The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

Whether it becomes poison or medicine depends on how it’s used.

EYEAI’s CEO, Jung Hoyoung, was thinking just that.

“A little controversy… It’s not bad.”

EYEAI had quickly become a notable name in the domestic VTuber industry.

However, it was hard to say that the VTuber industry itself was major in Korea.

In neighboring countries, there were dozens of VTubers with a million subscribers.

But in Korea, there was barely anyone who had reached that milestone.

To be precise, there were maybe one or two, but they weren’t originally VTubers. They were streamers who eventually got VTuber models.

Although the demand for VTubers in Korea was gradually increasing, many still held resistance toward the concept of VTubers.

“In the end, we need to go global.”

That was why all of EYEAI’s VTubers had Japanese-style names.

Jung Hoyoung hadn’t watched many foreign streams.

The language barrier was one thing, but surprisingly, people tended to have a natural resistance toward unfamiliar faces.

For Koreans, the most familiar faces would be Korean ones, followed by other East Asian faces. Based on that logic, Western faces were far from familiar.

There were even people in the past who said they couldn’t easily distinguish between Western faces. The same would likely apply to people today unless they were deeply familiar with Western culture.

That’s why VTubers, which couldn’t become mainstream in Korea, ironically had a better chance from a global perspective.

There were otakus in every country.

While the number of otakus might be small in certain countries, if you gathered all the otakus in the world, the numbers would be substantial.

In fact, the VTubers who had reached 2 or 3 million subscribers had done so by amassing a global fanbase.

“So this controversy, from a global viewpoint, is no big deal.”

There had been a VTuber in a neighboring country who caused a stir right after debuting.

It was a rather significant issue involving a leak of confidential information. As a result, the VTuber retired less than a month after debuting.

However, foreign fans didn’t think it was such a big deal and had gotten fired up over it.

That’s how things worked.

If the model was attractive and the voice stirred even a little affection, controversies didn’t really matter.

Especially if the incident or circumstances had occurred in another country—it really didn’t concern them.

In the end, it wasn’t a serious issue.

So if this small controversy could be used to attract attention, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

-Knock, knock-

“CEO.”

A knock echoed, followed by Rion’s voice.

Jung Hoyoung straightened his clothes.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

When Rion opened the door, someone walked in naturally.

Her hair was black like the night sky.

Her deep red eyes seemed like they could pull you in.

Click, click. The sound of high heels rang out rhythmically as she confidently entered the room without a hint of tension.

“Hello.”

She smiled brightly as she spoke.

Seeing that smile, Jung Hoyoung swallowed slightly. He’d heard people say she looked exactly like her model, but he hadn’t expected such a perfect resemblance.

Feeling the elegant aura radiating from Laura, Jung Hoyoung grew more confident. He had sensed it while watching Anna’s streams, but now that she was in front of him, it was undeniable.

He had to secure her right away.

It was better to grab her first rather than risk another company snatching her away. That would be the right move a hundred times over.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Jung Hoyoung, the CEO of EYEAI.”

Jung Hoyoung smiled. Since they might be seeing each other often, it was important to make a positive first impression.

“You must be tired from the long trip. I’d like to talk about your debut, Aurora. Oh, Rion, you can stay. You should both hear this.”

Rion was about to leave, but Jung Hoyoung stopped her with those words.

“CEO, is this a serious matter…?”

“It could be. Aurora, you’ve had some controversy.”

At the mention of the word “controversy,” Rion’s expression turned serious.

Meanwhile, Aurora maintained her characteristic smile. From the moment she’d entered, it was clear—this person remained unnervingly calm and unshaken.

“Of course, we’re aware of what happened and know that Aurora is innocent. But to quell the controversy, we need a strategy.”

Fortunately, Rion had prepared well, so let’s discuss that plan.”

***

===

Virtual VTuber Gallery

[General] Seems like EYEAI’s 6th Gen is debuting soon

Aurora 【EYEAI 6th Gen】

@Aurora_EYEAI

1 subscriber • 0 videos

The channel has been created.

[Comments]

– Are you the one subscriber?

ㄴ (Author) Yeah

ㄴ Damn, that was fast, lol.

– Is she the only 6th Gen?

ㄴ (Author) She’s the only one with a channel and social media so far.

– Is just one person debuting this gen?

