ALL NOVEL Chapter 352
“Ugh…”
The tension makes my whole body tremble.
Why on earth did this happen to me?
…To be honest, it’s my fault, so I couldn’t complain to anyone.
But I heard that VTubers from big companies are usually people with past life experiences. So why on earth was I chosen without any related background at all?
Could it be that there was some kind of mistake?
Yeah. It must be clear.
So shouldn’t I just call the manager right now to properly check the list of successful candidates?
[Could it be a misunderstanding that I passed? (Sent)]
“…Haa.”
There’s no way I could say that.
If I could say such things, I wouldn’t have communication impairment in the first place…
In the end, I deleted the message I was going to write and entered the cafe, which was the meeting spot for today.
“Welcome!”
“I-I-I’m sorry… I-I-I made a reservation for… at 1 PM…”
“Oh, are you Mr. Komachi?”
If it’s Komachi, that was definitely the name I saw last time at Miss Code.
“Uh, n-no, I’m here with m-my party… Aah, I’m really s-sorry for arriving so e-early….”
“No, it’s fine! Fortunately, there were no other reservations before 1 PM today. Please go into the room at the back! What would you like to drink?”
“Ah… um…”
“Would your party like to order all together when they arrive?”
“Ah, yes…! Please order that for me….”
I answered like that and immediately ran to the room the staff pointed to.
“Ugh…”
There was no trace of anyone else in the room.
Am I the first here?
Well, it’s only 12:10 now.
I arrived a bit early for various reasons…
If I think about how I was loitering in front of the cafe for around 40 minutes, my actual arrival time was 11:30.
Why on earth did I come at this time?
…No.
I shouldn’t think negatively. That’s a bad habit.
If I arrive right on time and there’s someone here before me, it would get awkward.
And if I were the last to arrive, they might think I’m rude for no reason.
Yeah. So it’s better to come early and wait.
Of course, if I tell them I arrived just a little bit before they did later, they might feel burdensome, but let’s say I arrived recently.
★
“Hello. I’m Komachi who made a reservation for 1 PM.”
“Hello! Please go into that room at the back! What would you like to drink? The first to arrive said they’d order when everyone else comes….”
“Pardon? Is someone already here?”
“Oh, yes. They arrived around 12:10. Fortunately, no other reservations were scheduled before 1 PM today, so we guided them.”
“12:10…?”
Yurika was genuinely taken aback.
The current time was 12:43.
After finishing another appointment in the morning, Yurika came directly to the cafe for this meeting and was still worried she might have come too early.
But to think someone arrived at 12:10.
“I didn’t hear anything about that….”
Yurika quickly opened her phone and checked the Miss Code server made for her by the company, but there were no messages saying the appointment time was changed or that anyone arrived early.
“Ren said he would arrive around 12:55…”
In other words, the person in the room was Yurika’s junior she would be meeting for the first time today.
“Could they be a dangerous person…?”
This was a colleague she would have to be around for a long time.
Yurika knew it was wrong to have such prejudices before even meeting them, but the situation was just that unsettling.
With all those mixed thoughts, Yurika took a quiet breath at the door and opened it.
“Ah…”
There was a girl sitting there.
She looked deeply engrossed, sitting upright with her head lowered, seemingly unaware of the sound of the door opening.
Yurika approached her slowly and spoke.
“Um….”
“Uwaaa?!”
“Wah?!”
The girl reacted dramatically to Yurika’s words.
Was she sleeping? It seemed like it.
“Um… Nice to meet you. I’m Komachi Yurika, a new debutante from Star’s Flow’s second generation.”
The girl snapped back to reality and, though flustered, bowed her head in greeting.
“I-It’s nice to meet you too. I am also a new debutante from Star’s Flow’s second generation… Kayanoh Mina. Nice to meet you.”
‘Her voice is… incredibly small…’
Yurika thought it was entirely incompatible with the reaction she had just shown, and Mina quietly looked up.
“Wow…”
Seeing Mina’s appearance, Yurika couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Yurika had met quite a few people in her idol career.
Members of the entertainment industry, such as idols, actors, and singers.
In her experience, most of them were beautiful.
Of course, since looks are a weapon in this world, encountering such people every day made Yurika’s standards rise.
And Mina’s appearance surpassed even Yurika’s already high standards.
