Chapter 130. [“One Year Later”]
<<Um, excuse me. The truth is, I got lost on the way.>>
I turned around at the voice that called me from behind.
There stood a man who seemed troubled.
<<Um, where do you want to go?>>
<<I need to get to this train station.>>
Hmm, it’s right over there.
I briefly explained to the man.
His expression brightened up.
<<Underground! I see, that’s right! Thank you, you’ve been a big help!>>
<<You’re welcome! Have a great day!>>
I waved goodbye as the man left, smiling.
Come to think of it, in other countries, having a subway might be rare, right?
The man earlier spoke English
But he didn’t seem like he was American.
Speaking of which, something like this happened before.
A foreigner was in trouble because they lost their smartphone…
“Huh? …A foreigner?”
I suddenly stopped in my tracks.
Wait a minute? Did I just!?
“—I heard English and responded in English!?”
No, no, no, that can’t be right!
I was supposed to have lost that ability! It was entirely unconscious.
I spoke reflexively in English. Is that so?
Was it because I was unconscious that I could use English?
“Could it be that I just convinced myself I lost the ability?”
I never expected to be addressed in English in a place like this.
Especially since I heard there are still limited flights available.
“But, well, maybe…”
For example, when conversing with people, I start becoming conscious of where I usually look or things like that.
It can make you feel unnatural.
“No, that can’t be! It’s impossible!”
Without a doubt, I lost my cheat-like translation ability.
Even earlier, it didn’t feel like languages were automatically being translated.
I was just having a normal conversation, using English as if…
“…Could it be?”
Then, I suddenly realized it.
No, but if that’s the case.
“Haha, hahahahaha!”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
It’s just as I imagined.
“I’m now understanding languages without relying on translation.”
If this is true, this isn’t just some cheat-like translation ability.
This is true…
“—–“Language Cheat”!”
I looked up to the sky and gave a wry smile.
As if I’m addressing an existence that might or might not be there.
“There’s no end to the war, huh?”
I hadn’t realized it until Annguogu’s mother told me.
And if the war doesn’t end, then there’s no end to my role either.
“Well, I’ll do my best, at least.”
I shrugged my shoulders and started walking again.
Whether my ability has returned or I got a newly granted ability.
There’s no excuse.
There’s so much I have to do.
There are things I’ve left undone, all things I wanted to do.
“All right! Let’s work even harder to liven up the VTuber industry!”
With that determination, I pressed the play button on MyTube —.
***
“After that, one year has passed.
During that time, many things happened.
I’d like to talk about them later, but first, listen to this.
“My words, to you!” I’m the Translator Girl, Iroha!”
>Irohalo!
>Irohalo!
>Irohalo!
“Oh~ Thank you all around the world for tuning in today. There’s something I want to talk about today, so I’m doing this stream.”
>I have a hunch
>I think I know what it is (U.S.)
>Well, you’ve been counting down for a while now. (Korean)
“Hey, no spoilers! But yeah, you’re right! The thing is… finally! The total number of VTubers has surpassed 100,000!”
Wow, applause! I clapped my hands.
Yes, this is what I wanted to convey the most!
>It’s more than five times compared to last year. It’s crazy! (U.K.)
>They’re celebrating hitting milestone numbers more than their channel subscriber count. Hilarious! (German)
>And it’s all thanks to Iroha-chan’s influence, huh? (French)
“My channel’s subscriber count is… well, it’s growing so fast that events can’t keep up.”
>Well, that can’t be helped (U.S.)
>Iroha-chan has grown a lot. As for her physical body (Italian)
>The development of the VTuber industry is amazing! (U.S.)
The VTuber world has seen tremendous growth in this past year.
Of course, Translation Girl Iroha’s activities played a big part, but it’s not the only factor.
“I think it’s great if more and more VTubers debut! We can never have too many VTubers. So for those who haven’t debuted yet. Here are some recommended videos!”
>If it’s about that, I already know! (French)
>I also used it as a reference for my VTuber debut. (Ukrainian)
>That video was really helpful. (Russian)
“Oh~ Many of you already know about it. It has been viewed from all around the world and has been called the bible for the new era of VTuber children.”
>I still just found out about VTubers, so I don’t know. (Canadian)
>Whose video is it? Is the creator famous?
>In a way, it was one of the factors that made it go viral. (Indian)
“The creator of that video is Ilyena. She was one of the first to speak to the world during that incident.”
>I might have seen a clip of that stream.
>She’s the trilingual VTuber, right? Speaking Japanese, Ukrainian, and Russian. (Chilean Spanish)
>I’m a big fan of her. (Czech)
“I’m a big fan too! The content is a re-edited version of a VTuber’s real experience leading up to her debut…”
Nobody would have expected it to become this big.
In a way, she was the hidden driving force in the new era of VTubers.
“The title of that video is…-“
