Clipper, Become a VTuber.

One morning, Clipper Wakamo Inarizushi awoke from an uneasy dream and found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic fox god.

'Let's stay calm for now'

Strictly speaking, he only had until six in the morning. It was five a.m. now.... New York would soon be at 17:00, and his favorite overseas VTuber was doing a collab with their fellow members today, so he had to make sure to watch it. Honestly, even spending time worrying was a waste.

'At least, there's nothing to lose if I don't go outside'

Whatever he needed could be bought through delivery. More surprisingly, he was a homebody who owned his own home. He hadn't made this much money solely through Bitcoin and stocks, nor had he won the first prize in the lottery by some miracle—he had simply gotten into the market earlier than most people and made a fortune in various ways. He had even bought a huge amount of Dogecoin back when it was only 50 won.

Thud.

Getting out of bed only to hit the ceiling. Just how tall was he?

"But there's no problem...!!"

After all, weren't there VTubers who set their height to something like 300 meters? Following the once-famous Eight-Foot-Tall Woman meme, he had gone all out with his nonhuman setting, making himself huge and giving himself a roughly corresponding weight. Honestly, that setting had very much been improvised on the spot that day. He had debuted with the setting of a fox god simply because the VTuber concept involving audience participation was that of a god.

Recalling those days made him unexpectedly emotional. He had felt betrayed when, just as he seemed to be succeeding as a VTuber, he suddenly debuted as a singer and appeared on television. But he had still been happy that they had succeeded.... Even so, it had hurt a little when they later treated their streaming days as a launchpad in an interview.

First of all, why had he changed like this?

The answer to that question came to him as soon as he thought of it.

In the modern era, the only thing capable of causing sudden physical changes was 【A Climber's Awakening】.

A climber's profession was determined by how they had lived their life, as well as what they were naturally suited for. But conversely, there were plenty of cases involving people who were somehow warped, or who had no idea why they had been chosen or why they had become like that. Strange professions like [Elf] and [Angel] appeared, after all. If so, was his profession something like [Fox God]?

No, absolutely not.

He was merely a VTuber who had paid money to ask Mama to implement a rough 2D model. Changing into the exact appearance he had requested to match that setting—there was something wrong with that.

"『Status Window』"

Reality had become fantasy. Climbers had appeared along with the Towers. Naturally, how many works had Korea produced in the genre known as 【Tower-Climbing Fiction】? Unfortunately, there had even been cases where authors who wrote stories with settings similar to the Tower were kidnapped by some extreme climber. When reality became too twisted, people who had lost their sense of reality began appearing as well.

But he could say this with certainty.

These days, things that no one had ever expected to exist became occupations. Professional gamers were one example, and streamers were another. All sorts of professions would emerge as human civilization developed.... But this wasn't it. This was a truly serious problem.

[Status Window]

[Climber : Wakamo Inarizushi]

[Class : VTuber]

[Age : 1,000 years old]

[Stats]

Mana : 70,584.

"Tower! You chose the wrong VTuber!!!"

Why was his profession VTuber!! If VTubers existed in reality, then this was already a streamer story... no, it would turn into an internet-streaming story! Of course, there were also VTubers who showed their real selves, what people called the red pill, while cosplaying their characters.

Broadcasting depended on the person doing it, but... how could VTuber be a profession when it actually existed in reality? Had the Tower lost its mind...?

"This has to be something like a 『Legendary Class』"

As mentioned before, the Tower's professions were absurdly extreme. If it gave people professions with a fantasy-like feel, there were things like [Driver], [Artist], and [Satyr]. People called most of those 『Legendary Classes』. In a sense, they could be dismissed as genuinely legendary.

The [Driver] was someone who knew how to drive cars and trucks, even trains and airplanes, and had awakened. This climber could summon vehicles with their [Skill].

The [Artist] was a singer so famous that there wasn't a person anywhere in the world who didn't know them. The singer was also a producer, and after going on dozens of world tours, had become a climber capable of inflicting status effects or granting buffs through song.

And in the case of [Satyr], it was a crazy bastard who fucked goats. There was only one 『Legendary Class』 Satyr in the entire world. After the first Satyr user died and the second Satyr user revealed the conditions for changing classes, the world was turned upside down in more ways than one. [Elf] and [Angel] had somehow managed to survive, but he would refrain from mentioning the other tragedies.

Yes, only one person. It was a strange profession found in the Tower that anyone could obtain if they fulfilled the conditions for changing classes.

Just as something this strange existed, the Tower was surprisingly different from the stories in novels—it did not mercilessly test humans or force them through trials. But it was certainly a nuisance. It might prevent wars and lead the development of civilization and the evolution of humanity through new resources, but it was also like a nuclear weapon that could wipe out an entire city if mishandled.

"....You said I could see the conditions for changing classes, right?"

Should he call it anxiety, or a desire to deny reality?

A popular clipper suddenly debuting as a VTuber at some point was no longer an urban legend; it was a well-known occurrence. The fact that a certain dessert who loved orcas more than anything had succeeded as a virtual idol was already a living legend among clippers!!

But I never thought it would become my problem!

"[Class Change Conditions], let's see... if I press the class..."

[Class Change Conditions]

1.Be chosen by 100 VTubers.

2.Have more than 50,000 humans become aware of your existence.

3.Have more than 1,000 works related to VTubers.

4.Have helped more than 200 people with donated wealth.

5.Create 1,000 pieces of music and symbols for VTubers.

6.Make VTubers known to more than 1,000,000 people.

