Chapter 62

A little less than a month had passed.

It was now nearing the seventh month of 2020. The sweltering heat was rising, and it was the time of year when everyone, without exception, donned their school uniforms in short-sleeves.

“Hoooaah! I’m done!”

Hayoon clenched both her fists with a loud shout.

“Are you finished?”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m done. There’s nothing more to draw in the original artwork. Now.”

Hayoon had completed all the illustrations she had to design for Cosplayholic.

Now that the planning phase could be tackled with full earnest, the time had come for her to dedicate her efforts to the Utaite VTuber project with Hong Seohyun.

“I’m stepping out for a bit. I’ll be back.”

“Alright, sure. Take care.”

“See you later.”

After greeting Do Jin Ho and Arin, Hayoon hurried off toward the third classroom of the 2nd-year Content Design Department.

She didn’t want to make herself seem idle in front of the two who were still deep in their work, and her plan was to quickly receive the next task from Hong Seohyun and proceed to the next stage.

“Hong Seohyun, senpai?”

“Ah, let’s go.”

As Hayoon peeked her head inside the classroom, Hong Seohyun sprang to her feet as if she had been waiting.

The duo then headed toward a nearby staircase, a place where few people tread.

“Did you think about what I suggested?”

“Think… uh, that….”

They began a conversation about the design of the VTuber avatar that Hong Seohyun would embody. However,

“Not yet… just the name.”

“Just the name?”

“It’s the name I used on Sacl. I want to use ‘Scarlet’… Scarlet…”

“Scarlet.”

A word among many that means the color red. It appeared that it was decided upon using the character ‘Hong’ from Hong Seohyun’s name.

“Then let’s go with red hair.”

“Huh?”

“Honestly, seeing how you haven’t decided yet, I feel like some guidance is necessary. Do you agree?”

“That, that’s… correct.”

With a slightly dejected Hong Seohyun nodding dejectedly, Hayoon turned on the tablet she was holding and immediately started her sketch.

“Long hair or short hair?”

“Um… long hair.”

“Smooth or wavy?”

“Uh… smooth?”

“Phew… it’s hard to catch the right points…”

As Hayoon began sketching the head, showing a sense of dissatisfaction, she added a pair of round glasses to the design. They were chain-linked.

After this…

“It kind of brings the character to life.”

“Ah, exactly.”

The somewhat NPC-like impression transformed into that of an intellectual.

“Bust…?”

Hayoon’s eyes moved from Hong Seohyun’s face to her chest.

There was volume, but it couldn’t be called large. It felt slightly smaller than Hayoon’s own.

“Should we go bigger? Or smaller?”

“Big… big…”

“Is this size fine?”

“Can… can we make it a bit bigger?”

“Understood.”

It seemed Hong Seohyun had a bit of a desire for larger breasts. Hayoon adjusted the line to a form that approached a well-endowed figure and also gave the hips a spacious touch.

After all, a person with a large bust but no hips was like a rice cake without beans.

Having determined the body shape, the next step was concept and suitable attire for that concept.

“Don’t you have any ideas for the concept?”

“Um, a high school student…?”

“That would only stay relevant for about three years. It’s too short-lived for role-playing.”

“Expiration date…?”

Hayoon’s radical choice of words shocked Hong Seohyun, who revealed a somewhat uneasy demeanor.

“How about a lab coat?”

“A lab coat?”

“Red hair goes well with white clothing. Including the on/off function of glasses in the VTuber design could also lend itself to a scholarly concept.”

Hayoon had no time to indulge Hong Seohyun’s discomfort.

It was almost July, and she had to debut in October.

Even if they progressed quickly, Hong Seohyun was the one who had barely managed to think of just the name over a few weeks for their RP, so there was little room for hesitance. The only option was for Hayoon to throw out some choices and get yes or no answers to proceed.

“A lab coat seems good, doesn’t it? It does give an intellectual vibe…”

“Mm, but just a lab coat seems a bit… plain…”

“Plain…?”

“We’ll go with a missing lower wear look.”

“Eek…?”

Since Hong Seohyun had already agreed to both the white clothing and the lab coat concept, the design would feature just a baggy white shirt, adopting the missing lower wear style as the base.

Definitely.

Now that Hayoon could discuss the ideas directly with the concerned party, the process of coming up with ideas became much faster and she was more satisfied.

