Chapter 0

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001. I Want to Be a Vtuber (1)

To begin with, it was a day when the cicadas of summer were chirping loudly.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself cradled in the arms of an unfamiliar woman.

“Seoyeon, our daughter, isn’t she beautiful?”

“Most babies aren’t pretty when they’re small, but your daughter truly has a lovely face.”

I could hear the conversation between the woman holding me and another woman.

Although I didn’t know exactly who this woman was, I realized the other woman was a nurse.

‘What in the world is this…’

It was confusing.

What in the world was going on?

‘I remember clearly… I collapsed…’

I didn’t remember clearly. While working at the company I’d just joined after finally escaping being unemployed, I had felt a pain in my chest. The sound of an ambulance rang out, and the last thing I remember was being placed on a stretcher.

And when I woke up, I was in this situation.

‘Hmm.’

I sucked on my thumb once and came to a conclusion. My fingers were as small as my mouth.

‘I’ve been reincarnated…’

After realizing this, I decided to go back to sleep. My body wasn’t strong enough yet to withstand being awoken by nightmares.

***

Time passed.

When I looked in the mirror, there was a girl about five or six years old crossing her arms and staring at herself.

“Cute.”

I lifted my hand and poked at strands of my long hair tied in two braids. I was quite pleased with how cute it looked.

And when I brought my face close to the mirror, I could see slightly red eyes.

“Nothing strange is wrong with them, right?”

The doctor had said there was nothing problematic about them; they just looked different in color. Anyway, the color wasn’t bright red, so from a distance, they just looked like a pale brown.

“Anyway, I still haven’t fully adjusted to this.”

I hadn’t noticed right away when I had first been reincarnated, but it didn’t take long to realize I had come back as a girl.

In my previous life, I was a man.

So, you can imagine how bewildered I was waking up as a girl.

I might not have fully adjusted even now, but I was definitely more familiar with it. When I looked at myself in the mirror and struck various poses, I honestly felt like I was looking at an adorable child rather than myself.

Even after five years, the reason I haven’t entirely adapted must come from the fact that my appearance is still so endearing. Honestly, compared to my previous life, haven’t I become too cute?

“Ah.”

My voice is cute too. The thought of how cute I looked in the mirror was quite satisfying. It seems reincarnation really can pay dividends.

If I had been this cute in my previous life, Manager Kim wouldn’t have picked on me so much.

“Mom, what are you doing in front of the mirror? Trying to be a model?”

The woman talking to me here was the mother I was reincarnated with. To be honest, my relationship with my parents in my past life wasn’t very good, so her overly affectionate attitude made me uncomfortable.

“Mm, I’m not going to be a model.”

“Why? You are so cute already?”

“I know, but I don’t want to.”

Anyway, since it’s the typical thing moms say, I didn’t pay much attention to those comments. Ever since I realized I was reincarnated as a woman, I’ve had a solid and flawless plan in mind.

So, to sum up.

I’m going to become a Vtuber.

***

There are a few career routes that males who were reincarnated as female (TS) often take.

Streamer, entertainer, Vtuber, etc.

Among these, I chose Vtuber.

‘For one, I don’t have to reveal my face at first.’

I looked at my face in the compact mirror. Although I’m extremely cute now, I don’t know what will happen after I grow up. After all, there’s such a thing as adolescence.

‘Of course, there hasn’t been anyone who’s changed in that way among those who were reincarnated as female.’

The problem is that these examples are all fictional characters. Whether the supposedly unstoppable TS cells apply in reality remains a mystery.

That’s why being a Vtuber is a safe choice even if I go through adolescence.

‘Besides, it’s still not a very popular career at this time.’

After being reincarnated, I realized I had traveled back to a period before my death. Furthermore, the era where Vtubers don’t even exist yet.

Vtubers will truly take off in about 8 years, and the market will grow in around 13 years. If I join this early on and do a good job setting up shop…

“I should prepare thoroughly then.”

My diligence, which barely failed to get me into a Seoul university during my college entrance exams, is more than enough to yield good results if I prepare from now.

“First, vocal training.”

For a Vtuber, you need a good voice more than anything else. My voice now is certainly cute, but I’m sure it won’t be enough to compete in the market with just cuteness.

“Ah~.”

So, I started various vocal exercises alone in my room, mimicking the stretching exercises I’d seen on TV, trying my best to be as natural as possible.

***

“Dear, I think Seoyeon wants to become an entertainer.”

Seoyeon’s mother, Min Suah, smiled with satisfaction as she secretly observed her daughter. Since her childhood, Seoyeon hadn’t cried or thrown tantrums and had been an especially polite child for her age.

She had always found her own tasks and kept herself busy without ever slacking off.

“Entertainer?”

Seoyeon’s father, Joo Young-bin, who was watching the news, was surprised by his wife’s words.

‘…Her?’

Even though the girl was his daughter, she was somewhat quirky. Certainly, Seoyeon was a sweet and adorable child, so much so that it felt like she could fit right into his eyes without causing any pain.

Still, there was something about her mindset that was difficult to understand.

“Look, our Seoyeon does vocal training every day by watching children’s park scenes on TV.”

“Hmm, well, that could be.”

Did that count as vocal training? While she was indeed chatting away to herself, it was hard to understand how it related to vocal practice.

“When I secretly observed her, she was acting in all kinds of ways. It was so cute, I wanted to secretly hug her.”

‘Hmm, that much maybe?’

Young-bin had questions but couldn’t quite vocalize them. It was just the kind of behavior one would expect from a loving mother.

“Our Seoyeon quickly started speaking, so she might be really good at acting or something, right?”

With her doing acting practice every day, it was clear she was interested in something like that.

“Hmm, if that’s the case, what about trying out for a child actor audition?”

In general, the best way to show her the reality of such aspirations would be to let her experience it herself. While Young-bin did think his daughter was cute, he also understood that becoming an entertainer wasn’t easy at all.

How many talented kids were out there? While Seoyeon was undeniably unique, he wasn’t sure if she was particularly talented in this area.

‘Besides, acting these days requires early training too.’

Although Seoyeon’s family wasn’t poor, they didn’t have enough money to heavily invest in fine arts or athletics. What could Seoyeon achieve in an environment surrounded by kids who had properly trained in acting, while she had just been acting at the children’s park?

“Should we?”

On the other hand, Suah’s face lit up with joy.

It seemed she was genuinely excited about the idea, and Young-bin felt uneasy. Did he, as the father, judge his daughter too harshly?

‘Still, maybe… what if she really has talent?’

As he watched his wife enthusiastically searching for child actor auditions, Young-bin scratched his head. He thought it might be worth it to try properly.

“Are you serious…about the child actor audition?”

However, this was far from what Seoyeon had envisioned for her future.