/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Robert Johnson spent his entire life working hard to make something of himself. Starting as nothing but a mere store clerk, he clawed his way into corporate positions in his late twenties. He spent the next twenty five years helping others achieve great wealth and success. Sadly, his dedication to the corporate world over the years always meant that his marriage was always at risk of crumbling. His only child, a beautiful daughter with a bright smile he couldn’t spend enough time with, tragically died due to cancer. And of course, eventually, his marriage did finally end. Robert denied the reality around him by burying himself in work.
Unsurprising, when his company went under, they did not fully care enough to give Robert a safety net to fall on as his world collapsed. They got rid of him, and Robert was left with nothing. He eventually became a freelance landscape worker, seeing as he had no luck finding another corporate job. He felt nothing but shame doing it, but it was all he could do to support himself. Hopping from motel to motel, and often sleeping in his car, Robert was at the end of his wits. His wife left him, his child died and his family didn’t want him around. One day, while using the free wifi from a nearby fast food joint, Robert saw a message from one of his old coworkers. It spoke of a company dedicated to managing “vtubers” that was on a quick rise. Of course, he didn’t know what this was. Time had moved far too fast for Robert, he had no clue about most popular things, much less what went on within the strange world of the internet.
The job opening was simply titled “Manager”. It required basic knowledge of the corporate world and basic skills on some computer programs he had never heard of. Without feeling anything in his heart and not expecting anything, Robert applied, as he had done so many times before. Out of curiosity, he checked on what that “discord” program was all about. He saw how basic it was and figured that in case he did get hired, he could improvise and learn it as he went along.
A few weeks went by, and Robert continued on his robotic routine, his mind completely blank and heart full of nothing but regret and anger. One day, he noticed he actually did get a reply from the company he applied for. “What the hell was it again…?” he asked himself. He didn’t remember which job he applied for, as by this point they were too many to count or keep track of. Unbeknownst to Robert, this email would change his life.
Two months passed, and Robert was eventually hired. Using his trusty company laptop, he understood he would simply need to manage some “talents” from the company, such as basic schedule work, emails and third party involvement using him as a middleman between the talents and others. This was not the case at all.
Robert was thrown into a voice chat with five different women he had not previously talked to at all. He was simply told to “meet them”, with no further instructions given. Their cute voices and awkward silences signaled inexperience on all fronts. They were all young, at least far younger than him. They were also not experienced with professional environments, certainly not corporate ones.
“Uh… hi?”

His rugged voice contrasted the cute voices. The girls all said their hellos, but were clearly distracted by the fact that there was a man present. A much older man. “I’m your manager, Robert. Nice to meet you all. I see you’re all getting to know each other better, that’s good.”

As they spoke, it was clear the girls were well aware of who Robert was, and his role. They were very polite with him, but Robert could not help but feel embarrassed at the fact that he was much older than them, and felt very out of touch. Still, he tried his best. Now living in a small apartment, Robert had all the time and stability to give the corporate world another try, but this time he was very paranoid and reluctant to get attached to anyone or anything, including the job itself.
The girls were scheduled to make their debuts in a few months. During this precious down time, Robert took it upon himself to learn as much as he could. He educated himself on all things “Hololive”, even going as far as to writing down notes and vigorously studying the market, the fans and the overall atmosphere of the company and the streams themselves. Little by little, Robert only communicated with the five girls using text messages, as he couldn’t bring himself to speak to them for too long. Over time, he started getting memories of his deceased daughter. Memories he had desperately tried to drown and silence by throwing himself into a work addiction. “She would be about their age now…” he thought.

“She would’ve liked all these cute designs.”