Chapter 75

– VTuber Scarlet photo shoot successful!

– You will be granted a random box opening right!

“….”

Hayoon stared blankly at the status window for a moment.

Is my blood pressure rising, or is my head ringing…?

“Oh, this was the reason they took the picture, right….”

A sigh escapes her involuntarily.

In the midst of all the chaos, she hadn’t paid it any mind, and days had passed without her even realizing it…

“Finally showed up, huh?”

Who would’ve thought that even the status window, which had been ignored while waiting for this moment, would go offline.

“It took some time to deduce appropriate traits.”

“Since we needed traits that didn’t overlap with your current ones…”

“Thus, as an apology, we’ll permanently set the acquisition probability of ‘Fluffy Fur’ from the random box to 0.”

At least it had enough awareness to promise the removal of the annoyingly familiar trait acquisition probability.

Now, this compromise was something Hayoon could accept. With a downward glance, almost as if peeking into a mysterious box, she observed the status window.

– SWISH, BAM!

The familiar fanfare revealed the reward, which was none other than…

[Hand of God]

– Your hands can accomplish many things.

– Moreover, the endurance of your wrists and hands has increased so that they don’t easily tire or become fatigued.

“Hand of God…?”

This trait, the Hand of God.

It doesn’t seem capable of turning things to gold just by touch like the hands of the mythical Midas…

– This trait primarily reduces fatigue in your wrists and hands.

“Am I becoming immune to carpal tunnel syndrome?”

– Correct! While resisting strong physical forces like car accidents will be difficult, your body won’t suffer from fatigue caused by ‘activities’ using your hands, such as drawing.

“Activities…?”

The word ‘activities’ itself isn’t strange, but something about the phrasing seemed off…

Hayoon furrowed her brow slightly, unnecessarily embarrassed…

“Ah, never mind.”

After all, it essentially meant that her drawing skills would improve and her wrists wouldn’t get strained, right?

Seemingly understanding what this trait was about, Hayoon nodded, and the status window left a brief remark: “More or less.”

Then, after a moment of silence…

“Man, it’s a miss anyway…”

Muttering unnecessarily, she picked up her bag and returned to class.

She was already good at drawing and took good care of her wrists, so boasting about giving her even more care felt excessive.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Hayoon headed back to class, sighing.

#

“Hmmm…”

A few days after acquiring the Hand of God.

To be honest, Hayoon hadn’t felt much difference.

She had expected something spectacular with the name “Hand of God,” but her drawing was already at a level where the trait’s intervention didn’t significantly affect the high-quality results she achieved.

“So it was a miss after all, huh…”

Pfft.

Slightly clicking her tongue, Hayoon twirled her wrist and returned to drawing.

At least one thing was certain—her wrist fatigue was reduced.

Deciding to consider it as getting a free wrist guard and being satisfied with that, she refocused on her drawing as usual.

“Well, what if it’s a miss?”

Considering the traits she’d received so far had been so powerful, landing a weaker one occasionally wasn’t so bad.

She hadn’t intended to rely on traits to improve her drawing skills from the beginning anyway.

Frankly, she wasn’t too bothered about it…

– Ring, Ring.

– Ring, Ring.

A phone call came from an unexpected person.

– Oh, it’s me.

It was Jin Ho.

“Hello, Senior, what’s the reason for your call?”

– I’ve been running QA like crazy, hunting for bugs, but it seems there’s really nothing else now. I think it’s ready to release?

“Really?”

– Well, is it fake? Since everything is resolved, don’t worry about it.

Finally, they’d successfully brought Cosplayholic to a releasable state.

– If we just set a pre-order for October 31st, it should be released on schedule. We don’t know how much the initial sales volume will be, but…

Initial sales volume.

Commonly, this refers to the sales volume during the first week of a game or album’s release.

It’s the number that markets keep a sharp eye on, and there was a reason for Jin Ho’s anxiety.

– Honestly, it’s hard to predict. Frankly, I’d consider 500 copies as a hit.

“Five hundred copies?”

– Yeah, if we think about taking off the tax and making ten thousand won per copy, that’s five hundred thousand, and we’d still make four hundred thousand in revenue.

