Vampire in the Room (4)
"...that's what it says. What are you gonna do about it?"
"Hmm......"
Shin Na-o wore a troubled expression.
Honestly, I... had no idea.
I was stuck in the middle between two people I barely knew, so... I couldn't tell what the right answer was.
I didn't know much about what kind of streamer Shinoshino was.
But judging from the typewriter's messages, it seemed clear she'd gotten burned by hate comments while streaming Destruction: Monorail.
As a total otaku, I'd watched plenty of VTuber streams back in the real world, so I could kinda understand how she felt.
That said, I could also see the viewers' side of things...
Viewers and streamers just have different perspectives...
For example, take ASMR.
Viewers always say stuff like, "With a voice that pretty, couldn't you just do one ASMR stream?" whenever they see a VTuber with a nice voice.
And yeah, I'd love to hear that VTuber try ASMR at least once, but in the end, they never do.
From the viewer's standpoint, it'd probably blow up, and it seems like the perfect content for them.
That kind of gap in perspective between viewers and streamers happens all the time.
Shin Na-o must have her own reasons.
And the evil spirit probably had its own perspective too...
Maybe it was like a superfan streamer who died suddenly for some reason, still hung up on wanting me—their fave—to play the game they loved.
And that lingering attachment brought it here to Shin Na-o...
Hmm...
【I'll wait】
Pretty cool of it to just chill and wait like that...
"It won't do anything ghostly for a while."
"Ah... Thank you......"
"It's not fully resolved, though. The client should decide what to do next... Call me if you need anything."
And with that, I left for now.
Just in case, I left the typewriter behind.
The next day.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I installed Destruction: Monorail.
How good could it possibly be to make a ghost obsess over it like this...?
A few days later, late at night.
Shin Na-o got a video call from Mayuri.
"Huh?"
"Th-that good...?"
Mayuri nodded.
In the video call screen, there were dark circles under Mayuri's eyes...
And had she been crying? There were tear stains, and her eyes looked damp.
"Whoa... How deep did you go down the rabbit hole...?"
No helping it.
Mayuri was the universe's cutest girl, but before that, she was an otaku.
You could even say she became the universe's cutest girl because she was an otaku.
They often compare otakus falling for a work to a car crash.
...And it really feels like that.
You start casually, and then bam—it's like a truck slamming into you.
The process can be brutally sudden, and Mayuri was right in the middle of one now.
"Got it... If you say it's that good, I'll give it a shot......"
Seeing Mayuri's eyes well up like that made Shin Na-o wave the white flag.
They say a woman's tears are a weapon, but if the universe's cutest girl's tears were a nuke?
...Nah, it was more like Mayuri looked so youthful, it felt like you'd made a kid cry.
A needless pang of guilt hit her...
...Anyway, I gotta resolve this.
There was still a ghost in the house, after all.
Her viewers were overwhelmingly male, as you'd expect from a girl cam stream, which meant the ghost haunting her place was probably a guy too.
...The thought of some ghost peeping on her from somewhere gave her chills.
She couldn't even change clothes carelessly...
On the other hand, it was kinda pitiful.
It must've died for some reason and become a ghost, with its one lingering regret being a Destruction: Monorail stream...
The least she could do was fulfill a dead soul's grudge...
...I got hate comments before for a slip-up, but screw it, I'll do it!
It'd been a while since then!
No way it'd blow up again!
And so, the Destruction: Monorail stream began.
Hours later, Shin Na-o was bawling.
"Waaah...!"
Sobbing ugly tears, no less.
(No spoilers on the details...!)
But it was really good...!
If you're curious, go play the Destruction: Monorail M4-re:earth story yourself...!
Sob...
"It's not acting...! Sob, waaah...!"
Her wails echoed through the room.
People always look uglier when they cry than usual.
Even renowned beauties don't cry prettily all the time.
And Shin Na-o was one of those rare people who could cry without her face falling apart.
The ugly-cry connoisseur evil spirit tapped away.
【I'll watch your streams even in hell】
【Do your best】
【Bye】
You encountered the 'Evil Spirit' but resolved it peacefully.
'Evil Spirit' has been added to the codex!
Deep into the night, one viewer achieved enlightenment.
But Shin Na-o couldn't care less about the typewriter's message or the fact that one of her viewers had passed on...
The lingering aftertaste of that beautiful story.
She was immersed in emotion, her clothes soaked with tears.
If life divides into before and after encountering a masterpiece, her life from now on would be different.
Probably.
It felt that way, intuitively.
It'll be a little different, right, everyone?
Sob sob. Should've done it sooner.
Glad I did it now.
Almost missed out on half my life.
Thanks, viewer!
Thanks, Mayuri!
Feeling reborn, Shin Na-o ended the stream and texted Mayuri.
[Did the playthrough stream. Ghost seems gone for good.]
[Thanks for the help. Sending the fee right away!]
[Huh?]
[Watched the whole stream..]
[You watched?]
[Thanks for watching!]
[You have that post-stream talk time for story impressions, right?]
[It was kinda short]
[Beyond "fun," "good," "touching," "sad"—give more specific stuff]
[Like exactly what parts were fun and how...!]
[Oh]
[Send impressions]
[...Can't I just do a review stream instead?]
The evil spirit was gone, but a new one had been born.
...Was this what getting possessed felt like?
The sun set, and evening arrived.
Shin Na-o walked along, carrying about five pizzas.
...Pizza might be kinda iffy.
The Liriri office was all girls, somehow.
Sure, Mayuri aside, they were all monsters.
But conventionally, wouldn't cake or dessert fit better?
Couldn't be helped, though.
...Dessert shops don't stay open late usually.
Pizza it was.
She'd thought about buying actual food, but she couldn't wander in sunlight, and summer was approaching, shortening the nights.
More importantly, ever since becoming a vampire, she rarely went to restaurants.
She didn't know any good spots nearby—and even if she did, she couldn't go...
Carrying the pizzas, Shin Na-o visited the Liriri Detective Agency.
"Oh? Shin Na-o?"
"Phew! Was worried you'd be closed!"
Shin Na-o set the pizza boxes on the table.
Ari stared laser-focused at them, drawn by the intense pizza scent.
Mayuri subtly held her back and hopped down from her chair.
"What brings you here? Something come up again...?"
"No! No more ghosts, everything's fine! Thanks to you, Fixer!"
Shin Na-o grabbed Mayuri's hand.
"I wanted to treat you to a meal at least, but this is all I could manage..."
"N-no need to worry about it......"
"Of course I do! I can't rely on the Foundation or Special Task Force, but you helped me! Anyway, huge thanks for this! It's nothing fancy, but enjoy!"
Shin Na-o beamed.
She had no real complaints about being a vampire, but sometimes the stuffiness got to her.
Being different from normal people.
Having to hide her secret and identity forever—it could feel suffocating at times.
That's when she learned about the Liriri Detective Agency.
A weird office that employed monsters.
Maybe she could lean on a place like this.
With that tiny bit of certainty, she'd come here.
She and Mayuri weren't exactly friends yet.
But Mayuri didn't seem like a bad person, which was reassuring enough.
Even if her identity got out, it might be okay.
It eased her breathing a little, like a small salvation.
So Shin Na-o expressed her gratitude, shaking Mayuri's hand vigorously in thanks.
Cute Girl Mod applied to target.
Applying (1%)... Please wait.
"......Ah."
Mayuri had been so caught up in the moment, she realized too late.
I'm screwed... I made a mistake I shouldn't have...
Applied Cute Girl Mod to the client...