NOVEL NEXT Chapter 337
“Hmm. Can I ask you something… Is this Izumi over here?”
“Eh?”
This incomprehensible situation where Natsune and I have switched bodies.
Even so, for some reason, Suzuha immediately noticed that our bodies had swapped.
…Huh?
Doesn’t it sound absurd?
No. Since Suzuha said that, maybe it’s not so strange after all.
“…How did you know?”
Natsune, tilting her head as if she couldn’t understand, asked Suzuha.
Of course, it was my body.
“Hmm… I guess it’s just a gut feeling?”
You can understand the situation like that?
At this point, isn’t Suzuha practically a psychic?
“Anyway, since you reacted like that, my gut feeling was right?”
“…Yeah. So, when we woke up, our bodies switched…”
“Wait, wait! Saying that with Natsune’s face is really awkward?!”
“Eh…?”
Hmm. It’s definitely strange for me to see Natsune like this, so I guess it makes sense…
★
“So, to summarize, we woke up and found that we had switched bodies.”
“Right.”
“Even though our bodies have switched, we can’t just take a break. But since we’re not completely confident in impersonating each other, that’s why you called me to help, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But wasn’t Natsune’s broadcast I saw earlier perfect? Can’t you just keep doing that?”
“…You saw it?”
“Yeah.”
Suzuha nodded obediently at my words.
It’s so embarrassing to think she watched it live…
But even Suzuha didn’t feel awkward while watching the broadcast.
However.
“It’s impossible.”
It was Natsune who shook her head at Suzuha’s words.
“Well, even if Izumi can somehow replicate my broadcast… I think it would be absolutely impossible for me to imitate Izumi. No, I don’t think anyone in our group could imitate Izumi’s broadcast.”
“…Ah, that’s true.”
Huh?
How on earth is my broadcast perceived by our members?
I thought it was just a normal broadcast…
“And just in case, I tried to see if Izumi could follow me again, but it was impossible.”
“I see.”
“I-I also don’t really know how I did it…”
Back then, I just didn’t think about anything, I guess?
By the time I came to my senses, the broadcast had ended successfully.
“Well, if that’s the case, I can’t help it. I got it. I’ll help you. But we can’t keep doing this kind of project, right?”
“Yeah. So I thought we’d just do it for two days. Luckily, both Izumi and I have no external agendas until tomorrow. After that… we’ll deal with it when the time comes?”
“It’s definitely unavoidable like that. Let’s hope we can return to normal within these two days.”
“Yeah.”
And so… a sudden three-person off-collaboration was decided.
No one knew how the broadcast that day would turn out.
★
[【Project】Let’s chat during the podcast! It’s been a while since I talked with Suzuha! #NatsuneNanase#KainohIzumi#KogaSuzuha#Star’sFlow]
-(☆≧▽^))☆☆
-(☆≧▽^))☆☆
-I am looking forward to this podcast combo lol
-Soraho-ra!
-─(≧▽≦)>IzumiIzumi!
-Soraho-ra!
In the thumbnail for the broadcast waiting room, the avatars of the three of us were standing together.
But there was something peculiar about it—Natsune’s avatar was wearing an X-marked mask.
That was today’s content: the podcast.
I didn’t say anything, and Natsune spoke on my behalf.
Not that she’s conveying what I want to say.
She just said whatever she wanted freely.
In other words, Natsune was portraying me, ‘Kainoh Izumi,’ the VTuber.
The difference from a regular podcast is that the person inside is different.
Izumi isn’t pretending to be Natsune.
Izumi (Natsune) is pretending to be Natsune.
A groundbreaking broadcast where one performs as oneself with only the body swapped.
“If we do it like this, even if the acting is awkward, it won’t matter at all!”
“Y-Yeah…”
The reason we chose this content was simple.
Just as Natsune said, if the acting is awkward, we can just brush it off by saying, ‘It’s a podcast.’
What I liked the most was that I could just type in the chat without saying anything.
“Alright, then shall we start?”
“Yes…”
“I am Izumi…. I am Izumi…. I am Izumi….”
At Suzuha’s words, I nodded, and Natsune continued to whisper those lines.
Once the broadcast opening started playing on the screen, our avatars appeared in Natsune’s broadcast window.
Of course, Natsune’s avatar was still wearing that mask.
“Hello everyone! Today, it’s been a while, and I’m Suzuha, here for a collaboration with Natsune!”
It was Suzuha who announced the start of the broadcast.
-Suzuha yay!
-I heard you meet often in private
“Ah, yeah! I think Natsune and I have similar interests, so we often end up talking. It’s weird, though; we don’t collaborate that often! So I came today to chat a lot!”
-Glad you’re here!
