Chapter 130: Chapter 129

Sora was genuinely about to kick Anna out when Anna clung to her leg.

“Please don’t throw me out! I just wanted to eat the food Sora-chan cooks!”

“Let go.”

If you say "Noah" very quickly, it sounds like "Let go." But since this wasn’t the place to summon Serena KR’s Eleanor, the word simply meant what it sounded like: Let go.

“When I stayed at Laura-chan’s place last time, Sora-chan made food for me! It was so delicious…!”

But Anna wouldn’t give up.

Even someone who lives off delivery food will occasionally crave a home-cooked meal. Anna was precisely in that situation.

That’s why, when she heard Sora was cooking today, she decided to tag along.

And here they were.

“I just wanted to eat mom’s cooking! Sora-mama…!”

“Who’s your mom? I’ve never given birth to someone like you.”

“I’m serious—how about I pay you a living allowance to take care of me?”

“Take care of you? Should I start with spaying you first?”

Sora clenched her fists as she retorted.

Watching their nonsensical exchange, I folded my arms.

“That’s enough. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing for you. Do you have anything you’d like us to do for you?”

“…A favor?”

“Yes. After all, we’re not asking you to cook for free.”

I said.

Let’s rewind a bit. Recently, Inagika had said something to me.

“I’ll cook for you… if you, um, could spin some gacha for me…”

“Gacha?”

I tilted my head in confusion.

It was an unusual request.

I wasn’t particularly lucky. In fact, I was closer to being unlucky most of the time. The only exception was when I was in a desperate situation—that’s when my luck seemed to peak. But my philosophy was simple: avoid desperation altogether.

“You’ve played Authority gacha before, right? With Chel?”

“I did.”

“Then you know the gacha system in Authority is a bit unique. There’s this ‘soft pity’ system…”

To put it simply, in about 80 pulls, the odds of drawing a featured character or a non-featured one are 50% each. If you get a non-featured character on your first soft pity, you’re guaranteed to get the featured character by 160 pulls.

The first pity is called soft pity, and the second one is called hard pity.

“So, if I pull a non-featured character at soft pity, I was wondering if you could do the rest of the pulls for me…”

“Hmm.”

She had given it some thought, huh?

The Authority soft pity gacha system basically means “if you miss the featured character on soft pity, you’ll have to spend twice as much.”

Inagika planned to reverse this logic: “If I’m going to spend more anyway, I might as well ask Laura to pull for me and maybe snag an extra five-star character or two, saving some money in the process.”

“For a request like that, I don’t mind.”

That day, thanks to me, Inagika managed to pull one non-featured character and two featured ones.

Viewers estimated she saved around 300,000 to 500,000 KRW.

Of course, there were comments accusing me of rigging the gacha or blackmailing the game’s developers, but others joked, “She saved you a ton of money, so making her some food is the least you could do lol.”

Simply giving ingredients and asking for free cooking didn’t look good.

A duchess accepting charity? That was humiliating, in a sense.

Inagika’s request had actually been a golden opportunity for me. It left her indebted to me instead.

So, I decided that whenever I asked someone to cook, I’d fulfill one of their requests in return.

Yesterday, for example, I had to be Ainatsu’s drinking buddy in exchange for her cooking.

I was stuck at her place for four hours. (Meanwhile, Anna was starving back at home.)

“So, Sora, if there’s anything you’d like from us, just say the word.”

“A favor? What could I possibly ask from her?”

Sora glanced down at Anna and asked, “Anna-senpai, is there anything you’re good at?”

“Singing…? Should I sing for you?”

“Anything other than that?”

“I know all the Pokémon names!”

“You’re completely useless.”

Sora sighed.

But after thinking for a moment, she blurted out:

“Then, let me use your QU-100 once.”

After eating the lunch Sora prepared at her house and doing a light two-hour chatting stream, Anna and I returned home.

With Sora.

“…We’re walking? What about a bus or taxi?”

“Transportation costs need to be saved, don’t you think?”

“I’ll make dinner, so just take a taxi…”

So the three of us headed to Anna’s house.

As soon as we arrived, Anna showed us the QU-100.

“This is it.”

It was a peculiar microphone shaped like a human head.

At first glance, it looked like the head had been cut off a mannequin.

“It kind of reminds me of Mero.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Do all binaural mics look like this?”

“Not all of them. Some just keep the ear sections.”

Anna showed us several other mics as she explained.

Binaural microphones simulate a 3D sound experience, creating the illusion of being in a real-life setting.

Using these, creators produce ASMR content, and Anna was the only VTuber in EYEAI who focused primarily on ASMR.

“That mic costs about 15 million KRW,” Sora whispered, pointing at the QU-100.

“That’s quite pricey.”

“Yeah. Nowadays, it feels like everyone doing ASMR uses the QU-100. Some even have multiple.”

Apparently, ASMR was an unexpectedly expensive niche.

“Come to think of it, I don’t really know much about ASMR.”

“What? You’ve never listened to it?”

“I know the concept, but I’ve never properly listened to it.”

In the past, I’d listened to about ten seconds, just enough to understand what it was.

Music could be played casually in the background during a game, but ASMR required focused attention, which I found to be a significant barrier to entry.

“Then why not try it now? Sora-chan could use some practice anyway.”

Anna handed me a pair of earbuds.

