Chapter 27
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: The Gal Cup
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1.
Now you can eat food in virtual reality. This shit is insane; check out the pace of tech development.
First time hearing about a program like Flavor Link lmao prepared hard af
Was pretty fucking mind-blowing lololol
The singularity is really coming...!
But isn't it just acting? Looks super sus;
No way Elena has acting skills that good lol;
Fr lol
Right after the stream ended, the thing that grabbed everyone's attention the most was 'Flavor Link'. The very idea of eating food in virtual reality was mind-blowing.
Above all, the reason they were so hooked was the new possibilities it opened up.
VTubers have done cooking-related streams before, but they only showed up on monitors, and eating had to be shown separately. Doesn't this solve that???
Yeah, now they can do more than just games—cooking streams too?
That might be tough? Only Carrier seems able to dial it in that well;
(OP) Then have Carrier do it
Why would she? Unless she's starting a business or something, but she said she has no plans
It was insanely tasty lololol
Up until now, VTuber streams had always revolved around games or chit-chat. After all, there were real-world limitations.
But what if this added a whole new category like cooking streams? That would mean even more variety and fun.
Subbed to set up my fave's prefs lol just wait lololol
Sub fee is fucking pricey but look at that commitment lolol
Bought it too lololol gonna diet with this shit godsend lololol
Turn this into a business and you'd make bank??? Selling to the masses would print money???
Gonna buy it and try. Curious af what it's like
Some subbed for their faves, some for guilt-free gourmet, others for business potential, or just plain curiosity.
People bought Flavor Link with their own reasons and dreams in mind. They opened the settings window full of hope... and faced reality.
This is the Flavor Link sensory settings screen, and it's fucking overwhelming??? Total mess;
Look at all the types ffs lololol
All the words are so fucking obscure;
Can't even understand the Korean ones?
The English ones are next-level brainfuck lolol
Feels like terms straight out of a research paper...
They had to set up the senses, but even the names were unfamiliar. With Korean and English mixed in, it was even harder to grasp.
That much was fine. Even if the names were tough, auto-translate and search functions made it somewhat understandable.
Fucking hard to tweak these settings ffs; tweak by 0.1 and the sensation changes wildly, but some you crank to 5~10 and feel nothing lololol
Tweaking one by one right now but no clue what to do;
(OP) Money down the drain ffs
These posts have been flooding in lolol
A truckload of idiots who subbed to make their faves do cooking streams???
The biggest issue was fiddling with the sensory settings.
Everyone perceives stimuli differently, so the same values hit some hard while others barely felt a thing.
Since perceptions varied, sharing info didn't help much. No collective intelligence there.
Casualties piled up, and most gave up on sensory settings. A few were still trying, but not for long.
Disappointed they couldn't figure it out, people wondered if they'd have to ditch cooking streams altogether.
Can't tweak settings? Hand it to Carrier who can. She cooks well, tweaks well, so have her on your stream?
Ffs you a genius????
This dude's IQ over 100 ㄷㄷ
IQ over 100 is normal af;
Under 100 is abnormal???
So fucking smart lololol
Spot on???
Viewers clapped at the one bright idea. If you can't do it yourself, outsource it!
The excitement over reopened possibilities was short-lived. Everyone realized a massive problem.
Problem is Carrier's just one person. She said no business plans for Flavor Link, so collabs are the only option... but even that's limited, right?
Oh yeah???
Yeeep~~~~~~ Money solves everything~~
Fr lol
Time to break out the savings
1 mil won donation might do it?
Gal vibe rn says that's chump change lololol
Carrier being solo was the issue. Limited streamers she could handle.
Gal atm is getting spicy... something's brewing...
Gal Cup time after ages???
The losing fandom is the broke one, right???
Fr lol
All these fuckers gritting teeth rn
The gallery hit a whole new phase upon realizing this.
They'd banded together for the treasure of cooking streams, but now they were rivals.
VTubers even signaled interest directly or indirectly, heating up the rivalry even more.
Just skim the gal posts—eyes burning with donation intent. Wonder what happens when she goes live lol
Legal Gal Cup on lololol
But yeah I wanna try eating too yoy
Fans donating vs VTuber donating direct—shouldn't VTubers do it? They make more dough
Fan donos to Carrier or VTuber donos to Carrier—it's fan money either way lol they donate what viewers gave them lol
Checks out; genius ㄷㄷ
Countless streamers and viewers eagerly awaited her stream. Who'd win? No one knew. Not yet.
2.
The day after the collab with Elena. Right after breakfast, lounging on the sofa.
"Hayul. You know the community's blowing up because of you right now?"
My sister, sprawled next to me in the same pose, tossed it out casually. I paused my Shorts and sat up.
"Blowing up because of me? What the hell for?"
"That cooking stream yesterday must've been a shock. I was pretty surprised too. Didn't know you could taste so vividly in VR."
Her tone was calm, but I could sense a hint of tension.
"Sis. I told you to quit the communities. Bad for your mental health."
Why does someone with fragile nerves keep diving in? Community addiction?
"...I don't check often. Just peeked to see reactions from yesterday. Wouldn't have if it wasn't for you."
She said that, but her fingers were still moving. If I left her, she'd scroll forever, so I snatched the phone.
"Hey."
"Stop. Got it?"
"...Got it."
Sis pouted and grumbled.
"So what's the deal? Summarize."
"Long story short. You can recreate flavors in Flavor Link thanks to your mana and holy power, right?"
"Yeah. No clue how it works though."
Still don't. Probably never will.
"That's the key. After all sorts of tries overnight, everyone realized no one else can do it like you."
"And?"
"So all the Flavor Link hype shifted to you. Now it's a fight over who gets on your stream first. Turned into a fandom pride war."
"...For real?"
Instead of answering, Sis grabbed her phone back and showed me the screen.
The titles staring back made my head spin. A Gal Cup because of me?
"See?"
"...Yeah."
I let out a deep sigh.
'This isn't the stream I had in mind.'
I wanted chill vibes. People coming over, eating, laughing together.
"Whoever wins, it'll get noisy."
"Likely. Winners and losers divide up."
"Maybe take a stream break? Hype dies down over time."
"Cleanest fix, but it'd hurt Elena too. Even if hype fades, same shit when you stream again."
"True. So what now...?"
Lost in thought, I suddenly recalled how the Mage Tower Lord handled nobles and citizens.
"Sis. Got a great idea."
"What?"
I explained my plan. After hearing it all, she stared in shock.
"...You're fucking insane."
"I know."
I grinned.