A Teetering First Broadcast
The spark that set it all off was the CEO’s stream from a few days ago. On Domestic VTuber Gallery, a rough-and-tumble community where people could post without real-name verification, the clip had already been ripped, reuploaded, and was making the rounds.
“And the two second-gen members I mentioned last time? They’ll be making their first broadcast a week from now. Please look forward to it.”
“Tama is an elf from a faraway place, so her Korean might still be a little awkward. I hope you’ll all be patient with her. As for Haruru...”
She paused for a moment before speaking again. It wasn’t anything strange, so why was she being so careful?
“She’s a black fox NEET who will become the pinnacle of Unknown Universe.”
Ah. So that was why she’d hesitated.
Chat had gone wild. And not just chat—just looking at the comments under the clip, there were plenty of people guessing at Tama’s identity and looking forward to her, while I got a lot of bewildered reactions.
Well, that was more or less what I’d expected. So what else was I supposed to do—crawl back to my previous life, buried under a hundred-million-won debt? No way. I was going to grit my teeth and stream Unknown Universe.
My goal hadn’t changed: reach the summit of Un-non. And honestly, streaming Un-non had its own strange appeal; if I made it entertaining enough, the public opinion would change.
When I arrived at Shining Parade, the way people looked at me was different from a few days ago. The CEO and Sally were both there too, giving me active support.
For reference, Tama was scheduled to stream a few hours after me. If we went live at the same time, it would look like allies fighting each other. At least, for today.
“Did you sleep well?”
The CEO looked uneasy, as if the whole thing were somehow her fault, even though it wasn’t. She really was thoughtful. No wonder she had the heart of a Buddha (S).
“Yes, I slept well. You did too, right, CEO?”
“Mm-hm.”
She seemed thrown off that I’d answered so calmly. I even tossed out a joke to ease her mind.
“I checked the community on the way here, CEO. The reactions were incredible.”
“Where? The fan café?”
She asked carefully, her eyes wide. The Shining Parade fan café required real-name verification and membership before you could even post, and if you used a word that was even slightly harsh, it would get deleted on the spot.
Compared to other communities, it was far more gentle. Even when people were flaming me for doing Un-non, the fan café had mostly been full of supportive messages. Maybe it was well-moderated, I didn’t know. Of course, it was a fan café, so that kind of moderation made sense—but that sort of soft, protected place had never been my natural habitat. So I proudly named the community I’d actually seen.
“Domestic VTuber Gallery.”
“Of all places...”
The CEO shook her head.
“That place is incredibly negative, so you don’t need to worry about what they think.”
“Exactly, exactly!”
Sally chimed in too. Both of them were trying to comfort me because they thought I’d been shocked, but I just nodded.
“Superstars drive both fans and haters crazy. I’ve driven the haters crazy, so now it’s time to drive the fans crazy.”
“Your mental game is absurd...”
“What was I like on my first stream, CEO? You seem more professional than I was.”
“You flatter me.”
After everything that had happened, and especially after playing Un-non, I’d developed a mentality that let me shrug off most things. Whether that was a good thing or not, I honestly couldn’t tell.
“So, CEO, on the first day your managers were going to handle chat moderation, right? Couldn’t we just not do that? I don’t want to pretend this crisis isn’t happening—I want to smash straight through it.”
“No.”
She rejected me in one clean stroke.
Fair enough. Problems like this were always a poisoned chalice; more often than not, a rookie streamer would end up face-planting instead of breaking through cleanly. Still, I bowed my head and asked again.
“Please.”
The CEO thought for a moment, then nodded.
“You really won’t regret it?”
Regret it?
Honestly, I probably would. No, no—this wasn’t the time to sound weak.
“Yes. Please.”
“All right, Haru. Broadcasting is important, of course, but not so important that you should grind yourself down to the bone. So if it gets hard, tell me it’s hard.”
“Yes. Then let’s go do my first stream.”
“Hahaha. My junior is so cool. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. I said from the start you didn’t seem like an ordinary person.”
Honestly, I’d wanted to live an ordinary life too. But then some insane message had told me to become the pinnacle of Un-non, so...
“The world just won’t let me live normally.”
“Wow... that’s seriously cool. I’m borrowing that line later.”
“Ah, no. Is it really that good?”
Ever since last time, I’d had the feeling Sally really liked me.
“A small thing can sting like a wasp. I’m going to show them.”
Even if the part that could sting had long since fallen off. Still, with my own nose practically buried in the dirt right now, Mizuki came to mind for some reason. She was probably going to get swarmed by trolls too because of me, wasn’t she? Unlike me, it wasn’t her fault at all. Would someone so timid be able to handle it well?
