Cocky Ruru Can Be Pretty Scheming Too

The wildly successful first-anniversary live had wrapped, and the next day Ruru fired up her stream as usual.

And then, more than usual…

"So? How was I? Wasn't I amazing? Wasn't I cool? Wasn't I adorable? Am I not the best!?"

She launched straight into shameless self-praise.

But yesterday really had been that good, so the chat dove into full praise mode without missing a beat.

"Heheh, right!? I am amazing! And you—Rurudan who said I'm pretty when I sing. Are you saying I'm not pretty right now?"

Ruru traded banter with her viewers with the usual easy skill, grinning with absolute confidence.

"Anyway! So! Today was supposed to be an off day! I only turned on the stream because I wanted to see my Rurudan!"

It was true—aside from Ruru, the other two were on rest days, and Ruru had insisted on streaming alone.

On top of that, she was giving up one of her two weekly days off just to see us. That really did mean she had turned the stream on purely for her fans.

If that was impressive, then yes—it was genuinely impressive.

Being a VTuber is a job that ultimately needs fans, and the higher their loyalty, the longer you can last. And the easiest way to earn that loyalty is to show them you care.

On that front, Ruru had scored a perfect one hundred… no, two hundred.

A one-of-a-kind character, endless talent as a VTuber, and on top of all that, the fan love she showed over and over again.

That was Ruru. That was exactly who Ruru was.

"Ahem! Oh, right. So everyone! There's something I want to tell you!"

Something she wanted to say all of a sudden? A big announcement?

I hadn't heard anything about it, at least.

I was still a contractor, but I was eventually going to join Fantasy Live proper, so a few things did filter down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to me—how the first-anniversary live had been an absolute smash, how Elia, who had started off sluggish, was now performing on the same level as the other members, that sort of thing.

…Thinking about it, none of that was actually all that world-shaking.

So I was genuinely curious what Ruru had cooked up—

"Tada~"

Ruru suddenly slapped a photo up on screen.

It was a donation certificate, made out to Sweet Mare Ruru and Rurudan.

"I've received so much from all of you, but I haven't really given much back. And there are just too many of you who love me for me to repay every single person one by one."

"So… um… yeah. I took the superchats you've given me so far, mixed in a little of my own money, and made a donation. In my name and all of Rurudan's."

The amount was substantial. Seven million won—nowhere near a small figure.

Of course, some people would look at that seven million and say it was nothing compared to what a VTuber like Ruru earned.

But I knew better. I knew just how much that particular seven million was worth.

And if seven million won could buy that kind of impact and praise, wasn't that a pretty huge win?

Naturally, a few trolls showed up too.

The moment chat started biting at the bait and firing back at them—

Ruru answered first.

"Is it really that bad to make a donation public?"

Ordinarily, Ruru never gave trolls so much as a scrap of attention. That was the textbook correct approach, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the best one—but from a viewer's seat it could feel a little frustrating. Anyone could tell those comments existed only to tear down Kuroa Ruru the streamer, and yet she always seemed to simply let them slide.

This time, though, she clearly had no intention of letting it go.

"Maybe I donated so you'd all think better of me. Honestly, it's not like there's zero image-crafting in there. It's not pure motives alone."

"But… is that bad? I genuinely want to share the love you've given me with other people. Is that so wrong?"

A straight fight. The phrase fit her words perfectly.

Viewers piled on in agreement, both attacking the trolls and shielding Ruru.

You could call the reaction the right one, or you could call it the wrong one.

Ruru's actions weren't wrong at all. Just as she'd said, they weren't wrong in the slightest—and because real love for other people genuinely underpinned what she'd done, her words had weight.

On the other hand, it was also true that her words had painted a target on someone.

She would probably catch an earful from the Representative later for it.

Even so, right now I just wanted to praise her.

She had clearly thickened her fanbase and jacked Rurudan's loyalty through the roof. Acts of charity carried that kind of power too.

Separate from all of that, though—I suspected Ruru… no, Rua really had chosen donation as a sincere way to share that love.

Because Rua had always been that kind of kid. That kind of good kid.

If the Representative did scold her, I figured I should at least comfort her afterward.

After that brief detour into the donation, Ruru snapped back to normal.

Today's game was Shooting Ground—the kind where you drop onto a remote island and try to survive alone.

Except…

"Aris unnie~"

"…Why did you call me."

"I wanted to play games with you~"

"Hey. I was off-stream and just trying to game on my own and relax—"

"Aww~ pleaseee~"

She started stirring up chaos with Aris, who had been enjoying her day off.

"Ugh, hang on."

Aris answered in a voice that said she had no choice, and a moment later she flipped her own stream on.

"If we're playing together anyway, I might as well stream."

"Yes!"

"Don't 'yes' me."

"Arisdan everyone! You should thank me right now~"

"What are you even talking about."

"Because Arisdan should be grateful to Ruru! You think Aris unnie would've turned on her stream if it weren't for me?"

"Wow. Look at this shameless little—"

The same Ruru who, minutes ago, had been preaching about donations and shared love had, in a blink, turned into a little gremlin tormenting her resting groupmate.

Aris started delivering a lecture that wasn't quite a lecture.

"You. Just wait until one of your off days rolls ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around. I'm calling you and summoning you on the spot."

"Eeeh~ scary~"

It sounded less like a scolding and more like a declaration of war, but I decided to let it slide.

"Since it's come to this, should we call Mei unnie too?"

"Yes yes yes~"

Aris checked something, then answered Ruru.

"This unnie's offline. Probably asleep."

"Whoa, her RP is airtight."

For reference, Mei's roleplay was a drowsy sheep beastman who loved sleeping more than anything in the world—which was why they were joking about her "RP being airtight."

Though judging by the way those two talked, real-life Mei seemed to like sleeping just as much.

"Still, just the two of us is kind of boring, isn't it?"

"It is, but… hmm…"

The two of them fell into a little thinking silence.

Ruru was the first to speak.

"Unnie, I just had a great idea!"

"What."

At that question, Ruru's model broke into a smile that looked distinctly evil.

Deliberately, of course. Meaning Ruru had intentionally switched her VTuber model's expression.

Why? Simple.

She had prepared yet another spectacular round of chaos.

And sure enough…

"Eliaaa~!"

"Sunbae-nim? Is something wrong…?"

"I just wanted to play games with our Elia~!"

She had straight-up dragged in their junior, Elia.

Elia, who had been streaming solo and gaming alone that very day.

They had been playing the same game, sure, but…

……Wait. No way.

Had she planned this?

Had she actually planned this the whole time?

Yeah. This was deliberate. One hundred percent deliberate.

Check what game Elia was on, boot the same game, casually reel Aris in to join, then finally pull Elia into the party.

She had conceived that entire chain of chaos in an instant and executed it on the spot.

Insane chaos power. Insane initiative. Insane planning.

I suddenly found myself a little afraid of Ruru all over again.

If a Ruru like this ever decided to go all-out on content and chaos… what on earth would happen?

I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠genuinely excited. As a member of Rurudan, that is.

And at the same time, I was a little scared of Rua too.

The Rua I knew had never been this kind of kid…

…Ah, whatever. Ruru was cute, so it was fine.