I decided to listen to Ryuko a little.

Because I kept seeing myself in her.

"So I thought, I can do this too, right? I’ve done a lot of subculture work. But I didn’t expect Alpha26 to commission me right away either."

"Yeah, yeah."

I’m not an expert but Ryuko’s outfits have that kind of pull.

If even a non-expert like me can tell then it must mean they really sparkle.

Like star candy in a bag of hardtack.

"Um… did you watch the 2nd anniversary video?"

"Yes."

"And you still entrusted it to me?"

"Of course?"

"Why?"

"Why, well…"

Because I can only wear the clothes you make?

That’s the main reason but I can’t bring this up.

My situation is too sensitive to talk about lightly.

"I saw the clothes you made and I liked them."

That wasn’t a lie.

It’s true I couldn’t take my eyes off Ryuko’s clothes.

"S-sniff…"

Drip drip, it started raining.

The window that had been lit by sunlight turned cloudy like someone mixed soap into the air.

VR tech is pretty good these days.

I stood up slowly and sat beside Ryuko.

Beside the pink-dress Black uncle.

"I-I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s been so long since anyone said they liked my art."

"Huh?"

She said she was always top of the class.

I figured she’d lived on praise.

"It’s nice that you’re good at drawing. Congrats on winning first prize. Your art is pretty. Even when I heard stuff like that I couldn’t smile."

Here we go again.

I was getting ready to shut my ears when Ryuko’s next line followed.

"Because even the friends who said that to my face… they weren’t smiling."

Ryuko lowered her head and stared at her interlaced fingers.

Is there anything I can say?

"Don’t take it to heart. It’s normal for congratulations to be hard to give and hard to receive."

When was the last time I congratulated someone purely?

Probably an elementary school birthday party.

It can’t be helped.

You congratulate someone when something good happens to them.

Which means someone else had something worse happen.

Can someone like that smile brightly and congratulate them?

They’re not a saint and they’re not crazy either.

"If it’s not shown in numbers you get even more jealous. Because you start thinking, ‘What’s different between me and them?’"

Still with her head bowed, Ryuko muttered softly.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Ah."

"It’s fine. You can talk casually."

Somehow I’m slipping into casual speech too.

With her crying like this, she feels like a little sister.

Even though I don’t have one.

We stayed silent for a long while.

Once I got used to the rhythm of the rain, Ryuko spoke again.

"People… make mistakes sometimes, right?"

"Yeah."

Same for me.

This whole Vtuber body is the final boss compilation of my mistakes.

"Of course, it’s true I got ahead of myself and tripped on my own."

Ryuko curled in a little as she continued.

"Rigging. Rigging is the work where you add movement and… Alpha26 said they were busy so I said I could handle that much myself."

"Yeah, that one’s definitely self-inflicted."

"Right?"

Ryuko gave a bitter smile and kept going.

"Back then I thought if I let this go, I’d never get a chance like this again. Now that I think about it it’s ridiculous. I couldn’t even do it."

I nodded without speaking.

It’s not my field.

Keeping my mouth shut is smarter.

"After that happened once, they treated me like a witch. No commissions at all. No work means no money. No money means I can’t hire a rigger."

"That must’ve been rough."

There’s nothing I can say.

I didn’t say I understood.

If I said I knew, that would be a lie.

I can’t empathise the way the person involved can.

So I said what I could.

"Still, the clothes you draw are still sparkling."

Ryuko met my eyes.

She lifted her head that had been looking at the floor the whole time.

"You can still do it."

Looking straight into her eyes, I continued.

"I’ll handle the rigging. You just draw what you want to draw."

I can’t rig either.

But luckily, I do have a way to solve the situation.

"It’s not your job to worry about making it move. That’s a programmer’s job."

I organised my thoughts.

Ryuko didn’t answer.

"You draw the clothes and I do the streaming. That’s our role, right? Do what you’re supposed to do."

Ryuko still didn’t speak.

She wasn’t ignoring me.

She was quietly chewing over my words.

"You’re right. It’s my fault."

Ryuko stood up.

No, why are we going there?

"But everyone makes mistakes, right?"

Ryuko smiled.

It wasn’t a bitter smile anymore.

"If I don’t pretend to know my place and cross the line, I’ll be a grasshopper trapped in a box forever."

The fact that metaphors were popping out so easily probably meant she’d been agonising over this for a long time.

"I can jump higher. Seriously."

Ryuko clenched her fist and added one more line.

"I might not be able to jump higher than the box for a while though…"

You didn’t have to add that part.

"Stop thinking about stuff like, can this move if I draw it like this, should I remove this decoration. Forget it. I’ll handle the rigging."

"Shiroring…"

Damn it, I shouldn’t have picked a name like this.

