Chapter 4: I just trimmed my bangs

A floral-patterned studio map in VR Chat.

In the center is a large table made from a tree trunk, surrounded by fragrant cushions.

This is the meeting room used by the four-member VTuber group ‘Seasons,’ who are preparing for their debut.

As the group name suggests, the four members’ stage names are Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

The appointed time has long passed, but only three are sitting at the table.

“Autumn-unnie is late again… and she’s not answering her phone.”

Spring’s fresh-looking avatar pouts.

She wanted to puff out her cheeks, but it’s impossible to make various expressions with a low-cost avatar that doesn’t have detailed facial rigging.

She has no choice but to express her anger by turning her bright, sparkling eyes into fierce ones.

“Where would late-Autumn go? Ahahaha~”

Summer’s avatar, with a colorful hair ornament, stretches and laughs. Her arm going through her ear is quite uncomfortable.

“Still, the meeting can’t proceed properly without Autumn. She’s our idea bank, you know?”

Unlike Summer’s flamboyant avatar, Winter’s avatar is modest.

An expressionless face with a calm voice. A typical pure and innocent character.

…In reality, she barely has any controllers on her face.

Maintaining an expressionless face all the time is not actually a concept.

It was a setting made out of necessity because the process of changing expressions was cumbersome. It’s not easy to manually change the face cards one by one.

“Well, Winter-unnie is right. Last time, she didn’t answer her phone and came right before the meeting ended…”

“She brought a bunch of weird ideas… and we ended up talking about it all night? That Autumn is something else~”

“But they were all good ideas. We scrapped everything we planned and reorganized the broadcast schedule after debut based on Autumn’s ideas.”

“Still, always being late is a problem. If she’s going to be late, she should at least answer her phone! Can’t Winter-unnie scold her later?”

“Do you think late-Autumn would listen to her big sister? She needs a flick on the forehead someday.”

“…If Summer-unnie flicks her, won’t her forehead explode?”

“Maybe? Nyahaha~”

Spring and Summer laugh, looking at each other.

Then, Winter taps the table with her finger and speaks.

“Oh, did you hear? Our debut schedule is being pushed back.”

“It’s confirmed to be delayed? I knew it. I knew it would happen.”

At Winter’s words, Spring shakes her head as if disappointed.

Summer looks back and forth between Winter and Spring and suddenly slams the table.

“Delayed? Who said that? Sacho-? When did he say that? Why am I hearing this for the first time? Are you leaving me out again?!”

Seeing Summer getting worked up with exaggerated gestures, Winter sighs as if she’s pathetic.

“It was said at yesterday’s regular meeting. You were there too.”

“…Huh?”

“…Did you just put your avatar in the seat during the online meeting and sleep?”

“Ahaha… Sacho’s voice is so sweet. It was like ‘Sleep well, have a nice dream’.”

“Honestly, admit it. Did I sleep alone? Huh?!”

“You were the only one who slept.”

“…Sorry.”

Summer immediately bangs her head on the table. A quick apology is an admission.

“Pfft! Summer-unnie is a sleepyhead.”

“What did you just say, Spring?”

“N-nothing! I’m against violence, against violence!”

“Anyway, why? Why is the debut being delayed again? Didn’t we say we wanted to debut as soon as possible to get the money flowing?”

“A monster rookie debuted this time. We can’t help it.”

Winter’s words naturally shifted the topic to the rookie VTuber who debuted recently.

“Right, Han Ari!”

“Unnies. Have you seen her broadcast? I saw it was live a while ago.”

“I did, I did! I watched it from the debut broadcast.”

“Her live viewership is already in the four digits? And she’s not even affiliated with any MCN… Everyone in the community is talking about Han Ari.”

“Yeah~ I don’t know about anything else, but the avatar is really well made. No matter how many times I see it, it’s so f*cking hot. It makes me want to f*ck her.”

Summer licks her lips, making a ‘churup-‘ sound.

