I Want to Be a VTuber

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“No, are you really crazy?”

Park Jung-woo, in a disheveled state, sighed while sitting in the café.

Seoyeon, who had kidnapped him, had thrown Jung-woo into a van and brought him to a café a little further away.

She had thoroughly prepared for this, equipping sunglasses and a mask to cover Jung-woo’s face.

Of course, since there were no people in the café, there was no need to use them.

‘So this is how people get kidnapped.’

Jung-woo had seen a few videos of people being suddenly whisked away in a van.

No matter how you look at it, could it really happen so easily? After experiencing it, he thought it might.

“You were the one who didn’t contact first, senior.”

Seoyeon spoke with a sulky voice.

Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and wearing sunglasses, she looked different from usual.

You could say she had a more lively impression.

Perhaps it was because her eyes were hidden.

“Contact? Are you talking about that?”

Jung-woo and Seoyeon hadn’t really been in touch.

Oh, it’s not that they never contacted each other.

You could say it was closer to not having ‘proper contact.’

The messages Seoyeon sent to Jung-woo were:

A few days ago.

– 10 o’clock ‘Korean Wind’?

Three days ago.

– 10 o’clock.

Yesterday.

– ‘Korean Wind’?

And today.

– ‘Go Go’.

At first, he thought it was some kind of code.

Of course, now he knew what it meant.

He had seen that ‘Korean Wind’ too many times to not understand it, even if he tried.

Jung-woo wasn’t particularly into those kinds of PC games anyway.

He had ended up playing because of Seoyeon.

‘She definitely wants to keep playing with me.’

Jung-woo understood that Seoyeon called him like this because among the people around her, he was the only one worse at games than she was.

Lee Ji-yeon was much better than Seoyeon, and Jo Seo-hee had tested the waters a bit.

“Ohohoh! I just hit Platinum this time. Isn’t it amazing?”

It seemed Jo Seo-hee had found a way to enjoy streaming, as the number of times she played had increased on her days off.

Jung-woo had started watching it because Seo-hee kept insisting.

In reality, it wasn’t crucial that he watched; it was more about her wanting him to see how well she was doing.

‘Why did she put on cat ears?’

The virtual YouTuber Alice.

It was probably taken from Alice in Wonderland.

The cat ears must’ve been inspired by the Cheshire Cat.

A concept of a cute girl with cat ears… funny how it actually suited her.

Anyway, watching Seo-hee’s streams, he noticed she had improved remarkably even though she hadn’t been playing for long.

Jung-woo didn’t know much about games, but he could tell from the viewers’ reactions.

More than anything.

– That’s ridiculous.

The very person who sent such a super chat to Seo-hee was now sitting right in front of Jung-woo.

Thanks to Lee Ji-yeon, he somewhat knew Seo-yeon’s nickname? ID?

Anyway, Seoyeon felt a sense of fear (?) towards Seo-hee, who had suddenly outpaced her.

Thus, when it came to gaming, Jung-woo usually got dragged into it.

Could it be that she couldn’t comprehend someone stronger than her?

He had that thought.

“She keeps asking to play every day, so of course, I ignore it.”

At those words, Seoyeon’s gaze narrowed.

At her fierce stare, Jung-woo flinched and took a sip of his green tea.

‘Wow, that glare is something else.’

Now he understood why she often played villains.

Thinking about it, Seo-hee and Lee Ji-yeon, who often hung out with Seoyeon, also had a bit of an imposing presence.

He had once seen the three of them together, and it was evident that the other students started to shy away.

Usually, when they recognize someone as an actor, wouldn’t they come closer?

Clearly, they knew who they were, but they kept their distance, only snapping pictures from afar.

No one had the courage to approach them.

Of course, Seoyeon’s gaze was just a pouty look.

Is this really the same girl from the short I saw not long ago?

In the Magical Girl short, Seoyeon was so cute that even Jung-woo rubbed his eyes to confirm it was her.

He wanted to tease her about it, but if he did, she would just glare at him.

Seo-hee often got jabbed in the side for doing so.

Even when she hit him with her elbow, perhaps thinking she was stronger because she was a girl.

When he had been hit unexpectedly before, he nearly passed out.

“Games are a social activity, you know.”

“Why not play in the Rift?”

“I’m tired of it.”

‘Tired of what?’

She was probably just frustrated about her rank not improving and was sticking to ‘Korean Wind’.

Jung-woo didn’t feel the need to argue further.

Today, Seoyeon was holding a fork in her hand.

“But really, it’s true?”

“What’s true?”

“…It was because of the movie.”

What was she talking about?

What could ‘Korean Wind’ have to do with a movie?

