Where I am ?

...

Open

"Sorry for the inconvenience…" x2

Two charming young women entered a spacious room, their eyes widening with surprise.

"Wow! Look… look! Everything is so big and looks so high-tech!" exclaimed one of them, her curious gaze exploring her surroundings, the little green bow on her head—a cute bunny-ear shape—moving animatedly as though it were real.

The other, similar in appearance but of a much different temperament, also scanned the room with curiosity. She had some knowledge of tech from watching shorts online and glimpses from her auditions, but the equipment around her seemed extremely high-end.

With this in mind, she turned to the younger girl with an eye patch and asked hesitantly, "Are you sure it's okay for us to be here? I mean… this place looks expensive, and we're complete newbies at all this…" she added, a bit embarrassed.

The girl behind them laughed proudly and, striking a very recognizable chuunibyou pose, placed one hand on her face and spoke.

"Buhaha… it's natural to feel intimidated by the magnificence of my operations center! But fear not, my young pupils! This great sister will guide you on the hard and elusive path to immortality!" she declared grandly.

Or at least, she did—until a folder smacked her on the head.

The young girl let out an adorable whimper, clutching her head with both hands.

"What did we say about your speech style when we have guests…" said Tadano's voice behind her.

At the sight of him, the two young women immediately stood up straight and greeted him.

"Pleased to meet you, President…" they said in perfect sync, as if they'd rehearsed it beforehand.

"…." Tadano was stunned by their synchronization.

"There's a reason they're quintuplets…" he thought as he let it slide and continued.

"Nice to meet you again, Nakano Ichika-san and Nakano Yotsuba-san. I'm Tadano Hitohito, the current president of Strawberry Productions," he introduced himself with a gentle smile.

Each sister nodded in her own way. Yotsuba nodded energetically, while Ichika hesitated momentarily, a playful glint appearing in her eyes.

"That hurt, boss…" muttered Nakanaka, breaking the moment.

"Sigh We agreed you'd control that style of speech in front of employees, didn't we?" Tadano said, exasperated by his tech department head's eccentricities.

"I-I can't help it! You said you'd be patient!" she protested.

Before she could continue, Ichika cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly, snapping her back to her senses. She grabbed the folder and began her introduction.

"Ahem… Nice to meet you again, Nakano sisters. My name is Nakanaka Omoharu, and I'm in charge of the company's tech department…" she said with a firm tone.

"It's great to think of them as subordinates I'm taking to war… as always, the boss is spot-on," thought the young girl, trying to maintain a dignified leader's facade.

"This used to be a game design office, but we've repurposed it for your use…" she explained, introducing them to the room.

High-end computers were divided into workstations, with a small kitchenette in one corner.

"Alright, before we start, is anyone familiar with the term 'YouTuber'?" Nakanaka asked.

"Oh! Me! Me! If I'm not mistaken, it's what you call people who make money by making videos on YouTube, right?" Yotsuba replied enthusiastically.

"Correct. What you'll be doing is similar, only with a virtual avatar, which our boss calls a Vtuber." Nakanaka pointed to one of the computers.

"These computers are equipped with motion-capture cameras and specialized software to assume the role of a virtual avatar, all courtesy of our boss here," Nakanaka said, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

The sisters looked on with amazement.

"I-It's nothing… please continue…" Tadano muttered, slightly embarrassed at being admired for simply doing someone else's job.

After fiddling with the computer, Nakanaka demonstrated the program's features to the girls, sparking their interest.

Yotsuba, in particular, embraced her new role eagerly.

"Look! Look! I've got little ears! And a tail! Plus an adorable face! Haha, this is so much fun," laughed the girl with light pink-orange hair.

Ichika, on the other hand, found her character intriguing and felt it fit her personality well.

"Not bad at all… Nyan~" she said appreciatively, striking a pose and letting out what she thought was a cute meow.

"You're… you're so seductive, sister!" Yotsuba exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"W-What? What on earth are you talking about? I was just trying to be cute, okay?!" Ichika defended herself.

