Chapter 33: The end of living in a studio apartment! I’m moving to a better house!

After the Christmas stream ended.

I really wanted to take a day off and laze around, but my life just wouldn’t let me take it easy.

Because I was moving.

I was planning to move to a place closer to the company.

I’d saved up enough money through streaming, so it was about time to leave this neighborhood.

From the start, I’d chosen this area because it was cheap—even if the crime rate was bad.

Now that I had money, there was no reason to stay here anymore.

“Ah, please put the fridge over there.”

“Got it.”

The moving crew bustled around busily.

Almost everything had already been moved. Only a few things were left now.

After a few more trips by the movers, pretty much everything had been transferred to the new place.

To begin with, the only real luggage I had was my computer and fridge.

I lived alone, and I was a lazy slob, so of course I didn’t have much stuff. Still, seeing all my belongings fit into just three boxes surprised even me.

“Thanks for the help!”

“Yeah, thanks for everything~”

Anyway, the move ended earlier than expected.

Once the movers left, I started checking out the place I’d be living in from now on.

The overall layout was kind of like a “┬┬┤” shape.

A long hallway stretched from the front door, ending in the living room and kitchen, with rooms connected to the hallway on the right side.

Two rooms, a living room, and a kitchen—a typical Japanese-style 2LDK layout.

“This place is huge.”

It was on a whole different level compared to my old studio, where everything was crammed into a single room.

Just the fact that I had separate rooms now felt so weird.

So I guess I’ll have a bedroom, a living room, and a dedicated streaming room?

I should probably get a soundproof booth for the streaming room.

I got noise complaints in the last place for yelling too much during streams.

“Oh right, I should check the bathroom too.”

I headed straight to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

The walls and floor were covered in clean white tiles.

There was a bit of limescale, but the bathtub looked pretty clean overall.

And finally, the latest tech—a bidet-equipped toilet.

Is this… the bourgeois lifestyle?

With this level of cleanliness, not even a single gnat, let alone a cockroach, would dare show up.

After checking out the bathroom, I moved on to the other rooms.

The kitchen was also much cleaner compared to the one in my old place.

There weren’t any cooking tools, but the previous owner left a microwave behind, so I could probably cook simple meals.

Next, the two rooms along the hallway.

They were both empty for now, but I planned to use one as a streaming room and the other as a bedroom.

Probably best to use the one with curtains as the bedroom.

Nothing pisses me off more than waking up in the morning and getting blinded by sunlight.

Anyway.

My overall impression after touring the place?

“Holy sh*t, this is nice.”

Finally, a place that actually felt like a home.

I could really feel the fruits of my VTuber career piling up.

I’d probably start earning even more from now on.

Maybe in a year or two, I could move into a dream penthouse.

“…Let’s get the PC set up first.”

The movers handled it carefully, but I still needed to check everything and connect the LAN cable, power outlets, etc.

The computer was one of the most important things for streaming.

I couldn’t afford to overlook anything.

Thankfully, unlike last time, I didn’t have to assemble everything from scratch.

If I had, I probably would’ve had to call Rin for help, and things would’ve gotten way more complicated.

Might’ve needed two days off instead of one.

I pulled the computer out of the box, still wrapped tightly in bubble wrap and Styrofoam, and began setting it up under the desk.

Then I connected the plugs, LAN cable, HDMI cable, monitor, keyboard, camera, and so on.

Finally, I hit the power button and the Windows logo popped up on screen.

All my files were intact, and everything worked fine—it didn’t seem like the box had taken any damage during the move.

“Okay, the stream setup is basically done… Now what should I eat?”

Of course, moving day means jajangmyeon.

I didn’t eat it often, but at least on moving day, I wanted to have some.

And it had been a while since my last bowl anyway.

I opened the delivery app and ordered jajangmyeon, then walked out of the room into the living room.

Since I’d moved to a place with an actual living room, I figured I might as well eat there.

