The Bootleg Silver Button

I was going to recreate it. The scenery living in my memory...!!!

I had gone and stepped into the cash shop of Maple Leaf Story.

And Maple Leaf Story was scheduled to be deleted in one hour.

Spend money on a game that wouldn't even last that hour before it vanished, and a brand-new nickname might stick to me: idiot. But was Marchen — genius gamer girl, current holder of the Raider world champion title — really that kind of idiot?

Of course I had a plan.

Think about it. If I used Maple Leaf Story as broadcast content, sucked it dry for every drop of juice, and then deleted it, wouldn't there be people who looked at that and didn't like what they saw? Was there any guarantee that nobody would decide the streamer called Marchen was selfish and petty? As far as I could tell, there wasn't.

But if I spent money here? Couldn't I head off, at least a little, that ugly impression that I'd only ever taken and never given anything back?

So my finger on the cash shop button wasn't about satisfying some aesthetic craving. It wasn't a stupid waste of money, either. I pressed it to make an investment I absolutely needed if I was going to protect the image of Marchen, the broadcaster.

And so, no matter how hard the viewers tried to talk me down in chat, I held my ground.

"Oh, come on, I'm not spending much! I'm only paying, like, the server fees!"

No time. Pick fast!

Money went out, and pixel Marchen got prettier.

Set beside the real Marchen she still didn't even come close, of course — but the finished product, built with the viewers' backseat advice taken in full, was just barely enough to satisfy even my picky eye.

Right. Prettier was good, but...

...Had I overdone it?

Even granting the whole protect-my-image objective, that was kind of a lot, wasn't it?

"No, see, once I started picking I got greedy.... But it's still way cheaper than getting plastic surgery, doing my hair, getting my makeup done, swapping out my entire wardrobe, and buying accessories on top of that in real life! So I came out ahead, right? I came out ahead, which means it was rational spending, right?"

...Huh. Now that I'd said it out loud, it actually kind of sounded true.

Yeah. I hadn't overspent. I'd spent rationally. A reason for my conscience to sting? None at all!

"Excuse me, what are you even saying. Everything up through the swimsuit skin is free-to-play. King of Suckers doesn't suit a free-to-play player, so go edit that comment. Now."

Good. Rational spending: complete.

"All right! Line up with your toes on the heels of the person in front of you! Dress the line, left and right!"

Now it was really, really starting.

The Bootleg Silver Button ceremony!!!

I took a sip of water to wet my throat, then switched the echo on. And I put in my mouth the exact line from that time, the one living in my memory.

"Ah, ah. We will now begin the Marchen Broadcast morning assembly. Viewers currently watching the stream, please rise from your seats."

...Right. If I was going to blow a hundred and fifty dollars, I might as well squeeze every last drop of value out of it!

Recreate it. The scenery in my memory...!!!

First up———

"Next, we will proceed with the Bootleg Silver Button award ceremony."

The national ceremony and the singing of the anthem ended without incident, and at last it was time. Fortunately, plenty of people still hadn't left. They were holding their places. The line, of course, had fallen apart as thoroughly as a line can fall apart — but expecting order on top of attendance would've just been greedy.

I let out a light breath and reset my delivery. As low a voice as I could manage....

"The Bootleg Silver Button."

I should've just said Silver Button. Stick "bootleg" on the front and none of the gravitas survives.

But the water was already spilled. Not once in my life had I seen someone declare an NG in the middle of an award ceremony and start the whole thing over, so I had no choice but to grimace and push on.

The moment the last word left my mouth, I accepted the trade request from DentureClickForeheadBelle, the user cast as the principal. The silver ingot came in, and in the same instant I turned my back to the camera, took the Silver Button I'd hidden out of its sight in both hands, and drew it into my arms. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Then I mimed a bow.

Then I turned back around.

Now I had to mime one more bow... I was supposed to, but....

"...Whoa."

Chat racing upward at a frightening speed. SD pixel characters multiplying in a blink. Those same sprites, one heart and one mind, hopping in place to stand in for applause. The skill effects that had been flickering here and there a moment ago, gone without a trace. Speech bubble after speech bubble packed with congratulations. Even the usual playful, mischief-soaked chat — nowhere to be found.

To anyone else it might have looked a little ridiculous. To me, it didn't look ridiculous at all.

I bent deep at the waist.

I'm glad I did this. I meant it.

The Bootleg Silver Button ceremony was over.

All that was left———

"There was going to be an address from the principal... but in its place, we will now hear Marchen's remarks on receiving the Bootleg Silver Button."

...This was bad.

I was supposed to roll straight into the school song, and instead I'd gotten drunk on the mood and just — !

A prepared speech? This whole Bootleg Silver Button ceremony was a bit I'd thought up on the spot and was running on the spot. Why would I have anything that grand sitting around?

...In the end, the only thing left to me was an ad-lib.

Don't think!

Just throw it straight from the chest!

Sincerity always gets through. I'd seen that in an anime! ...Had I?

...Anyway. Go!!!

"...Thinking about it now, I'm really glad I started streaming."

The first line of her remarks left her mouth, and Marchen closed her eyes, and closed her mouth.

For a moment, a hush settled in. It was a hush that existed only because donations had been paused, briefly, for the sake of the bit.

How long did the quiet hold? Marchen opened her eyes again.

And in the same moment she opened her mouth, and went on.

"Because I started streaming, I got to meet connections that are far too good for me. I found the drive to live each day as hard as I can. Because of streaming I got a goal for my life, and because of streaming I got to have all kinds of experiences."

"Oh — and thanks to streaming, I even got to receive this sparkly, plaque-adjacent object. I've been handed certificates in my life, but never an actual plaque."

"...And thanks to streaming, I have viewers who like me. Enough of them that I can put on an online award ceremony and have it almost look real."

"Of course, I only got any of this because I didn't quit. Because I kept broadcasting, all the way to now."

"And the reason I was able to keep going, I think, is simply that streaming was fun."

"No matter what goal I wanted to reach through it, if streaming hadn't been fun, I think I would've stopped halfway."

"If I were the kind of person with the grit to grind all the way through something I don't enjoy, just to hit a goal? Then back in school I would've muscled through studying — which was hideously, disgustingly boring — out of pure spite and stubbornness, and right about now I'd be at some prestigious university in America getting ready for a doctorate."

"Everyone, I enjoy streaming. And the old me thought that was because being a streamer was my calling."

"But that was a little bit wrong."

"That's what I think now."

"Streaming was fun because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was doing it with all of you. What I loved was the biggest thing about internet broadcasting: a real-time, two-way conversation."

"So I am truly grateful to everyone who has stayed with me all this time. I only made it this far because you were here."

"...When a principal's address runs too long, they get cursed out, right? So I should start wrapping this up, too."

"I can say for certain that the year and four months it took to receive this Silver Button were a joy. Because you were with me."

"And I think I can promise that the road ahead will keep being a joy. If you keep being with me."

With that, Marchen brought her remarks to a close, and smiled bright.

It was the kind of smile that lifts the mood of whoever's watching, all on its own.