Chapter 7: First Regular Stream

“Heee…”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

It was the day after the debut stream ended and the uninvited guest—no, Yoo Haneul—had torn through the house.

“Hehehe…”

“Shia?”

Rubbing my eyes as I got out of bed, I frowned at the sight of Shia, her eyes bloodshot like she’d been up all night, giggling in front of the PC inside the soundproof booth.

“……”

But Shia was completely entranced by the monitor, totally unresponsive.

“I said, what are you doing?”

“…Ah.”

I stepped in front of her and glanced at the screen, which was still connected to her tentacles—and immediately furrowed my brows.

[Female Octopus Mounts Male Octopus]

Typical short-form background music played as octopuses tangled together in an affectionate embrace on the screen.

“…What exactly were you watching?”

“I-I don’t know. I just kept scrolling down and that came up.”

“…Haa.”

Some of her tentacles looked suspiciously stiff, but hey—interdimensional beings have their privacy too, so I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen anything.

“Don’t look at me like that, human. This is purely for information gathering…”

“Got it, got it.”

“…You’re looking at me with impure eyes. How dare a mere Apostle…”

Suddenly glaring at me for no clear reason, Shia snapped back in a sulky tone.

“You couldn’t possibly imagine how revered I once was across dimensions. I had countless followers…”

“…And now you’re a VTuber.”

“…Yeah, well, that’s true…”

Watching her immediately deflate at my comeback, I found myself wondering about something.

“But seriously, did streaming help at all? With recovering your power, I mean.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I mean your strength. Has it come back?”

Her debut stream had already surpassed a million views and was still climbing. 

And the donation count wasn’t small either.

But Shia didn’t seem much different from when we first met.

“Of course it helped. How can you even ask that?”

“…You don’t look any different.”

“My outward appearance hasn’t changed, sure. But the power building up inside me is what matters.”

“Could you explain that in a little more detail?”

As I cautiously asked, Shia finally peeled her tentacles off the monitor, turned around, and began explaining with a smug smile.

“Let’s say your childhood friend, for example—she probably receives magical energy every time her view count rises or she gets a donation.”

“In a world that values martial arts and harmony, she’d receive inner energy. In a world of heroes and villains, it might be some kind of supernatural power.”

“…Really?”

“Of course, if someone’s strong enough to challenge me, then the benefits of virtual streaming won’t stop there. But for now, that’s all I know.”

She was explaining quite seriously, but most of it was what I’d already guessed.

Still, it was worth noting that there may be additional, unknown benefits to virtual streaming that even Shia hadn’t figured out yet.

“So then, what kind of energy did you get from your stream, Shia? Is it something like mana or inner energy? Or a special supernatural ability?”

“…Are you serious?”

As I followed up with one more question, a wide, gleeful grin spread across Shia’s face.

“You want me to show you my power here?”

“…Nope. Whatever it is, please refrain.”

I didn’t know what she was planning, but based on what I’d learned so far, whenever Shia smiled like that, you had to be on full alert.

“A wise decision, human. I’ll show you my true power one day—when the time is right, in a very quiet, secluded place.”

Judging by what she said next, I had clearly made the right call.

“Anyway, what I felt from that ‘first stream’ was…”

“…So you’re saying we need to get as many views and donations as possible.”

“Exactly. Now, get on with that ‘collab’ thing.”

Wiping a bit of cold sweat, I was relieved the topic had shifted back to streaming, so I let out a small sigh of relief.

“Nope.”

“Good, then—huh?”

“It’s too early, no matter how you look at it.”

Shia gave me a dumbfounded look.

“Didn’t you say it was fine before? That I’m the only one in the first gen?”

“Still, doing a collab as the next stream right after your debut would make us rely too much on other fanbases. Let’s build a minimum base on our own first.”

“Hmm… Is that so…?”

She might be disappointed, but letting success get to her head this early would be a huge mistake.

Especially when the streamer in question is an interdimensional entity. 

First, we needed to build solid foundations and grow her streaming abilities.

“I’m hungry.”

“Not today. I almost got hospitalized from anemia yesterday while sleeping.”

“I’ll nibble gently this time.”

“Don’t even dream about it.”

Throwing that warning, I took a step back to avoid the tentacle inching toward me and frowned.

“I might be fine, but the tentacles need to be fed properly.”

“Can’t you recover energy with normal food?”

“Well, if I eat a living organism…”

“Forget it, just start the stream.”

“I’d even settle for a stray cat or mouse…”

“Start. The. Stream.”

Barely dodging the crisis of becoming her personal breeder, I finally succeeded in redirecting Shia’s attention from me to the monitor.

“So, have you decided what the stream will be about?”

“Hehehe… Worry not.”

Before her first regular stream, I’d given Shia one small mission—choose her own topic.

Sure, I could’ve decided for her and ensured a smooth stream, but I was only here to support.

If I started interfering in everything, she’d just become more dependent on me.

So I wanted her to start learning to make small decisions on her own.

“This mighty being has come up with a truly astonishing idea.”

“And that is…?”

“A method that allows for both acquiring information and enjoying a meal at the same time.”

Her confident smile gave me a weird sense of unease.

“Just watch and be amazed. Huhu.”

…Is this really going to be okay?

***

Five minutes later, on the notification board of Minater Shia’s livestream channel:

-The notice is up?!

-TENTACLE NOONA IS BACK!!!!

-Thumbs up if you’ve been refreshing all day lol

-I wanna be dominated by Shia…

After her flashy and provocative debut, a core audience had already started forming, and they rushed to spread the word the moment the stream notification dropped.

-Wait, what’s with that title?

-Huh?

-What the heck?

But soon after, as they actually read the content of the notice, confusion started to spread.

[Stream Notice: VID-DAY]




[Today, I shall observe video donations.]

-???

-LMAO what is this?

-Her first regular stream is a video react/chat?

-That’s… kind of a bold move lol

At first, most reacted with curious amusement at the announcement from the newbie VTuber on her second day.

But then came the final line of the notice:

[Submit the most stimulating and entertaining clips that may assist in this being’s conquest of your world.]

And then… a different group began to stir.

-Oh boy… it begins.

-She’s joking, right?

-Lmao okay, this should be fun

-If you’re already pasting links in notepad, thumbs up LOL

Regardless of whether they were VTubers or regular streamers, none could escape the coming judgment.

The eldritch watchers stirred at the combination of the keywords “video donation” and “stimulating.”

***

“Think about it. I get to react to donated videos. I gain information, I get a meal, and I make money. Isn’t that genius?”

“…Haha. If you say so.”

“Silence! Just sit back and witness my genius unfold.”

Right before going live, Shia proudly explained her plan to Haru with a smug grin, licking her lips in anticipation.

But reality never quite works out the way you imagine.

And even Shia, now a lowly VTuber after being named, couldn’t escape that universal truth.

“H-Human…”

“…Ugh.”

Exactly 30 minutes into the stream, Shia shut off the mic with trembling hands and looked over at Haru with wide, terrified eyes.

“H-hug me, please…”

Because for a pure being who only ever invaded dimensions, the bizarre and brain-melting videos that kept rolling in for the last 30 minutes were simply beyond comprehension—and beyond anything she ever wanted to comprehend.