Chapter 3: Birth of Female Character Vtuber

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Hiro arrived on time the following day, setting aside anime and gaming to focus on his Veeidol company homework. After tinkering with editing software like GIMP and Photoshop, he finally crafted his masterpiece background for his character.

Walking with confidence, he encountered his senior, Marie. They exchanged greetings before heading to the streaming room.

"I've completed my homework!" Hiro exclaimed, eagerly presenting his work. The blue background adorned with flower petals reflected his favorite color. To add a feminine touch, he included a spinning flower petal on the background. While it wasn't his personal preference, he needed to embrace a more feminine character for this job.

"Hmm? Your background looks like Windows XP..." Marie delivered a candid critique right off the bat. Hiro was taken aback by her comment. Hiro wasn't living in a wish-fulfillment novel where all his initial efforts were met with praise and hailed as groundbreaking. Hiro, who had never designed anything before, naturally struggled with his assignment. Some might consider it unique, while others might deem it unattractive.

https://youtu.be/XatBhzY9iyU

"Don't say it looks like Windows XP! I'm not that old..." Hiro retorted. How did she even know about Windows XP? Hiro himself only encountered it in elementary school.

"I'm not that old either!" Marie shot back.

"Sorry. So, is my background rejected?" Hiro inquired, his face losing its color. The excitement he'd felt the day before had been quashed by Marie's candid critique.

"No. The key allure of being a Vtuber is the direct connection with the audience. Unlike traditional idols whose interactions with fans are often managed by their managers or companies, Vtubers engage with fans directly. Your fans will be the ones to guide you and provide corrections—provided you have any fans, that is. The world of YouTubing is unforgiving for beginners. I look forward to seeing you grow," Marie said with a smile.

"I see." Hiro nodded. "Do I have any specific targets to meet?"

"No, there aren't any specific targets for you to achieve."

"I see. So, can I stream whenever I want?"

"Ah, you still need to stream at least once a week or your status will be marked as 'hiatus,' and you might lose followers," Marie replied. "By the way, our company doesn't really focus on your follower count. They're primarily concerned with how much you earn."

"I see." Hiro nodded. He was somewhat taken aback by her straightforward honesty. He had often heard advice from his mother to not be too honest, that all his words should be carefully veiled in politeness and kept away from self-interest. For instance, rather than promoting products for the company's profit, he should frame it as promoting products that benefit the customer. Even if he were selling seemingly useless items, he should present himself as caring about the well-being of his customers, using that as the reason to promote his products.

"I thought you'd say that followers are number one or that active members are important," Hiro mumbled.

"Well, that's important too. However, our programmatic advertising on YouTube doesn't place a heavy emphasis on your follower count, only your view count, which directly ties to our revenue."

"So, subscribers or followers aren't important? Why do so many YouTubers beg for subscribers, then?" Hiro tilted his head in confusion.

"Having a high subscriber count and positive ratings can push your channel to the front page in certain tags. So, while it might not directly affect your revenue, some consider it more significant than patronage or view count," Marie explained.

"Okay, thank you for answering. I appreciate it," Hiro nodded.

"Now, let's work on your character's lore. What will her name be?" Marie asked.

"I've already thought about that. Her name will be Lily," Hiro replied.

"Hmm... how unoriginal," Marie commented. "Vtubers usually have an eye-catching name nowadays. You might suffer hardships if your names were too common or ordinary."

She seemed to be speaking from experience. James thought.

"Well, I did consider unique names like Lodewess, Wareway, or Lichess Saint. But somehow, 'Lily' just seemed to stick." James said

"Why did you choose that name?"

"I don't know. I just thought about her this morning. When I was asleep, I dreamt of a girl from another world. She was a slave who later became a ruthless tyrant. People called her the Immortal Ice Queen." Hiro closed his eyes as he recounted the dream so vividly. A lonely throne, backstabbing underlings. When the queen glanced in his direction, her eyes were empty, devoid of emotion, like a frozen flame that was cold outside but ignited brightly on the inside. After describing his lore about the Ice Queen, Hiro opened his eyes.

