I Joined the Agency as a Manager to Support a Vtuber, but Somehow I Ended up Becoming the Face of the Company as an Official Staff Member? - 20

Chapter 20: Long Story Short, Drama Was Unfolding Behind My Back

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“Huh…?”

A nasally sound slipped from my mouth without thinking—it happened during lunch break, a few days after starting training.

I was sprawled out on the cushions in the break room, making full use of the space, browsing through HoloEco tweets on my phone when I discovered that Ui Sunabara—also known as Sui Unabara—was apparently under fire.

It seemed like a minor case of “flaming,” sparked not by a broad backlash but rather a small group of die-hard romantics and what were known as “virgin purists”—the kind of people who absolutely wouldn’t tolerate any hint of a man in a VTuber’s life. They appeared to be metaphorically throwing Molotov cocktails. I couldn’t figure out why, so I scrolled through the screen.

“Let’s see, let’s check out that stream in question.”

I found the archive of the casual chatting stream that had supposedly sparked the controversy, popped in my wireless earphones, and began searching for the moment it all began.

『Kon-sui~! HoloEco first-gen’s Sui Unabara here~! Today I’ll be chatting about stuff that’s happened lately and just hanging out~』

It started as a totally normal, casual talk stream. She mentioned how tough dance lessons had been, and how she went out to eat with one of her genmates. There wasn’t any chaos in the comments section either. But then, the moment a certain topic came up, the chat began to speed up dramatically.

『Oh, and also, I was paired up with Acchan for the first time as a training partner the other day~』

『It’s for the narration training, okay? Our agency doesn’t have any male narrators, so we usually outsource them, but the guy who did the narration for that official program the other day—yeah, I was in charge of training him~』

She spoke in her usual laid-back tone, but the chat began to spiral into chaos in direct proportion.

『What? You trained a man? Absolutely unacceptable.』

『I’m disappointed. Unsubscribing.』

『Like, seriously, HoloEco doesn’t need men.』

Criticisms like that began to dominate the comments.

Of course, there were also supportive comments about the story—but naturally, the negative ones stood out more.

『Uh, huh? The chat’s kinda getting crazy… whyyy!?』

Even Unabara-san, the most senior member, sounded bewildered over such a minor controversy. From my perspective, it was completely trivial: just a female talent conducting training for a male staff member. Something that was completely normal in any workplace. And yet, that became the spark for this uproar.

“So this is the terrifying power of unicorns and the die-hard love brigade…”

I didn’t know they were this sensitive.

“Well, time to get back to work.”

That afternoon, I had vocal training with Kurama-san. 

Alright, time to give it my all.

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“Ah, Hiori-kun. Good work!”

“Hello, Kurama-san. Let’s do our best today.”

“Yup! I totally will!”

Hmm? Something felt off. Kurama-san’s voice sounded a little forced—like she was trying too hard to sound cheerful.

“Kurama-san, did something happen?”

“Huh? No, not really, nothing in particular?”

“Really…? It just kind of sounded like you were forcing yourself to sound upbeat.”

“…Ah, you caught me…”

Kurama-san scratched her head, as if giving up.

“If something’s bothering you, please don’t hesitate to say so.”

“No, it’s not that something happened to me. I was just…I was worried about you, Hiori-kun.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You know how Ui-chan’s stream caused a bit of a firestorm, right? And the cause of that… Well, it had something to do with you. I was worried it might have gotten you down.”

“Oh, that’s all?”

I felt relieved—it really wasn’t anything serious.

“It’s not a big deal. But is Sunabara-san doing alright?”

“She was a little shocked at first, but she said, ‘If I let something like this get to me, I won’t survive in this industry,’ and got fired up instead.”

“That’s good to hear…”

“Yup! I’m also totally fine. I’m feeling a hundred times stronger!”

Kurama-san struck a confident pose, flexing her biceps with a playful “Muun!”

“Well then, off I go to vocal training~”

“Got it. Is apple juice okay for your drink?”

“Yup! Thanks as always!”

“No problem. It’s the least I can do.”

Saying that, I headed to the vending machine to get her apple juice.

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“Ehh-ho, ehh-ho, ehh-ho, ehh-ho…”

After yesterday’s stream, I was exercising—my go-to routine for forgetting unpleasant things. Having a gym in the office really came in handy at times like these. After running about 5km on the treadmill, I brought the machine to a stop.

“Phewww…”

It felt like the sweat was washing away all the unpleasant feelings, leaving me refreshed.

“Good work.”

A towel was handed to me from the side.

“So thoughtful. Thanks.”

I wiped my hair with the towel. Then I looked at the towel again. Then I looked at the person who handed it to me.

“Hello, Sunabara-san.”

“Waaahh!?”

“Whoa!”

Startled, I nearly toppled backward, but Hiori-kun, who was standing right in front of me, caught my hand and stopped me just in time.

“S-Sorry, Hiori-kun.”

“No, I’m sorry for surprising you.”

“But why are you here, Hiori-kun?”

“Kurama-san is doing voice training, and I was going to the vending machine to get her a drink, but then I saw someone I don’t usually see here, so I thought I’d say hi.”

“I see…”

It had been a few days since I last saw his face, and suddenly I felt a little guilty.

“Sorry…”

“Hm? If you’re talking about the whole drama incident, don’t worry. I’m fine. If anything, I’m more worried about you, Sunabara-san. You’re not pushing yourself too hard, are you?”

“I-I’m okay. I ate properly today and everything.”

“That’s good to hear. But even if you’re feeling down, please make sure to eat.”

He didn’t seem particularly bothered by the whole incident. Normally, being criticized by countless strangers would make anyone feel awful.

“Still, I was really surprised it even blew up in the first place. Who knew such a tiny thing could set off a firestorm?”

Contrary to my concerns, Hiori-kun spoke like he was genuinely impressed.

“Fans probably have a lot of possessiveness, and being online makes it harder to identify individuals, so emotions are more likely to spiral out of control. That’s probably why it flared up out of proportion.”

“Y-Yeah, I guess… A lot of my fans might be like that.”

“Well, if you think of it as just a reflection of their love for Unabara-san, then…Even the flaming felt kind of inevitable to me.”

“I-I see…”

“On the flip side, people like that have domineering personalities, so if you don’t hold the reins tightly, they’re likely to drag you around.”

“…Yeah. Drag me around, huh…”

My listeners and fans had always supported me. Whenever I hit a wall in my activities, they’d offer suggestions, cheer me on. But maybe that same dedication had morphed into an excessive sense of protection.

“So… I know I’ve never done any streaming myself, so maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, but… If something like this happens again, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your relationship with your fans? I think those people would listen if it came from you, Sunabara-san.”

“…Yeah. You’re right. I’ll give it some thought.”

“Well, I’ll head back now. Don’t overdo it, and be sure to call it a day soon.”

With that, Hiori-kun turned on his heel and left the room.

“…He kind of sounded like a mysterious sage who shows up to give the protagonist advice…”

Taking a page from that sage’s book, I decided to reflect on the kind of relationship I wanted to have with my fans. First, I thought back to how things were when I first started streaming.

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