The first round of auditions has ended.
It took longer than expected.
Considering that it’s almost 12 o’clock now, it’s been nearly 5 hours since the auditions kicked off at 7.
According to what I heard from the Taker beforehand, it was expected to wrap up between 9:30 and 10, so it’s clear this content has run over time.
Maybe that’s why he was bowing to the people around him, expressing gratitude and apologies.
But well, you can’t really say the situation is the Taker’s fault. Original schedules never go as planned.
Today’s content was no exception. If I had to pinpoint the reasons for the time overrun, it might be due to game bugs, mic issues from the participants, and the fact that there were considerably more participants than the Taker anticipated.
With all these variables in play, there wasn’t really anyone scolding him. Most of the gathered folks were streamers well aware of the internal circumstances.
I mean, who would dare take a jab at a Taker with 2 million VTubers and a significant live audience?
Just looking at the people gathered shows the status of the Taker who could pull off an event like this.
“Great job!”
“It was fun today. Thanks for having me!”
One by one, people started leaving. I was also getting ready to head out.
“Thank you for coming today, you all worked hard.”
A handsome guy approached me with big strides. More precisely, it was a polygonal hunk.
Hovering above his head was the nickname ‘Taker_’.
It was the Taker.
This handsome avatar—should I call it his exclusive avatar?—with a much better-looking character than the real Taker felt oddly awkward as he came closer to chat.
Still, it’s nice that we can talk without a separate call. This is yet another advantage of VR chat or the VR world in general.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I didn’t really do much.”
I waved my arms around in response. I hadn’t realized this was my first time, but you can move your arms and even lie on the ground like that.
As I flailed my arms around, my character end up twitching toward the air as if glitching, even though I wasn’t manipulating it. It turned out to be a strangely entertaining element.
The Taker followed my movements and continued the conversation.
“Still, thank you for coming; it was really helpful. There were way more viewers than I expected…”
“Isn’t that just because the content was well planned?”
“Isn’t it because the content is well-crafted?”
Today, Taker’s content exceeded an astonishing 50,000 peak viewers.
Although it’s considered a bit stale, I thought there would inevitably be viewers flocking to the audition, but Taker seemed to think differently.
“No, no, it wouldn’t have come this far without Kayak. It’s all thanks to Kayak.”
“Even if you gild me like this, nothing will come out of it.”
“Is that so? That’s disappointing.”
Taker laughed heartily. It seemed that because of their many interactions, Taker had become a cozy acquaintance, allowing for casual small talk.
“The second audition is next week, right? I should just come here again next week?”
“Oh, Kayak doesn’t need to come for the second round.”
“Excuse me?”
When I asked in confusion, Taker replied slowly.
“From the second round on, it will just be me and two judges, so there will only be three of us for the evaluation. If the first round felt strong on the entertainment side, the second round will carry a more serious vibe.”
In short, the judges, including me, who were called in to bring the fun and atmosphere were done after the first round.
It was understandable. Even while participating in today’s broadcast, I couldn’t help but think, ‘Am I really qualified to evaluate these people?’
There were too many earnest individuals who invested their lives in this content to just brush it off as mere entertainment.
People like those shouldn’t be judged by someone clueless like me.
For the first round, we picked people with avatars resembling Camilla under the assumption that participants’ skills were vague, but that couldn’t be the case for the second round. There would be ethical issues, and I would surely take a lot of flak for it.
Thus, Taker’s words were akin to a quick fix for my lingering worries.
“Hmm…”
For some reason, mischief sparked within me.
Looking at Taker, I subtly remarked, “So I’m just good for the first round… I was really looking forward to participating with the VTubers in the second and third rounds…”
“What? No, but Kayak, it would be a burden for you to keep appearing in my content. This is supposed to be a long-term thing, and you have your personal broadcasts to handle…”
“So I was just the leech sucking out all the good bits, huh? I came with so much anticipation because you invited me, Taker…”
Just then, I sniffled dramatically thanks to my ongoing rhinitis, amplifying the effect.
Taker’s avatar started flailing nearly to the point of a meltdown, and their voice rose considerably.
He was mumbling and his voice was getting higher.
“No, what do you mean by that? This person did this last time too, and here we are again. I can’t accept this kind of skit. Are you trying to make me the center of another weird controversy?”
