I Want to Be a VTuber

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“Ugh.”

A blonde girl groaned, clutching her side.

Young-bin, who had been staring at her face, felt a bolt of lightning shoot through his head.

Stella Baldwin.

As someone who frequently watched overseas films, he couldn’t help but know the actress.

Moreover, she was the leading actress in that movie.

Who would think that a world-famous actress would be in his house?

Having just smacked the side of such an actress, Young-bin couldn’t help but feel dazed.

Usually, foreign actors insure every part of their body, right?

What if Stella complained about this…

“I still haven’t paid off my car loan.”

Young-bin casually searched for his daughter.

If it’s his daughter, maybe she could manage the CEO of an insurance company.

“Huh, uh, hello?”

“Ah, he, hello?”

“Are you okay? Can you stop sulking and show me your face?”

“Do, don’t speak English.”

“…Um, I’m actually speaking Korean.”

Anyway, Stella managed her image and smiled faintly.

The problem was, the other person couldn’t hear her at all.

‘Seo-yeon’s parents?’

That was the feeling.

He couldn’t make out their faces clearly.

So he didn’t know if they resembled each other or not.

But who else would show that kind of attitude in Seo-yeon’s home if not her parents?

Three people.

The father and mother, and the younger sister, perhaps.

A harmonious family.

‘…That’s strange.’

He was sure he felt a familiarity.

So he wondered if Seo-yeon had a background similar to Stella’s, but… was it different?

What could it be?

As Stella pondered that and moved her eyes to confirm Seo-yeon’s parents…

“…”

Her eyes stopped at a particular spot.

Though she couldn’t clearly distinguish their faces, something stood out.

“Dear, don’t ignore this and look properly. This girl speaks Korean well.”

“Eh? Was, was that Korean?”

“Besides, she speaks English quite well. What’s that about?”

“No, my English is for business…”

Stella thought.

Even among other women, she felt she could pick out Seo-yeon’s mother.

Even if surrounded by slightly larger Americans, her prominent chest would stand out, and Stella momentarily looked down at her own chest.

Honestly speaking, it wasn’t small.

But it wasn’t big either; it was average.

‘…Now that I think about it.’

Seo-yeon seemed a bit bigger than her figure suggested.

Who would have thought she’d differentiate people based on something other than their faces?

Moreover, if Seo-yeon’s face was that pretty, her mother must be stunning as well.

But with that kind of figure, could she also be an actress?

“What are you two doing?”

“Oh my, daughter! We, we were waiting!”

“Why is Stella clutching her side? Did she hit me like I hit her?”

“…Ah, that…”

Seeing Young-bin’s pale face, Seo-yeon realized immediately that he had indeed hit her side as he did to Stella.

‘Isn’t he going to get sued?’

Moreover, he must have hit her quite hard; Stella appeared unfazed.

That sight reassured Seo-yeon a little.

‘More importantly, he didn’t catch the boss.’

That meant he was ‘dead’ the whole time she was gone.

To Seo-yeon, that mattered more than anything else.

“….”

Looking back at Stella, she observed her quietly watching her parents bickering, with Su-yeon sandwiched in between.

At that moment, Seo-yeon hadn’t fully realized that Stella could not distinguish faces.

But there was a feeling—a slight emotional expression breaking through Stella’s otherwise unreadable face at that moment.

So the situation was settled, and dinner began.

“Thank you for taking care of everything, especially since the situation suddenly turned like this.”

Stella’s beaming smile was like that of an angel.

As Seo-yeon watched Stella, she casually cut her meat and popped a piece into her mouth.

‘Doesn’t she get tired of acting like that all the time?’

Anyway, thanks to Stella, tonight’s dinner turned from a painfully healthy meal into steak, so that was a win.

“Did you come to meet Seo-yeon from Japan?”

“Yes, I found the acting in Japan quite impressive.”

“If you came alone, your parents must have been worried.”

When Su-a said that, Stella merely smiled, saying nothing.

Seeing that, Young-bin stopped eagerly cutting his steak and spoke up.

“Oh, why ask that?”

“Well, I can ask, can’t I?”

“You might have wanted to come alone. Didn’t we also sneak away to Seoul without our parents’ permission?”

“Seoul and Japan are different.”

“What’s different? The travel time is roughly similar.”

Sure, the modes of transport were a bit different.

Suddenly, Young-bin’s words made Su-a grumble.

It seemed that Su-a was a bit curious about Stella’s parents, Asher Baldwin.

So she probably wanted to steer the conversation in that direction.

