“Welcome to the Third-Gen Fitness Challenge!!!”
“Woo-hoo!”
“I’m completely sober and ready to win!”
“Does this have to be a competition? Fighting is wrong, everyone.”
“Thank you, Hikari-chan, for your energy as always; Awa-chan, for jeopardizing the age rating of this stream as always; and Chami-chan for conscientiously objecting as always! I am your host and fellow competitor, Mashiro Irodori!”
: an all gen three offline collab?! Yo?!
: woo-hoo!
: and they're in 3D!!!
: Awa-chan, you sound nervous
: I've never seen Chami-chan so much as stand up and yet I somehow fear for Awa-chan's placement
: chaotic introduction quota reached! ￥3,333
So! Here we go. Today’s stream was an offline collab featuring all the members of gen three. But this time, we were using our newish 3D models with motion tracking! Every move we made was mirrored in real time.
Standing here, being with the girls in real life, I was struck again by how different it felt to be physically present with my fellow Livers. Online collabs had their convenience, sure, but nothing compared to the magic of being together offline.
I mean, the smell—oh God, the smell. The room I was in actually smelled like women for once. But saying “for once” made me realize there was a default smell I had grown used to. And when I thought about that for a second, I realized that default smell was...StroZero.
I quickly shook the thought away. No! Bad, Awa-chan! Bad! There’s to be no mention of alcohol today—not even the scent. I need to stay completely sober if I have any hope of succeeding in what’s about to unfold.
“Allow me to explain the rules,” Mashiron, our emcee, said. “Since we’re all here in person, today’s collab is going to be all about healthy exercise!”
“It was Hikari’s idea!” Hikari-chan chimed in excitedly.
“God knows it wasn’t mine,” Chami-chan muttered.
“I know I’m not one to talk, but there’s nothing wrong with a little exercise, Chami-chan,” Mashiron said.
“You’re right, but...” Chami-chan said.
“You too, Awa-chan,” Mashiron added.
“I didn’t even say anything...”
Well, that was unwarranted! I still played Long Fit on occasion. Once is an occasion, right?
“Back to the rules,” Mashiron said. “Today, we’ll be competing in a set of physical challenges chosen by management. First place in any challenge earns ten points, second place gets five, third gets three, and last place gets zero. The person with the most points at the end wins.”
“Me, me!” I raised a hand.
“Yes, Awa-chan, you have a question?”
“This is one of those punishment games, isn’t it? In that case, I’m with Chami-chan. We should keep it casual and fun, competing at our own pace!”
“It’s for the stream, Awa-chan.”
“...”
“Huh? She just stopped talking,” Hikari-chan said.
“You see that, Hikari-chan?” Mashiron said. “That’s the sight of a woman who has given everything to the stream.”
I am Awayuki Kokorone. I entertain the viewers. That is my purpose.
“All jokes aside, there’s no punishment this time,” Mashiron said. “We talked it over with management, and since Hikari-chan might throw the competition on purpose, we decided against punishments.”
“Wait, seriously?!” I said.
“N-Nice!” Chami-chan added, relieved.
“Ngh?!” Hikari-chan stammered. “Throwing the competition... O-Of course! Why didn’t Hikari think of that? I mean—what? Hikari would never do that, ha ha!”
Understandably, Chami-chan and I were relieved, though a bit surprised by the news. But Hikari-chan... Hikari-chan, where had it all gone so wrong? You didn’t use to be like this. You used to be so pure and innocent—now you’d resort to sneaky tricks just to satisfy some twisted lust. I can’t even look at you anymore!
Give her back! Give us back that pure Hikari-chan who didn’t even know the meaning of the word “lust”!
Give her back, me! Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
“In place of the punishment,” Mashiron continued, “the overall winner gets to ask a single favor of their genmates, one that cannot be refused.”
All of our jaws dropped open. What. On God’s green earth. Did I just hear?
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on, pause!” I said. “How’s that any better? Hikari-chan’s the most fit out of all of us! No way she doesn’t win and then use that privilege to ask us to do some crazy, out-of-pocket, masochist’s-wet-dream-type stuff to her!”
“Uh, guys?” Chami-chan said. “Hikari-chan’s already started her warm-ups!”
“Again?! We literally just did that together! Mashiron, please! There’s still time—let’s reconsider!”
“It’s for the stream.”
“Perfect argument, no notes.”
“Awayuki-chan,” Chami-chan said, “I respect that part of you.”
Of course there’d be a catch. Who would want to see a couple of keyboard warriors exercise otherwise (cry)? But it had to be done. Come hell or high water, I absolutely could not let Hikari-chan win this thing.
: nothing wholesome about this upcoming workout no siree
: She Who Fights to Lose
: Damn, what a boss
: No, son, that's a masochist
: That's my streamer. Even without StroZero she's cuckoo for content ￥22,000
Chami-chan let out a hefty sigh. “Exercise. Why did it have to be exercise?”
“Relax, Chami-chan,” I said. “We asked management for some fun, wholesome challenges, remember? Plus, this is a mocap studio, not a gym. Even if they wanted to make us suffer, there’s limits to what they can do.”
“I really hope you’re right...” Chami-chan muttered.
Indeed, the confined space we were in meant that anything even remotely resembling cardio was out of the question. It was why I hadn’t entirely hated the idea of this off-collab. Though, thanks to Hikari-chan, I think I might come to hate it again real soon.
And here’s a little behind-the-scenes tidbit not shared with the viewers: There had been explicit discussion between us and management to not include any bits of running or vigorous movement during the stream. VTubers were not known for their athleticism, after all. The viewers didn’t need to see us struggle.