Team Infinite Noir
A strange feeling washed over me. It had been a full year since I'd last logged in. Even when I'd come to in the hospital, even when I'd left and started job hunting—I hadn't even thought to check this Prwichi site. I didn't have the leisure to watch internet streams, and I needed time to come to terms with the fact that I'd tried to die but ended up alive instead.
But why—did it feel like coming home?
Yeah.
A life lived not for myself, but solely for others. Over that not-so-short stretch, the only friends I'd had were internet broadcasts. So it wasn't weird that Prwichi felt like home.
...Right?
Now wasn't the time to get sentimental. I naturally checked the broadcast rankings. Maybe RenaPpi was streaming? But her nickname wasn't there. Looked like she wasn't on air right now.
Huh?
More than that, something was off. The streamers I remembered always dominating the top viewer counts—they were nowhere to be seen. And filling their spots instead were—virtual streamers.
1st place: 23,000 viewers. 2nd: 15,000. 3rd: 14,800...
It was a weekday evening rush hour. Even for rush hour, viewer numbers like this were surprising. Or maybe I should say it was surprising that the top three were all virtual streamers.
What the hell happened in that one year?
I checked the top streamer's nickname.
'Sena... huh?'
I didn't remember a Sena either. Before entering the room, I peeked in—it was still chat time. So 20,000 people were just watching her shoot the breeze, no content?
But 20,000 viewers wasn't for show. Without hesitation, I entered Sena's room.
"So like! That's not what I meant!"
The moment I entered, a cutesy, childish voice hit me—clearly straining to sound adorable, putting her all into it. Hearing it made me realize the dignity of labor, or would that be overkill?
Soon, the familiar TTS voice chimed in.
The streamer hadn't said a word, but the chat flew up fast, unrelated to the stream. Seeing the clear nerd simps dropping donations loud and proud—like a sign I'd come home—I let out a sigh of relief.
Yeah. This was Prwichi. That's my friends.
Of course, back when I watched regularly, cam streamers topped the ranks. But virtual or not, the audience was still Prwichi users. So had virtual streamers become the trend now?
"Everyone! Yesterday, like, I didn't end stream 'cause the horror game scared me or anything! Leader unnie called... and, like, she'll explain when she comes~!"
Scanning the chat slowly, it seemed this streamer had ended yesterday's broadcast mid-[Hold on] and ghosted till today.
What? Fell asleep streaming? Without warning, just said wait and dipped?? Not even explaining why??
If a streamer I watched pulled that, trolls would've dogpiled till it exploded. But for some reason—the chat reaction wasn't that bad.
"For real! Sorry everyoneee! I'll do better! Even collabs with leader unnie, back to basics, I'll roll~!"
Not a toxic vibe—more like the situation itself was an unexpected fun scenario. It blew over easier than expected.
Well, damn.
Even if I couldn't get it—her viewers were cute simps acting like big shots. Me playing along like I was somebody would just be pathetic. If I were ten years younger, maybe youthful bravado, but not for me now.
Anyway, grasping the room's vibe, I finally checked the virtual streamer avatar next to the chat.
Long brown straight hair, eyes and mouth designed to be cute at first glance. A mysterious jellyfish-like, deformed-cute creature pin in her hair. Common devil wings and tail on her back.
Devil concept? And below, every time she moved, the avatar's massive breasts jiggled wildly. Mismatched with the cute face, a bit unbalanced—but overall, it hit a wide appeal in the taste ocean. Female characters always had fixed demand for big chests anyway.
Avatar's cute though?
The quality was top-notch. Expressive faces, sparkling eyes, bright colors—super cute. Avatar quality explained the 20k viewers.
...Wait. This critique felt familiar.
Come to think of it...
Looking back at the screen—that chat UI was super familiar. Only one difference from memory: the scroll speed.
This... kinda feels like RenaP?
I searched "Sena" on Newbie Wiki.
[Sena (Infinite Noir)]
As expected.
Sena was part of Infinite Noir. Same team as RenaP, so similar UI and artstyle made sense.
Wait. Recalling 2nd and 3rd were virtual too, I checked them and searched.
[Ayaka (Infinite Noir)]
[Zero Sugar (Infinite Noir)]
As expected. I zoned out, staring at the screen.
...Holy shit.
So top 1, 2, and 3 viewers were all RenaP's team? Meaning that RenaP—the virtual streamer with cute avatar but zero talent—had, in the year-plus I was out, climbed to the top of the virtual scene, dropped a MV hitting 30 million views in three weeks from Korea, and her teammates were sweeping Prwichi ranks?
Whoa.
As I wondered what the hell happened—chat suddenly exploded.
"Ack! W-wait! Unnie's here... Ugh seriously! Unnie'll explain details! Go hear it~!"
Wait. This Sena from Infinite Noir, her "leader unnie"...
No way.
I left the room, back to Prwichi main. One streamer's viewers skyrocketed.
Infinite Noir's leader. Korea's most successful virtual streamer. The one with the 3-week 30M MV, idol peak—
'RenaPpi...'
With mixed feelings, I entered RenaP—no, RenaPpi's room.
*
The screen hadn't loaded yet, but chat scrolled insanely fast.
Too fast to read details. Her 100-day milestone popped into mind. Back then, zero chats. She'd sobbed no one came—
That image flashed, and her familiar avatar appeared.
Cute deformed sun in her eyes. Long pink straight hair fading to pure white at the ends, fresh vibe. Matching sun hairpins by her eyes.
Only change: super pretty cute outfit.
Yeah. The girl who'd thanked nonstop for her first donation right before my eyes—RenaPpi—had become an unbelievable mega-corp in just over a year, standing before me again.