7.Have conducted a huge ritual.

"....?"

Wasn't this pretty lenient? He thought that at least three acquaintances of his could probably fulfill it, but at the same time, he felt an indefinable sense of dissonance.

It felt as though the Tower had no understanding whatsoever of this profession.

"Isn't this idol worship?"

The VTubers might subscribe to him, since he made clips from their videos and uploaded them. There were more than just one or two VTubers, and more than 500,000 people might know him as the clipper who had devoted his life to VTubers. As for works related to VTubers, he had already uploaded more than 2,000 videos to his channel, so no explanation was necessary.

But wasn't the word "offering" strange?

"You mean donations...?"

It was what people commonly called support money. He had watched everyone from minor VTubers over the past five years to VTubers who entered major agencies and went on to succeed. No one could stream without earning any money, and since it was their profession, there was no doubt that the money he gave them had helped. As for number five, he had voluntarily participated to help produce songs by playing instruments or doing mixing, and since he had plenty of money, he had commissioned other artists to make fan art as tribute...

Wasn't a mere 1,000 far too easy for this part?

There were far too many possibilities for number six. He had worked hard to promote them, asking people during collabs if they knew a particular VTuber and sending the viewers gathered on his channel over to other VTubers.

But wasn't condition number seven too strange?

A huge ritual.

"No matter how I look at it, this is a performance, right?"

Though he couldn't sing, he could confidently say he was incredible at playing instruments. Every now and then, he would play a little during a stream to liven up the mood. He had also worked to create fun scenes by providing background music during collabs. Rather than being exploited by accident, he would sometimes push his way into things like a VTuber's birthday concert and play there.

If that was considered a ritual, it made sense. Song and dance were essential to worshipping an idol.

"No, why did it interpret it that way?"

It was absurd, but the stream had started, so he decided to watch it first and think afterward. He watched with a warm smile as the VTuber reunited with their fellow members after a long time, laughing, singing, and chatting without noticing the passage of time. He poured donations into them and congratulated them, and after five hours, he realized something.

He wasn't hungry?

He put the VTubers' streams up on nine monitors and recorded the timestamps of interesting parts in a notepad. Whether his body had become that of a VTuber or not, he continued working at his main job as a clipper. By this point, his eyes should have been strained, his body stiff, and lack of exercise should have made him sleepy, but he was certain that his condition hadn't changed at all.

"Sssip...."

In the end, he could no longer focus on his work as a clipper. How many VTubers were there in the world, anyway, and why did it have to be him?

He just wanted to watch streams all day, and because he couldn't keep all this fun to himself, he wanted to spread the word and make it known!!

"Let's see if I have any skills or something"

[Stats]

Mana : 69,856(70,584)

"....Huh?"

His mana had decreased from earlier?

With a sinking feeling, he checked the [Skill Window].

[Skills]

[Tower Entry]

-Enters the selected Tower.

Once he entered, he could not choose another Tower until he finished climbing.

"This is a basic skill that all climbers have..."

[Idol's Body]

-All of the body's abilities are based entirely on 100% mana.

-Anchored to a horizon coordinate system, with himself as the reference point for all physical laws.

-Mana increases in a 1:1 ratio in proportion to the number of worshippers.

-Disappears when mana reaches 0.

As expected, this insane Tower had clearly interpreted VTuber = idol = object of worship through some insane logic. Since the Tower decided the conditions for changing classes however it wanted, there was no point in protesting and asking why it had to be like this. Once someone became a climber, from that point on they had to live as one until death. Class changes existed, but 『Legendary Classes』 had the unfair fate of being unable to use even those.

[Stats]

Mana : 69,854(70,584)

"So that means I'll die in 19 hours."

He had been given a terminal diagnosis in the most absurdly innovative way possible, and it left him speechless. His mana did not decrease while he stayed still, but it was slowly dropping by 1 every time he moved!!

"Sssip...."

In Korea, climbers were required to register with the Association as climbers. Of course, if they had no intention of climbing the Tower, they did not have to register. The moment a new climber entered a Tower, it would make a huge fuss about how this cute newbie climber had climbed the first floor, whether they wanted it to or not. Of course, it did not actually speak; it simply added their name to the list....

"I figured I wouldn't live long, chugging Hot6 like crazy while watching VTuber streams every day...."

No.

He had a duty to live at least until next year.

"I can't die without seeing the big festival performance by Virtual Live's seventh-generation member, who is debuting with a 3D model next year!! There's also a collaboration café scheduled at Animai Minus Shop!!"

There was no choice.

Even though he hadn't wanted it, the Tower had turned the pitiful clipper into a VTuber.

Frustration and despair.

But at the same time, there was joy in becoming an ideal VTuber who was exactly his type.

And because he hadn't even slightly expected things to turn out this way, emptiness and sadness came rushing in.

Whether he streamed or not, if he left traces of himself on the Internet... internet tattoos lasted a long time. Like real tattoos, it was impossible to erase all of one's tracks completely.

Weren't there plenty of lunatics who recorded even unarchived streams and membership-only streams?

Of course, he kept them strictly for his personal collection.

That was why he felt like he was about to cry.

"A pure fox-god VTuber is completely out of the question!!"

If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have cursed on stream...!!

"[Tower Entry]!"

If someone ever asked why he had become a VTuber, he would say that the Tower had held a knife to his throat and threatened him into becoming one.

The fox god climbed the Tower with tears in his eyes.

He had lived a life in which dying today wouldn't have mattered, but he didn't want to die unjustly without even getting to watch a VTuber's stream.