Chasing Two Rabbits: Streams and Sketches

Streaming and drawing. Two rabbits to chase.

The chat reactions were sharply divided. On one side, people baffled at how anyone could not know Serri. On the other, folks firing back with "Who's this clown?"

The ones who don't know are probably just anime and manga fans who never touch streams, while the ones who do are the hardcore Twis viewers.

Back when I first started streaming, it was just Twis fans and anime lovers, so everyone got the references no matter the topic and jumped right into the convo. But now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with way more viewers, fights broke out now and then.

"Ah, Serri. Nice to meet you."

"Twenty-two."

"Nah, missed it."

I was used to it. Whenever someone turned out younger than expected, the inevitable "Did you see the Korea-Japan World Cup live?" question always dropped.

Ah, guess since I'd never mentioned my age before, viewers had been assuming wrong.

"So, what's Serri's age...?"

"Come on, I told you mine straight up. Your turn to spill the details, Serri."

Teetering on the edge of early 30s.

"...Thirty-four is mid-30s, though...?"

"Ah, got it."

No point dragging out the age debate. Just roll with it. Proving he was older wouldn't gain me anything.

And anyway, Serri—a guy with over a million subs—wasn't being serious. It was just broadcast banter.

Job, huh.

"No clue. Haven't thought about it. Don't even know what jobs are available."

"Hmm... If nothing else catches my eye, maybe."

"Sure."

Leaving pumped-up Serri behind, I took a moment to sort my inventory. Tons of items had poured in.

"Dumplings, all sorts of stuff."

"Stop announcing viewer count. Nothing pulls aggro like that."

"And no flooding to drown it out either. Why do these people have no chill? Is it that hard to read the room and chat accordingly?"

It baffled me a bit. I wasn't trying to control every single message. Just use some common sense, and don't trash the chat. That's all.

Even after the warning, chat quality didn't improve. Wondering what the issue was, I checked viewer count.

"Ah."

Problem solved in a flash. No wonder chat felt off.

"Hold up a sec..."

I asked viewers to bear with me and tweaked chat settings.

They must've patched it recently—got a notice this time. Maybe my feedback got implemented? Cool. I set it right away, and chat cleaned up instantly.

"...I'm not here just to farm inflows...?"

What the hell? Sure, Suihwa invited me, so I had no plans to stir shit in the server. If I messed up, she'd take the heat. But that didn't mean I'd ignore toxic chat. Time to crack down hard.

With settings locked in, I was about to dive into the game proper when—

Bzzz. My phone vibrated. Caller: Yuu.

Ah, right—this app supports calls too.

"One sec, gotta handle something urgent. Five minutes."

Apologized to viewers and picked up.

"Hello?"

"You made it?"

"No cold?"

Good, no cold. I'd only half-assed drying her hair, so it was a relief.

"Cool. Take good care of Rito-sensei's stuff then."

"Phew. I'm streaming, so I'll hit you up later."

Her usual cheery self. Hung up, flipped the mic back on. Chat was flooded with poop emojis.

"No spamming."

Hmm. Moments like this made me think I needed a reliable chat mod when I'm away.

Mulling that over while chat settled, I spotted a familiar nick—one I'd seen a lot since stream start. Decent chatter too, from what I recalled. So—

"Palloochy. You're manager from now on."

Handed over temp mods. Could turn permanent depending on performance.

Her strong reaction ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sealed it—perfect for the job. Folks who hate managing stuff do it best, fair and by the book, no personal bias.

"Thanks in advance. Can't always check chat."

Rebellion was fierce. She really hated it. So I threw out a condition.

"Fine... Bring someone to sub in for you. I'll check back in a week—if they handle it well for seven days, you're off the hook."

Viewers started policing each other into wholesome chat. Finally, game time for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real. Had to at least taste what this server was about.

WASD to move, mouse to click... Controls matched that one PC bang game from childhood.

Getting the hang of it bit by bit—

"Hold on."

Wrong pick here could screw me. Ten seconds ticking. Brainstormed quick—

"Gatherer it is."

Went with Gatherer. Serri had pushed Farmer, but it didn't vibe. Gatherer felt right somehow.

The moment I selected it—

Suihwa approached with super awkward voice acting.