Chapter 36
Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Ayase is a God and Invincible!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ayase is a god and invincible!
>
Offering a surprise worship to Reflecting Myriad Stars-sama eased my tension a bit...
...like hell it did.
My heart is still pounding like mad.
And for good reason.
Who am I talking to here?
My love.
My light.
My joy.
My sorrow, my peace, my soul...
My oshi VTuber, Ayase.
If this current situation—chatting with Ayase—were just a meeting between one Ayase fan and the VTuber herself, I wouldn't be this nervous.
In fact, Ayase occasionally held viewer participation content like "Ayase's Advice Corner."
I'd signed up for those every time without a second thought, no matter how trivial my issue was.
But.
The conversation ahead with Ayase wasn't between a fan and a VTuber.
It was between the MC of a show and her guest.
From my position, it was impossible not to feel the pressure and nerves.
"Hoo, haa... Hoo, haa..."
I couldn't keep Ayase waiting any longer.
I took a deep breath and entered voice chat room #1.
Ding.
The moment the VoiceTalk entry chime rang out, a high soprano voice I knew all too well filled my ears.
[Hello, Jia!]
Her greeting was bright.
Gentle.
And cute.
It was Ayase as usual.
Answer.
[Jia? Can you hear my voice?]
Answer.
[Jia? Hellooo~?]
Answer, you idiot, Lee Jia!
"Uh, um..."
I forced my frozen mouth open, and the dumbest sound in the world leaked out.
[Ah, Jia! I can hear your mic now. Hello, I'm Ayase!]
"H-H-Hello...!"
I messed up.
The greeting.
I blew it.
[Are you that nervous? Or do you have something urgent? If you're busy, we can reschedule...]
"N-No, no! How could someone as lowly as me dare make a heavenly being like Ayase-sama wait...!"
>
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
"Guhack!"
What.
Just went wrong?
Ah.
The phrasing "heavenly Ayase-sama" was the blasphemy itself.
[Pfft.]
Ayase's laughter burst through the speakers.
I knew exactly what that laugh meant.
It was the one she let out only when she truly cracked up.
[Ahahaha! Was that just now the penalty for blasphemy or whatever?]
"Y-Yes..."
[Jia, you're hilarious!]
"N-Not a... person..."
[Oh, right! My mistake. Not a person—a Fervent Devotee of Reflecting Myriad Stars, got it?]
"...Yes."
Showing such an idiotic side in front of Ayase.
Embarrassing.
I wanted to fling myself out the window and bungee jump.
Ah.
Of course, we're on the second floor, so jumping out wouldn't kill me.
And with this ridiculously sturdy body... I'd probably survive a fall from the tenth floor too.
Thanks to the penalty for blasphemy, my tension eased a little.
Before diving into the content discussion, Ayase and I chatted lightly.
Ayase seemed to have a lot of questions for me.
[I heard you're my fan. Mind if I ask when you started watching my streams?]
"F-From your debut stream!"
[Whoa, really?]
"I swear on Reflecting Myriad Stars-sama, no cap! I know about the disastrous song stream the day after debut where you terrorized our eardrums... Ah, sorry. And the next day, during your fishing stream, someone sent an assassination donation and you got banned for three days... Ah, sorry. Also..."]
[Eek... You know even that stuff?]
"Of course. I've watched every single Ayase stream without missing a day."
[I-I thought you were just lip-serving... You really kept up with my streams. Thank you so much.]
"Ehehe... Uhihihihihi."
Hearing "thank you" from my favorite VTuber was pure bliss beyond words, so I let out that moronic laugh aloud.
So proud.
Good thing I stuck with Ayase's streams.
I even got a thank-you from her.
This is what peak weeb success looks like.
[Hmm... But Jia, one thing I'm curious about.]
"Yes, ask anything!"
[Did you subscribe to my channel?]
"Obviously. Subbed on debut day and still going strong."
I could guess Ayase's follow-up.
'Whoa, subbed since debut and still here? Thank you so much!'
Uhuhu.
Ehehehehehe.
Just imagining it had my lips stretching to my ears.
But.
Ayase's actual follow-up blew past my expectations.
[Hmmm... I actually have the nicknames of everyone who's been subbed since debut memorized pretty well.]
"...Huh?"
[Is it that person? Or that one? Kinda rings a bell~.]
