NOVEL NEXT Chapter 302
[Virtual YouTuber Minor Gallery]
[Title: Izumi Nator]
[Author: Maker]
[Kaino Izumi☆Star’s Flow @KainoIzumi · 1 min]
Thank you so much to all the Izutomos who welcomed me back after 3 years and still like me.
It may be a very selfish request, but I look forward to working with you all in the future.
…I love you all so much!
Graduates disappearing behind the Nator
[Likes: 93 / Dislikes: 1]
Mei-chan love: Mei-chan love Mei-chan love Mei-chan love Mei-chan love Mei-chan love Mei-chan love
Suzui: Damn, I’m really touched ㅠㅠ
ㅇㅇ: This communication impairment bitch has been raising her femininity for 3 years…
└ㅇㅇ: I should start my worth from today.
[Title: It’s really a re-debut…]
[Author: Dudukri Online
]
(Burger raffle winners 20 people)
Excluded all other favorites
Leave a message in the guestbook
Anyway, congratulations to the Izutomos ㅇㅇ
[Likes: 29 / Dislikes: 1]
uwu: I’m starting my armband praise now
Oyayub: This is just a damn sham, isn’t it?
└Suzui: Are you jealous by any chance?
Mei-chan love: I’ll eat well.
[Title: Words to say if you find your graduated favorite’s reincarnation…]
[Author: ㅇㅇ]
(Izumi live screenshot.jpg)
This is a first encounter…
[Likes: 82 / Dislikes: 0]
Maker: First encounter… is that right?
ㅇㅇ: LOL damn
Suzui: I’ll send a long hyper chat saying I’m glad to meet again…
└ㅇㅇ: (Izumi slap! con)
└ㅇㅇ: The answer is “Nice to meet you.”…
└uwu: This is really glad to meet again, why hit me ㅠㅠ
└Mizukiri Mei-chan: LOL
★
After a 3-year hiatus, re-debut.
The VTuber industry, during that time, naturally continued to grow, and Star’s Flow maintained its top position among them.
That means. The number of subscribers is enormous.
In the short time I was absent, the debuting 4th and 5th generation members exceeded 800,000 subscribers, and among them, there were members nearing 1 million.
The 1st generation seniors had 1.8 million. The 2nd and 3rd generations all surpassed 1.3 million.
Natsune reached 2 million subscribers last month.
In other words. Among Star’s Flow, I am currently the weakest link.
However, I am not the type to care about such things.
From 3 years ago until now. I am truly thankful that there are still Izutomos who like me.
Rather, when I was active, I felt a lot of pressure being the one with the most subscribers in the 2nd generation, so it’s much more comfortable like this now.
It should have been like that.
[Izumi Channel. Kaino Izumi
]
[@KainoIzumi 1.01 million subscribers, XXX videos]
“…Really, 1 million?”
I wanted to believe the number in front of me was a joke.
The number of subscribers when I graduated was 570,000… and I knew that during yesterday’s re-debut live, it exceeded 600,000.
So after concluding yesterday’s live and returning home, I thanked everyone for the 600,000 subscriber milestone…
Now it’s 7:30 AM.
I went to bed around 11:30 PM after finishing my broadcast…
So that means in just 8 hours, subscriber numbers increased by approximately 400,000.
─────────────────
[Kurokami Hikari: Congratulations on 700,000, Izumi-chan.]
…
[Natsune Nanase: Congratulations on 800,000!]
…
[Shoko Mizuki: 900,000 congratulations, Izumi-chan!!!]
…
[Suzuha Koga: Congratulations on 1 million.]
─────────────────
When I woke up in the morning and checked the messages, the group chat was filled with congratulatory messages.
I thought it was clearly a playful prank.
Teasing me, the returning 2nd generation… that kind of joke.
But it wasn’t a joke.
The number of 1 million subscribers is a grim reality.
After ego-surfing through the Nator and community, it was definitely not just a glitch on my screen.
