The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart

The value of something depends on how it’s used.

Jung Ho-young, the CEO of EYEAI, pondered this thought.

‘A little controversy… isn’t necessarily a bad thing.’

EYEAI was a rapidly rising name in the domestic VTuber industry. However, the VTuber industry in Korea wasn’t considered mainstream.

In neighboring countries, there were dozens of VTubers with over a million subscribers. But in Korea, there were virtually no VTubers who had reached that milestone. Perhaps one or two had achieved it, but they weren’t originally VTubers. They were streamers who later adopted VTuber models.

While the demand for VTubers in Korea was growing, there was still a significant amount of pushback against the concept.

‘Ultimately, we need to think globally.’@@novelbin@@

This was the reason all of EYEAI’s VTubers had Japanese-style names.

Jung Ho-young hadn’t watched many foreign streamers. Language barriers aside, there’s a resistance when it comes to unfamiliar faces.
For a Korean audience, the most familiar face is, of course, a fellow Korean’s. After that, it’s typically other East Asian faces. Based on this logic, Western faces are less familiar.

There was a time when people would say they couldn’t easily distinguish Western faces. Unless one is quite familiar with Western culture, the same probably holds true today.

So ironically, while VTubers may not yet be mainstream in Korea, they might perform better from a global perspective.

No matter the country, there will always be “otakus.” While the number of otakus may be small in each individual country, when you gather them all from around the world, it becomes a significant number.

After all, VTubers with 2 to 3 million subscribers only reached those numbers by gathering fans globally.

‘So from a global perspective, this current controversy is nothing.’

There was a case where a VTuber from a neighboring country got into trouble right after debuting—leaking confidential information. It was a significant issue, and the VTuber ended up retiring within a month of debuting.

However, fans overseas didn’t seem to think it was such a big deal and were fired up over the VTuber regardless.

That’s how it works.
If the VTuber’s model is appealing and their voice resonates with fans, most controversies fade into the background. Especially when it comes to foreign issues, fans often don’t care.

It’s not a huge controversy, after all.
In that case, a small amount of drama could be used to attract attention.

- Knock knock.

"President."

A knock on the door, followed by Rion’s voice.

Jung Ho-young straightened his appearance.

"Come in."

The door opened.

As Rion stepped in, someone followed her with confident, measured steps.

Long black hair, reminiscent of the night sky.
Deep, captivating red eyes.

The sound of heels echoed rhythmically as she strode into the room, showing no signs of tension.

"Hello."

She smiled as she greeted him.

Seeing that smile, Jung Ho-young swallowed slightly. He had heard that she looked exactly like her VTuber model, but he hadn’t expected such an uncanny resemblance.

As he felt the elegant atmosphere surrounding Laura, his conviction solidified. Even when watching her on Anna’s stream, he had sensed something special, but seeing her in person was on a different level.

She needed to be secured.

Before another company could swoop in, it was crucial to bring her into their fold and figure things out later. That would be the smartest move.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Jung Ho-young, CEO of EYEAI."

Jung Ho-young smiled. Since they might be seeing each other often from now on, he wanted to make a positive impression.

"Thank you for making the trip. Today, I’d like to talk about your debut, Aurora. Rion, you can stay and listen as well."

Rion had been preparing to leave the room, but Jung Ho-young’s words stopped her.

"President, is this a serious conversation…?"
"It could be serious. Aurora, you’re aware of the current controversy, correct?"

At the mention of the word "controversy," Rion’s expression grew serious.

In contrast, Aurora maintained her usual smile. From the moment she entered the room, it was clear she was unnervingly calm and unaffected.

"Of course, we’re aware of what happened, and we know Aurora is innocent. But we’ll need a strategy to put this to rest. Fortunately, Rion has done a great job preparing, so let’s discuss that."

===

【Virtual Idol VTuber Gallery】

[General] Looks like EYEAI’s 6th generation is debuting

Aurora Aurora 【EYEAI 6th Gen】
@Aurora_EYEAI
Subscribers: 1 • Videos: 0

The channel is up.

[Comments]

• Are you the one subscriber?
  ㄴ (Author) Yeah
  ㄴ Wow, you’re fast, lol
• Is she the only 6th gen member?
  ㄴ (Author) Only her channel and SNS accounts are up so far.
• Are they debuting just one person for the 6th gen?
  ㄴ Doubt it. They’ve always debuted five per generation.