Marie let out a silent gasp as she looked at Hiro. His demeanor had changed. His eyes, which had once looked defeated, now gleamed with a sharp light. However, this transformation only lasted a moment, and Hiro soon returned to his previous defeated look. Marie cleared her throat slightly to break the tension and continued with her orientation.

"Good. It seems like everything is in order. You can practice using that background in this room for your debut. Remember, you need to practice as a female character."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Do you have any social media accounts?"

"Nope. I don't have any social media account," Hiro immediately replied. His resolute answer was a testament to his lack of social connections.

"Sorry. That doesn't matter, as everyone needs a new social media account for their characters anyway," Marie apologized, acknowledging the somewhat pitiful statement from Hiro.

"Why did you ask then?" Hiro, with his keen sense of feeling slighted, questioned her.

"We usually ask our new members to indirectly mention their new characters on their social media as a form of advertising," Marie explained. Hiro's shoulders slumped further as he realized he couldn't get very far in life without friends.

"So, the company won't help?"

"We will help, of course. Our company's profile will mention you, and our advertisement section will also feature you. Don't worry. Just don't have high expectations compared to your recent coworker."

"Alright." Hiro nodded. He never aspired to be number one. He simply wanted to be competent enough within this company. Competing against individuals with prior experience and beautiful girls with a fashion sense like Marie seemed impossible anyway.

"Your debut will be in a week. Practice hard for your debut, okay? I will forward your homework to our artist. Maybe he can tweak your avatar a bit."

"By the way, I've seen the company's profile. Who are the new members you mentioned? I didn't see them. All the members are at least one year old, except for Ana."

"Yes, we have three new members who joined last month. They will also debut next week," Marie answered. Her response raised Hiro's eyebrow as he questioned the timing of his recruitment.

"Was the recruitment last month? Why was I recruited then?"

"Let's just say David was interested in you because you came not from our official channel but from an advertisement. The click-through rate from that is usually below 0.1%, and almost no one actually fills out the form," Marie sighed. She and David had promised never to use such a form of advertisement ever again. It was expensive and proved to be useless.

"Will I get to meet the new members?" Hiro asked.

"Of course. You will meet them officially in three days, and then we can play some games to strengthen our bond," Marie smiled.

"Alright!"

"Ah, by the way, you are the only male member in our group. Please be polite, alright?" Marie dropped a bomb right off the bat. This greatly surprised Hiro. He didn't expect to be the sole male member of the group.

"Huh? There aren't any other male members? But aren't there male vtubers in your company?"

"Yes, we don't have English male members yet. We only have four Japanese male vtubers. By the way, remember, you are a female character."

"So, am I the only one with different characters and real-life genders?" Hiro asked something that perhaps he shouldn't have. His curiosity got the best of him.

"Yes," Marie answered decisively.

"Why?" Hiro couldn't believe that he was the only one. As an anime fan, he had seen many gender-bender or cross-dressing characters, so why weren't there any guys in real life or female vtuber avatars? He understood that vtubers were still in their infancy, having only started two years ago. However, he was bewildered that there had been no attempt at all.

"Well, a long time ago, there was an indie vtuber. He was a man, and then his software accidentally revealed that his cute catgirl character was actually voiced by a man..." Marie's gaze turned distant as she reminisced about the unfortunate vtuber's experience.

"Then?" Hiro asked, intrigued by the fate of his predecessor.

"Then his followers were split into two groups. One was disgusted and angry at his trickery, while the other praised his success," Marie sighed. Then, she turned her gaze toward Hiro. "Do not repeat his mistake, okay? If you get exposed, it won't be your only problem. It might even affect the entire company."

Hiro nodded decisively. His heart raced with a mixture of fear and excitement. It had been a long time since he felt this way. Now he understood why he needed to keep his secret hidden. If he were exposed, it could mean social suicide for him and potentially harm the company.

"Ah, please come back tomorrow. You can meet the new members that way."

"Huh? Isn't it supposed to be three days later?"

"That's for the official meeting. Vtubers often meet each other unofficially. And such interactions are encouraged. Our fans like it when we get along, after all. And while you need to remain absolutely silent, you can even watch your seniors, or 'senpai,' working up close."

"Alright, I'll be there tomorrow."

"See you!"