"Ugh! It’s that damn Phantom Thief again! Aaaaargh!!"
Kim Garam screamed.
In gaming, winning and losing back and forth is part of the deal.
But Kim Garam considered himself a decent player. After all, he’d reached Diamond rank.
Yet, every time he queued up, he somehow kept matching with "Duke's Glory."
Maybe two or three times out of every five matches.
"Aurora, seriously...."
Kim Garam let out a heavy sigh.
The name seemed familiar, so he looked it up and found VTuber Aurora.
She was in the middle of a 100-hour stream. She queued up non-stop without taking breaks. Was she going insane?
Her gameplay skills were good, so each match was relatively short, and she filled every moment up to her login limit. She barely even slept.
Avoiding her in the queue was practically impossible.
'...Maybe I should just stop playing ranked for a while.'
He could win when Aurora was logged out due to her timer limit.
But as soon as her timer reset, they’d meet again.
Sometimes, he’d be on the same team as her and get carried, but the most frustrating part was that Aurora always seemed to show up as the gatekeeper whenever he was on the verge of a rank promotion.
"Or should I just say something to her...?"
He could tell her that her constant queuing was keeping him from ranking up. ...But would that be too petty?
While he was lost in thought, his phone alarm went off.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot."
Kim Garam quickly turned off the alarm and started his stream.
【Labyrinthos】 Solo Queue Today! 【Masina/SerenadeKR】
【VR session time has exceeded the recommended limit.】
【Please consider taking a meal and hydration break.】
【For your health, you will be forcibly logged out in 30 minutes.】
A warning message appeared.
Reluctantly, I exited the VR capsule to eat.
"Is anyone here?"
As I stepped out, I glanced around. The once-busy space around the PC was now empty.
It was 9:12 a.m.
I wondered if everyone had gone home, but all four tracking phones were still there. It seemed they were just sleeping in.
“It’s an awkward time. I was thinking of ordering breakfast, but I wonder if any places are open yet.”
I muttered this into the standing microphone.
Even at this early hour, I had hundreds of viewers on my stream. Most were probably insomniacs, commuters, or simply people with nothing else to do.
The viewers were chatting away, but none of it was particularly noteworthy.
The stream time had passed 200 hours.
Not that much real time had passed; due to the time-acceleration system, the stream hours added up much faster.
Chel had been staying at my place even before the stream began, and it didn’t look like Sora or Anna planned on leaving either. They even borrowed Rion’s computer to take turns streaming.
They were all here out of concern for me as I pushed to reach Master, so I figured they’d stay until I achieved it.
‘I should be done in two or three days, at most.’
I was currently Diamond 1 in Gate Assault Mode. I’d also been playing Duel Mode occasionally, and I was Diamond 1 there, too.
I might reach the promotion match for Gate Assault Mode in the next day or two. Duel Mode would take less time since I’d been testing all the characters recently, which had led to some losses. But Duel Mode has shorter playtime, so it wouldn’t take too long.
The Illusion League application deadline was now less than a week away.
I had enough time.
“...Oh, you’re already up?”
Sora entered the room as the door opened.
Her hair was damp, and she wore a light white t-shirt. She had clearly just showered.
“I was about to order breakfast. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Hmm...”
Sora frowned slightly.
“I could make breakfast...” she mumbled thoughtfully, then shook her head.
“Never mind. Don’t order anything. I’ll cook.”
“Oh, come on~. Making food for four is a lot of work. Let’s just order in, okay?”
The voice came from Anna, who had apparently followed Sora in.
Anna looked disheveled, still in her pajamas, with sleep in her eyes. She hadn’t even washed up before coming in.
“I’ll order. What do you want?”
“...Anna-senpai, if you keep ordering takeout, you’re going to gain weight. Especially since you don’t exercise.”
Anna immediately deflated.
I’d seen this scene play out a few times in the past days.
Anna wanted to spend money, while Sora wanted to cook. They disagreed every time a meal was near.
If Chel was the cat who knew how to clean, then Anna was just a cat. Without that cute side, I would’ve kicked her out a long time ago.
The only redeeming quality might be her wealth.
She always wanted to pay for things, aware of how unhelpful she was around the house.
In contrast, Sora had recently developed a peculiar pride in her cooking.
Chel had stayed long enough to become proficient at cleaning, and now Sora had taken control of cooking and wouldn’t let go.
Cooking four servings each time had to be a hassle, but she insisted on doing it.
“Alright, I’ll cook, so just wait here.”
And when it came to disputes between Anna and Sora, Sora usually won.
Honestly, Anna had lost a lot of her seniority. She’d been eaten alive by the 6th gen, and soon enough, even Inagika might stop showing her respect.
After waking up Chel, who was still sleeping in, we gathered around the computer and had breakfast that Sora had made.
“So, what are your plans for today?”
I might be the homeowner, streamer, and channel owner, but I didn’t force my guests to do anything.
People came and went as they pleased.
The only rule was that if you stayed, you helped around the house. That was the one condition for staying here.
In other words, as long as you followed that rule, you were free to do as you pleased.
“I was thinking about watching Laura’s rank climb with the viewers. But maybe that’d be a bit boring?”
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Anna suggested.
“Honestly, it’s getting a bit repetitive. Although the stream itself seems to be quite popular.”
“Really?”
“No VTuber has ever streamed for 200 hours straight.”
“Already at 200 hours, huh?”
“Yep. Normally, 24-hour streams are the standard.”
Anna added to Sora’s comment.
24-hour streams.
Having streamed for over 200 hours, the number 24 felt small in comparison.
But normally, a 24-hour stream would indeed be impressive.
“And when people do 24-hour streams, they usually break it up into parts: part one, part two, part three, part four... Almost nobody does just one thing the whole time.”
That made sense. Watching the same screen for 24 hours would be boring.
In fact, once the stream passed 100 hours, there was a notable drop in real-time viewers.
It seemed like we had more viewers whenever I switched to a different activity during login cooldowns.
“But I’m not planning to stop my rank climb.”
“Yeah, I figured. But it would be nice to mix things up a bit.”
“I have an idea.”
Chel raised her hand.
Chel had an idea?
“What about karaoke?”
It had been a while since I’d entered Rion’s room. I rarely set foot in here.
Rion’s room had a feminine touch, quite different from mine.
I wasn’t interested in interior design, even in real life.
As a noble lady, I knew how to create a luxurious look. Initially, I considered a noble-style room.
But being fancy means more decorations, which aren’t practical.
I’d rather play games. So I went for a sleek look instead, whereas Rion’s room had a cozier feel.
“Now that I think about it, this room is soundproofed, isn’t it?”
“Rion-senpai has done a few singing streams before.”
“Oh, really?”
Sora casually sat at Rion’s computer and started setting things up.
She unlocked it using the password Rion had shared over chat and fiddled with a few settings.
“Karaoke should be doable. Everything’s set up.”
“Oh?”
This was an unexpected find.
My room wasn’t soundproofed, so singing could disturb the neighbors.
“Alright, starting the stream.”
I launched the streaming software and started broadcasting.
【Karaoke Collab】 Singing Until Laura Finishes Her Rank Climb 【Ayakokouji Sora & Others/EYEAI】
“Mic check, one, two. Can you hear me? This is Ayakokouji Sora, 6th gen VTuber of EYEAI~. We’ll be taking turns singing until Laura finishes her rank climb.
According to her, it should take about two or three days, so let’s keep it going as best as we can.
Let’s begin!”
In a one-room apartment in late-night Tokyo──I was dreaming.