NOVEL NEXT Chapter 78
[【150k Celebration Broadcast】Thank you all! #KainohIzumi#StarsFlow]
[Oh ho ho ho! This time, it’s me!]
The next one to come in was none other than Kurokami-senpai, who could be recognized by her voice and manner of speaking.
I was wondering if it was tough for her as she had said she’d try her best to join, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
“Oh, hello, Kurokami-senpai…”
[Yes! This is Hikari Kurokami, senpai of Izumi! First of all, congratulations on reaching 150,000 subscribers! That’s really amazing, you know?]
“Hehe…”
Fortunately, Kurokami-senpai wasn’t playing any weird pranks like Ayaka Utsumi, Aki, or Suzuha Koga…
[Well, I do think it’s a bit much to have fallen asleep during the endurance broadcast yesterday.]
Oh, that was something else.
– Young lady, you’re breaking the mood without hesitation, lol
– This is the true villainess of Star Flow
[Oh ho ho ho! A true villainess must reveal the reality to her opponents!]
I already know that she’s not being serious with that.
Right after the morning’s apple broadcast ended, I received a DM from senpai.
[Kurokami Hikari: Don’t worry too much about yesterday.]
[Kurokami Hikari: The broadcast is important, but spending time with family is far more important.]
[Kurokami Hikari: Anyway, congratulations on reaching 150,000, Izumi. Let’s keep making great broadcasts together.]
[Kainoh Izumi: Thank you so much.]
Seeing senpai, who said that in the morning, now talking like this makes me joyful.
It’s like watching a new generation tsundere.
[But well, saying congratulations isn’t a lie, so work hard to improve!]
“Th-thank you…!”
Hehe. No matter how much senpai says this now, I know how sweet she is behind the scenes, right?
If I don’t want this secret to be exposed…
[Young lady. It’s still not over….]
[WAAAAAAH?!!!]
“Uwaaaa?!”
While I was having such delusions, I suddenly heard a scream so high-pitched it could tear my ears off.
– What happened?
– Was that just a scream from the young lady?
– My ears are hurting.
“Se-senpai? Is there a problem?”
There was no need to find out who the culprit was. I was on the call with Kurokami-senpai alone.
But there was no response to my words.
So I checked, and the ‘mute microphone’ icon was showing on senpai’s profile.
“Uh, um, huh?”
– So where did the young lady go?
– Mei-chan’s Dotsumachi is noisy in many ways, lol
– Classic Mei-chan Dotsumachi.
“Ev-everyone, let’s calm down for now. Someone might have called her for a moment, right?”
Right. The most important thing now is to grasp the situation accurately and find an answer.
Kurokami-senpai muted herself in the middle of a Dotsumachi.
What should I do in such an unexpected situation?
Should I keep the battle going with my advanced communication skills until senpai returns?
“…Ah.”
Is it time to pull out Kainoh Izumi’s ultimate secret weapon that I couldn’t use in Gray City?
The Izutomo loved it so much, but I felt sad that I couldn’t bring out the second and third levels.
“Hmmm, hmmm… So, while we wait for Kurokami-senpai, should I entertain everyone with my ultimate… gag…?”
– Don’t do it.
– Please, no.
– Where did the young lady go!!!
“I-I was with Namikawa-senpai…”
[Sorry! Someone called me outside, so I stepped out! Hohoho!]
– Thank goodness.
– She’s alive.
– Thank you. Really, thank you.
– This is the majesty of senpai.
What a pity.
Seeing the Izutomo all upset about it is amusing.
What? You think it doesn’t look that way?
No way. Strong denial is a strong affirmation, right?
You know how boys used to tease the girls they like when they were young?
It’s the same thing.
By pretending to dislike me like that, it’s clear they’re leading me to draw out a gag.
So today’s gag will just be for the next time in the closed room.
[Umm. By the way, Izumi-san?]
“Y-yes…?”
[It seems like I should be heading out now, is it okay if we end the call here?]
“Ah, yes! Th-th-that’s okay. You said you’d be b-busy from the beginning, so I’m just grateful you came….”
[I’m really sorry. Let’s definitely do a collaboration next time! Preferably an offline collaboration!]
“…Eh?”
Before I could respond to that, the sound of the mic call effect rang in my ears.
“D-Did I just misunderstand…?”
– May the Hyakuzumi offline collaboration begin today!
– Don’t run away, Kainoh Izumi!
In the world of VTubers, it’s not easy enough for such reality escapism to work.
“Ugh….”
Of course, that doesn’t mean I dislike Kurokami-senpai.
But just thinking about meeting the members in real life still made me nervous.
Especially if that person is ‘senpai’.
It’s understandable, considering all my peers have met in real life at least once.
The difference between whether or not we know each other is a huge deal for someone like me, who has unwanted social anxiety.
No matter how much I talk with Kurokami-senpai, who I’ve interacted with the most among senpais, if an offline collaboration must happen, it’s inevitable that I will be nervous.
So.
“L-Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Right. Since senpai suddenly had to leave, I must not have heard what she said just now.
It can’t be helped.
Please speak a little more clearly next time, senpai.
– Stop with the nonsense.
– Dodging senpai’s suggestion outright? This is Yeo-sang.
Ignoring the Izutomo’s protests, I continued the Dotsumachi.