ㄴ Probably not? They’ve debuted 5 members per gen so far.

===

[General] PV is up

(Hyperlink)

Looks like they really went all out for 6th gen, lol.

[Comments]

– Her voice is nice.

– Isn’t this edited by Rion?

ㄴ (Author) ? What are you talking about?

ㄴ It says in the video description that Nekozuka Rion did the editing.

ㄴ (Author) You’re right.

ㄴ Is Rion quitting VTubing and becoming a video editor now? Lol.

– They’re really good at Labyrinthos.

– Finally, EYEAI has a Labyrinthos VTuber?

ㄴ (Author) There’s already Rinco, though.

ㄴ But she hasn’t been doing Labyrinthos content lately.

– Isn’t she Rion’s cousin?

– Listening to her voice, it seems like she’s definitely Rion’s cousin.

===

[General] Compare for yourself

(Anna’s stream clip)

(PV clip)

Judge for yourselves.

[Comments]

– Their voices are exactly the same, lol.

– Did they really trade Rion’s cousin and Rion? Lol.

ㄴ This isn’t baseball, lol.

– Wait, did Rion’s cousin actually debut?

– What’s going on, lol?

– This is hilarious, lol.

– By the way, isn’t her nickname the same as that Dark Knight who destroyed the commander before?

ㄴ (Author) What lore are you talking about?

===

“Hoo…”

Rion let out a deep breath in front of her computer.

“We’ll handle it at the company level first.”

“If the PV heats up, Rion, you’ll step in.”

“So Aurora, don’t worry.”

She recalled the CEO’s words.

The CEO probably wanted to protect Laura at all costs.

Laura was good at games, and above all, she was going to be a VTuber who focused on Labyrinthos VR as her main content.

Labyrinthos VR is currently the most popular game in the world.

If Laura could showcase her exceptional gaming skills, the CEO figured she’d attract fans from other countries. Rion thought the same.

So the goal this time was to suppress the issue quickly.

The fact that there was a controversy meant that people were watching and paying attention.

If handled well, Laura could start with a decent number of subscribers.

The plan was to draw in attention just enough and explain things before public opinion turned sour—to show that Laura wasn’t at fault.

‘The CEO’s real goal is elsewhere, though.’

The CEO was likely more interested in tapping into the Labyrinthos fanbase than simply boosting Laura’s subscriber count.

The most subscribed VTuber at EYEAI was 1st gen Kisaki Rinco, with around 300,000 subscribers.

None of the other EYEAI VTubers had surpassed 300,000.

So even though it wasn’t an exact count, the overall EYEAI fanbase could be said to be around 300,000.

It wasn’t exactly a large number.

23 O’clock Serenade, once dominant in Japan, had two VTubers with 2 million subscribers.

And Horizon Air, popular worldwide, boasted a VTuber with 4 million subscribers.

Compared to such large companies, 300,000 was minuscule.

The bigger issue was that it was hard to increase the number of subscribers beyond that.

As mentioned earlier, subscribers didn’t often leave their company’s fanbase.

Horizon Air had 4 million fans, and those fans weren’t likely to watch VTubers from other companies.

Horizon Air had around 80 VTubers, so why would their fans need to look elsewhere?

So stealing Horizon Air fans was impossible.

The same was true for 23 O’clock Serenade fans.

That’s why EYEAI wanted to attract new fans—people who had never watched VTubers before.

The CEO was likely eyeing the Labyrinthos fanbase that EYEAI had failed to properly tap into until now.

“…Yes. I have to protect her. I have to protect my unnie Laura.”

Muttering to herself, Rion quietly typed on her keyboard.

Although she wasn’t too fond of the CEO’s ideas, Rion admitted that his business decisions were effective.

After all, the person who wanted Laura’s success the most was none other than Rion herself.

===

Nekozuka Rion @Nekozuka_Rion

[Thank you for your continued support of EYEAI.

As a staff member of EYEAI, I’d like to explain the recent situation.

The stream will begin at 7 PM.

▼ Stream link]

===

“I hope my fans like Laura.”

Rion murmured as she finished typing.

She no longer had any regrets about being a VTuber.

If there was anything she was still attached to, it was her fans.

Now that there was nothing she could do for them, she could only hope.

She hoped her fans would come to like Aurora.

[Would you like to start the stream?]

Rion clicked the ‘Start Stream’ button.