I Want to Be a VTuber

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“Aokigahara disaster…”

Stella muttered blankly as she stood at the entrance of the forest.

Who would even think about filming in such a dangerous place?

And being here herself felt uncharacteristic somehow.

It was simply because she felt a sense of kinship with Seo-yeon.

But for Stella, Seo-yeon was different.

“A harmonious family.”

Affectionate parents and a cute younger sister. It looked just like the family she had always dreamed of.

Back then, Stella had denied that there was anything left in Seo-yeon, but while filming Gyeongseong Young Lady, she started to think that maybe her assumptions weren’t quite right.

Had she been mistaken about herself?

However, unlike others, Seo-yeon remained particularly vivid in her mind.

What could the reason be?

At the same time, her gaze kept following Seo-yeon.

Even today, she found herself wandering here without a care.

“I-I was waiting for you!”

Upon reaching the entrance, a Japanese filming staff member rushed over and bowed deeply.

“Hello.”

“We’ve really, really been waiting for you!”

“Wow.”

Just how eager were they to have that actress, Asher Baldwin, join in?

“But what can I do? I have no intention of getting close to that actress.”

In the first place, with how often she couldn’t even recognize faces, the chances of her saying something properly were pretty low.

“She’ll probably hate me.”

She already recalled Seo-yeon’s hesitant gaze toward her and the faces of the other two.

With a chuckle, Stella made her way to the filming location.

It had already been a day since filming began.

She was late, so she only had to stay here for a day and leave.

“Hmmm, what should I ask them to do? Should I act bratty like a young lady?”

She thought she might catch some flak from Japanese broadcasts, but oh well.

Be it Japan or Korea, she probably wouldn’t come back here again.

She just felt like teasing them a bit.

Arriving at the filming set with that mindset.

“Make rice.”

“?”

“Make rice, I said.”

Out of nowhere, a disheveled group grabbed her.

Instinctively, she realized that she had no option of refusal.

***

Just one day.

To put it simply, a lot had happened.

First off, it was good that everyone was scattered, managing to gather various essentials somehow.

“This is water, and this is meat. Oh, there’s vegetables too.”

“We even have a knife.”

“And we have a gas burner. Can’t we just cook something?”

“How?”

“We can just grill the meat.”

“But all we have is a pot?”

When Ji-yeon said that, Seo-hee looked at her with wide eyes, asking if she couldn’t just grill the meat in the pot.

Well, if they said it could be grilled, it could be… but wasn’t it kind of strange?

“All the ingredients are for hot pot.”

“Hot pot?”

“Yeah, isn’t it pretty much the peaceful scene of everyone cooking hot pot together?”

Hot pot was clearly what they were meant to make.

A dish where various things were thrown into a pot and boiled. Definitely, all the ingredients fit that category.

Even someone who wasn’t good at cooking could manage this one pretty easily.

“Well, if it’s stew, then we need water, right?”

“Ah, but won’t the seasoning be weak like this?”

By the way, this was happening while Seo-yeon had stepped away for a moment to gather other supplies.

Apparently, being alone felt somewhat less scary compared to sending multiple people off.

“Water? Is this enough?”

“Let’s add a bit more salt and chili powder. It’s Japanese, so the seasoning is probably weak.”

“Everyone, you shouldn’t add that much!”

The only person who tried to stop them was Reika, but her words in Japanese didn’t reach their ears.

Ji-yeon didn’t understand Japanese, and Seo-hee was too absorbed in her first cooking experience.

“What’s with the water? Why is there so much?!”

“When you boil vegetables, it naturally creates more water…”

“Ugh, what is that? The taste is weird! Oh, and you didn’t cut the meat!”

Twenty minutes later…

“…what on earth happened?”

When Seo-yeon returned and asked Ji-yeon, she averted her gaze sheepishly.

Seo-yeon recognized the face she often made when she knew she had messed up.

Glancing at the pot, it was clear that the food had been annihilated.

“Oh, it’s still okay. We have plenty of ingredients left!”

“Half of it is gone.”

If they failed now, it was game over.

What’s worse, the meat had already been taken out, leaving them fewer recipes to work with.

“I left out the mushrooms since I don’t like them.”

“…I want to go home.”

Seo-hee became a weak young lady.

But Seo-yeon didn’t let them be.

