Bartender Ch.37

It was a snowy day.

The old bartender listlessly stood in front of the gate, not expecting anybody to come in.

Then a suave lady shook off the snow off her shoulder, and stamped on the mat.

"Is it open?"

"It sure is."

"Then, please excuse me."

The bartender held the door for the elegant lady, and warmth greeted her.

"I heard this place is a haven for vtubers?"

"Sometimes."

"Well, can you hear my problem?" My name is Nerissa."

"Sure. Take a seat."

She took a seat, and rested her elbow on the tabletop.

"I feel like people only like me for my appearance."

"Hmm.. Vtuber appearance or real-life appearance?"

"Real life appearance."

"Hmmm..it is quite natural for the audience to have expectations for your real face just from looking at the animated avatar."

"True."

"And what's the problem? What you said didn't narrow it down."

"I…got big assets."

"In virtual or.."

"Both."

"You know what beautiful ladies are often troubled by?"

"What?"

"Their appearance."

"..."

"Appearance blocks others from seeing who you truly are. The more beautiful you are, the more so. It's only natural. That's why I say to myself how trashy my taste in women is. I want them to be both beautiful and kind, something I don't deserve."

"...give me something to warm me up."

"Roger."

The night passed by silently, without anybody to interrupt Nerissa Ravencroft's contemplation of her life as an idol.

Bartender Ch.38

Mori Calliope and Hoshimachi Suisei

"Our fans are so cute." Calliope chuckled light heartedly.

"They sure are." Suisei retorted.

"That's good." The old bartender wiped the bottles out of habit.

"Huh? What's so good?" Suisei said coldly. It would have chilled the hearts of normal fans.

"...hmm..I don't know why. But I won't say otherwise."

Calliope remained silent.

"Well, if you have a fandom of your own, you will know how hard it is." Suisei ridiculed the old man.

"But doesn't that mean I'm right about how well you're doing?"

Suisei stared at the bartender. But it showed no hesitance, nor did it waver foolishly. Suisei decided to entertain the possibility that the bartender had a good reason.

"Why do you think so?"

"Hmm. I say, it shows how experienced you are, to treat your fans cutely."

"...are you mocking me?"

"How would I be doing that?"

"Don't joke around. Fans can be troublesome. They are cool most of the time, but they edge out of my comfort zone in the most insensitive way."

Despite the obvious contradiction Suisei was making to her previous confidence, the bartender asked away.

"And that's the responsibility you must bear."

"I didn't ask for this."

"Oh, you got something wrong. You don't hold responsibility from something you caused, per se. You must always take responsibility for the situation you are in right now."

"But it's not my fault."

"It doesn't matter. It's YOU who must deal with it regardless of you having caused it or not."

"..."

"I understand how frustrating this is. How this is close to the nature of this world. But there is simply no other way around it. If you really don't want to be responsible for your fans, then you must quit being their idol. That's the secret rule of the idol industry."

"...apologies for looking down at you."

"Chuckle. It's nothing serious. Don't worry about it."

"I wish I can be as mature as you are."

"If you want to, then you must start from being inexperienced. Everybody who is truly mature began from nothing to base their experience on. It's not about the world being too cruel. It's the nature of this world. After all, you cannot relate to your underclassmen unless you were an underclassmen yourself. Surely, you are reminded of how right this is, right?"

"...you got me there." Suisei scoffed.

"Dear miss! I wasn't chasing you down. I beg you don't accuse me of hunting you down."

"...sorry."

"I'm joking. Don't worry about it."

Suisei reddened in shyness, and Mori Calliope looked at the bartender with newfound respect.

Bartender ch.39

I'm so tired of my job." Kronii uttered listlessly.

"Then why are you doing it?"

"...I don't know."

"...in this bar, I make sure the customer leaves with closure. Why do you want to quit being an idol?"

"...I don't know."

"Hmm.. I'm sure you know better than me. You're just not telling me."

"And I don't want to tell you."

"You know, there are a lot of people like you. People who say how troubled they are but doesn't share their troubles."

"..."

"That's not a bad thing."

"...it isn't?"

"Chuckle. Of course it isn't."

"Why is that?"

The bartender wiped the moisture off the surface of the bottle.

"Well, it sure ain't pathetic to do so."

"But I'm hesitating."

"That's a good thing."

"No way."

"Yes way. Only ones who progressed significantly can hesitate."

"But…"

"Of course, acting is necessary. Just like closure. That's what I'm here for. Thanks for listening to me."

The jazz music was also there to help Kronii think.

"...I'm glad I'm here."

"Much obliged."

Bartender Ch. 40

Raora

"I want more attention."

"Oh, you do?" The bartender didn't seem surprised.

"Yeah. How can I become more popular?"

"There's two ways to become popular. Popular by faith, Popular by deception."

"What is popular by faith?"

"Popular by faith comes down to depending on your honesty. Faith is where you have faith the people will gather because of your honesty."

"And popular by deception?"

"Popular by deception is more wordy. Overcomplicating. But it does get viewers quickly. It's hiding your true nature to give your audience a sweet dream."

"..."

"But I say, faith pays off in the long run."

"Okay."

"Another drink?"

"Yes, another drink."

Bartender Ch. 41

"One of my Gen-mates is leaving."

"Oh, apologies."

"No worries. It was meant to happen, sooner or later."

"But still.."

"Yeah yeah. It's all good."

Silence passed by, arousing a sense of boredom in two individuals standing on the opposite side of the bartop.

Calliope broke the silence. "Our workplace is special."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, I used to not be this sad about a co-worker leaving."

"Well, Hololive by itself is different from other places."

"But, even among idol industries, we're not that sad about our co-workers leaving."

"Well, Hololive is not your typical idol industry."

"True."

"Apologies, the bar is closing soon."

"Oh no worries. But can you give me one last drink?"

"Of course."

And he decided to wait a little longer for his shift to be over. Mori Calliope didn't want to leave, but she had to.

Bartender Ch .42

"Why don't you keep your words to yourself?" Ouro Kronii contended.

"Oh, I simply can't help it." the bartender calmly retorted.

"...I wish you wouldn't say what you know to anybody."

"True, I do need some reservation."

"..."

"And I do show it, time to time."

"Do you?"

"Am I not?"

"Because it seems to me you're revealing too much of yourself to anybody."

"Oh, but I'm not revealing myself to anybody. That, I can say you don't know the whole story."

"..."

"Thank you for your concerns, but I must work. Would you like another drink?"

"...that would be nice."

"I will take that as a yes."

Then the bartender removed a bottle from the closet.

Bartender Ch. 43

The bartender cleaned the surface, getting rid of its unnecessities. He sometimes mumbled to himself, in contemplation, and wrote on the notebook.

I am already at the end. The reason I still walk knowing that is because I wonder what I will pass by.

It was a lovely sentence, brimming with such force to encourage the lost one to find another reason to live on. But the bartender suspected he would rarely have the chance to utter such importance into a stranger's ear. There was simply no occasion to speak of it. Suddenly speaking of it will only catch them on alert, and it was easy to disregard it as something trivial. But for the ones who worked hard, for the ones who bothered to talk to the Bartender himself about it, he will be ready to say it, just so he can see what their life has to offer.