Chapter 2: A legend debuts

The morning sun faintly shines into a corner of the studio apartment.

Minari, no, Min Ari, stares blankly at her avatar reflected on the monitor screen, then stretches.

“Ugh~ Stiff…”

Her head feels heavy, and the back of her neck is tight. Probably because she sat up all night.

She stayed up all night broadcasting, but there were only a few viewers.

Even the fans who were enthusiastic about watching her last appearance couldn’t hold on and fell asleep one by one, and there were few people who even said goodbye.

The announcement video she uploaded as soon as the broadcast ended hovered around a single-digit view count for tens of minutes.

On the desk, a cup of instant noodles, cold and hardened, rolled around.

“It’s really over now…”

Today is the day she graduates from being Minari.

The day Nari becomes Ari again.

It’s a stage name she’s had for a long time. She’s been called Minari since she was a trainee at a famous entertainment agency, almost 10 years ago.

Back in her naive teenage trainee days, she thought she was the main character of this world.

She will debut soon.

Once she debuts, it’s only a matter of time before she becomes famous.

She received the expectations of everyone around her.

When she was grouped with other trainees to form a group, she thought her dream would come true.

…It was a delusion.

Reality was different from the dream. The industry was cruelly cold.

While other colleagues left one by one, Ari held on.

But the result was a contract termination notice.

In her 20s. The girl who knew nothing was pushed out into society with nothing.

There was nowhere to accept a high school dropout with no experience.

She survived day by day with part-time jobs and eventually entered the world of internet broadcasting.

She did her best. She got cheap broadcasting equipment and set it up with difficulty, and started her VTuber activities with a crude avatar.

She had talent. She was often told she had talent. She thought if she worked hard every day, it would eventually pay off… but broadcasting wasn’t easy either.

The viewership was only around 20.

Sometimes it neared 50, but it repeatedly plummeted again.

Donations were lucky to come once a month.

Most of all, what she couldn’t stand was the loneliness and emptiness that weighed heavily on her small studio apartment.

This situation continued for over 3 years.

Considering her livelihood, she should have quit broadcasting right away.

She should have used that time for self-improvement or increased her part-time hours. Or at least get more sleep for better condition management. Nevertheless, she forced herself to continue broadcasting, ironically, because of loneliness.

She wanted to communicate with people like this. She wanted to share a small laugh in each other’s daily lives, even for a moment. Her initial goal of succeeding as a broadcaster had long been forgotten.

But now she had really reached her limit.

Her health was deteriorating day by day, and her bank account was starting to show its bottom. In the end, she had no choice but to upload her last video, leaving behind her regrets.

It’s been over an hour, almost two hours since she posted the announcement.

Still no comments. The view count barely exceeded double digits. It was even worse than her usual edited broadcast videos.

Maybe it’s better to leave quietly like this. There’s no grand farewell, but there are no particular malicious comments either.

Still, she felt regret, so Ari sat on the edge of the bed and fiddled with her smartphone.

It was then that her smartphone beeped.

Not a KakaoTalk message, not a DM. It’s an email to her business account, which she rarely used but kept just in case.

It must be spam again. Just as she was about to dismiss it, she saw the phrase ‘Regarding Minari’s broadcast’ in the email subject and flinched.

“What… is this?”

Ari opened the email out of curiosity.

The attachment caught her eye first.

The filename is ‘Vtuber_HANA.fbx’.

…It looks suspicious.

“…Is it a virus?”

Attachments should always be handled with care. Ari was extra cautious because she had an experience of almost blowing up her computer by clicking on an unknown link.

But after checking the email content below the attachment, Ari changed her mind.

In short, it was this.

It was from a long-time viewer of Minari’s broadcasts, a so-called ‘Namuldan’(Minari’s fan).

They were able to find healing by watching Minari’s broadcasts.

They were sad they couldn’t watch the last broadcast.

Thank you so much for everything…

“I… am more grateful.”

Now that she looked at it, the nickname in the email address was familiar.

It was the ID of the person who came in every dawn and stayed until the end of the broadcast.

Ari checked the email content again.

Below the words of gratitude, there was a 3D avatar operating guide written in quite professional language.

How to set up facial rigging, shader settings, blend shape-based animation…

Honestly, she didn’t understand any of it.

It was a reminder that Ari was a middle school graduate.

Those high-level terms? She wouldn’t understand even if she saw them.

Still, she could feel the sincerity of the person who wrote this email.

And she could tell that this file was a 3D avatar.

Her heart started to beat faster.

If only she had a high-quality avatar.

It was something she had thought about countless times since she first started broadcasting, even now after posting her graduation announcement.

Ari wriggled her fingers and downloaded the attachment.

Click, drag, unzip.

After a while, a character appeared on the 3D viewer window.

“…Wow.”

An elegant character with silver-white hair was smiling at Ari.

“Can I… really accept this?”

The silver-white hair shone naturally.

The slightly puffy cheeks and soft jawline were lovely.

The body line that flowed in a smooth curve was attractive.

Above all, the reflected light in the water-colored eyes was as detailed as a real person.

Even Ari, who was not an expert, could tell that a lot of time and effort had been put into the avatar in front of her.

