Guerrilla Collab and Horror Game Selection

The sound of a vacuum cleaner echoed through the house for our guerrilla collab. Rion's overtime shifts had become frequent lately, making it hard to run the vacuum. It would be a nuisance to the neighbors if we did it late at night. So Sora was handling the cleaning during the day.

"…What on earth did you come here for?" I asked, resting my chin on my hand.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you over the vacuum."

"I asked why you came to my house."

"You said you were struggling because housework was piling up," Sora replied matter-of-factly.

I couldn't help but sigh. Even someone like me who enjoys being waited on found this situation unnatural. Who in the world actively tries to clean someone else's house?

"…You told me to show sincerity," Sora muttered, unable to meet my gaze.

"I never said it like that."

"You said something with a similar nuance, though."

"Let's leave it at that. So?"

"…I felt a bit guilty." Sora turned off the vacuum. "Didn't you get paid for teaching Anna-senpai?"

"Did Anna say that?"

"She didn't say it directly. But when I watched her casual streams, I could sense it indirectly."

I found out later that Anna had said something like "Lora's an expensive woman!" on stream. On top of that, my appearance on Anna's stream happened before I became a VTuber. Viewers had already speculated that I must have received an appearance fee.

"But I'm receiving lessons for free."

"That's true."

"So I thought I should at least do this much."

"Honestly, it's a bit much. You went too far."

"…I know. And I also wanted to hang out at a friend's house while I was at it, so can you not make a big deal out of it?" With that, Sora turned the vacuum back on. Then, as if remembering something, she switched it off again after just one second. "Did you eat breakfast? If you want something, just say so."

"Hmm… Will this setting work?" Sora muttered as she set up her phone. We EYEAI VTubers each have two phones. One is our personal device, and the other is equipment provided by the company. Surprisingly, it uses the phone's camera for tracking.

"What's so surprising about it? VTuber history started with app companies in the first place." Sora moved her body lightly while looking at her phone. The avatar on the monitor screen moved accordingly. "There used to be 3D VTubers called the 'Four Heavenly Kings.' Once they succeeded, an app was developed so 'anyone could become a VTuber.'"

And that app was for tracking live 2D models. At the time, the app's performance was quite poor, causing uncanny valley effects like eyes moving grotesquely. But as time passed, the technology improved. Now it's advanced enough to track even the subtlest facial expressions. Because of this, using a phone app for tracking has many advantages over a webcam.

With a webcam, you obviously have to store the avatar data on your PC. That might be fine if you're only streaming from home, but VTubers often stream from various locations. When participating in ads or events, you have to go to the event venue, and sometimes you need to stream from the company studio. Rather than emailing avatar data every time, it's more convenient to store it on your phone and carry it around. The phone app is also superior in terms of ease of avatar manipulation and other aspects. That's why corporate VTubers like us generally use phones as tracking equipment.

"That's an interesting story. So, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then start the stream."

"…I had a feeling you'd say that." Sora pressed the start button without complaint, looking exasperated.

"……" Sora glanced at me. I tilted my head at her gaze.

"Why are you looking at me like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that?"

"…Aren't you going to do an opening line?"

"An opening line? Like Rion's 'nyanyanyang'?"

"Yeah, something like that. I need to say something too, so you should greet them first."

Sora seemed to want to address the viewers. I never set any opening line, though.

"You didn't decide on one? Then what are 'greetings' or 'good morning'?"

"That's just what the viewers say on their own."

"So you're not even doing a self-introduction…?" I nodded. I learned later that VTuber streams have an unspoken format. For example, Nekozuka Rion's "Nyanyanyang! I'm Nekomimi Princess from Cat Planet, VTuber Nekozuka Rion-nyan!" style opening. It seems common among VTubers to say a unique greeting like "nyanyanyang!" followed by a self-introduction like "I'm Nekomimi Princess from Cat Planet, VTuber Nekozuka Rion-nyan!"

I heard Sora also has an opening like "Ahem, mic test. Can you hear me? I'm Ayanokouji Sora, the bard VTuber from EYEAI's 6th generation~" And even Chell starts her streams with "Hello. I'm Chell Sumeragi from EYEAI's 6th generation. Nice to meet you."

I don't have one. After all, "Isn't it a bit embarrassing?" What was Rion thinking when she came up with that opening line? Even I, a noble lady, couldn't bring myself to say something like that.

"Are we really starting the stream like this? No opening line, no self-introduction, no guest introduction…?"

"We've already started, so what can we do? As the stream title says, Sora came to my house. We're going to decide on a game to play together, but actually, I've already chosen the game."

"It's not Labyrinthos. Sora probably wants Labyrinthos, right?"

"…That's true." Sora nodded slightly. "The tournament is only two weeks away now. I thought we needed to practice even more."

"I saw a stream recently where another VTuber was playing mahjong. A pro ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mahjong player appeared as a guest and said something like this while teaching: 'Playing one thoughtful game of mahjong is much more helpful than playing a hundred games without thinking.'"

Just increasing playtime doesn't necessarily help. Especially in Sora's case. Her lack of physical skill is a secondary issue. Since everyone in this tournament is Gold rank or below anyway, mediocre physical ability might not matter much. The bigger problem is that her playstyle is more emotional than rational. She gets swept up in situations easily, and because her heart races ahead, her teammates can't keep up. This isn't something you can fix just by playing more games.

"Then what should I do?"

"How about learning how to stay calm first? That's why I prepared these games." I displayed the game list on screen.

Party Play Time 1&2&3

In Last 1&2&3

Teddy's Pizza Shop series

Alien: Isolation

Biotic Hazard RE: series

Biotic Hazard 7&8

Darkness Deception series

"Pick one."