Chapter 5: Debut Broadcast (2)

“Human, what are you doing? Step aside.”

“…Haha.”

“Do you know how painful it is to just watch when energy is swirling right in front of you? Ugh…”

After announcing my return through the debut broadcast, I sat quietly, staring at the monitor for a while, when suddenly, the strange creature beside me prodded my side with its tentacle, urging me to hurry up.

Well, calling it a strange creature now might be a bit off, huh?

From today, it’s Minater Shia.

That will be her name.

Since I gave her the name, I suppose I should call her that as well.

“Alright, then let’s slowly…”

With those thoughts in mind, I stood up from my chair and gave my seat to Shia.

Click.

I finally changed the broadcast screen to a 3D modeling screen.

“Uhehehe…”

With a sinister smile, Shia, who had been waiting, sat down in the chair and began humming a tune.

Was she really that hungry for energy?

Well, from her perspective, it was like a feast unfolding in front of her after days of starvation, so I guess it makes sense.

“Wherever you go, human.”

“Huh?”

I was about to leave the soundproof booth, intending not to disturb her ‘meal,’ when suddenly, a tentacle wrapped around my waist.

“Stay by my side.”

“……?”

“The first apostle is always supposed to be by my side.”

Saying that, why did she naturally wrap her tentacle around my head again?

Every time this happens, it feels like my brain is being sucked dry, and it’s not a pleasant sensation.

“Hmm, hmm.”

Of course, it had to be linked with my memory to be able to handle situations in case of emergency, so I silently crawled under the computer table.

By the way, the soundproof booth was quite small, so it was the only available position.

Anyway, now it begins.

After all, there’s nothing more important than the first debut broadcast to the viewers, so I need to focus…

“Greetings, the most inferior beings from the dimension.”

Wait, what did she just say?

“If you obediently offer up your life force, I’ll absorb it as painlessly as possible.”

Suddenly, Shia said something completely different from the script that had been prepared, and as I stared up at her in confusion, I sighed while holding my head.

“…Hmm.”

Well, for now, this can still be considered part of the concept.

As long as she doesn’t make any more slip-ups…

“What are you doing? Give me the money, you bastards.”

Hmm, I think I’m in trouble.

[1000 KRW donation!: Yep]

[12000 KRW donation!: What kind of herbivore is this?]

[50000 KRW donation!: Yeah, yeah, please save me]

I thought so, but why do these bastards seem to like it?

***

“Alright, looks like we’ve got some promising ones already.”

Shia, who was watching the donations pour in just one minute into the stream, gave a cold smile and spoke again.

“But it’s still not enough. No introductions until you reach 1 million in this country’s currency.”

-?

-What?

-This is too much…

“Come on, inferior beings. Hurry up and give me your energy…”

Of course, this wasn’t in the script, but her eyes had already turned.

More accurately, it was because she could feel the energy accumulating in her body with every donation.

[Stick to the script, please.]

However, the message from Haru’s admin in the chat room put a stop to her antics.

“Human… is this rebellion?”

[According to the contract, I’m the superior, so stop acting up.]

Shia, who had tried to growl and resist, soon turned dejected at the merciless message and shifted her gaze to the humans in the chat.

“It seems I picked the wrong first apostle. From now on, I’ll be recruiting someone to be my true apostle, not this weakling.”

“……”

“By the way, I’ll take you in for just 100,000 won. Haha, I’m sure you all know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… Ugh!”

She tried her best to milk the donations as much as possible, but her defiance came to an end when Haru, under the desk, lightly pinched her thigh.

-“But isn’t this getting a bit too tangled? If a dating rumor pops up, that’d be a problem…”

-“Ugh, Haru… That guy went to counseling for women’s phobia after that incident…”

-“At least it seems like there won’t be any major misunderstandings.”

Meanwhile, the chatroom was buzzing with discussions about Haru, who had been mentioned in the admin message.

Despite the taboo of a male involvement in a VTuber broadcast, the public had already fully sided with him.

“…Let me introduce myself.”

After the chat quieted down a bit, Shia’s tone became noticeably gloomy as she started her self-introduction, reading it out as if from a textbook.

[Name: Minater Shia.]

“This is the name my first apostle offered to me. It is a name that bound me to this dimension, and at the same time, turned me from a high-dimensional life form into an inferior being.”

-“Oh, so that’s the concept?”

-“I saw it in the video earlier, haha.”

-“The name is pretty.”

Then, swiftly scanning the chat (not just with her eyes, but also with the eyes emerging from the tentacles she pulled from her shoulders), Shia opened a memo and began to explain the meaning of the name that Haru had told her about.

“By the way, when you change it like this, heh. I believe those who know the noble meaning will understand.”

-“Termina? Termina? Termina?”

-“The Termina festival is cominggg!!!”

“Are these bratty kids acting up again? Back in my day, it was all about X…”

And from that moment, a conversation started in the chat that Shia didn’t understand.

“Why are you all talking about something only you know? Can someone explain to me… huh?”

For a moment, Shia was puzzled by the strange topic, but as the phrase on her self-introduction screen suddenly changed, her gaze, including her tentacles, quickly returned to the screen.

[Age: ???]

“Hmm, age. Age…”

After tilting her head for a moment, Shia cheerfully replied,

“I’m 0 years old.”

-What?

-???

-Is this?

-Just kidding haha

-Just kidding haha, this is too fresh…

As the chat speed rapidly increased, Shia, once again leisurely reading the messages with her tentacles, suddenly seemed to find one that amused her.

She let out a sly laugh and spoke up.

“Of course it’s fresh. I’m just a few days old, a very fresh being.”

Some of the following chats were quickly blocked by Haru, so thankfully Shia couldn’t read them.

