Chapter 73

“Hmm….”

Arin stuck out her lips and waited for the opportunity.

“Well, it’s fine I guess.”

It was a rather aloof response.

In a way, it was a reasonable reaction.

After all, the two of them were practically in an exclusive contract-like relationship.

And yet, Hayoon was planning to outsource the rigging work through someone else. Even without knowing the full details, Arin couldn’t help but feel a little left out.

But then…

“It’s definitely usable.”

She couldn’t simply speak empty words.

The rigging quality of the virtual avatars in the portfolio Hayoon showed her was outstanding. Even if Arin were to invest another month’s worth of effort, she wouldn’t be able to catch up to the level of expertise Hayoon was demonstrating.

So she described it as “usable.”

From looking at the work Hayoon showed, it was clear she had considerable skill, but there was still a small rebellious part of Arin that didn’t want her to use external freelancers when she was around.

Still, by adding “definitely” to “usable,” Arin thought it wouldn’t harm Hayoon’s judgment.

Arin also believed that Hayoon must have had her reasons for not relying on her, probably due to time constraints, which she could vaguely understand.

It was, in a way, a minor rebellion disguised as cooperation.

“To tell you the truth, I’m sorry I couldn’t assign this to you this time. I’d prefer to give it to people within my circle, but because I can see your senior preparing for your broadcast, I thought perhaps I could help you during the early adaptation period.”

“Help? How?”

“You know I stream art, right?”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“Well, I’m about to create a VTuber avatar. If I assign the rigging outsourcing to someone who can meet the schedule this week, it should be ready by mid-October.”

She wanted to assist Hong Seohyun while hosting her own broadcast during this critical adaptation period.

Hayoon explained her choice to outsource rigging, and only then did Arin’s expression relax.

“Oh, thank goodness…”

“Huh? What do you mean, ‘thank goodness’?”

“Ah, never mind. It’s nothing…”

Although Hayoon was a little confused by her abrupt dismissal…

Arin now felt more relieved, having confirmed that the reason was due to uncontrollable circumstances and not her skill or speed.

Arin couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief while smiling slightly.

“Phew, really a blessing.”

She was, by nature, someone who craved recognition.

Her middle school friends and even her parents didn’t understand much of what she was doing, and old friends rarely contacted her anymore.

In Meister High School, where people lived their own separate lives, it was only natural that Arin would crave Hayoon’s occasional praise.

‘Is she joining another team…?’

Thankfully, it seemed Hayoon only had Arin as her exclusive animator.

Arin was satisfied after reaffirming her secure position. But while patting her chest to let out a sigh…

“Breasts…?”

“Huh?”

Arin muttered “breasts” absent-mindedly.

It made so little sense within the context that even Hayoon raised an eyebrow and widened her eyes. After a brief moment of silence, Arin suddenly…

“You, your breasts…”

Hayoon’s breasts were pointed out by Arin’s index finger.

“Why are they growing so fast…?”

It was nothing short of shock.

Not long ago, at the end of last year when Arin first met Hayoon, her bust was only at a “decent size,” but now, it felt like they were almost up to Arin’s chin.

It wasn’t quite reaching Capital C, but Arin could feel it gradually approaching lowercase ‘c.’

“Did you take medication?”

“What, what kind of medication?”

Arin, who was well-versed in the usual growth rate of breasts, couldn’t hide her bewilderment as she poked softly at the area around Hayoon’s boobs. In a panic, Hayoon quickly covered her chest.

“I didn’t take any medication…”

“But you didn’t say NO medication?”

Seeing Hayoon’s irritated response, Arin was left muttering to herself.

Did she mean to say she didn’t take it, but still took something? Arin had heard rumors of certain substances circulating among middle and high school students, ones you could inhale in powder form or directly inject into the bloodstream…

“Right?”

“Never mind, forget that…”

Did Hayoon just read Arin’s wild imagination? With a squeak, Arin snapped back to normal and shrank back into herself.

