Lunch Plans (1)
We're friends now. Friends...! Raming and I are officially friends.
I waited until 4 a.m. yesterday, but I couldn't fight off the sleep and passed out. The moment I woke up, good news greeted me. Well, good news is good news. What should I do today? That's right! Now that I'm officially friends with Raming, I even checked out her YouTube. Whatever she does that's fun, I'll do it too. You know the saying, "follow your friend to Gangnam"? It's exactly like that. Copycat? Plagiarism? Absolutely not. It's just sharing. Unauthorized sharing, sure.
If Raming does my content... I'd happily laugh it off. I dove deep into Raming's YouTube. Honestly, she only does stuff that's hard for me to replicate. ASMR goes without saying—I can't do that—and her videos are mostly FPS games or collabs. Raming's YouTube level is seriously high-tier. Out of curiosity, I checked the others: turns out Moteok is the weakest. Raming's second place.
"Whoa."
I've got an amazing friend. Making good friends is a blessing in itself. I gotta become an amazing friend to Raming too. Gotta put in the effort today. Suddenly, I'm super motivated. Motivated for sure, but I couldn't find any content I could actually do.
"What a shame."
Can't be helped. Next up, Moteok's YouTube. Watching Moteok's channel always makes me sleepy. Not because of her, but because the games are brain-off material. Perfect for bedtime. I used to fall asleep to Maru's videos back in the day. But hers are so fun, I end up binge-watching... Oh, another problem. Sometimes she screams without warning, startling me awake. Moteok, on the other hand, is so chill—pure sleeping pill material. Last night, I got tired waiting and crashed to her 10-hour video.
Ah! One great thing about Moteok's videos... When I turn on the replay channel, they're 10 or 11 hours long, so I can check how much I slept. Today: 8 hours and 31 minutes.
"Hmm..."
More importantly, no games I wanted. Next, Maru's... Whoa, a fresh upload from Maru.
"Clean House..."
Looks like a house-cleaning game. Brain-off game. This is it...! Content decided.
"Perfect... This is the one."
I watched the full 15-minute video. Not copying, just referencing. Ah, so this is how big corps do it. Taking notes. Watched it all, but too tough to replicate. I'm not great with words anyway... Yeah. Got the gist. That's enough. Bought and installed the game right away. Next, editor... Already messaged her. Ate some food too—Chinese takeout after ages. Alright, time to go live.
I've grown so much. My growth speed is insane. I can see it. Back then, 70 viewers felt lightning-fast... Now 150 fills up in seconds.
"Hey everyone! I've got a game to play today... Surprised, right?"
I said it proudly.
"Uh... You know Clean House?"
The chat exploded the second I mentioned it.
"Not a copy... Just referencing..."
"No... Maru isn't mad... We chat on Discord all the time."
She was quiet today. Not every day—maybe 2-3 times a week. I check in once in a while too. Mom nags a lot, one thing being: don't just contact when you need something—make a habit of reaching out early. Even pointless chit-chat is fine. Greetings are better... Create excuses to stay in touch so they don't get offended when you really need them. Mom says people who only call when they want something are the worst. But I don't get it. Isn't that why you contact people? Honestly, still don't. But no ego here. Never lost by listening to Mom, so her words are gospel. I coded accordingly.
"And I message Maru all the time too... Wait, not Discord—texts."
Discord only when she messages me; I text otherwise. Too lazy to boot the PC. So texts it is.
I wanted some back-and-forth banter, but nothing came to mind, so I scratched my head. Too loud?
"I wash my hair every day. I'm the type who hates itchy scalps."
Banter's still tough. What was wrong with what I said?
When did I snipe? I pondered, but no clue. These folks just love grabbing tails and forcing hate. Or is there something I don't know? My room's fine, but they say some induce it on purpose—luring you into controversy. Gotta watch out...
"Not sniping! But who didn't wash their hair? I'm seriously asking."
Can't help it though. Curiosity kills. How do you hold back? My head itches right now. Hold it in? No way. I scratch immediately. Not scratching drives me nuts. That's me.
"Aha...? No. Maru washes her hair. I smelled that pink pink scent."
I definitely remember a nice fragrance from her hair. Peach? Apple...? Can't forget it.
"Whoa."
Not wrong. Actually, spot on.
"Yeah, facts...!"
A woman who admits when she's wrong.
"Huh? Since when have you been watching?"
She hasn't shown up much lately—I thought she wasn't watching. But anyway, misunderstanding: I've never badmouthed.
"First... Let's clear the misunderstanding. I've never badmouthed. Viewers did. I just agreed with the superchat about meeting new people grubby—facts."
Arena complaints were viewer facts too. Deny all you want—facts don't hide.
"Yes! I believe that! Ignoring viewer hate!"
One ear in, one ear out for real.
When they pull this, I lose 100%. Can't beat the masses. Preemptive apology quells 80%. Stream skill learned.
"No, my bad..."
"I messed up. Forgive me."
"Yep, I'll do my best. Now then..."
Averted a huge mess. Time for the game?
I launched the game.
"Huh? Oh! Missed the chat."
Too focused on my head. Realized and checked my phone texts right away.
"Yep! Sounds good! Anytime works for me."
Aha, text her... I sent one as Maru wanted.
What does that mean? She's cool with it, right? Ah, focus on stream! Focus!
"Alright. Let's do Clean House!"
... Clean House wasn't that fun. Just endless cleaning grind. 4.4/5 stars. Close, but not my style. Still gave high rating—someone poured heart into it; lowballing hurts.
"Thanks everyone. Bye bye~"
Ended stream, showered, flopped on the floor. Planned to YouTube before bed, but a text waited.
Tomorrow? Obviously yes.
What to eat tomorrow? Hope it's tasty... Last time was great. Excited. Shut my eyes for tomorrow.