My previous life.
A sturdy 25-year-old man from South Korea.
But now, I’m a 16-year-old Japanese high school girl.
There’s no confusion about my memories or identity.
After my memories returned at the age of 10, I spent almost a year pondering and organizing those things.
Even though I have memories of my past life, I’m still a 16-year-old girl living right now, and I don’t have any particular aversion to living as a girl.
Before I regained my memories, I had lived as an ordinary girl for 10 years.
But I still have memories from my past life, and it seemed impossible to completely throw them away.
So the conclusion was: let’s do whatever I want.
I’m the type of person who enjoys watching one more episode of anime or playing one more round of a game rather than worrying about these things.
Above all, being a social outcast with no friends is the same regardless of the situation…
That’s an unchanging truth and destiny…
“Ha.”
And what I’m currently looking at is one of the many VTuber communities.
─────────────────
[Virtual VTuber Minor Gallery]
[Title: This guy just looks like a successful VTuber, upvote! lol]
[Author: ㅇㅇ]
Izumi Kainoh Ding!
A text notification rang from my phone.
[Manager: Kainoh-san, would you be okay with scheduling a collaboration with one of the second-generation members tomorrow?]
…What?
★
Star’s Flow is a bad company.
I can say this again and again.
Star’s Flow is a bad company!
Working during Golden Week, demanding ridiculous concepts from a guy like me, and even ordering me to do a collaboration broadcast with my peers this time.
This kind of outrageous behavior can only be explained if Star’s Flow is an evil entity.
It makes no sense to me.
My peers have already been broadcasting for nearly three weeks. No, they are already well-known professional streamers in the community where “previous life” is entirely exposed.
And they want a complete newbie like me, who has only been on air three times, to do a collaboration?
That makes zero sense!
Even beyond that, my peers have probably built their relationships over the past three weeks.
To ask someone like me, a social outcast, to dive into that mix…
…Is tomorrow the day the Earth should end instead?
Am I supposed to just follow their conversation topics and reply accordingly?
If I could do that, then I would have friends!
Isn’t it the same as talking in chat without seeing each other’s faces while on air?
Chat allows me to pick and choose what I want to read!
I can see the future.
The collaboration will bring down the vibe, and if I break that mood, I can see a future where I blurt out nonsense and ignite the community in flames.
No, I have to say no to this.
[Kainoh Izumi: Hey, Manager. About the collaboration tomorrow…]
[Manager: Yes. The opponent is Suzuha.]
[Kainoh Izumi: W-well…]
[Manager: Is there some kind of problem?]
And the benevolence of the manager’s text conveyed good wishes for my broadcast.
[Kainoh Izumi: …It’s nothing. Thank you.]
Well, if I could speak up at a time like this, I wouldn’t be a social outcast with a communication impairment…
Damn it.
★
My first collaboration partner, Sekuga Suzuha.
Her real name was definitely Komachi Yuyika.
Anyway, Suzuha was honestly the most impressive peer in my memory.
Not to mention, she was an incredibly cute girl.
I’m short.
Last time I checked, I was 151cm, which is far below the average height of 163cm.
Well, I don’t mind since I’m a super cute little girl with my charm, right?!
I still believe I can grow taller?!
…Anyway, I’m short.
So before meeting the second-generation peers, I naturally thought I would be the smallest.
But what do you know?
There was someone shorter than me.
And that was Suzuha.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if it were Yukari.
I had heard from the manager that Yukari’s concept is that of a middle school girl with a complex.
But Suzuha’s concept was that of an angel who ran away from heaven.
When you think of an angel, you typically picture a holy, cool, and beautiful adult woman, right?
But a cute girl who looks 7-8cm shorter than me is an angel?
…Oh, maybe I could say she’s an angel in another sense.
Moreover, Suzuha was the oldest among us.
She’s actually 24 years old, which is 8 years older than me.
That gap was so cute that Ayaka absentmindedly patted her head.
