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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Vtuber (Illusion Magic) Debut
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In a fantasy world, I was reborn as a commoner.
I shouted for the status window, but nothing popped up.
Not especially strong or highborn, I figured I'd spend my days potato farming with my parents and bow out quietly. But surprisingly, I had the talent of a grand archmage.
No wonder I was so good at mental math.
They dragged me off to the Magic Tower, where I got love calls pouring in from the Tower Lords.
Here are some excerpts from those offers.
"Become a disciple of the Crimson Magic Tower, and I'll grant you the wisdom to burn half the world to ash!"
"Join the Azure Magic Tower, and I'll guarantee you the successor's seat. With your talent... slaying the azure dragon of the abyss and reclaiming the lost ancient undersea city of Atlantis won't be a pipe dream!"
"The Golden Magic Tower will shower you with piles of gold the moment you move in!"
"Um, the Illusion Magic Tower doesn't have much, but... if you're into illusion magic..."
Tucked among all those powerhouse pitches was one total outlier.
The Illusion Magic Tower specialized in illusion magic—a field so useless it had zero popularity and even less funding.
In this brutal fantasy world, raw destructive power was the prime target for any mage.
Disorient the enemy's mind with illusions? Might as well ram a fireball into them for better DPS.
Flash fake visions to distract? A massive fireball pumps out about a million candela of blinding light. Distraction and damage in one shot.
So while the other Tower Lords unpacked sacks of recruitment swag with total confidence, the Illusion Tower Lord had no choice but to nerd out with awkward magic promo.
For wealth and glory, you had to ignore the Illusion Magic Tower completely.
Just pick any of the other three, and my second life was paved with gold.
But right at that make-or-break moment, the demon from my past life threw me a curveball.
Like the devil whispering temptations to Buddha, sweet words rattled my brain.
'Illusion magic? Whip up some VR for TRPGs—that'd be insanely fun.'
'No culture industry here at all. Medieval fantasy's only hobbies are gluttony and duel-watching. Give up real TRPG? Ditch your life's passion? Stuck playing lame Othello for a hundred thousand years?'
'Instead of narrating "The ogre swings its thick club down at you!", you could show it for real with illusion magic. Holding back like that? You're a total TRPG nerd, right?'
'With illusion magic, doesn't that mean I could debut as a Vtuber?'
"Gasp."
I fell hook, line, and sinker for the devil's murmur.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After that, it was days of grinding away in a dingy lab thanks to chronic budget woes.
Polishing up modeling with illusion magic, rigging it out... tough work, but so damn rewarding.
Sometimes pests would barge in.
"Um, so... if we front you this funding, you'll really make something useful, right?"
"Yes."
"M-my disciples are pissed... 'How long we gonna keep feeding this outsider? He'll stash the cash and bolt to the Crimson Magic Tower,' they keep saying..."
"Won't happen."
"Uh, o-okay..."
"Done. All finished."
"R-really...? The spell that burned through two years of funding... it's complete? Wh-what kind is it...? Something for war? Will it make our tower blow up big...?"
"Virtual Idol Heart. Done and dusted."
"...?"
A dress in black-and-red two-tone accents, shaped like a heart from a deck of cards. Pure avatar perfection.
A whole different league from faux 3D on a 2D screen. The 3D modeling conjured by illusion magic was a hologram so lifelike, you couldn't tell it from a real person.
I had her bust out the Cang Cang dance.
Skirt and hair fluttered just right. The morphing was flawless—pure eye candy.
To double-check for glitches, I inspected everything down to the hemline.
Solid.
A tiny knee-jut bug, but no biggie.
Fixed it right there in my seat.
"Um... what even is this...?"
The Illusion Tower Lord was so blown away by my handiwork she could barely string words together.
Then she snapped to and started grilling me on the spell's fine print.
"So, uh... what does this magic actually do...?"
"She moves, dances, sings."
"N-no mass-kill features or anything...?"
"Nope. But I prepped ten different panty models."
"Gulp."
The Illusion Tower Lord flopped backward, twintails flapping.
Overcome with emotion at her disciple's triumph, she passed out cold.
