An izakaya in Songdo, Incheon.

"Hey. I heard your company went under?"

That was what a friend said as a greeting when I met them in person for the first time in about three years.

Under a casual hoodie, they had short hair and wore jeans, and though their frame was a bit slender, they were definitely female.

"Do you even realize what you’re saying? You know I came back to Korea because the company went under, right? And the first thing you say is that?"
"From now on, Starflower Gallery is ours!"
"Yeah, take it over."
"Uh, I… didn’t expect that reaction."
"I don’t even have the energy to play along, so just give me a drink."

Being in the industry, I recognized it as a joke, but I couldn’t help but take it seriously.

I couldn’t help it.

"Did you get severance pay?"
"Don’t you know Japanese companies generally don’t give severance pay? I came here today to eat at your expense."
"That’s nonsense. You think Kang Minhyuk wouldn’t put that in the contract?"
"Spooky."

I had tried to act like I hadn’t received severance just to get a free meal, but that plan failed.

"I did get my severance, but I didn’t come to buy you a meal with it."
"Wow, sharp as ever. Not a bit of change from three years ago. No sense of gratitude at all."
"You’re crazy. You invite me for a meal but then say that."
"Heh heh heh."

It wasn’t begging.

After all, it was this friend who had invited me out soon after my return, claiming they’d treat me.

"So, what did you use your severance for? You didn’t invest in stocks, did you?"
"I shared it all."
"Shared it?"

The expression on my friend’s face flipped instantly at that.

"Why would you do that? Are you insane?"
"When I signed my contract, I made sure it was in the terms. The others didn’t have that."

The others.

"...They didn’t have anything about severance in their contracts?"
"They weren’t just regular employees. They were Vtubers. Leaving a job… isn’t exactly typical."
"Ah. True, no one usually gets severance after leaving in that case."

At that one word, my friend looked away.

"...They really didn’t get a penny? That company had some capital, right?"
"They had a project worth billions they were funding themselves, but it fell through. Some rookies hadn’t even earned anything yet."
"Ah. Rookies."
"I gave them what was left to buy the copyrights for their own avatars."

The company went under, and the idols under contract suddenly lost their livelihoods.

"The popular ones could buy their rights with their own money, but those just hitting 50,000 subscribers wouldn’t have had a chance."
"Right. You personally scouted them, even checked their resumes."
"Yeah. Some were like underground idols."

With the company’s collapse, many lost their jobs.

And I, their manager and sort of producer, also lost mine instantly.

"The contracted ones? Are they reborn? Or just graduated?"
"I mentioned the copyrights, right? I solved it by giving my severance so they could buy their characters."
"Ah…"
"I completely converted it from corporate to personal taxes. Not just a tweak, fully switched."
"So no ‘nice to meet you’ moments, huh?"

Industry talk. The waitress bringing our food might not fully get it.

"So all the social media posts that were chaotic, and suddenly everyone thanked someone for sorting it out… that was you?"
"Not exactly me."
"You worked hard cleaning up after them, huh?"
"My pleasure."

Vtuber. Corporate tax. Personal tax. Rebirth.

"Otherwise, channels with hundreds of thousands… even millions of subscribers could’ve disappeared. It would’ve affected Korea too."
"Yeah, the whole company closed, after all."

A somewhat complicated issue: one person buying up copyrights and characters that would have dissolved in bankruptcy.

"These were avatars people had used for years, you can’t just put them up for auction because of bankruptcy. And another company couldn’t take over and replace the people inside either."
"True. Even if the avatar’s the same, if the person inside changes, it’s completely different."

The alcohol stung.

"But wasn’t the Vtuber company making some money for the kids?"
"You know how the company went under, don’t you?"
"I have a rough idea… the rumors were scary."

Though rare, Vtuber companies do go bankrupt from time to time.

"Some of their Vtubers were supposedly trained at private schools, some debuted with a gyaru concept to hide being a yakuza daughter, some confessed to the producer and got rejected, leading to membership self-harm incidents…"
"…"
"But the worst was the owner reportedly lost money owed to employees at pachinko. Is that true?"
"Do you think so?"

It was slander.

"Not pachinko. Not that. …But losing money is true."
"It happened."
"You didn’t know?"
"If I knew, would I be sitting here?"

Of course, some parts were based on fact, not pure slander.

"So what happened? Everyone’s clueless."
"Off the record, okay? Sign a contract."
"Do we need confidentiality too? Then I won’t listen."
"Just joking. Not that strict."
"Fine. I don’t want to worry more than I need to."

