Ch.77 Event Stream "Brutality! Buster Ball!" ④
After feasting on Kaguya-senpai's home-cooked dinner, it was past 8pm by the time Licia dropped me off and got me home After a brief chat w
After feasting on Kaguya-senpai's home-cooked dinner, it was past 8pm by the time Licia dropped me off and got me home After a brief chat w
After feasting on Kaguya-senpai's home-cooked dinner, it was past 8pm by the time Licia dropped me off and got me home
After a brief chat with Mitsuki, who was relaxing in the living room, I took a bath and headed to Sakura's room feeling refreshed.
After knocking, I heard a "Fugu" in response before entering the room.
Sakura was lying on her bed, glaring at the smartphone in both hands, with a familiar voice playing as background music from her laptop as she worked.
『Mushrooms seem to be on the same level as bamboo shoots, but what makes them different from Pocky? Aren't the taste and texture almost the same?』 (TL note : they're talking about these snacks)
Wait, that's my stream.
No wonder it feels like déjà vu.
By the way, although I make hateful remarks about the mushroom, I do occasionally eat them.
Well, it has the same base as the bamboo shoots.
Takenokonokonoko koshitantan.
(TL Note : istg I can't escape this brainrot... Also, Takenoko = bamboo shoots)
"Gununu. Gununuu.... Gununununuuuun...."
"What are you worried about?"
"Fugyu"
I sat next to her, pressing against her back, rested my chin on her shoulder and looked at his smartphone.
Futaba Ouka
《It's a beautiful day today, how is Hojouin Shizuku-sama doing?
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this wonderful day.
Let's get started right away.》
What was on the screen was a direct message from a dyscord.
I try to get straight to the point, but my fingers just won't move.
Just when I think she's done typing the message, she deleted it again and again.
It seems that Sakura is worried about what to write next.
Hmmm... So this kid is waiting for my advice, huh?
That must be what it means, since there's no reaction when I peer inside.
She keeps glancing at me afterall.
For goodness sake, this kid is really a handful.
This is an issue that needs to be fixed, but she always gives off an aura of "please notice me" and never says anything.
I checked the name of the recipient and shrugged my shoulders as I confirmed it.
ー Houjoin Shizuku
She is a Prisma Ark Vtuber who is a senior to me, but a junior to Sakura.
She had long silver hair, red eyes with a default squinting look, and cat ear headphones, giving her a distinctive design, and she seemed to exude a listless aura from her entire body.
The character is set up as a rich shut-in, and I think the person behind it probably fits that description.
From what I saw on the stream, she was quite lazy, but she also showed some behavior typical of an upper class person here and there.
I was once part of the upper class after all.
I understand that.
It's been more than six months since I ran away from that garbage, but the behavior I developed as a child is still alive and well.
Let's get back to the topic.
Shizuku-senpai's hatred towards society and extroverts.
And it's clear from her cynical attitude that she has the potential to be just as introverted as Sakura. Is that it?
So Sakura probably wanted to contact her to complete the assignment I gave her. Just as expected.
If they are from the same race, the hurdle is still low.
"Think carefully and express yourself in your own words."
"Hmph. Aria was the one who brought it up in the first place."
"Well, you have a point."
It's understandable that Sakura would find this unfair.
"Okay then, if you manage to invite her, I'll do anything I can for you."
"...Anything?"
So when I prepared a reward, Sakura, as expected, readily agreed.
"Did you just have a pervy fantasy?"
"I didn't I didn't I didn't!? Huh? Huh? Huuuh? I'm totally normal!? In the future I'm going to be holed up in a mansion for the rest of my life and be raised by a rich man!? Of course, he'll only talk to me when I want him to, he'll do all the housework, and there'll be no physical contact whatsoever -- I'm going to spend my days being lovey-dovey with a handsome guy like that!??"
"What a cheater."
I was just trying to make a light-hearted joke, but what I got back was way more than I expected.
"That's not it! I'm only half joking!"
"The fact that you're half serious is shocking."
Should I have a serious talk with Mitsuki about her emotional education?
What is lovey-dovey without physical contact?
The condition she's looking for is basically slavery.
"...If I may give you some advice, I think it would be better to write in a more light-hearted way. Since Sakura is a senior to Shizuku-senpai, she would be confused if she read a formal messege from someone like you."
"Light hearted... I get it. I'll try it."
And so this is the message Sakura ended up writing.
Futaba Cherry Blossoms
{C'mon! I'm Ouka! I'm the kind of woman who makes the impossible possible! Chku chuku chuku chuku! There's nothing else I've been in touch with today! Come on! Let's be party night people together, yeahhhh!}
"ーOkay."
