The Second Floor Is Haunted

Artists hunger for attention. And that hunger applied just as much to Cha Suah, an illustrator whose skill with a brush was, by any honest measure, excellent.

The illustrator named Cha Suah wanted to draw the things she loved, and at the same time she wanted the eyes of a great many people. She meant to catch both rabbits. That was why she stayed keenly sensitive to trends, and why she worked at being able to like the works that trends and popularity carried.

Of course, that was not the sort of thing effort made easy. The human heart is a creature that bolts wherever it pleases. In the end, she became a fan of a streamer called Märchen, who had taken as her main game a title called Knight Rise—a game popular with absolutely no one.

And so, once the illustrator Cha Suah was Märchen's fan, she wanted the pictures she drew to catch the attention of many people, and she came to want Märchen's attention as well.

In truth, buying Märchen's attention with art was not especially difficult. The moment you drew a Knight Rise meme, Märchen's interest was as good as guaranteed. But that method came with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two serious problems.

First, there was the popularity of Knight Rise. Knight Rise was not at a level anyone could call popular even as an empty courtesy, so while you might secure Märchen's attention, securing everyone else's was hard. And the bigger problem... the game simply was not fun.

She tried, somehow, to find a charm in Knight Rise, but Knight Rise did not suit Suah's taste. Viciously so. If that was a pity, it was a pity; if it was a mercy, it was a mercy. At least she would never take a club to the back of the head from rigged rates.

Once Märchen started Raider, though, and once Raider began to draw a crowd, the story changed a great deal. Draw a Raider meme, and you could buy Märchen's attention. At the same time, you could win the attention of the enormous fandom that had formed around Raider. And Raider, on top of all that, was a game that fit Suah's taste rather well.

So Suah naturally came to play Raider, watch Raider streams, and turn into a Raider meme artist.

And for a Raider meme artist, this new character was prey perfectly suited to catching people's attention—an extremely appetizing meal——

"A scene of her brooding over the blueprints? Or do I go with a housewarming concept?"

——or so it would have been. For Suah, it wasn't.

As bears repeating, and repeating again: before Suah was a Raider player, she was a fan of Märchen. Not an ordinary fan, either. She was sincere enough to make good use of a friend's connection, gift Märchen a custom-ordered oversized boob mousepad, and enter the Märchen fan-art contest—which had devolved into a blood-spattered deathmatch among illustrators—and take second place.

If her username hadn't been MärchenBreastMilkDispenserSlurpSlurp... then, diehard that she was, she probably would have kept firing off chat the entire time, and there was a very good chance she wouldn't have drawn a single proper line while the stream was on.

At any rate, would an artist who was that much of a Märchen diehard, and who was also earnestly enjoying Raider, really have sat still after watching the stream of Märchen's Techsecular First Clear attempt?

In the end, Suah couldn't hold herself back, and she drew a picture modeled on Märchen's Techsecular First Clear challenge.

...And the thing blew up.

Of course, a picture modeled on a scene from Märchen's own stream was always going to earn Märchen's attention as well. From then on, Suah became a slightly peculiar sort of Raider meme artist: she watched Märchen's Raider streams, captured the moments that struck her, and rebuilt them as Raider memes. It couldn't be helped. People have a way of clinging to whatever method has already succeeded.

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so today, too, Suah—having successfully scooped up several pieces of material while watching Märchen's stream—let herself wonder, for a moment, which picture to draw. The wondering did not last long.

"Right. This time I'll play it safe and go with a housewarming concept."

Decision made, Suah blocked in a rough composition and resolved to focus a little harder on the stream. If she was going to get Märchen House down on the page, careful observation was essential.

"No—what even is the Märchen House concept I landed on after all that agonizing? It's a house built for seducing female characters! Which means there cannot be a guest room! One bedroom, no exceptions! Being forced to sleep in the same room is the iron law of romcom! Are you people abandoning the iron law?! Abandoning the part where you lie in the same bed and share each other's warmth?! Abandoning the part where you wake up locked in her arms, and the heroine jolts awake too late and goes bright red?! I'm asking if you're giving that up!!"

"...Can't I just slap on a setting where the whole second floor is haunted, so the second floor is off-limits?"

"When that day comes I'll remodel it on my own dime, so it doesn't matter. If I'm going to build a harem, I have to seduce them first, don't I?"

...At this rate, it seemed Märchen House would take a little longer to finish, so it would probably be fine to put a bit more care into blocking out the composition.

"Finished!!!"

In the end, Märchen House kept only the living room, the kitchen, a utility room, and the bathroom on the first floor, and shoved every bedroom up onto the second. It was the product of a cold, clear judgment—that once affection was high enough, they'd find their way to my room on their own—and I looked at the result and nodded, satisfied.

Place inside it the basic furniture our one true mayor, Catarina, had seen to, and Märchen House at least had the look of a house. Of course, it only had the look. I hadn't spared a thought for the interior. Maybe because it was basic furniture, the design was just... well. However generously I looked at it, Märchen House as it stood was a long way from a romcom.

And into that state of affairs, Nana appeared. The very Nana who had roasted me before for wearing the same clothes every single day.

And so Nana became the first guest of Märchen House.

And the first guest immediately left a scathing review.

"Nana? Last time, and now this—don't you think that's a little harsh?!"

The moment Nana said it, a feeling hit me. The feeling that, just like last time, an explanation window was about to pop.

"...Oh?!"

And the feeling landed dead on. This time, too, an explanation window showed itself.

Let's see.... This time it's a furniture-crafting system.

"The fact that they bothered to add a line about crafting the furniture together with a carpenter.... Feels like the furniture you can make might differ from city to city?"

Details that fine certainly weren't bad. They were the sort of device that gave a game depth. I ran straight to the carpenter and checked the quote for crafting furniture.

"...For the interior, rather than wasting materials on the excuse of slapping something together in a hurry, I think it's better to prepare slowly and set the whole thing off in one shot."

I'd done some advance prep just in case... but it still felt short of what I'd need to buckle down and decorate the place properly.

They sure know how to get mileage out of Nana, though. Same as the skin last time.... Were the Raider developers into naturally venomous loli characters? The thought passed through as I stole a glance at the time.

"There's still a bit of time before I end the stream.... How long is the companion-welcome story for a four-star, freebie, duplicate pull?"

Everyone said something different... but from the look of it, the story wasn't all that hefty. Well, yeah. How likely was it they'd pack a generous runtime into the recruitment story of a four-star, free-distribution, duplicate companion?

"...Then should I just watch that and end the stream?"

Listening all the way through the dialogue took more than two hours.

...I'd been had.

By the viewers' scheme to stretch the broadcast out...!!!