Hoshizora Production (3)

Hoshizora Production. Karona decided to hear out their scout offer.

After sending an email, things moved right along, and it was quickly decided that they'd meet up in BCD proper.

Since inviting a stranger into her own home was scary, Karona chose to head over to Hoshizora Production's corporate home instead. The trip cost nothing and took no time at all, a perk unique to digital VR.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Hoshizora Akari, rep of Hoshizora Production!"

"Hoshizora Production, Yuki Stardust."

"Hoshizora Production, Sora Moonlight."

And just like that, she was face-to-face with the three B-Casters who made up the entire roster of Hoshizora Production… But! Anticipating just this sort of thing, Karona had brought Kokuyou and Sebas along with her. Numerically, they were even!

"I'm Karona Ryutanji. These are my maid Kokuyou, and my butler Sebas."

Kokuyou and Sebas bowed politely.

"And I'm Hoshi, the Manager AI. A pleasure to meet you."

But the other side had a Secretary AI too! Just like that, Karona was thrown into a numerical disadvantage. As expected of a corporate outfit, the terrifying depth of their personnel…!!

"This is currently the entirety of Hoshizora Production…"

Hoshizora Akari said so with slumped shoulders.

… This is everyone? This!? Karona was shocked. There were only three people, four if you counted the Secretary AI. That was barely any different from Dungeon Braver.

No, if anything, since Dungeon Braver had recently added a Guild Master AI (a refined old gentleman), Dungeon Braver actually had more.

"Karona Ryutanji-san. Thank you so much for agreeing to hear us out today."

"Yes, well, um. It's the first time I've ever been scouted, so… but, um… I had heard the rumors that you were a small outfit, but… four of you, really?"

"W-We are registered as a corporation, so we have access to certain preferential measures!"

Unlike solo streamers, corporate-affiliated B-Casters have several advantages in BCD.

First, they receive subsidies. Since dungeon-clearing is a nationally promoted endeavor, a small amount of subsidy money is provided.

Next, there's a government-backed workshop available only to corporate affiliates. Highly skilled production-class craftsmen belong to it, and apparently they can craft powerful equipment. Solo streamers aren't technically barred from using it, but unless you're a major big-shot streamer, you'll be turned away.

"And most of all… there's name recognition. It pains me to say it, but we, Hoshizora Production, had a whole scandal a while back where our CEO ran off with the manager and the company's money… Thanks to that, each of our individual channels has roughly twenty thousand subscribers, and the official Hoshizora Production channel has one hundred and twenty thousand!"

"Thousaaaaand!?"

She'd been mentally writing them off as small-fry, small-fry, but to Karona, who still had only around 2,500 channel subscribers, breaking into the ten-thousands was still a distant dream.

"Thanks to that, we're juuust barely managing to keep up appearances as a proper corporate outfit. Up until recently it was truly touch-and-go, but thanks to the Secretary AI, our new manager — one who won't have an affair with the CEO, won't embezzle the company's money, and above all, won't betray us and run off! An ideal manager like that was born, and we've gotten a bit of breathing room."

"Um. Is that really okay to say, even off-stream?"

"It's fine. It's the kind of thing where those who know, know… So, this time, we'd like to bring in some new members as rookies!"

Apparently, they'd reached out to several other candidates. If three or four people signed on, the plan was to have them operate as a separate "Hoshizora Production Second Party."

If only one or two came aboard, they'd be folded into the existing Hoshizora Production party.

Karona thought to herself: if she was going to join, she absolutely wanted at least three people to come in together.

The three in front of her seemed to know each other in real life, and they looked like a tough group for a newcomer to butt into.