Ch 13: The long-awaited collaboration with my fellow rookie
Mane-san contacted me about a collaboration. The partner, of course, was my fellow rookie, Raika Hanabi. Since we did the commemorative slot for the milestone on our own due to the lack of a rookie collaboration, it was a natural progression.
But now that collaboration was finally allowed, it was quite emotional. Due to my numbers skyrocketing, even the voices of some anti-fans couldn’t shake the approval from the management.
With this much growth, there was no need to hold back on interactions with others. On the contrary, I think the management wanted more and more collaborations, and they wanted to give my listeners access to other members’ channels.
After all, my viewers are mostly different from the fans that Denjilas originally has. There are more overseas fans, and even the domestic ones are mostly dungeon cluster enthusiasts rather than pure VTuber fans.
The difference in the listener base is now so large that it can be expressed as a new business development. If we can draw them into Denjilas, we can grow as an agency in one go.
That’s why my collaboration ban lift was an urgent matter for management, and it had become a top priority project that they absolutely wanted to succeed.
“Botan. It’s about time.”
“… “
──My honest impression when I was led into the studio was that I never expected them to throw in an offline collaboration at such a crucial moment of the competition.
“Now that I think about it, are we really doing this?”
“Well, of course. We’ve already reserved the studio, so it’s too late to back out now, right?”
“I don’t think an off-collab between a guy and a girl is going to fly, though.”
“You’re nitpicking, Botan.”
“I guess you’re right.”
This is no good. I knew it beforehand, but this girl really isn’t concerned about the risks of an off-collab. Rather, she seems to find it amusing.
My fellow same-year colleague, Raika Hanabi, is apparently more of a troublemaker or a challenger than I had initially thought. …Or, more accurately, that’s what she projects during her streams.
Raika Hanabi, a VTuber, has a base model of wavy black long hair with multiple colorful mesh accents, with a punk-like girl look. It’s through this appearance that she showcases her striking individuality as a VTuber.
Her voice is husky, with a slightly soft tone. Her stories are occasionally a bit scattered, but she has a character like a firework that makes those around her smile.
“You seem to be having fun, Hanabi-san.”
“Of course I am! I wanna eat something delicious!”
“Ah, okay.”
It’s exactly as it appears to be, really. Her psychotic behavior, which occasionally peeks out during her streams, is exactly the same in person. …I thought it was at least somewhat of an act or some kind of streaming persona, but apparently not.
Her hair is straight and black without any colorful streaks, and she doesn’t give off a punk vibe at all. In fact, her appearance is quite different from her character. She claims to be a university student, but in reality, she looks like a high school student with a baby face.
However, she is undoubtedly “Hanabi Raika,” and even though her appearance doesn’t match her character’s physical features, there is no sense of discomfort. Her facial expressions and demeanor are exactly the same as her streaming persona. Especially her smile and the way she laughs, it matches perfectly with how she presents herself on her streams.
Although we didn’t really interact in public, we did have a normal relationship as colleagues behind the scenes, and we were quite close… Even so, I never expected her to be so focused on entertainment.
“Well, well. Who would have thought that something said as a joke during our stream would actually come true?”
“I feel bad for causing so much trouble, I’m sorry Button-san…”
“No, there’s no need for you to apologize, Mane-san. I’m the one who gave the OK, so it’s not a burden or anything.”
Although Mane-san bows his head apologetically, personally, I don’t feel burdened at all, so I wish he would stop doing that.
Mane-san is really being put out. At the beginning, I stumbled and fell, and when we did a follow-up livestream, he helped me out with the arrangements. He’s already busy managing several people, including myself who’s already quite busy, so I really feel sorry for him.
Moreover, as I just said, it was me who agreed to the off-collaboration, and Hanabi proposed it. Mane-san is not at all to blame.
“The truth is, the reason why I’m popular is because of my dungeon-related content. I don’t have the confidence to satisfy my listeners with just a normal chat collaboration. If anything, it would only add more fuel to the fire, don’t you think?”
“…Well, that’s certainly true.”
With my Dungeon food and knowledge, Yamagami Botan shot to fame. In other words, lighthearted conversation is not what listeners are searching for.
A casual chat cooperation is therefore not a smart idea. Although the quality of the conversation with Raika-san might increase, considering that there are arsonists like antis… It would be more intriguing to demonstrate a food terrorism stream catered to listeners’ demands than conversing with Raika-san via a speaker, accepting the risk of meeting off-stream.
“However, aren’t the ingredients brought by Button-san? If possible, could you at least request the office to cover the cost of the ingredients…?”
“Well, that’s not going to work. It might be possible if it were an official project, but this is more like my own personal material.”
I’m not well-versed in that area, so it’s hard to say, but personally, I feel like it’s in a gray zone or it feels like embezzlement. Especially this time, with various circumstances taken into account, it makes me feel that way even more since it’s being done on my channel.
“Also, the biggest reason is that it’s better to make it a personal consumption form, you know? When money is generated from dungeon items, there are a lot of complicated procedures involved. So, in reverse, I don’t want to do that kind of thing… Oh, of course, it’s legal for me, as an adventurer who owns them, to use them for personal use, you know?”
Dungeon items, you know… They come up quite often with things that are no laughing matter, so handling them is really tough.
For instance, with the drugs and potions you acquire, you can’t sell them without going through the country’s procedures first. And even for material-type items other than those, if you want to sell them without going through the country, you have to submit various documents to the Explorer’s Association.
So, it’s much easier to treat food ingredients as something you ‘favour’ to serve. …And there’s also a monetary issue.
I can’t really say this too loudly, but… I probably couldn’t afford it even if I applied for it. Because I use them so casually, I guess Mana-san has forgotten, but the ingredients I use in my broadcasts are all priced at least six or seven digits. Of course, there are cases where it’s even higher than that.
So, no matter the size of the company, if I applied for it, it would definitely not be approved.
“Well, don’t worry about it. I joined this stream because of my own circumstances.”
It might be hard for Mane-san to believe, but my ultimate goal is to serve my oshi salaryman with dungeon-themed cuisine. So this isn’t a burden for me at all.
It’s like a rehearsal. And if I can also strengthen my bond with my colleagues in the process, it would be even better than I could have hoped for.
“Hey! Botan, it’s time soon! Get ready. And don’t forget to tweet the start!”
“Oh, sure thing!”
Shall we begin our first and off-the-beaten-path collaboration stream then?
You can get Advance Chapter – Patreon
Also be sure to join the discord server – Here