“Ahem, but I saw a movie.”

However, Young-bin lightly changed the topic.

Along with a smile that seemed okay toward Stella.

“And feel free to talk comfortably.”

“Yes?”

“Oh, um, how should I put this? You seem a bit tense.”

As he spoke, he turned his gaze away.

At those words, Seo-yeon briefly noticed Stella’s eyes narrow.

“Uh, well, it’s not like that.”

In that instant, she wore an expression of displeasure.

It was more a reaction like a child caught hiding something than a disappointment toward Young-bin.

‘Has she caught on that she’s acting in everyday life?’

Seo-yeon watched Young-bin with curious eyes.

Sometimes he had that side to him.

Her father had a sharp edge in strange places.

Because of that, Stella seemed taken by surprise, and since then, she hadn’t smiled easily.

She appeared slightly flustered.

So Seo-yeon found it somewhat amusing.

It felt as if Stella, who had been consistently poised, was now caught off guard.

‘Of course, I’ll never know what Stella was hiding deep down.’

Looking at Seo-yeon’s house, she felt an odd increase in thoughts.

And…

“What are you thinking about?”

Snapped back to reality by Seo Seo-hee’s words, Seo-yeon realized she had been lost in thought.

It seemed she had been too absorbed.

Wearing light pajamas as she changed, Seo Seo-hee sat on the opposite bed, looking at Seo-yeon.

“Nothing much. I just remembered that I let Stella stay at my house in Korea.”

“Oh, her.”

Seo Seo-hee responded nonchalantly, seeming not to like Stella at all.

Most people tended to get along with Seo Seo-hee, so such a reaction was rare.

Maybe that’s why she had barely spoken during this shoot.

It indicated that Stella had left a bad impression.

At this point, Seo-yeon felt curious.

“What did you guys talk about?”

The last conversation between the two popped into her mind.

Indeed, since then, Seo Seo-hee seemed to avoid Stella even more.

“Nothing much. Just asked about something that had been bothering me.”

“What was bothering you?”

“Well, something like that exists.”

Oh, she wasn’t going to share again.

Seo-yeon’s eyes narrowed.

Right now, she was just filled with annoyance toward Seo Seo-hee.

After all, at the filming site…

“Ugh.”

“Eh, why are you like that?”

“Ah, no. I just had to erase a memory for a second.”

“What? That sounds scary.”

Anyway, that aside, Seo-yeon glared at Seo Seo-hee.

She just wanted to glare at her.

“Hey, don’t glare at me, even if it’s just joking.”

“I’m not joking.”

“No, why? Did I do something wrong?”

“Hmph.”

For some reason, seeing Seo-yeon sulking confused Seo Seo-hee.

I mean, she was the one being wronged here, so why was the other side sulking?

‘Could it be because I didn’t mention Stella?’

Honestly, Seo-yeon never thought she cared that much about Stella.

She didn’t look that interested at all.

In the first place, aside from herself, no one had observed Stella that closely.

‘Anyway, it’s not like I’ll see her in the future.’

To be honest, Seo Seo-hee felt disappointed with Stella this time.

In the movie, Stella was like a star, and Seo-yeon thought she might see that kind of sparkle again.

But.

‘Such a shame, she doesn’t really enjoy acting.’

As an actress, that was the worst.

For Stella, acting was just a means to an end.

Still, Seo Seo-hee couldn’t blame her for that justification.

‘But I still don’t like it.’

Anyway, the important thing now was Seo-yeon, who had sulked more than the disliked Stella.

She didn’t know why she was sulking though.

After calming her down for a while, and watching Seo-yeon fall asleep while making gentle sounds, Seo Seo-hee realized.

‘Oh, right. I forgot to tell her about the contact from the Japanese broadcasting station today.’

Thinking that, she quietly drifted into sleep.

After all, she could just talk about it tomorrow.

***

“This is a video of actress Joo Seo-yeon when she went to a deserted island on a Korean variety show.”

Nanjou Katsuo, the PD from YHJ Broadcasting Station in Japan, spoke while showcasing a collection of Seo-yeon’s videos that he had gathered recently.

After Seo-yeon had filmed a drama in Japan, and Asher Baldwin had shown great interest right after, he had started collecting various videos of her.

He wanted to explore not just her exceptional abilities as an actress but also a variety of her looks.

“…Uh, is this exaggerated? Is it real?”

“From what I found out through a friend working at a Korean broadcasting station… everything is real.”

“Then, did you really puncture a coconut with your finger?”

“That… sounds unbelievable, but they say yes.”

