New Ally and Boozy Collab

After turning off the stream, I planned to set up a NewTube channel. It would take some time to hire an editor and get it running properly, but there was no harm in creating it ahead of time.

"Channel name just Noel... profile pic with that fanart for now, and channel cover... I'll commission one later."

I pasted my Twitty link into the channel description and finished the basic setup. Once the channel was created, I wrote an announcement to promote it on the cafe.

After posting, I showered and crashed right away.

The next morning, I groggily checked the time with half-open eyes.

"...Huh? Why's it so early?"

It was the first time I'd woken up this early—I tried to go back to sleep, but it wouldn't come.

"...Well, I can hustle for one day, I guess."

I got out of bed and turned on my phone.

"Oh, right. How's the NewTube doing...?"

"...?"

I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing it right.

It had even gained another 100.

"Wait... I posted the announcement at 10 PM last night..."

How could it rack up that many in just 10 hours? But thinking about it, all my existing clips on NewTube had over 100K views each, so it made sense. I let it slide.

"...Breakfast first."

For breakfast, I went simple: fried egg on toast with ketchup—a sandwich.

Taking a bite, I pulled up NewTube. The first Short that played had my voice spilling out.

"...?"

"Ugh, seriously..."

Feeling embarrassed for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no reason, I shut off the Short immediately.

Noon. I was pondering what to do for tonight's drinking mukbang.

"I'm no good at small talk though..."

Sometimes I missed the mindset I had when drunk. So many things only felt possible with a buzz.

Maybe head out and buy some booze—

The moment I stood from my chair, my phone chimed.

I smiled and replied.

After wrapping up with Ye-rim, with some time to kill, I popped open the capsule and logged into Lost World. Smiling at the thought of seeing Asella after so long and showering her with affection.

"Asella-nim~"

"Oh, Noel's here?"

I approached Asella, who was sitting with her legs dangling off the ground, nose buried in a thick book.

"Whatcha reading?"

"Ah~ just the usual alchemy studies..."

"I'm here for a lesson today..."

"For real?!"

The moment I mentioned a lesson, her face lit up, and she slammed the book shut. I started feeling a bit guilty.

...I have been skipping lessons a lot lately, huh?

As I looked at her apologetically, Asella grinned and patted my head with her tiny hand.

"It's fine. I know you've been busy."

Touched, I scooped her up in a hug.

"Eek?!"

"...Heehee, thanks for understanding, Asella-nim..."

Asella squirmed in my arms before giving in and hugging back.

...Might hit affection soon.

"Okay, so today: one tough lesson, one fun one! Which first?"

Her short arms wielding a long pointer, tapping the blackboard—couldn't help but smile.

"Hmm... tough one first."

"Great! Today, how to handle spiritual power."

Spiritual power was literally the power of souls, using grudges from ghosts to amplify curses.

"Probably won't go well. Starts with sensing ghosts."

Sensing ghosts sounded simple. Or so I thought. Use mana detection to analyze a ghost's mana spectrum and find its unique frequency—not easy at all.

Wonder if learning this lets me see ghosts IRL? Could prove they exist.

30 minutes later.

Honestly, no feel for it yet. Stuck at analyzing the mana spectrum.

"...Tough."

Asella giggled. "Right? Took me hours too. Detected ghosts after 3."

My 30 min at 16% meant her 3 hours was 96%—she was a genius. Forgot amid the cuteness.

Hmm...

Asella noticed and said, "Wanna cool off with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the fun one? You'll like it."

"...Sure. I'll mull this over more."

"Alright, fun skill time..."

The skill Asella taught was Dark Ally: consume mana to create a helper bound to the caster witch, shape decided by her.

Asella gestured, and a tiny bird popped out, nuzzling her finger cutely.

"What'll you make, Noel? Note: can't do humanoid at first—needs high proficiency. Animal recommended, like a cat..."

I focused mana, shaping a cat. Slowly forming—a sleek black cat emerged.

Oof, that stings...

I shot Asella a side-eye; she grinned sheepishly.

"Made from caster's mana, unavoidable. But super helpful—worth the investment."

"Shape changeable later with proficiency, though bigger ones eat more mana."

The cute black cat wagged its tail before me, pale purple eyes gleaming.

...Not a bad trade. Eye color from caster?

"Bambi. Bambi it is."

Smiling as Bambi nuzzled my hand, purring. Then back to spiritual training.

Two hours later, I was getting the hang of it. Spectrum analysis done ages ago; now tuning to the frequency.

"...Got it."

Finally, floating ghosts appeared in my vision. Asella's room had cute ones drifting about.

"Most ghosts are like these... Scary ones are vengeful spirits—don't mess with 'em or they'll attack. Human-shaped? Usually earthbound souls who can't forget life."

"Help earthbounds resolve grudges if you can—they bless us upon passing."

"Oh, these here helped with my spiritual enhancement, so use 'em freely."

I called one over and cast a curse.

"...What happens to the soul?"

"These are fine, but most dissipate."

"...I see."

"Flame Curse."

At least 1.5x stronger than before—impressive, but felt iffy using it.

"...I avoid good souls too. Stick to evil spirits—better effect anyway."

I crammed two days' worth of lessons with Asella and logged out.

"Ow...!"

"Haa..."

When does this pain end? Getting used to it, but tiring of it.

Clutching my head, I climbed out. Something tripped me at the capsule's base.

"Mrrrow...?"

"...Huh?"

"Bambi...?"

Purrr... Rumble...

On my bed, atop my stomach, getting pets—was my freshly created game cat, Bambi.

"...What're the rules for this world...?"

I had a guess: permanent stuff like stats, skills, allies carry over; temp items don't.

"...Then bound items should too, right?"

Gave up thinking, just petted Bambi.

"Mrrooow..."

Chirping happily, kneading my belly—I chuckled.

Ding-dong—

"Ah, she's here."

Set Bambi down and headed to the door.

Click—

"Hey!"

"Yeah. Nicer place than I thought."

"Nah, super modest compared to your place, unnie."

"Ugh, Ye-won kept asking where I was going—took forever to dodge."

...Why not just bring her?

Ye-rim entered, arms loaded with bags.

"Meow-!"

Bambi, who'd followed me out mid-pet, froze at Ye-rim.

"Oh my gosh! What's this?! You have a cat? What's its name???"

Ye-rim dropped her bags, eyes sparkling.

"Haha... long story... Name's Bambi."

Eyeing me... Bambi slinked back to my room.

"...Super shy, huh?"

I sweated bullets, watching her vow to bring treats next time with fierce determination.

"Y-you like cats?"

Her eyes lit up. "Of course! I love 'em so much I tried raising one, but work was too crazy..."

"W-wait... Got it..!"

...Ye-rim was way more cat-obsessed than I thought.

She'd brought at least 10 bottles.

"Whoa, this much?? Just enough for tonight is fine..."

"Yup... I'm drinking too?"

"Eh? Don't you work tomorrow, unnie?"

"Nah, big project done—using saved vacation days starting tomorrow. Heard about the mukbang."

"...You didn't take time off just to drink with me, right...?"

She gazed pleadingly.

"Ugh... Fine, fine..."

...Still hard refusing close friends, especially women.

Thus, tonight's stream became an unplanned collab with Ye-rim.