Eh, Eris-sama...?

"If it's a gallery post… d-don't tell me it's one of those things I used to write on Hamugael?"

"Yep. Hamugael."

"……."

I'd asked just in case, but of course it was exactly what I was thinking.

Back when I was still completely obsessed with Eris, I'd been hauling logs for her like a maniac—flooding the gallery with the most cringeworthy posts imaginable. And then some absolute menace of a user had gone and uploaded them to the Harmony café… so she'd seen them after all.

She was even bringing it up this openly. I'd figured she'd never mention a gallery post in the first place.

What do I do. I'm already dying of embarrassment… eugh.

"Um…."

"Ahahaha…."

Something felt… off. The atmosphere had gone a little awkward, and Eris seemed to feel the same way—she just kept laughing without saying anything else.

Hey. You brought this up. You're supposed to clean it up. What am I supposed to do if you just sit there laughing? I'm so embarrassed I don't even know what to say!

Still, saying something was probably better than clamping my mouth shut and letting the mood die completely.

Okay. I'll tank it.

After a moment of deliberation, I decided to just take the hit.

Something like…

"Eh, so Eris-nim saw those? I'm so embarrassed, please forget them. Please just forget…!"

"Heheheh. Nope~? Looking at the posts, you wrote them so cutely~"

"GRAAAAAAH!"

That kind of vibe—I'd take the L and cheerfully defuse the awkwardness. She was probably bringing it up to tease me in the first place. If not… well, I still wasn't sure why she'd mentioned the gallery.

Anyway, I launched straight into the line I'd prepared.

"Eris-nim, those are really embarrassing, so…."

"Myeongi-nim!"

"…Huh?"

Out of nowhere, Eris cut me off. I floundered for a second, my words hanging unfinished—

"I, I was genuinely so moved when I read those posts. Thank you for cheering me on. I really mean that…."

She said it like she truly had been moved. Just like she claimed, it sounded like pure, unfiltered sincerity.

"Uh… um."

She hadn't brought it up to tease me—she'd wanted to say thank you?

That was… not so much surprising as it was just normal, actually. If I'd had a fan who supported me that hard back when I was a small-time streamer, I'd thank them too. I just hadn't thought of it that way.

But still—was it really that big a deal?

It didn't feel like something worth being that moved over. Plenty of other people had supported Eris during her small-time days, after all.

"A-aww, come on~ You don't have to thank me that much, Eris-nim! I'm sure the other Eri-nyangs were cheering just as hard back then. Haha."

That was my take: no big deal.

But Eris clearly disagreed. She shot back with absolute conviction.

"No! When I was a small-timer, you were the only one who left posts that enthusiastically, Myeongi-nim. If anything, I'm sorry I didn't know sooner. I didn't even know a place called Hamugael existed… ahaha. From now on I'll check Hamugael all the time!"

"No, wait, you really shouldn't look at—"

Whoa whoa whoa, hold up.

Why would you want to look at Hamugael? You're past the weight class for even getting mentioned there now. If you're gonna lurk anywhere, go to the Chijijik VTuber gallery or something.

This was seriously making my head spin.

Still… I mean. It's an honor.

Your absolute favorite recognizing your efforts? And saying it live, on a voice call, during a stream?

That had to be on every VTuber fan's bucket list worldwide.

Yeah. It was an honor. Even if, for me, that favorite was now past tense.

"U-um… Myeongi-nim. Can I ask you one thing?"

While I was lost in thought, Eris threw a question at me.

"What did you like about me enough to support me like that? Even looking back, my streams back then were so boring… eugh."

"……."

Aaaaaargh!

Why would you ask that all of a sudden. She kept throwing questions that were impossible to answer without dying of shame.

Think about the person who has to answer, please. If you're asking why I started liking you… that's embarrassing to say out loud too!

"Uh… um. Well."

In the end, I had no choice but to answer honestly.

Flashback mode: ON.

"The first time I watched your stream was probably… ah. When the Harmony members were doing their debut streams one after another. Honestly, Eris-nim, you were by far the most boring one out of all of them."

"A-ah. Yes. That's true… ahaha."

