Chapter 88 – Virtuber(1)
Originally, I don’t look for things I don’t know in every case.
I’m not a walking encyclopedia, and of course I may not know a term or two.
In this case, it is enough to just ask the suspect or witness to sit in front of them.
But being a virtuber didn’t make sense at all.
Terms such as ‘avatar’, ‘motion tracking’, and ‘Live2D’ written in the case file were also very unfamiliar.
There are more parts of the file that I don’t understand than I understand.
Virtuber was completely unknown territory to me.
Other members of the team didn’t know much about the field either, so I decided to stop working for a while and study.
Alice, who had at least some sense of Virtuber, explained it with a slight smugness.
It was only natural that she was excited … Originally, it was my role her to explain things like this.
“Do you know what streaming is? Internet broadcasting?”
“You know that much.”
What is he looking at people for?
I readily agreed, and Alice smiled and nodded her head.
“That’s easy. Vtubers use avatars instead of their faces to broadcast. Like this, they usually use moe characters like otaku.”
“In the end it sucks.”
Alice shook her fist at my midterm clearance.
I decided to shorten the time by asking a question.
“That, among the people who do internet broadcasting, there are people who do something similar… Isn’t it called Dyurahan, not the usual virtuber?”
“Ah. It’s a little different from Dyurahan. Virtubers focus a little more on role-playing and symbolization.”
“Role-playing? Something like a TRPG?”
“It’s similar. Anyway, Virtuber usually has a little more ridiculous setup than you.”
This… It’s a lot more complicated than I thought.
I even turned on the notepad on my smartphone and started recording.
“What kind of broadcasts do those virtubers usually do?”
“Mostly it’s small talk or games. Especially since if you don’t play games, joining is restricted, so games are essential. Oh, and sometimes I sing. There are very few Vtubers these days who don’t sing. Singing well is another thing…”
While listening to Alice’s explanation, I suddenly remembered something, so I slapped her on the palm of her hand.
Now, I’m sure there was a similar case!
“Wait. This is… Cyber Singer Adam, right?”
“The analogy is very old… Not wrong at all.”
“Right.”
Are virtubers descendants of cyber singer Adam?
I finally got the hang of it.
In the meantime, when I did a search on the portal site, the first animation-style video was played.
Tia and I, who were still watching the video, looked back at Alice with a slightly serious expression.
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No… I thought you would normally see something like this.”
“Alice sister, I’m a bit surprised.”
“Oh, no! I just received an offer from the guild to merge! I declined, of course, but…”
Alice, as if embarrassed for nothing, desperately made an excuse.
But. Alice seems to feel a little out of place even if she is sandwiched between these guys.
“But is it your main focus to shoot and upload videos like this?”
“No. Rather, the main focus should be seen as real-time broadcasting.”
“Since real-time broadcasting is the main focus… Then what is this motion tracking? Live2D and HTC VIVE?”
“Ah, I don’t know the details up to that point…”
After all, Alice had only dipped her toe in her side of her, so she didn’t know very well.
The guy gave me a nice suggestion to help me.
“If it’s okay, would you like to take a tour?”
“Excursions?”
“Vertuber has a few entertainment agencies under Winter Kingdom. I know that’s going pretty well…”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Yah-ho!”
When I got up, Tia and Kerr followed without hesitation as if they were going for a walk.
It was a somewhat sudden request for a tour, but permission was granted immediately thanks to Yeriel and Alice’s business cards.
It’s practically a free pass if you’re inside the Winter Kingdom guild, not anywhere else.
We immediately got into the car and entered one of the many offices of the Winter Kingdom Guild.
The representative who had been contacted earlier met us all the way to the parking lot.
“Welcome. I wonder if you came because of ‘that incident’…”
“That incident? It’s not Winter Kingdom, it’s an incident involving another guild, so don’t worry.”
“Ah… That’s right. I understand. Then I will help the special investigator on the field trip right away. We can’t be considered completely unrelated.”
Only then did the CEO smile with a slightly relieved face.
Apparently, the case I was assigned this time is quite famous.
The representative, who had a drawn-out impression, guided us directly to the five-story building.
“This office is exclusively used for VTuber-related work. We also take care of lodging and lodging for our affiliated broadcasters.”
“Rooms and meals in the office? It sounds like an idol trainee or a pro gamer.”
“As you well know, the investigator, security issues become very important when Hunters are involved… There was an incident like that a while ago.”
“Ah, I understand.”
I walked into the office, regretting that I hadn’t read the file properly.
In fact, even after reading it, I didn’t understand it at all, so there is no point in regretting it now.
In the living space on the upper floor of the office, affiliated broadcasters were waiting in line.
It wasn’t that he was waiting for me, it was probably because of Alice.
“Welcome, senior.”
“Oh, hello.”
While Alice greeted awkwardly, I looked at them slowly.
‘I wonder if these people were active behind the avatars.’
Age and body shape are less consistent than expected.
The appearance is still relatively plain.
