I Want to Be a VTuber

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Stella declined an invitation to appear on a Japanese variety show a few days ago.

No wonder.

“I can totally see they’re trying to associate me with that actress, right?”

Such transparent antics were absolutely off the table.

With a bright smile, Stella turned down the PD’s proposal.

If she got tangled up with that actress, it wouldn’t just be annoying for her but also for Asher Baldwin.

Originally, Stella still couldn’t wrap her head around why Asher had come to Japan.

“How about just going once?”

“Huh? Why? No thanks.”

“Weren’t you getting close with those actors?”

“Not really?”

From the get-go, they had no real intention of getting to know her.

She still felt a kinship with Seo-yeon.

Maybe it was because they fundamentally felt similar.

However, after staying at Seo-yeon’s house, she started questioning if that was just an illusion.

“Today, the PD contacted me again.”

“Why? Another show?”

“They said Joo Seo-yeon is looking for you.”

“……Huh.”

On a variety show? Me?

Stella looked at Asher, puzzled.

Of course, Asher just shrugged his shoulders without giving her an answer.

“Still not interested.”

Saying that, Stella spun around.

But her steps were oddly light as she turned her back to him, making Asher chuckle unconsciously.

Aren’t you a little dishonest?

At first, it was really annoying, but now he knew how Stella would react, so it was all good.

***

“There’s no one to cook.”

Seo-yeon grew serious.

Jo Seo-hee, Lee Ji-yeon, and Japanese actress Reika.

None of them could cook.

If anything, Seo-yeon was probably the best among them.

The moment Jo Seo-hee, who had talked like a leader, faced cooking issues, she shrunk down completely.

And Reika… why is she even here?

“Is she pretending to be a young lady or what?”

Jo Seo-hee, growing anxious, fanned herself with a folding fan, and in a fit of competition, Lee Ji-yeon pulled out her own fan to join the fray.

“Honestly, she can’t compare to a real villainess.”

Born a villainess, Jo Seo-hee looked magnificent just holding a fan, while Reika seemed more like an aspiring villainess.

She put effort into looking the part, but compared to the real deal, it was lacking.

“Anyway, this isn’t what’s important.”

The real issue was food.

To be honest, Seo-yeon wasn’t completely inept in the kitchen.

She just gave up on cooking because Young-bin panicked and stopped her.

She could get the seasoning right, but Seo-yeon’s culinary skills were limited to what she could eat herself.

The ingredients were also limited.

Essentially, without ham and eggs, Seo-yeon couldn’t cook at all.

“So that’s why I said I couldn’t…”

Seo-yeon looked at the group of young ladies huddled together.

“I heard Seo-yeon found a gas burner?”

“What’s a gas burner?”

“This thing connects to butane and works, right? Am I correct?”

“I wouldn’t know even if you asked me.”

Lee Ji-yeon and Jo Seo-hee were discussing the gas burner so seriously.

Who knew one gas burner could spark such deliberation?

“Do you know how to use it, Reika?”

“I—I just use induction at home.”

“What’s induction?”

Today, Seo-yeon hadn’t felt Jo Seo-hee as a young lady more than now.

No, isn’t this a total lack of common sense?

Of course, Seo-yeon had never used a gas burner either.

Wasn’t that something only grown-ups used?

Thinking back on her past life, she couldn’t even get close to fire.

After all, why would someone with mental issues be around fire?

No matter how many times she explained, she’d just come off as a potential arsonist.

“…First, I’ll go find some ingredients.”

“Not just that, we need to find a tent too.”

When she thought about it, they were completely left alone in Aokigahara.

The only ones around were the cameramen.

Of course, there were safety and filming CCTV cameras installed all over, so there was no real danger.

But the forest was dense, making it easy to get lost.

“If we search together, I feel like we’ll all go missing.”

“I can find it on my own though.”

With how quiet the forest was, it wasn’t hard to hear the sound of people wandering around.

Considering that reach, most things could be found.

“…I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

Jo Seo-hee looked at Seo-yeon as if she was in shock.

Still, the claim about a bear appearing didn’t seem like a lie.

Feeling uneasy, she did a little searching, discovering that bear sightings while camping weren’t that rare in Japan.

“Seo-yeon, are you serious about being able to fight a bear?”

“Hey, Jo Seo-hee. Why so serious? We need to find food! I’m starving!”

All the tents and food were strewn about in the forest.

Of course, no other tools could be used.

The only thing permitted for them was their smartphones.

“…I should have noted Stella’s number.”

Seo-yeon thought this seriously.

Because when checking up on Stella, she found out she was quite good at cooking.

She even posted her homemade dishes on Instagram.

“Just in case, I told the staff about it.”