Spring is a little scared that she has to debut in the same group as the potential criminal, Summer.

“…Summer-unnie. I’m really worried, so I’m saying this, don’t cause any trouble during the broadcast. Okay?”

“Haa… A world where you can’t even say what’s hot is hot! This is wrong…”

“Summer-unnie!”

When Spring raises her voice, Summer smiles awkwardly and waves her hand.

“Okay, okay~ I’ll be careful. Anyway, I’m so jealous~ She became popular because of her avatar, right?”

“…Yeah. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have received that much attention. Our debut date wouldn’t have been pushed back either.”

“Honestly, I feel like that rookie stole the perfect timing for us to make a splash. Our energy got totally drained.”

Spring and Summer grumble in disappointment.

The internet broadcasting world is also a competitive society. The number of broadcasts a single viewer can consume is limited.

It’s already hard enough to figure out how to survive against big-time streamers, and now there’s one more competitor. They can’t help but be wary.

“It’s not just the modeling… her broadcasting skills are quite good too.”

Winter, with a calm attitude, agrees with her younger sisters’ opinions but speaks firmly.

“The concept is well-established too. It’s supposed to be a relaxing healing broadcast, but when a 100,000 won donation comes in… well, the reaction is quite stimulating.”

“Hee~ Winter-unnie likes that kind of stuff too?”

“…I just happened to come across the information once or twice.”

When Spring teases her with a playful voice, Winter slightly averts her gaze.

“Hmph. She can only do that kind of content because of her avatar. Ah~ Where did she get such a model? It seems like she has over 10 different outfits.”

“What’s even more amazing is that no matter what outfit she wears, it’s all-natural. It’s like… changing equipment for a game character.”

It’s not just about having a lot of outfits. The important thing is how natural it looks when the clothes are put on the avatar.

The physics engine needs to be set up so that the clothes move along with the model’s movements. Furthermore, for realism, even the folds of the fabric need to be expressed.

It’s not for nothing that the unveiling of a VTuber’s new outfit is a big event that requires prior notice. There are so many things to take care of.

“But you know~ If the 100,000 won donation reaction is a costume change, what’s the 1 million won donation reaction? Wearing the requested outfit? Or just getting completely… ehehe Come here!”

Seeing Summer unable to contain herself, Winter sighs quietly.

“…Someone else seemed to have the same thought as Summer. But nothing happened.”

“Aww! Too bad. If it were me, I’d just, you know? Strip show right away.”

“Su! Mmer! Un! Nie!!”

“What’s wrong~ I’m not saying I’ll actually take it off, it’s an avatar anyway.”

At Summer’s sneer, Spring stammers in a trembling voice.

“Th-that detailed avatar… I-I wonder if… that’s also implemented…?”

“Wh-what?! Spring, you sly girl! You’ve finally shown your true colors!”

“Wh-what true colors? Do you think I’m like Summer-unnie?!”

“I never thought there would be two beans and a sausage case implemented in the avatar.”

“Waaaaah!! Waaaaah!! Summer-unnie! No 19+! No lewd talk!!”

“Our Spring, you’re so young, but your creativity is bursting. Did you learn about s*x through picture books when you were little…”

“Aaaah!! No! No!!”

While the noisy conversation was going on, an even noisier latecomer appeared with a loud ‘뿅-‘ effect.

“Sorry, sorry~ I’m a little late, right? Was the meeting going well?”

Summer clicks her tongue at Autumn, who is bouncing towards the table.

“A little? A liiiittle? Hey, late-Autumn. Do you know what time it is?”

“No, I really could have been on time today, but…”

“Oh? You have an excuse? Late-Autumn has grown up. Okay, let’s hear it.”

“Well… I don’t know how it happened, but it’s like my avatar got some new features? I was setting it up and testing it, and I lost track of time~ Ahaha!”

Only then did Spring, Summer, and Winter look closely at Autumn’s avatar.

