Senior Buzz and Casual Stream Two
"Senior, junior. 'The newbie award? You mean the one who just debuted? Of course I watched. She was super cute, Tensai-chan, right?' Have you ever talked to her?"
The VTuber called Sera—broadcasting under the name Saionji Sera—kept chatting lightly with the chat window while focusing on her game. For her, who'd been streaming for years, it was as natural as breathing. Of course, the game she was playing right now, P1, a battle royale title, had its downtime where things got really idle if nothing was happening.
Sera rolled the name Tensai-chan around on her tongue. She'd made sure to catch her debut stream yesterday too. Just like the public profile said, that tiny 143cm frame came with an adorably cute look that lingered in her mind. The white lab coat she wore to sell the "doctor" gimmick—dragging on the ground because the hem was too long, sleeves swallowing her hands—had been utterly charming. Sure, it was a tried-and-true trope, a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, but wasn't that exactly what made it cute?
Too bad she hadn't gotten to chat with her yet.
"Haven't talked to her at all yet. Our schedules just haven't lined up... But from what Nanoha-chan told me, she's a really good kid... Honestly, hearing that makes me wanna ask, 'Then who is the bad kid?'"
"No, they really are all good kids... And if I heard one was bad, I'd be stumped on how to respond anyway. Anyway... I heard she's extremely sweet. Super cute, and she hit it off with Saki-chan right away... But if she's got commu syndrome, is that really 'hitting it off'? Or are Nanoha-chan and Saki-chan just one-sidedly doting on her..."
Sera giggled as the chat exploded with lol's. Her fondness for this junior she hadn't even properly spoken to kept rising for some reason. She couldn't say it out loud, but as a fellow Vicone member and senior, Sera knew plenty about Tensai already. Like her age. A whopping... 21. Twenty-one..!
Eight years younger... She's basically a kid.
Time was mercilessly fast; her own debut felt like yesterday, but it was already five years ago. With the year almost over, it'd soon be six. She'd been young and green back then, but someone even younger... it stirred all sorts of thoughts in Sera. Not jealousy over her youth, but a vague worry: Can such a young kid really handle streaming properly?
From the outside, VTubing looked easy and fun. Playing your favorite games and raking in cash effortlessly. But reality was different, obviously. Sera agreed that gaming for money was enjoyable in itself. But to pull that off, you needed prerequisites. First and foremost: exposure to indiscriminate malice online. Getting trashed by hundreds, thousands of strangers for no reason—the stress was unimaginable without experiencing it firsthand.
Plus all the unspoken rules for streamers: etiquette, norms, an implicit moral code. She'd seen countless incidents, big and small, from breaking them over her five years. And she had zero intention of letting her junior go down that road.
"Collabs usually unlock after about a month, right? Can't wait to play together."
"Pfft." Sera couldn't stifle the laugh that slipped out. "Returnee kid" was an early character gimmick of hers—or rather, her RP as a girl who'd grown up in England. Snooty tone, like she carried a fan everywhere, with a butler waiting at home... She'd tried hard at first, but her plebeian vibes and her disastrously bad English quickly surfaced, turning it into "returnee kid (lol)." Common for long-time VTubers: the gap between RP and real self crumbling into meme fodder. Not a bad thing, really.
The game kept going amid the chatter, but her party got ambushed by enemies holed up in a building, lost the fight, and that was that.
"Aww... So close. If I'd just done a bit better... Anyway, it's still hard to believe. Ten juniors now..."
"'First-time but always watching'? And she's a five-year vet." Sera chuckled and muttered, then continued. "Of course I'll watch that too. Shizuri-chan, right? Everyone, make sure to tune in. I'll turn off my stream to watch."
"More members feels great, yeah. Me too. I have plenty of friends now, but I'd love more from the same agency. Can't just take anyone, so I know the company's got it tough... Ah, game's on."
Sera ramped up her focus again. Above all, she was a gamer before a streamer—and she craved victory.
"Ugh... So tiring..."
After my debut stream, I'd showered off the sweat and crashed hard. Even after sleeping like a rock, fatigue lingered in my body. Guess it'd be like this until I got used to streaming.
I twisted around on the bedroom floor, doing stretches to loosen up my stiff muscles. Moves from the trainer—pro technique, they hit just right, no strain.
Luckily, plenty of time before my next stream. No way was I showing up late on day two.
Stretching done, I filled the coffee pot. Normally Tsukiyo-san would have meals ready, or I'd grab rice and sides. But she was prepping her stream, timing was off, and I had no energy for it. Instant ramen it was.
I poured hot water and booted the PC. About 50 minutes till go-live. Still rusty on setup, so time to do it slow and thorough—no misses.
Screw-ups could flash "mysterious button" faces or control panels on stream. Not a huge deal, but mistakes were mistakes.
Munching the finished ramen, I followed Reiko-san's checklist. Dual PCs made it a hassle. Audio and mic were standard...
Ramen bowl aside for post-stream cleanup, I warmed up my voice. All clear today. Stream on.
─♪~ Free BGM and intro animation played. Okay, I really debuted.
Intro over, I switched to big-chat preset. Casual talk today.
"Mm, ahh. Can you hear this body? Nice to meet you all, ne. This is Tensai, ze."
Chat flooded—had been building during intro anyway. Greeting spam poured in.
Viewers at 8700. Way down from debut, but still insane. It'd drop more soon; no big emotions.
"Consair" popped up sometimes... Was that my greeting now? Not thrilled...
"This body explained itself somewhat yesterday... But there's more unsaid, questions you all have. Let's cover that. Games next time, ne."
"Got it~" and questions exploded.
Couldn't read every furious scroll, but surprisingly most. This body's dynamic vision was sharp? Or standard streamer skill.
Anyway, answered eye-catchers. Questions varied wildly: games I like, fave senior, manga/anime recs... Already answered some yesterday, others new.
Answered naturally, carefully hiding my real self. Even trivial stuff could dox.
I'd barely been online before, no SNS—hard to dox anyway. Still, no real-life details.
Surprisingly... I was chatty. Words flowed easy. Weirdly so.
Still pathetic IRL, clamming up around anyone but Tsukiyo-san or Reiko-san. But monitor and mic? Smooth.
Was connecting this fun? Half one-sided, sure—my pace, picked questions. But... if crowds came back then, maybe I wouldn't have quit. Or quitting taught me to fix flaws.
Anime talk flew; time vanished. Two hours gone, Shizuri's stream soon.
"Alright... That's it for today, ne. As you know, fellow debutante Shizuri's up soon. Show her love too, ze."
Stream off, stood up—no fatigue. No sweat. Adapted overnight? Or over-tense debut?
Either way, relief. Still drained, so tossed clothes, showered. Then Shizuri's stream.
A tune slipped out unbidden.