As he dumbly stared at Seoyeon, he noticed her grip on the fork tighten.

Is she going to bend it?

Curious about it, he continued to watch.

“I can’t just contact you out of the blue and keep asking if you’re really going to appear in the movie we agreed on before.”

“Ah, that.”

He remembered Seoyeon might have asked something like that when she wanted to play.

However, he hadn’t thought deeply about it while focusing on the game.

‘Oh, so it really was about socializing.’

He was surprised that she had that kind of subtlety.

Jung-woo looked at Seoyeon with an impressed expression.

“You’re talking about Jo Bang-woo’s film, right? I heard it’s a disaster movie.”

“That’s right.”

Park Jung-woo felt a little strange at Seoyeon’s answer.

Of course, he had heard it from Jo Min-tae, Jo Bang-woo’s son, but how did Seoyeon know about it?

In the past, they had a connection through ‘The Moon That Hid the Sun’, but Seoyeon hadn’t been in touch with Min-tae lately.

“It’s called ‘Seoul Escape’.”

“They say the title hasn’t been decided yet.”

“So I thought. Doesn’t it sound plausible?”

“Yeah, it does sound plausible.”

At Jung-woo’s response, Seoyeon shyly averted her gaze.

That was usually Seoyeon’s reaction when she felt she had messed up.

It was a bit puzzling.

‘A disaster movie.’

Jung-woo contemplated about Jo Bang-woo’s new project.

Of course, whether he would participate or not, if asked, he would definitely say he would.

After all, he had promised Seoyeon.

He hadn’t given it much thought when Seoyeon kept probing him about it during their games because he had already intended to participate.

“The audition is at the end of this year. You’re really going to be in it, right?”

“I’m going. I still haven’t even received the script.”

“I’m sure you’ll go.”

Her words were oddly full of conviction.

However, Seoyeon didn’t continue as she felt Jung-woo’s gaze upon her.

She didn’t want to commit the same mistake again.

‘Originally, Jung-woo-senpai had rejected the role in Seoul Escape.’

Of course, that was about the past.

What Seoyeon remembered was ‘the last life.’

Back then, Jung-woo had definitely turned down the part in ‘Seoul Escape.’

Since no prominent actors were willing to take on the lead role after a string of failures in Jo Bang-woo’s films, he aimed to leverage connections.

And not his own, but those of his son.

It goes without saying how miserable Jo Bang-woo must have felt then.

‘Of course, as he received investments, later on, actors did join the project.’

However, there wasn’t anyone you could call ‘real talent’.

Jo Bang-woo handpicked one actor to lead the film.

But that turned out to be a blunder.

‘Was it Kang Dae-hwan, that actor?’

He had been the lead in ‘Seoul Escape’ in that past life.

Although he had received good reviews for his acting, he was somewhat ambiguous in ‘Seoul Escape’.

Was it just that?

Out of nowhere, a scandal erupted, giving ‘Seoul Escape’ a very negative reputation.

The result? A monumental flop.

It was the film that became the period at the end of Jo Bang-woo’s career as it had been the last one he received funding for.

‘Now that I think about it, Jung-woo-sempai had all kinds of talks and speculations back then.’

Not that any of the stories were particularly bad.

It’s because the actors from variety shows often braggadocioed about their relationship with Jung-woo.

In fact, sometimes there would be articles or news covering ‘Arrogant Park Jung-woo’.

However, oddly enough, there was none of that now.

Was there some kind of difference?

‘Is it because of me?’

Although he thought that, it felt strangely odd.

What could he possibly have done that changed Park Jung-woo?

Well, for now, he was enough of a ‘Korean Wind’ buddy.

“Honestly, the problem isn’t me.”

At that moment, Jung-woo spoke up.

It seemed that today Seoyeon wanted a definite answer about whether Jung-woo would be in the film.

Of course, Jung-woo had every intention of taking part.

Despite doing absurd things from time to time, he truly wanted to act with her.

Just like back in the day when they filmed ‘The Moon That Hid the Sun’.

He wondered if he could feel a sense of nostalgia in ‘Dream Future’, but unfortunately, there weren’t many scenes involving Jung-woo and Seoyeon.

Thus, this ‘Seoul Escape’ was a good opportunity for Jung-woo.

A chance to properly show Seoyeon a developed version of himself, unlike in the past.

But.

“You only have two upcoming projects, right?”

‘Mine’ and ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady’.

Neither were easy to come by.

Additionally, knowing Seoyeon’s personality, it didn’t seem likely she would take a break from filming either drama or variety shows.

No matter how strong Seoyeon was, he couldn’t help but worry a little.

He had seen many people burn out who worked fervently like that.

“But you have two villain roles, right?”

