Collab Stream Jitters
As the capsule door sealed shut with a gulp, the girl clasped her hands neatly over her navel and slowly closed her eyes. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically with deep abdominal breathing. Kariri had made all the preparations. She’d built her popularity through collabs with countless streamers, influencers, and celebrities. Adding just one more name to that list should’ve been no big deal, but even in the waiting room, she couldn’t stop her leg from jittering anxiously.
“Let’s do this.” She slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of it. The moment the stream went live, all those nerves washed away like waves on the shore.
“Welcome! Thanks so much for the 10,000 won from AsCuteAsLili! Appreciate it! Yeah, why did I come on early? What’s the reason? To see my honeybee fans?”
The viewers’ reactions were all over the place. Kariri secretly hoped for a flood of “cute” comments, but sadly, her bond with the audience was more like long-term lovers.
“No one’s even curious about me? I made a major style change today for a fresh vibe. Can’t you really tell what’s different? Huh? Come on?”
She took a moment to build hype, waiting for reactions. Most tossed out hooks meaning “no clue.”
A yellow question-mark hook cushion popped down from the sky onto Kariri’s head.
“Eek! Hold up, no 3D emotes in today’s stream! Wait, I’ll tweak the settings.”
Good thing it happened early—no harm to the guest. Once settings were fixed, Kariri reentered camera view and doffed her hood.
“Ta-da! Twin tails today, that’s the big reveal!”
“Still no idea? Your senses are dulled! Can’t even spot the main content of Kariri’s room! Two letters, two letters.”
“Who’s ‘room something’? Totally not! Not World of Arceria either—shorten it to WoA? Collab! Collab! Why doesn’t anyone get it?!”
“Ooh, sharp eye on the twin tails—yep! Collabbing with someone rocking twin tails today.”
Kariri already had a Scream scrim scheduled for 6 PM in two hours. No time for a full guest collab, so it had to be someone from the Scream team. Few had twin tails, and factoring in Kariri’s recent persistent flirting with one person narrowed it down.
Kariri shrugged and nodded lightly. She pulled the camera close, filling the screen with her face.
“So everyone! Today, seriously! Please! I’m begging you. NoName’s only fourteen. If you go at her like usual, it’s gonna be bad. You get what I mean, right?”
“Yeah, treat her like a normal middle schooler—”
“—stop with that nonsense! Not in front of the kid! Got it? And delete this video, pleeease… I’m begging…”
“Oh, that? Remember that drama review collab with viewers? There was this kid who looked just like NoName…”
“The first time I saw NoName’s avatar, I was like, whoa…! Loli…! Total top-tier super kawaii real JS! That’s how ‘Blurry’ popped out! Kariri’s a genius, right?”
“Loli?”
“Hieeeek! Wha—when did you get here…!”
* * *
“What’s a loli?”
Wasn’t our team name The Blurry? Blurry, literally “hazy.” Kariri’s a tank but mains assassin. The more World of Arceria you play, the clearer it gets: tanks are always the team’s core. So like it or not, the team style molded to hers—and I thought the name fit nicely.
Kariri frantically blocked the chat with her body.
“No, NoName, don’t look here! Turn around quick!”
But blocking a massive screen with her tiny frame looked tough.
“So what’s a loli? Not trucks, I’m guessing.”
I’d heard top players in games called “trucks,” but that didn’t fit.
“It’s…!” Kariri flinched at my words and avoided my gaze. After crossing my arms and alternating glances between her comedy show and the chat a few times, she finally spilled.
“Cute little girl…?”
“Yeah? Then why hide it?”
“It’s got a bit of a… sexual nuance…”
“Anyway! Ta-da! Today’s collab guest is NoName! Everyone, big hand, yayyy!”
Kariri clapped dramatically to redirect attention. Fine, whatever—I got the gist. I sighed deeply and casually asked about the day’s plans.
“So what’re we doing today?”
“Hm… This collab was last-minute, so I didn’t have much time to plan. Oh right, everyone—we’re doing collabs with NoName for 5 days straight, 2 hours each!”
“What? You didn’t tell me that either?”
“Sis is sorryyyy… Waaah…”
“Then tell me about your usual collabs.”
“Ehhh… Usually lots of Q&A time?”
“What the—?!”
Kariri bolted up and rummaged through a drawer in the corner. Rustle-rustle—a wrapper crinkled, and she stuck a thin stick between her lips, covering her mouth.
“Mmph? Pepero with me?”
Crunch—the barrage of dono bombs made her small lips part, white teeth snapping the snack in two.
“Ahh, NoName, I wasn’t serious…! Just showing what I meant.”
She chewed furiously and shrieked.
“You’re the first minor I’ve seen exploit their status this aggressively.”
“Gasp…!”
So that’s how she’s tormented guests all this time. She’s a high schooler too, so hearing that point-blank would rattle anyone. I survived ’cause I’m a minor too.
Before the chit-chat dragged on, I had to cut it. Felt like I’d get swept up if I spaced out too long.
“Let’s queue ranked right now.”
“Huh? Ranked?”
“Yeah. Goal this week: Diamond.”
“Diamond? I’m Plat 3—no way! Absolutely not!”
“Fine, then for every win, you get a Q&A question. Deal?”
“What if I refuse to answer? Can I add penalties?”
“Do whatever…”
“Sweet, let’s go!”