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? - 4

Chapter 4: Long Story Short, This Is My First Day on the Job

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The week after I received my job offer, I walked into the HoloEco headquarters as a full-time employee.

“…Fuhih.”

Oops. That was definitely a noise only someone sketchy would make. Stay calm, stay calm.

“Buhi.”

Hey! That sounded even worse, Ren Hiori! Where did your composure go!?

“Uh, today’s the training, so… I guess I will head to the training room.”

I looked at the guidance board in the entrance hall and started memorizing the layout of the building.

“Alright, let’s get going then.”

Just as I turned toward the hallway that led to my destination—

“Hey, Ren? Is that you? It’s been a while!”

“…That voice… is that you, Ōno-senpai?”

Someone suddenly called out to me. When I turned around, there was a young man with short hair. I searched my memory and realized he was a senior from my university days. One of the few seniors I was connected with through the university club back then.

“Yeah, long time no see! Never thought I’d run into you in a place like this.”

Back in university, he had relatively long hair, so it took me a second to recognize him.

“I actually just transferred into this company starting today.”

“Oh, for real?! By the way, I’m in charge of the training, so if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask away!”

“Got it. I’m looking forward to working with you!”

Thank goodness. If he’s the one in charge of training, I’ll be able to ask questions comfortably.

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I was led to the training room, and the training began right away. Apparently, I was the only one who joined as a mid-career hire aspiring to be a talent manager, so it was just me and Ōno-senpai in the room.

“Alright, first, tell me the basic duties of a talent manager.”

“Coordinating the talent’s schedule. Managing project progress, handling internal and external coordination and negotiations.”

“Right. On top of that, there’s mental care, motivation management, support for self-fulfillment… Basically, you’re an essential partner to the talent.”

“Yes.”

“Our job is to support the dreams of our talents and give them everything we’ve got. That’s what this role is all about.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Then that’s it for the lectures! The rest is all hands-on!”

“Wait, already?”

I thought there’d be more classroom learning before we started this kind of thing.

“Learning by doing. First, help me with my job. You’ll get used to things that way. Once I decide you’re good to go, training is over. Sounds good?”

“You’re still as rough around the edges as ever. Isn’t someone from higher up going to get mad at you?”

“Training supervisors get to structure the program however they want. There’s some review, sure, but this way is the easiest.”

“Well, if you say so, I guess it’s fine.”

“Alright, then let’s go meet the talent I’m in charge of!”

On the way there, Senpai kept the conversation going.

“Speaking of which, Gomi also works here. Make sure you say hi if you run into him.”

Gomi was another senior from the same university club as Ōno-senpai.

“Gomi-senpai is here too? Got it.”

“Though he’s swamped right now, so you probably won’t get a chance to talk with him much.”

“Did something happen?”

“…Well, his talent is kind of on fire right now. It’s just a small blaze, but we’ve got to put it out thoroughly.”

Scandals weren’t exactly uncommon in the Vtuber world. But since they could damage the image of both the talent and the agency, handling them required careful and thorough measures.

“So, the talent I’m managing is in this room… By the way, are you still keeping up with HoloEco streams?”

“Ah… I’ve started watching them again these past few weeks. My previous job had me too busy to watch anything.”

“I see… Then as a little test, try guessing whose manager I am. My talent is… This girl.”

With that, he opened the door to a room.

“Good morning, Kurama-san.”

“Ah, good morning, Ōno-san. And who’s that behind you?”

A bob-cut woman asked with a clear, gentle voice.

“He’s a junior from my university days. I’ve got him helping me out for training.”

“Hi—I’m Hiori. Nice to meet you.”

I bowed deeply from behind Senpai.

“You’re still bad with women? Even though you like Vtuberss?”

“Vtubers, you see, don’t come out of the screen. Real women move a lot and come way too close, so I’m not great with them.”

“What nonsense are you even spouting… Anyway, here. Figure out who I manage yet?”

“Ooh, a quiz, huh? No need to be nervous, Hiori-san. I think I’m pretty easy to figure out.”

“Uh, umm…”

I replayed the woman’s voice in my head, layering it with the voices of HoloEco’s Vtubers. Currently, HoloEco had 13 talents across three generations. Among them, the one whose voice matched was…

“…Second-generation, Kohaku Toudou-san?”

“Correct! Kon-anba~! I’m Kurama Kohaku, the person behind HoloEco second-gen’s Kohaku Toudou! Nice to meet you!”

“So your real name is your stage name. Nice to meet you.”

“So, he’ll be helping out for a while. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Got it—! Alright, shall we head to the recording?”

“Oh, you’re recording now?”

“Yup. Ren, you’re coming too. See what a Vtuber’s workplace is really like.”

And just like that, I was tagging along for Kurama-san’s recording session.

“Oh, Ren, you’re driving.”

“Isn’t it a bit much to make a newbie drive on his first day?”

“I’ll give you proper directions, so you’ll be fine.”

“Shouldn’t Senpai be doing that!?”

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Thanks to Kurama-san’s directions, I was able to drive smoothly to the studio.

“So this is the studio…”

Getting out of the car, it was my first time seeing a studio meant for filming and recording.

“Pretty big, right?”

“Yes…”

No surprise—it was HoloEco’s state-of-the-art studio, built at a cost of 2.3 billion yen, fully equipped with motion capture, sound systems, and every other production need. It had an overwhelming presence.

“Senpai, what kind of recording is Kurama-san doing today?”

“Let’s see… Today’s a ‘singing cover’ recording. Kurama-san, which studio is number 8 again?”

“Ōno-san… How many times have you been here? It’s this way.”

Kurama-san started walking off, sounding exasperated.

“Hiori-kun, don’t fall behind, okay? All the hallways look the same—it’s easy to get lost!”

“Y-Yes!”

If it’s Kurama-san leading, I’m sure she’ll guide us properly, just like with the car ride. 

With that in mind, I followed her along with Senpai.

“……”

“……”

“……Hey, didn’t we already pass this hallway earlier?”

A few minutes into our walk, Senpai said that.

“N-No way. I mean, maybe you get lost, Ōno-san, but there’s no way I could get lost… R-right…?”

A few seconds of heavy silence passed. Then, Senpai reached a conclusion.

“…We’re lost.”

“Uwaaaah!! I got us lost—!”

“This is bad, we don’t have much time left until the recording…”

While the two of them panicked, I recalled the studio numbers we passed earlier.

“Um… Senpai, Kurama-san. I think it’s this way.”

“Wait, Hiori-kun, you know where it is!?”

“That’s my junior for you!”

If I remember right… We passed Studio 12 not long ago, so… I made sure they were following me and retraced our steps.

“…Looks like we walked right past it without realizing.”

In front of us was a studio door marked with the number “8.”

“…W-Well, letting the junior shine is part of being a good senior!”

“Ōno-san. No excuses, okay?”

“Good job, Ren. Thanks to you, we’re not late to the recording.”

“Well, I’m just glad Kurama-san didn’t have to start late.”

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