Only Weapon Master

Time passed and the day came for me to go with Reina to interview for the VTuber duo group planned by VT Entertainment.

I arrived at the bus stop near my house early and was waiting for Reina while playing a mobile game.

“Ara, huff.. huff.. sorry I’m late..”

“Hmm. I think we’ll still be on time? But are you sure your stamina is okay when you’re out of breath after running such a short distance?”

I was genuinely curious. The distance from Reina’s house to the bus stop where we’re standing now would only take 15 minutes even if we walked slowly,

Seeing her panting like that after supposedly running, it seemed a bit… um, suspicious.

With that kind of stamina, yet such a figure.. Sshup. Is it a scam?

Are you saying my figure is a scam too?

Heh. I’m always exercising, plus I have inner energy and mana, so I have no difficulty maintaining this beautiful figure.

But Reina eats almost the same amount as I do, yet her exercise level is embarrassingly non-existent compared to mine.

I wonder if she’ll suddenly gain a lot of weight and cry later.

Well.. she’ll handle it herself.

“Ara, the bus is here!”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

— Vrooom.

We confirmed that the bus we were waiting for arrived just a few minutes after Reina arrived.

“Two high school students!”

“Yeeees~”

-Beep! Process completed successfully.

After Reina paid for my fare too and we boarded the bus, we passed the time in a conversation style where I just responded to Reina’s rambling as we headed to the VT building, which was the interview location.

When we arrived at the VTuber duo group applicant waiting room and opened the door

“Wow, Ara, there are so many people~”

“Yeah.”

We saw about 100 people in one room.

Perhaps because of the sound of us opening the door, everyone looked at us

Those in the waiting room let out small exclamations.

“Wow… they’re beautiful..”

“So cute~~”

Some people genuinely admired, while others:

“Wait, with those faces, they want to be VTubers..?”

“Isn’t that deceptive? Just do female streaming instead, sheesh..”

“Hmph. VTubers aren’t all about looks. Tsk.”

They were divided into those experiencing jealousy and nervousness.

Reina and I ignored their resentful voices and sat in empty seats to prepare for our interview.

“Ara!”

“Yeah.”

“Is that right?”

“What?”

“Nooo!! I mean playing games instead of preparing for the interview!!”

After hearing Reina’s nagging, I puffed my cheeks, put my phone in my pocket, then immediately leaned back in the chair to sleep..

“Ara…”

“I’m closing my eyes to think about how to approach the interview.”

“Hiing..”

I comfortably slept, replenishing my energy while melting away time.

— Shake shake

Urgh.

“… Hey… ra. Ara!! We’re about to go, so wake up!!”

Reina grabbed my shoulders and shook me, urging me to wake up soon.

Owww… creak creak

Maybe because I slept uncomfortably leaning on the chair, my neck area was stiff, so after loosening it once, I looked around and saw that there was no one except me and Reina.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re all done. But you said you were thinking about how to approach the interview. That was a lie, you were just sleeping……”

Reina is naive. Believing what people say at face value.

As I was listening to Reina’s nagging with one ear and letting it go out the other

“Applicants 103 and 104, please come quickly~~”

Our turn finally came.

“Let’s go, Ara!”

“Ha-awwn~(nods)”

As I yawned, instead of answering, I nodded slightly and let myself be led to the interview room by her.

♦♦♦

“….Hah..”

“Sshup…whooo..”

“Is it over?”

Two people showing signs of fatigue just by their expressions, and one person with a posture so straight that elegance seemed to burst forth.

The CEO, management team leader, and PR team leader—these three had been selected as interviewers to find suitable talents for this VTuber duo group, and after interviewing more than 100 applicants, they couldn’t hide their exhaustion.

It should be over now. No, thinking they wished it was over, they asked the interview guide if it was finished, but.

“There are still two people left, and they will be the last.”

“”Hah..””

They sighed deeply because, even though they were the last, there were still two more left.

It was a sigh that shouldn’t have been exhaled in front of the CEO, but they weren’t expecting much.

They couldn’t find any individuality in the applicants they had seen so far, and they didn’t get any feeling that mixing certain applicants would create the strongest combination to make a successful duo group.

Even Kim Yeji herself, the CEO referred to as the nouveau riche’s daughter, didn’t have thoughts much different from the two people beside her.

‘Should I give up… settle for just decent kids… hah —’

At this rate, this duo group wouldn’t fail, but it would become a mediocre project that wouldn’t succeed either. As she was falling into a deep pit of despair, she heard the guide’s voice.

“Can applicants 103 and 104 come in!?”

She didn’t notice the guide’s appearance and voice that seemed to be in a good mood

“Tell them to come in~”

As she massaged her eyelids with her index finger, thinking these applicants wouldn’t be any different from the previous ones

But in the two applicants who opened the door and entered, she saw hope.

♦♦♦

What’s going on, why is it so quiet?

