I Want to Be a VTuber

Stella had turned down the offer to appear on the Japanese variety show a few days ago.

It wasn’t surprising.

'It’s so obvious they’re trying to pair me up with that actress.'

There was no way she’d fall for something that transparent.

Smiling sweetly, Stella had rejected the PD’s suggestion.

Getting involved with that actress wouldn’t just be annoying for her—it would also irritate Asher Baldwin.

Honestly, Stella still didn’t understand why Asher had come to Japan in the first place.

"Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?"

"Hmm? Why? I said no."

"I thought you were getting along with those actresses."

"Not really."

She never had any interest in getting closer to them.

Stella still felt a sense of kinship with Seoyeon.

There was something fundamentally similar about them.

But after spending time at Seoyeon’s house, Stella had started to wonder—was it just an illusion?

"The PD called again today."

"What, another variety show?"

"He said Ju Seoyeon is asking for you."

"...Huh."

Seoyeon? Asking for her?

Stella tilted her head and looked at Asher.

But Asher just shrugged, offering no answers.

"Still not interested."

With that, Stella turned around and walked away.

But her steps were noticeably lighter, and Asher couldn’t help but smirk.

Such a dishonest girl.

She used to be so much trouble, but now he could predict her moves just from the way she talked.

*****

'We have no one who can cook.'

Seoyeon grew serious.

Jo Seohui, Lee Jiyeon, and Goto Reika.

None of them could cook.

Seoyeon was probably the most capable one here—and that wasn’t saying much.

Seohui, who had acted like a leader at first, completely crumbled when cooking became the issue.

And Reika... Why was she even here?

'Is this just part of her “noblewoman” act?'

Whenever Seohui dramatically snapped her fan open, Reika followed suit, refusing to be outdone.

'She’s no match for a real villainous lady, though.'

Seohui was born to play the villainous noblewoman role.

Even just holding a fan made her look like a true aristocrat.

Reika, on the other hand, felt more like a wannabe—a decent imitation, but lacking the real thing.

'Anyway, this isn’t the time to worry about that.'

The real problem was food.

Seoyeon wasn’t completely hopeless when it came to cooking.

Her father, Yeongbin, had freaked out whenever she tried to cook and always stopped her.

She could manage simple dishes, but only with very limited ingredients.

If she didn’t have ham or eggs, she was pretty much helpless.

'That’s why I said I couldn’t cook earlier...'

Seoyeon glanced at the group of gathered “ladies.”

"Seoyeon found a portable gas burner?"

"A ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) gas burner? What’s that?"

"You attach a butane canister, and it works, right? Or am I wrong?"

"Don’t ask me. I have no idea."

Jiyeon and Seohui were deep in discussion over a single gas burner.

It was amazing how cautious they were about such a simple tool.

『Reika, do you know how to use this?』

『Uh, we use induction stoves at home.』

『What’s an induction stove?』

Seoyeon had never been more convinced that Seohui was completely sheltered.

How could someone be this clueless about basic household tools?

To be fair, Seoyeon herself had never used a gas burner either.

Wasn’t that something only old men carried around?

Even in her past life, Seoyeon had never been near fire.

No one would leave someone with mental health issues near an open flame.

No matter how many times she insisted, "I’m not that kind of crazy," people always treated her like a potential arsonist.

"...I’ll go find some ingredients first."

"We also need to find a tent."

It hit her then—they were basically dumped in Aokigahara with nothing.

Only the cameramen were there to keep them company.

Sure, there were cameras set up all over the area for safety and filming, but the dense forest made it easy to get lost.

"If we all go together, we might all go missing."

"I could go alone and find everything."

The forest was so quiet that Seoyeon could hear even faint footsteps.

As long as people stayed within range, she could find them easily.

"...I can’t tell if you’re joking or not."

Seohui looked at Seoyeon with a horrified expression.

And honestly, the thing about bears wasn’t a joke.

After searching online, Seohui had learned that bear sightings during camping trips in Japan weren’t uncommon.

"Seoyeon, can you actually fight a bear?"

"Hey, Seohui! Shouldn’t we focus on food? I’m starving!"

Tents, food—everything was scattered throughout the forest.

And aside from their phones, they weren’t allowed to use any tools.

'...I should’ve gotten Stella’s number.'

Seoyeon seriously regretted not asking Stella for her contact info.

According to Stella’s social media, she was a great cook.

She’d even posted pictures of meals she made herself.

'Maybe the staff already called her.'

Seoyeon was desperate enough to hope Stella would show up, despite how annoying she could be.

But if Stella’s online persona turned out to be fake, then Seoyeon would just be stuck with another useless noblewoman.

"For now, let’s split up and look for supplies."

"Huh? Why aren’t you coming with us?"

"I need to know which direction everyone goes so I can track you later." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Oh, right. Got it."

Seohui nodded and carefully packed some safety gear and a lantern before disappearing into the forest.

With the trees so thick, she vanished from view almost immediately.

"Seoyeon, you better come find me if I get lost."

"I will."

"You promise?"

"...Do you just want to stay here?"

"No way."

Too proud to admit defeat, Jiyeon disappeared next.

『I-I’ll go too!』

Reika awkwardly followed suit.

She had completely forgotten her original purpose for joining the show and was now just trying to survive.

'This would’ve been hilarious as a livestream.'

Seoyeon thought to herself.

Wasn’t this basically Lamiel and Alice’s collaboration stream?

Wait, no—Lamiel and Jiyeon were two different people.

But still, wasn’t it kind of the same vibe?

Shrugging off the thought, Seoyeon sat quietly at the base camp, waiting for the three to return.

"..."

A chill wind rustled through the trees.

Now that her survival instincts had kicked in, her fear started creeping back.

