[General] A-maiden is late
Are you going to become a grandma at this rate?
[Comments]
The thought of A-maiden staying a virgin until she becomes a grandma is strangely exciting... damn...!!!
ã´ ?
ã´ [Is this guy crazy?]
ã´ [Roll call at the jail cell, âplease.]
ã´ Who is this? Let me know.
ã´ VTuber ratings, lol.
Grandma is about to go live, where?
ã´ (Author) [Instead, hereâs a huge pile of garbage for you, lol.]
Why hasnât she streamed yet?
ã´ Sheâll probably go live after her official debut on Saturday.
"How should I address you?"
Anna asked.
"Address me?"
"You're debuting as a 6th-generation VTuber soon, right?"
"That's correct."
"Then, technically, youâre my junior, but should I keep calling you 'teacher'?"
"Hmm."
I absentmindedly stroked my chin.
The hierarchy was getting messy.
Rion, a 4th-generation VTuber, is my cousin. And Anna, whoâs from the 5th generation, calls me her teacher. If I compare it to the military, Rion would be like a sergeant, and Anna more like a private.
"So, to Anna, it must feel like her tutor suddenly enlisted as a private."
Itâs all a bit confusing.
"But in the VTuber world, they donât seem to care much about seniority."
That was one of the peculiar things. In the entertainment industry, seniority is everything, but VTubersâdespite having a few years between themâtreat each other almost like friends, casually using informal speech and addressing each other by name.@@novelbin@@
"Thatâs true. VTubers donât really draw a hard line between seniors and juniors."
"Then, why not call me whatever you're comfortable with?"
"Still, thereâs some respect given for debuting earlier. Itâs like a group of seasoned soldiers near the end of their service time, but they still acknowledge their rank."
â¦I get what sheâs saying, but why does she know so much about military culture?
Could she be a reincarnator too? Her interests are a bit too nerdy for a regular girl...
"So basically, youâre saying itâs awkward to treat me as a senior?"
"I donât mind, but the viewers might not like it."
Anna pointed out that viewers could dislike a new VTuber who doesnât show enough respect toward their seniors.
Does that mean I should show respect to Rion and Anna?
Thatâs difficult.
Iâm always the one being respected. Iâve rarely had to show respect for anyone.
"Then feel free to address me however you like. You can call me 'Lady Laura' or 'Miss Laura,' if that suits you."
"What about Laura-chan?"
"â¦â¦."
Anna is kind at heart, but sometimes she can be annoying.
Sometimes.
â¦Maybe more often than Iâd like.
And with that, Anna and I decided to part ways for now.
Not because she annoyed me.
â¦Well, she did annoy me a bit, but thatâs not why weâre parting.
Even though Iâm the villainess, I donât usually push away people who like me.
You often see this in romance novels, donât you? When the villainess criticizes the heroine, her followers always support her and join in.
In that sense, you could say Anna is one of my followers.
Sheâs always seemed to like me, but after the recent "viewer participation" stream, I feel like weâve grown even closer.
"Maybe she finally realized Iâm more charming than her favorite?"
It feels a bit unfair to Hanabane Rui, though. Sometimes being too perfect can cause problems.
Anyway, as much as I appreciate Anna, due to "company regulations," we wonât be able to meet for a while.
"This varies by company, but after debuting, thereâs usually a period where you can only collaborate with your generation."
"Itâs not that youâre forbidden from collaborating with anyone outside your generation, but most companies have similar rules."
"The restriction period can be as short as two weeks or as long as a month. Some companies even ban collaborations with seniors for up to six monthsâ¦"
It seems thereâs a collaboration restriction for new VTubers.
There are several reasons for this, but the biggest one is to give new VTubers time to find their footing by streaming solo.
How they handle their role-playing,
How they interact with viewers,
How they manage their broadcast atmosphere, and so on.
Role-playing (RP) seems to be the biggest concern.
VTubers arenât expected to be professional actors, but even light role-playing has its challenges.
And since itâs not fully genuine, mistakes can happen while streaming.
"When I was 8, pheromone perfumes were popular. â¦Hmm? Youâre asking if perfumes existed 7,000 years ago since Iâm an 8,000-year-old demon? Well, in the virtual demon world, they did~. Yupâ¦!"
"Oh, when I was in high school, I did that too. â¦What? Youâre asking if Iâm still in high school? Well, yes! Iâm the second-year student council president, so I was talking about what I did in my first year."
Situations like that arise when the VTuber's RP conflicts with reality, especially when telling stories.
While that gap is part of the charm of VTubers, RP is also a key element in immersing viewers.
Thatâs why the "collaboration restriction period" is like a training period for new recruits, a time to get used to role-playing.
If you collaborate with seniors while still adjusting to your RP, it could be destabilizing.
And if you seem closer to seniors than your generation during your debut, viewers may not like it.