But on the other hand, she claimed to be the oldest and spat out some angelic remarks.
However, Suzuha’s deep purple ponytail, pitch-black eyes, and sharp cat-like face left an enormous impact on my mind, amplified by her age and height discrepancies.
Her being my first collaboration partner?
It might not be bad after all.
Since Suzuha is aware of her role as the oldest among the second-generation members, she’s been the one to talk to me the most.
She even has a nurturing mother-like quality; Suzuha is impressive…
Maybe she could become my first friend in this life…?
★
[Kainoh Izumi☆Star’s Flow @KainoIzumi · 12 min ago]
Today, I’m finally doing my first collaboration with my peer, Suzuha?!
https://ontu.be/XXXXXXX
#Star’sFlow2ndGeneration#KainohIzumi#SuzuhaKoga
★
[【Chat】 Today, I’ll have a conversation with the kind angel… #KainohIzumi#SuzuhaKoga#Star’sFlow]
The broadcast will be held on my channel.
The other peers have already managed to monetize their channels during my two weeks of self-imposed hiatus.
But my number of videos is still lacking, so I’m a bit far from being eligible for monetization.
So, to get through monetization applications faster, Suzuha suggested that we broadcast on my channel.
Suzuha is so kind….
-─(≧▽≦)>IzumiIzumi!
-─(≧▽≦)>IzumiIzumi!
The number of viewers waiting in real-time is about 3,000.
Once the broadcast starts, surely that number will increase.
I have to engage in a dialogue with someone else in front of so many people?
…Am I going to experience my second death today?
“Ugh, ugh….”
[Izumi-chan, are you okay?]
Through the headphones, Suzuha’s voice came through.
Her calm yet gentle voice.
For most people, just this voice alone would ease their nerves and heal them, but unfortunate for me, it felt like another poison.
“Th-that, is it okay? Are you okay? Huh? Is it okay?”
[Try to take a deep breath slowly. There’s still a bit of time before the broadcast starts.]
Following Suzuha’s advice, I slowly closed my eyes and drew in a breath.
I could feel my wildly pounding heart.
“Whoo, whoo.”
When I quietly opened my eyes to look at the monitor, there was a frame hanging with some text.
[Natsune Nanase: Are you okay? If you’re having a hard time, let me know. I’m your senior, so I’ll do my best to help!]
Ah, this feeling of healing.
Even with my trash-level self-esteem, with Natsune’s encouragement, I can endure…
[Have you calmed down?]
“Yes, yes. I feel much better.”
It seemed I could talk at least at the level needed for broadcasting.
[Then shall we slowly start?]
When I glanced at the clock after hearing Suzuha’s words, it was 4:59.
Just as she said, it was time to start the broadcast.
“…Ha.”
After taking a deep breath one last time, I quietly lowered the waiting screen.
“C-conzumi~. I’m Kainoh Izumi, a mood maker dreaming of a world where everyone can smile! A member of Star’s Flow…!”
-High Izumi!
-High Izumi!
-You seem more off than usual today, lol.
-Calm down! Everyone was expecting this result anyway.
And after confirming the flood of welcomes from viewers following my greeting, I continued speaking.
“As I mentioned, today, we’re joined by Suzuha!”
At that moment, Suzuha’s avatar appeared on my broadcast screen.
With knee-length snow-white hair adorned by a diamond-shaped golden ring on top.
And beneath her soft, greenish eyes, the teardrop points grabbed attention.
The silver frilled sailor uniform behind her had small wings fluttering slightly.
With her cuteness matching her smaller stature, she truly radiated a noble atmosphere that screamed angel.
…It feels like purification.
[Suzuha~! I’m Suzuha Koga, the angel who wants to be praised by everyone from Star’s Flow!]
-Suzuha~!
-Suzuha~!
-Let’s take good care of Mei-chan, Suzuha!
-Will Suzuha’s social skills help boost Mei-chan’s communication skills? (´･ω･`)?
…That might not be possible, right?