“Th-then, could the next person please come in…?”
[Konnichiwa! Finally, it’s my turn to shine!]
“Oh, hello, Namikawa-senpai….”
[Yep! Long time no see, Izumi-chan!]
[Oh, is it finally our turn?]
[Hello, Izumi-chan!]
[I stayed behind just to talk to Izumi-chan!]
[Everyone’s too loud!]
– Huh?
– Could it be?
“U-um? Huh…?”
Somehow, the call was quite noisy.
“Excuse me, senpai? There seems to be a huge loud voice around….”
[Oh, yeah. I’m with Hina, Ichika, and Rinze right now. We all got together after a long time. Natsune and Hikari left earlier.]
[I was supposed to leave earlier too, but I stayed behind just to talk to Izumi-chan! Normally, I’d be sleeping on the train right now!]
[Just sleep on the train, why don’t you?]
[Didn’t I say no? Originally, I told Izumi-chan that I couldn’t come! Right?]
“Ah, yes. Th-thank you, Yuzuki-senpai….”
[No problem. I can do this much for my cute junior!]
[Oh, right. I actually wanted to call all the second-generation members. But since Izumi-chan had to do the 150,000 celebration broadcast, Mei-chan said it would be tough, so we met up among ourselves. Don’t misunderstand, okay?]
[I said we should have just gathered all the second-gen members for a celebration broadcast! I think Mei-chan would be fine with that, too!]
[Huh?! Are you saying it’s my fault? Of course, it would be nice if we could do that, but realistically my room can’t accommodate that many people!]
“Uh, eeh, uuh….”
With the senpais’ chatter flooding my ears…
– Mei-chan’s out of it, lol
– Communication zero for Mei-chan in this level is overwhelming.
[No, if that’s the case, maybe we should just find a bigger room….]
[What if it disrupts the celebration broadcast?]
[It’s not even certain that Izumi-chan can come at this point, we’d just be wasting our breath here….]
“…Hehe.”
I lost track of everything.
★
[Then we’re going! Congratulations on 150k, Izumi-chan!]
[I hope we can definitely do a collaboration next time.]
[Congratulations on 150k! Bye-bye~.]
[Congratulations on 150k!]
Ding!
“…Huh.”
The sound of the miscode bursting into my ears made my mind awaken again.
– Mei-chan, left alone after the senpais swept by.
– Suddenly became super quiet.
– It was clearly Mei-chan’s 150k celebration Dotsumachi, but Mei-chan barely spoke, lol.
“Is it… over?”
– This girl’s gone mad.
– This stage was just too much for someone with communication impairment.
It feels like a massive storm just went through.
If it were my pre-growth self, I would have definitely run away.
I would have fled during the call for sure.
“Y-yeah, I’m pretty amazing….”
– What’s so amazing about that?
– Our Mei-chan is always amazing.
– Thinking about it, all the peers and first-generation members came.
– Mei-chan has never participated in any other members’ Dotsumachi, though…
“Sh-Shut up! From now on, I-I’ll participate too….”
I can’t turn away from Dotsumachi forever, like Suzuha said.
From now on, I’ll participate in every opportunity if I can!
“Then, the last one is….”
– Your voice is trembling already.
– There’s only one person remaining now.
Ding!
[Yay! It’s finally my turn! Konhoshi~. I’m the idol of all, Natsune Nanase from the shining star of dreams!]
“Whoa… A-ahn, hello, N-Natsune….”
[It’s my first time talking like this, Izumi!]
“W-well….”
Since I stopped the Gray City, I haven’t talked separately with Natsune at all.
Of course, I could also initiate the conversation, but how could I dare to reach out to Natsune first?
It would be blasphemy.
[Umm, naturally, first of all, congratulations on 150k! Just like how Izumi always enjoys watching my streams, I also really enjoy watching yours!]
“Th-thanks.”
As expected, getting a congratulatory message from Natsune felt different.
While the congratulatory messages from other members were purely congratulatory, what should I call the congratulatory message from Natsune?
It feels like I’m being recognized.
My self-esteem is soaring tremendously.
“The reason I could keep going was because, um, during the 1st-anniversary broadcast, Natsune you said you would shine in front of me…!”
[Oh, saying that makes me a bit embarrassed, haha….]
“Hehe….”
[Hmmm! And I’ll be cheering you on from now on! Do you remember when I said you would become an amazing VTuber?]
“Uh, y-yeah. Of course, I remember… During the second-generation group collaboration….”
[Yeah, that one!]
There’s no way I could forget that.
I’m still re-listening to it twice a day.
[What I said then was sincere, so keep striving forward, okay?]
“Y-yeah. I will do my best….”
[Okay! And it was really fun looking for Oceanus together in Gray City, so let’s definitely do a collaboration next time. Now, I’ll take my leave. Congratulations on 150k! Bye-bye~. Mata Natsune (またなつね)!]
“M-Mata Natsune…!”
Ding!
“Ha, huu….”
I feel completely drained of energy.
This is what happiness feels like.
“Waaaaaaaa….”
The world is truly beautiful.
– Are you d-dead?
– This girl always ends up like this when talking to Natsune, lol.
– Shouldn’t you be getting used to this by now?
Well, maybe I’ll never get used to it…?