The basic design is the same as before, but it looks more refined.

There’s a subtle increase in detail.

Not only are the bangs and eyebrows neatly arranged, but the movement of the hair is also natural.

The curve from the cheeks to the neckline, shoulders, and chest is much smoother.

Above all, the detailed changes in facial expressions are noticeable. The avatar is perfectly tracking and expressing the rich expressions Autumn makes.

“Wow! Autumn-unnie, did you change your avatar? It’s so pretty!”

“Hehe~ I didn’t change it, I just fixed it up a bit with my own money. You know how my bangs kept overlapping with my eyebrows, and my braids went through my body? I just fixed that a little.”

“…This isn’t just fixing it a little, you completely changed the whole thing?”

Summer shakes her head, saying this isn’t plastic surgery, it’s a complete rebirth.

“Hehehe. It’s not just the face that changed, you know? Everyone, watch this!”

With her nose high in the air, Autumn proudly shakes her head a few times.

Then, her braided hair sways left and right, drawing a natural trajectory, realistically.

It almost looked like small waves were rippling, full of realism.

“Did you see? It’s a new feature, when I turn my head, my hair also flutters! Wouldn’t it be great to use this for donation reactions? Hehe~ What do you think?”

“Wow… I’m so jealous. What did you do to it? Did you do it yourself?”

Summer asks in a low voice, licking her lips.

The playfulness is gone. She’s genuinely envious and curious.

Autumn waves her hand and laughs at Summer.

“Do it myself? No way. I don’t know anything about this stuff. Sacho helped me set up VR Chat, and I barely managed that.”

“Then?”

“I put in a request on the freelance market. My bangs were bothering me so much, I just wanted to do something about it. But they did a much better job than I expected? I was surprised when I received it too.”

Then, Winter, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, nods as if she remembered something.

Then she suddenly asks Autumn.

“Do you remember the name or nickname of the person who fixed your model?”

“Hmm, what was it… I didn’t look closely, so I don’t remember well.”

Autumn tilts her head, lost in thought.

Her braided hair sways left and right as her puppy-like face moves.

The way her hair touches her shoulders, slides down her back, and gently sways in place is very realistic.

“Was it Hana… No, was it Jinha? It was something like that… Anyway, I don’t know.”

Autumn scratches her head and laughs.

Then Winter nods, putting aside her disappointment.

“Look it up in the chat logs or payment window later. I don’t think the person who fixed Autumn’s model is an ordinary person either.”

“Oh! That’s a good idea? Since the debut date is pushed back anyway, let’s properly fix our models and try to surpass Han Ari!”

“Okay! I’ll look it up right after the meeting and let you know.”

Autumn shakes her braids again as if she’s about to dance. Her expression is bright, clearly pleased with her newly fixed avatar.

While Spring and Summer are admiring Autumn as if she’s a goddess, Winter carefully examines Autumn’s avatar.

To be precise, she’s looking at Autumn’s hair.

‘To implement the physics engine to this level, their skills must be extraordinary.’

Winter was also quite knowledgeable about 3D modeling.

That’s why she was so shocked when she saw Han Ari’s broadcast.

As the saying goes, you see what you know, and she recognized at a glance that the model Han Ari was using wasn’t just beautifully sculpted.

Winter was also the one who strongly insisted on delaying the debut schedule. It was obvious that their current modeling would be compared to Han Ari’s.

But.

‘If it’s the person who fixed Autumn’s avatar… we can reach a level where we can compete with Han Ari.’

If Autumn commissioned the work with her own money, the price probably wasn’t that high.

‘If I can get in touch with that person… I should ask them to add some controllers to my face first.’

It was a reminder that Winter really disliked the expressionless, pure concept.

A keyboard warrior in the valley.

The mad dog raid leader of a 24-player raid.

A habitual tea-bagger in battle royale games.

The current avatar was too bland to express the subtle madness Winter had hidden.