Toshio Sakusei POV

I just got back to the office after what has got to be one of the most exhausting conversations I’ve had in months. Sure, I knew any discussions with that Reichmann would be just as awful as the man himself, but my god, that was worse than I expected. After the last time I visited the Reichmann estate, I should’ve known that cooperation between Gijutsu and the Reichmann Company was never going to happen. Even so, I had to at least try. Their electronics branch specializes in computers and cameras, so having a deal with them would benefit ViLS quite a bit. Well, I guess that’s not gonna happen anytime soon.

I enter the office space and walk to my office in the back. I’m not in a mood for work because of the discussion earlier, but I’ve got things to do. As I wait for my computer to start up, I glance at the clock in my office. 5:01 pm. That should mean the Flicker guys put up the audition announcement just now, then. Let’s hope we’ll get some fun applicants again this time. We struck a goldmine with the absurdly talented Yamato last time, and also got our first foreign members, so here’s to hoping for a repeat of that success.

The computer finishes starting up, and I start up the internet browser. As soon as I open ViLS’s website, I am greeted with the Flicker post about the auditions at the top of the screen. Good. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the applications to flow in and hoping there’s some interesting ones in there. I switch to a different website, one for ViLS staff only, and log in.

【Welcome, Toshio】

Contrary to the main ViLS website, this staff-exclusive website is a bland one. Function over form, as they say. Honestly, all it is, is a line of buttons that link to things staff members might need. I click the one I need now, the one saying ‘Applications’.

..my god, is this for real? Not even 10 minutes have passed and we’re already nearing triple digits. I knew there were gonna be a lot of applications, but I feel like I’ve been severely underestimating just how many there would be… Hopefully it’ll slow down later on, for my own sanity’s sake.

I look through the window of my office, into the main office space. About a dozen staff members are behind their computers, going through applications right now. Thank god I don’t have to do this alone. Additionally, the system we have set up also reduces the amount of work I have to do.

Any applications automatically get put in a list named ‘Phase 1’. Someone from the ViLS staff will then go through the application, where the applicant’s name is blanked out for now. If they think the application isn’t good enough, it gets put in a ‘Denied’ list, and if they think it’s alright, they approve it and it gets sent to a list named ‘Phase 2’. Then another group of ViLS staff members go through the ‘Phase 2’ list and do the same. If the application isn’t good enough, to ‘Denied’ it goes, and if it’s alright, it gets sent to the ‘Final Phase’ list.

The final phase is just for me, honestly. I go through that list, through the applications with the names no longer blanked out. If I think they’re not good enough, they get put into ‘Denied’, and if I think they’re alright, they get invited for an interview. Well, we don’t set the bar too high for the applications. The real decider is gonna be the interview, so this whole system is mostly just to weed out the ones that aren’t worth an interview in the first place.

As I skim through the ‘Final Phase’ list, I see there’s already a small amount of applications in there. Though I guess this is a pretty big amount, considering the fact that barely time that has passed since auditions opened. Now, let’s see what kind of people are applying this time around.

Yasu Inaba, 16 years old female Japanese, living in Japan. Only speaks Japanese. Likes VTubers and art, talented in drawing. Wants to show off her art, and gain more confidence through streaming.

Quite young huh. Well, that doesn’t matter too much. Kara was just as young when she started, and she’s doing great. We do already have a few members who do art every now and then, but none of them really have it as their main focus. Let’s see what kind of streams she wishes to do with that talent of hers. Accepted, next.

Trevor Harding, 19 years old male American, living in America. Speaks English and Japanese. Likes gaming and sports, talented in sports. Wants to play games with other VTubers.

Hmm… There’s nothing wrong with the application per se, but it’s probably hard to show off a talent in sports as a VTuber. To really show it off well, he’d need to do 3D streams, but those are only really possible at ViLS’s main office. It doesn’t seem reasonable to expect him to come over to Japan every time he wants to do something sports-related. Denied, next.

Mitsuha Oda, 27 years old female Japanese, living in Japan. Only speaks Japanese. Likes music, talented in singing. Wants to someday perform for a big audience.

We already have a few members who focus on music, so that wouldn’t be anything particularly new. The motivation for applying is also pretty standard for someone applying with a music-related talent. Then again, who knows, maybe they have something unique in their music. Can’t hurt to see where it leads. Accepted, next.

Fuyuko Reichmann, 18 years old female Japanese, living in- 

…

Huh..?

Reichmann? Surely that can’t be right....can it? I’ve met that nasty Reichmann twice now, and I can’t imagine anyone even distantly related to him wanting to do anything with VTubers. And Fuyuko.. that name sounds familiar.

