Isekai Online Game Developer

Recently, the most labor-intensive project in the royal family was, of course, the Kol Championships.

After two Kol Championships over two years, it was now a point where I was confident that the preparations for next year’s Kol Championships would proceed smoothly.

Finally having some time to spare, Rikal was excitedly enjoying games again after a long time.

“How long has it been… Hah. Those idiot morons.”

Of course, Rikal had been the busiest among the royal family.

He had long wanted to kill Leo and the substitutes, who spent their time doing nothing but gaming.

But having endured it, he had at least received some compensation.

That being said, Rikal had resolved to absolutely not work for a while.

He was excited to indulge in all the events and updates he had missed over the past few days.

“Hmmm. Oh… a new story and a boss.”

In ‘Maple Leaf Story,’ the hero class was being officially introduced, and the story was progressing rapidly.

To advance through the entirety of the story, a high level was essential.

But since there weren’t many high-level users, a lot of information was still undiscovered.

Rikal’s [Empire's Light] was still at a high enough level to proceed with story quests.

“Oh oh… interesting.”

The unfolding past and the worldview of the Maple Leaf world.

Rikal lost track of time as he played ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

Then a sudden thought struck him.

“Didn’t the ‘Maple Leaf Story’ streamers progress through the story while streaming?”

Right away, it was about ‘Twatch.’

Recently, Rai had jokingly suggested to Rikal that he should stream as Zebit.

Moreover, many people were still hoping that Zebit would turn on the stream.

Even now, articles in newspapers frequently explored Zebit’s whereabouts.

“…No. But still no. I said I wouldn’t do it again.”

Rikal shook his head.

He was determined not to become Zebit again.

And even though things were fine now, who knew when they might get busy again?

Rikal put those thoughts aside and returned to gaming.

“…Hmmm.”

However, the more he played, the more something felt lacking.

Since he was only hunting and doing quests, there was no opportunity to interact with other users.

Moreover, being such a high-level hunting ground, there were hardly any people around.

Originally, [Empire's Light] had mainly leveled up through party quests and raids.

During that time, communicating and having fun with the fans of Zebit was the main play style.

Yet now, hunting and doing story quests alone didn’t give him that same enjoyment.

“Should I try some party quests…”

Rikal contemplated.

If Zebit were to appear among the users again, he would undoubtedly receive immense attention.

It was obvious that people would ask what he had been doing all this time without logging in or any news.

It would be a given that journalists, who connected to ‘Maple Leaf Story’ 24/7, would come to request an interview.

He wanted to do party quests, but he didn’t want to make things too complicated either.

After all, he was determined not to live off false love as Zebit anymore.

“Oh, oh?”

“Could it be that person?”

“Z-Zebit! It’s Zebit!”

But the boredom was unavoidable.

Games are meant to be fun.

Eventually, Rikal chose to join the more exciting party quests over tedious solo play.

“Eh, it’s just a few runs anyway.”

Doing party quests would help level up smoothly.

He had to do a certain amount per day as homework, so he decided to stick to that.

But as soon as he received cheers from the users, the dopamine kicked in uncontrollably.

“It’s been a while for everyone!”

-Wooow!!!

As Zebit waved, the users cheered.

The emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time made Zebit feel good.

“Zebit, please join my party! I just needed a healer!”

“Zebit, is there anything wrong? Why have you been absent until now?”

“Zebit, are you okay? Was something terrible going on…?”

In an instant, the users rushed in and bombarded him with questions.

Zebit responded with a sunny and innocent expression.

Before he knew it, Rikal had completely reverted back to the Zebit of old.

“It was just that I was feeling a bit under the weather… But now I can manage a game.”

“Ah… Oh God. Why is this happening to you, Zebit…?”

“If only I could take your place and bear your pain… I’d do it a thousand times. Ah!”

The usual fan worship for Zebit continued.

Before long, it seemed that reporters were starting to flock in.

Zebit didn’t want to deal with journalists, so he hastily managed to form a party and entered the party quest.

He could ignore the headlines, as reality could just be disregarded.

While joyfully engaged in the party quest, one party member suddenly asked.

“By the way, Zebit, have you heard about something called ‘Twatch’?”

“I’ve heard there’s something like that.”

“If you started streaming, the viewers would explode. But I guess your health isn’t up to it yet…?”

“Ha-whoa? How does that work?”

Zebit asked with an innocent expression as if not knowing anything.

