The cracked mirror entered my field of vision the moment I stepped into the bathroom. I lowered my head slightly and avoided looking at my reflection because I had no desire to see a sleepy, blue-haired face that was far too cute for its own good.
I turned on the tap and washed my face.
After loosening the bandage and looking beneath it, I saw that most of the cuts had begun to close. The knuckles that had been bleeding yesterday were now covered by only thin red lines.
They shouldn’t have healed this quickly under normal circumstances. Two-star White Snake was clearly working.
I wrapped the bandage again before leaving the bathroom and heading to the kitchen.
There weren’t many options in the refrigerator. It contained only milk, a few drinks, some sauces, and several containers whose purchase dates I didn’t know.
When I found cereal in one of the cabinets, I filled a bowl with cereal and milk before dropping a spoon into it. The moment I sat down at the table, I picked up my phone.
As I ate, I began checking what was happening in this world.
The first few news stories were boring: applications for the new term at a Nexus academy, roadwork planned for the northern part of the city, and a famous hero’s new equipment sponsorship...
Then I came across the most-read article of the day.
"Fire Nexus User Burns Street Vendor’s Sausage Stand to Ash After Argument."
According to the article, the argument had started because the wrong sauce was used. In the small video preview, an angry man covered in flames shouted while the owner of the stand chased him with a bottle of ketchup.
I stared at the screen for several seconds.
"If this is the most important news in the world today, maybe things really will be peaceful."
I shrugged and closed the page. My finger moved to the streaming app out of habit, and I found the recording of yesterday’s stream on my homepage.
In the thumbnail, my VTuber avatar’s face was bright red with anger. Apophion was attacking with its mouth open in the background, while the view count appeared beside the title.
I was bringing the spoon to my mouth when I noticed the number, causing my hand to stop in midair.
3,024 views.
"What?"
I refreshed the screen, but the number didn’t change. Even though the stream had ended, the recording had been watched more than three thousand times.
I quickly opened my profile.
My follower count had reached 317.
Before starting yesterday’s stream, I had one hundred and thirty-four followers. While I slept for six hours, another one hundred and eighty-three people had followed me.
My notifications were overflowing as well. People had shared short clips from the stream, tagged me, and uploaded edits of the moments when I had lost my mind while fighting Apophion.
One video was titled:
"Cute VTuber Has a Mental Breakdown in Five Minutes."
Another was called:
"Apophion Destroys Noctis’s Last Two Brain Cells."
In the most-watched clip, I slammed my hand against the desk and shouted, "What kind of damage is that!?" before swearing without pause.
Half the people in the comments were mocking my gaming skills, while the other half claimed I was cute when I swore.
I slowly placed the phone on the table.
"People have serious problems."
After taking another spoonful of cereal, I looked at the follower count again.
317.
A small warmth stirred inside my chest.
Was this... happiness?
The original Noctis had been streaming for a long time, yet his account had barely grown. He had acted energetic during every stream, worked hard to entertain people, and continued smiling no matter what he was going through behind the screen.
On my first day, I had shouted at the viewers, used the wrong potion, died repeatedly, abandoned the game to drink coffee, and ended the stream without saying goodbye properly.
Yet people had enjoyed it.
I didn’t know why, but that made me happy, and I didn’t like feeling that way. It felt as though I was taking pleasure in an achievement that didn’t belong to me.
Perhaps the feeling wasn’t entirely mine. A small piece left behind in Noctis’s memories might have been glad that someone had finally noticed him.
At that exact moment, a bluish light appeared in front of my phone.
[New Quest Issued!]
I slowly lowered the spoon into the bowl.
"Of course. You saw me feeling happy and immediately came to ruin it."
The quest window expanded.
[Quest: Rising Star]
[Objective: Reach 1,000 followers.]
[Time Limit: 71:59:59]
[Reward: 3 Eclipsie Points + one four-star card]
[Failure Penalty: Do a bunny girl cosplay and publicly post a photo of it on your account.]
