099. A Birthday Gift from Drift

The Male Supremacy Group, second batch.

Those bastards fell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apart remarkably quickly.

Their personal information and addresses had all been exposed, after all.

And they'd been forcibly debuted as male cam streamers.

In short, their lives were pretty much as good as over.

‘Still, at least no one killed themselves. That was something.’

As an aside.

Some of them turned crisis into opportunity.

There existed a small number of cases where a guy sincerely repented for his sins, turned over a new leaf, and continued broadcasting as a comedy male cam streamer.

They'd started a second life.

You really never knew what might happen to someone.

‘But the first generation of the Male Supremacy Group still seemed to be going strong... Well, I had heard they were relatively moderate compared with the second generation, so whatever.’

Eh, it wasn't really my business anyway.

As long as they didn't cause me any trouble.

And unlike the second batch bastards.

I heard there weren't any nutjobs going around committing real-life terror attacks, so I decided to stop paying that group any mind.

***

Before I knew it, a whole month had passed, and November was upon us.

‘It was gotten a bit chilly in the mornings now. Maybe because I left the window open...’

I hauled myself upright in bed.

Then turned my head to look toward the window.

Lately, I'd felt fewer strange gazes, so I'd taken down the blackout curtains and was living with them open.

‘...The hell. It was snowing.’

Outside the window.

A beautiful form of garbage called first snow was drifting down.

Looking at that garbage.

It really hammered home just how quickly time had flown.

‘It was already winter, huh.’

I supposed November counted as autumn, but since it was snowing, I just decided to think of it as winter.

‘November was both late autumn and early winter, so whatever.’

I blankly appreciated the first snow for only a moment.

I climbed out of bed and began pulling on my clothes, piece by piece.

‘Anyway, I should go clear the snow.’

I figured I'd clear the yard before it piled up too high.

Since the snow was coming down heavier than I'd thought.

Of course, I didn't need to do it myself.

Seeing as I now had dozens of workers.

‘I wondered if they were doing the morning cleaning properly.’

The moment I opened the door to check if the workers were doing their jobs properly and stepped out into the hallway.

‘They were doing fine.’

I spotted three teddy bears.

Those guys were the workers of my house.

［Wakyapya!］

［Wakyapya!］

［Warkyarpya!］

The teddy bears were tearing down the hallway with rags pressed to the floor.

They were diligently carrying out their cleaning duties.

"Working hard from the crack of dawn, guys."

I waved a hand at them in greeting.

At that, the three teddy bears abruptly stopped in their tracks and looked up at me with eyes that sparkled brightly.

Then they saluted with the utmost formality.

［Wakyapya!］

［Wakyapya!］

［Warkyarpya!］

These guys' true identity was none other than.

The lowest-grade yokai created when my house's Gomdori cast sorcery on a batch of teddy bears I'd ordered a while back.

To put it simply.

You could consider them soulless puppet yokai.

Naturally, their intelligence was on the low side.

Perhaps slightly below their master’s level.

Because of that, they could only manage simple words like 'Warkyarpya' or 'Warkyarpya.'

For the record, their fondness for cola was exactly the same as Gomdori's.

"Alright, keep up the good work."

［Warkyarpya!］

After giving the bear some encouragement.

I walked down the hall, taking a look into the other rooms.

Not a single room was missed; all of them had teddy bears stationed inside, busy cleaning.

‘Man, this was convenient.’

The first floor was the same story.

Even more teddy bears were bustling about with the morning cleaning.

And in the yard, Gomdori... no.

Under Gyejipsa's direction, the snow-clearing operation was underway.

［Too slow! Sweep it up, faster, faster!］

［Wakyapya!］

［Wakyapya!］

I hadn't even ordered the snow cleared, but this guy was perceptive and damn good at his job.

Now that he had subordinates, he'd developed some charisma, too.

I folded my arms, leaned against the wall, and gazed at Gyejipsa with quiet satisfaction.

Maybe a minute passed like that.

［Sweep that side too... Oh?］

Gyejipsa had finally spotted me.

［Gye-fucking-Sehun! Good morning!］

Gyejipsa hurled their shovel aside.

Then dashed vigorously toward me and flew into my arms.

I ruffled Gyejipsa's head roughly and said.

"Yeah, good morning. Didn't Bubblegum come over to play today?"

［Bubblegum didn't come! On days that look like work, she doesn't come! Sly as hell!］

"What a fucking bitch."

［She's not that much of a fucking bitch!］

"Fine, a cunt then."

［Correct! Bubblegum is a cunt!］

I couldn't tell what the difference was.

Gyejipsa really was an incomprehensible little guy.

"Anyway, keep working hard, and..."

So that Gyejipsa wouldn't get hurt.

I gently set him down on the floor as I continued.

"I'm gonna wash up and go get ready for the stream."

［Wakyapya! Got it!］

After that, I headed for the bath.

Since I had the teddy bears, there was no damn need for me to personally lend a hand with clearing the snow.

***

Today, I set the viewer cap to five people. The platform had updated a while back, so you could now set the minimum all the way down to one.

It's not that I was trying to shut out new viewers, for the record.

I was simply being considerate to the Fixed Viewers.

Because the Fixed Viewers were continuously waiting to get in, even though they had the entry code, in an effort to block the influx of other viewers.

‘I told them in advance I was setting it to five, so they'd probably take their time coming in now.’

While thinking that.

The moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I prepped the camera and turned on the stream.