Seo-yeon felt that rushed.

She had to call that annoying Stella.

If she had known, she would’ve asked for her number.

The problem was, if it was staged, having Stella show up would only add one more loud young lady to the mix.

“I should find the tools first; what if I get lost doing it? I can’t just go look for Joo Seo-yeon alone.”

“I could mark the trees as I go.”

“True?”

Lee Ji-yeon and Jo Seo-hee were talking about who would go first.

“Um, um, I’ll go too! I don’t know what I’m saying, but I’ll go too!”

“Ah, Reika is coming too?”

In that moment, Jo Seo-hee casually used Reika’s name, startling her, but she nodded nonetheless.

Anyway, with Stella missing, they couldn’t afford to lose any screen time.

“Hmm, how about I take care of the searching and the rest of you handle the rest?”

Seo-yeon said this seriously.

To be honest, Seo-yeon found this situation a bit unfamiliar.

In most variety shows, Seo-yeon was treated like the special one; no one else had taken that role before.

“Honestly, if Jung-woo was here, things’d be different.”

If Park Jung-woo were here, he would’ve efficiently taken care of everything.

No matter what, he was just that perfect; Seo-yeon had never seen him struggle with anything.

Games or cooking, he did wonderfully on the deserted island.

He could even make a house out of wood.

“What on earth did he learn from his father?”

But enough escaping reality.

“I’ll stay here, so you all come back after searching individually.”

“Uh? Why not go together?”

“I need to know where you went so I can find you.”

“Oh, right. Got it.”

Whether it was genuine or not, Jo Seo-hee listened to Seo-yeon and took her safety gear and lantern before disappearing into the woods.

With all the trees, she vanished in no time.

“Seo-yeon, you’ll come find me, right?”

“Of course.”

“You’ll really come find me?”

“…At that point, would I rather just stay here?”

“Ew, no way.”

The proud Ji-yeon didn’t seem keen on being alone here.

That’s a pesky trait of Ji-yeon, but Seo-yeon nodded.

“Then—I’ll go too.”

Reika awkwardly disappeared as well.

This poor Reika, who had forgotten her purpose in coming on the show, disappeared into the forest.

“If only this was broadcast live, it would’ve been hilarious.”

As Seo-yeon thought that, she suddenly realized this feels like a collaboration between Ramiel and Alice?

No, Ramiel and Lee Ji-yeon are different people.

But, hmm. Isn’t it fine?

If she filters it through her own eyes, isn’t that the same thing?

Thinking this, Seo-yeon quietly waited at the base for the three young ladies who had vanished.

“……”

A chilly breeze rustled through the trees.

The fear she had pushed aside due to the survival instinct started creeping back.

To make matters worse, the sky was overcast, preventing much sunlight from filtering through, and an eerie stillness blanketed the forest.

Seo-yeon glanced at the cameraman.

He, of course, looked disturbingly fearsome in his black makeup as if to say not to mind him.

Now that she thought about it, had they come dressed like that on purpose?

It felt kind of like a peculiar horror special.

“Japanese staff really have their own unique quirks.”

Trying to think that way, she crossed her arms.

This is scary.

Just a little, Seo-yeon began to feel that way.

She wanted to be courageous in confronting horror, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

“…Why isn’t anyone coming back?”

About 30 minutes passed.

She waited alone, trembling, but no one returned.

Seriously, how far did they go looking?

Is this broadcast going to work out?

Looking back at the cameraman, he gave her a thumbs-up as if to say everything’s okay.

Was something being filmed from the scattered young ladies?

“Maybe it’s about time for me to go look for them.”

In less than five minutes, Seo-yeon found a gas burner and butane gas.

But the others, thirty minutes and counting, were still missing.

“But then, can we even light a fire in the forest?”

Well, they probably brought a fire extinguisher.

Thinking such trivial things, Seo-yeon began walking toward the direction where Reika had gone, straining her ears.

The others seemed relatively tough, but Reika was different, she wasn’t cut out for this.

And then…

“Ugh, I can’t move because I’m scared…”

It hadn’t been long before she met Reika.

‘Not sure what she’s saying, but it’s probably about being scared.’

Still, Seo-yeon could empathize.

Just as a reference, Reika was trembling while holding a kitchen knife, which could easily lead to misunderstandings.

“Why are you like that?”

“My legs are shaky…”

Great, somehow she was pointing at her legs, probably indicating they were wobbly.

It seemed she had gotten lost trying to find a tree mark and broke down, crying.

‘Should I carry her and move along?’

Carrying the quivering Reika on her back, Seo-yeon glanced around for the next person to find.

The cameraman was capturing Seo-yeon in action, wearing a very satisfied expression.

