NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56
“Well, it’s been almost 10 years since we last saw each other… So, you can comfortably call me ‘Aunt.’ You used to call me that before, right?”
“Ah, um, yes… I’m sorry.”
The unfamiliar woman who suddenly opened my door was… Mom’s close sister.
‘Aha, found you….’
That’s why she used Korean when she opened the door.
“Seriously, sister. You told me last month you were coming today, but how could you not tell Mina?”
[Sorry. I was planning to tell her last week, but I forgot.]
I could hear Mom’s voice through the phone.
It seemed Aunt was slightly sulking at Mom’s scolding.
The evidence was in the tone of her voice, which was about 0.1% more subdued than usual.
Well, I just said that casually.
[Anyway, it looks like she’ll be home around 6 PM, so just the two of you wait together. It’s been a long time, so chat a bit.]
“Okay, got it. I’ll hang up.”
With a ding sound, the call ended.
And then came the awkward silence.
Aunt and I were lost in thought, our gazes wandering aimlessly.
“Um. Well, since I’m the older one, I guess it’s right for me to take the lead in times like this?”
“Ah, um….”
“Aunt’s name is Han Shia. She’s 30 years old. Is there a 15-year age gap with Seona? After getting help from Seona when I was in middle school, we’ve been close ever since.”
Aunt Shia looked so young that you could easily believe she was in her early 20s.
With her black bob cut falling to her shoulders, she had a soft and gentle appearance.
Having probably kept up with her skincare, there weren’t any visible wrinkles or blemishes on her skin.
“The last time I saw you, Mina, was right after you graduated high school, so if we calculate, yeah, it really has been about 10 years. It’s really been a long time.”
“Um, yeah….”
Aunt Shia was trying to lighten up the mood by keeping the conversation going, but the awkward atmosphere didn’t easily disappear.
Of course, it was 100% my fault.
But what could I do when I barely have any memories from when I was about five years old?
The other party knows me, but I know nothing about them.
This was too tough a quest for an introvert.
“Um. It’s awkward, isn’t it? Haha….”
“W-well, um….”
“I probably should have seen you more when we were younger. I know it sounds like an excuse, but I really have been busy…. Ever since graduation, I’ve been swamped with work. And Seona has always been incredibly busy too, so even though we kept in touch, we hardly had time to meet.”
“It’s okay. You were busy with work….”
I’m not a mean person who would scold someone for being busy with work.
I don’t even know what to say since I have no memories.
“Still, I kept in touch with Zia because the age gap wasn’t much. Haha….”
So, so someone help me….
★
[【Arcana Shooter】I’m definitely clearing it today! #IzumiKainoh#StarsFlow#ArcanaShooter]
“I did it!”
[So I’m finally going to die, huh…. But I have no regrets. I’ve lived a pretty flashy life…!]
The hidden boss, ‘Invisible Dragon,’ which only appears on the hell difficulty of Arcana Shooter, collapsed with a thunderous laughter.
Starting from October 10 until today.
Finally achieving my goal of clearing the final difficulty, ‘Hell,’ on Arcana Shooter after more than a month.
– I cleared this in just a month!
– Mei-chan was amazing!
– Actual playtime: 49 hours
– I actually managed to keep my promise to clear it in under 50 hours!
– An absolute pro and atmosphere maker JK, Mei-chan!
The chatroom overflowed with cheers and praises for me.
Yeah. This is what I wanted.
“Hehe… Am I amazing or what?”
– So cool!
– I’ll acknowledge you just for today.
Normally, the supportive players would tease or laugh at me, but today they were all praising me.
That alone made my heart swell with joy, and I found it hard to breathe.
“Ahh. I’m really exhausted…”
The patterns were hard, the HP was ridiculously high, and the hitbox for the barrage was way too wide, causing immense stress just to play.
But now that I’ve cleared it, it feels like a blissful release.
– So, is this where we end for today?
“Um. Well, it seems like some hyper chat has piled up, so I should read it and then wrap things up.”
The hell difficulty of Arcana Shooter wasn’t easy enough to let me divert my attention anywhere else.
So, while I left the hyper chat open, I had turned off the notifications since I planned to read it separately from the start.
“Um. Thank you, Gachaan. Thanks, Tsuzurami.”
As I was reading the hyper chat, one question stood out to me.
=Return JP¥ 40,000: Toka Mama was sad that Mei-chan is rebellious, so don’t make Mama cry!
How should I respond to this?
I thought a suitably vague response would be best.
“Don’t pry into other people’s family issues…! Am I, am I rebellious, though?”
Hmm. That should be an acceptable answer, right?
