Hard Boss Hunt
- Kyaa
- Kyaa
- Krrr~
- This really is a festival.
"If you came from UnknownTorii, have a drink too."
- Kyaa~
- Wow, a big spender donated ten thousand won.
- A big spender from Unknown Torii has arrived, whoa.
- What
- What
- Get out.
"No. Don't be rude to people who went out of their way to support us. Members of the Mua Guild, have a drink too."
- Kyaa~
- Haruru's generosity embraces even her enemies.
- The dark Harusalidan squad approves, lol.
After scraping up every last grain of the spicy pork bowl, I took a final swig of cider and finished with a satisfied Kyaa~.
"All right, now that we've eaten... it's time."
- Haaeeeng
- Haaeeeng
- Haaeeeng
- Do you seriously want to see me die?
It was currently 5 p.m.
I had pretended not to be going live, then ambushed everyone by turning the stream on at noon, but even so I'd been broadcasting for five whole hours. I laughed, I cried, and it felt like I'd been on for twice that long. I got so focused on the game that I didn't even manage to eat until around 4:30...
"I've worked this hard, and you still won't let me go quietly?"
- Yeah.
- Ambush-cute act denied.
- Haaeeeng
- Haaeeeng
"Then I guess I'll sing one song before I go."
- Gasp
- Gasp
- Emergency.
- That's fine.
- Let's go.
- Kyaa
"No, no. You all gave me so much today that I have to give something back. You know I was chosen as the resident rock-ballad specialist, right? I'll show you."
- ???
- Kyaa
- Wow... really?
- Weren't you the cool-and-chic type?
- Let's go, let's go.
I don't accept rejection. I immediately pulled up a rock ballad karaoke video I always liked on NewTube. A quiet melody began the opening, and I focused hard, settling my emotions before opening my mouth. In my heart, I was no less than a singer.
- ???
- Why are you actually good at this?
- Demon of the opening verse, whoa.
- Her tone is insane.
- Kyaa
Then came the highlight. This was where I had to pour every last feeling I had into the song.
- ???
- What is this?
- Wow...
- Haruru's self-arranged version.
- Kyaa
- (Haruru cheering lightstick)
The song ended. I had no regrets.
"If I hadn't gone to Unknown Torii, I would've been the singing member of Shining Parade."
- Kyaa~ (hmm)
- You worked hard, though.
- Yep~
- The best.
- I love you, Haruru.
"I used fox-style singing. Because I'm a fox."
- Kyaa~
- Whoa.
- No wonder her voice sounds downright ghostly.
"Nope. I never learned how to sing. Pure talent."
- Kyaa~~
- Hmm...
- Honestly, it's just her tone that's gifted.
- Haruru should just sing the opening verse and then step aside.
"But if I only sing one song, that's disappointing. Encore? Encore?"
- It's okay, take a break.
- LOL...
- Please stop...
"Kyaa~ Coming right up!"
- Ah
- Ah
- LOL WTF
- Who was that?
"The next song is that R&B number the Haruuu... guy sang earlier. We're going head-on!"
- Kyaa
- Kyaa
- Save me...
- Ahh...
- I love you, Haruru.
Too caught up in the mood to even check chat, I belted it out with everything I had.
"And that concludes the set. This was the crazy fox Haruru, who can even pull off R&B."
- Krrr~
- Haruuuuuu, you're sweating bullets.
- Her tone really is good.
- Crazy fox Haruru is the only thing that fits, honestly.
- But seriously, if she just studied a little, she'd be fine.
- Top singer among VTubers.
"That feels so refreshing. If I get the chance later, I'll sing again. I'm going to log off now."
- lol, for real.
- The Harusalidans who survived this can do anything.
"What does that mean? Is that a compliment?"
- I love you, Haruru.
- I love you, Haruru.
- Nothing. Good work.
"Good work, everyone."
Just as I was about to end the broadcast, I realized there was one last thing I hadn't said.
"Now that the new guild war is over, you probably think I won't be going live in the mornings anymore... but no! I'll still throw in the occasional surprise morning stream."
- Kyaa~
- Kyaa
- Dea-ruru.
- Haruru's great at rowing while the water's coming in.
"And because we're running the Lucky Chicken event, please leave lots of stream reviews. Thanks for watching today too, and Thanks-a-Haruru!"
Once the stream cut out, I slumped in my chair like a robot with its power switch flipped off. Somehow I'd even done an impromptu singing stream today, and now my throat felt sore too.
"Can I come in?"
I heard a knock and the boss's voice.
"Yes."
The boss had brought Mizuki with her as well.
"Look at you sweating, Ru-chan. Drink some water."
"Thank yoou..."
With a face that was practically drained of all life, I took the bottle and chugged it down.
"You even cried, so hydration is essential!"
