I Quit Being an Idol and Became a Youtuber - Chapter 41

After recalling a promise that I thought had vanished beyond my memory, the game continued.

The party moved into the forest to set up a new camp and began their investigation.

“Wow, the river is red!”

“It might be due to excessive plankton or a specific substance released by plants.”

A vividly red river, resembling bl**d, came into view for the party.

“Such an unnecessarily unsettling color.”

It might look beautiful in reality, but the genre of this game revolves around monster hunting. It meant that at any time and from anywhere, monsters could appear unexpectedly.

“Oh, look here! There’s something!”

While walking along the red river, the blonde man who had followed along discovered something. He was holding a tuft of blue fur found on the riverbank.

“This looks like… the fur of a Rose Baratura?”

“Rose… What?”

In response to the receptionist’s question, the blonde man, Edgar, continued his explanation.

“Ah, it’s a large crustacean. These guys have this blue paralysis fur…”

“Oh, crustacean…”

I wasn’t too knowledgeable in biology, but I could understand this much. Crustaceans are part of the arthropod category, and the leg character suggests they probably refer to some multi-legged creatures like centipedes.

“Wow, just imagining it is disgusting.”

Thinking of a giant centipede as large as a tree ambushing me in a dark jungle sent chills down my spine.

– Oh, is it a spider?

– Is the party leader okay?

– Is he fainting again?

– Get ready to report, everyone.

– What’s the emergency number in Japan?

I wasn’t the only one worried, as the chat window began to liven up.

“…It should be okay, we’ve done special training.”

Even though spiders can be creepy, we had set up a protective filter. Hence, the small insects we encountered were represented in a slimy form.

However, while continuing our exploration, a problem arose.

“Is there a nest nearby…?!”

Had Edgar suddenly become fixated on a rare discovery? He started looking for traces as if he were entranced.

– No way, that j*rk.

– Another toxic character has appeared.

– You’re now the second Babbati.

– I was expecting good modeling, but as expected, it’s another toxic character.

“Why are you going there? That color…”

Edgar’s reckless action made Cheongha, who was desperately suppressing her urge to curse, continue speaking. Perhaps it was because she had just imagined fighting a centipede that she seemed overly sensitive.

– Oh haha

– You were in danger just now.

– At this point, let’s just curse.

“…What are you talking about?”

Back in the days of terrestrial broadcasting, cursing was something you couldn’t just say recklessly, so expressing it plainly while sober in front of people was still unfamiliar to me.

“Besides, there’s no benefit in swearing a lot.”

Even if it wasn’t directed at me, if someone was genuinely cursing nearby, it wouldn’t make the listener feel good.

It was my way of showing consideration for those who had come to see me during the short break after a day’s schedule.

“But judging by the recent reactions from viewers, maybe it would be okay to just curse.”

Wouldn’t these people somehow take it in stride? Still, I had to try to avoid it as much as possible. Those two conflicting thoughts coexisted.

The sight of blue spider webs spread everywhere with sunlight filtering through was truly magnificent.

From this perspective, it almost felt like the set of a horror movie.

Or perhaps a grand decorated dome performance venue for the New Year.

“There it is.”

In that corner of the dome, we spotted the blonde man wrapped tightly in spider silk. Oh no, he finally got in trouble.

“…!!”

Noticing something, the superior who had been leading the way made a gesture to stop.

Following the movement of the camera, something white came into view.

It was a giant spider resting, suspended from the ceiling.

– What should we do, party leader?

– Close your eyes~!

The chat window went wild at the sight.

If anyone were to ask about the VTuber named ‘Kim Cheongha,’ the first thing that would come to mind as a keyword would be ‘fainting.’

Cheongha’s fainting incidents became that well-known, transcending both her VTuber fan cafe and streamer fan cafe.

In a way, it could be said that it had been a major factor in her rapid growth as a streamer.

Those who entered this broadcast surely had all seen that clip at least once.

However, contrary to their expectations, Cheongha’s reaction was surprisingly nonchalant.

“No… This isn’t that creepy! It’s more similar to a coconut crab.”

If it were slightly smaller, it might look different, but since it was so large, it reminded me of a coconut crab, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Despite its behavior, the appearance was tolerable to some extent.

– ??? Out of nowhere?

– It’s still cuter compared to that.

“…Well, I’m not sure?”

If one were to see a coconut crab eating a gull or a mongoose in real life, they surely wouldn’t say that.

Lacking any way to show the viewers my trusting memory, Cheongha focused on the hunt.

* * *

“Kyieeeek!”

“But thinking about it, isn’t this just her fault?”