Honestly, she hadn’t expected anything.

She would have been happy if her computer was safe.

She thought it would be nice to have something to keep as a memory, if she was a little greedy…

“If I broadcast with this… could things be different?”

Her heart, which had been beating fast, was now racing.

The flame in her heart, which had grown cold, reignited again.

Maybe she could try again now?

For the first time since her trainee days, she was filled with motivation.

“Okay, just one more time. Let’s try just one more time.”

She has this great model, this great opportunity, and if she gave up now, she would regret it forever.

“It’s… practice again.”

Set up the avatar, adjust the broadcasting tools.

Prepare the content she had planned but couldn’t do before.

It’s okay if there are no donations, no viewers.

This time, she would draw the picture she wanted, without regrets.

With slightly trembling fingertips, Ari carefully sent a reply.

She wouldn’t express her gratitude right away, but she thought she could at least mention that she was preparing for a new broadcast.

Outside the window, the sun was faintly covering the room.

The morning air, which had seemed gray just a moment ago, now felt infinitely clear.

First, she changed her stage name.

From ‘Minari’ to ‘Han Ari’.

Hana plus Ari. Together, Han Ari.

Of course, no one knows that Minari has been reborn as Han Ari. In fact, very few people even know that Minari has graduated.

She set up a new avatar on the newly prepared channel and decorated the waiting screen.

She adjusted the BGM volume, checked the microphone sensitivity with an “Ah-”, and started the broadcast.

The model Jinha had spent a long time creating, Hana, appeared on the screen.

Nodding her head to the BGM. Humming a tune.

Meanwhile, she was quickly making plans in her head.

The first goal is… a modest 10 viewers?

This would be a success. Today is just to introduce the new avatar.

But less than 3 minutes after the broadcast started, the chat started to go crazy.

-Wow, I came in after seeing the thumbnail… the model is insane
-How much did you spend on the model kekekekeke
-This is the best model among the VTubers I’ve seen recently

The number of viewers quickly exceeded double digits, then 100, and was heading towards 200.

She wasn’t affiliated with any agency, and she didn’t advertise much.

The newbie buff on the first day is significant.

“Hello! I’m Han Ari, making my debut today!”

Han Ari smiled brightly, pretending not to see the steadily increasing viewer counter at the bottom of the screen.

Hana also smiled.

Her sparkling blue eyes curved into a pretty shape.

The naturally blinking eyelids captured the attention of the viewers beyond the screen.

At the same time, silver-white hair flowed down her shoulders, strand by strand.

It was the result of Jinha’s blood, sweat, tears, time, otaku-ness, and everything else.

-What’s with the hair… I thought it was a real person.
-The tracking is insane, the way her face is captured is art
-Is that really an avatar? Isn’t it someone cosplaying?

With the enthusiastic response in the chat, Han Ari continued to introduce the avatar with increased tension.

“How is it? It’s amazing, right! There’s an amazing mama…”

When Han Ari turned her head, Hana’s head also turned to the side.

The reflected light near her eyes shone delicately.

The subtle movement of her eyebrows was natural.

The dimples that appeared when she smiled were the killing point.

-The appearance is one thing, but the physics engine is amazing?
-The hair not going through the body is real?

Then, suddenly, a long notification sound came, and a large notification window popped up on the upper corner of the screen.

[Hakko Explorer donated 100,000 won]

[A monster rookie has appeared kekeke. Let’s see you for a long time]

She almost stopped breathing for a moment.

She could count the number of times she had received a 10,000 won donation.

But 100,000 won. Han Ari was momentarily stunned by the amount she had never seen since she started broadcasting.

‘…Ah, right. Reaction.’

Just as she barely regained her composure and was about to open her mouth.

As if waiting for that moment, Hana sparkled.

“Huh, huh?!”

A dazzling effect unfolded as if a magical girl was transforming.

After the brilliant light disappeared, Hana’s outfit had completely changed.

A blouse with a silver ribbon and a long navy skirt.

Of course, the chat went wild.

-Transformation system kekekekeke
-This is the best 100,000 won reaction ever kekekekeke
-So this person quit the magical girl industry because of the recession and came to broadcast, right?
-Is she really a rookie? The planning is insane? Isn’t she a reincarnation of someone??

Han Ari bowed her head repeatedly in confusion.

“Th-thank you… Thank you for the donation! I, I didn’t know there was such a function…”

While she was lost in amazement, the donation notification rang again.

[Soft Destroyer761 donated 100,000 won]

[Good things should be seen twice kekeke]

Once again, a sparkle of light burst.

This time, a pure white off-shoulder dress covered Hana’s upper body.

“Kyaak?!”

With the new outfit revealing her shoulders, Han Ari was startled and raised her arms to cover her chest.

Then, just like a real person, the cloth and skin were slightly pressed.

-Is this… the latest technology?
-Amazing!
-The detail is insane kekekeke

“Th-thank you so much!”

Han Ari tried to fix her clothes and regain her composure, struggling to stabilize her voice.

The moment of excitement she experienced for the first time since she started broadcasting.

The debut of the newly born ‘Han Ari’ was unfolding in an instant, like a dream.