When I started Suspecting my Wife of Cheating, I Somehow Ended up Living in the Middle of Nowhere - Episode 25

Even after the Zenpuku siblings returned home from the school festival, the school was still in an uproar.

“Who the heck was that kid?! So freaking cool! Playing guitar like that! I’m in love!”

One student exclaimed excitedly.

“But we couldn’t even see their face, right?”

“Apparently, that’s the ‘KumaKuma Myu’ person who’s been going viral online. I heard they just passed one million subscribers recently.”

Another student chimed in with some info.

“I’ve been a ‘Myu-tan’ fan from way back!! Hearing her sing live was emotional!”

“Was someone like that really from our village? Maybe a guest visiting the festival? Or some invited performer?”

Sometimes, secret guests are arranged for the festival. But this time, it was believed that the pink-haired YouTuber, Seshirun, was supposed to be the only guest.

She had been asked last minute to be the festival MC, somehow pulling it off, but this surprise performance hadn’t been part of the original plan. The rumor mill agreed: the surprise musicians weren’t organized by the student council or the teachers.

“Maybe they’re migrants from outside the village?”

“The village only accepted three new migrants this time: the YouTuber who was hosting, an elderly couple, and a big dude. Oh, and the elderly couple already went back to the city.”

“For real? Those were the new migrants? The last group we brought in ended up leaving too.”

“Yeah, they just kind of vanished one day.”

With a village population of around 2,000, most residents had at least seen each other’s faces. Maybe not remember every name, but distinctive people would usually stick in your memory.

Still, almost no one remembered seeing the Zenpuku sisters. The only ones who really knew about them—the village chief’s sons, Fuga, Hinata, and Goki—were completely stunned, barely able to clean up the instruments.

“Those two just now… those sisters, right?”

The usually quiet eldest son, Fuga, muttered.

“No doubt. There’s no way anyone else in the village would wear such cute clothes. I’ve only ever seen them in track suits before, but the height and build match perfectly…”

Hinata had talked to the sisters the most. He had thought they matched perfectly: a buzz-cut guy and a track-suit girl. He was deeply interested in them, even wishing one could be his girlfriend.

But now, finding out they were popular online personalities made him even more fascinated.

All he had seen was the sisters cleaning chicken coops, picking up dead grass, and helping with farm work.

He had thought: I’ll teach them proper farming! — They were down-to-earth but still had this polished, almost urban air that had charmed him.

Before long, Hinata decided to visit the sisters’ house.

□□□ Online News

Online news sites were quickly picking up the story. (Incidentally, news titles were best kept within 13 characters for display purposes.)

• “Popular YouTubers Appear in Rural Village”
• “Why Top YouTubers Flock to a Dying Village”
• “Who Was That at the Village School Festival?”

Despite the different titles, the article content was mostly the same.

“On [Date], a cultural festival was held at the only combined elementary, middle, and high school in Itoyori Village, Fukuoka Prefecture. Students performed musical pieces as part of the annual event. However, this year was different: the popular YouTuber Okazato Cecil hosted the event. Then, the real shocker came at the end. ‘KumaKuma Myu,’ who recently surpassed one million subscribers, and her ‘older sister’ persona ‘Nya-tan’ suddenly performed. KumaKuma Myu is famous for cosplay and guitar covers, while Nya-tan is known for singing and drumming simultaneously, along with casual daily vlogs. Their real faces have always remained hidden from viewers. At the festival, Myu wore a wide-brimmed hat to hide her face and a monochrome Gothic Lolita dress. Nya-tan wore a soft dress and had a bandana over her face. Both dressed true to their ‘masked YouTuber’ image. About 500 people attended the event, mainly village residents, but few realized how big the situation really was. As videos of the performance went viral, it also became a hot topic within the village.”

Later, when reporters came for interviews, no one knew who had invited KumaKuma Myu or Nya-tan, and all inquiries ended up being directed to Okazato Cecil.

□□□ Online Reactions

“So glad there’s finally more info about KumaKuma Myu!”

“Her guitar skills are insane! Copying folks like Hotei is god-tier. Copying guys like Matsumoto or Char usually makes your fingers cramp!”

“I cried at the HIDE cover!”

“I’m a Takamizawa guy.”

“Respect.”

“Loved the Nomura Yoshio episode.”

“Who’s that?”

“Yocchan!”

“Yocchan! Nostalgic! Tanokin Trio! How old are you!?”

“SHEENA & THE ROKKETS, right!?”

“SheenaRoke?”

“Yeah, Ayukawa from Sheena & The Rokkets!”

“Oh, that guy from the convenience store commercial?”

“Dude, how old are you?!”

“I bet KumaKuma Myu mastered the guitar and then time-traveled back to the past.”

“For real. She nails everything from oldies to new stuff.”

“Also, she’s super cute. Slim. Maybe middle school or high school?”

“I’m more into Nya-tan.”

“Off-topic! Go somewhere else!”

“Sorry. I like KumaKuma too.”

“You just love everyone, huh.”

“Her speed playing is amazing, but even when playing slowly, she’s super clean. No hiding behind speed.”

“I love that jangly ‘jarn-cha!’ kind of funky rhythm she does. I can’t copy it no matter how hard I try.”

“Same! Also, I’m obsessed with her intentional finger noise between notes. So good.”

“Totally agree. I love it too!”

Thanks to all this buzz, “Itoyori Village” quickly went viral and even started trending on X (formerly Twitter).
Many people began searching about Itoyori Village, but the only substantial page they found was Okazato Cecil‘s (aka “Seshirun”) site, which suddenly started getting over 100,000 page views per day.

As her videos got dragged into the hype and overwhelmed with new traffic, Seshirun couldn’t handle the pressure, started running wild around the village, and became the subject of much local gossip.