Chapter 42 : Drill Show

[Domestic VTuber Gallery]

Title: I’m a PC Bang Employee

Post Content:

Not even kidding, Lee Jia just walked into our PC Bang (internet café).

At first, I doubted it was really her, but no matter how much I look, she looks exactly like Lee Jia.

She looks exactly like her model; She’s so freaking pretty I almost lost my words.

I don’t know why she came here—maybe she’s here to stream?

She just sat down, so if Lee Jia starts streaming in the next 5 minutes, then I was right.

Comments :

What kind of template is this?

Here comes another sweaty nerd claiming a VTuber looks exactly like their model lol.

(OP) No, but seriously, even her voice is the same.

Comments :

WTF, Lee Jia just started streaming.

But she’s not using her model?

Live on stream, Lee Jia: “I’m streaming from a PC Bang.”

???????

What is happening? What is happening? What is happening?

OP, you better provide proof… No proof, no talk.

(OP) That would be illegal filming, you psycho

Who cares? Just take the red pill and give us the dopamineeeeeeeeee

That’s messed up lol, illegal filming is a bit much…

But honestly, I’m kinda curious

Judging by OP’s reaction, I think it’s the blue pill, not the red pill.

So she’s actually an S-tier cool beauty with an amazing smile?

I’m holding my breath until proof comes out, huuup—

Ayase’s Abyss Show, Episode 16, Guest: Lee Jia

The response?

It couldn’t have been better.

The VTuber gallery loved it.

So did Ayase and Lee Jia’s personal fan cafes.

Everyone was showering today’s stream with praise.

If it was just a donation-focused stream, sure.

But there was absolutely no need for Lee Jia to do an explanation stream separately.

However.

Lee Jia’s head was spinning.

Was it because she had smashed her head against the desk, keyboard, and monitor?

Or was it because she had abruptly ditched the content without even giving a final farewell to Ayase and the viewers?

There were plenty of possible reasons for her dizziness, but in any case—

As soon as she arrived at the PC Bang, she started streaming.

Stream Title:

[There’s Something I Need to Say]

Of course, I’m a VTuber.

I was kinda forced into the job, but still—I’m a VTuber.

And VTubers must never reveal their real face to the public.

Of course, if you stream for a long time, sometimes the red pill leaks against your will.

But a VTuber voluntarily revealing their real face?

That’s the biggest taboo of all.

The reason is simple.

There’s only one roleplay persona.

How can there be two faces?

Showing my real face means breaking the RP itself.

Sure, even faceless streams without the model technically break RP a little, but viewers usually tolerate it if it’s just an occasional special event.

However.

I’m different from other VTubers.

First of all, despite what my viewers think, I have never been doing RP.

“Star of the Abyss?”

I actually believe in it.

If I didn’t, my viewers would probably kill me.

“Price of Blasphemy?”

I actually pay for it.

Just look at my broken desk, keyboard, and monitor.

In other words—

Unlike other VTubers, whose real-life selves don’t align with their virtual personas, I am exactly the same as my VTuber self.

This isn’t RP.

This is just the truth.

Sure, there are VTubers like Ayase who sometimes casually talk about real life, but at least their RP still has some boundaries.

Meanwhile, my model looks exactly like my real face.

Is this even VTubing?

Or am I just a facecam streamer in VTuber disguise?

That’s why I’ve decided—

I won’t desperately try to hide my real face.

Because I think it’s inevitable.

Sooner or later, I’m going to get caught anyway.

The fact that my model is identical to my real face is already a huge risk.

Even though I prefer staying home…

I still need to go to convenience stores.

If I get sick, I need to go to the hospital.

Sometimes, I should go out and eat something delicious.

And, well.

Sometimes, when I break my desk, I have no choice but to come to a PC Bang.

Honestly, if I really wanted to hide my face, I could do it.

I could wear a cap.

Put on sunglasses.

Wear a mask and even dye my hair black.

If I rented a private streaming studio instead of coming to a PC Bang, people probably wouldn’t recognize me.

But no matter how much effort I put into hiding my face, the result won’t change.

Because now, I’m officially a registered Awakened One.

From my past experience dealing with paranormal incidents, I’ve learned that if you’re an Awakened One, you will eventually run into reporters.

For now, those reporters seem to think I’m just an employee at the Awakened Association.

But if they see me once, then twice, then a third time…

At some point, they’ll start suspecting me.

There’s a limit to how much the Association can cover for me.

That’s why I walked into the PC Bang with confidence.

Luckily, this place was practically deserted—so empty, not even a single fly was buzzing around.

Glance.

Glance.

Still, I could feel it.

The employee was sneaking glances at me.

Judging by their reaction earlier…

Yeah.

They probably already know who I am.

Well, whatever.

Might as well sign something for them on my way out.

After topping up 5,000 won, I logged into my platform to start streaming.

There were no tracking cameras in this PC Bang.

No Omnia Archive software installed, either.

So, I decided to do a no-cam stream for my apology.

…Though, I was a little curious.

If I prayed to the Star of the Abyss right here and now, would they install Omnia Archive on this PC Bang computer for me?

I was curious… but something told me it would actually work, so I decided not to test it.

And so, I started my stream with the title:

[There’s Something I Need to Say]

Damn.

If only I had a green chroma key behind me, this would be a perfect apology stream.

