The Original Shut-In Nerd Girl Has No Friends
"Nice to meet you. I'm number 5."
Somehow, my first words came out as "Ah..." Nothing happened, really. But too many people had already seen it. Still, it wasn't a big deal. I hadn't debuted yet; it was just a stream. Slip-ups happen.
I greeted the now-silent chat and sank into thought. What should I do? What would get people voting? First, finish the intro. I could think after that.
"I somehow passed the first round, but since I did, I'll do my best to survive."
That wasn't my intention at all. I scratched my cheek, looking troubled, and said,
"That wasn't what I meant. And I wasn't even thinking of debuting. Well, not until now."
Watching the chat turn into thin ice, I pondered. Chat management is a streamer's virtue—and that includes VTubers. But here's the problem: I had no idea how to do it. No manager, no helpers for this fair survival. No moderation bot either. Tricky.
Change the subject first? I needed to defuse before fights broke out. Ignoring wasn't ideal, but I had no choice. Do what I could.
"I do want to debut now. I didn't before passing the first round, but I did pass."
Phew, defused the heating chat. I felt a quiet pride and smiled faintly.
The chat heated up again, but not in a bad way, so I let it be. With my brief self-intro done, I chatted idly with viewers. Not much content needed; they said talking to me was fun enough. But doing nothing pricked my conscience like toothpicks.
"Should we play a game? What's installed here?"
I ignored the chaotic chat and scanned for games.
Most games are here. Long time no LoL? Propping my chin, I lazily eyed them, but nothing appealed. All stale meta games—I'd just lose. New ones? Nothing fun. Art stream it is, then.
"Hmm. No good games. Guess I'll draw."
Spotting "Speedy Paint" in chat reminded me of an old game. The pixel art competition I'd played for stress relief during work—until the cheating accusations. Long time no see. Worth a shot?
"Speedy Paint? But can I join others' rooms?"
While launching the game and fiddling with my screen tablet, I listened to advice. Speedy Paint for morning, proper drawing afternoon. Only skill I had. Game filled the screen as I planned.
Found Maerchen's private room online, entered pw. "In."
First sight in Maerchen room: prompt "Hand." Pixels of various hands. As a tiny character, I spied others' art.
"The hand shapes are kinda..."
Two lewd hands... interlocked. Wow, skilled. Probably class artist. Skipping my embarrassing one, I checked others.
Everyone's decent? Not pro, but amateur solid. Winner: those lewd hands.
"Can't chat congrats, right?"
No worries then. Next prompt selected with congrats.
Ding! [Production Capacity].
"Uh."
Wait, this shouldn't happen. But prompt set, timer started.
"Uh, uh... okay."
Chat flew by ignored as I pondered. Production capacity. What? No lewd stuff. But without? Mouth agape, viewers "oh"-ed.
Instinctively blocked the line-crossers. Good job, Muil.
"Hmm. Tree's good? But plain tree's boring."
Swaying side to side, I added, "Might as well make it a smiling girl. Pixels might not show well, though."
Grinning at cheers, I drew. Not seriously—game for viewing fun. Details? Shading, colors. In 4:20, lime-green girl won 17 votes.
Wait, 17? Minus me, 16. 16 players now? No wonder more crowded.
1/3 of 50 applicants here. They were on LoL/FPS earlier. Why art craze?
Shrinking amid growing crowd, I quit quietly. My morning content...
"Not nerd or loner."
But that hurt more than lost content.
"...Yeah."
Kakao ads count as friends too, right?