===

[General] Oh, PV just dropped

(hyperlink)

Looks like they’ve put a lot into the 6th gen debut, lol.

[Comments]

• Her voice is nice.
• Rion edited this video.
  ㄴ (Author) Huh? What do you mean?
  ㄴ Check the credits. It says "Video editing by Nekozuka Rion."
  ㄴ (Author) Oh, you’re right.
  ㄴ So Rion quit VTubing to become an editor? Lol.
• Nice work in Labyrinth VR, lol.
• Is this the first VTuber from EYEAI to focus on Labyrinth VR?
  ㄴ (Author) Rinko’s already doing that.
  ㄴ She’s not playing Labyrinth VR anymore.
• Isn’t she Rion’s cousin?
• Yeah, her voice sounds exactly like Rion’s cousin.

===

[General] Let’s compare

(Clip from Anna’s stream)
(Clip from PV)

Judge for yourself.

[Comments]

• The voices are exactly the same, lol.
• So did they trade Rion’s cousin for her?
  ㄴ What is this, baseball? Lol.
• No way Rion’s cousin actually debuted!
• What’s going on, lol?
• This is hilarious, lol.
• Wait, isn’t that username the one from that Dark Knight who destroyed the commander?
  ㄴ (Author) What’s the backstory on that?

===

"Phew…."

Rion sighed in front of her computer.

-"The company will handle the initial response."
-"If things heat up after the PV is released, Rion, you’ll need to step in."
-"So Aurora, don’t worry about anything."

The words from the president echoed in her mind.

From the company’s perspective, they would want to protect Laura at all costs. Laura was not only skilled at gaming, but she was set to be a VTuber specializing in Labyrinth VR.

Labyrinth VR was currently the most popular game in the world.
The president likely calculated that if Laura could showcase her gaming prowess, international fans would flock to her, and Rion agreed with that assessment.

Their goal now was early containment.

The fact that a controversy had erupted meant people were paying attention. If handled correctly, Laura could launch with a significant number of subscribers.

The plan was to soak up as much attention as possible and explain the situation before public sentiment took a nosedive. The truth was, Laura had done nothing wrong.

‘But the president’s real goal is likely elsewhere.’

The president wasn’t just interested in boosting Laura’s subscriber count. He was probably more focused on tapping into the Labyrinth VR fandom that EYEAI had yet to fully reach.

The VTuber with the most subscribers at EYEAI was Kisaki Rinko, a first-generation member, with around 300,000 subscribers.

No other VTuber from EYEAI had surpassed 300,000, meaning the total fandom size for EYEAI was roughly 300,000.

Not exactly an impressive number.

In contrast, Serenade of the 23rd, once the dominant force in Japan, boasted two VTubers with over 2 million subscribers each.
Meanwhile, Horizon Air, globally popular, had a VTuber with over 4 million subscribers.

Compared to these giants, 300,000 was insignificant.

The real issue was that EYEAI was struggling to grow beyond that 300,000 mark.

As previously mentioned, it’s difficult for subscribers to cross company lines.
Horizon Air, with its 4 million strong fanbase, had little reason to watch VTubers from other companies. Horizon Air already had around 80 VTubers. Why would their fans bother with smaller companies?

It was the same with Serenade of the 23rd. Stealing their fans was nearly impossible.

EYEAI’s strategy, then, was to bring in people who had never watched VTubers before. And the president was likely hoping Laura would be the key to tapping into the Labyrinth VR fanbase.

“…Yes, I need to protect her. I need to protect Laura.”

Rion murmured to herself as she quietly tapped away at her keyboard.

While she didn’t fully agree with the president’s overall thinking, she had to admit the business strategy made sense.

No one wanted to see Laura succeed more than Rion did.

===

Nekozuka Rion @Nekozuka_Rion

[Thank you for your continued support of EYEAI.
As a staff member of EYEAI, I’d like to address the current situation.
The stream will begin at 7 PM.
▼ Stream link]

===

"I hope my fans will come to like Laura too."

Rion whispered after typing the post.

She no longer had any lingering regrets about leaving the VTuber world.

But if she had any remaining attachments, it was her fondness for the fans who had supported her.
Since there was nothing more she could do for them, all she could do now was hope.

Hope that her fans would come to love Aurora as well.

【Would you like to start the stream?】

Rion clicked the "Start Stream" button.