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?

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Chapter 8: Long Story Short, Things Have Gotten Tense at Work (Crying)

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The day after Aoi and Kohaku finished their recording, the man who had escaped from his black company, found a new dream, and was now working with full enthusiasm at the agency his oshi belonged to, came into work cheerfully.

“Good morning… Huh?”

The first to notice something unusual was Ren, who had a knack for reading the room. He felt a number of gazes all seemingly directed at him.

Huh? Do I have something on my face…? Oh no, did I forget to wash off the cleanser this morning?!

Panicking, he patted his face, but there was no trace of cleanser left.

What is it… Did I mess something up?

He thought back over his work from yesterday and earlier, but nothing came to mind.

Should I ask Ōno-senpai?

For now, he decided to check his tasks for the day.

Let’s see… Kurama-san’s morning livestream starts at 9. Can’t miss that one… Oh, nothing too urgent this morning, maybe I’ll catch up on some of Aihara-san’s stream highlights. Then in the afternoon at 2, there’s a meeting with the client about Kurama-san’s sponsorship project… That company, I’ve worked with them back at my previous job…

“Yo, good morning~”

Just as he finished reviewing his schedule, Ōno arrived at the office.

“Ah, Senpai, could I—”

“Excuse me, Ōno-san. May I have a word?”

Before Ren could speak, the general manager wearing glasses called out to Ōno.

“Sure, what is it?”

Ōno glanced at Ren, gave him an apologetic wave, and turned to talk with the manager. As the manager spoke, Ōno began to frown more and more.

“…Got it. I’ll look into it.”

“Thank you.”

Finishing their conversation, Ōno walked over to Ren.

“Senpai, did something happen?”

“Yeah, kinda… Ren, let’s talk outside for a bit.”

“Huh? Okay.”

Surprised by the sudden request to step out, Ren nonetheless followed Ōno outside.

“So, what was that about?”

“It’s about you. Since yesterday, there’s been a rumor going around… That ‘Ren Hiori committed violent acts during university.’”

“…Huh?”

The sudden slander left Ren stunned.

“That came out of nowhere and it’s a pretty specific rumor, too.”

“Exactly. Only someone who knows your past could’ve started it… Meaning either me or Gomi.”

“I’ll ask just in case, but it wasn’t you, right, Ōno-san?”

“Of course not. If it were me, I’d spread something way more believable.”

“So, it’s Gomi-senpai again…?”

“Yeah. Again.”

Both of them let out a sigh of exasperation.

“For now, since you didn’t do it, we can just ignore it, right?”

“Right. Blowing it out of proportion would just inconvenience others anyway.”

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“So, that’s the situation. I’d really appreciate it if you could disregard the rumor going around the office.”

“Understood. I’ll notify the other employees as well.”

Ren explained the situation to the general manager, and for the time being, the rumors seemed to settle down. However, once people started to harbor doubts, it wasn’t easy to go back to how things had been. More and more people at the office began to treat Ren coldly.

“Here are the documents.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Sure. Excuse me.”

“…”

A few days later, Ren was handed some materials for a meeting in an indifferent manner.

I knew it wouldn’t blow over that quickly.

He understood how they felt, so he chose not to comment on it.

Anyway, time to head to the meeting with Kurama-san and Aihara-san…

He organized the documents he needed and walked toward the conference room. Just then, from around the corner of the hallway leading to the room, he overheard Aoi and Gomi talking.

“—But Hiori-san denied it.”

“Of course he did. It’d be inconvenient for him. In any case, you shouldn’t get too close to him. You never know what he might do.”

Apparently, Gomi was warning Aoi about the rumor.

“And what’s management even doing? You’d think they’d look into whether there was any violent incident or not.”

He shrugged exaggeratedly, criticizing Ren.

“Hello, Gomi-senpai, Aihara-san.”

Having overheard the conversation, Ren chose that moment to step in.

“…Hello.”

“Oh. Speak of the devil…”

“Something wrong?”

With a faint smile, he greeted them without acknowledging the conversation he had just heard.