“Whoa…”
It is undoubtedly a joyous occasion, but I’m unsure if I should be too happy…
It feels absurdly burdensome…
★
I turned 22 years old yesterday.
Of course, I’ve been an adult for 4 years and could drink for 2 years…
“…Have you really never had a drink before?!”
“Yes.”
“Wow. …Why is Suzuha-chan answering?”
“I knew too.”
“That’s one thing, but…”
Just like I answered Yukari, I’ve never had a drink in this life.
“If we’re going to split hairs, I’ve had some! I had the amazake I brought for Hatsumode.”
“That can’t be counted as drinking…”
There wasn’t a particular reason I haven’t drunk until now.
When I was working or doing part-time jobs, I refused all invites for drinks during gatherings.
I would’ve loved to drink with Mom, my sister, and Aunt Shia, but our schedules just never aligned.
Even in Korea, Aunt Shia once suggested I take a sip, but I refused then.
There were barely any drinking atmospheres when I met members or school friends.
And I’ve never particularly enjoyed drinking since my previous life, so I’ve had no reason to drink alone either.
It just happened to end up like this.
“So today is the first time we’ll drink together, right?”
“That’s right.”
“That sounds so weird when you say it.”
Right.
Yesterday, to celebrate my re-debut, we had a group off-collab with all 2nd generation members today, and the content of the broadcast was drinking.
There were quite a few Izutomos who wanted a drinking broadcast yesterday.
So I suggested that since all five of us are gathered today for an off-collab, we might as well have a drinking broadcast, and everyone accepted happily, leading to this gathering.
Of course, we’re not going out to drink, we’re gathering at my home.
“By the way, will we see the drunk side of Izumi today? I’ve been curious since yesterday.”
Upon hearing Nekoto’s words, everyone, except Suzuha, looked at me with anticipation.
Unfortunately… I don’t think that’s going to happen.
I’m not a fan of alcohol, so I’m not planning on drinking much, and the drinks that Suzuha and Ayaka brought are all fruit beers.
The highest alcohol content is 5% for Ayaka, but I’ll stick with 3%.
Considering the snacks as well, the most I can drink is just one big can.
To think I’d get drunk enough to act foolish…
That’s just absurd.
★
[【Off Collab】 It’s been a long time, all 2nd generation members gathered! Drinking broadcast! Let’s all enjoy drinking together! #KainoIzumi #KogaSuzuha #UtsumiAyaka #AkiNekoto #AkabaneYukari #StarsFlow]
“Ah~. It’s really hard to keep everything I want to say to everyone to myself!”
“Nekoto wanted to say something too. That we can hang out with Izumi again…”
-The moment you say that, it was Yeo-sang!
-I’m so happy to see us all together like this!
A lively living room.
We started the broadcast, and while eating the delivered snacks, we drank together as promised.
It may seem trivial, but I genuinely enjoyed this moment.
“I also… wanted to talk with everyone as soon as possible.”
The peach-flavored fruit beer was sweet.
Suzuha said she picked this beer because it would suit my taste.
“It’s delicious…”
“I thought you would like it, so I brought it. I’m glad.”
“Yeah. Thank you, Suzuha-chan!”
–Suzui’s Tehe!
–I waited 3 years for this scene…
That said, it turned out just one big can is enough for me.
I’ve only had half a can so far, but I already feel quite full.
Well, it’s only natural considering I’m eating snacks along with the fruit beer…
But to call it a drinking broadcast and only finish one big can…
That feels a little bad.
However, it seems the other four will drink more, so let’s be satisfied with that.
There’s really nothing I can do about this…
I took a sip of my remaining beer.
★
“I’m so glad Izumi is back…”
An hour into the broadcast.
The atmosphere of the off-collab featuring the five 2nd generation members was gradually becoming more joyous as the alcohol set in.
As if to bridge the gap of the 3 years that had passed, they shared various stories, and it was an immense gift for the fans of the 2nd generation.
Listening to each other’s tales, reminiscing, they chatted excitedly together.
When they asked about the happenings during those 3 years, each shared their own stories, satisfying each other’s curiosity.
