People tend to meet their end when they try things they’re not used to doing.

    Even if it’s something as small as choosing the stairs over the elevator they usually take.

    -Thud.

    “...Ah.”@@@@

    I lost my balance on a patch of water I hadn’t noticed on the stairs, and down I went.

    The pain radiated through my whole body, with a particularly sharp throbbing in my head.

    Before long, drops of red liquid began to fall onto the sterile white patient gown I was wearing.

    When I closed and opened my eyes, I found myself being wheeled away.

    “Stay awake, please! Keep your eyes open!!”

    The urgent voice belonged to someone I couldn’t see, but I could hear their panic.

    Blinding light from a flashlight blinked in rapid succession.

    But before I even reached ten seconds...

    -Ssshrk.

    The line between consciousness and unconsciousness blurred, and I felt myself slipping away.

    Even if I didn’t want to know, I knew. I wouldn’t be opening my eyes again.

    It was a wretched life, just as one would say in any famous poem or story.

    ***

    -Tap, tap.

    -Tap, tap.

    A foreign sensation.

    “Oh, who did you take after to turn out this pretty, Ha-eun?”

    “Hmm, they say daughters usually take after their fathers....”

    “What was that?”

    Unfamiliar voices.

    “Well, can’t ignore the mom’s DNA either. Actually, looking now, she’s the spitting image of you.”

    “...Really?”

    “Yeah, really.”

    An unknown atmosphere.

    None of this felt like anything I knew, and it was enough to dispel the notion that I was seeing my life flash before my eyes.

    This scene was ironic, unrealistic yet somehow grounded in reality. Only one conclusion made sense: reincarnation.

    If someone asked what my future ambition was, I could easily say model or actor without any shame.

    That said, I hadn’t yet decided on either career path.

    My appearance was balanced for now, but who knew what might happen as I grew older?

    After a long period of contemplation about the future of “Lee Ha-eun,”

    ‘...Why’s the visitor so engrossed in that, ignoring the patient?’

    ‘Oh, this? It’s something called a VTuber─’

    A memory surfaced from the depths of my mind, floating back up to my ears.

    Oh yeah, that career path existed too.

    I’d read a few stories about people suddenly transforming into women and becoming streamers or VTubers. The thought of being a VTuber wasn’t hard to imagine.

    Back then, I’d never imagined I’d become one of those characters. But here I was.

    And surprisingly, the more I thought about it, the more the idea of becoming a VTuber didn’t sound half bad.

    Especially since this was a time when the concept of VTubers didn’t even exist yet.

    With actors and models, the competition was already fierce.

    The entertainment industry could hardly be considered a “blue ocean.”

    But if I prepared for an uncharted profession that hadn’t even been explored yet, patiently waiting until the internet overtook TV in influence, and jumped into VTubing before anyone else...

    I could grab the so-called “success” by the horns.

    No one but fate knows how things will turn out, but that’s all the more reason to choose the path with the lowest risk of failure.

    Recalling all the knowledge I had of VTubers, I inspected it like a panorama.

    Looking at the young girl in the mirror who still felt unfamiliar, I cautiously opened my mouth.

    “Haa—woo.”

    I puffed my cheeks just like a VTuber I’d seen, responding to a donation during a live stream.

    And, not even a second later...

    “Ribbit-ribbit. Playing around with mom’s mirror from the morning, are we? Ribbit-ribbit.”

    “Ribbit-ribbit. I guess the Frog Prince story I read to you made quite an impression, huh? Ribbit-ribbit.”

    “...!...!!”

    When I turned, I saw the two shadows behind me, whose playful voices had turned me into a frog on the spot.

    And just like that, my cheeks blushed bright red, as red as a tomato.

    In that instant, I finally understood what VTubers must feel like when they accidentally reveal their “red pills” on stream before even debuting.

    ...It was already proving not to be easy.