“Well, I don’t know who started it, but you’ve got it rough. To have a rumor like that spread just after joining the company.”

“Yeah, seriously. Whoever it was, they’re a real pain in the ass.”

“…Is the rumor true?”

Aoi asked Ren directly.

“Who knows? They say bullies forget, but victims remember. Maybe I hurt someone without realizing it.”

“Yeah, that sounds like something you’d do.”

Gomi said, butted in, clearly trying to provoke him. Ren ignored him and handed the materials he had prepared to Aoi.

“These are the documents for the meeting. Just thought I’d give them to you in advance.”

“Thanks.”

“Heh.”

Aoi thanked him, while Gomi snatched the documents half-aggressively.

“Well, shall we go? Kurama-san is probably waiting.”

With that, Ren entered the meeting room. The other two followed.

“Yo. Good work.”

“Ah, you’re here!”

Ōno and Kohaku were already in the conference room, all set for the meeting to begin.

“Alright, let’s get started. Today’s meeting is about the product collaboration between Toudou-san and Amairo-san. We’ll show them the concept proposals from the client and get their input to consolidate the direction of the collaboration.”

“Ooh!”

“Yay!”

“Let’s wrap this up quickly so we can go home on time~”

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Chapter 9: Hollow Echo Anything-Goes Commentary Thread Part 1

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※Attention※

This thread is for discussing Hollow Echo. Hate comments and meaningless trolling are off-topic. Take it elsewhere.

369 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

No matter how many times I hear it, Kohaku-chan’s singing is the best~

367 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

I’m just a regular office worker fan, but when I listened to that song cover during work, my boss ended up liking me more.

368 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Why though?

369 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Apparently, my boss is also a Kohaku-chan oshi. We’re going out for drinks now.

370 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Congrats.

371 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Come to think of it, are we getting any new talents this year?

372 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

It’s been two years since the 2nd gen debut. We probably are bound to get new talent soon.

373 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

I’m curious about the official staff too.

374 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Because even though Mitsuri-chan is super high-spec, she’s got that lovable airhead trait. Topping that is gonna be tough.

378 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Sorry, I just became a Hollow Squirrel this spring. Can someone break down Mitsuri-chan’s specs for me?

379 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Name: Madobe Mitsuri Hikari

High Specs:

Studied computer engineering in college, so she’s great with tech.

Helped resolve a hardware issue during the 2nd gen 3D debut stream.

Understands programming languages.

Blazing fast typing.

Adapts quickly to new games.

Airhead Traits:

Clumsy in sports ← cute

Forgets schedules ← cute

Gets flustered when praised ← cute

Not flexible ← cute

Cute ← cute

That’s about it.

380 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

>>379 Hey, what’s up with that last bullet point?

381 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

>>379 Well, at least now we know you’re a Hikari-chan oshi.

382 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Sure, the talents are all cute, but the people behind the scenes are just as charming in their own way.

383 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Breaking news: Manager of Kohaku Toudou allegedly committed violent acts in the past.

Source ↓

https://vitter.com/Xes/19186382378768

384 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Huh?

385 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

This isn’t looking good.

386 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

The person who posted that XY link also leaked Hollow Echo stuff before, right?

387 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

So that means it’s kinda credible?

388 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Nah, articles like this are usually sketchy.

389 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Yeah, this guy always exaggerates the truth a little. Last time, he claimed a staff member from another agency was a molester, but the official statement said it was a false accusation.

390 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Molesting… Something I’ll never have to worry about since I never leave my house.

391 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Then you better watch out for false accusations of online slander, my dude~☆

392 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

We’re staying calm here since we already know this guy, but the normies are raging right now.

393 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

My IRL friend (a hardcore Kohaku-chan oshi) called me in a fury. I told him to chill.

394 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Well yeah, if your precious oshi is working with someone who might be a criminal, you’d be upset too.

395 Anonymous Hollow Squirrel

Punish the criminal! Is Hollow Echo seriously putting criminals next to their talents!?