With a bigger place, I didn’t need to eat, sleep, and work all in one room anymore.

At least there was a table in the living room now—no more squatting on the floor like some hobo like I used to in my studio.

Plus, eating in the living room meant the jajangmyeon smell wouldn’t linger during my streams.

Ding-dong~!!

Soon, the doorbell rang.

I stepped outside and picked up the jajangmyeon from the delivery guy.

Glossy black sauce glistened over thick noodles.

The sweet scent of onions and the savory aroma of pork hit my nose and almost made me dizzy.

Gulp…

I swallowed hard and started unwrapping the bowl.

Some people cut the plastic with scissors or scrape it off with chopsticks, but I preferred to peel it up from the bottom.

Yeah, I know it’s a kinda loser way to do it… but hey, it’s the cleanest.

And no dishes to wash either.

Anyway, once the wrap was off, I split my disposable chopsticks and stirred the noodles thoroughly.

Then I grabbed a big clump and shoved it into my mouth.

Slurp…!!

The salty black bean sauce flowed across my tongue.

The umami from the pork and the sweetness of the onions exploded on my palate, leaving a rich, dark aftertaste.

Before that savory explosion could settle too much—

I popped a piece of danmuji (pickled radish) into my mouth.

Crunch!

The bright yellow tanginess melted into the deep umami, completely cleansing any greasy aftertaste.

“So goooood…”

I muttered with full cheeks as I stuffed more noodles into my mouth.

It was delicious.

And since it had been a while, it tasted even better.

If I had to rate it, I’d give it 2.5 Yuki-chan Michelin stars.

“But there’s no jjamppong broth…”

I guess since I only ordered a large bowl, there were no extras.

Would’ve been nice to get some fried dumplings or jjamppong broth too…

Especially dunking dumplings in that black sauce… that would’ve been…

…No. Resist.

Honestly, even ordering the large bowl was a lot.

If I binged like before and gained weight again, it’d be game over.

I’m not doing another hell Ring Fitness stream.

I did manage to get back to a healthy weight, thanks to that torture session…

But I really don’t want to go through that again.

Best not to gain weight in the first place.

“Still, I am finishing this jajangmyeon.”

If it’s delicious, it’s zero calories.

Besides, not eating jajangmyeon on moving day? Unthinkable.

Today’s a cheat day—starting tomorrow, I’ll go back to dieting.

Slurp!

Thus, I continued eating, comforting myself with rationalization.

---

A dark room filled with empty energy drink cans.

A girl with an unhealthy, scruffy appearance—despite her young looks—was sipping cup noodles in front of the only light source: her monitor.

Slurp…!

/Clatter!!! Gah…!!! I-Itaiyo… Beating up such a kawaii… kawaii onnanoko… so cruel…/

“Tsk… The subs are out of sync.”

The girl muttered as she clicked her mouse.

As the editing progressed, the sound effects and subtitles slowly fell into place.

Before long, what had been a plain stream clip transformed into a flashy highlight reel with smooth editing.

Well… calling that VTuber’s stream clips “plain” was a bit of a stretch.

[Uploading video…]

[Upload complete!]

[Yuki Gets Hit with a Poverty Punch on Christmas]
[GgoolkeunJjolmyeon · 0 views · 0 seconds ago]

The moment the video went up, notifications like comments began popping up at the top of NewTube.

But the girl who uploaded the clip didn’t seem to care.

She slurped up the last of her cup noodles and resumed editing.

No matter how people reacted, it wasn’t about her.

She knew that, and more than anything—she genuinely hoped “Yuki” would succeed.

Slurp…!

After finishing her cup noodles, the girl clicked her mouse again.

There were still tons of Christmas stream clips she hadn’t uploaded yet.

She wanted to finish editing them as soon as possible and share them with the world.

Click, tap-tap!

In that dark room, only the sound of mouse and keyboard echoed.

Her frizzy hair glowed orange under the light of the monitor.