“One of them is the protagonist.”

“Huh? You were the protagonist in Gyeongseong Young Lady?”

“‘Mine’ is the protagonist.”

“What’s that?”

Jung-woo recalled ‘Hyper Action Star’.

All he remembered was how the Japanese actor got beaten up.

And the one who screamed like a supercar.

No matter how he looked at the scene of someone rampaging with an axe, it was evident that person was a villain.

“Actually, it was an audition to decide the protagonist, you know?”

Seoyeon said that while looking at Jung-woo and pressing her fork down on her plate.

Naturally, Jung-woo’s gaze shifted to the fork.

Is she going to stab the plate with the fork?

Watching with a hint of curiosity, Seoyeon pulled the fork away from the plate.

“Senpai.”

“Yes?”

“You sometimes look at me as if I’m a really fascinating animal.”

“…Ahem.”

Jung-woo’s words were cut short.

But the more Seoyeon acted strangely, the more he was curious about how far she could go.

Previously, she had pierced a coconut with just her finger; he had recently wondered how far she could go if she were serious… that was Jung-woo’s curiosity about Seoyeon.

Of course, he didn’t dare ask, fearing that he might actually end up with a hole in his body.

“Anyway, I thought you had two villain roles, but at least the images won’t overlap.”

“It’s for image consumption?”

“Exactly. The more you appear… the faster the consumption, you know.”

That’s why many actors adjust the number of works they shoot in a year.

Of course, some actors have the determination to shoot as many as they can when they’re popular.

‘That’s especially true for lead roles.’

Seoyeon was a bit vague about it.

Given that her most notable roles were villainous ones.

Though villain roles also tended to consume images fairly quickly.

Honestly, Jung-woo thought it was impressive that she balanced them out.

Honestly, a role as Cha Seo-ah could define Seoyeon’s image for several years.

‘That she’s a Magical Girl…’

It was astonishing.

In fact, for younger audiences, Seoyeon was being strongly associated with that Magical Girl actress rather than Cha Seo-ah.

It must be because the shorts made such a strong impact.

The image of a celebrity can unexpectedly transform from a striking single scene.

There had been cases where an actress became famous for just one cute moment in a variety show about military camps.

That scene had created such an impact that she had been labeled as the epitome of cuteness for a while.

In a way, Seoyeon’s Magical Girl was similar.

If it had aired on a public channel, the effect would have been even greater than it is now.

“Anyway, you’re really going to be in it, right?”

“I am, I told you.”

“Just answer like that earlier.”

“Don’t call me to games. Just ask those things normally.”

Sighing, Jung-woo altered his expression to something serious and spoke.

“And let me say, the problem isn’t me; it’s you.”

Jung-woo looked at Seoyeon as he spoke in a serious tone.

He meant it.

After all, he was fully aware of the issues that had arisen with Seoyeon’s role in ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady’.

“I heard the main actors fell out? If the schedule doesn’t align, it could go south.”

“I’m fine.”

Seoyeon replied like that and briefly checked her phone.

The recent notification was related to what Jung-woo had mentioned.

“Actually, things are going quite well.”

“…?”

Seoyeon smiled brightly at Jung-woo, who looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Of course, it was entirely another matter that Jung-woo was startled by her smile.

*

“I heard you got the role of Koto Isamu.”

“Hmm, it’s an important role, so we can’t just cast any actor.”

The production team for ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady’ wore troubled expressions for various reasons.

It was due to multiple issues that had caused the actors who had promised to appear to back out.

They had merely signed the contract before paying the penalty to rescind it, leaving them unable to complain.

Cases like this were quite common.

It was just that this time, the numbers were a bit higher.

“I heard Director Shin Ho-cheol is making a movie with a sharpened knife.”

“Ah, that? You don’t mean you’re trying to appear in that movie, do you?”

“Who knows? But at least they would have far more money than us.”

This new ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady’ had somehow managed to find investors.

They used Director Baek Min’s name to secure the investment.

However, it wasn’t a large amount, so the budget was limited.

‘That’s why he handed over the penalty so willingly.’

‘To be fair, the amount wasn’t that high since it’s before shooting anyway.’

Moreover, Koto Isamu was a main villain in the story.

The acting had to be up to par to make the role truly shine.

They had thought actor Kang Seo-hyuk was a good fit for that role, which made the impact even greater.

“Is there any actor who can replace Kang Seo-hyuk?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. There are some, but whether they’ll read the script is another matter.”

“Plus, many veteran actors tend to shy away from Director Baek Min’s films.”

To veteran actors, Baek Min’s movies often had unique styles and values that didn’t align with their thinking.

For instance, this ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady’ also deals with homosexuality.