Chapter 107
Chapter 107
"Sorry...! I'm late...!"
Inagika shouted in a trembling voice.
This was a café. In fact, it was a café near Chel's house.
At this place, Inagika was meeting Chel one-on-one.
"Yes."
Normally, a person would encourage them by saying they weren't late, but Chel was her usual self with a short reply. Although Inagika thought they had become quite close, Chel's communication skills were still abysmal...
"Yeah... sorry for being late...."
Inagika bowed her head and immediately took a seat.
Laura and Sora might not know, but Inagika had actually been hanging out with Chel quite a bit recently.
Once upon a time, Chel had seemed like someone who excluded everyone else, but living temporarily at Laura's house seemed to have softened her a bit. Inagika thought she was easier to approach than before.
So, Inagika had suggested they try a TRPG together.
— "Sure." — "I was interested."
Chel was a VTuber who excelled in voice acting. And such VTubers often showed a lot of interest in TRPG broadcasts.
In reality, Inagika was preparing for a TRPG broadcast.
However, even though she liked TRPGs, she didn’t have much experience. Due to her shy nature and being somewhat of an outsider, she had only held an interest without ever having the opportunity to play properly.
That’s why she wanted to participate in an external collaboration for TRPGs, but she felt a bit scared about collaborating with unknown VTubers.
Thus, it had only been recently that she had managed to convince Chel to try an external TRPG collaboration. As a result, she felt considerably closer to Chel than before.
"Um... but is it just us...?" "Yes."@@@@
Chel nodded at Inagika's question.
"Sora isn't coming." "...Really?" "She said she's busy."
That was a bit disappointing, but also felt like a blessing in disguise...
After all, it was a gathering of the 6th generation excluding Laura. Of course, Laura wouldn’t get mad about this much, but still, wouldn't she feel bad...? Thinking about that made Inagika feel slightly guilty.
In that sense, meeting with just Chel seemed like a better idea. If Sora had been there, it might have felt like they were isolating Laura.
"So, what about the draft? How's it going...?" "Laura got selected."
With that, Chel showed the broadcast screen.
Cerberus, Gryphon, Leviathan. Three teams had selected Laura.
"Wow... three teams picked her at the same time...?"
Inagika was astonished.
Not long ago, Chel had suggested watching to see if Laura would get picked in the Fantasy League draft.
After all, the Fantasy League was the biggest tournament in the VTuber industry. If Laura made it, it would be a huge deal.
'...Though it feels like she's a bit further away now.'
From the moment they met, Inagika felt that Laura was an extraordinary presence. Should she say she was like a star? Someone shining from afar, who felt unreachable even if she stretched her hand... that kind of feeling.
However, the reason Inagika and Chel could stay close to Laura was that they were all in the same company and part of the same generation. That’s why she thought they could maintain a good connection.
Oshi. Oshi is written in Japanese as '推し', using the kanji for 'push', which implies 'the person I support'.
In Korea, it’s often translated as ‘favorite’, but there’s a considerable difference in meaning between oshi and favorite. It can’t be said to be an exact translation. It feels like they are just using the term ‘favorite’ because there isn’t another suitable word.
Of course, Anna-senpai would know this difference, but it seemed like she intentionally called Laura her favorite, as Laura didn’t know much about subculture yet.
"I didn't know she was Anna-senpai's oshi." "......."
What do you even know?
It was a well-known story that Anna-senpai was infatuated with Rui, even within EYEAI.
[Wow! Laura and Rui! My favorites are on the same team! Wow!!!!!] [I get how you feel, but lower your voice. It's hurting my ears.] [How can I be quiet?! This is amazing!]
Look. Anna, who was doing a simultaneous viewing with Laura, was bouncing off the walls, wasn't she? That person, who listened well to Laura, was still causing a ruckus even after Laura had warned her.
'...Chel really is on her own wavelength.'
So, Inagika felt her self-esteem subtly boost. She felt somewhat better than Chel.
【Team Cerberus Tier 3 Selection: 'Shiroki Anna' from EYEAI】 【Team Behemoth Tier 3 Selection: 'Orga Hansen' from 23:00 SerenadeKR】 【Team Gryphon Tier 3 Selection: 'Kuroko Lambert' from Horizon AirEN】 【Team Leviathan Tier 3 Selection: 'Barabara Lian' from Personal】
[Aaaah!! Why is this happening!!!!!]
Then, even after the Tier 3 selection, Anna was still going wild.
[W-why?! Why Cerberus??? Laura's in Leviathan! Rui's in Leviathan too! I wanted to go to Leviathan too!! Why didn’t Leviathan pick me!!]
What a scene.
From a third-party perspective, it was quite funny, but of course, she didn't bother to express it. After all, Anna was a senpai.
"Ah, Anna-senpai got picked too... Although the team is different, it's still good to get picked, right...?" "Right."
It seemed like players from the same Fantasy League often collaborated, even if they were on different teams.
After all, isn't that what the goal is?
It’s a tournament where various VTubers from different countries gather, including some from major companies. Just collaborating with them could yield subscriber benefits. If they form connections? That would be a big gain.
Given that being drafted is no easy feat, it was impressive that Anna had made it, even if they were on different teams.
'I'm not sure why Anna-senpai got picked...'
It was understandable that Leviathan picked Laura since she was part of their set, but why Cerberus picked her was unclear. However, since it was a professional gamer's choice, there must have been some deep reasoning behind it.
In any case, it was slightly amusing to see a familiar name, but after that, only names she didn’t know came up from Tier 4 onward.
There were a few names she had heard of, but that was about it. Since they weren’t VTubers she was familiar with, Inagika felt it was somewhat boring.
【Team Cerberus Tier 4 Selection: 'Choi Changyoung' from 23:00 SerenadeKR】 【Team Behemoth Tier 4 Selection: 'Muraya Rei' from Horizon Boys】 【Team Gryphon Tier 4 Selection: 'Yoshino Aina' from Horizon Air】 【Team Leviathan Tier 4 Selection: 'Inui Kirin' from Personal】
【Team Cerberus Tier 5 Selection: 'Ushimii Jin' from Dakapo Andante】 【Team Behemoth Tier 5 Selection: 'Elena' from 23:00 SerenadeKR】 【Team Gryphon Tier 5 Selection: 'Mary Arma' from Horizon Air】 【Team Leviathan Tier 5 Selection: 'Kaga Mero' from Blizzard Spot】
【Team Cerberus Tier 6 Selection: 'Kazama Izumi' from Ink Palette】 【Team Behemoth Tier 6 Selection: 'Suzuki Tooru' from 23:00 SerenadeKR】 【Team Gryphon Tier 6 Selection: 'Michelle Antique' from Horizon AirEN】 【Team Leviathan Tier 6 Selection: 'Ayano Kouji Sora' from EYEAI】
...
...Huh?
"...Sora?"
Inagika blinked at the sudden mention of Sora's name.
It was just five seconds before Anna's jealousy was about to explode.
LRAB