“Please take good care of Mizuki too.”
I stepped into the studio for my first broadcast. Soundproofing booths, microphones, and all the other streaming equipment welcomed me in. Maybe because I’d been in and out here for the last few days preparing for this first stream, it didn’t feel awkward anymore—it felt familiar, almost comforting. The CEO came over and checked the setup one last time.
“The chair, the desk, the monitor height—all good?”
“Yep. Perfect.”
I’d mentioned before that the old chair was too big for me. She hadn’t treated that as idle chatter either; she’d made the studio where I’d be streaming fit my body perfectly.
“Haru, this is a big challenge for you and for us too. So let’s work hard together.”
“Yes, CEO. Also, about the... initial funds I mentioned last time... cough cough.”
It was embarrassing trying to ask directly for money. But maybe because the atmosphere had grown so sentimental, the CEO nodded readily.
“I put in more than the amount you asked for.”
“What?!”
I’d said I’d be loyal like a dog if she just gave me a million won a month, but when I checked my bank balance on my phone—holy hell. It was three million won.
“Goodness, CEO. Why did you give me so much?”
“You said you were going to do Un-non VTuber work. That should be enough for a month, right? Spend it carefully.”
“Yes. Yes, ma’am! I’ll devote myself to this with every fiber of my being.”
“Haha, not quite like that. Well. All right.”
The CEO left. The door clicked shut, and silence settled over the studio. Now I had to fill this space with my own voice. Before starting, I checked my VTuber avatar one more time and thought about my first stream title.
This would be a good one.
[Black Fox Haruru, the One Who Will Become the Pinnacle of Unknown Universe.]
I moved my mouse cursor up to [Start Stream]. One click, and the broadcast would begin.
Click!
The click that followed carried more tension than any other I’d ever made. Usually, people say that when a streamer starts their first broadcast, zero viewers is normal—and even getting one or two is a miracle.
But in my case, I was debuting as a VTuber under Shining Parade, which was riding a wave of momentum these days, so more than four thousand viewers poured in from the very start. The CEO’s claim during the interview that around five thousand people would show up hadn’t been an exaggeration after all.
And with that many people, the chat raced along at a blistering pace. But I was the kind of streamer who liked being called “head of the fan club” and had watched tons of internet broadcasts, so I adapted quickly.
“That’s right. I’m really doing Un-non.”
It looked like the community hadn’t been burning for no reason; the chat was so hot it felt like it might explode. But if I failed to handle this well, it would be over right there. The poisoned chalice was in my hands, and I was going to drink it down and digest it right in front of everyone.
“There are of course plenty of people who hate me—haters, naturally. But I’m going to break through head-on. And as proof, this room has no manager moderating chat. I’m handling it myself! I’m hardly going to ban anyone.”
“Everyone, do you know what you get if you read crisis backward?”
“Yes, exactly! Kigi. It’s short for ‘opportunity born from crisis.’”
“Then I’ll start by making my Un-non account.”
“Ah, right!”
I’d been momentarily flustered because there were too many people. But they all probably knew already, didn’t they? And honestly, what did a VTuber setup matter anyway? Still, it was my first broadcast, so I might as well do it properly.
“I dreamed of becoming the pinnacle of Unknown Universe, and after praying and praying to the goddess, I, who had once been a black fox, took on the form of a human...”
“No, no. The goddess turned me into a human, and CEO Chae brought me here. That’s how it is.”
“Hey! What are you saying about our CEO? That’s a warning. You can insult me, but don’t insult the CEO.”
“I can feel your sincerity. I’ll erase one warning.”
“Then let me continue the introduction I was doing earlier... I’m Haru—no, Haruru, who will become the pinnacle of Un-non. Nice to meet you.”
“No. Not black cow—black fox! Why did it have to slip right there?”
I pressed the pre-set key. Black fox ears and a tail appeared. A few people marveled at the “new tech,” but it seemed the nickname Black Cow had already taken root.
“Black fox.”
“Fine. Looking at the things I’m probably going to do from here on out, I guess no one can complain if you call me a cow...”
“Nope. I’m not stopping! Let’s go into Un-non!”
Since this was my first stream, I had to leave the strongest possible impression. There were lots of things to do in Unknown Universe, but the most fun one was, without question, paying to win. The sheer pleasure of spending money was so intoxicating that it stirred up memories of my previous life, when I’d somehow dumped over a hundred million won into debt without even realizing it.
This mood would definitely flip the moment I started whaling in Un-non. I was sure of it. Nothing was as fun as gambling.
“I’ll start with the crown jewel of Unknown Universe: the SSS-grade spirit gacha.”
text.