[Meanwhile — Masters HQ, central Tokyo]
A skyscraper in the middle of Tokyo. Floors twenty-five through thirty, all six of them occupied by Masters Inc.
The moment a visitor steps into the elevator hall, what hits them is an entire wall of portraits of the VTubers on the roster.
Their combined subscriber count is over fifty million. The largest VTuber production house in Japan, no qualifiers needed.
Reigning at the very top of it is Seira Hououin, four point two million subscribers to her name. Her revenue alone matches the total revenue of a mid-sized talent agency.
On the top floor, in the executive conference room, an emergency remote meeting was under way. Floor-to-ceiling glass gave a full view of the Tokyo skyline, and a large monitor showed the faces of several participants.
This was the summit itself, the room that ruled Japan's virtual entertainment industry.
"Captain... Seira, let's take this one carefully."
The middle-aged man in a suit on the screen, Furuya, head of sales at Masters, sounded worried.
"A collab with a stray indie VTuber is too high-risk. If it catches fire it could spread to the rest of the Masters roster."
On the wall monitor in the conference room, highlights from last night's stream were playing. The clip of YUICA♡ roasting the Captain looped over and over.
"The buzz is outstanding, though."
A young manager on another screen spoke up, reading off a document.
"Social shares, search volume, every metric is at this year's high. It would be a waste to let the moment pass."
Seira Hououin, on the main screen, sat in a chair in casual clothes. Red hair pulled back into a ponytail, relaxed, nothing like her usual intimidating air.
"Heh. You do worry, don't you, Furuya."
"But Captain, she's a rookie with a mere four hundred thousand subscribers. And the format of the match isn't even decided."
Director Furuya pressed on, anxious.
"Roasting is your genre, Captain, but what she's doing is close to her real self. That isn't pro wrestling, it's a real fight."
"Which is exactly what makes it interesting."
Seira smiled from the other side of the screen.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Seira waved a hand airily.
"We're doing this on my turf, so as a small mercy I'm going to let her choose the format."
"Whaaat?" Director Furuya was appalled.
"You're handing her favorable terms?"
"Winging it? Is that safe..."
A worried voice from another screen.
"Hmph. You know how good I am at improvising."
Seira gave a fearless smile.
"I focus better when there's no script. Honestly, I can't picture losing."
Just then another person appeared on the call.
"Captaaain! 'Tis an emergency!"
The one who had barged onto the screen was the Galactic Opera Fleet's vice-captain, Luna Hoshino. Blue hair in twintails, an endlessly energetic junior VTuber.
"Luna, we're in a meeting."
"Never mind that, pray look at this!"
Luna shoved a tablet up to the camera, filling her window with it.
"YUICA♡'s subscriber count has already broken five hundred thousand, it has! Plus one hundred thousand last night alone, I say!"
"What?"
The conference room stirred.
"And fan art and doujin work are getting posted nonstop, she's gone completely viral, she has! There's no way the Captain loses, obviously, but purely by the numbers it's genuinely incredible, it is!"
"Well, she's the one I picked out. Figures."
Seira sounded impressed.
"Captain, isn't this getting a little bad?"
Next to show her face was the fleet's comms officer, Amane Sonata. A cool green-haired beauty, the fleet's data analyst.
"Statistically, her growth rate is an outlier. At this pace, depending on how the collab with you goes, there's a high probability she reaches a million."
"And also..."
Amane's expression turned grave.
"The industry press has started paying attention. VTuber Weekly, Digital Entertainment Frontline, Animeitist. The majors have all filed requests to cover the battle."
"Tch. Is someone working this behind the scenes?" Director Furuya went pale.
"This is well past the scope of a simple collab. It's turning into an incident the whole industry is watching!"
Against the young manager's excitement, Director Furuya's face abruptly went serious.
"May I say something?!"
Director Furuya raised a hand.
"She's a promising talent we've already made an offer to. Why not postpone the collab and push her to sign with us on generous terms?"
"Huh?" Luna was startled.
"That would look like fleeing the collab battle, I say! No! There is no world in which the Captain flees!"
"It isn't fleeing. It's a strategic decision."
Director Furuya put a document up on the screen.
"If we get YUICA♡ into Masters, we kill the independents' great hope and we lock down a candidate for our next ace. Two birds, one stone."
"Besides, if by some chance the Captain were to lose..."
A heavy silence went through the conference room.
"Ha! Now it's getting fun."
Seira's eyes were sparkling.
"Captain! Captain! ☆Suggestiooon!"
This time the engineer, Kohaku Akane, appeared. Pink hair, permanently hyper, the baby of the fleet.
"If you beat YUICA♡, why don't we take her into the fleet as a traineee~?"