It's not okay at all though???
◇◆◇
"ーOkay, that's the end of today's stream. Thankshia~."
: Otsu
: Otsu
: Good job!
: Speak properly
: As always, she's a woman with no spirit from start to finish...!
: The spirited Shizurin is a misinterpretation.
: She's the kind of woman who streams while lying down. Just look around her room. She's completely lazy and doesn't take life seriously.
Glancing at them with a disdainful eye, thinking how rude they were, Hojouin Shizuku ended the stream.
She turns off the background music she's listening to while she's working, toss her earphones to the side, and turn over while lying down.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, she lets out a loud yawn.
As she let myself get carried away with the moderate feeling of fatigue and comfortable sleepiness, she realized that this lifestyle has become quite stable.
At first it was a whim.
Due to her complicated family environment, she lost trust in people and became a recluse several years ago.
Her parents had given up on her a long time ago.
This is to be expected, as the spare child turned out to be defective.
Still, the reason she sends them about a million yen every month isn't out of love - it's simply for the sake of appearances.
From her parents' perspective, surely they thought it was a small price to pay to maintain appearances in exchange for a small amount of money.
She didn't go to school and just spent her days wandering the sea of games and the internet.
One day, she discovered a genre called Vtuber.
Having grown up being exposed to the human side of people who were quick to get involved in bitter internal conflicts, the existence of VTubers who grow and improve through friendly competition came as a bit of a shock to her.
She was so envious of them that before she knew it, she had applied to Prisma Ark and, by some stroke of luck, she was hired.
She was given an avatar called Hojouin Shizuku and officially joined the ranks of Vtubers.
...Well, while the idea of friendly competition is appealing, it's probably a given for introverts that solo streaming is the main focus.
Basically waiting for an invitation.
Furthermore, since she's picky about what she's gonna do, it's no surprise that she doesn't collaborate very often.
"I'm hungry..."
Shizuku turned over again.
The area around her bed was filled with items that represented the ultimate pleasure of laziness.
The L-shaped desk next to the bed is home to a monitor as well as home appliances such as a microwave, an electric kettle, and a toaster.
There is a storage box under the desk.
In addition to retort foods and instant noodles, the box was haphazardly stuffed with disposable paper plates, chopsticks, straws, stationery, and other items.
Of course, don't forget the mid-sized refrigerator with a freezer.
It is already placed next to the desk.
Truly everything you could want.
Except for going to the toilet, she can get anything just by turning over in bed.
That is the true way of laziness...!
So perhaps it was only natural that Shizuku's room was a mess.
She's completely used to it now, but it's easy to imagine her holding her nose if someone who isn't used to it comes in.
Although she periodically have to ask herself whether or not she should prepare a plastic bottle for urination, for now she has maintained a minimum level of dignity as a woman. Probably.
"Well, I guess that can't be helped. Even a three-star chef would kneel before me and ask me to demonstrate my cooking skills, which they worship as a god."
Saying this listlessly, Shizuku picked up a 2L plastic bottle that was lying nearby.
Inside is a halfway drunk bottle of natural spring water that she had bought in a box.
She pours it into the kettle and switch it on.
While waiting for the water to boil, she stared at the instant noodles and picked out the one that she thought was perfect.
The pile of instant noodles she had piled up fell apart, and she let out a loud click frok her tongue.
She decided to leave it alone for now.
When she hears the sound of it boiling, she pours the hot water into the instant noodles.
This is the kind of cooking skill that would bring even a three-star chef to his knees? Are you kidding me?
She opened the dyscord to kill time while she waited for three minutes, and found a direct message.
Futaba Ouka
《Thank you for your hard work on the stream. Um... did you see the event that Aria was looking for participants for a while ago...? Um, if you'd like, Shizuku could join us... Ah, of course, if you have something else to do, that's totally fine! I'll be waiting for your reply.》
It was an invitation from her senior.
The person Ouka calls Aria is her junior, Alpheria Linker.
She knows about the event that Alpheria is recruiting for.
It's an unusual baseball event held in a VR space.
Perhaps because the event was hosted by Alpheria, a girl who has made a huge impact on the VTuber community, or perhaps because people were dazzled by the prize money of one million yen to the winning team, there were quite a few people who wanted to participate.
In particular, she remembered that Osorezan Yuuna's humiliation was so vulgar it was artistic.
I was impressed that humans could throw away their dignity to that extent.
"...Isn't it just as the Tier 0 person predicted?"