It was as if he had anticipated something like this.

“Ugh, ugh, I thought I was going to die…”

“Don’t cry in my ear if you’re scared.”

“I honestly thought I would die. I was freezing!”

“If you whisper in Japanese, it sounds scarier, so please stop.”

“That must be a kind consoling word you’re saying, right? Thank you.”

“Please.”

Amidst the eerie atmosphere.

Reika’s weepy whisper tickled Seo-yeon’s ear.

Understanding the words would have made it less scary, but not knowing only added to the terror.

From Seo-yeon’s perspective, it felt like she was trapped in a Japanese horror film.

Usually, when she joined variety shows, her energy shot through the roof, but today, that was simply not happening.

“I— I can’t get down.”

“……”

Why is she up in a tree?

Ji-yeon was sitting on a branch, holding onto some meat in her hand, shaking.

Whatever was happening with Ji-yeon’s peculiar trembling was second, but why was she even up in a tree?

“I— this is my first time on a variety show.”

“You were in <Looking Back on Past Memories>, right?”

“I didn’t even show my face back then! You were busy making me up!”

“Did I?”

Anyway, our Lee Ji-yeon.

She didn’t have much recognition as an actress, so this must have been her first variety show.

She seemed quite eager when she spotted the meat caught in the trees.

“Just throw that nearby tool to knock the meat down, right?”

“I know, but that wouldn’t be as fun.”

“…Hmm, true.”

Fair enough if we’re going for a variety aspect.

Seo-yeon spread her arms.

“Jump down, I’ll catch you.”

“Really? You aren’t going to drop me for a laugh, are you?”

“…What do you think of me?”

If she dropped her, it definitely wouldn’t end in a joke.

Seeing Ji-yeon look at her cautiously, she finally jumped down carefully.

Seo-yeon caught her like a princess, a nostalgic smile crept onto her face.

“It’s been a while since I last did this, huh?”

“…D-Don’t joke around.”

Anyway, having saved Ji-yeon,

With Reika still on her back and Ji-yeon in her arms, Seo-yeon moved on.

“Why do neither of you want to walk?”

Ji-yeon’s legs just gave out after jumping from the tree.

Reika was simply too scared to move.

In fact, Seo-yeon was pretty scared too but was forced to pretend otherwise.

She was totally scared.

I mean, this forest is scary.

Of course, before coming here, Seo-yeon scoured the internet for stories about Aokigahara.

When you search on Google, the results were filled with all sorts of terrifying tales.

And searching on community boards yielded:

– “When you actually go, it’s not as scary as you think.”

– “Is that true?”

– “Yup, it’s just a lot of trees.”

Having reassured herself with those comments, she arrived only to find it’s scarier than expected.

It genuinely felt like something supernatural could pop out at any moment.

‘Jo Seo-hee must have headed this way somewhere.’

As Seo-yeon walked along, clouds covered the sunlight, casting shadows in the forest.

She automatically slowed her steps.

“Why don’t both of you just start walking?”

“There’s something over there! Over there! That way!”

The moment she tried to speak, Reika pointed somewhere with her finger.

Unintentionally, Seo-yeon turned her gaze in that direction and froze.

“I found it…”

I found it, I found it.

Muttering that phrase repeatedly.

In the dark, she saw a woman approaching slowly.

At that moment, both Seo-yeon and the once chatty Ji-yeon froze in place.

Even Reika, who had been talking endlessly, fell silent.

The woman, bent halfway over, walked slowly like a ghost—an image of pure horror.

Even a real ghost would be startled and run away at that sight.

A chilling breeze blew from the woman’s direction, overwhelming Seo-yeon with a sense of dread.

Then, memories suddenly flashed in her mind.

The image of Jo Seo-hee etched into her mind when she was drunk come rushing back like a wave.

And that very scene overlapped with what was unfolding before her.

“AAAHH!!”

For the first time, a scream escaped Seo-yeon’s lips.

“Hey! Wait! Don’t go!!”

Seo-yeon turned on her heel and bolted.

The woman behind her screamed, “Don’t go! Don’t go!” and terrified her even more.

If it’s a Japanese ghost, she should do it in Japanese!

Just like that, Seo-yeon dashed all the way back to base.

She soon forgot about not finding Jo Seo-hee at all.

Then, roughly an hour later…

“…That’s just unfair.”

“Please, can you at least pull your hair back?”

“I was so scared!”

“I’m scarier right now.”

Seo-yeon said from a distance, taking in the sight of Jo Seo-hee, who looked disheveled with all sorts of leaves in her hair.

She did feel a bit guilty for fleeing, but that appearance was a hundred times scarier.