“It’s just about sharing Zebit’s gaming experience with people. Showing your gameplay and interacting with viewers. Everyone has been waiting for you, and if you can communicate that way, everyone will be happy.”

“Ha-whoa…”

The party members continued to persuade Zebit.

Though he had no intention of doing it, the continued persuasion gradually started to shift his heart.

“If you could at least stream for 10 minutes a day, everyone would be thrilled. I bet you’d receive donations of several million gold during that time. Oh, of course, money isn’t everything…”

“But if you’re really feeling unwell, it’s not necessary. Your health comes first, of course.”

“These days, even demon races and dragon races are streaming. I’m sure you’d be the best among them!”

“Ha-whoa…?”

It seemed that there were more people wanting Zebit than Rikal had thought.

They were begging so earnestly that it felt hard for Zebit to just ignore them.

And there were no more lies to tell.

“Um… okay, I understand.”

After finishing a few hours of gaming.

Rikal logged out of ‘Maple Leaf Story’ and checked out ‘Twatch.’

“Streaming, huh…”

His heart, which had been completely still, now found it hard to ignore the fans’ earnest requests.

Days of contemplation led Rikal to finally make his decision.

“Well, if it’s just a little…”

Just doing a brief stream of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

It seemed okay to just broadcast while playing the story and not doing anything else.

Besides, the story was just boring to do alone.

Communicating while clearing story quests—two birds, one stone.

Thus began Zebit’s streaming.

Since the Zebit transformation artifact had been returned, he intended to just stream the game screen.

ZebitWantToSee: Is it really Zebit??!?

ZebitToTheRoyalFamily: Damn. It’s Zebit!!!

Ha-whoaHawaiianPizza: I heard you were on Maple Leaf recently, and it’s true. Nice to meet you.

Even without any particular promotion, viewers started to flood in.

Zebit played ‘Maple Leaf Story’ without much concern.

“However… there aren’t as many as I expected.”

Despite the talk of a server crash, Zebit’s viewers were quite limited.

Of course, it was still a high number, and considering it was his first stream, it was significant.

But it didn’t reach the explosive figures he had anticipated.

“Hello, everyone!”

After such a streaming session, Zebit ended the broadcast.

It was fun, but there was a lingering feeling of disappointment.

Feeling unsatisfied, he browsed other Twatch streams.

That’s when Zebit stumbled across a stream.

A broadcast during this time slot, overwhelmingly populated with viewers.

[A Demon King Sama Appears!]

With a view count several times greater than anyone else.

He was aware that a lot of humans had fallen for her after the Kol Championships.

But he hadn’t expected that so many would watch her broadcast.

“No way, she’s a demon race…”

What on earth were these people who were obsessed with the Demon King?

Rikal entered the Demon King Sama’s stream.

Upon entering, a flurry of rapidly scrolling chat greeted him.

Compared to Zebit’s room, the volume of chat was off the charts.

He couldn’t read it all, but some stood out to him.

DemonKingSamaIsSoCute: Wow, the Demon King Sama is super adorable.

DarkZebitWhoWanders: The Dark Zebit is here.

DemonKingJobSeeker: By the way, I saw that Zebit made his broadcasting debut earlier?

Lullalulalu: Zebit? Which Zebit are you talking about? Now it’s all about the Demon King Sama.

MinerUnionLeader: Right. I’d rather watch the cute, communicative, strong, and peaceful Demon King than Zebit, who’s always saying he’s sick and never shows up in games or at the Kol Championships.

ARegularFellowBornInTheWrongEra: Farewell, Zebit… You were just born in a time when there was no Demon King Sama…

“…Huh? What? These guys…!”

The chat was praising the Demon King as if they were cultists.

It felt like seeing the past fans of Zebit all over again.

“Dark Zebit? Hah, bullshit…”

And most were calling Zebit washed up, referring to the Demon King as the ‘Dark Zebit.’

The prevailing sentiment was that if they had to choose, they preferred watching the Demon King’s stream over Zebit’s.

Rikal couldn’t stand it.

“When they were praising me, where were they?”

Of course, it wasn’t something Rikal should worry about.

He had no genuine intention of streaming in the first place.

But seeing this scene was unbearable.

He thought about how all his original fans had turned to her, and if things kept going like this, Zebit would be completely forgotten under the shadow of the Demon King.

In the end, Rikal made a decision.

The next day, Zebit turned on the stream again.

He caught attention by changing the stream title.

[Ha-whoa, Zebit’s Comeback~ Big Things are Coming~]

Thus began the rivalry between Zebit and the Demon King Sama.