The overcast sky blocked most of the sunlight, and the dense silence of the forest made everything feel ominous.

Seoyeon glanced at the cameraman.

Of course, he was wearing all black and looked even creepier.

Had they dressed like that on purpose?

Maybe it was part of the “horror special” theme.

'Japanese staff really are strange in the weirdest ways.'

Seoyeon crossed her arms, trying to push away the creeping fear.

She was scared.

Even though she had resolved to become the “Fear-Conquering Ju Seoyeon,” it wasn’t as easy as she’d imagined.

'...Why hasn’t anyone come back yet?'

It had been about 30 minutes.

She waited, trembling alone, but no one returned.

How far did they go? What about the broadcast footage? Would this even work?

She glanced at the cameraman again.

He gave her a thumbs-up, completely unconcerned.

Maybe the others were getting good footage somewhere.

"Guess I should start looking for them."

Seoyeon had found the gas burner and butane canister in less than five minutes.

But the others had been gone for over 30 minutes now.

'Wait—are we even allowed to light fires in this forest?'

Well, they probably brought a fire extinguisher, right?

Trying to keep her mind busy with trivial thoughts, Seoyeon decided to start with the direction Reika had gone.

The others seemed tougher, but Reika...

And sure enough—

『Ugh, I can’t move... It’s too scary...』

It didn’t take long for her to find Reika.

'I don’t know what she’s saying, but she’s scared, clearly.'

Seoyeon could sympathize with that.

For some reason, Reika was clutching a kitchen knife and trembling, looking like she’d just stepped out of a horror movie.

"What are you doing?"

『My legs... I can’t move...』

Even without understanding the words, Seoyeon got the gist when Reika pointed to her legs.

She must’ve gotten lost, failed to find the markers, and eventually broken down crying.

'Should I just carry her?'

Sighing, Seoyeon hoisted Reika onto her back and started walking to find the next person—Ji-yeon.

The cameraman followed, recording everything with a delighted expression.

Seoyeon wanted to punch him.

『Sob, sob...』

"Stop crying right in my ear."

『I thought I was going to die. I really thought I was done for.』

"Please stop whispering in Japanese. It’s scarier."

『I know you’re comforting me. Thank you.』

"Seriously, stop."

The eerie atmosphere of the forest and Reika’s whispering voice combined to create the perfect horror scene.

Seoyeon couldn’t even understand what she was saying, which made it worse.

It felt like she’d stepped into a Japanese horror movie.

Normally, Seoyeon’s energy skyrocketed when filming variety shows, but not this time.

"I-I can’t come down!"

"..."

Why was Jiyeon up in a tree?

Ji-yeon was perched in the branches, holding a piece of meat and shaking like a leaf.

Leaving aside the bizarre sight of her trembling up there, Seoyeon couldn’t help but wonder how she even got up the tree in the first place.

"I-It’s my first time on a variety show!"

"You were on Looking Back at Memories before."

"I didn’t even show my face! I was busy dressing you up!"

"...Was that so?"

Apparently, Ji-yeon wasn’t all that experienced with variety shows.

It seemed she got overly excited when she spotted the meat hanging from the tree.

"There’s a stick nearby. You could’ve knocked the bag down."

"I thought that’d be boring for TV."

"...Fair enough."

From a variety show perspective, this setup made sense.

Seoyeon spread her arms wide.

"Jump. I’ll catch you."

"Are you sure? You won’t drop me for laughs?"

"...Do you think I’d joke about that?"

Seoyeon shot her a look.

If she dropped her, it wouldn’t just be a joke—it’d be a disaster.

Ji-yeon hesitated before finally jumping.

Seoyeon caught her in a princess carry and smiled.

"It’s been a while since I carried you like this, huh?"

"Stop messing around!"

With Ji-yeon rescued and Reika still on her back, Seoyeon trudged through the forest.

'Why can’t either of them walk?'

Ji-yeon’s legs had given out when she jumped down, and Reika’s fear had paralyzed her entirely.

Honestly, Seoyeon was scared too.

She was just pretending not to be.

This forest was terrifying.

Before coming, she’d read countless online posts about Aokigahara.

Google searches were full of horror stories.

But the forums said—

Seoyeon had felt reassured back then.

But the moment she stepped into this atmosphere, it was terrifying.

Like something was about to crawl out of the shadows.

'Seohui should be this way.'

Seoyeon slowed her pace as the sky darkened.

The forest seemed even heavier in the gloom.

"Can you two start walking now?"

『Something’s over there! Over there!』

Reika, still clinging to her back, suddenly pointed.

Seoyeon instinctively looked in that direction—

And froze.

"There she is..."

“There she is... There she is...”

A woman emerged from the shadows, walking slowly with her back hunched.

Seoyeon.

Ji-yeon.

Reika.

All three of them froze.

She looked exactly like a ghost.

Even a ghost would’ve run away from this scene.

A cold breeze blew from her direction, making the atmosphere even heavier.

Seoyeon’s mind flashed back to when she’d seen Seohui drunk—

When she looked exactly like a character out of Tomie.

"Aaaahhh!!"

For the first time, Seoyeon screamed.

"W-Wait! Don’t leave me!!"

She turned and ran without looking back.

The woman’s voice echoed behind her—“Don’t go! Don’t leave me!”—making it even scarier.

If she was a Japanese ghost, she should at least speak Japanese!

Seoyeon ran all the way back to camp, completely forgetting about Seohui.

—An hour later.

"...You’re so mean."

"Please fix your hair before talking to me."

"I was scared too, okay?"

"I’m more scared now."

Seohui sat there, covered in leaves and looking utterly disheveled.

Seoyeon kept her distance, still feeling guilty but too scared to get closer.