“Maybe because of your diet? Or genetics? Are you half-blood?”

“You’ve seen my mom. I’m not half-blood.”

“Maybe from your father’s side?”

“Right, seriously…”

“Strange…”

Still, Arin was perplexed by Hayoon’s remarkable development.

Most girls with large busts experience rapid growth during late elementary school or around middle school entry, but Hayoon was still growing in high school!

‘If this is happening, maybe I can grow larger too?’

After pondering a bit, Arin decided to just think positively.

It didn’t make much sense, but she reminded herself that teenagers these days mature much better than previous generations. So perhaps Arin could also continue to grow like Hayoon.

‘Haa, how big does this girl plan to grow…? People are probably starting to notice. This…’

Swallowing her complaints about Hayoon’s perfect development, Arin decided to shift her attention elsewhere. Talking too much about boobs—even with someone as mature as Hayoon—was slightly awkward.

One night in September…

“Alright, everyone, how’s this? Isn’t it pretty?”

– “It’s kinda long.”

– “Choosing character designs is an art. So whatever…”

Hayoon kept the broadcast on while drawing an illustration to be used as Scarlett’s thumbnail, aiming to build a deeper emotional connection between Scarlett and the audience.

This way, when Hayoon later collaborates with her viewers, the resistance would decrease, and on the other hand, after Scarlett’s debut, the audience she gathered could promote and advocate for future collaborations with Hayoon.

At the very beginning of a VTuber’s broadcast career, if collaborations are arranged before the audience builds a proper connection, friction is inevitable. To prevent that, Hayoon was creating a safety mechanism—cultivating an audience that would act as brakes or windbreakers.

“Pretty soon, my original character will be revealed. Probably around mid-October.”

– “Original character?”

– “Really??”

– “Finally! I can now show off your art to people.”

– “Oh man, it took so long.”

Hayoon casually mentioned her original character.

Of course, Hayoon’s first original character was planned to be a virtual avatar, something different from the audience’s expectations. However, given that Hayoon’s live stream audience had been recently seeing her take commissions for overseas VTubers’ illustrations, it seemed like there wouldn’t be much backlash against virtual avatars among her audience.

‘Plus, especially for mine and Seonbae’s avatars, the parts will be more detailed which will result in an extremely high rigging quality.’

Live2D avatars won’t feel flat, and viewers shouldn’t have much trouble adjusting to them.

“Alright, let’s wrap up today by drawing one last picture. Request anything!”

Hayoon skillfully trained her audience and gradually built anticipation for her “signing-off.”

There’s a saying, “Even if you hate someone, you’ll want them to draw one more.”

While she initially might have planned to draw just one more, saying that explicitly before signing off often left the audience more appreciative than disappointed.

“Alright, that’s all for today!”

After drawing a polymorphed Dragon girl whose reproductive area was covered by scales, Hayoon could retire amidst the audience’s cheers.

“I’m glad you’ve started to understand my philosophy. See you all later!”

During the early broadcasting days, many viewers used to ask audacious questions like, “What’s the difference between a furry and a monmusu?” and even accused Hayoon of drawing furries.

But now, they’ve grown to understand the difference between a harpy with bird heads and a monmusu with human features except for clawed legs and winged arms.

Even today, while drawing a Dragon girl who isn’t a furry but a monmusu, with scales and scaly underwear covering certain regions, the audience sent enthusiastic chats and truly enjoyed Hayoon’s drawing session.

Hayoon felt somewhat proud as she headed to the kitchen for a drink after ending her satisfying broadcast…

“Huh?”

For some reason, there was a box placed next to her room’s wall.

Hayoon could vaguely guess its contents.

This was…

“A photo book?”

It was a photo book.

Whether it was from Cosplayholic or someone’s Cosplay of Scarlett, one thing was certain—it was complete.

Returning to her room, Hayoon fetched a cutter knife before heading back to the box.

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