...wait, haven’t I met her before? If I recall correctly, she was there too the first time I met “Herr” Reichmann. He invited me before I became Gijutsu’s CEO, around the time rumors first started to go around that I was climbing the ranks within the company real fast. He claimed he wanted to meet the “rising star of the tech industry”. I didn’t see a reason to refuse an invitation from one of the most successful men on the planet, so I accepted it. What a mistake that was..

The Reichmann estate was very impressive, maybe even somewhat intimidating. The moment I entered the building, though, things started to feel off. You could feel the depressing atmosphere hanging in the air. Every servant of the household bowing to the man of the house the moment they saw him, and not a single smile to be seen. Ugh, I feel depressed even thinking back on it. And that was just on the way to the meeting room there, the conversation hadn’t even started.

Shortly after the conversation actually began, it was already clear why I was invited. He just wanted to make ties with the person who was likely to get an important position at Gijutsu. I can’t believe how blatant he was about it either. Did he think I was an idiot just because I was younger than him? Either way, that doesn’t matter.

What does, is that when we entered that meeting room, there was already someone there. A silver-haired girl with an expressionless face. Reichmann introduced the girl as his daughter, Fuyuko Reichmann. He said he wanted her to be there during the conversation to gain experience in business meetings. The way he introduced her was like he was introducing a business partner or something, maybe a junior at work. I still can’t believe those two are family. I am closer to the cashier at the convenience store I frequent than that man was to his daughter, I swear.

Not long into the conversation, I started to get annoyed by the man. He was all business, with no room at all for a small joke here and there, maybe a bit of small talk before going into the business part of the conversation. Add to that his blatant attempts at trying to create ties to a future important person.. Since I could already tell that the conversation was not gonna go anywhere and I didn’t want to just sit there being annoyed for an hour or two, I decided to just go and annoy him back. It was extremely clear what kind of person he was, so I decided to just be his complete opposite. Well, I already am his opposite, but I know when to act serious in a conversation. That time, I decided to not act serious.

I kept going on tangents about interesting things I had come across whenever I got the chance, I interrupted him every other sentence, and I just kept mentioning things that popped into my head at the time. I cannot describe how satisfying it was to see him try to keep his cool. It was nice to see I was getting on his nerves, but I wasn’t expecting him to act up or anything. No, the one I was expecting to act up was his daughter, who should’ve been less mature than the old man. 

When I decided to take a glance at the girl to see her reaction, I was surprised. Just at that moment, she was looking at her father, or rather, her father’s reactions to how I was acting. When she saw him try to keep in his anger, I swear I could see her try to keep in a grin instead. Intrigued, I started to pay more attention to her reactions. Every time I went on a tangent about something interesting I came across, it was like her eyes were sparkling. Every time I interrupted her father, she’d be trying to keep in a smile. Every time I talked about random ideas that popped into my head, I could see her start to think, as if seriously considering them.

When I left the Reichmann estate that day, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I was glad I could finally leave that awful place, to hopefully never return. On the other hand, though, I had most likely ruined any chances of ever meeting Fuyuko Reichmann again. I had somewhat hoped I would see the girl again when I visited today, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. I guess that’s my fault for visiting the Reichmann estate during school hours, though.

But now, suddenly, our paths cross once more. To think the daughter of that stiff old Reichmann would try to become a VTuber… I’m not sure whether she’s bored, or if she just wants to piss off her father, but I am glad she applied either way. I am sure this will be interesting, to say the least. I do wonder how she will deal with it if he finds out- ..no, not ‘if’. I'm certain that man has quite an impressive information network, so it’s just a matter of ‘when’ he will find out about it. Well, she seemed like a serious girl, so I’m sure she’s made a plan for when that happens.

Now then..

Fuyuko Reichmann, 18 years old female Japanese, living in Japan. Speaks Japanese, English and German. Likes reading and music, talented in piano. Wants to be able to speak her mind and share what she thinks with the world while under the cover of anonymity.

That motivation... how honest indeed. Nothing about wanting to entertain others or anything like that, but simply her wanting a place to be herself. I guess the pressure of living a life with that Reichmann as her father got to her huh? I’m looking forward to what she’ll be like. Accepted, next.

Senpapi

Well, there you have it, our first non-Fuyuko POV.

Sakusei referred to father Reichmann as "Herr" Reichmann at some point in this chapter. In case that was confusing, "Herr" in German is similar to what "Sir" is in English.

I mentioned it in the status I posted yesterday, but the small delay in this chapter was due to the fact I cut myself, right on the tip of my finger, which made typing a literal pain. It wasn't a deep cut, so it's all fixed up now.

Next week, back to Fuyuko's POV. Until then, I hope you enjoyed reading.