Chapter 28

Why Would I Quit Streaming?

It was around the time tonight’s stream had settled into its groove.

As usual, I cleared the shitty games my subjects had offered up one by one, and although I could not help the chat messages that got pushed past, I faithfully answered the ones that caught my eye.

Then when that got boring, I traded pointless jokes with them for a while—.

Suddenly, a question occurred to me.

Why the hell do these guys watch my stream?

Thinking about it, it was strange. There were so many things in the world to watch.

Honestly, there was nothing particularly impressive about my stream. I did not have flashy gaming skills, I was not some amazing singer, and I did not have any grand production plans.

All I did was sit behind a model and talk, yet more than a thousand people watched. How did that make any sense?

I was the kind of person who could not stand being curious, so I simply asked outright.

“My subjects. There is one thing this body wishes to know.”

-Oh, what is it, Princess

-She has a question

-Quieeeet!

-Lili-chan, this oppa will tell you everything

-(This message has been deleted)

-Look at that crazy bastard

-Maid, kick that guy please

-OurHouseMaid has forcibly removed ***.

“Why, exactly, do you watch this body’s stream?”

The chat seemed to hesitate for a moment, then began pouring in.

-Suddenly?

-Did reality just hit you lol

-What kind of random question is that?

-Because it’s funny how you never break character

-No matter what happens, you stay a vampire to the bitter end, it’s hilarious

Well, it was true that no matter what kind of chaos broke out, I never abandoned this way of speaking. I guess these guys found that funny.

Honestly, from my perspective, I had no choice.

Since I absolutely could not expose my identity, showing my face was obviously out of the question, and to avoid accidentally revealing personal information, I had to thoroughly become Lilith rather than Shin Yua.

It was ironic that something I had no choice but to do had become a reason for some people to watch.

“Is that the only reason you watch my stream?”

-You play games well

-You don’t exactly play games well! but you really do ‘play them well’ for us

...What the hell are these bastards talking about?

“Explain in greater detail.”

-Because no matter what shitty game we gift you, you play all of them

-If someone gifts you a game, you always play it

-For real, there are no streamers like that

Aha. I see what they mean.

“How could this body discard gifts offered by my subjects?”

That was what I said, but the real reason I played every game I was gifted was simple.

I could not freely spend money however I wanted, so I was grateful no matter what anyone gifted me.

Compared to the early days when I had so few viewers that I went around searching only for free games, these days, when several game gifts came in every day, were practically heaven.

“Are there no other reasons?”

-Lili-chan why are you so persistent today damn

-Oppa! Why are you dating me?

-Damn, PTSD

-You communicate with chat really well

-That’s true

-Even with this many people, you seriously answer a lot

-Yeah, there aren’t many streamers these days who read basically every chat message

A lot of people said the communication was good too. I do love my subjects a bit.

Among the reasons that kept coming up, there were also these.

-I’m just curious what kind of accident you’ll cause next lol

-Yeah, incidents and accidents are basically this stream’s content

-It’s fun watching you get through crises

Accidents? They make me sound like some walking disaster.

It was even more irritating because it was not completely wrong.

It is not like I cause the accidents. What am I supposed to do if coincidences keep piling up?

Anyway, if I summed up all those reasons in one sentence—.

“Hmm. So, in summary, you are saying that you have become utterly captivated by this body’s noble appearance and timeless charm.”

-We never said that

-The self-interpretation is insane lol

-Let’s just go with that, sure

-Does she have templates for lines like that? How does she say it in one go without stumbling

-For real, is she actually a middle schooler

-That vocabulary is not middle-school level

“Ahem. Did I not tell you? This body, who has lived for hundreds of years, is a master of eloquence.”

I vaguely brushed it aside like that and moved on to the game I had been gifted today.

“Ei! Ei! Why does nothing hit!”

-The hitbox is fucking weird lol

-Who gifted this shitty game lol

-Usually they make the player hitbox smaller, this one is backwards

-Looks like this game was made specifically to fuck with the player

But after playing for quite a while, at some point the atmosphere in chat began to turn strange.