While hitting the spider monster continually, that thought suddenly arose.

If it were me, I would be startled and attack if some blonde punk scooped up my hair and crawled into my house.

Honestly, it felt like she had done this to herself.

– But what can we do, she said she was angry.

– Come to think of it, it looks kind of cute?

– Ugh…

“Ah, count me in on that.”

There seemed to be someone with a strange taste.

So, is being a VTuber really a hidden thing?

“Kyiriririck!”

That being said, the spider’s movements were rather elegant.

It spun around on one leg like a ballet dancer.

It scattered venomous hairs in the air.

With its abdomen unfurling like a blue rose, it repeatedly pierced me with its fangs.

“Ah, I’m paralyzed.”

The poison sprinkled everywhere wasn’t decorative; eventually, the protagonist hunter collapsed after receiving a few stings.

#[Anonymous Benefactor has donated 1,000 won]

– Dude, you can get rid of it with a kn*fe.

Perhaps it was hard for someone to watch me collapsing one after another, as a viewer took the risk to suggest.

“Oh, really?”

I had avoided it, thinking that it looked like something I shouldn’t touch, but it turned out to be breakable.

Its movement range was wide, so even flying hairs could easily be taken out with the right weapon.

Right, but…

“But why do you keep calling me ‘dude’?”

I decided to ask a question that had been bothering me for a while.

Sure, I could understand why they might call me ‘captain’ considering I played FPS games these days, but how this title came to be puzzled me.

– ㄴㄹ?

– Isn’t it just because guys like playing games?

– Sounds about right.

– Honestly, Battlefield and such tend to have more male players.

– It just rolls off the tongue.

– Isn’t that better than saying ‘sister’?

“Dude…”

I recalled female streamers who had been called ‘dude’ in their previous lives.

Those women generally had a strong image, so did I come off that way?

“Well, it doesn’t really matter. You can call me however you feel comfortable.”

Honestly, I preferred ‘dude’ to ‘sister’ because it just had a smoother sound.

I didn’t mind too much because I had been a man in my previous life.

“Kyiriieeek!”

At the same time, the Rose Baratura, which lost its balance due to successive leg hits, screeched and collapsed.

“Ah, its legs gave out.”

That was good for me; it was offering up its head willingly.

Ultimately, the poor Rose Baratura perished under a series of slicing combos and a helmet-breaking strike.

[Quest accomplished]

– Now let’s get that armor.

– Insect armor is generally pretty.

– I agree, it’s good for early game use.

“Ah? Is that so?”

Whether in reality or in a game, pretty outfits are always nice.

It feels like a slight indulgence for myself.

Just as Cheongha began gathering the loot, a loud sound echoed from outside the window.

– What’s that noise?

– Is a fighter jet taking off next to us?

– Why is the sound so loud?

“No, it’s just a cleaning truck. Our house picks up outside sounds a bit too well…”

The source of the noise was a cleaning truck that passed by the neighborhood at this time every Monday.

It seems it was already almost time for it to come.

“Wait, a cleaning truck?”

…I feel like I forgot something. What was it?

“Oh right, I didn’t put out the trash!”

“Ah, everyone, I’ll step out for a moment!!”

– ??? Where are you going, party leader?

– What?

– Is he abandoning the broadcast?

– Going to throw out the trash?

– Is it for real?

– He finished collecting before leaving, haha.

I still needed to live my life.

With all the trash accumulating in my house, if I left it as is, I’d have to endure until next week.

Even though it wasn’t too much, it was still nicer to look at cleanliness.

“Okay, just a moment!”

I quickly gathered up the volume-based garbage bag and rushed outside.

Fortunately, it seemed that the garbage truck hadn’t arrived yet, as the bags were neatly waiting in place.

Just barely managing to throw out the trash, Cheongha resumed the game.

After some time passed…

“Then, shall we wrap it up for today?”

– Yep!

– Thanks for today, dude.

– Cheongba~

– Cheongba!

– Bye-bye.

After playing for a few hours, Cheongha pressed the end streaming button and took out her phone.

– [Mayuri, when should we eat together?]

Not long after sending a message to Mayuri, a quick reply arrived.

– Mayuri: [Yes! When would work for you?!]

– [I’m fine anytime. Just set a time that works for you.]

– Mayuri: [Ah, is it possible…?]

The scheduled time we set was Wednesday at 2 PM.

Now, did I have anything overlapping on that day?

“Oh right, the Golden Watch tournament is then.”

Well, I guess I would just have to watch the recorded version later.

After all, it would be saved, so it shouldn’t matter if I viewed the tournament late.