I accepted the earbuds and moved far enough away from the two of them. It was better not to see what Anna and Sora were doing, so I even closed my eyes.

[How much ASMR have you listened to, Sora-chan?]

[Sometimes, when I don’t feel like listening to music, I’ll put on ASMR.]

[But I don’t actively search for it; if it pops up in the algorithm, I might listen. If not, then whatever.]

[When doing ASMR, you need to pay attention to your voice.]

[If you speak like you normally do, viewers—or should I say listeners?—might find it too harsh for their ears.]

Interesting.

It felt as though Sora and Anna were speaking directly on either side of me, even though I was sitting far away from them. This binaural sound effect was surprisingly immersive.

[What should I explain next...? This is my first time teaching someone else ASMR, so...]

[Let me just do it the way I usually do.]

Through the earbuds, Anna’s voice came through clearly.

A soft exhale followed.

Then the sound of wind.

Anna was blowing gently into the microphone’s ear section, though the binaural effect made it feel like the breeze was brushing directly into my ear.

The sensation was oddly stimulating, even though there was no warmth to the breath. It felt as if the invisible air reached the deepest part of my ear.

[My, there’s a lot of earwax, sir~.]

[Let me clean it for you.]

Her voice carried an exaggerated playfulness, almost like a whisper, mixed with subtle breathing sounds.@@novelbin@@

[Swish, swoosh~.]

[Swoosh, swoosh.]

[Does it feel good, sir?]

The sound of something gently scraping inside my ear followed—a grainy noise resembling sand being brushed away.

It genuinely felt like earwax was being removed.

Even while "cleaning," Anna didn’t stop speaking. The scraping sounds blended seamlessly with her voice, creating a strangely calming atmosphere.

Before I realized it, my shoulders had relaxed.

No matter how much you train, there are certain body parts that remain sensitive and untrainable.

For example, your eyeballs or tongue—no amount of exercise will make them tougher.

Ears are similar. They’re one of the most sensitive parts of the body, unable to be strengthened.

Because my hearing is sharper than most, the sensations felt even more intense.

It was surprisingly pleasant.

Stimulating the ears was directly linked to pleasure; isn’t that why people enjoy getting their ears cleaned?

ASMR didn’t perfectly replicate the feeling of an actual ear cleaning, but it came remarkably close.

[Everyone has their own way of cleaning ears. Some use traditional ear picks, while others prefer filling the ear canal with something.]

[Next, I’ll do an oil massage.]

A soft exhale.

After removing the "ear pick," Anna blew into the microphone again.

Even that simple sound left me feeling oddly refreshed. The sense of relief was stronger than I’d expected.

Then came the sound of a bottle cap being unscrewed.

The sound of an oil dropper followed.

The noise of oil being rubbed between hands.

And then, the sensation of the sound surrounding my entire ear.

[Tickle, tickle~.]

[Tickle, tickle~~.]

Anna whispered gently, her voice blending seamlessly with the oil sounds.

"Are you flirting with me or something?"

[No, this is just the right way to do ASMR.]

[Some people prefer ASMR without any voice, but then there’s no reason to listen to VTuber ASMR, right?]

Fair enough.

Since VTubers put their personalities front and center, their voices were a major part of their charm. You could say their voices made up half of their character.

Anna’s ASMR skills were genuinely impressive.

She demonstrated various techniques—ear cleaning, oil massages, wrapping the ears with towels, pouring fizzy water sounds, and even eating sounds.

Her performance was far more detailed than I had expected, showcasing how dedicated she was to ASMR as her main content.

[That’s about it for now. Hardcore ASMR enthusiasts even experiment with different ear pick materials, but I’m not that extreme...]

After saying that, Anna washed her hands and wiped down the ASMR microphone.

[Sora-chan, give it a try now. Just do whatever you want.]

[This mic is ridiculously expensive, isn’t it...?]

[I’d be so nervous about breaking it...]

[It’s a sensitive piece of equipment, but it’s not that fragile. Besides, I have a spare.]

She has a backup of this pricey mic? That’s... impressive.

[Okay, I’ll give it a shot.]

This time, Sora began experimenting with the microphone.

Swish.

The sound of her fingers brushing lightly against the ear section.

Her nervousness was evident in the cautious way she handled the mic.

But soon, she steadied herself, and her fingers began exploring the ear section more confidently.

Perhaps it was because I’d just experienced Anna’s ASMR, but Sora’s inexperience was apparent.

Hoo-ooh.

When Sora blew into the mic, the sound cracked slightly.

Even breathing into the mic required skill, something she clearly needed to develop further.

‘Can’t be helped.’

After all, this was Sora’s first time using an ASMR microphone.

Despite being rough around the edges, Sora gave it her all.

She tried ear cleaning, tickling, wrapping the ear with towels, and even licking.

…Licking?

[Chup... Chuu.]

The sound of saliva echoed in my ears.

Not just once, but repeatedly.

The sound of a tongue sliding into the ear section.

Even though I had my eyes closed until now, I couldn’t help but open them.

"W-Wait…! What are you doing!?"

Anna quickly pulled Sora away from the ASMR microphone.

"Huh? Was licking not allowed?"

"It’s not that it’s forbidden…! But why are you licking it!?"

"Isn’t that how ASMR streams are usually done?"

Sora tilted her head, confused.

"Every ASMR stream I’ve seen involved ear licking."