"..."
As I narrowed my eyes, the timer began counting down.
[71:59:58]
[71:59:57]
"Ahaha..."
A dry laugh escaped me.
"You son of a bitch. You chose this exact moment on purpose, didn’t you?"
[The quest was generated according to the Chosen One’s current progress.]
"What does my current progress have to do with bunny ears!?"
The system didn’t respond. Of course it didn’t.
I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes as the details of the punishment crossed my mind.
Noctis did cosplay. That much was obvious from the pictures on his phone and computer. However, he took them for his own enjoyment and never shared them with anyone.
The entire point of becoming a VTuber was to hide his real face. Behind an avatar, he could be whoever he wanted, and no one needed to see his delicate body, feminine face, or the features his family had mocked for years.
If I failed, the system intended to show me to the entire internet in bunny ears, a tight costume, and a humiliation I would probably never be able to erase.
"Perverted system."
[Accusation denied.]
"No one asked for your opinion."
I took another spoonful from the bowl and chewed angrily.
Still, reaching one thousand followers didn’t seem completely impossible. I had three days, and one stream had earned me one hundred and eighty-three new followers. If that pace continued, I could reach the target within a few more streams.
Of course, there was no guarantee that people would want to watch me again today. Yesterday’s stream had been an accident, and they might have come only to laugh at my incompetence.
But...
I found myself thinking about the battle with Apophion.
Even after losing repeatedly, I hadn’t given up. With each attempt, I had understood its attacks a little better, corrected my timing, and eventually brought the gigantic snake down.
The feeling of victory had been real. RPGs were more difficult than I had expected, but they were also more entertaining.
Maybe I could enter another dungeon today, see Caramel in the stream again, and avoid accidentally drinking the most valuable potion in the game this time.
"No way."
I shook my head. I was already thinking about my next stream.
Other than everyone on the other side of the screen thinking I was a girl, I didn’t really have any major problems. All right, being called cute whenever I swore and having my gaming skills mocked were also annoying. They hadn’t even left me alone while I drank my coffee.
Actually, I had quite a lot of problems.
Even so, last night had been fun in its own way. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was the truth.
I quickly finished my meal and took the empty bowl to the kitchen before returning to the bedroom.
I pulled yesterday’s black tracksuit from the wardrobe. After changing while trying not to look at the colorful cosplay outfits around me, I tied my hair loosely behind my head to keep it away from my face.
If this hair got into my eyes while I was running, finding a pair of scissors would be the first thing I did when I returned home.
Morning runs and exercise had been part of my daily routine in my old life, and I intended to continue them in this body.
Noctis’s arms were thin, and his legs were weak. Yesterday, a short run from the pharmacy to the park had left me gasping for breath, and kicking the nightstand had hurt my foot more than the furniture.
That was going to change.
If this body belonged to me now, I would make it stronger.
Before putting on my shoes, I called out.
"Oiii, system. Can I increase my stats through exercise?"
[To a certain extent, yes.]
[Regular exercise can improve your Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Dexterity within your natural limits.]
[However, progress will slow significantly after a certain point, and exercise alone will no longer be sufficient.]
I looked up while tightening my shoelace.
"So it’s possible."
[Yes.]
A small smile appeared on my lips.
"Good."
At least I didn’t have to beg the system or spend Eclipsie Points on everything.
I took my wallet and keys, then slipped my phone into my pocket. After stopping in front of the door, I looked back at the apartment one last time.
The blue ceiling, pink stars, broken mirror, and streaming computer...
When I first saw all of this yesterday morning, I had felt trapped inside someone else’s life. I still couldn’t say that I belonged here, but at least I no longer wanted to run away and hide.
I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Today, I would learn the limits of this body and then find a way to reach one thousand followers.
Because no matter what happened...
I was not going to wear a bunny girl costume.