Personal information and the languages I speak are easy enough. As for hobbies and interests, the only things I really do - or rather, can do -  in my free time are reading, or sometimes listening to music. For my talent, I wasn’t sure, but my piano teacher constantly mentions how I’m “a piano prodigy, a one-in-a-million talent”, so I just filled that in. Now I just have to hope it’s not just my piano teacher flattering me to avoid getting on the Reichmanns' bad side.

Now, what would my motivation be… I guess the most appealing thing about VTubers is the anonymity. To be able to speak your mind without having to worry about the people around you disapproving, or punishing you for what you think. To entertain others on top of that would just be a bonus, honestly. So in that case..

..would that even be a good enough reason to apply for something like this? They’re probably looking for people saying ‘Because I want to entertain others!’ or something similar. Then again, lying on a job application can only end badly. Besides, there’s no reason to think about it too much. This is just so I can go to the next page, after all..

I click ‘Next’ once again, and this time I’m actually sent to the next page.

My phone is usually on silent. At school it’s a given, and for home, if I’m called when I’m not in my room, then I can bet that my father will get to know about it before the end of the day. I use my normal email address for things related to school and for when my father asks me to do things for the Reichmann Company to “gain experience for the future”. So.. I guess I’ll just fill in my second email address. Having two email addresses - one for things related to my education and work, and the other for private matters - is something my father advised me to do. Well, “advised” me to do. It’s another one of the few things he has had me do that I think are actually smart things to do. Not just useless things of which he has convinced himself they’re necessary.

That’s the end of this page already, so I click 'Next' again. The next page starts with a small bit of text.

Alright, so there are indeed interviews, and only for those whose applications get accepted. Makes sense. It would be near impossible to plan and hold hundreds, maybe thousands of interviews within two weeks. So they’ll narrow down the selection through the applications, and then hold interviews to make the final selections.

And that’s all. No ‘Next’ button here, only a button saying ‘Submit application’. Is it really that simple? I get that being a VTuber is probably not at all easy, but this application process sure makes it feel like it. Rather than talent, it looks like the thing you need most for this is luck. The luck to be old enough to apply in the first place, and the luck to be selected from hundreds or thousands of applications.

I kind of envy those VTubers, honestly. They just need to get lucky to be accepted, and after that they can jump onto the ViLS train to success. Then they can just be themselves, talk about whatever they want and do whatever they want without worrying about the people around them hating them for it. And as long as they just stream regularly, they have their income secured. It takes hard work too, I’m sure of it, but it feels so easy to get into. It feels like even I could do it if I got lucky. Or well, someone like me. No way I could ever do something like being a VTuber. If my father ever finds out I’m doing something like that, house arrest will be the least of my worries.

…

…

...

How would he find out, though? No way my father would ever watch something like VTubers, and even if he did, it’s anonymous, so it’s not like he’d be able to recognise me. He’d have to barge in on me doing it if he were to want to find it out, but that’s equally as unlikely. We never talk to each other outside of breakfast and dinner, apart from maybe a few words if we coincidentally meet in the hallways of the estate. Even if we do talk outside of those occasions, my father demands that this be planned at least a week in advance. So....there is no way for my father to find out what I’m doing in my free time, is there? Apart from Helga telling him, maybe.

Wouldn’t I be able to do it…?

No, wait, that is assuming I want to do it in the first place. Do I really want to do something like that? It’ll be nice to be able to act how I want for once, and to share my own opinions without worrying what the people around me think. It’s not like I don’t have the time for it either....now that I look at it, it does seem nice to do something like that. There’s no reason for me to not want to do it, honestly. Even then, though, will I even be able to do it? I know next to nothing about VTubers, what kind of technology I’d need, or how to use said technology. I also have no prior experience with something like livestreaming. Besides, what if father somehow does find out..

…

..actually, so what if he does? What’s he going to do, throw me out of the house? Disown me? I have enough money of my own to be able to live by myself for a long time. And disowning me? I’m his only child, or in other words, his only possible successor. There’s no way he’ll disown me unless he gets a second child. He has never remarried after divorcing my mother, so no second child coming from there, and I doubt he’ll ever adopt a child. He’s mentioned before that he wished he’d have gotten a son instead of me, but when I asked why he didn’t adopt one, he just glared at me and gave me house arrest for daring to even suggest he taint the Reichmann bloodline by adopting someone of lower status. 

And that’s how it always goes. Every time I make even the smallest mistake, every time I act even the slightest bit against his will, no matter how unintentional, all he does is punish me, punish me and then punish me some more, just because I don’t do what he wants. He’ll punish me as long as he needs to, until I act how he wants me to act.

I’ve been living how he wants me to for almost 19 years, for the love of god! Why can’t I do what I want to do for once? Because it’s unbefitting of someone with our status? Because it will disgrace our family? Because it will put doubts on his ability to parent? Well screw him. Just let me do things unbefitting of my status for once, let me disgrace my family if that's what it takes, and let me put doubts on his ability to parent. It's not like those doubts would be undeserved.

So why can I not do what I want for once? Well you know what, I can do what I want! What if he finds out? So be it, let him find out!  And what if he decides to punish me? Then do your worst, father.

So forget what he wants. This time I'm the one deciding what I'm doing.

I tick the box for having an interview through video call, and submit my application.

…

…

…

Did I..?

I really just did that, huh...

That’s got to be a first, surely. When I go against how my father wants me to act, it’s usually just me making a mistake. But actively going against what he wants while knowing full well what I’m doing? No, I don’t think I’ve ever done that.

I have to say, it’s quite....refreshing? I’m not too sure how to describe this feeling. What I just did goes against everything my father has ever taught me, but I can't say I regret it. It felt somewhat freeing to do this.

Either way, I can’t go back on this decision now.

Heh.

After all, “You should never go back on your words or actions, for it will make you come across as a fickle and indecisive individual,” father would say.

Senpapi

My god, this chapter was an absolute pain to make. And with this chapter, I mean the tables in this chapter. I am honestly not satisfied with how the tables turned out. But well, I don't really know how I could improve them, so I'll make do with what I got.

If you don't like the tables, don't worry, I have decided while making this chapter that I want to avoid using them as much as possible from now on. One chapter of pain is enough.

In other news, next chapter we'll be having our first POV that isn't Fuyuko, so look forward to standing in someone else's shoes.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed reading.