TGS – Vol 3 Interlude 1

Haruto returned home from the lively time he had spent at the izakaya.

To be more precise, after he had handed a pudding he bought at the convenience store to Yuno, who was still awake—

“Yo yo yo. Let’s get this show started.” (Oni-chan)

Comment: [This is a new level of late.]

Comment: [Seriously? Are you planning to stream at this time?]

Comment: [I thought there wouldn’t be a stream today]

Comment: [Nobody’s gonna come at this time lol]

Starting his stream after midnight, Oni-chan nodded along with the comments that stated the obvious.

“By the way, did you guys see the announcement I made earlier? The one about the collab stream this Thursday, starting at 10:30 PM?” (Oni-chan)

Comment: [I saw it, but next time, you might want to consider the time when making announcements…]

Comment: [What an awkward timing…]

Comment: [Not many people are gonna see something getting posted in the middle of the night lol]

Comment: [Reminds me of my dad…]

“…” (Oni-chan)

Oni-chan had been looking for a comment like “Looking forward to it!”—but not a single one showed up.

Most of the comments were either along the lines of “Why at this time?” or just people laughing, but there was actually a solid reason behind it.

“Haa… You guys really don’t get it. If I post the announcement after those two, mine’s just gonna get buried. I actually put some thought into this.” (Oni-chan)

The number of fans is directly reflected in the number of shares and likes a post gets.

It’s only natural to want the post to look as good as possible and reach as many eyes as it can.

Comment: [Yeah, but still, not in the middle of the night]

Comment: [I doubt the announcements would overlap if it were in the morning]

Comment: [Like during commute hours or something]

Comment: [Big agencies usually make announcements during peak hours, right?]

“Ah… a-ah… I-I see…” (Oni-chan)

Oni-chan had chosen a time where announcements definitely wouldn’t overlap with anyone else, but after seeing the flood of comments, he was forced to reconsider.

If the goal was to avoid overlapping with others, posting in the morning would probably give his announcement a better chance of being seen.

“Then, uh… maybe I should just delete it for now. I feel bad for the people who reacted to it, though…” (Oni-chan)

He picked up the phone resting on his desk, deleted the earlier post, and turned his gaze to the sub-monitor—

Comment: [Ah]

Comment: [Eh?]

Comment: [No, don’t do that!]

Comment: [Ahhh]

Comment: [Ah]

Comment: [Seriously?]

Comment: [He actually deleted it!!]

Comment: [Aaaaah]

He noticed the sudden rush of comments flooding in.

“Huh? What…? Is deleting it bad?” (Oni-chan)

Comment: [You could’ve just retweeted it again in the morning…]

Comment: [It had already hit 1,000 likes in just a few dozen minutes…]

Comment: [Does your announcement have a one-time limit or something lol]

Comment: [Why is he so hopelessly awkward…]

He realized now that he had made a mistake.

“…………I see. Fine. Whatever. I’m not gonna believe anything you guys say anymore.” (Oni-chan)

Comment: [We’re not trying to mislead you lol]

Comment: [Don’t try to shift the blame to us]

Comment: [You were so excited about the announcement, and now it’s kind of sad…]

Comment: [At this point, just make the announcement in the morning and pretend like nothing happened]

Naturally, the deleted post couldn’t be restored.

Oni-chan, genuinely feeling down, chose to enter a ranked match just to distract himself, without even warming up at the shooting range.

――What awaited him was the inevitable, boring waiting time for matchmaking.

Leaning back against the chair and turning his head toward the comment section, his eyes caught a message that shifted the topic.

“Let’s see… [So apparently Rina-san said she was gonna pressure you into doing a collab before Ebe Festival, and you gave in that easily—is that right?] …What the hell are you talking about? Like that’ll ever happen. I told her the opposite—‘If you wanna collab, I might consider letting you.’ That’s how it went down. And now here we are.” (Oni-chan)

He had actually received a direct request from Rina to be “a little more aggressive in the conversation” for their collab.

By laying down this kind of groundwork, it would make their provocative dynamic more natural when they start streaming.

And at the same time, he could preserve his pride.

A win-win for both parties.

Comment: [Don’t start a fight before the collab even begins lol]

Comment: [That’s a bit much, isn’t it?]

Comment: [He’s definitely gonna regret this later lmao]

Comment: [Bruh, do you even realize how big the gap in subscribers is]

“Nono, I’m being totally serious.” (Oni-chan)

Even as he said that, he didn’t actually expect anyone to believe him.

It was all just a setup to add a bit more excitement to the collab stream.

“Then just ask her during her stream. She’ll give you the same response.” (Oni-chan)

Comment: [And what if you’re lying?]

Comment: [Lie = show your face]

Comment: [Lie = face reveal]

Comment: [Lie = imouto-san appearance]

“Uh…” (Oni-chan)

What was supposed to be a simple “Then I’ll go ask her” kind of exchange quickly turned into viewers trying to make him pay a price.

He hadn’t expected things to turn out like this, and he had no idea how Rina would actually respond.

“Ah—well… yeah. I just think, like, punishments and stuff like that aren’t really necessary for this kind of small thing, you know? That’s how I see it, yeah.” (Oni-chan)

Comment: [You suddenly started talking really fast]

Comment: [You’re panicking way too hard lol]

Comment: [No way you’d talk big to someone as well-connected as Rina-san. You’ll socially die.]

Comment: [It’d be one thing if she were a jerk, but she’s a good person]

“…Ahem.” (Oni-chan)

Getting roasted by the viewers left him at a loss for words—

“Oh! Finally, a match. …They really kept me waiting. That was pretty rough.” (Oni-chan)

The game’s matchmaking screen advanced, as if reaching out to rescue him from the awkward situation.

However, his viewers weren’t going to let go of what happened so easily.

Comment: [Anyway, let’s just do a poll—was it a lie or not?]

Comment: [I’m in!]

Comment: [There’s no way it doesn’t hit over 90% “lie” lol]

Comment: [Poll poll poll poll poll poll poll]

Ignoring inconvenient comments was the only option.

As a result, Oni-chan found himself bombarded with repeated questions from many viewers, turning the stream into an exhausting experience.

And so, Oni-chan, whose body had just been soothed at the izakaya, found himself immediately whipped back into chaos.

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Thanks for reading!

Sorry, this is the chapter of the week. I was quite busy this week since I was forced by my army unit to learn how to drive.

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