“Ara… did we do something wrong..?”

Whether Reina was whispering or not, the three people in front of us were staring at us with their mouths wide open.

About 3 minutes after entering the interview room.

The pretty woman sitting in the center was the first in this space to ask us a question.

“You didn’t come here thinking this was an idol entertainment company, did you?”

?

What is she saying?

“… Excuse me?”

I expressed my confusion to her who asked a truly unexpected question with a deflated voice.

“…Ahem. No, you’re both just so pretty that I couldn’t help it.”

Well. You can’t find looks like Reina’s and mine anywhere else, I guess. Hah

The interview proceeded conventionally after the central woman’s question, and as Reina was the first to respond to the interviewers’ questions, I just listened beside her.

Hmm. She’s doing well

Reina’s answers were conventional but showed all her individuality, and the highlight was when she sang as her special talent.

As someone who knew her singing ability, the result was as expected for me, and the interviewers’ faces weren’t much different from what I anticipated.

Whispering softly

‘Wow. She’s a must-have!! Right, CEO?’

‘If there are no personality issues. Yes, we must definitely make her our top pick.’

Hmm, so that pretty person sitting in the center is the CEO. Though eavesdropping on whispers might be an act worthy of guilt.

It’s fine if I don’t get caught, right? Congratulations, Reina. You’re at an accepted level. In that case, will both of us be accepted..

Why am I including myself?

Hehe… A hero, dragon slayer, and heavenly lord. Would someone like me who has walked the path of success fail? That’s like the probability of a meteor falling to Earth and all countries being destroyed as North Korea’s pigs would want—it’s that unlikely to happen, hehe.

After Reina’s interview concluded, my turn quickly approached.

The CEO called my name.

“Then. Applicant Kang Ara?”

“Yes.”

“Could you tell us what you think are your strengths?”

“Umm. My athletic ability is superior to others.”

“Could you perhaps give an example of how superior your athletic ability is?”

Are they doubting me? But I can’t blame them. In this modern world, not the otherworld, I’m in a position where I need to prove myself.

“Um… honestly, I think I’m far superior to others, but for a convincing example here… um… I can even win at arm wrestling against that interviewer over there.”

I decided to prove my strength to the muscular man sitting on the left.

“..ha… ha. That joke is going too far.”

In a situation where no one except Reina believed me, I replied again that it would be faster to just show them, and then prepared for arm wrestling by placing my elbow on the desk facing the muscular interviewer.

“Um… applicant, you shouldn’t push yourself.”

Although it might feel like a provocation when a woman with a smaller build than him says she can beat a muscular man like him at arm wrestling, he didn’t care about that and was worrying that I might be overexerting myself.

Hmm. These are good people.

I felt again that their hearts weren’t evil.

With a mindset of repaying his gentle heart, so that he wouldn’t be embarrassed

“St — art!”

At the female CEO’s signal

— Thud

I quickly made the muscular man’s hand kiss the desk.

“”……””

Silence ensued as soon as it ended.

During that silence, the muscular man’s pupils had enlarged to a size incomparable to his open mouth, as if he couldn’t believe he had lost, and the reactions of the CEO and the remaining interviewer weren’t much different.

“Kya! Ara, you’re amazing~”

In this space, only Reina was cheering for me, knowing I would win.

I returned to my seat and sat down, and the interviewers continued the interview with artificial coughs to clear their throats, but the surprise contained within was still there.

As the interview progressed, the interviewers’ surprise gradually subsided, and the final question they had asked Reina came to me as well.

“Does applicant Kang Ara have any special skill or talent that you could show us?”

Special skill.

My special skill would be, well, there’s nothing else but that

“Swordsmanship.”

Containing 34 years of life.

There’s nothing comparable to swordsmanship.

“..Swordsmanship..?”

Sshup. These people are like this again.

How many times do I need to prove myself… In the otherworld, knights and warriors would bow down and beg me to show them. Tsk

Sigh. This isn’t the otherworld. I need to prove myself, Ara.

I took out the bamboo sword I had on my back and showed them my unique swordsmanship and adaptations of parts of a swordsmanship from the otherworld.

The speed of the swordsmanship, which initially seemed ordinary, or rather slow, changed rapidly as time passed.

“…….”

The expressions of the interviewers changed to match the constantly changing speed.

Now they began to feel an illusion of plum blossom scent spreading, as they couldn’t even comprehend in which direction or with what intensity the sword was being swung with their own insight.

“…..This fragrance..”

“…..Can you smell it too, CEO?”

“Flower scent… it’s nice..”

The virtual plum blossom scent created by Ara’s swordsmanship greatly helped soothe the minds and bodies of those who were tired from interviewing numerous applicants, and at that moment, Ara’s swordsmanship came to an end.

“”… Ah.””

“Sniff. You’re so cool, Ara, sniff.”

Reina was crying.

Hmm. As expected of Reina. You appreciate my swordsmanship? But don’t you think tears are a bit excessive..?