Tier 0 refers to Alpheria.
Shizuku had a habit of giving strange nicknames to others.
Actually, she doesn't like calling people by names.
Shizuku looked over the previous DM.
Alpheria Linker
《Good evening, Shizuku-senpai. I'm sorry for contacting you out of the blue. I have a request for you, Shizuku-san, so I'm sending you this DM. Now, to get straight to the point. After this, Ouka will probably invite you to an event, so if you'd like, I was wondering if you would accept itー》
The messege continued after this, but that was the gist of it.
Alpheria perfectly predicts that Oula will invite the girl.
She was trying to approach Hojouin Shizuku.
This shows Alpheria's concern and affection for Ouka.
Feeling unbearably envious and jealous, Shizuku's mood plummeted.
To put it bluntly, Shizuku didn't like Ouka.
It's true that Ouka is just as socially awkward and introverted as her.
Surely they can relate to many stories about introverts.
On the one hand, she agrees with the envy and jealousy felt towards extroverts, saying "I understand that."
Maybe they could even become one truly great friends.
However, there was a crucial difference between Shizuku and Ouka.
It's the difference in family environment.
While Shizuku's family environment was hopeless as described before, Ouka was deeply loved.
She was hired through her mother's nepotism.
She is also looked after by her roommate, Alpheria.
It is an environment that could not be more favorable.
Ouka would surely think that this meddling was none of her business.
But Shizuku knows that it is this meddling that is the beauty of it all.
Why do they have similar personality yet have a completely different environment?
The girl had such a complex, and although she felt it was unfair, she was unable to look upon Ouka in a positive light.
So, to be honest, she wanted to refuse, but Alpheria's DM intercepted it.
Shizuku disliked spoiled people, but she liked people who had endured their fair share of hardships.
She may not like it, but she can sympathize with it.
Respect too.
That's why she didn't want to disrespect Alpheria, who she knew had gone through her fair share of hardships.
To digress a bit, not everyone is kind to Alpheria.
To tell the truth, opinions of Alpheria are divided even within Prisma Ark.
Of course, the majority of people have positive feelings, but there are also quite a few streamers who harbor dark feelings.
After all, Alpheria rose to the top of the Vtuber world shortly after her debut.
Her number of channel subscribers and concurrent viewers has been unmatched, making her the face of the Vtuber community in both name and reality.
In just one day.
Leaving others' efforts behind.
It's only natural that there are streamers who don't find it funny.
They may also feel increasingly jealous, wondering what the point of all those days of steady hard work was for.
That's how dazzling she was.
And even though she was bathed in the spotlight like the sun, Alpheria held her head high and confidently, as if it was only natural.
Now they have added Trinity, two people who have been friends with her since before she became a Vtuber, and it is safe to say that she is now invincible.
So, just how big is the shadow she casts?
It's painful to even think about how many streamers, both inside and outside the group, have had their emotions torn apart by Alpheria, for better or worse.
They knew.
This shows that Alpheria had that kind of ability.
However, even if they knew, a girl's heart is such that it's hard to accept this.
They have a different level of mentality and sensitivity than chimpanzee men.
The reason she thought abot this isbecause there is a streamer in Shizuku's generation who fits the above description perfectly.
That genmate of hers hated Alpheria - and by extension Trinity - and would take every opportunity to swear at them on servers just for genmates or on private accounts.
She's not interesting to watch.
The inside is ugly anyway.
Her personality and appearance are bith finished.
It's so painful to see her getting the wrong idea after being fawned over by nerds.
She's probably flirting with some guy behind the scenes.
She doesn't seem to have any friends...etc.
She was the kind of woman who seemed to have condensed everything that was bad about women into a compact package.
By the way, there is "ww" throughout the entire sentence.
The first pressing was also surprisingly concentrated.
Incidentally, Shizuku's reaction after hearing these gossipings was, "you're the one saying that?"
At the very least, we can safely say that she was the princess of the otaku club.
Her other genmate also found this dislikable.
(But she's the one all the seniors like the most.)
Shizuku was socially awkward and the other one wasn't the type to curry favor so it wasn't surprising, but for someone who knew their true nature it was still quite irritating.
The problem is that this same genmate has announced her intention to participate in an event hosted by Trinity.
It was absolutely clear that nothing good was going to come out of this.
That's why,
"Siiiiiiiiiiighhhhh... I guess I have no choice."
With a deep, deep sigh, Shizuku replied to Ouka with her consent.
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Author's Note :
Alas, this novel is generally not meant to be serious.
In fact, it's impossible to be serious for this event.