After thanking them for their time, she slipped quietly out of the room, leaving three figures seated in silence, lost in mental deliberation.
“She’s...interesting,” one of them remarked. “Suzuki, thoughts?”
Suzuki hesitated, and when at last she spoke, her voice lacked conviction. “She’s...unique, for sure.”
The first speaker turned to the other side of the table. “President? What do you think?”
“Mm... I’m not so sure,” the president of Live-On responded, her tone noncommittal.
Lately, to build on the momentum of the company’s recent successes, Live-On had been gearing up to debut a brand-new generation of VTubers. In this cramped, unremarkable office, they held interviews with hopeful candidates, each one vying for a spot on the next big thing.
“What about you, Hareru?” The president shifted her attention to Hareru Asagiri, who had been monitoring the interview from a separate room for privacy.
“I’m with you on this one. She’s good, but there’s just something missing,” Hareru’s voice replied, her tone apologetic.
The interview itself had been lighthearted and cordial, but with only company personnel left in the room, the atmosphere shifted, becoming far more serious. Inviting someone to join a new generation was no small matter. For the company, it wasn’t just about choosing people they could bet their future on—it was about selecting someone whose career they could feel comfortable being responsible for. When the stakes were this high, even the easygoing culture at Live-On couldn’t stop the mood from weighing down on them.
“Got it. We’ll keep her on file for now and move on to the next candidate,” the first speaker said. “Who’s up next?”
Each candidate that day had been impressive, each one surpassing expectations more so than the last. The deliberation had been tough.
But little did they know, everything would be turned on its head before the day was through.
“Let’s see... Ah, here they are.”
The candidate about to make all others seem ordinary, the one destined to elevate Live-On’s influence for years to come, was about to walk in.
“Yuki Tanaka-san.”
This was the origin of Live-On’s third generation. This was the origin of Awayuki Kokorone.