“Although we’ll need to finalize the details later, we’ll go with this as a base. We’ll maintain an air of mystery about whether or not something is worn underneath, so during the broadcasts, you shouldn’t mention anything about the lower wear.”

“Ah, er…?”

As Hong Seohyun was bewildered by some peculiar concept being created, she failed to properly object due to Hayoon’s uniquely progressive attitude.

“Alright, let me know when we decide on the first song. I’ll draw up a detailed avatar design for the red-haired, glasses-wearing intellectual character we’ve just conceived.”

“Ah, okay.”

There was something about Hayoon that caused people to follow her lead.

As a newcomer, Hong Seohyun had no way of escaping Hayoon’s leadership.

#

After school that day,

Hong Seohyun visited Dongfang after officially joining the game’s release team but hadn’t visited separately due to the lack of an assigned role.

She came because Hayoon had summoned her.

“Hey, you’re here?”

“Yes, hello.”

“Yeah, good luck.”

Do Jin Ho, the oldest, gave a brief glance and then focused entirely on his work.

It was a time when Do Jin Ho’s skills were most crucial.

With almost all sources completed except for the sound, there was no rest for Do Jin Ho.

If a bug appeared in the middle of the night, he would have to jump at once into the task.

With earphones in his ears, Do Jin Ho bent over his desk again, diving into programming.

“Hi…”

“Uh, uh… hello.”

Even peer Arin didn’t look too cheerful. She had her hands full, breathing life into the illustrations Hayoon had passed on to her and studying virtual avatar rigging personally, so she was extremely busy.

Just like Do Jin Ho, she had to endure sleepless nights.

Responding a bit awkwardly to Choi Arin’s greeting, Hong Seohyun approached where Hayoon was seated at the back of the classroom. Hayoon had set aside the seat, knowing Hong Seohyun would come.

“I’ve finished.”

“Yes, come right in. I’ve thought about some concepts, but let’s start with the one you thought of, shall we?”

“Uh, hmm… that’s…”

Seated across from Hayoon, Hong Seohyun suddenly found herself at a loss for words at Hayoon’s first question.

After all, wasn’t that the case?

Hong Seohyun did indeed like JPOP a lot, but VTubers were totally new to her.

She knew a few JPOP cover singers, but they were faceless singers who didn’t assign themselves roles.

This was unfamiliar territory for Hong Seohyun, and the only concepts she’d come up with were inspired by some ideas she’d hastily found on Beginner Wiki…

“Detective…?”

“Someone in that field is already out there…”

“Then, detective?”

“To properly perform RP, you need a certain level of related knowledge. Have you watched any noir films?”

“Ah, no…”

Honestly, I don’t know.

Embarrassed, Hong Seohyun lowered her head.

“How about a doctor? Let’s go with a professor.”

“Doctor?”

“Yes, a doctor.”

Hayoon provided an appropriate solution.

“Senpai, you love Korean language education, right? How about a doctor with a Korean language specialist vibe? You’re also good at Japanese, so you could teach a bit about Japanese and Korean education… and talk about music…”

The concept is going with the doctor’s role.

There’s an alternative with a professor, but something about “professor” suggests a specific archetype, so the sound wasn’t great. The term “doctor” has a good ring to it thanks to “Chigchig Doctor.” And when Hong Seohyun graduates, they could also push the ‘high school graduate doctor’ meme.

“An intellectual doctor in a baggy shirt with missing lower wear giving lectures on Korean, Japanese, and music sounds pretty decent, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, no…”

“What’s ‘no’? This is a concept men can’t dislike. Don’t you agree, Do-senpai?”

“Hmm?”

“A doctor in a baggy shirt with missing lower wear giving lectures… as an RP.”

“Sounds good!”

Do Jin Ho, who was working while listening to music with earphones, gave a thumbs-up just by catching the gist of what was said. Watching his reaction, Hong Seohyun helplessly nodded.

“Alright, let’s go with that… I can teach Japanese or music to someone who knows nothing.”

A doctor giving lectures on Korean, Japanese, and music.

Scarlet.

The RP of Hong Seohyun was now complete.

“Great. The RP seems to be shaping up this way; what about the first song?”

“First song, you mean…?”

“You mean…?”

“Obviously. ‘Love’ sounds good.”

Utaite VTuber.

Scarlet’s first VTuber video was confirmed to be a Korean cover of the big hit song from 2017, ‘Love.’

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