Some fans dislike when seniors drag juniors around for collaborations too soon.
So, for now, Iâll only be having Discord calls with Anna, and we wonât be meeting in VR or on-stream for a while.
In the meantime,
Ding
[Lo-Laura! H-hiâ¦!]
A voice came through.
"Youâre here?"
[Ah, yes! I-Iâm hereâ¦. Um, are Sora and Chell comingâ¦?]
"Who knows? Maybe they wonât come today either."
[Oh, I seeâ¦! Are you going to play a game today, Lauraâ¦?]
"No, I was thinking of having dinner."
I checked my phone, and the food delivery app was open. Judging by the riderâs location, the food would arrive soon.
[Oh, I see! I was about to eat dinner tooâ¦! Would it be alright if we chatted while we eatâ¦?]
"Suit yourself."
[Then wait a moment! Iâll go grab something to eat!]
With a loud clatter, Inagikaâs footsteps hurriedly retreated from the speaker. What a busy person.
"Make sure to interact with your generation as much as possible before the debut, sis."
"Especially since this generation has one member fewer than the others. You need to show a stronger bond than the previous ones."
Thatâs what Rion said.
So recently, Iâve been trying to stay connected to the voice chat more often.
Thereâs a group chat that Sora set up, but thereâs a somewhat awkward vibe, and the few messages that come through are overly formal.
So, I stick to the voice channel, where someone always seems to join eventually.
Sometimes Sora drops by.
Chell often joins but doesnât speak.
Inagika comes by every day.
[W-What are you eating for dinner, Laura�]
"Pasta."
[Oh, you like pastaâ¦. I-Iâll remember that!]
And then I heard a slurping sound. It seems Inagika often replaces meals with konjac jelly.
Lately, Inagika has been the person I talk to the most.
Weâre often the only two in the voice channel, and Inagika always initiates the conversation.
The reason is obvious.
Inagika wants to get closer to me.
[Is your stream prep going well�]
Inagika stammered a little.
Since we were only chatting online, I couldnât see her face, but I could easily guess what expression she was wearing. She was probably nervous.
Looking back, Inagika has always been like that.
From what Iâve heard, she doesnât seem to have many friends. Maybe none at all.
Still, she clearly has a strong desire to make friends, though her lack of conversational skills and confidence probably makes it difficult to reach out.
In that sense, I might be her first friend.
"Honestly, is there much to prep for the stream?"
I replied.
Is there really anything more to introduce about myself?
Iâve appeared on Annaâs stream a few times, and I recently held a controversial explanation stream as well.
The viewers already know who I am.
[Thatâs trueâ¦. But you still need to prepare something. Things like your profile, schedule, and giving viewers something to look forward to is importantâ¦.]
"Well, thatâs not hard at all."
My profile and schedule were already prepared. I just needed to upload them to my stream.
As for building anticipation, that wasnât an issue either.
I am an object of envy, a content creator just by existing.
[Iâm so jealousâ¦. I wish I had your confidence, Lauraâ¦.]
"Itâs a shame I canât share it with you. Letâs hope youâre born as Duke Aurora in your next life."
[Iâll tryâ¦. Um, but youâre the last one to debut, right?]
"Yes."
Sora, Chell, Inagika, and then me, in that order.
"Laura should go last. If she goes first, weâll all be overshadowed."
You canât hide the sun just by covering it with your hand. Sora hadnât spoken to me much, but she recognized my brilliance immediately and assigned me the final spot. I canât help but be exceptional.
Sora wanted either the first or last spot,
And Inagika, on the other hand, was vehemently against going first.
"I-Iâd rather go before Laura⦠that way if I mess up, people will forget quicklyâ¦."
So, Sora went first, Inagika went third, and I was last.
Since Chell hadnât expressed any preference, she was automatically second.
[O-Oh, on debut day⦠Shouldnât we, um, gatherâ¦?]
Inagika suggested.
"You mean in real life?"
[No, not like thatâ¦! Iâm not ready to meet in person yetâ¦. Plus, we need to be at home to stream, rightâ¦.]
"Thatâs true."
[I was thinking itâd be nice if we gathered on Discord⦠and watched each otherâs streams while chattingâ¦.]
Inagika mumbled.
Now that I think about it, Iâve only gotten close to Inagika. I havenât really connected with the other two. Especially with Chell, I still have no idea what sheâs like.
"Alright. Letâs do that."
[Then, can you bring it up in the chat for meâ¦? I find it hard to ask directlyâ¦.]
It sounded like she couldnât even order food on her own and wanted me to do it for herâ¦.
It wasnât a difficult task, so I agreed and sent the message to the group chat on her behalf.
[Have Rion introduce me.]
[â¦What? Me?]
Summoning the manager from her very first debut stream, Aurora.
Watching this unfold, Sora mumbled.
"...crazy bitch."