The interviewers let out exclamations deeply mixed with regret, and after emerging from the lingering impression, they began to applaud.

— Clap clap clap clap

Hmm. This is the expected reaction, more more! MORE!! Clap!!! Cheer more!! Hahahah

As I was internally enjoying the reaction mixed with cheers, the female CEO’s voice was heard.

“Um. But what does the, um, swordsmanship have to do with being a VTuber…”

Hah?

After the storm-like last two applicants, Reina and Ara, had left, the three people remaining

-Kim Yeji, Choi Kangseok, Heo Miyeon-

Each holding the positions of CEO, management, and PR team leader, didn’t hide their excitement as soon as Ara and Reina left.

“CEO, I think we’ve hit the jackpot?!”

“Hahahahaha CEO, those two are in. They’re in! Absolutely!”

“I know right! Plus, they’re incredibly pretty, friends, and high school students?! This is worth revealing their information. We have so many selling points!”

I know.

Kim Yeji herself felt a thrill running through her body and wanted to shout, but she couldn’t act in a way that didn’t match the elegant image she had built.

Therefore, she closed her eyes and didn’t stop the two beside her from getting excited.

‘These two are like winning lottery tickets..!’

Because she herself was also excited inside.

“Wow, MT is going to be pretty sore about this, huh?”

“Hehehehe, yeah, I know right.”

The three people asked a question to the two at the end of the interview that they hadn’t asked other applicants.

That question was:

“It’s embarrassing for us to say ourselves, but MT has shown their capabilities, and they’re doing better than us in the VTuber market, so why did you apply to us who are releasing our first group…”

They were curious. Why would such talented individuals want to apply to their company, did they perhaps also apply to MT as a trial, a complex question with multiple layers, and their answer was.

“Uh… are they releasing a VTuber group there..?”

The red-haired applicant Reina who didn’t even know they were debuting, and

“I don’t really like feminist idols… and I came because Reina asked me to apply here.”

A statement that couldn’t be made in an official setting, but Kang Ara, who proven her ideology vetting better than anyone else.

Of course, no one noticed that Ara’s answer seemed to show a bit of irritation.

Because the three were just about to do a victory dance.

“Reina. We need to work hard.”

Ah. Is this the taste of failure? My spirit is broken.

I thought I answered well according to my thoughts, and even showed them my high-level Isekai-style Ara-style swordsmanship and incorporated the plum blossom swordsmanship I learned before defeating the Heavenly Demon…

Ah.

“Ara…”

How long has it been since I’ve seen this sympathetic gaze?

It looked similar to the goddess’s expression right after performing the Auto-Dialogue-Useless Motorcycle Isekai Summoning Technique!

— Crack

“Ara!?”

Ah. A mistake

Perhaps because I recalled that stupid goddess’s face, I put too much strength in my hand.

“We’ll get accepted, so it’s okay!! How cool was Ara’s swordsmanship!!”

Yeah… if they don’t recognize that, they’re blind. But

What? What does swordsmanship have to do with being a VTuber?

Oh, come on

I have no rebuttal… Sure, VTubers are all about singing and dancing, I guess.

“Shall we go to a karaoke place?”

“..u..um I need to go home and prepare dinner for papa.”

Having even my flow-of-consciousness suggestion to go to karaoke rejected by Reina

“…sure.”

I suddenly felt like drinking. Magic potion… I want to, yeah, erase my memories today..

Ara’s always sleepy eyes looked even more droopy today, and Reina didn’t know what to do because while she felt sorry for her, she also found Ara’s dejected mood cute for the first time.

‘Hauh.. it’s wrong that Ara is too cute.. hu. I’m getting wet…’

What dinner appointment with papa. Her real purpose was to quickly go home and relieve this desire before Ara’s scent disappeared from her body.

Well, for other reasons..

‘Ara’s singing is, well, okay if it’s rap… ugh…’

she couldn’t say such harsh things to her companion, and not wanting her eardrums to be damaged by hearing her singing was one of the reasons.

Because she had thought her singing skills were not inferior to professional singers when they were getting close, after school she had held her back when she was trying to go home and took her to a coin karaoke with the purpose of letting her hear her own singing,

But Reina’s admiration and reverence for Ara were slightly scratched due to Ara’s noise-making.

‘Huhu. Ara is human too, so yeah, it’s natural to have things she’s not good at.’

Well, perhaps thanks to that incident, they grew closer.

Ara beside her now with an expression like a rain-soaked puppy.

Since it was the first time seeing such a cute side of her..hut. Always new and thrilling. Huh

Hauh… it’s leaking. I need to get home quickly…

After quickly walking home while tightly attached to Ara’s side, Reina.

— Psh Shoot

Hu.. hueh

True to her stamina issues, she quickly relieved her desire and fell asleep tightly hugging a dakimakura with Ara’s printed photo.