"..."
Disaster.
I was one step away from Ayase discovering my alt account nickname.
No, can't let that happen...
If she finds out I got a week-long ban for trashing TAS, I might have to make a huge decision.
Well, technically it's "self-deprecation," not TAS bashing, but whatever.
Tension built, sweat beading up.
Shouldn't sweat start down my back first in situations like this?
Why was my chest getting damp before my back? It defied all common sense.
This is a real anomalous phenomenon.
"..."
As I froze like a statue,
[Pfft... Just kidding, kidding! I have no idea. As you know, Jia, I got super lucky with viewers from debut. How could I remember every single sub from that day?]
"R-Right?"
[But I have a rough idea.]
"..."
[Kidding. Pfft... Jia, you take hits so well. Gotta note that down.]
Ayase wasn't just famous for being innocently ditzy.
Her wit was sharp.
Her streams were fun.
Her sheer presence was overwhelmingly superior.
That's how she blew up.
In the sweetness of chatting with Ayase, I'd forgotten.
Ayase had a playful streak.
How could someone without that run "Nadarak Show," that dopamine bomb of a stream?
After her teasing, my speech naturally loosened up.
But Ayase seemed a bit uncomfortable with my stiff tone.
[It was really just a joke, Jia. Your formal talk is hurting me.]
"Got it!"
[Oof. No more stiff speech starting now!]
"...Okay."
There it was.
One of Ayase's specialties.
Taming her guests.
Thanks to Ayase's affable personality, I adapted to our chat quickly.
My heart, pounding like it would burst moments ago, calmed down thanks to her easing the mood.
Ayase was, in my mind, the VTuber least suited to the word "awkward."
Did she even know what that feeling was?
Ayase finally got to the main topic.
[Shall we talk content now? Jia, if you've watched so much of my streams, you know Nadarak Show well!]
"Watched every one."
[Perfect, this'll go quick. Thanks again for agreeing to guest, Jia. Getting guests for Nadarak Show is no joke.]
"Um, about that..."
[Go ahead, anything!]
"...Is it really okay to have someone like me as a guest?"
[Huh? What do you mean...?]
"I don't want to cause trouble for you, Ayase."
Ayase was a major corp VTuber in the brightest spotlight.
No scandals.
No incidents.
No swearing on stream, ever.
Even non-VTuber fans had likely heard her name.
She was the poster child for mainstream VTubers.
For someone like her to collab with me—a shady cult fanatic VTuber from the darkest corners.
Of course I'd worry.
Sensing my unease, Ayase laughed reassuringly.
[That's what makes it fun, right? Ah, don't misunderstand! Not saying your stream is shady and mine's mainstream—our combo is just super fresh.]
"True, but..."
[I'm half-convinced you'll be the best guest Nadarak Show's ever had. So no worries!]
...It might be legendary for all the wrong reasons.
I swallowed the rest.
Water under the bridge now.
Too late to back out.
All I could do was pray Reflecting Myriad Stars-sama showed mercy on Nadarak Show day.
[Anyway, to business. Any topics off-limits for the stream? Like religion, or your company's stuff...?]
"Uh... Give me a sec to think."
Off-limits topics?
Obviously.
Anything about Reflecting Myriad Stars-sama or the Omnia Archive.
I didn't want to kowtow in front of Ayase.
But.
What came out of my mouth was the total opposite.
"...Doesn't seem like any."
[Eek, really? None at all?]
"Yeah."
[Like, for example... No, can't spoil questions... Anyway, really none?]
"Yep, positive."
[Great, I trust you!]
Since I'm on Ayase's show anyway.
Might as well go all in.
Pre-limiting questions like "don't ask this" would be lame.
It'd kill the fun.
For Ayase's stream.
I'd gladly sacrifice my skull.
So.
"Any idea what questions...?"
[Secret, obviously!]
"...Nadarak Show lives on reactions, yeah."
Good.
If there was a script, I'd be pretty disappointed in Ayase.
As expected.
Nadarak Show was an ad-lib fiesta, Ayase's improv showcase.
Sometimes community trolls claimed "Nadarak Show's all scripted."
Take that, you haters spreading nonsense.
Ayase is a god and invinci—
Ah.
"Shit."
[Huh? Something wrong...?]
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
"Guhk."