It ruins the mood.

Though Vtuber names are all kind of like that.

I kept my expression steady and continued.

"Draw the best outfit you can draw."

Ryuko nodded slightly.

"The only time I wanted to be a witch was when I was making cute magical girl outfits. Because a girl doesn’t suit me."

"If you’re not a girl then you’re a witch?"

"That’s how it is sometimes."

Ryuko let out a small chuckle and kept talking.

"So does that mean Shiroring becomes my magical girl?"

"Well, I can’t really be a girl but I’ll try."

"That’s a good answer. Magical girls aren’t something you want to be."

I agree.

I don’t want to be a magical girl either.

I grew up watching skintight hero shows.

Everything around us was bright.

Sunlight seeped into the pale wooden walls.

At some point the rain stopped.

There were still raindrops clinging to the window.

"Ugh?"

A messed up sound slipped out of my mouth.

Because Ryuko hugged me.

To her, she’s probably hugging a cute girl but for me it feels like I’m sharing heated brotherhood with a Black big bro, so I’d like her to stop.

If someone else saw, it’d look pretty dangerous.

If those two guys earlier saw, what expression would they make?

The guys who called me 'sexy noona.'

"Ryuko, that’s enough. Stop."

"Just a little more…"

I can’t breathe.

You can only see visuals.

Does hugging like this even mean anything?

* * *

"I already commissioned the avatar for the Korea-Japan grand unification thing."

Who?
Aren’t you dumb enough to get scammed?

"I’m not dumb! It’s someone I know!"

You even have someone you know?
Oh lol.

"You guys probably know them too!"

?
Who is it, seriously?

"I’ll tell you on the day~"

You’re so confident it’s annoying.
If the avatar quality hits then the outfit will be insane.
Won’t it end up like Alpha’s 2nd anniversary lol?

I flinched.

I tried my hardest not to let it show.

So what are we doing today?

"Yeah. What should we do?"

I dug through my game list.

I’ve been doing rhythm games so much lately.

If I’m sick of it then the viewers are worse.

I need to find something else.

Sword games feel like they’d hurt if I get stabbed.

Guns are out too.

If you’re gonna take it easy, go healing game ㄱㄱ

"A healing game?"

I’ve never played one.

It’s the kind of game far away from me.

The Last Farm ㄱㄱ (go go)
Sometimes healing is good.
That one is legit healing.

"Really?"

If it’s a healing game, there’s no risk.

And it’s good for casually talking while you play too.

"It’s just a farming game?"

Don’t read reviews.
If you get spoiled it won’t be fun.

I didn’t bother opening the review window.

It’s a farming game, what could happen?

A cow isn’t going to suddenly ram me.

Then it wouldn’t be healing, it’d be rodeo.

It’s 9,800 won.

That’s cheap enough.

If things go bad, I can just skip one meal.

I pulled up the QR code to pay.

Where did I put my phone?

I remembered tossing it by the bed so it wouldn’t ring mid-stream.

"Guys, one sec. I’m gonna grab my phone to pay."

I pushed my chair back to stand.

Naturally, my eyes fell on the monitor.

[Payment completed!]

"Huh?"

I leaned my face closer to the monitor.

LOL why the zoom in
Hey, I can see your pores

"Did you guys pay?"

Yep, I did.
Yep yep yep, I did.
No, it was me.

"What the hell, these bastards just stole my viewers’ money. So many people bought it for me."

I glanced at the chat.

ㅇㅈ (true)
lol ㅇㅈ

Thankfully the reaction wasn’t bad.

I was nervous.

When you think about how every joke can get pinned to the internet forever, you get careful every time you speak.

"Thank you! I’ll make it fun!"

I thanked them and downloaded the game.

"I’m gonna grab some water too."

Did you go?
lol
ㄷㄱㄷㄱ (waiting…)

I set a water bottle on the desk and stretched out with a long yawn.

Alright, let’s start.

Oh
Wow
The stretching motion ㄷㄷ(excited tremble)

I can’t even stretch however I want.

It’s a pack of hyenas.

I hurriedly lowered my arms and covered my armpits.

It feels like I showed something I shouldn’t have.

Because I couldn’t finish the stretch, it left me feeling itchy and unsatisfied.

Ah
ㄲㅂ (what a shame)

"What do you mean 'what a waste,' what’s the waste!"

The words shot out reflexively.

Even though I know they’re the kind of perverts who like it even more.

Bickering back and forth like that, I entered the world of 'The Last Farm.'

A bucket in one hand and a hoe slung over the other.

"…Is this really healing?"

I thought that, but it was already too late.

I’d been thrown into the enjoyable shackles of primary industry.

A chance to experience the life of a farm serf.

Wow, so exciting.