“Allow me to massage you. Right around…here? It feels nice there, right? Well? Are you tired? If you want, I would be glad to keep massaging you forever and ever.”
The script they send me beforehand includes a lot of directions besides just spoken lines, like “gasp a little here” or “now pretend you’re blowing into someone’s ear.” It seems really stupid, so I ignore it all and just read off the script.
When I do, Kihouin immediately breaks in. “Ah, one moment, Miss Kareki. You seem to be doing nothing but mumbling into the microphone. You must have more allure, more appeal, to make the viewers happy. Do as Miss Rolling does—a little flirtation, without any shame about how you may look or sound.”
“I’ll try, Miss Kihouin.”
“Heeey! I think you’re being a little too mean, Kihooo!”
“Go ahead and give it another try, Miss Kareki.”
“All right. I will.”
“Kareki’s agreeing to everything so easilyyy. Do you think she has a crush on meee?”
The two of them ad-lib remarks that aren’t in the script. I have it easy; I just trade banter with my two senpai as appropriate. The stream ends after about an hour.
Though it took place on Ochiba Kareki’s channel, it had over twenty thousand simultaneous viewers. That same day, after being archived, it accumulates over two hundred thousand total views—easily more than all of my previous videos.
My subscriber number also increases, going up by another eleven thousand. The amount of influence famous streamers wield is astonishing. But what really has me curious is the conversation I had with the others after the stream ended.
“I know you have your own style, Miss Kareki, and it isn’t our place to criticize you for it. But I do think you could stand to think a little more about how those around you view your actions.”
“Uh, Kihooo, I don’t think you’re getting your point across at allll.”
“Um, are you threatening me?”
“If that’s how it sounded to you, then maybe so.”
“Ughhh, geez! From my point of view, you’re basically no better, Kihooo!”
“Didn’t you promise to keep silent, Miss Rolling?”
“Urk.”
Their strange back-and-forth makes it even harder to trust what they’re saying.
Actually, I should stop making excuses. Ever since I entered the proxy war, I’ve stopped being able to trust anyone whose interests aren’t clearly aligned with mine. And even when our interests are aligned, I’m constantly suspicious. In my eyes, rivals within my group are nothing more than enemies.
I nod noncommittally in response to their advice.
I continue to upload new videos every day, sandwiching more special events like this in between.
On weekdays, I go to school, using free time during class and breaks to work on my scripts. After school, I head home for our pretend family session, then record until midnight. I don’t think my life has ever been so busy.
Before, I was sluggish and inactive. Now I spend my days rushing around, as though someone pressed fast-forward on my life.
But I have to admit, it doesn’t feel bad at all.
Time passes in a flash, and eventually, the day of the poll arrives.
My neighbor had been working nonstop for several days.
After I went with her to the meeting with Mr. Kuga, checking on her videos became a daily task for me. She seemed to be tackling her job with great enthusiasm, and she always uploaded at least one new video every day.
Their quality, too, was faultless. In fact, it was better than the work of a lot of professionals.
I had no doubt that the 3D model and all that advanced equipment provided by Type Twelve was the foundation of that quality. But even so, her scripts and staging made use of that quality in astounding ways—so astounding, you’d never guess it was the work of a middle school student.
Maybe she’d gained such impressive skills at so young an age precisely because she’d holed herself up in her school’s library for thousands, or even tens of thousands of hours. In fact, most of her viewers’ comments read like they assumed she was a grown woman.
It warmed my heart, just a little, to think that my neighbor’s life until now hadn’t been a waste. And it reminded me that in all things, repetition was key.
Above all, I was happy that she finally had something she could immerse herself in after having led such an empty life. Perhaps it was rude to put it this way, but it seemed to me she was nurturing a reason to live like a little bud, and I wanted to make sure it never withered.
“How goes the view-count contest?” asked Peeps.
“I tried uploading a 4K recording of the Karuizawa scenery, but that didn’t work, either. I saw an online article that said foreigners might be interested if I added English subtitles, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s watched it.”
“…I see.”
I, on the other hand, had no clue how to progress. I’d headed to the Japanese-style house in the UFO again today and was now in my room there, racking my brain.
Currently, I had only seventy-eight views in total. Escaping last place seemed hopeless. Just as I was groaning in frustration, my distinguished sparrow came in to check on me.
