If You Hear of a Nonexistent Stream Announcement, Run
If you heard someone say there was a broadcast notice that didn't exist, you should run. Lene's broadcast screen was pitch black. To be precise, it was the broadcast screen for streamer Lene—not VTuber Lene—that was completely black. The phrase "pitch black" carried no hidden meaning. It wasn't a metaphor or figurative language. It was literal. When Lene started a stream, a solid black screen greeted her viewers, and when she launched a game, only the game window floated alone in the void. That was her broadcast.
Of course, when she played New Dimension it didn't matter much. But when she wasn't playing any game at all—like the explanation broadcast from a few days ago—the story changed. A jet-black screen that showed nothing, not even her own face. It was more than enough to leave Tyuni and the rest of the Lene fans feeling empty.
…In truth, the whole problem would be solved if Lene simply switched completely to being a VTuber, but since it had already been officially established that streamer Lene and VTuber Lene were different people, the point was moot.
In other words, there wasn't much left that could fill that black screen anymore. Tyuni believed the answer was a webcam.
Tyuni had always been fairly confident in her own appearance. In real life, whenever she went shopping or visited the salon, people often told her she had great features. On top of that, she genuinely enjoyed styling herself. Thanks to that, she'd received quite a few confessions from boys at school, and after becoming a streamer the most frequent compliments she received were about her looks.
It was only natural for Tyuni to be confident. However…
'Honestly, it's on a whole different level…'
Even she had to admit that comparing herself to Lene was impossible. Those long silver-white locks that reached all the way to her hips had not a single dry strand—on the contrary, they practically glowed with luster. Her eyes, a red so deep they seemed to draw people in, looked like polished rubies. Her skin was flawless, without a single blemish, and her figure was the ideal body Tyuni had dreamed of as a little girl.
That didn't mean Tyuni's confidence had diminished. From her perspective, Lene existed on a level where comparison wasn't even an option. Feeling jealous would have been a luxury. Now that the inferiority complex she'd once felt toward Lene had vanished… she actually wanted to take that raw material and polish it with her own hands.
Yet Lene wasn't using that face on stream? This wasn't simply hiding treasure—it was throwing it straight into the trash. As streamer Tyuni, she could not accept that.
“Miss Lene. You revealed that you're a girl this time, right?”
“Ah, um, yes…”
“Then are you thinking about turning on your cam?”
Of course Tyuni knew Lene lacked confidence in her own appearance. She didn't understand why, but the reason didn't matter.
“…Yes?”
What mattered was that Lene was letting that treasure rot. And Tyuni was not the type of person who could quietly look the other way.
“I watch your streams pretty often, Miss Lene… and I keep thinking something feels missing. With nothing but a black screen and just audio coming through, it feels less like a broadcast and more like a radio show.”
After talking with Lene for over a month, Tyuni already understood. When you wanted to tell Lene something, you had to be direct. No—you couldn't simply be direct. You had to be crystal clear. Extremely. Massively. So blunt that there was nowhere left to retreat.
“So how about we turn on the cam? No. Let's turn on the cam.”
But.
“I-I don't want to…”
Lene's stance was stubbornly firm.
I have no idea why Tyuni is suddenly saying this. Of course, as my internet streaming mentor, she's probably doing it for my sake, but… still, those words are hard to accept.
“I-I don't want to…”
No. I cannot accept it.
I still remember the way the children at the orphanage looked at my hair and eyes. The ostracism. The occasional bullying. The nuns almost never gave me those looks, but it wasn't as if they never happened. And sometimes when the children tormented me, they would smile while staring.
It was the same when I lived at the papal palace. The priests avoided me. They often stole glances from afar, as if looking at something that should not exist. Even most of the heretics who needed to repent would avert their eyes the first time they saw me.
Those reactions were proof of how alien my appearance was. After returning to Earth, those stares had naturally grown even worse.
“I absolutely, definitely don't want to…”
After experiencing all that, wouldn't it be strange if I didn't know? No matter how much the Goddess had poured her tastes into this face. No matter how much I personally thought I was quite pretty. I understood better than anyone that to other people, my appearance was alien—something they could not accept.
So asking me to turn on the cam here and show the believers Selene's face? No. Absolutely not. I'd rather die. Just imagining the believers looking at me that way and leaving is unbearable.
Of course there would be a few like Bora and Tyuni. But it was obvious they would be the extreme minority.
Therefore, my stream—streamer Lene's stream—would continue exactly as it was now. No matter what.
“You're really not planning to turn on the cam at all?”
At Tyuni's question I nodded with every ounce of strength I possessed.
“Even if I say it's a waste, you're still not going to turn it on?”
“Yes…”
What exactly is there to waste?
“Then… I guess it can't be helped.”
Thankfully, it seemed Tyuni understood how I felt.
“I'll contact you in advance next time. Sorry for dropping by so suddenly.”
“Bye-bye, sis~!”
“Thank you again for today, Miss Lene.”
“Ah, take care…”
After seeing Bora and Tyuni off, it was already five in the evening. We'd already eaten together earlier, and I'd finished all the housework, so…
Well. There was only one thing left to do. I immediately turned on the computer and prepared the notice.
[Lene] [Hello] [Talk | 713 viewers | 00:01:35]
“Ahem. Mm-hmm…”
I quietly cleared my throat while looking at the lively chat. This was only my second broadcast as VTuber Lene. And today I wasn't playing New Dimension. I'd never planned to play it as VTuber Lene anyway. Still, exactly as I'd announced beforehand, at six o'clock sharp I brought up my avatar and slowly opened my mouth.
“H-hello, everyone…”
“It's only my second broadcast, but I'm h-happy so many of you believers came…”
“Believer is the fan name I decided on during my debut broadcast last time…”
Why don't they remember? Sure, it's already been almost a week since the debut broadcast, but… I'd heard that fan names were pretty important in the VTuber world, so I thought they'd remember.
“Anyway, this is my second broadcast…”
…Huh?
“Um… I definitely said I would stream…?”
“No… I-I'm serious…”
I was confused because I couldn't understand why the believers were saying such things. After sending Bora and Tyuni off, I'd posted the broadcast notice almost immediately.
“No, everyone… l-look at this…”
Since our stories weren't matching up for some reason, I simply showed the believers clear evidence.
“I definitely posted it, right…?”