"Huh?"
"It'd be fun♪ A roast-type crew member is like, super new~☆"
"A most excellent notion!" Luna clapped her hands.
"Something like 'Trainee Navigator YUICA♡'! The Lady type loses and ends up the Captain's subordinate⭐︎ That's straight out of a light novel, that'd be great!"
"And if we put terms like that on the table and then lose?" Amane asked coolly.
"We're not gonna lose~!" Kohaku puffed out her chest.
"There is no chance whatsoever of the Captain losing!" Luna piled on.
"People, could you all take this a little more seriously..." Director Furuya held his head in his hands.
"Furuya."
Seira opened her mouth slowly.
"Postponing the battle... is off the table."
"Now hold on, Captain?"
"I want to fight that girl."
Seira's eyes went serious.
"Not calculation, not strategy. I purely want the match."
Seira stood and looked out the window. There was something lonely in her profile.
"Do you remember why I became a VTuber?"
"That was..."
"Because I wanted to enjoy my life more. Much, much more."
Seira turned around.
"Watching YUICA♡ made me realize something. That girl is purely enjoying herself."
"She isn't calculating anything. She just streams exactly as she feels."
Seira's expression clouded a little.
"When did I start thinking like this, I wonder. I have to carry everyone. I have to be perfect."
Silence settled over the conference room.
And then Seira spoke, slowly.
"Decided. The next long holiday, when the viewers are all free! May third, eight p.m. We do it as a simultaneous stream!"
"Three weeks out?" Director Furuya checked.
"Yes. It's more interesting if we both get time to prepare, isn't it?"
"And the format is left to her?"
"YUICA♡ will come at me with life advice. Guaranteed."
"Huh?"
"It's her strong suit, isn't it? If I were her, that's what I'd do."
Seira took a thin notebook out of her desk drawer.
"Over the next three weeks, I'm going to analyze that girl completely."
"Captain..."
"There's nothing more foolish than fighting someone you don't know."
"But three weeks gives her time to grow too, doesn't it?" Amane pointed out.
"Which is what makes it interesting."
Seira gave a fearless smile.
"We both prepare with everything we've got and fight at our best."
"Besides... the truth is, on life advice I have an advantage of my own."
"Meaning?" Amane asked, interested.
"Before I was a VTuber, I worked at one of those companies that chews people up."
Seira's voice dropped a little.
"I was taking my colleagues' and juniors' problems practically every day. Relationships, work stress, fear about the future..."
"Captain..."
"YUICA♡ is natural and appealing, no question. But on life experience, I'm the one who's ahead."
Seira let her confidence show.
"That girl only knows me as a VTuber. But my real age is thirty-one. There's a whole accumulated past she has no idea about."
"Three weeks is enough to remember the art of reading people I built up in my office years."
"That's our Captain..."
"But."
Seira looked off into the distance, as though remembering something.
"Watching her, I keep thinking. She's so completely herself. I envy that."
"...I'm starting to look forward to three weeks from now."
Just then Luna threw up a hand.
"Captaaain! May we run support streams too?"
"Of course. Let's all build it up together."
"Yesss! We shall cheer the Captain on, we shall!"
The conference room lifted all at once.
Watching them, Seira murmured, very quietly.
"YUICA... struggle properly for three weeks. And then entertain me."
[Back to Misaki]
Ping♪
A notification chimed on the phone.
"Oh, a message from the Captain!"
Yui checked the screen.
May 3rd, 8 p.m. Venue: the Galactic Opera Fleet channel. The format is yours to pick. Take the three weeks and prepare properly. Don't you dare run, Landmine Princess.
Yui and I looked at each other.
"Three weeks..."
"Big sis, this is a chance."
Yui's eyes were sparkling.
"Three weeks is enough to make you stronger."
"Stronger, how..."
"It means there's time to sharpen your life-advice technique and level up your actual ability."
I was wavering.
After coming this far, is it really okay for it to be me?
She's the number one VTuber in Japan. I'm just an amateur.
But I thought back over the streams so far.
The anger when someone mocked the pigs. That wasn't a lie.
There's something I want to protect.
I typed a reply at the screen.
Understood. Then let's settle it with life advice.
You gave me three whole weeks to grow. I'm going to make you regret that.
Yes. This is my choice.
Nobody pushed me into it.
I decided, myself, to stand and take this fight.
"Yui."
"What?"
"I'm taking three weeks off work! ...Come up with a plan to train me!"
Yui smiled at me.
"Leave it to me, big sis."
What I've built together with the pigs.
I'm not letting anyone break it.
Twenty days until the showdown with the number one VTuber in Japan.
(To be continued)
Next time: "Training begins! Twenty days of forging Misaki."