Games Forge Instant Bonds
Fateful comrades, huh? As expected, playing games together in the morning really brings people close fast.
"Unnie! Ranged DPS behind you!"
"Oh, got it! I'll handle the ADC—dive in!"
As expected from my unnie. She's got natural talent, syncing up perfectly without a word. My Shorichi dove straight at the enemy ADC at the perfect timing, and we smoothly took them down.
"Unnie, ADC deleted!"
"Yeah! I'll follow up!"
Huran's character trailed right after mine, pulling the remaining aggro in my place. Is she really a total newbie? She said she'd only played yesterday for the first time, right? Even with Leorer career experience, this was insane...
"Whoa, Unnie! That stun was perfect!"
"Ehehet, it's 'cause Riee set up the play so well!"
She was having so much fun—her energy was off the charts through my earphones. I seriously wanted to try ranked with her later... Hell, maybe even scout for a streamer tournament? She gets called "simp Leorer" for a reason; she probably advertises to tons of streamers.
"Rieeya! One left!"
"Ah, yeah! I'll grab 'em."
I chased down the last enemy, and then a cute character strolled onto the screen, starting to speak.
"I always like fair trades. Just like this one."
Shorichi's victory line never got old.
"Unnie! We got first again for real."
"It's all 'cause Riee carried!"
We snagged a few kills off the AI since both of us were newbies, but three straight first places? Thrilling.
"Ahh... Games are way more fun with someone."
"Y-yeah! Super fun!"
Come to think of it, lunch was creeping up early, but was Huran Unnie okay? Or was I just hungry 'cause I skipped breakfast?
"Unnie, did you have breakfast?"
"Breakfast? Yeah. Riee, you didn't, did you?"
"Ah..."
If I admitted I woke up, checked Nutube, got the gaming itch and jumped right in, I'd look like a total gaming zombie. I scrambled for an excuse, but nothing good came to mind.
"Well... I forget to eat breakfast a lot."
"For real? If I were there, I'd make sure you ate all three meals..."
That sounded kinda risky. No way sweet Huran Unnie meant anything weird, right? She was just worried about me gaming on an empty stomach.
Her voice dropped a notch, with a vaguely sinister vibe, but coming from a girl, it just sounded cute. Not in a creepy way—I swear, it was genuinely adorable.
"...So Riee could just sit there and let me feed her."
"Unnie?"
I had to cut her off before she got weirder. It was all that trash Yaru's fault anyway—pure Huran Unnie was innocent.
"Guess I'll go eat then."
"Ah, yeah! Eat up. But... can we stay on the call?"
"Huh?"
Girls go to the bathroom together, but eating lunch on call too? Was that normal?
"Just... editing alone is boring."
"Editing?"
"Yeah! Gotta drop out of school eventually, so I'm editing next week's upload."
She was impressive and hardworking. If it were me, I'd waver on dropping out like that, but she said it so casually. Cool.
"Got it. But you sure? You'll just hear me chowing down."
"Yeah! It's fine. Actually, I'd like that..."
I ignored the meaningful undertone, got up, and headed to my mala tang cup ramen stash. Maybe I should edit and upload to Nutube like her? A bit ambitious for a trash female streamer not even a week in, but...
-Bubble bubble... Click!
Lost in thought, the coffee pot beeped that the water was ready. I poured it into the ramen, carried it to my desk, slipped my earphones back on—and heard Unnie breathing.
"Rieeya, whatcha eating?"
"Mala tang cup ramen! Too lazy to cook proper."
"Hee... Riee's picks are cute too. I want some."
Her voice was drowsy yet oddly sticky—not just craving ramen, but nah, probably imagining things. I shrugged it off, peeled the lid, and started slurping with chopsticks.
"Hoo. Sslurp, mmm..."
Tongue-numbing, but mala tang hit different as a breakfast meal.
"...Haa, Rieeya. Your eating sounds are so good."
"Huh?"
What did I just hear? My chopsticks froze mid-air. No way... I misheard, right? No one says that about slurping sounds.
"Ah, no, just—makes me hungry hearing it. Now I get why people watch mukbangs."
"Ah... Y-yeah?"
"I'll grab some ramen too!"
She made a hasty excuse, chair scraping as she stood, but her voice still trembled. Why did the women around me—my real unnie included—always seem a bit off? Or was I just inexperienced with girls, and this was normal?
After finishing lunch ramen, I still had about two hours till stream time.
"Haa... So full."
"Unnie ate well thanks to Riee."
"Really?"
I didn't do anything special, but if it made her happy, whatever. I planned an early stream today, but hanging with Unnie made me not wanna start...
"Hey... Can I check your Nutube?"
"Sure, but not much to see. I deleted a ton while cleaning up..."
Her voice dipped sadly—maybe I shouldn't have asked.
"Sorry..."
"No, no! Not your fault, Riee. Those collab vids with them were total flops anyway!"
She was amazing. Deleting edited vids like that must've hurt. I felt bad even though it wasn't my fault—time to superchat her hard next time.
"Glad to hear it. What's the channel name?"
"Channel? Same as my streaming handle!"
I searched "Huran" on Nutube, and the top result was a channel with 5.4k subs. Most flatline streamers under 100 viewers had no channel or three-digit subs—this was surprisingly solid.
"Tons of subs!"
"Nah. Just one lucky Short blew up back then..."
She trailed off bashfully with a giggle, but even a viral Short didn't explain this. Shame all the cartel collabs got axed—latest vid was four months old—but it still pulled 10k views. Solid.
"Still a waste."
One Short hit 800k views; she had potential. Sucks she got tangled with that guy right then.
"It's fine. I met Riee thanks to it, right?"
"Unnie...!"
Her voice was so warm, it melted something in my chest. Felt dumb thinking an internet friend was weird for this.
"And collab vids with you will boost it. You cool with me uploading?"
"Duh! Use whatever!"
"...For real? Whatever I want?"
Her tone sounded shady, giving me chills, but sweet Unnie wouldn't mean anything bad.
"Y-yeah! Go for it!"
I forced a cheery reply. If things got risky, my old guy self would protect her—not the other way around. Probably...
"Ehehehe, thanks a ton! I'll share revenue right away!"
"No need. Help me with my channel later."
"Rieeya...! You're a total angel. I'll protect you forever."
Forever? Girl friendships this intense? Guys would've cursed and blocked over that. She seemed playful, a bit heavy but nice.
"For real? Even if I hit rock bottom, you'll have my back?"
I teased back, but her laugh through the earphones felt... off.
"Ehehet...! Obviously. If you want, I'll even feed you for life!"
"Uh... Ahaha! Joking, right Unnie?"
"Huh?"
"...Right?"
She went silent, just breathing. Getting spooky...
"Totally joking! But if you ever flop, I'll quit streaming too!"
Unnie, what?! That's even weirder...