If she had, the number of missing persons in Korea that night would have likely increased.

[Things I like or hobbies]

“Hobbies… My hobby is eating.”

After the small mishap passed, Shia quietly licked her lips as she read the next self-introduction keyword and started talking.

“By the way, my favorite food is humans. They’re the easiest prey to hunt and taste great.”

-“Huh?”

-TF

-“Hmm… I guess I’ll have to start washing up before going out from now on…”

As soon as the speed at which the chat window was scrolling down increased, Shia, who was excited by the change, brought up a topic that was a little different from what the viewers had been talking about.

“Normally, when I eat, I wrap my tentacles around it and slowly melt it… Ugh, how am I supposed to introduce myself if I can’t even talk about stuff like this?”

But she was immediately stopped by Haru, who was under the desk, and muttered under her breath in a voice full of dissatisfaction.

“Well, don’t worry. You guys will all be in my belly soon enough anyway. No need to compete.”

Seeing the lines of people in the chat who seemed eager to be fed, she licked her lips slightly and continued her conversation.

[Fan Name]

“Fan name is ‘Inferior Species.’ Nice to meet you, Inferior species.”

 ᆞ”Hey, am I inferior???”

 ・”Hehe, please insult me more…”

 ・”Hello, inferior ones~”

With her typical smirking expression, Shia observed the viewers who were being insulted by her, and suddenly, feeling a strange aura under the desk, quickly changed her words.

“…Just kidding. The fan name will be decided through a contest, so please participate a lot. Say that.”

 -?

 -“Another stream accident?”

-“Ah, damn script, hahaha”

“No, it’s not that. Tsk, if it’s the script, it should just have the lines written…”

Then, she accidentally read the entire script aloud, and soon after, she glared at the desk below her and extended her tentacles downwards.

“…Eek.”

With her slightly reddened tentacles, she eventually subdued the suppressant under the desk, and when she saw the last keyword that appeared on the monitor, she frowned and moved the mouse.

[Future Resolve]

“I really can’t stand this.”

And right after that.

The chat room, which had started moving the fastest since the broadcast began.

“I’ll eat all of you up, my lovely prey.”

· The avatar’s out!

-Wow, it looks really well done, haha!

As expected, Haru’s skills are still top-notch, huh?

-Wow, those shimmering tentacles are insane…

-I really want to have those tentacles wrap around me… haha.

Naturally, the 3D avatar, which was the result of Sky’s (Haru’s) full effort, who is affectionately known as “Papa of All,” appeared in front of everyone.

It had an insane level of quality.

By the way, although it hasn’t been revealed yet since Shia isn’t used to it, it includes features like tentacles that can be extended and wrapped around the background, or the color and amount of smoke that rises from the body changing depending on the emotions… and many other cutting-edge technologies.

“And to all those pathetic VTubers who are trembling behind the scenes because of my appearance. You all…”

-Huh?

-Oh my god…

-This might cause some controversy, huh?

-Hey, hey, hey!

-Haru, shut them up, please… 😢

Of course, before that feature could even be revealed, due to the risky comments that Shia started to make, Haru, who was under the desk, had to urgently pull out a backup mouse and stop the stream.

“Wow, thank you for the 100k donation!”

Just at the right moment, right after Shia, who had been spitting out words with a deadly glare, reacted with wide eyes and honey-dripping excitement to the first big donation.

[The stream has ended.]

-Wait, is this really the end of the stream? Hahaha!

-What was that high-pitched sound just now?

-Eyes goin’ all round is fckin’ adorable kekeke

– Nah, the stiff-ass tentacles next to it were cuter tbh….

-Lmao money really out here makin’ aliens do aegyo……

-Fr tho, that combo w/ aegyo kinda hits diff……

– U pathetic worm btches rly enjoy bein’ called inferior while payin’ up on time?

– Bro take off that [Donor] tag first then talk……

And even after the stream ended, the chat kept scrolling nonstop like a damn avalanche.

“Heheh, human. Already made 2.5 mil KRW~”

“……”

“Earning 2.5 million won in just 30 minutes… Being a VTuber is such a happy job.”

Right after the broadcast ended, finally freed from her restraints, I crawled out from under the desk and quietly sighed as I watched Shia, who was grinning for some reason, looking proud of herself.

“…I hope you continue thinking like this for a thousand years.”

“…Mm, I’ll keep that in mind.”

But somehow, her tone sounded cuter than usual. Well, I guess it’s not so bad this way?

Even though there were a few slip-ups during the broadcast, in the end, that’s not what really
matters.

[<LIVE> Minater Shia Debut Stream]

[Views: 970k] [Comments: 1.2k]

In this industry, buzz is essentially the definition of success, the truth.

So, from that perspective, I’d say it was a very successful debut broadcast.

-Ziiing…

 However, there is one problem.

-Ziiing…

From earlier, a massive flood of messages, both work emails and chats, has been pouring in from all over the place.

-Thud thud thud thud thud!

Actually, now that I think about it, it seems the problem isn’t just that one thing.

-Hey, you’re in there, right? Open the door, okay?

-Aren’t you being good? Just like always, you’re going to open it for me today, right? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

As soon as I stepped out of the soundproof booth, I realized that my childhood friend and popular VTuber, Yoo Haneul, was banging on the front door as if she was going to break it down.

Hmm?

But, it seemed like the biggest problem was something else.

“Who’s there?”

“…I’m not sure.”

“…Haha.”

After finishing her energy feast through the broadcast, the now-rejuvenated and satisfied Haneul began making a curious expression behind me, looking for a place to release her energy.

“She seems like someone with a screw loose, just ignore her…”

-“If you don’t want to see the door get smashed like last time, open the door, Lua.”

“…Shit.”