I Can't Take This

There's a saying: luck seven, skill three.

It means that most of what a person goes through in life is heavily laced with chance. Luck makes up seven-tenths of it, and talent the remaining three. No matter how hard you polish that three-tenths of skill within the range of what you can control, if luck refuses to show up, you can't do a thing.

And from way back, I had never been the lucky type.

"Haa…."

I kneaded the back of my neck, which felt stiff even though there was no reason it should. Opening day, the second day, and the third day after that. From the first screening to the last, I had watched the movie full-time. The coupon codes I'd earned that way numbered a full fifteen.

Now I had the stream on and was going through them one by one with the viewers. I could have cracked them open alone beforehand, but this seemed more fun — like doing a gacha pull on stream.

That was the idea as I entered the codes one after another. The results, however, were far from smooth.

"Tsk…."

This wasn't what I'd wanted at all. I'd planned to pull Snow Queen Camilla live on stream with total confidence, lock in the Vtube angle, and flex on the Camilla mains that this kind of thing was nothing to me.

Judging by the current vibe, though, this was looking more like a public execution show. A funeral with a festival atmosphere — something like that.

"Last five… let's open them."

In that solemn atmosphere, I began entering the remaining coupon codes one after another. And the results….

"Ah…."

Unfortunately, every last one was a dud. A hero-grade skin did drop, but to someone who had eyes only for Camilla, it was pure garbage.

"That's a shame."

I'd expected it, but I couldn't hide the disappointment. The viewers, having heard about how I'd practically lived at the theater and even taken days off stream for this, did their best to console me.

"Looks like I'll just have to buy Snow Queen Camilla myself. Would've been nice if it came from a coupon, though."

I'd come home from the movie last night and turned the stream on the moment I woke up this morning. Which meant I hadn't washed up or eaten a thing. I decided to ask the people who'd come to watch me this early for one more bit of patience.

"Mind if I go wash up real quick? I turned this on the second I got up."

"Thanks. Be right back."

I stepped away for a bit and came back. The time was 9:20. I'd meant to be quick, but it had taken over twenty minutes.

Back when I used to wash up in a hurry, I could finish everything in ten minutes flat. A lot of things were different now, but the biggest time sink was definitely this hair. It was long enough on its own, and if I scrubbed too roughly it tangled up. Quietly — no, when I showered, it was the single most high-maintenance part of the process.

On top of that, Vtube had been floating tips on how to keep your hair silky smooth lately, and after watching a few of those I'd gotten self-conscious and started washing extra carefully. I'd been given Camilla's beautiful, perfect body — might as well take good care of it, right?

Anyway, I dried my hair as fast as I could and returned to the stream.

"Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?"

The chat's reaction was a little off. And for some reason, the viewer count looked a lot higher than before.

"…? Did something happen?"

"Hrm…."

Something had clearly gone down, but judging by chat, they weren't going to tell me. I had my methods for situations like this. Narrowing my eyes at the chat window, I picked up my phone and opened the Abyss gallery.

"Heh."

I more or less understood why everyone had been dodging the question. I was still peeking through the gallery with a little smile when someone finally came clean.

"They were?"

"Showercast? What's that?"

Chat stirred for a moment. From the words that kept cropping up, I pieced together the meaning. So it meant broadcasting the sound of someone showering. There was a whole culture around it, complete with its own dedicated term.

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"I didn't mean to… but I guess I ended up doing a showercast? So that's a thing…."

To me, they were making a bit of a fuss over nothing.

"First time I've showered with the stream on, yeah. Be careful, you say? Nah, I wasn't that shocked about it."

Sure, learning that a word like that existed — and that people were into it — was new to me. But I'd spent a long time as an internet ghost myself, and I had a decent read on how guys' minds worked. So I didn't come out with anything like Eek! Gross! You perverts!

Just in case, I'd check the VOD after the stream ended. Still, neither of the two editors who constantly monitored my broadcasts had contacted me, so it probably wasn't a real problem.

Worried the mood might get awkward, I added one more thing.

"If I were still a guy, I don't think I could've held back either. A girl this pretty, and you get to hear her shower for free? How are you supposed to resist that?"

"Ehh… still, that's a bit much. I'd make a ton of money? Even so, I'm not exactly desperate for cash, so I don't think I'd do it. Showering on stream only happened today because I went live so early."

I turned down the suggestion to go a step further and sell the shower audio. Accidentally leaking the sound on stream was one thing, but deliberately packaging it to stoke the viewers' desires? That felt… too deep, somehow.

I was chatting with the viewers after my return when another donation came in.

"Ten thousand subscribers?"

Welcome news had just arrived.