“It can’t be helped. I’ll try.”

“Y-you, Joo Seo-yeon?”

“What’s wrong? I’m better than you guys.”

Though Seo-yeon had stepped up confidently, her attempt resulted in annihilating the remaining half of the ingredients.

“…Looks like I have to go find more.”

“…..”

All the materials they had worked hard to gather were wasted.

That meant they had to go out and get more.

“What? Can’t we just gather more?”

Having done it once, the second time should be easier, right?

Ji-yeon said this lightly, but…

“Ah, the further we go, there are traps!”

“Ahhhhhh!!”

“Who put a doll hanging from a tree? I was so startled!!”

If they wandered too far for ingredients, they’d encounter various traps set by the production team.

Like hanging dolls from trees to create a sense of dread.

Or setting creepy signs to lead them into traps.

In any case, these were some nasty tricks from a team with a penchant for playing pranks on the cast.

“At this rate, we won’t even be able to gather ingredients!”

The production crew watching the situation from a distance laughed in delight.

They were enjoying watching Korean actors firsthand experience the harshness of Japanese variety shows.

Of course, truth be told, this was mild compared to what could’ve happened.

Originally, they had plans to dig pits filled with water as traps, or to have a bear, including a caretaker, appear in the forest to create panic.

But since they were Korean actors, they were given some leeway.

“……But.”

“Where did Joo Seo-yeon go?”

Unlike the other actresses who were panicking, Seo-yeon was mostly wandering the forest calmly.

She was almost dodging the production team’s traps playfully.

The only time she was startled was when she encountered a mannequin hanging from a tree.

She even caught various falling dolls with her hands.

The loud speaker emitting eerie noises? She smashed it with her fist.

Well, she seemed to have broken it out of sudden surprise.

In any case, while it was impressive, it didn’t actually result in many fun moments.

While the three of them tumbled around, shrieked, and tore their clothes, Seo-yeon maintained a relatively chill demeanor.

She was startled occasionally, but that was about it.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have dressed up as a ghost or something.”

It seemed Seo-yeon wasn’t frightened by ghosts.

No matter how much they tried to scare her with props or traps, she remained unfazed.

Anyway, while watching the three ladies for a moment.

In less than five minutes, Seo-yeon vanished.

“We’re not seeing her on the CCTV?”

“Could it be an accident?”

“Call Kujo and tell him to hurry up and find Joo Seo-yeon!”

What could have happened in those five minutes?

‘Did she fall somewhere?’

‘But there shouldn’t be any dangerous areas at the filming location we chose, right?’

Although Japanese shows often had relatively risky situations, they toned it down a lot since these were Korean actors.

Above all, they had assured that there would be absolutely no dangerous spots for filming.

Yet suddenly, Seo-yeon had disappeared!

“Should we let the filming crew know too?”

“If we say anything now, filming will stop.”

“Let’s search among ourselves first…”

“If something happens and we can’t broadcast, it’ll be a disaster.”

Director Amaya Hiroki decided to prioritize finding Seo-yeon, stopping all filming.

“Currently, Joo Seo-yeon has gone missing…”

As he said this while contacting the staff on site.

“P-PD-nim!!”

“Ah, what is it? This is urgent!”

“L-look at the CCTV over there to the north!”

Curiously tilting his head, he turned to see a bear casually strolling into sight.

It was a real bear.

“That bear isn’t the one we were supposed to use for filming, right?”

“No, no! It’s come down for real! But why? Isn’t it too early for bears to be out of hibernation?”

“It is a little early, yes…”

“Let’s retreat the crew immediately, and contact the police.”

They had installed CCTV and safety nets in case of situations like this.

So, they tried to respond calmly, but then…

“Wait a second!”

“What now?! This is a critical moment!”

“I-it’s on the bear’s back…”

“What’s on the bear’s back?”

Director Amaya Hiroki’s annoyed expression from the thought of a destroyed shoot turned to shock as he checked the camera.

And there it was.

“Huh?”

Before he knew it, he let out an exclamation of surprise.

Because Seo-yeon was casually perched on the back of the bear.

***

First off, Seo-yeon had genuinely wanted to see a bear.

Isn’t it a common trope in cartoons to encounter a bear during training?

When it comes to strength, bears and tigers are usually at the top of the list.

Though she absolutely didn’t wish for a real encounter.