『'Drift AI' has entered.』

『'Reformed Guburi' has entered.』

『'Mengyao' has entered.』

『'Yoho' has entered.』

『'Hottie Licker' has entered.』

"...Crazy bitches."

The five slots filled instantly.

And a whopping four of them were Fixed Viewers who had the entry code.

【Reformed Guburi】─Gye-fucking-Sehun, hi!

【Yoho】─Hello!

【Mengyao】─What the hell. I used a program to get in, so why am I third?

【Hottie Licker】─Lick.

【Drift AI】─I state. I state that it is nice to see you.

"You guys seriously got nothing better to do? I told you to take your goddamn time."

【Reformed Guburi】─Shut up.

【Drift AI】─I state. I state that first place belongs to me.

Drift had always been getting in first lately.

Beating out Guburi.

She was probably using some sort of program to enter.

If that weren't the case, she couldn't possibly beat Guburi, the queen of NEETs.

"Anyway, it's all familiar viewers today, so it should be fine to bring Gyejipsa on stream."

【Reformed Guburi】─Yo, there's that Mengyao bastard here.

【Yoho】─She's an acquaintance of Dick Lover. And she was watching when Gyejipsa got exposed on stream.

【Reformed Guburi】─Ah, I see!

【Yoho】─Do you seriously have the memory of a goldfish? lol

【Mengyao】─Dick Lover ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can't watch the stream today. So I'm watching in her place. lol

【Reformed Guburi】─Didn't ask, you fucking shitstain.

【Mengyao】─??

I'd just revealed Gyejipsa's existence a while ago.

No, it had been forcibly revealed.

The day I was streaming on the first floor.

He'd been coming down the stairs because he wanted to drink some cola, and walked straight into the broadcast.

‘At first, he was afraid of being exposed, but after revealing his identity to Bubblegum, he got a lot more confident.’

The Fixed Viewers had all seen him, of course.

And several other viewers had also witnessed Gyejipsa.

But.

There were no issues even after his identity was revealed.

Because most people just went along with it and accepted Gyejipsa's existence.

There were even viewers who'd already known about him.

Only the ones who had denied the existence of yokai to the bitter end kicked up a fuss.

Of course, by now, they'd admitted and accepted that yokai were real.

【Reformed Guburi】─By the way, who all was in the stream when Gyejipsa made that surprise appearance, again?

【Hottie Licker】─Everyone with a code was there. Lick.

【Reformed Guburi】─And the ones without a code?

【Mengyao】─Me. Semen Thief. Cheerful Hyeon-ji. Team Leader Park. Catgirl.

【Reformed Guburi】─That's a shitload. Was the cap set to ten back then?

【Mengyao】─Yeah

【Mengyao】─Everyone promised not to go spreading rumors about it elsewhere.

【Reformed Guburi】─Didn't ask about that, you fuck. Answer only what I asked, you goddamn retard.

【Mengyao】─??

"Gomdo... no, Gyejipsa."

I called out to Gyejipsa, who had been hiding in a blind spot, staring at me.

"Everyone in the stream today knows you, so you can come out."

［Got it!］

The moment permission was granted.

Gyejipsa scurried over with quick little steps and clung tight to my leg.

【Reformed Guburi】─Gye-Slave, hi!

【Hottie Licker】─I got a sudden urge to punch Gomdori in the face. Lick.

【Yoho】─Get away from the streamer. -_-

That was when I was showing Gyejipsa on the camera.

［Wakyapya!!!］

One of the teddy bears came waddling over to where we were, carrying a delivery package.

［Wakyapya! Wakyapya, Wakyapya!］

［It says the delivery driver left it at the front gate! Early in the morning!］

Gyejipsa kindly translated what the teddy bear had blurted out for me.

【Reformed Guburi】─Huh? I thought deliveries didn't come to that neighborhood if it was dark or the weather was bad?

【Qkrnfl892】─They do now. A new road was laid down not long ago.

【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya! It's a clean, paved road!

【Hottie Licker】─When did you bastards get here? Lick.

【Yoho】─Reformed. Are you a goldfish? lol

【Reformed Guburi】─Huh? Did Gye-fucking-Sehun tell me about it? I don't remember. lol Oops!

"But what's this package now? Gyejipsa, did you order this?"

［This time, it wasn't me!］

【Yoho】─Be careful. It could be a bomb.

【Hottie Licker】─Don't talk bullshit. Lick.

【Drift AI】─I state. I state that I sent it.

"Ah. Drift, you sent this? But what's with the random package?"

【Drift AI】─I state. I state that you should check the phrase written on the shipping label.

I picked up the package.

And checked the phrase written in large text on the shipping label.

"Huh? What the, was today my birthday...?"

【Reformed Guburi】─?

【Yoho】─Birthday?

【Hottie Licker】─Lick?

【Qkrnfl892】─It's your birthday?

【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya?

【Mengyao】─Yup. November 4th. Today is your birthday.

I checked the date on my phone.

November 4th.

It was indeed my birthday.

【Reformed Guburi】─Damn. So today's the day Gye-fucking-Sehun was liberated from the womb?

【Mengyao】─Guburi seems like a genuine mental case.

【Drift AI】─I state that I wish you a happy birthday. I state that I have sent you a special streaming device that I invented.

"Ah, right... I don't think I ever told anyone when my birthday was... Anyway, I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠accept it gratefully."

I set aside that minor curiosity.

And decided to start by tearing off the wrapping.