Chapter 4: The First Broadcast of an Incompetent Ordinary Person

-[KR Märchen Live Gallery]-

[Title: Did the 11th generation get announced?]

If you clicked in because of the title, I suggest leaving now.

(Image of Pepe smirking.)

Upvotes: 2 / Downvotes: 3,194

• “What the hell…”
• “Mods not doing their job? Can you deal with crap like this?”ᄂ “Mods are famously known for lying around scratching their bellies in their rooms.”ᄂᄅᄋᄏᄏᄂ “Märchen 2:?”ᄂᄉᄇ “Mods on patrol, LOL.”

  ᄂ “Run for your lives!”

• “Downvoting this.”
• “Can’t someone suspend this idiot?”

[Title: I got so mad at the post above, I wrote this instead.]

Märchen has decided to try a new approach this time.

Until now, they used to debut their VTubers through standard interviews, but this time they’ve implemented a survival system.

While they’re still conducting interviews, they’re looking for candidates who are better than the previous generations and have good streaming potential and personality.

You might be wondering how many candidates made it through the interviews. Out of about 2,000 applicants, only 50 were selected.

Initially, they planned to finish all interviews in one day. But considering the number of people and the time it would take, they extended the process by three more days.

Anyway, only those who survived the interviews—50 in total—can participate in the survival round. Dropping out mid-way is technically allowed, but who would actually do that?

These 50 candidates will stream under fair conditions on the same day, in the same building, using Tujijik. If you’re curious, you can check it out for yourself.

The time is set for July 9th, from 9 AM to 12 PM. There will be a 1.5-hour lunch break—streaming will be temporarily turned off during this time.

After lunch, streams will resume at 1:30 PM and continue until 5 PM.

The selection will be based on a combination of votes from Märchen staff and viewer counts. Content is entirely up to the participants—it might be fun, or it might be boring. It’s up to you to judge.

The final results will be announced on the same day, but the debut date hasn’t been decided yet.

That’s all. Peace out.

Upvotes: 5,891 / Downvotes: 31

• “Massive upvote for this.”
• “Detailed explanation, much appreciated.”
• “Thanks!”
• “But how do you know all this?”ᄂ (OP): “I’m a Märchen employee, LOL.”ᄂ “Haha, got it.”
• “Märchen 2: Oh crap, even I didn’t know this.”

ᄂ “What’s this now?”

ᄂ “Why do I see this guy in every post?”

• Can someone summarize in 3 lines?

         ᄂ “50-person survival, July 9th at 9 AM, voting-based system, okay?”

         ᄂ “That’s way too short, lol.”

[Title: I’m the Märchen employee who posted earlier.]

By the way, only one person will debut, lol.

Upvotes: 132 / Downvotes: 2

• “Stop joking around, seriously.”ᄂ “I wish I was joking.”
• “ᄂ You’re a staff member; no way you’d joke about that, right?”
• “One person? Seriously, lol.”
• “Even three was pushing it, and now it’s just one? That’s insane.”
• Märchen2: “Is it time for Märchen to let go?”
  ᄂ “How can a mod say that, lol?”
  ᄂ Märchen2: “The more you love something, the sooner you should let it go.”ᄂ “Who said that?”ᄂ Märchen2: “Me.”

Despite confidently declaring my career change, my daily life remained unchanged.

Before heading to the KR Märchen headquarters, I sent the outfit I was working on to Tsupi and sipped on a cup of espresso.

“I should order from here more often.”

The bitter taste of the beans hit perfectly, sending a thrilling sensation up my spine.

This is why I can’t give up espresso.

After wiping my lips with a napkin, I left the empty cup on the sink and finished getting ready to go out.

As usual, I covered my strikingly white hair before heading to the headquarters.

The building wasn’t far from my house, so I usually walked there.

As I entered the headquarters, a woman who appeared to be an employee approached me.

“Are you here as an applicant for the 11th generation?”

“Yes, I was told to go to Room 405.”

“We’ll need to go through a quick verification process. Could you show me the email?”

“Sure, just a moment.”

After showing her the email, she personally guided me to the broadcasting room.

“It’s currently 8:40, so you have about 20 minutes left. Do you need any equipment or materials for the broadcast? We’re prepared to support you with whatever you need.”

Oh, right. They mentioned support in the email. I should’ve read it more carefully instead of skimming through it.

“Could you connect a pen tablet for me?”

“Oh, so you’re an artist!”

“Haha…”

The employee nodded and left the broadcasting room, promising to prepare everything.

While waiting for her return, I looked around the room.

It was a small soundproof booth, less than 5 square meters, with a computer inside. Thankfully, there was an air conditioner installed to keep it from getting too hot.