Avoiding the topic and digesting the RP that Toka Mama gave me with a perfectly crafted response….
– Toka Mama is crying (´Ａ｀。
– So cruel, Mei-chan ( TロT)σ
– You should know Mama’s worth!
…That was obviously not the right answer.
★
As I finished the broadcast, it was already past 6 PM.
Mom clearly said she’d be home by 6, so the timing of the broadcast ending was just right.
“Aunt, is Mom still….”
“Hmm. It seems like she’ll arrive in about 10 minutes.”
But when I opened the door and stepped out, Aunt Shia was sitting alone on the sofa.
I had purposefully taken my time reading the hyper chat to end the broadcast as late as possible.
No way….
“Haha… Um.”
Aunt Shia seemed to be thinking the same thing as she scratched her head awkwardly.
…Right. She mentioned she was Mom’s close sister, so I shouldn’t keep avoiding her.
Especially since she took the time to come see me despite being busy with work, I shouldn’t ruin the atmosphere any further.
I can do this.
Right now, I’m the owner of the record for clearing Arcana Shooter on hell difficulty…!
“Um, Aunt.”
“Yeah?”
“I, I actually do virtual YouTube….”
“Yeah, I know.”
“…Huh?”
“Seona told me. …I’m not sure if it’s okay to say this, but actually, I was watching your stream just a bit earlier.”
Oh?
“Wow, you’re really good. I never thought someone would clear Arcana Shooter from Easy to Hell within 50 hours. Have you been practicing on a different account?”
“Ah, no. I only played during the broadcasts….”
In terms of gaming, I’m the ultimate cheat code, a cute girl.
“Wow, so it means it actually took you just about two days? That’s really impressive, Mina.”
“Hehe….”
I felt good.
Being praised naturally made me smile.
Aunt Shia is such a wonderfully nice person….
“So, I noticed a gap here. You can move through this section and wait for about three seconds then move forward, and you can attack without any interruptions for almost five seconds.”
“You didn’t practice this separately, just read it all while playing? Really?”
“Yes. Hehe….”
Aunt Shia accepted everything I said with a smile and praised me, too.
Feeling my heart cleanse in a way, I found myself giggling uncontrollably.
“I’m back.”
“Ah, sister, you’re here?”
While we were continuing our conversation, I heard Mom’s voice, and I went out to the living room with my aunt.
Mom was dropping her luggage she held in her left hand while taking off her shoes.
“Hmm? Seeing you two come out of Mina’s room together makes it look like you were having a chat?”
“Yeah. We were watching a bit of the game Mina played on her stream earlier.”
“Looks like you quickly became friends, huh? Honestly, I was a little worried because of Mina’s personality.”
“Hey, it’s not like it would stay awkward forever. We saw each other when we were younger, after all.”
“Well, there’s that. And what do you call it? Mama, right? Since you have that relationship too.”
“Ah, sister, don’t say that?!”
…Huh?
I think I just heard something strange.
★
“Um, what’s going on….”
“Literally, I am Yuki Kainoh, Mama of Izumi Kainoh.”
With that shocking revelation, my brain came to a halt, unable to process the situation.
“Y-you’re serious…?”
“Yep.”
When I asked, Aunt Shia pulled out her phone and showed me the screen.
On the screen was the main page of ‘Yuki Kainoh’s’ account, alongside records visible only to the owner.
“W-wait, this is real.”
“Ah, but don’t misunderstand. I didn’t take this on just because it’s you, Mina. It was pure coincidence, and I only found out you were Izumi Kainoh just before your debut, thanks to Seona.”
“So, you mean the DM you sent….”
“Since I figured my child, Mina, would be my Mama, I thought I’d try to get closer to you. Later on, I debuted as a personal VTuber thinking that it would be an opportunity to get closer.”
Now everything made sense.
The reason Toka Mama was so fixated on me right after I debuted.
It was simply because she already knew me and wanted to tease me.
That was such a simple yet complex issue all wrapped in one.
Of course, while the answer itself was straightforward, the implications were hard to imagine.
[Yuki Kainoh: Well, it looks like we’ll see each other soon anyway!]
So that old DM had this kind of meaning, huh?
“Ahh, I originally planned to surprise you while having dinner later.”
“E-even now, I’m already quite surprised….”
…Hearing it now, I could sense the resemblance in her voice somehow.
“…Okay, since it’s come to this, can I ask for one favor?”
“A favor? What do you mean….”
“That’s obvious!”
★
[【Surprise Broadcast】An Unexpected Off-Collab! #YukiKainoh#IzumiKainoh]