Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Slip of the Tongue
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The boss was lost in thought without realizing it.
She figured the age gap between her and Hanami couldn't be that wide.
Even hearing "college student" hadn't made her picture someone in her early twenties.
Hanami had joked about being a senior, but to the boss, she seemed way older than twenty-three at least.
Deep down, she'd even wondered if they might be around the same age.
Sure, Hanami claimed to have started young, but picturing a little elementary school girl glued to this trash game? Impossible.
But nope. Twenty years old. Exactly twenty. Nineteen in international age.
So... just a few months ago, she was still in high school...?
"She's like an onion..."
No matter how many layers you peeled back, more kept coming.
"Why would I lie about something like that?"
"Then... how old were you when you started Odin's Son...?"
"Pretty much all through school. It's been my lifelong companion, you could say."
Lies, we muttered inwardly.
A little elementary school girl clutching this trash game instead of a magic wand?
That... that couldn't possibly happen, right?
"From Thor onward as a kid?"
"Yep."
"A ten-year-old girl?"
"Well... yeah."
No matter how many times she asked, the answer was always a firm "no joke."
Yuuri muttered, feeling like she'd used up her daily quota of bewilderment.
"Are you for real some mythical creature?"
"I've heard 'rare breed' a lot."
Yuuri chugged her coffee.
Fueled by caffeine, her dizzy head started to settle.
Yeah. No point overthinking it. Just roll with it.
...The more I look, the more I want her.
"If you don't believe me, what're you gonna do about it? I was born in '01. Sue me."
"It's not a trash game. It's a god game."
She really was a natural streamer.
Even with the room owner at a loss for words, she kept the energy up with nonstop chatter. That unflappability was something else.
And such a smooth talker too.
Great voice, crisp diction—it hooked you right in.
Whatever else, that hype and banter? Pure talent.
My mouth was itching.
Test the waters, lay the groundwork, just go for it—that urge.
Shove the headache aside and blurt, "Join my crew!!"
It stung that it couldn't happen.
Right. Had to stick to the meeting plan.
The staff had drilled it in before the collab even started.
Damn. She knew. Those guys had nagged her ears bloody.
No chance for that, sadly.
Hanami handled it so smoothly, making their worries look silly.
Even tossing in icebreakers midway.
Though maybe she wasn't totally relaxed.
She did ramble on with too much info sometimes, like she was filling dead air from pressure.
Yuuri knew that feeling from her own trainee days.
"Right, Glitchless takes the main route, so it's longer. Normally you'd light three torches with Hellfire, but looping three hells..."
Or maybe not?
Just having fun?
"Midgard to Muspelheim travel eats up time. In speedruns, transit is a huge chunk..."
"For real? That's how I sound?"
Jincheol was definitely hyped.
Normally, dumping trivia got him "Wtf otaku" glares.
But here, everything got positive vibes, so his pent-up chatter exploded.
Was this the magic of streaming?
Instant reactions made it fun, egging her on to talk more.
Gallery posts were too blatant, itchy like a rash, but the moderated chat was nicer.
"Collab deserves more than 40 minutes, right?"
"Wanna chat more with me?"
"Pffft. Alright then, straight into Glitchless!!"
The new speedrun with a fresh character flowed in a calmer vibe.
No shocking moments this time.
Relatively speaking, of course.
The unreal part stayed unreal.
She parried berserker axes with her blade, rolled past Valkyrie arrows.
Plenty unreal on its own.
Seemed like she was chatting at the screen without looking—no mistakes.
Not even close; it was so smooth, talk flowed free.
Nothing topped the flying scene for impact.
The stream mellowed into cozy interaction mode.
That was why Jincheol picked speedrun for collab content.
For him, it was breathing-easy familiar.
Arena queues dragged, so he'd warm up with these.
"Sis's voice is the best~ Thanks for 10k, TteokBurgerPlz~ Get outta here~"
"Now you're modding too? Taking over my stream?"
"All that cash goes to the boss's wallet, no?"
"Ow. Talking about our sis."
"No escape hatch?"
"Nooo. Don't put it like that."
Yuuri hung back, cheering inwardly.
Broadcast time was short anyway—perfect moment to bring it up.
Chat was hyping it for her. Grateful.
"Glitchless still takes a while, yeah?"
"Mm. Won't hit three hours though."
"Already halfway done?"
"Mm... busy with college entrance exams?"
"What."
"Guess so? College and all... whoops. Close call."
Jincheol and Jimin both got into Seoul unis, so grades weren't bad...
But with that scary face, no doxxing. Bad feeling it'd blow up with contacts from acquaintances.
"Interrogation much? Almost fell for it."
"What close? Noted your IDs. Ban next time."
"Close one... VTubers aren't sensitive about that stuff?"
"Nah, our room's chill 'cause of past lives... You know past lives?"
"OurTV... mffh."
"You really know...? How?"
"...Who's your fave?"
"No real oshi... but I've seen some Kirinuki clips."
"You know oshi? And Kirinuki...?"
Yuuri touched her tingling lips.
She'd tossed out VTuber talk on a whim, and got an unreal response.
Flirting? Teasing?
Confess?
She swallowed the words bubbling up her throat.
Probably just flirting, but inner Hanami talked her down.
Let's see. Prepped questions...
Planned ones were useless.
Career worries? She's a freshman.
VTuber knowledge? Knows Kirinuki.
Next up then...
Yuuri brainstormed questions.
Scrap those, ask about streaming instead?
Like... for example?
"Wanna debut at our company?"
...Huh?
Did that just come out?
Shit. Fucked up.
Yuuri stared blankly at chat in her daze.
Chaos.
Words she'd gulped down to hide.
Slipped out in the confusion.
Doom hit the second she said it.
As she panicked over damage control...
An unimaginable reply came.
"...Shall I? Contract now?"
Eh?