-Did you see the exposé post?

-An agency employee exposed everything

-I heard the contract leaked?

An exposé post? Agency? Contract?

What the hell is this now?

Before I could even react, trolls came flooding in from somewhere and began covering the chat.

-Hey, is this real? They exploited a little kid?

-I heard they forced her to go viral so they could get ads and put her on broadcasts

-They lowballed the contract because she’s a minor, damn

They were all usernames I had never seen before, flooding in and talking among themselves as if they knew everything.

-I heard the company trapped her in a slave contract that favors them

-It’s creepy watching her stream while pretending to be innocent like this

-Just quit streaming

-All the evidence is already out lol

...What the hell is this?

I did not know what kind of exposé post it was, but piecing together the messages flying past, I could roughly see the picture.

Someone had apparently written and spread another convincing piece of fiction. This time, very specifically. Supposedly some agency had trapped me in a slave contract and was exploiting me.

It was so absurd I could not even laugh.

Slave contract, my ass.

I have donations completely disabled in the first place.

What kind of slave contract do you give a streamer who does not earn a single won? If you are going to write fiction, at least make the beginning and end match.

-OurHouseMaid has forcibly removed ***.

-FamiliarStoneGolem has forcibly removed ***.

Meanwhile, my two managers quietly got to work.

Woojin had not been there when the stream started, so he must have gotten home after practice.

The two of them kept slicing down anyone who crossed the line with bans, but there were so many today that even they looked a little overwhelmed.

-Quit streaming, go go

-If you have nothing to hide then release the contract

-The kid did nothing wrong, it’s the adults behind her

-Quit streaming

Quit streaming?

I stared blankly at the chat for a moment. Then I gave a small laugh.

“Hmph. Laughable. You tell this body to quit streaming?”

-Oh, she’s responding

-Princess, say something

-Why the hell did these crazy bastards come here to start shit

“Not a chance. This body shall never leave this place. No matter how much you bark, this body shall be here tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. Do you know why?”

I had been about to answer playfully.

Something about because this body was a vampire princess, or that I would never abandon my subjects. I was going to brush it off with some kind of in-character line like that.

But just as I was about to continue, I suddenly felt something strange.

Huh.

...

...I really do like streaming.

It was a realization that came surprisingly late.

Even I had thought I was just doing it out of boredom, just to kill time. But judging by how angry I got when someone told me to quit.

I do not know why I like a stream that does not make me any money. But I was certain that I liked it.

“...Because this is where this body belongs. That is all.”

-Ohhh

-Suddenly getting serious makes her kinda cool

-But is that exposé post actually real?

-Who? Knows

-Dumbass, of course it isn’t real

For a while, the chatroom was a literal battlefield. Trolls and subjects clashed, while the managers fired off bans without rest.

In the middle of that pandemonium, I calmly kept playing my game and acting unfazed.

This level of noise was nothing. Give it a few days and it would quiet down again.

Just as the fierce battle in chat was reaching its peak.

Pop. A manager’s private message appeared in the corner of the screen.

-Miss. You have plans tomorrow morning, so you need to sleep now.

Ah. Right. I had that thing tomorrow.

It was a shame, but there was nothing I could do. Even the sovereign of the night cannot skip sleep. Especially when there is something scheduled the next morning.

“Hmm. That shall be all for today, my subjects. This body must now enter her coffin and rest.”

-Huh, already?

-She’s just going to sleep in the middle of this chaos lol

-Nerves of steel

-Does she have something tomorrow?

-But doesn’t she go to school?

-She said she’s homeschooled on PaintAddict’s stream before

-It’s on TriWiki too

-Stop calling it ShutUpWiki, call it TriWiki!

“Mmm. This body is disappointed as well. I would like to play with my subjects longer, but this body too has circumstances of her own. Sleep well, everyone. And do not be too swayed by absurd rumors.”