-I look forward to the conversation between Natsune and Suzuha!
“Alright, then Natsune?”
“Hmm. Everyone, konhoshi~! I’m Natsune Nanase from the shining, dream star…!”
Pfft?!
Seeing my voice deliver Natsune’s greeting made me uncontrollably burst out laughing.
-So awkward lol
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
It seemed that the chat room agreed as well, with comments flooding in at high speed, and Natsune and Suzuha looked a bit flustered by the unexpectedly warm reaction.
“Eh? Did I say something weird~?”
“Maybe? It doesn’t seem awkward at all…”
Both of them seemed to try to hold back laughter, their lips twitching.
Anyway, the project content started amidst such little laughter.
What I had to do now was only one thing.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Type anything I wanted in the white space above Natsune’s avatar.
Even if it’s a podcast content, that doesn’t mean I can just sit back and do nothing.
However, there wasn’t much to do; simply showing appropriate reactions while listening to Natsune and Suzuha’s conversation was enough.
“Natsune did a broadcast earlier today, but aren’t you tired from doing it back-to-back?”
“Ah, yeah! Just being able to talk together makes it enjoyable!”
[Broadcasting is indeed fun.]
-Something’s super skilled about this broadcast
-I was a bit worried at first, but it’s more natural than I expected
And for some reason, the fact that ‘Izumi’ was acting as ‘Natsune’ was surprisingly natural seemed to confuse the chat.
Well, of course.
I may be speaking, but the person inside is Natsune.
But thinking back, Natsune said she would imitate me as closely as possible at first, yet now she was just talking like usual.
Is this okay?
-It really sounds like Natsune is talking
Reading the comments that pointed this out, Natsune suddenly inhaled sharply.
“What, what, what do you mean? I’m really talking here~!”
The podcast content is fundamentally based on awkward acting and unnatural or silly behavior being funny.
But now, the one moving my body is the real Natsune, so it shouldn’t be awkward.
Knowing that, I suggested we try to act as much as possible before the broadcast started, but…
-I feel like my head’s going to go weird seeing Natsune (Mei) like this…
-I actually like it because it’s refreshing lol
Fans’ reactions were varied and colorful.
But thankfully, it didn’t seem like there were any particularly bad responses, though it was true that I wasn’t delivering the kind of amusing podcast they wanted.
Honestly, the broadcast right now was on the same level as a normal casual chat collaboration.
“Hmm…”
I think Natsune and Suzuha noticed that too.
Of course, many fans would enjoy just the casual chat alone, but it was still a fact that it was somewhat lacking as content.
And sensing that situation, the choice of the two was.
“But Natsune… do you have any secrets you’re hiding lately?”
“Eh?”
“Maybe something about the romantic affairs of the Star’s Flow members…”
“Ah, yes!”
“Really? Tell me! Like Izumi’s story…”
“Eh?”
It was self-sabotage.
“The pure white sea. Those two are actually dating!”
“Eh?! Are you really saying that with the person in front of you?!!!”
“Ah, right! Sorry, Suzuha!”
“It’s fine. I was planning to announce it as an important notice soon anyway. I actually asked that question because I wanted you to tell me.”
“Oh, I see?”
[That’s a lie!!!]
“And you know? Actually, Izumi has a dream of building a harem with the Star’s Flow members! I heard that she’s already conquered Hikari.”
“What?! So Izumi was cheating on me?”
[I never said that!!! I absolutely can’t follow this situation?!]
-Is it okay to say that? lol
-Isn’t this her own story…?
-Why is Natsune desperately denying this? lol
-It feels like their positions have completely reversed lol
“What is it that Natsune is pursuing as an idol?”
Maybe using this as an opportunity, Suzuha began throwing out strange questions at random.
“Of course, it’s money!”
“Eh?! Isn’t it supposed to be the love of fans or something?”
“Do you know, Suzuha? Ultimately, the world is all about money…”
“That’s a statement full of industry darkness…”
Natsune quickly fired back those words.
It was clearly a prank taking advantage of the fact that she wasn’t using her body.
Later, I would take all the backlash from this?!
[Nats… no. I would never say something like that!!!]
Of course, I’m the one who knows that, but I tried to stop it, yet there was no way the two would listen to me now.
And so today’s broadcast resulted in a massive production of clips featuring Natsune (Izumi) exposing her own secrets and going wild.
[It was nice seeing a different side of Izumi.]
[I hope to see more of this side in the future!]
[I really felt like I was looking at the mood maker lol]
It seemed everyone liked my unexpected charm (?).
…For me, it’s something I could never recreate again.
And after the broadcast ended, we all woke up in our respective homes.
“…We’ve returned.”
Fortunately, we were back to our original bodies.