After gathering a few items.
"Let's head back. And we must order immediately. A new hamburger."
Following the suggestion of the Archmage, who was clamoring for a hamburger as if possessed by a burger fiend, I stepped back through the portal and returned to Earth.
I was about to tell her that she'd be responsible if we ended up in another dimension or some other strange world, but—
"We're really back."
We had returned to Earth.
To the basement of my house.
"Perhaps you wished to see a bit more of my world?"
"Well... you're not wrong, but to travel in another world, I'd need clothes and things, wouldn't I?"
I ran my hands down my body from head to toe.
"Do you have any men's clothes?"
"Hmm... I could go buy some, but considering my situation, it would be far better to buy clothes here in this world, made from fabrics similar to my own."
Just as I thought.
It seemed this Archmage had a reason for creating and living in a flying castle; she blatantly avoided interacting with others.
"I apologize. I only have women's clothing. And not much of it, at that."
"I figured as much. How do you usually get your clothes?"
"Before I raised the castle into the sky, I ordered twenty sets of the same outfit and wore them in rotation."
"..."
"Ah. In different colors."
"That's even more shocking."
To be precise, she was the epitome of a shut-in.
"It's not a problem since I live alone, is it? I just need to wear a formal suit like this when meeting others."
"That suit... you wouldn't happen to have two of them in the same design, would you?"
"..."
"Okay. Confirmed."
Having watched so many VTubers, I knew there were outgoing types and extreme introverts, but Rasian was the kind of 'I' that made you wonder, 'How in the world does she even stream?'
"It's fine. Being a recluse is only frightening when it's involuntary. When it's by choice, people like us have decided to define it as 'someone who's good at entertaining themselves alone'."
A being who rarely engaged in outside activities, preferring to stay cooped up in their own space.
"And I'm similar."
"Really?"
"If it weren't for the well-paying company and my responsibility to the employees under me, I'd also prefer to just quietly do my assigned work."
"That's a relief. To think my collaborator shares a similar disposition."
Thankfully, she thought of me favorably, as a collaborator.
"So, what is it you want to do here? It can't just be to eat your fill of this world's delivery food, including hamburgers, right?"
"I will add that to my wish list, but there was something I was most curious about."
"What is it?"
"VTubers."
...
?
"Seriously?"
"Yes. I became curious as to how beings in the form of angels or demons could exist in the world of electronics."
"Well, that's..."
"A joke. I've already gathered some information through U-Tube."
Had she become comfortable enough to joke based on her level of understanding?
Rasian chuckled, gesturing with her empty hands.
"Mr. Kang Min-hyuk. I am someone who has already achieved a great deal in my world. I am one of the five greatest sages in the world, a being who has built her own magic tower and can claim the title of 'White.' Ah, you may not understand what that means."
"White is definitely more impressive than gray."
It's a universal rule.
"Wherever I go, people praise me or call me the 'White Witch.' If I were to travel to a kingdom, the king of that country would immediately appear with a procession to escort me."
"That must be burdensome."
"Yes. Extremely. I'm the kind of person who just wants to go about my business quietly, without drawing attention, and even if I interact with people, I just want to share small, everyday things."
I realized.
The shut-in loner had become so famous that she'd been forced into a position where social activity was semi-mandatory.
"I had two paths before me."
Two choices.
"One was to somehow smile brightly and cheerfully and be friendly with everyone."
"If you'd done that, the stress would have been immense."
"Yes. So I didn't."
The case of being utterly drained by the outside world, yet somehow managing to laugh and act cheerful for the public.
"Instead, I raised my magic tower into the sky so no one could reach it. As I traveled around, people started thinking I was someone who enjoyed active interaction and kept visiting my tower."
"After you did that, did people stop coming?"
"Yes. Those who wanted me to lend my power to their wars... ahem, to help their kingdoms, couldn't even fly up to the sky."
Or, the case of cutting off all conversation and interaction, staying only at home, and not meeting anyone.
Rasian chose the latter.
But after living in seclusion for so long, it seemed a certain thought had occurred to her.
"But if I were to become a VTuber, the viewers wouldn't know anything about me, would they?"
"Right. They wouldn't know a thing."
"The people of this world wouldn't believe me at all if I told them I was the 'White Witch,' that I opened a portal to come to Earth, or that I could wipe out the Korean peninsula with a couple of meteors, would they?"
"Right. If you're a VTuber."
I pictured it in my head.
...Rasian, streaming?
"But VTubers need to have a talent for broadcasting. I'm not sure if you have any talent in that area, Miss Rasian."
"I'm good at everything."
"Some VTubers end up becoming clowns for their audience, you know?"
"..."
"It's a bit of a harsh expression, but I don't think it's wrong. Making complete strangers laugh and feel joy is the job of a streamer, a VTuber. The 'White Witch' becoming a VTuber..."
"But U-Tube said this was more than enough talent for broadcasting."
Rasian ran a hand over her face and body.
"Am I wrong?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Isn't it just a matter of using illusion magic to put myself in a subspace and then acting as a completely different version of myself there?"
For some reason, our conversation wasn't quite connecting.
I got the strong feeling it was because this person from another world had a half-baked understanding of Earth's common sense.
