Chapter 8 - Club Activities
……
I stared silently at Bell-buchou, but she didn't seem fazed at all.
Can someone really act this well? Huh...
I don't watch virtual idol livestreams that often, but her concurrent viewership easily clears tens of thousands...
And for yesterday's stream alone, the view count's already breezed past 100,000. Yeah, no doubt she's top-tier among virtual idols.
In the bottom-left corner of the screen was a close-up of Bell-buchou's bust, with the game footage playing behind her—the standard setup for a gameplay stream.
I guess the point is having her chest on display. It's bouncing like crazy.
The game she's playing is IRO, but of course, it's nothing like the IRO I know.
Just your typical MMORPG: shopping around town, picking up quests at the Adventurer's Guild, then going out to defeat goblins and orcs.
Still, whenever Bell—the character played by Bell-buchou—nukes a minor boss with magic, donation alerts keep pouring in. Honestly? Kinda terrifying...
"Are we supposed to help Bell-buchou with her streams as our club activity too?"
Nice one, Mion-san. That's exactly what I wanted to ask.
Frankly, I wouldn't mind that. Getting to see up close how a famous virtual idol runs her streams sounds pretty interesting.
But then—
"It's not mandatory. It was just a last resort because the club's equipment was so pathetic, it didn't even live up to the name 'Cybernetics Club.'"
Yata-sensei nodded vigorously at Bell-buchou's wry smile.
"The Cybernetics Club was on the verge of being disbanded, but thanks to Bell-san joining, we managed to pull through.
Since our budget was practically zero, we started this virtual idol thing to raise funds. Ended up making way more than we needed, honestly."
"Way more than needed"... Yeah, after seeing that video, I can definitely believe it!
This place's equipment costs must've been covered entirely by her earnings. Just how much money has she made?!
"Uh... so what should we do?"
"Well... if you don't have anything specific you'd like to do, how about starting your own virtual idol activities—separate from mine?"
So she means Mion-san, probably?
I was thinking I'd just stick to behind-the-scenes work... but when I glanced at her, she looked a little taken aback.
"I'm not good at playing games myself. I'd rather just watch Shou-kun's IRO gameplay."
Huh? Oh. Uh, yeah, sure. I mean... is it really that interesting?
"I see~ So Mion-san's more of a viewer, huh~"
"Right, right. We were talking about that earlier. Shou-kun, which faction did you start with? Empire? Kingdom? Republic?"
Aaaah! She's bringing it back to that topic we were avoiding!
What do I do? Wait, what can I even do about this?
"U-uh... well... actually, none of them..."
I glanced sideways at Mion-san. She had a mischievous little smile. Is she saying it's okay to spill the beans? Seriously?
Mion-san sent me a whisper. Thank you...
"None of them? What do you mean?"
"Did you just create your character recently?"
I steeled myself, then said,
"Uh... take a look at this."
With that, I set the viewing permissions to room members only and started playing the archive of my very first stream.
"Eh, this is..."
Bell-buchou clearly recognized that infamous world announcement.
On screen, there I was, landing on a simple sandy beach—and immediately receiving a total of 30 Special Bonus SP.
Both the club president and the teacher were completely absorbed in my first-day stream archive.
Mion-san hadn't seen this part yet either, since she hadn't started streaming back then.
And now they're watching me mutter to myself... Ugh, so embarrassing...
Then, near the end, Mion-san's comment appeared in the chat.
"Huh?"
They both blurted it out at the same time. The playback ended right there.
"Wait... was that just now... Mion-san?"
"Yes. I happened to come across an IRO stream, and it turned out to be Shou-kun's."
"So... you were searching for IRO streams, and 'by chance' found Shou-kun's?"
"Yes. Truly by accident. I was just curious what game it was and peeked in..."
"So it really was just coincidence."
Well, yeah, I guess. There's no way she could've found me except by pure chance.
"Wait. But Shou-kun, how did you even get to that uninhabited island in the first place?"
"Ah... well, I can tell you, but please don't tell anyone else. Especially not other IRO players..."
I explained how I'd discovered the method for starting on an uninhabited island, and why I'd done it.
How I'd scoured the starting area like crazy, found several landable uninhabited islands, and picked one.
How I'd never intended to play a normal MMORPG from the start, which is why I'm doing this weird solo thing.
And how I'd streamed on day one purely by accident—didn't even realize the game auto-streams by default.
"I see... That makes sense. Given the situation, it wouldn't really work for us to just join you in-game, would it..."
Bell-buchou looked deep in thought.
Wait... is she seriously considering scrapping her current character and coming to my island?
Because that'd kinda ruin the whole point of the island for me. Please don't...
"Hmm..."
But Yata-sensei crossed his arms, frowning in concern.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well... we've had such strong results last year. I'd like the two new members to have some visible activities too. It's okay if they don't produce results, but... y'know."
Oh...
Yeah, from an advisor's perspective, the club needs some kind of public presence. Not having that would be a problem.
"Got it. But... how about me doing the livestreams? The uninhabited island gameplay might be rare, but the actual content is probably super boring..."
If I stream and nobody shows up, and my archives only get single-digit views... even if they say "it's okay without results," it'd still feel kinda sad.
Yata-sensei and Bell-buchou both seemed to share that sentiment. They were both deep in thought.
Then, I glanced at Mion-san—and she was smiling softly at me. ...Huh? What's that about?
Suddenly, Yata-sensei shot to his feet, eyes sparkling, and declared:
"How about this—Mion-san does the commentary and streams Shou-kun's gameplay!"
"Like a live broadcast of the uninhabited island playthrough?"
Ah, I see. That actually sounds pretty interesting. But—
She seems kinda shy, and not great with talking to people.
Having to speak in front of a big audience right away... I hope it's not painful for her.
Please stop whispering in my ear like that—it startles me every time...