"Ugh... please forget that."
I'd laughed and cried and generally been all over the place today, and it left me uneasy. So I asked the two of them, as a sort of feedback, whether the stream had been okay.
"As always, it was very you, and that was good."
"That's right! Ru-chan also sang amazingly well, so it was really satisfying to watch."
"I see... so I did well."
Praise makes even whales dance, and even foxes sing. I immediately let out a shout. Their reaction was perfect.
"Ru-chan, you're awesome. A rocker!"
"Hahaha! Save your voice."
"Ah. Right."
Since we'd been talking about singing, I couldn't help thinking of our senior, Jua. Had they passed along my suggestion about trying to write an original song? When I asked carefully, the boss answered with a slightly serious look.
"After I told her what you said, she seemed to have a lot on her mind. I told her there was no need to rush, and to think about it slowly."
Yeah. No matter how strong an S-grade trait is, creativity doesn't just pop out overnight. Like the boss said, she'd probably need time.
"Then I suppose it's our turn to clean up the mess our Haru made?"
"Yes, well? What mess? I'm not bragging, but I haven't made just one or two messes..."
Through my still-open computer, she went into the Shining Parade cafe. The Lucky Chicken event notice was displayed loud and clear.
The criterion for getting chicken was, astonishingly, just posts Haruru liked. In other words, it was entirely up to me.
"That's a lot of pressure. Still, I'll do my best to pick carefully."
"Pressure? Why?"
Mizuki approached me with an even more serious expression.
"You're not as big-chested as I am, either."
"No, no. What are you talking about?"
What was she misunderstanding?
"'Heavy shoulders' is a Korean figure of speech. It means it's a lot of pressure!"
"Ahh. So it's like when I think of Ru-chan as a maneki-neko."
"Ma, what?"
Suddenly, Japanese. What did she think I was? It didn't sound like an insult, at least. Just then, the boss seemed to understand and asked,
"You mean maneki-neko, right? The lucky cat statue?"
"That's right, boss."
Maneki-neko. I looked it up and saw the familiar cat statue with one paw raised, the kind you see all over Japan. So that was it. I hadn't known the name, but it was way more famous than I thought.
"But why me?"
"Ru-chan. You're cute like a cat, and... somehow, the days I watched streams with you went really well."
That made me laugh out loud. A lucky cat statue, huh. In a way, I did carry the Blessing of the Goddess of Luck, so she wasn't exactly wrong.
"I hope the day comes soon when I can stream with Ru-chan too. I'm jealous, boss!"
"Sure. Then when I do a collab, maybe I'll pick up some of our Haruru's luck too. Though I don't know whether I'll borrow some luck or have every last cent I own taken from me by it."
"Ahem."
About a week passed after the new guild war. A lot happened in that time. I carefully read through every stream review people had written so thoughtfully, handed out the chicken, and the Mua Guild planet that became our territory after the war was now practically overflowing with prosperity.
But the biggest topic over the past week was the war between the Ruin Guild and the Watercolor Guild. And the result was truly unexpected.
Usually, a war between large guilds doesn't go all the way to completely annihilating one side by taking their base, the way my new guild war had. It usually ends with three or four planets being taken, or lost.
Up until now, whenever the Watercolor Guild fought a guild war, they always lost planets to the Ruin Guild. But this time was different.
For the first time in Unknown Universe history, the Watercolor Guild took three planets from the Ruin Guild. Only three? You might think that, but this was insane. It meant that even the Ruin Guild, that iron fortress of a guild, had finally started to crack. The UnknownTorii community was absolutely on fire over the result.
This was how it happened. The internal strife I stirred up like sprinkling chili flakes had actually taken hold, so the Ruin Guild couldn't unify, and the Watercolor Guild seized the chance to steal three planets. After that, the war ended.
In a way, the snowball I'd kicked off with my own little sabotage had rolled exactly as intended. Other users seemed to feel the same way, because the community was plastered with my name.
"Hehe."
The laughter wouldn't stop. Hurry up and start the stream already. Today is the day we hunt the hard Black Fox. At the same time, a collab with the boss will follow. In Part 1, we're changing avatar options, and in Part 2, the boss is even making a cooking stream because she wants to feed me steak!
- Ruha
- Ruha
- Hello, Haruru.
- Did you see that the second-place guild master in Unknown Torii gave you a shoutout?
- Congrats on the shoutout from the Watercolor Guild master.
"Huh? What? A shoutout from the Watercolor Guild master?"
On the internet, a shoutout is used to mean thanks, respect, and things like that. I immediately went into UnknownTorii. Only then did I notice a topic I had missed.
In the screenshot, there was a mage with a ridiculously SSS-grade username: Lemon. Queen-god-general-emperor mom personally left this on her main account.
[Lemon: I respect you, Dea-ruru.]