“Planning conservatively?”

– Of course, that’s how it should be…

The visual novel market operates with most income concentrated during the funding phase.

With about a thousand people participating in the Cosplayholic funding, securing 500 copies as the initial sales would mean a big hit.

However, Hayoon had a slightly different view.

“Don’t you think we should aim for at least 1,000 copies in initial sales?”

– Hey, no matter how you look at it, will that actually happen…?

Doubtful Jin Ho, but Hayoon was confident.

“Very soon, there’s going to be a VTuber boom in Korea. I guarantee it.”

– Are we going to benefit from that as we debut a VTuber?

“Exactly that.”

Do you know the average YouTube views of the cover singer, Scarlet?

As much as 50,000. Yes, 50,000.

Even though channels with gold buttons exist, an average of 50,000 views may seem ordinary, but if just 10% of those, 5,000 people, come to watch the broadcast?

And if 10% of those, 500 people, end up buying Cosplayholic?

“Our quality should guarantee selling around 500 copies, and we can estimate another 500 sales from Scarlet’s influence, making it a total of 1,000 copies.”

– You’re always thinking big, huh… Still, if you’re in business, dreams should be big…

Hayoon was confident, whereas Jin Ho seemed still anxious, making some murmurs.

But…

– Alright, let’s set 1,000 copies as our goal. In return, I’ll also start thinking about promotional strategies. Once the game is released, there will probably be some bugs and chaos, so I want to take a break from coding at least until then.

“That sounds good too. Senior, you know so much about VTubers.”

– That’s exactly what I’m saying. Anyway, let’s give it our best.

Despite being anxious, Jin Ho agreed with Hayoon’s thought.

After all, the mental pillar and practical leader of the game release team was Hayoon.

He clearly understood that the project would gain momentum by supporting the leader.

And Hayoon…

“Initial sales volume of 1,000 copies…”

Repeated her next goal once more, then finished the call with Jin Ho.

#

The next day, after school.

“Hmm, hmmm…”

Even after school, Hayoon continued with her drawings.

Arin went home early because relatives were visiting, and Jin Ho had told her to take a rest to account for her past efforts.

Nonetheless, Hayoon stayed in the empty classroom.

Even though it was summer and didn’t require an air conditioner.

The reason for this…

“Sorry for making you wait for so long, our homeroom teacher’s roll calls are kind of long…”

“No worries, I wasn’t waiting. I just came here to jot down some rough sketches.”

It was Hong Seohyun.

At this point, nearing the end of September.

Hong Seohyun’s.

VTuber Scarlet’s debut day was already set for October 1 via a tweet on the company’s official Twitter.

There’s no turning back now.

It was time to check Hong Seohyun’s broadcasting skills and give her feedback.

This was the final inspection Hayoon had called her for.

“Please sit here and look at the phone camera.”

“Uh, okay…”

With facial equipment borrowed from Arin also installed.

Seohyun sat in front of the desk where the equipment was set up, and Hayoon switched between the virtual streaming screen and the camera.

“Okay, this is the camera that will capture your facial expressions. You should keep all your emotional expressions within this camera’s view, got it?”

“Ah, got it. It’s like making a video call, right?”

“Exactly, good thing you understand quickly.”

Next…

“Can you try making various expressions? The more you practice them, the better control you’ll have over your expressions and be able to direct them as you please. You need to control the virtual character’s expressions through your own.”

“But do I really need to do that much?”

“It’s not a must, but it’s a crucial skill when dealing with viewers.”

“Uh, viewers?”

“Yeah, your audiences.”

That’s one of the basics of virtual character use.

Since Hayoon’s virtual was not ready yet, she also sat next to Hong Seohyun and demonstrated by adjusting the camera’s angle.

“See, this makes heart-shaped eyes and brightens up your face.”

“Wow, oh my…”

“You need to check both my expressions and the virtual’s expressions on the screen while practicing this on yourself. Got it?”

‘Beautiful as ever…’

Hong Seohyun had difficulty comprehending Hayoon’s instructions.

After all, working alongside such a beauty was pressuring.

---