Chat exploded with gasps and chatter at my words.

But what was I supposed to do? It was true. The hard numbers proved it—the day after debut streams, Eris had by far the lowest viewer count in the group. The next day too. The day after that. For almost a whole month straight.

"But… heh. I've got a bit of a hipster disease, you know? The fewer people watching Eris-nim's streams, the more I wanted to keep watching."

My hipster streak had parked me in Eris's stream. And after a few days of that…

"Before I knew it, every time the notification went off I was diving into Eris-nim's stream and watching until dawn."

I'd gotten completely hooked without even realizing it.

"You streamed almost every day for over twelve hours, and you were always smiling, so… I think that was it. Like your smile just simmered all the flavor out of me? Heh."

"Ah, I-I see…."

Apparently embarrassed, Eris made a tiny little eep and went quiet. So cute.

And I meant every word. Her smile, her effort—I'd fallen for them completely.

Wait. Did I just deliver something that almost sounded like a legendary line?

Like one of those moving anime scenes. Yeah. That kind of vibe.

I flicked a glance at chat to see if the Myeongbungis had been moved too…

"……."

…Yeah, of course not. They were too busy roasting me.

Honestly, I was cringing a little myself. But she asked first—what was I supposed to do, half-ass the answer?

Whatever. In for a penny.

If I was already cringing, I might as well go full brain-rot. Time to sprinkle in a little MSG from here on.

"A-actually… watching Eris-nim is what made me decide to become a VTuber."

"What… what? Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

Ahem. I cleared my throat for no real reason, then straightened up in my chair—putting on a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠solemn face like I was about to say something deeply serious.

"The smile you showed throughout every stream. Your hard work. Watching that healed me so much and gave me so much strength."

"Ah…."

"I guess I wanted to become a VTuber who could be that for someone else too? Heh."

The Myeongbungis were flooding chat with protests about my excessive MSG.

So what? This much was just a healthy seasoning. I barely even put any MSG in—why is everyone like this~ heh.

"Ah, and also… there's something I need to confess to you, Eris-nim…."

I decided to ride the momentum and double down even harder.

"Actually, when I said yesterday that I still like you… that was a lie. I don't like you anymore, Eris-nim."

"But please understand. If it's you, Eris-nim… I'm sure you'll understand."

If you'd hear me out, that is. I kept going.

"It's true that I used to like you. But—but! The oshi in my heart has changed now!"

Thump thump!

I pounded my soft chest hard enough to make a sound, then laid a hand over my heart and declared—

"My oshi now is the people watching this stream! The Myeongbungis!!"

I'd just straight-up declared my new favorite. If this were a manga, there probably would've been a big DUN-DUN! sound effect.

…Or, you know. Not.

"A-eugh…."

The second the words left my mouth I dropped my head and covered my face with both hands.

Because even I was dying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of embarrassment after saying that.

Damn… did I go too far? I got so carried away I went full brain-melt.

I peeked at chat and saw the single most dreaded streamer chat spam on the Forbes list: a wall of "hm?" and question marks.

Okay, that one really failed. I was about to scramble for something—anything—to salvage the moment when…

The reaction exploded—thankfully in a good direction.

Chat was chanting my name in praise, and here and there people were saying they were getting "simmered."

Really? Did that line actually hit?

Well, good for me then… heheheh.

"Ahem! Anyway, you understand, right, Eris-nim?"

I said it with a smile carefully locked down, like nothing had happened at all.

And yet…

"……."

"Eris-nim…?"

No response.

No, hold on. Why hadn't this person said a single word for a while now?

You're supposed to react to something, right?

Even the Myeongbungis had sensed something was off and were filling chat with question marks.

Hey. Hey hey hey.

Say something already! The atmosphere is getting weird! What does that make me look like right now!?

I was seriously considering a Yonggari ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠joke just to force a mood reset when—

"Hic…."

Somewhere, a teary voice broke through.

Well. "Somewhere" wasn't necessary. It was coming from Eris's mic.

"Hic… I understand. I understand… Myeongi-nim. Hicuuuuh…."

"……."

E-Eris-nim…?

You can't just start crying out of nowhere!!