“Ehh, is this some kind of Fist of the North Star?”

By the way, it wasn’t just the Japanese broadcasting staff present; there were also two managers in attendance.

Joo Seo-yeon’s manager, Park Eun-ha, and Jo Seo-hee’s manager, Shin Yu-kyung.

Since Lee Ji-yeon’s manager also worked with Eun-ha, there was no separate manager for Ji-yeon.

‘Seo-yeon, why didn’t you tone it down a bit in the variety show?’

Park Eun-ha felt a bit embarrassed.

After all, it was hard not to feel that way when watching her charge run around on a deserted island.

“Um, how about we just do it like we always do?”

As she spoke, they showed Seo-yeon climbing a tree and encountering a monkey.

With her confident demeanor as if the treetops were her home ground, she struck the oncoming monkey lightly, making it dangle like clothes on a clothesline.

‘Died, right?’

Everyone watching couldn’t help but feel that curiosity.

After dealing with the monkey and taking the palm fruit it had, Seo-yeon returned nonchalantly.

“Is she Tarzan?”

The line spoken by Park Jung-woo resonated with everyone present.

Truly, she had the makings of a great actress.

‘But what about the monkey?’

Regardless, the cameraman seemed to share curiosity about the monkey’s fate, making sure to catch the moment when the fainted monkey came to.

“Hey, they’re Korean entertainers. If we do it like we usually do, the videos won’t even come out properly. Everyone’s just going to act solemn and cry.”

The PD who had said those words before meeting with the Korean managers now pointedly stared at the video.

Clearly, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Having doubts, he repeated the process of rewinding the video multiple times to get to the bottom of whether it was manipulated.

“Ah, still, there are other actors, so let’s not go overboard…”

Manager Park Eun-ha said that.

Seo-yeon had a free schedule, making her capable of participating in the variety show.

However, adjustments for Seo Seo-hee and Lee Ji-yeon would be necessary.

“Yes, if Seo-hee were tossed in such a place, she would probably faint continuously.”

Shin Yu-kyung, Seo-hee’s manager, said seriously.

What could the natural young lady, who couldn’t even boil ramen, do in a place like a deserted island?

To begin with, Seo-hee would merely pick up fallen fruits, believing them to be beautiful, possibly even eating toxic mushrooms.

…Of course, she didn’t lack intelligence that much, but in Shin Yu-kyung’s mind, Seo-hee was that kind of young lady, and it was inevitable.

“Then let’s give her some tools…”

“Isn’t the area around Mount Fuji’s forest nice?”

“Eh, are you seriously suggesting Aokigahara Forest?”

“Wouldn’t a slightly eerie feature work out well?”

Showing the deserted island’s broadcasting piece sparked a shift from the initial simple camping vibe to something more ‘survival-like’.

“Where’s Aokigahara even located?”

“It’s one of the world’s so-called eerie spots, right?”

Park Eun-ha and Shin Yu-kyung engaged in that conversation.

Quickly checking their smartphones, they discovered the name Aokigahara Jukai (青木ヶ原樹海).

“This is a place where suicides occur every year…”

“It’s even listed among the world’s seven eerie locations?”

“No way, can we even shoot in such a place? Isn’t it a restricted area?”

“It seems like there have been a few broadcasts under the horror special segment, actually.”

“Wow.”

The two exchanged murmurings.

It seemed that the Japanese side had engaged in discussions regarding the location as well.

“We’ll present you with options one through three, and would you like to consult with the actors?”

“Oh, is this not secretly taking them away?”

“Given the potential danger, we need the actor’s consent. We’re not that reckless.”

Nanjou Katsuo, the PD, made that statement, but since Park Eun-ha knew a bit about Japanese variety shows, she awkwardly laughed.

‘Considering that, they seem to have quite a lot of dangerously extreme content.’

Anyway, as many Korean actors were involved, it seemed they wanted to show consideration.

Options one to three.

Among them, Aokigahara was included as option three by one of the PDs.

It seemed that the idea of it being a horror special naturally seemed okay.

‘Well, options one and two are more on the safe side, so I guess we should go with those.’

‘After all, Seo-yeon is fairly timid, so she would absolutely avoid option three.’

Park Eun-ha and Shin Yu-kyung shared a glance, thinking along those lines.

The location felt perfectly appropriate.

However.

“I want to go there.”

“……”

Of course, the choice Seo-yeon made was everyone’s dreaded option three.

Aokigahara Forest.

A notorious suicide spot in Japan and one of the world’s seven eerie locations.