“Is this that girl’s video?” asked Peeps, looking at my laptop screen.
“Yeah.”
It was one she’d just uploaded yesterday—a collaboration stream, on her own channel, with two of her senpai from the office. I was watching the archived version. It looked like she was trying out ASMR.
“Miss Kihouin, was I able to flirt properly, like Miss Rolling does?”
“Oh, yes! You’ve gotten so much better! Keep on showing them just how coquettish you can be.”
“Argh! Stupid Kihooo! Stupid Karekiii! You’re both mean, and it’s making me maaad!”
“Oh, but I wasn’t making fun of you. I must acknowledge your superior skills in buttering others up. It’s exactly what people want from Miss Kareki, who has just debuted recently!”
“Wellll, okay then. In that case, I’ll show you both how you reeeally butter someone up!”
My neighbor held her own, unafraid, even against her senpai. It reminded me a lot of her thorny back-and-forth with Miss Hoshizaki during our pretend family time. She had a lot of grit, thanks to her role in the death game—not even the most famous people in her industry could scare her. In fact, it was giving me chills just watching.
Naturally, I hadn’t meddled in her video production work in the slightest. I was merely her manager; I responded to business queries from Mr. Kuga and others and performed minor duties like signing contracts and managing her official social media account. She and Abaddon did all the creative tasks, including outside recording.
“The way she speaks is every bit as powerful as her precursors. Very impressive.”
“I’m more concerned that people at her workplace will say bad things about her.”
“No need to mind that. These vee-tuber people depend on public favor and popularity, yes? As long as they can bring in the views, pecking orders will be quickly overturned. She is courteous enough, so I doubt we need to worry.”
The Lord Starsage was as aggressive a go-getter as always. But without that level of pluck, you probably couldn’t survive in a competitive industry like this. People who are not only confident but have the incredible talent and achievements to back up their attitude are just so cool.
“By the way, Miss Kihouin, don’t you think you’re being a little unfair?”
“Oh? Whatever do you mean?”
“Maybe it’s because of your rich-girl character, but…compared to the instructions you gave me, you don’t seem that coquettish, as you put it. Could you show me how it’s truly done? Think of it as part of your kouhai’s education.”
“Urk! Are… Are you telling me to become a plaything for the masses?”
“Please don’t confess to things like that without any warning. You’re spoiling the moment. And a lot of other things, too…”
“Very well, if you insist. I will show you a kind of charm opposite to yours—the sunlight to your doom and gloom. Just don’t blame me if they ban your account because of how incredibly sexy this stream is about to become.”
“Okaaay, Kiho, now that’s just immatuuure.”
My neighbor was getting along well with her two senpai, Miss Kihouin and Miss Rolling. I didn’t really approve of them inviting a minor to join an ASMR live stream, but aside from that, they were doing a good thing for her. Ochiba Kareki was managing to stay in character, and the reactions from the comment section were positive.
Peeps offered a similar impression. “It is always a thrill to watch a spirited newcomer make their mark.”
“Seems like a lot of other people agree.”
“I believe the others will benefit from it as well.”
“Maybe that’s why they approached her for the collab.”
Typically, a newbie couldn’t get away with acting like this toward her seniors. Perhaps it was different when you were working off a script, but everything my neighbor was saying was totally ad-libbed. Normally, she’d probably get bullied for such behavior.
But thankfully, it seemed her senpai were more interested in using her to their benefit than in fanning their own meaningless pride. That was how it looked to me, anyway, and so I decided not to meddle for now.
Either way, the result was that my neighbor was doing extraordinarily well for a newcomer. Not even ten days after her debut, her channel had almost fifty thousand subscribers. Despite starting out as a nameless nobody, she was now getting as much attention as idols with solid corporate backing. Her subscriber count might still lag behind the others in her group, but given how recently she’d started, it seemed like she was making a very respectable effort.
Ultimately, it was another fruitless day.
The sunlight pouring in through the window shifted to crimson, then eventually began to fade. As it did, I heard a voice from the kitchen letting me know dinner was ready. I left my room and headed to the living room, where the other members of our pretend family had already gathered.
But when I looked closer, I saw that we had a guest. For some reason unbeknownst to me, Magical Pink had joined us, sitting small and quiet at one end of the low, round table in the middle of the room.