…However, there was one awkward point in the broadcast.
And it didn’t take long before that was pointed out in the chat.
-Mei-chan seems quiet since a while ago…
-Has she become nervous since it’s been a while?
“Eh?”
The one who first felt the awkwardness from that chat was Suzuha.
‘…Compared to the first time, her words do seem to have lessened.’
Certainly, Izumi was now not engaging in conversations but merely repeating answers like ‘Yes.’ when someone spoke to her.
Of course, Izumi is usually the listener in conversations, but now she was different than her old self.
Above all, before starting the broadcast, didn’t she genuinely expect to talk a lot with the Izutomos?
For Izumi to reduce her speech this much is strange.
Suzuha thought so and turned her head.
And Izumi was…
“…”
Slightly lowering her head, not moving at all.
She wasn’t looking at the chatroom.
She was just staring at the ground alone.
“Izumi? Are you okay?”
“…Eh?”
At Suzuha’s call, Izumi finally lifted her head.
And her face was already bright red.
“Did you get drunk, by any chance?”
“I’m not… I’m completely fine…”
“Pfft!”
She’s definitely drunk.
With the slurred answer, Suzuha was sure, and the other three quickly caught on too.
“Akakat! Izumi, are you really drunk?!”
“I’m not drunk!”
“So cute!!!”
“Uuuhhh… This is so frustrating…”
“Did Nekoto’s wish come true…?!”
Yukari was delighted, Ayaka was happy, and Nekoto was terrified that she somehow gained tremendous powers.
Meanwhile, Izumi, caught in the middle, could only groan.
“What’s the alcohol content in this?”
“The alcohol content is 3%…”
“Even if I drank all of it, is that enough to get drunk? Really?”
Suzuha wondered if this was all just a joke from Izumi, but looking at her flushed face and reaction, it was clear she was indeed drunk.
And that was absolutely not what Izumi wanted.
But anticipation, joy, happiness, and such emotions started, and suddenly realizing she had become a VTuber with 1 million subscribers added tension to Izumi.
Without even knowing it, coupled with her already extremely low tolerance for alcohol… she had gotten drunk from merely drinking 3% fruit beer.
“Izumi, you’re such a lightweight…”
“Even if it’s the first drink, this is… ridiculous.”
They all giggled at the absurdity of the situation.
“No, if you’re going to be technical, the amazake I gave you at Hatsumode was the first drink.”
“Amazake has a lower alcohol content than this. If I remember correctly, it’s around 1%.”
“…Simply comparing this beer is three times stronger.”
“…Definitely!”
-Huh? Mei-chan, is today your first attempt at alcohol?
“…Ah, yes. I mentioned how I had never had a drink up until today.”
And for Suzuha’s answer,
“No!!!”
Izumi awakened.
“It’s not ‘just happened’! It’s not!”
“I-Izumi?”
“I wanted to drink with the Izutomos! With everyone together! So I endured until today!!!”
Bang! Izumi struck the table demanding Suzuha correct her statement.
“Ow…!”
Of course, she was the one who felt more pain.
-LOL
-So cute!!!
In any case, this was something Izumi would never say normally.
But for a drunk Izumi, it was possible.
She stopped lying to herself about letting it ‘just happen’ and openly voiced her true feelings that she had held back until today.
And from that, Suzuha, Nekoto, and Ayaka instinctively felt it.
“I wanted to drink like this with all my Izutomos!”
Here, a cute monster was born.
-Can I express my love?
“No! Sending my love to me is forbidden! …But expressing my love to you guys might be okay.”
Yukari, who had the strongest vibe of a rival with Izumi, was just enjoying the current state.
“Hahahah!!!”
Just how much was she enjoying it? The ‘Yukari’ who usually values RP highly in broadcasts.
Among those, she had forgotten the most important laughter.
“Bwaha! Hahaha!”
Yukari laughed so hard, she was nearly out of breath.
“Don’t laugh at me!”
Izumi rushed to Yukari with tears in her eyes.
…It was chaos.