“Not like I’m particularly sensitive to heat.”

There wasn’t much need to turn on the air conditioning.

As I examined the broadcasting room, I sat in the chair, tried out the keyboard and mouse, and tested the setup.

Would it be okay to arrange it to feel as similar as possible to my workspace at home?

“Just a moment~.”

The staff member returned at some point and began setting up the pen tablet.

“Good luck! I’m cheering for you! Since this is Room 405, you’ll be Participant #5.”

“Thank you.”

So there are 50 broadcasting rooms, huh? Makes sense. KR Märchen has over 40 VTubers alone, so this is probably standard.

Then again, VTubers usually stream from home. Is this just an extravagant flex?

“I’ll head downstairs now. There are other applicants to assist.”

“Oh, wait, take this with you.”

“Candy? Thank you, I’ll enjoy it!”

The staff member accepted the soda-flavored candy I handed over with a cheerful smile before leaving.

So, do I just wait now? The computer’s already on—would it be okay to play some games?

Leaning back in the gaming chair, I gazed at the ceiling.

The bright LED lights were on, but they didn’t hurt my eyes.

I prefer dim lighting. It should be fine to turn the lights off.

I switched off the room’s lights, leaving only the glow from the monitor and the pen tablet.

Ah, this is much better. It feels just like my workspace.

[Attention: The Tujijik livestream will begin in five minutes. All 50 broadcasts will be streamed simultaneously…]

A small speaker embedded in the corner of the ceiling announced the message, snapping me out of my relaxed posture.

Looks like it’s starting.

Stretching my arms, I glanced at the monitor. A cute girl on the screen mimicked my stretch.

Wait, what? When did she appear?

In the dim light, I hadn’t noticed the small webcam mounted above the monitor.

“Hold on, isn’t this my design?”

Looking closely, the avatar on the screen was one of my early, clumsily drawn designs.

The crude art style, far rougher than my current work, made me wince.

“Don’t tell me all the avatars are like this?”

It seemed highly likely. Back then, I didn’t charge for low-quality illustrations and handed out a few for free. This must be one of those.

Still, the avatar did resemble me more than I expected—with the same white hair and blue eyes.

The only difference was that my hair was short, while hers was long.

[One minute remaining. Please finalize your preparations.]

As the broadcast’s start approached, I found myself distracted by random thoughts.

How should I introduce myself? What kind of content should I do? Would casually drawing be enough to pass the time?

Gaming felt too generic, and-

Caught up in my hesitation, I lost track of time.

Ten minutes until the stream starts.

Tsupi was in an exceptionally good mood—no, she was ecstatic.

“Team leader! I just saw someone incredibly pretty earlier! They had white hair, like snow, and blue eyes like a foreigner’s! But the white hair didn’t look like gray strands or anything—it was so natural!”

Her team member’s words immediately reminded her of someone. Tsupi couldn’t help but feel grateful to Muil for agreeing to her request.

“I know. Muil does have a unique appearance.”

“What? Muil? You mean the Muil?”

“You know who I’m talking about, right? The illustrator responsible for KR’s costumes.”

“Whaaat?! That person was Muil?!”

“Yup. I was just as shocked when I first met Muil. I thought a snow fairy from a winter kingdom had come to life.”

Tsupi chuckled softly as she looked at her monitor. Her teammate and junior, Lee Eunhye, still couldn’t recover from her surprise.

“So, about the pen tablet…”

“Muil mostly just draws. I doubt they’d know much about games.”

“Doesn’t that seem unfair? People might complain if they find out.”

“It’s fair, though. Everyone has the same qualifications, went through the same interview, and is doing the same broadcast.”

“Well… I guess that’s true.”

“Not that I’m convinced Muil will actually make it. They’ve lived as an ordinary person all their life. The pressure of broadcasting must be overwhelming. Muil’s probably thinking the same thing.”

Eunhye stared blankly at Tsupi, who simply shrugged.

“For now, sit down. It’s about to start.”

“I heard even the 10th generation members are watching this survival round.”

“Well, it’s their first new juniors in months. Of course they’re interested.”

On Tsupi’s monitor, only one stream was open.

More specifically, the stream hadn’t started yet, showing only a black screen.

Before long, the black screen faded to blue, revealing a new background.

Accompanied by the background was a white-haired girl who bore a striking resemblance to someone they knew.

• – White-haired and blue-eyed? I can’t resist.
• – Judging by the voice alone, honestly.
• – Oh.
• – Hello, Participant #5!

[A.]

With the broadcast live, only a single, mysterious “A” resonated in their ears.

The girl on screen froze for a moment.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally opened her mouth.

[“Nice to meet you. I’m Participant #5.”]

Her gentle voice filled the air.