"You're certainly beautiful, Miss Rasian, but translating that into 2D and 3D is a whole other story. That's the realm of programming and coding, not magic."
"...That may be so, but it's not entirely impossible."
"Huh?"
"Like this."
Rasian waved her hand in the air, and soon the basement began to shimmer with a rainbow light, accompanied by a soft chiming sound.
Fwa-shat!
And in an instant, the basement transformed into a new space.
All the furniture vanished, and it changed into something like a wooden house from a medieval fantasy village you'd see in an RPG Maker game.
"...Dimensional travel?"
"It's illusion magic."
"This is all an illusion?"
"Yes. Could you please test it for me? See if you can record it with that smartphone camera."
"...Alright, just a moment."
Before opening the camera app on my smartphone, I had her strike a particular pose.
"Can you stay like this for a second?"
A pose with her feet planted firmly, her arms extended downwards at about a 30-degree angle.
"Like this?"
"Good. Just like that."
The basic pose for VTuber character designs. Rasian perfectly mimicked it and held still.
Click.
I took a picture.
Then I opened the gallery to check the photo.
"...Wow."
Rasian inside a CG background? The photo had no issues whatsoever.
Knowing the situation made it feel different, but if I had just seen the photo, it wouldn't have been strange to think it was a movie set.
"How is this possible?"
"The power of magic. It's a type of subspace replication magic where I spread mana into the surroundings, embedding my memories into that mana to manifest a space."
"..."
"It's not the actual substance itself. This space, which looks like a normal wall on the outside, is actually just mana particles scattered around to make it appear that way; it's not real wood. Of course, the external shape and texture are maintained, but it doesn't go so far as to manifest the water inside a water bottle."
"...Hmph."
"Ah. I apologize. I talked too much about myself."
"No. It's just..."
Was it because she said she was interested in VTubers?
'A character who roleplays by chatting about magic... her RP would be unbreakable.'
If she talked about magic while chatting with viewers as a VTuber, wouldn't they think that?
'Just how hard did the company drill this VTuber? While others chat about food, travel, or collab members, this White Witch is talking about magic.'
They'd think her roleplay was incredibly strict.
'These days, it's rare to find someone who sticks to their RP so absolutely, so this could actually be a selling point.'
I'd found her strength as a VTuber.
At the very least, people who like the archmage character archetype would absolutely love this aspect.
"That's definitely an advantage. No need to hide the magic talk. No one will believe it's real anyway."
"Is that so? As I thought."
The problem was.
"In that case, let's begin immediately."
"...What?"
"VTubing, can't I just start right away?"
"What are you talking about?"
Rasian's knowledge of this industry was, at present, very limited.
"A VTuber debut isn't something you can just do by saying, 'I'll do it!'"
"It isn't?"
"Of course not. You don't even have to look at major corporations; even startup VTuber agencies spend at least six months preparing for a rookie's debut. Three months at the absolute fastest!"
No matter how good virtual reality programs have become, you can't just start recklessly.
"Is being a VTuber a joke to you?"
This was, after all, a debut as a VTuber.
"We call them VTubers, but it's no different from the idol industry ten years ago."
Securing an initial influx of viewers with a debut stream and trying to retain them as regulars is the standard start for corporate rookies.
"You need to prepare illustrations, design a broadcast UI, get sound effects and backgrounds, create a U-Tube channel and social media accounts..."
"Th-there's more than I thought."
"Of course. Hmm, it's not like I'm completely ignorant about magic, but..."
I extended a hand upwards.
"Meteor magic, isn't that just a matter of 'clicking' to summon a meteor?"
"..."
Did I cross a line?
I'd said it as a form of shock therapy, but the corner of Rasian's mouth twitched slightly.
"I see. So that's how it is. I understand perfectly now. You're saying that to start as a VTuber, one needs preparations on the level of being able to cast Meteor with a mere 'click'."
"R-right."
I wasn't going to have a meteor fall on me in my sleep, was I?
"Very well. The White Witch of Atalancia cannot simply take her first step on Earth without any preparation. I will prepare thoroughly. What should I do first?"
"The very first thing you need to do before starting as a VTuber. Follow me."
The food hadn't arrived yet, so I led Rasian to a room I hadn't yet shown her.
"This is the computer."
"This is the streaming equipment. Here, sit down."
Rasian sat in the gaming chair I pointed to.
"So this is the magical tool for communicating with the people of this world...!"
Rasian, who had mostly been using localized terms, showed a reaction befitting someone from another world for the first time.
She looked like a child who had received an incredible gift, or perhaps a Pl*yStation 7 or a Sw*tch 3 for Christmas.
It meant she was that excited.
"Alright."
I reached out and pressed the power button on the PC.
"This is a click."
"Oh, I see."
Thanks to it being set up for streaming, the programs and screen were impeccably clean.
There were streaming programs installed, but since I hadn't updated their integrations yet, there were no major issues.
"First things first, let's test your aptitude as a VTuber. A basic but definitive test to see what kind of VTuber you could be, Miss Rasian."
"What is it?"
"This."
Execute.
"It's a game where you just press this button and the directional keys to jump your way to the top."
VTuber or not, I had to teach her.
That not everything in the modern world is so easy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
And then.
Thirty minutes later.
"Is this it?"
"...Huh?"
I saw the knight who had met the princess.
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