With that, I ended the stream and crawled into bed without a shred of lingering attachment.

No matter what people outside were saying, the most important thing to me right now was getting enough sleep for tomorrow morning’s schedule.

Right. What was it again?

...What was it?

— — —

“What were we going to do today again?”

“I’ve been telling you for days. Today is your first horseback-riding lesson.”

“Huh, horseback riding? Like actually riding a horse? Clippity-clop clippity-clop? Kimi no aiba ga—.”

“Yes. It is a schedule arranged by the Chairman.”

“Whoa.”

What in the world is that old man thinking, making me do things like this?

Last time he sent me to an art museum, then there was some classical performance, and now horseback riding. Is he that desperate to get me out of the house?

But this one is a little scary.

“...What if I fall off the horse?”

“An experienced instructor will stay with you, and they said you’ll start by learning to walk slowly. It isn’t dangerous.”

“Hmm. Well, if that’s the case.”

Honestly, I was still a little scared. A horse is several times bigger than me, is it not?

If it had a human shape like an Uma Lady, it would not be scary at all. Then we could even talk.

Wait, I weigh around forty kilograms now, and according to my phone, horses can weigh up to five hundred kilograms. That is more than ten times my weight!

I have to climb on top of a gigantic creature I cannot even communicate with. If I happen to fall off—

If it steps on me even once, someone like me will be squish-squish, desu!

Of course, that would never happen.

...Right?

Vrooom—.

Today again, I went out in Driver Park’s car, accompanied by Ms. Sejin and that bodyguard Do Jinhyuk.

After about an hour, we arrived at a spacious riding center on the outskirts of Seoul.

Judging by the sign, this place was part of Shinil too. Well, this group had its hands in practically everything.

“Wow. It’s huge.”

When I got out of the car, a wide-open riding ground came into view. Well-maintained grass, and horses leisurely walking around inside fences in the distance.

The air was pretty good too, even if it was mixed with the smell of horse manure. This is not bad.

I had been to art museums and concert halls a few times, but this was my first time in such a wide-open place, and it made my eyes feel refreshed.

Of course, showing that I liked it would mean losing, so I kept a bored expression on the outside.

“Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.”

“Hello. Please take care of me.”

The instructor assigned to me today was a young female employee.

“Hello, I’m Lee Seorin, and I’ll be helping with your lesson today. Nice to meet you.”

“Yup. Nice to meet you.”

“All right, today we’ll start by getting friendly with the horse. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“But this one is really big. It won’t bite?”

“Haha, it won’t. This one is very gentle. Would you like to pet it?”

Following the instructor’s guidance, I carefully stroked the horse’s mane. It was warmer and softer than I expected.

“Ooh...”

Its huge eyes blinked slowly as it looked down at me, and somehow it was surprisingly cute.

As expected, no matter how big they are, animals are less frightening than people. They are pure.

Of course, tigers are an exception. Those bastards chew people up and eat them.

“How is it? Not scary, right?”

“...Yup. It is pretty cute. Ah, kyahaha.”

The horse sniffed at my hand with its nose, and it tickled enough to make me laugh without realizing it.

“What’s this one’s name?”

“Super Sunic.”

“Oh, that name is cool as hell. Sunic.”

“Oh my, you know Sunic?”

“Of course. How could I not know the blue corpse?”

“...Blue corpse?”

The lesson was more fun than I expected.

When I managed to sit on the horse and slowly make one full lap around the riding ground, I felt proud without even realizing it.

“You’re good at this. Is this really your first time?”

“Hehe. It’s my first time.”

Indeed.

Is this what is fun about going outside?

I felt like I could understand, just a little, why Grandfather kept trying to send me out.

“Come again. Next time will be even more fun.”

“...I’ll think about it.”

That was what I said, but honestly, I was already looking forward to the next lesson.

On the drive home, watching the scenery flow by outside the window, I let out a pleasant yawn for the first time in a while.

Well, I will admit that this was not a bad day.