Chapter 81: Chapter 80

"Is that you, Anna-senpai? Nice to meet you~."

Sora greeted her with a bright smile.

In contrast, Anna seemed slightly intimidated by Sora’s friendliness.

‘…She’s pretty, too.’

She looked just like a modern college girl. However, from what Anna had heard, Sora was a year older than Rion, which meant she must have already graduated.

And Anna was younger than Rion.

So, naturally, that made Sora older than Anna, which meant she was the junior to an older senior.

That sort of thing was quite common in the VTuber industry. One of the reasons VTubing is preferred over other jobs is the “freedom from age” it offers.

In this industry, it’s not unusual to play a 17-year-old VTuber character, while being 38 in real life. So, it wasn’t particularly strange to have an older junior.

However, until now, Anna had been the youngest at EYEAI. Having a junior was a first for her, so she couldn't help feeling slightly nervous.

She couldn't help but think, 'Will I be overshadowed by my junior?'

“So, what brings you here?”

Sora casually invited Anna into the house, almost as if it were her own.

Anna knew Sora had spent the Chuseok holiday at Laura's house, but this seemed a little too familiar…

“I was worried about Laura… I saw her streaming for over 100 hours straight…”

“I just put Laura to bed. Though, knowing her, she’ll probably be up again in an hour or two.”

“Sora… when did you get here?”

Anna wasn't quite sure how to address her junior. Should she just call her Sora? Or Sora-ssi? Sora-nim? …If she called her Sora-chan, would she get called a weeb?

“Oh, I just arrived a bit ago. For the same reason as you, Anna-senpai. Feel free to address me however you like.”

Sora seemed to pick up on Anna’s hesitation, proving she was pretty perceptive.

“This is our first time talking, isn’t it? We met as opponents during the tournament, but it was pretty chaotic back then.”

“Right… It’s also my first time meeting someone from a stream in real life, so… this is a bit awkward.”

“You don’t have to be formal with me. Oh, by the way, I’m streaming right now. Would you like to join in?”

Apparently, while Laura was sleeping, Sora and Chel had been continuing the stream.

They could have just ended the stream while Laura was asleep, but with a continuous 100-hour stream, stopping here felt like a waste. So, Sora decided to keep it going.

“In that case, should I join the collab, too?”

Anna figured she might as well. It would be a shame to leave without seeing Laura, and waiting around in the living room until Laura woke up didn’t seem appealing either.

Anna still felt a bit awkward with Sora, but she thought that co-streaming together might break the ice a little.

After all, Anna wanted to get a bit closer to the 6th gen members.

These were her first juniors, and she wanted to get to know them better.

Plus, they were Laura’s colleagues.

“Hey everyone, Anna-senpai is here. Let’s set things up for a moment.”

Oh?

Anna’s here???

Why does this house have so many guests, lol

Anna joins the stream

Welcome, our beloved goof

“What’s with ‘goof’? I’ll remember your username for later.”

Anna couldn’t help but chuckle. She was the type to relax once she was live on stream.

She set up her tracking phone and found a spot to place it.

It was too cramped to set up a standing microphone, so they all put on headsets, adjusted the mic volume, and started streaming.

“What were you guys up to?”

“We were going to play a game, but it felt a bit weird to start up someone else’s computer. So, we were just taking submissions.”

“Submissions? Like, advice requests?”

“Not exactly…”

【ArcticTastesGood has donated 1,000 won.】

【Did you come to stalk her in real life, too?】

“Just stuff like this.”

“Well, that’s quite the welcome… Can you guys stop with the weird accusations?”

Stalk? Her?

It’s not baseless…

Reasonable suspicion

Still hasn’t played a horror game, where’s the professionalism?

As a senior, set an example for your juniors.

Forget being a role model; she’d rather tie someone up.

Come to think of it, all the ‘Terrorist Trio’ is here, lol

“This is ridiculous…”

Anna was getting roasted by the chat as soon as she joined.

But she couldn’t deny it outright. She did have a history of stalking Laura in Minecraft, and she still hadn’t completed the horror game punishment yet…

But what could she do? Playing alone was terrifying, and the collab restrictions were only lifted around Chuseok.

“I was busy registering for the tournament… Grinding to hit Platinum was exhausting…”

After the tournament, Anna had been focused on ranked games.

Her subscriber count had increased slightly to 50,000, but it was still low compared to the big-name VTubers.

Higher subscriber counts gave an edge in the draft. But with Anna’s numbers, they were… average.

With an average subscriber count, boosting her tier a little was her best option, so she asked Laura for advice.

Just yesterday, she finally hit Platinum.

“Oh, Platinum? Isn’t that pretty high?”

“It’s below Dominator, Grandmaster, Master, and Diamond, so… maybe it’s a little high?”

“Hmm…”

Sora fell silent.

She’d heard that Bronze, Silver, and Gold accounted for 90% of the player base. So being in the top 10% with Platinum sounded like quite an accomplishment.

