Chapter 129: What’s that voice…

Morllu’s stream would start at the usual time, without any warning, just like always.

Between 9 and 10 p.m., just like always.

As usual. Like always.

All these phrases never really suited Morllu’s streams — until now.

Her irregular, scattered streaming schedule had somehow become regular.

On days when nothing special was going on, her stream would reliably start around this time.

That’s why viewers would start gathering in Morllu’s offline chatroom around 8:30.

They’d chat among themselves or spam the chat with emotes of banging on a door.

It was like a form of protest, telling the room’s owner to hurry up and start the show.

Of course, that didn’t actually do anything.

Even if they flooded the chat in a room the streamer wasn’t even watching, it was nothing more than a silent scream.

It had no real effect — just something that, at best, came off as cute or, at worst, a bit pitiful to others.

The more dedicated fans would sometimes start waiting as early as 7.

Sometimes, even when the stream didn’t start at all, or after it had already ended, they’d stick around, just in case any message popped up — on standby, 24/7.

“If you come at four in the afternoon, I’ll begin to be happy at three.” — the fox from The Little Prince.

But Morllu’s viewers went even beyond that.

If there was even a vague notice that there might be a stream that day — even without a specific time mentioned — they’d wait the whole day from the moment they saw it.

Even without any notice, they’d keep spinning up hope circuits in their heads, waiting for a streamer who might or might not show up.

Are they truly happy, like the fox from the fairy tale?

If they waited, and the stream came, and that wait was rewarded — maybe then, they were happy.

But what if nothing came at the end of the wait?

Would they still say they were happy, even after enduring a wait with no reward?

No one knew for sure.

Some may have genuinely enjoyed the wait itself and turned it into a positive experience.

Others may have built up massive expectations only to turn bitter when the stream never started.

Even so, you couldn’t deny the passion behind their immersion in something they cared about.

And that, in turn, meant Morllu herself was an incredible streamer — capable of receiving all that passion.

To carry the weight of 10,000 to 30,000 people — that’s no easy task.

There’s a reason public figures talk about depression and panic attacks.

They’re under unique pressure and suffer from baseless hate.

That’s the reality of professions that live off the attention of others.

In that sense, it wouldn’t be wrong to call Morllu an exceptional streamer.

She displayed increasingly impressive streaming skills with each passing day and satisfied her audience as a full-fledged entertainer.

Despite the growing number of viewers, she never seemed crushed by the pressure or burned out.

In fact, according to her earliest fans — the so-called “founding members” — she appeared noticeably brighter than during her debut.

Morllu was simply leading her stream in her own outlandish, unpredictable way.

Today was no different.

At the oddly specific time of 9:47 p.m., she appeared — using a virtual avatar she hadn’t brought out in a while.

The reaction had never been particularly good.

And now that she’d revealed her real face and gained more followers in the meantime — well, things were even worse.

[Ugh ㅡㅡ get this flat face off the screen]

[Is this person a VTuber now?? Why the avatar]

[VTuber Morllu is backkkkkkk]

[Wasn’t this a cam girl stream?]

[What is this even]

[LMAO is this a comeback or what lololol]

[Did the streamer dye her hair?]

[It’s natural blonde~]

[Why use an avatar when you’ve got a pretty face…]

[I seriously don’t get it]

[Please understand, new viewers ^^ this is her usual nonsense]

[I liked it better when she always had the cam on 😭 why VTuber mode all of a sudden]

[Cam on cam on cam on cam on cam on]

Naturally, the response wasn’t great.

A tiny portion applauded the unusual move, but really — just a tiny portion.

It was a matter of viewer preferences.

Morllu’s streams had never really aligned with this kind of content.

People had pushed back the first time too, and nothing had changed since.

She hadn’t consistently pursued the VTuber angle, so neither old nor new viewers were used to this version of her.

But Morllu wasn’t the kind of person who acted based on viewer reactions.