Too bad I don’t have a webcam.

I had already planned out what I was going to say on my way here.

At times like this, there’s only one move—

Put my head down and apologize.

“…Hello. I’m at a PC Bang right now. There’s something I need to say.”

Unlike usual, I spoke with a serious tone into the cheap headset mic.

And then—

A completely unexpected reaction exploded.

GOD OF STREAMING! GOD OF STREAMING! GOD OF STREAMING!

BIG JIA – STREAMING POWER OVERLOAD! STREAMING POWER OVERLOAD!

This bastard is literally just living for content

MASTER OF RP! MASTER OF RP! MASTER OF RP!

[User ‘OnlyAyase’ has donated 100,000 won.]

Passing by, but I really enjoyed The Abyss Show.

[User ‘FanaticCandidate’ has donated 100,000 won.]

Noona, are you really going mainstream now?

I feel betrayed… Are you abandoning ussssss????

[User ‘AnonymousMask’ has donated 100,000 won.]

LMAO I thought this was gonna be a content flop, but it turned out to be a god-tier circus show instead.

“Uh.”

The chat scrolled by at lightning speed.

Donation alerts popped up one after another.

…What the hell is this reaction?

I thought I had ruined Ayase’s content.

But judging by this, the moment I slammed my head into the desk was apparently a highlight.

I’ve been watching VTuber streams for ages, but I guess I still have a long way to go when it comes to objectively analyzing myself.

[User ‘ㅇㅇ’ has donated 1,000 won.]

So, uh… what exactly did you need to say?

“Ah, well… uh. You see…”

Yeah.

Guess I don’t need to apologize anymore.

There was no need to explain anything anymore.

I had nothing left to say.

Ah, whatever.

“Uh… thank you for enjoying the stream.”

Good vibes only.

Might as well enjoy the moment.

Since I now had an obligation to stream for at least 30 more minutes to avoid getting flamed for

“ending too soon,”

I kept going for another hour and a half.

Once I started talking about my experience on The Abyss Show with Ayase, the conversation flowed naturally.

I think I ended up praising Ayase for nearly an hour straight…

Eventually, I wrapped up the stream and stood up from my seat.

The PC Bang was still empty.

And the employee was still sneaking glances at me.

“Oh! H-Have a good day!”

Sigh.

At this point, it was obvious.

Might as well address it directly.

Sometimes, confronting things head-on is the best approach.

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes?! Do you need anything…?”

“Want an autograph?”

“…Huh?”

“I can’t take a picture with you, but I can sign something for you.”

The employee hesitated as if they had something they really wanted to say.

But in the end, they quickly pulled off their phone case, handed it over along with a marker, and stammered:

“I-I’m a fan, Jia-nim!”

“Is it okay if I sign here?”

“Please do!”

Hmm.

If I were in their shoes, I’d have so many questions.

Seems like they’re a decent, well-mannered person.

Jia.

Scribble.

Done.

I tried to make it look stylish, but honestly, it was way too sloppy for an influencer’s autograph.

Alright.

Autograph—done.

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

“O-Of course!”

“Keep this a secret.”

“Absolutely! I would never go around talking about Jia-nim’s private info!”

“That’s a relief. Some people out there love spilling red pills about VTubers on forums.”

“Ugh…”

“Anyway, thanks for keeping it a secret!”

With that, I turned my back and walked out.

Good thing I got caught by someone decent and trustworthy.

I’ll have to be more careful next time.

Even if it’s inevitable that my face will get revealed someday, the later it happens, the better.

…Maybe I should prepare at least three backup computers.

Kim Jihoon.

A decent, responsible part-time worker.

But also a freshly-turned 20-year-old—

a newbie in the real world.

And, like any newbie, he made a rookie mistake.

The moment he knew the pink-haired girl in the PC Bang was actually VTuber Lee Jia, he got too excited.

And before he even realized it—he had already posted about it on the forum.

So this makes me one of those “malicious viewers” Jia-nim was talking about, huh…?

People make mistakes.

If you ignore them, you will never grow.

If you acknowledge them and try to fix them, you do.

Kim Jihoon chose to acknowledge his mistake.

Panicking, he quickly left a comment on his own post:

[Comment Section]

(OP): Damn, this post got way too much attention lol. OBVIOUSLY it’s fake, dumbasses. Can’t believe you guys actually fell for it lmao.

You motherfucker

Bruh.

WTF is wrong with you?

The hell is this guy’s deal?

Mods, why the hell is this guy not banned yet?

Honestly, I believed it ‘cause everything lined up too well…

It’s your fault for believing it lol.

DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

In the end, he got bombarded with insults.

Not long after, he was permanently banned from the gallery.

Violating the “No Red Pill Talk” and “No Fake News” rules sealed his fate.

But strangely enough—instead of feeling bad, Jihoon felt… relieved.

This wasn’t a red pill.

It was a blue pill.

A deep, rich blue.

By protecting Lee Jia’s blue pill, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

One more secret to take to the grave.

Honestly?

It worked out for the best.

His days in the gallery ended here.

Time for a healthier community experience.

And so, he made a decision—

Instead of lurking in [Domestic VTuber Gallery], he submitted a request to join Jia’s official fan café:

[Faithful Followers of the Star of the Abyss]

One more Adoong and devoted believer had joined the ranks.