People tend to envy what they don’t have.

And in that sense, Sora felt a bit envious.

Of Anna.

【Anonymous has donated 1,000 won.】

【So, who’s Laura dating?】

“What do you mean dating… We’re just friends, I told you.”

Another donation with another outrageous question. As expected.

“But Sora, you’re pretty blatant with the yuri-baiting. It’s pretty intense.”

“You’re one to talk, Anna-senpai. Weren’t you known as ‘Creepy Stalker’? Wasn’t it something like, ‘I respect you, so please die’…?”

“Wow… No need to bring that up, that’s cheating.”

Grandmaster of Tai Chi, lol

Massive loss in the roast battle

Maybe she should stay the baby of the group for another year?

You? A senior? Yeah, right, lol

“Anyway, there’s nothing romantic going on between Laura and me. You guys are imagining things.”

Sora’s attempt at clarification was probably futile.

The term “yuri-baiting” was well-known. It was just a business strategy where female streamers or VTubers created a flirty, friendly atmosphere.

It wasn't a strange concept. Even in the male idol industry, members’ interactions sometimes serve as fan service.@@novelbin@@

In the VTuber world, where “unicorn” fans are prevalent, the fans tend to react negatively to romances. Yuri-baiting, on the other hand, was generally well-received and often enhanced character personas.

In fact, Sora had gained quite a few subscribers through these interactions with Laura.

It wasn’t intentional, but people saw their close friendship as yuri-baiting. Laura’s fans migrated to Sora’s channel because of it.

‘They’re all so mistaken.’

Sora shrugged.

The term “yuri-baiting” itself should make it obvious.

It was merely a business tactic, nothing more. There was no real emotion behind it.

But if the viewers enjoyed it, then that was enough.

【Anonymous has donated 1,000 won.】

【Then who’s the closest to Laura?】

“Well, I’m her closest friend, right?”

Anna responded confidently.

…Excuse me?

【Virtual VTuber Gallery】

[Broadcast] "I’m the official partner."

(Highlights)

Anna: I was the first to meet Laura.

Anna: So, I’m her closest friend.

[Comments]

Yeah, right, lol.

Didn’t you not even interact with Laura after debut?

ㄴ It was because of the collab restriction period.

Was Laura your first target? Oof.

Not satisfied after hitting on Rui, huh?

This is ridiculous, lol.

[Broadcast] Hey, Sora, you’re officially “eliminated” as the partner.

(Sora meme)

“Order of meeting isn’t important.”

“Isn’t the time spent together what really matters?”

“I spent Chuseok at Laura’s house.”

“So, I’d say I’m her closest friend.”

(Chel meme)

“I’ve been to Laura’s house even more often.”

[Comments]

?? Chel’s visited more than Sora?

ㄴ She’s practically lived there for nearly a month now.

ㄴ At this point, she’s more like family, isn’t she?

ㄴ Wives are family too.

Has it really been a month? Lol.

[General] As an outsider, I think Sora is the true partner.

Who cares about the order they met? Isn’t the time and depth of their relationship more important?

Sora has clearly spent more time with Laura, even exchanging gifts. No one would doubt how close they are.

Chel has been hanging around Laura’s house like a leech, but has she ever cooked for her?

As the most neutral observer, I see no true partner other than Sora.

[Comments]

Is this Sora’s alt account?

I’m not Sora, but this is on point.

Haven’t seen you in a while, Inagika. Your vocabulary’s improved.

Spotted the armor user.

I’m Anna, so cut it out, okay?

[Broadcast] Catfight ON.

(Link)

Anna: I was the first to meet Laura.

Anna: It’s thanks to me that Laura became a VTuber.

Anna: So, I’m her closest friend.

Sora: The order of meeting matters less than the time spent together.

Sora: I even stayed at Laura’s house during Chuseok.

Chel: I’ve spent the most time with her.

Chel: That means I’m the closest.

Sora: I’ve played games with her and given her gifts.

Chel: I played Blue Reco and Gwonshin with Laura, too.

Chel: I also plan to gift her Sanravi.

Sora: I cooked for Laura.

Chel: I’ll give you that one.

[Comments]

Is this for real?

ㄴ (Poster) Yes.

“Cooked for her-dor” lol.

Sora, have some dignity...

Ex-girlfriend vs. current girlfriend, lol.

This is intense.

[General] “How amusing.”

(Rinko meme)

You dare to talk about being the official partner when you haven’t even done a double suicide with Laura?

[Comments]

Go read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, man.

“Out of all of us, who are you closest with?”

I was asked this as soon as I woke up.

I’d only taken a quick break, but the atmosphere in the room had changed. There was one more person now, and an odd tension hung between the three of them.

“Aren’t you adults? Were you really arguing over something so childish?”

I couldn’t believe it.

They were all grown-ups, after all.

“Stop acting like children and decide on what we’re having for dinner later.”