Behind them, Tadano gave a thumbs-up. It was a worthy beginning for the first generation he had in mind.

Back to the present.

Tadano entered through the door, rubbing his shoulders a bit. School work had been exhausting, and helping Kiyoko with the student council didn't make it any easier.

"I mean, why doesn't she just give them a good whack with that hammer of hers to get them to stop slacking…" he muttered wearily as he entered the room.

"Oh?"

"Ugh… okay, so now I jump here, and… AH! NO! It wasn't this way! Ah! There are so many! Hey! That hurts!"

Yotsuba's lively voice could be heard as she played on the computer, chatting with viewers during her stream.

Curious, Tadano glanced at one of the three monitors showing the stream's status. A small avatar of a brown-haired girl with dog ears moved in perfect sync with Yotsuba's gestures.

In the background, an early version of DOOM was being played by Yotsuba, who was a complete novice at the game. Her funny reactions and vibrant personality seemed to excite the chat.

Seeing that the stream was consistently pulling 500 to 600 concurrent viewers, Tadano smiled, pleased that Ichigo's promotional campaign had been a success.

Looking to the side, he noticed Ichika playfully moving next to a specialized microphone.

Following Tadano's suggestion, she was creating some ASMR content for her audience. She had already recorded and published several videos of this style on her social media, gradually building a small fanbase.

While her current viewership didn't match her sister's, with around 300 to 400 viewers, they had a unique quality.

Ding

"Hmm? Oh, my… we have a special guest. Thank you, Kuromimi-san, for the red Super Chat…"

Ding

At that moment, Tadano felt a bit uneasy. Though he initially envisioned Ichika's role as akin to Okayu, it seemed she was on her way to becoming a second Honshou Marine...

"Should I hurry to bring in more members? Or should I speed up Nakanaka's project? I still plan to recruit a Marine-like figure, so having two of the same type…" Tadano pondered, feeling somewhat uncertain.

Some time later…

Typing sounds

Tadano was handling some administrative matters while monitoring the Nakano sisters' progress.

"And that's all for today… goodbye, everyone. It was a lot of fun being with you, and I'll see you next time…" Yotsuba said cheerfully.

As the program ended, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Sigh

"It's a bit tiring… but a lot of fun," Yotsuba murmured, leaning back in her chair.

"Fufu… my cute little sister worked hard; this big sister is very proud," Ichika teased from the side. She had started her stream a bit earlier, so she finished first.

"Hey! You don't have to put it like that, Onee-chan… besides, we're quintuplets, so we're all the same age," Yotsuba retorted.

"Tsk… Tsk… Tsk… little sister, you were the last one born, and I was the first, so I'm obviously the big sister!"

Yotsuba puffed out her cheeks in a pout, while Ichika smiled playfully.

"Good job, girls. The donations were also excellent. Please keep up the hard work in the future," Tadano said kindly.

"Ah! Boss! How long have you been there?!" Yotsuba said in surprise, realizing she hadn't noticed his presence.

Ichika, similarly surprised, quickly hid it with her characteristic playful smile to maintain her image as the big sister.

"Fufu… I didn't think our boss enjoyed secretly watching women… Kufufu, ecchi~"

Tadano rolled his eyes at Ichika's words and took two envelopes from his desk, handing one to each girl.

Both looked at him in surprise.

"A little bonus from me…" he said with a smile, patting each girl's shoulder before heading out.

"Remember to message Agari to call a taxi—it's late, and it's safer that way. See you later, girls…" he said before leaving.

The two girls opened the envelopes, still a bit stunned, greeted by several thousand-yen bills that made their eyes sparkle.

"Oh! Look, Onee-chan!" Yotsuba exclaimed excitedly, showing Ichika a cute keychain with a drawing of her avatar.

Ichika looked at it and found it very charming, so she emptied her own envelope and found a similar one with her character.

She couldn't help but smile softly.

...

Author's Note: "Here's a chapter—this time I finished it faster, haha. I hope you enjoy it! And with that, remember to drink plenty of water and that I love you all. Sincerely, your favorite depressive author."

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