A bit later, she came to, wailing "Next quarter's funding is toast!" and throwing a total fit. True to her illusion mastery, her tears morphed into butterflies and ostriches fluttering everywhere.
Sure, I'd drained the tower's coffers dry, but it wasn't like I ignored our finances entirely.
The Tower Lord bawled her eyes out, blind to the insane potential packed into Virtual Idol Heart-chan. Me? I saw a golden future.
Medieval era.
Zero entertainment.
In a time when commoners' ultimate pastime was execution-watching, a Vtuber was bound to be massive.
Of course, I knew the score: for a virtual YouTuber, the pilot's charisma trumped even the slickest model.
And yeah, in this internet-less world, I'd have to figure out how to actually monetize her.
One step at a time. First up: need a soul to inhabit her.
For starters, Heart's pilot would be... yours truly.
"Ah. Aah. Ahem."
Illusion magic's finesse even nailed the audio. I'd sampled voices from ten women ahead of time, mashed 'em into TTS. Boom—Virtual Idol Heart spits my lines flawlessly.
"Kyahaha☆"
Perfection.
A TRPG game master has to craft a living, breathing world. Sometimes that means roleplaying a passing merchant, an ambushing goblin, whatever—to amp up player immersion.
Heroines included.
Playing a tough-as-nails knight girl? A demure black-haired schemer? A 30-something jobless high-school-grad shut-in? All me...!
Past life, I never voiced it for real. No one wants a gravelly dude voice crooning pure lines like "I've... always loved you."
Text only.
But deep down, I dreamed.
If I struck it rich, hire a pro voice actress... or wait for some monster TTS tech.
Now the dream was real.
"Heh heh heh... Ahahahahaha!"
I puppeteered Heart into a villainous cackle, grinning ear to ear.
As her, I'd conquer the peak of isekai Vtubing...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 📋 Imperial Defense Bureau Dangerous Person Report Name: Heart, the Woman of Illusions Grade: Level 2 (downgraded one step due to disappearance) Activity Period: Lion Calendar 445 ~ 448 (3 years) Author: C
She appeared like a firefly, only to vanish like a storm.
Leaving scars that would never fade on countless men—and some women.
She drew eyes with her unique marketing.
She first showed up at the famed brothel 'Rosaria,' auctioning her time for "conversation only." Plenty scoffed, "Wants the cash but too chicken to sell her body?" But once a few bold gentlemen sampled that "conversation"...
Everything changed. Men flocked to her—even titled nobles—lining up for a shot.
Many analysts peg her as an elite agent groomed by anti-empire radicals. I see flaws in that view. She merely toyed with love, nothing deeper.
Compared to what she could've claimed, her take was pocket change—like tips. Witnesses say she always probed: "How loaded are you? What percent of your fortune is this gift?" Anything over 1%, she passed on.
One tale still makes the rounds.
A young scion from a broke baron's line offered his entire estate. "I know it's not enough to claim you. I just crave one moment." She handed it back: "I'll invest this in you personally, Baron. Come back a finer man."
That sparked a noble fad: returning gifts from men you're into.
She never swung the power love handed her. No arrogance. Dignified, but never haughty—she never sneered or belittled anyone.
Her closest tie back then—the guy folks dubbed "Heart's man," current Northern Grand Duke Julius—said he had a fiancée now, so no more meetups. She responded not with jealousy, but encouragement: "Remember our time like an orange. Just not while you're eating!"
No scent clung to her. No perfume, no human skin. The men who met her raved of an "invisible fragrance" instead. Scent-erasing perfumes trended as her knockoffs.
Even now, ages after she ghosted, droves of men pine for her or chase phantom trails. I trust the free spirit and humility she showed nonstop. Back then, she posed no threat to the Empire.
But one who dances with blazing passion must brace for burns.
If she truly vanished chasing "true love," her return spells that love's end. Everyone knows how venomous a heartbroken woman can turn.
Should she resurface to reclaim the gentlemen's hearts she once gripped...
I propose unleashing unlimited forces to slay the "Woman of Illusions."
Needless to say, every operative dispatched must never have bought even a minute of her time.