A smart friend.

I didn’t want to reveal the story about Vtuber company collapse due to Japanese yakuza, politicians, and pillow business.

…For their honor, none of that actually happened.

The owner just twisted himself trying to save it, then disappeared along with the company.

He was a good man.

He struggled alone with the problem until the company imploded.

"Hey. So you’re completely unemployed now?"

"Not completely. You could say I’m a full-time investor."
"Unemployed, though."
"...I have way more money than you."
"If you bought a house in Gangnam with crypto, at least buy me a meal!"
"Hey."

You must watch your words anywhere, anytime.

See?

As soon as the conversation turned to Vtuber companies and suddenly a house in Gangnam was mentioned, the nearby tables perked up their ears.

"Anyway, not unemployed."
"Resting youth?"
"...I can get a job anytime if I wanted."
"Ah, true. All the Vtuber companies must be looking for you."

My friend pointed at my phone.

"The person who let all the company’s Vtubers keep their characters after the collapse? Sure, they might’ve spent money, but from the viewer’s perspective, their favorite streams continued unchanged. I bet even top-tier channels contacted you."
"…"
"Really?"
"A little."

My friend’s expression stiffened.

From that subtle look, I guessed why they came to see me personally today.

"You haven’t been scouted already, right?"
"Offers come in. Everyone who switched to personal tax talks to me."
"What do they say? That you should join them?"
"Yeah. They’ll be the boss, and want to continue with me."
"…"
"So I just came to say I’m not doing any of it."
"Sure. If Vtubers fought over one producer, it would be chaos compared to a company collapsing."
"They’re not like that."

Probably.

"If you have something to say, just say it."
"Hey. Want to join our company?"

When I asked them to get to the point, they jumped straight to the conclusion.

"Your company? You’re a virtual reality tech company, right? Why me?"
"Obviously, we want the producer who boosted channels with less than 10k subscribers into the hundreds of thousands."

They handed me a business card.

Right now, they weren’t a high school or college friend, but a recruiter using connections.

"We’re starting a project, a virtual idol concept."
"Virtual idol? Not a Vtuber?"
"Yes. Virtual idol. Not mainline Vtubers, K-pop idols performing as Vtubers."
"Like those guys?"
"Yeah. Blaze, Lion Guys."

Idol producing.

"What’s the advantage of Vtubers and virtual idols? No need for charter flights, concerts possible via hologram projections."
"...Technology has advanced."
"Yeah. Back when we were kids, Vtuber performances were just VR maps with full trackers."
"Full trackers aren’t much different now."
"Heh heh heh."

Nothing bad about it.

I know a large corporation backs them, so the capital is solid.

They also have substantial virtual reality technology.

In 2035, they’re arguably leaders in the virtual reality market.

"Salary? I can match what you’re earning."
"How much?"
"Ten billion including bonuses."
"Yeah, right."
"I’m serious. Our company is serious about this project."
"…Ten billion."

Ten billion a year.

An irresistible offer.

"A tempting offer."

But.

"Female idol?"
"Male idol."
"Then I can’t do it."

As expected.

"So that’s why the ten billion. Better to build a Vtuber from scratch and earn ten billion a year. I can’t handle a male idol."
"Even though it’s virtual?"
"Even more so because it’s virtual. Anyway, thanks for the offer, but I’ll take a year off."
"What? A whole year? In this industry…"
"I know I could fall behind, but I’ve worked too long at a black company. I’m getting a house in the countryside and resting for a year."
"Your hometown… Ah, well, health first. Anyway…"

Cheers.

"Welcome back to Korea."

The company went under.

I had enough investments to live comfortably without working.

I bought a house in a small, secluded city, like a private villa.

The room I focused on the most was the streaming room.

It cost more than remodeling the entire mansion and was set up for streaming anytime.

Now, with this—

Flash!

A light erupted from the basement.

I thought it was a flare, but it was a strange rainbow-colored glow.

"…?"

Basement.

The remodeled warehouse was tossed as if by a storm, and in the center lay a figure on the floor.

"…."

A blonde woman in a white dress, with blue eyes.

…

After returning to Korea and finding a house in a quiet area.

I picked up a Vtuber.

"Ugh… this otherworld transfer magic…? Did it work…?"

Correction.

A grand mage claiming to be from another world.

…

"Maybe I’ve been working too much lately."

If I thought she was perfectly designed to be a Vtuber, perhaps I had been too obsessed with work.