That’s not to say she ignored them — she did react, but she wasn’t swayed by them.

Today was no different.

Her character swayed side to side in response to her movements.

Her eyes turned to the chat, and a soft laugh leaked out past the mic.

“If everyone’s enjoying it this much, I guess it was worth bringing out the avatar.”

With a deflating chuckle, her character’s eyes curved into a soft smile.

It was the kind of action that really made you want to say “I’m losing my mind from this” — in the most affectionate way.

The chat blew up with similar reactions.

Stop messing around, this looks like you’re enjoying it, I seriously wanna smack you right now, etc.

Messages like these hadn’t been seen on her stream in quite some time.

Morllu had done nothing different from her usual style — so why was the outcome so different this time?

It was the absence of the camera that used to show her face, that subtle force which had made her audience sweeten up whether they liked it or not.

However, Morllu had the ability to make her viewers sweet again, even without turning on the camera.

“…Was it really that bad? Should I put this away and turn the cam back on?”

The blonde anime girl bowed her head with a sulky expression.

It looked so natural and suited her voice so well that viewers were momentarily flustered and flooded the chat.

[Huh…?]
[Why is that cute]
[This is a VTuber? This is a VTuber? This is a VTuber? This is a VTuber?]
[Morllu acting cute… now that’s rare]
[Who are you]
[VTubing might not be so bad after all]
[Everyone snap out of it! It’s a resonance trap!]

Morllu was a very dry and emotionless streamer.

Even when she received donations, there were no special reactions like in other streams — just a slight raise in voice at most.

People who were drawn in by her pretty face often left disappointed by her lack of cute reactions.

Morllu was never really a camgirl, nor did she ever try to encourage donations — but people are naturally inclined to set up their own expectations and be disappointed when those expectations aren’t met.

Even existing viewers, while mocking those people, secretly hoped for the same.

And just now, those hopes — ones that had seemed hopeless — had come true in the most unexpected way.

It’s no wonder the viewers’ mood suddenly shot up like a rollercoaster.

“Ugh… this is more embarrassing than I thought. I figured I’d be fine since you can’t see my face… but if the cam were on, I couldn’t have done it at all.”

The sulky expression was just a function of the avatar.

All Morllu actually did was lower her head and speak in a dejected voice.

The viewers knew this, but even that was more than enough.

“I learned a few things from J. Apparently these are essential VTuber skills or whatever.”

[Essential skills indeed, yep, agreed]
[Hail J]
[GOAT]
[Who’s J?]
[Starting today, I declare J our number one flair icon]
[Rita, please step aside]
[VTubing is the future]
[We on the Morllu gallery now officially declare full allegiance to VTuber ‘J’]
[Wakkyafya]

The viewers’ opinion of J improved as a bonus.

“There are a few more tricks, but I don’t think I can show them all today…”

[Show us]
[Please show us]
[Lol this channel is thriving]
[Her teasing game is next-level]
[God-tier push-and-pull skills]

“But instead, I have something else prepared.”

The sound of keyboard clacks echoed, and then something changed.

The viewers quickly noticed the shift.

– Morllu has gone live!
‘Singing Stream’

[Singing? Singing? Singing? Singing? Singing? Singing?]
[Did the streamer eat something weird? Why the sudden change?]
[I’m seriously worried lolol but I love it]
[Singing stream whaaaatttttttttttttt]
[No way there are newcomers missing this live, right?]
[This won’t even be available for replay!]
[This is too sweet… my teeth hurt…]

“Don’t expect too much, everyone… just think of it like you’re tuning into a random local broadcast.”

When Morllu was worrying about not being good at singing, J had sent her a few videos.

They were clips of other VTubers singing — and objectively, none of them were very good.

That gave Morllu a small sense of courage.

And now, that courage was about to bear fruit.

[Let’s goooo~]
[Hurry hurry]
[I’m so hyped right now]

With the viewers urging her on, the intro music began to play — and at last, Morllu’s singing began.