Her blue eyes, cold and expressionless, exuded a chilling atmosphere in stark contrast to her soft gaze.
Her light brown hair flowing down to her waist seemed hard to manage but was shiny and well-kept.
With flawless skin and a petite figure that evokes protective instincts, she still possessed all the feminine charms.
Thanks to her experience as an idol, Yurika had confidence in her appearance, but in front of Mina, she had to hold back her words.
‘…Why does this girl want to be a VTuber?’
It was only natural for Yurika to have such questions.
With that kind of appearance, she would undoubtedly receive admiration just by modeling normally.
Yet, she chose to become a VTuber, effectively throwing away her greatest asset.
It was a type she found difficult to understand.
‘Is there something wrong with her personality?’
That thought seemed plausible.
Just from the initial greeting, Yurika felt a vibe that said, “I have no interest in you, so please let this conversation end here.”
The cold atmosphere Mina was giving off was that apparent.
Also, coming nearly an hour early for an appointment made no sense to Yurika.
“Umm….”
Still, Yurika couldn’t give up.
She knew better than anyone how harmful a personality that made everyone around her leave would be.
‘Since we’re going to be colleagues for a long time, I need to help her in this regard.’
“Um, Kayanoh-san…?”
“…Yes?”
Mina’s answer was once again calm, as if rejecting conversation entirely.
But Yurika persisted.
“Uh, when did you come, Kayanoh-san? I thought I arrived pretty early too, but I was honestly surprised to see you here.”
“…I arrived a little while ago.”
‘Huh?’
Yurika arrived at 12:43.
And according to the staff, Mina arrived at 12:10.
There was at least a 30-minute gap between their times.
But saying she arrived a little while ago?
Yurika began to slowly analyze what Mina meant by that.
‘Could she be trying to consider my feelings? But looking at how she’s talking, that doesn’t feel right. Then does it mean she wants me to leave her alone?’
It’s complicated.
She was harder to deal with than anyone she had ever met.
Though Yurika prided herself on her keen observation, she couldn’t read Mina’s thoughts at all.
It felt like there was something she almost understood but couldn’t grasp.
It felt like the conversation had gone off the rails somehow.
“Um….”
After that, trying to uncover what went wrong, Yurika continued with conversation attempts. However, with Mina’s repetitive answers of “Yes, that’s correct,” Yurika had no choice but to pull back for a moment.
★
This is Komachi-san.
She definitely said she was my colleague who will debut with me this time.
“Um… Kayanoh-san, is there a specific reason why you applied to Star’s Flow?”
“Uh, e-excuse me, um… well, that is…”
“In my case, I liked the direction Star’s Flow was heading~.”
“Yes, I-I like that too….”
Her personality was completely opposite to my gloomy and dark one—bright and lively.
I feel like I might melt into her overwhelming enthusiasm…
Yet, even though Komachi-san’s words carried a certain warmth, it wasn’t too exhausting to converse.
However, after about 10 minutes of conversation, Komachi-san quietly turned her gaze to her phone, seemingly tired of my lack of communication skills.
Yeah. I already knew.
There’s no way a social outcast like me could keep a conversation going with someone like Komachi-san, who was obviously social.
I could tell just from the fact that she’d talked with me so kindly up until now that she was an incredibly kind person.
I hope we can become closer from now on.
After all, we have to stay together as colleagues.
Of course, Komachi might think of me as less than a bug… No. Up until that last conversation, she must have thought of me as an unsociable outcast who’d find it hard to fit in.
Still, I wanted to gradually get closer, become friends, and do various things together later.
Like going to an amusement park, taking sticker pictures, or sharing drinks at a cafe.
There were so many things I wanted to do once I made friends…
Huh? But I’m already here at the café with her.
Does that mean I’ve already achieved my dream?
“Hehe…”
“Hm? Did Kayanoh-san say something?”
“Ah, uh, n-nothing….”
Komachi-san tilted her head in confusion, as if she couldn’t understand.
…Ah.
I think I just heard the sound of my score dropping in Komachi-san’s heart…
I should apologize profusely. Okay.
While thinking that, click, the door opened.
And the person who entered was—
“I’m the third one….”
A woman who looked somewhat sleepy.
…Well, all the people I’m meeting today are women anyway.