[Gasp]
[Is Kayak crying?]
[Was this not discussed beforehand?]
[Taker/Controversy/Conflict with other streamers]
[No, no, it seems like a fake cry, lol]
[This is so random it’s even more ridiculous]
[Taker’s eating scandal, oh no no no]
[Kayak’s prime moment, wow….]
[What’s with the energy at noon, lol]
[The man who made Kayak cry vs. Gunhee]
[The bad man Taker who drives serious Kayak away, oh no no no]
[If it’s Kayak, it’s understandable to hear some complaints]
[For real, even in Lightning Village, Chochoc and Saturn helped her]
[But seeing Kayak joke around, it seems like she got pretty close with Taker]
[To take down Taker who made Kayak cry… that was the only thought from the beginning]
[Since the stream is off, it’s hard to tell if she’s really crying or just pretending]
[Info) Kayak can create a controversy if she puts her mind to it]
[Run away quickly, Gunhee;; you messed with a crazy one]
As the chat began to heat up, Kayak blew her nose and said while sniffling.
“Hehe, I was just kidding.”
“I felt my life was in danger…”
That was Taker’s impression of how frightening the suddenly speeding chat became.
*
When something hits big, a variety of derivative products emerge.
Just like a huge branch grows with smaller shoots sprouting nearby, the Abyss was no different.
As Abyss became a worldwide hit, Eonix not only focused on internal game development but also created various other games that were linked to the story of Abyss or set against its backdrop.
That’s why the number of Eonix employees kept increasing day by day and new departments were continuously being established.
Notably, there was the mobile game showcased at this year’s G-Star or the ill-fated FPS game that was boldly released but failed for various reasons.
To be honest, the reviews weren’t that great. Up until now, no games besides Abyss had shown any significant achievements. Nevertheless, Eonix did not stop.
The new game making its appearance in the gaming world now wasn’t much different from those.
An RPG game featuring characters from Abyss and directly taking its story. One among the countless child games of Abyss.
Game. One of the many offspring of Abyss.
“Here it is, ‘Abyss: The Fantasia’ has finally revealed itself.”
“Yup, today we’re going to play Abyss: The Fantasia. As someone who loves Abyss and Eonix, I have to at least give it a quick test run, right?”
[Hmm….]
[I was about to say isn’t it better to just play solo ranked…]
[What are these guys making games for?]
[But this one doesn’t seem bad, the graphics are decent.]
[Have you decided what character to play as?]
“Character? Of course, it’s Camilla. What else would it be?”
Abyss: The Fantasia has a structure similar to other RPG games.
It features ranged and melee characters, divided into classes like Berserkers, Paladins, Archers, and Mages.
There are even job advancements, and while it looks a bit complicated, the basic character appearances, skills, and classes are just straight-up copied from Abyss, so it shouldn’t be too hard.
<<The First Sword of the Continent donated 10,000 won!> - Is there no Lennok? "Looks like they’ve only released the complete starter characters, the originals. So it seems there are no nostalgic characters like Lennok just yet." [Ah ha ha, stop being a poop-geek like Lennok and go for the pretty Camilla.] [Please put an end to Lennok hate....] [Is Camilla a melee damage dealer?] [I heard she feels like a rogue.] [If she's a rogue... hmm....] [Already looks lame as heck ㅋㅋㅋㅋ] "What do you mean lame? Camilla is super strong these days! Isn’t it old news that all rogue types are weak?" While chatting with the viewers, the installation was completed in no time. I headed straight for the character selection screen. "First, let's create the character. Let's see, Camilla... huh?" Among the many characters in the selection screen, Camilla was the only one colored in black and white. No matter how much I clicked on the illustration, it wouldn’t select. - Camilla is temporarily unavailable due to an internal game issue. We appreciate your understanding, users. - "Ahhh...." [Oh come on, Camilla, it’s you again?] [Every time she shows up, it's a bug, lol.] [Buggy character, lol.] [It's probably because the game just launched.] [The host is already displeased.] [I heard Kayak gets really angry when she sticks out her tongue, yikes!] [Eonix, you guys!] "This must be Camilla’s fate... I’m getting used to it by now."
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