Most of them were women, and all of them were concerned about ‘the incident’ that occurred at a competitor.
Hagisa It is not an ordinary incident just because we came to our special unit.
The CEO belatedly said as if he was concerned about leaking confidential information.
“Sir. It may be rude, but what you saw here today is…”
“Oh, don’t worry. They gave us permission to visit, but of course we have to keep it confidential.”
“Thank you. It’s a bit funny to say such a thing to Yeriel-sama’s husband.”
As I entered the room where the VTubers were broadcasting, I was finally able to clear most of my questions.
“Oh, so I’m going to capture the movement with the equipment here, and then overlay it with the illustration…”
“That’s right.”
“Do you process the voice separately?”
“Most of them use falsetto.”
“What’s the revenue model like?”
“Usually with ads, donations and subscriptions…”
Certainly, when I ask a question in front of current industry people, I get a cool answer right away.
Feeling quite refreshed, I stopped asking questions and recalled the contents of the document.
‘But I still don’t understand?’
So far, where ‘the head is bad’, ‘the understanding is not good’. I’ve never heard anything like it… It’s still a bit difficult.
‘Why on earth is this a problem?’
Eventually, after asking a lot of questions, he left work and started supplementary classes.
Yeriel laughed, covering her mouth slightly as I watched her live broadcast.
“Seobang-nim. Have you seen anything like that?”
“It’s because of work. I don’t know if there’s an incident yet…”
I smiled at the vertubers of Winter Kingdom.
Are those women I saw during the day becoming so lively and mischievous behind the avatar?
Even I, who had no objection to this kind of thing, had a corner where I could laugh.
“Donation… Is this? Yeriel, can I try this?”
“Why are you asking such a thing all of a sudden?”
“First of all, since it’s a common property, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use it too arbitrarily. Didn’t you pay for the thunderstorm mask last time, too?”
Even after I said it, I flinched slightly.
What would you do if I told you to get some pocket money from now on?
However, Yeriel showed her thrilled face and did not even mention her pocket money her.
“Yeah, it was a little awkward for the West to give out billions of dollars. Don’t talk about pocket money. You can use my money as you like.”
“Kuhh…”
Suddenly, I felt sorry for the married man reference I met last time and swallowed my tears.
I tried small donations and looked for related incidents, and I stayed up all night to complete my learning.
The next morning. I confidently declared in front of Alice.
“Now I am a vertube expert.”
“Oh, yes… That’s great.”
“Let’s go see the victims right now.”
Originally, I should have summoned him as a reference, but I want to see some of the equipment there.
In addition, the victims’ offices are also the scene of the crime.
As the same member as yesterday, I went to the office run by Shin Soi’s guild.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it was none other than Shin Soi who came out to greet us.
It was a bit of a headache to meet more often than I thought… But it’s better to know someone.
Thinking so, I shook her hand with her.
“Long time no see.”
“Doesn’t sound like a long time?”
Shin So-yi smiled and glanced at Tia, who was hiding behind her on her back.
The guy in a shrunken state acted like a completely different person, but there was no way that would work properly.
We moved inside and met the victims.
“Oh, hello, Detective.”
“Hello.”
There are a total of 3 victims in this case.
As a virtuber expert, if my opinion is correct, this is quite a challenge.
Just like yesterday, I looked at the three actors slowly.
It seems that people on this side often call them ‘people inside’.
The three women clearly had a higher level of beauty than yesterday.
When I asked why, Shin So-yi quietly explained on behalf of the staff at her agency her.
“What kind of aspiring celebrity are you from?”
“There are some kids who have already debuted. Even if you try as a normal vertube, you won’t be able to compete… Our guild’s vertubers are mainly active on music shows. There are also kids who write lyrics and compose themselves .”
“That’s great.”
Shin So-yi showed her unusual tension to introduce her proud juniors.
Thanks to this, only the faces of the victims turned red.
I asked them to confirm.
“There are a total of three victims in this incident. All three of them claimed to have been cyberattacked by malicious fans. Are there any mistakes?”
“No.”
“Cyber terrorism?”
Ignoring Tia tilting her head behind her, I continued the task.
As if the actors were very embarrassed, they couldn’t even raise their faces properly in front of me.
“The content of cyber terrorism… Is to release the avatar used during the broadcast, exposing the real face. Is that correct?”
“That’s right. Because of that, our identities have already been stolen…”
“Huh? Is that a Hunter crime?”
When Tia muttered behind her, I turned to him and said sternly.
“Hunters are involved, so it’s true that hunters are crimes. And exposure of personal information is a very sensitive and important issue for vertubers. It’s often called the red pill. If this goes wrong, it could even lead to termination of the contract. “
“Detective… You know something very well, don’t you?”
To Shin Soi’s admiration, I made excuses like yesterday’s Alice.
“It’s cramming.”
“Master studied really hard to solve this case!”
“Bruise!”
Tia and Ker also supported me diligently, and Shinsoi smiled.
I decided to focus on the case again, thinking I should give him a snack later.