That would not only risk her own safety but that of others too.

“Eh?”

While putting away the utensils she’d just gathered, Seo-yeon frowned at a presence she felt from afar.

While the forest was still a terrifying landscape to her, this particular presence was quite concerning.

‘It’s not human, right?’

Straining her ears, the footsteps sounded a bit odd.

And just like that, she rushed toward the source of the noise.

She thought she would let the others know if something dangerous occurred.

“A bear?”

No way! It really was a bear!

But, surprisingly, it wasn’t that huge.

Maybe because it was on all fours, it looked a bit cuter than she expected.

Of course, a bear like that could easily handle a human, though.

‘Did it catch a whiff of us?’

It seemed to be heading directly toward where the group was.

Most likely due to the strong scent from their failed pot meal wafting in the air.

Well, maybe not, but it could be.

“?”

The bear noticed Seo-yeon and stopped in its tracks.

Then it started to approach slowly, as if checking if it could eat her.

Drool was dripping from its mouth, giving it a rather threatening appearance.

‘Bears are known to toy with even first-rate fighters, right?’

That’s why if you look at instances where bears have been captured overseas, it’s mostly due to people grabbing them by their necks from behind.

Bears normally can’t reach that far with their arms.

‘Hmm.’

Seo-yeon pondered.

Should she run away now, or…?

‘The bear’s punch is probably slower than a paintball’s, right?’

And so with this thought, she ended up deciding to fight the bear.

If it really came down to it, she’d just run.

Just in case, she’d brought plenty of animal repelling spray.

So Seo-yeon threw a punch first.

Using just enough strength to hit a punching machine.

She landed a hit on the bear’s nose.

“Does that hurt?”

The bear staggered back, and as it swiped its paw, she landed two more punches.

Thud, thud, and the bear’s body lifted slightly.

“Is it in pain?”

Feeling like steel was softer than it looked, she kept hitting it with moderate force.

The bear was definitely slower than a bullet, so avoiding it wasn’t all that hard.

It seemed flustered by the fact that it was being hit.

“Wow, bears are tough.”

After a few minutes of hitting it, the bear calmed down.

As it turns out, just like in cartoons, a seasoned boxer might actually be able to handle a bear.

‘Can bears get tamed?’

Feeling a little sorry for the bear, she decided to give it a few playful taps on the head.

To her surprise, the bear let out a rather woeful cry.

She hoped the bear was alright.

Anyway, this way…

Seo-yeon ended up riding back on the bear.

***

“Who even rides a bear back to camp?”

Ji-yeon said with a stunned expression.

Oh boy, was it frightening.

Glancing back, she noticed the bear laboriously munching on their ruined pot meal.

After finishing, it approached Ji-yeon and opened its mouth wide, as if comparing the size of its mouth to Ji-yeon’s head.

Was it trying to see if it could swallow her whole?

“Surprisingly gentle, huh?”

“Isn’t it trying to bite my head off?”

“It shouldn’t be?”

As Seo-yeon patted the bear’s cheek with her palm, it flinched and sat down, sprawling out on the ground.

“It’s cute like a panda.”

“There were bloodstains on its nose.”

Seo-hee commented as she looked at the bear’s face.

She wasn’t sure, but it did seem somewhat swollen.

Had it gotten hit?

By whom?

‘Could it have been Seo-yeon?’

Nah, surely not.

“Is this bear the one brought for filming?”

Seo-hee asked cautiously, to which the Japanese staff shook their head quickly.

So then, was this a wild bear?

How was that even possible?

‘I just want to go home.’

Seo-hee genuinely thought that.

The saying goes, leaving home only brings hardships, but what on earth was going on?

Her clothes had been torn in the forest, her voice strained from the constant screaming.

And when the bear appeared, she was genuinely terrified and thought she might faint.

If Seo-yeon hadn’t appeared from behind the bear and said:

“I’m back with the bear,”

it might have been a different story.

The production crew was flustered, wondering how to handle the situation, and it was only then they realized the reason behind it.

When an actress rides a bear in, such reactions are expected.

And thus, facing a night with the bear…

After hardly having a proper meal…

The terror of being together with a bear, sleep eluding them, was confronted with:

“…Is this really a bear? Can I go home now?”

“You can’t.”

The only girl capable of cooking in their group.