Chapter 131. The Livestream in Sirin's Company
[????]
[Wait, you're actually doing this?!]
[Pufferfish, don't come back. I'm afraid Old Thief Masato will misunderstand.]
[...]
After a brief hitch, the barrage erupted like a tidal wave.
Thanks to the previous fiasco as a warning, Sirin's channel was already under priority monitoring by the streaming company, and the moment the metrics spiked they triggered an early-warning protocol.
The screen only stuttered twice before stabilizing, which let those balding programmers finally breathe out in relief.
One rookie programmer took a sip of water to calm his racing heart, then clicked into Sirin's livestream with a frown.
What did she do to blow up like this all of a sudden?
Don't tell me it's one of those borderline stunts?
The instant he opened it and saw the person on screen, he sprayed water everywhere and blurted, "Holy—Old Thief Masato !!"
As for the nickname "Old Thief," people were already shouting it when To the Moon came out, and it spread even wider with Hollow Knight.
It wasn't enough to torment their feelings—then the new game started tormenting their minds.
They loved and hated him in equal measure, and "Old Thief" just stuck.
"Calm down. Don't get worked up."
Recalling their supervisor's blow-up a few months ago, a senior programmer beside him spoke placidly.
"How am I supposed to calm down? It's Old Thief!"
Even though the past half-year of school and job-hunting had cut deep into his gaming time, he still knew who designed Pokémon.
"Why do you think we even have this early-warning protocol?
It's because this streamer named Sirin is friends with Designer Masato."
...
Leaving the reminiscing programmers aside, in the livestream, Xander deftly opened the St. Freya Mini-Game Festival's official site, found Gensokyo Company's page, and downloaded the Plants vs. Zombies (Demo).
Facing the camera, he put on a straight face and said, "First time filling in as host, so I might be a bit rusty.
If anything's off, I hope you'll forgive me."
[No worries.
If something's wrong, it's definitely my fault.]
[My fault +1]
[+1]
"So much enthusiasm.
You're making me feel shy," he chuckled, then switched the view to the main screen.
The demo wasn't big, so it finished downloading and installing in a few seconds.
He continued, all serious: "Today's stream content is a sponsored segment I took from Gensokyo Company in exchange for a meal—namely this Plants vs. Zombies.
And with that, let's begin..."
[Lol, just saying it outright, huh?
Calling it a sponsor on stream.]
[A single meal?
Is Pufferfish really that cheap?]
[Hold up—what if the main course is pufferfish?]
[How are you turning that into innuendo?!]
[...]
"Hey, what do you think you're doing!!!"
Sirin had just finished dragging Kiana's chair over when she saw Xander sitting in her gaming chair, smiling into the camera and saying who-knows-what.
At her words, Xander turned his head with mock puzzlement: "Streaming.
Weren't you the one who asked me to stream for you?!"
"Y-you—you!
I said we'd do it together!
Don't you dare leave me out!!!!"
Setting Kiana's cat-paw chair beside the gaming chair, Sirin planted her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed, and glared at him.
"Oh.
Then sit," Xander replied, pointing at the cat-paw chair.
Sirin opened her mouth, wanting to say "That's your seat," but thought better of it and sat down in silence—then quietly nudged the two chairs a little closer.
Forget it.
Rain's already sitting there.
He can have my chair; I'll sit in Kiana's.
Feeling a secret thrill over something so small, Sirin's face warmed for a moment.
Then—as if to cover it up—she reached out and snatched the mouse.
"How do you play this game?"
She clicked the desktop icon and asked offhandedly.
"Relax.
The tutorial is absolutely grandma-proof," Xander said with a casual wave.
"I am not a grandma," Sirin frowned.
"Of course I know that."
"Then why would you use a comparison like that!"
She scooted toward Xander with feigned indignation.
Her expression didn't change, but her heartbeat had already quickened.
On stream, the camera's two-column layout was suddenly dominated by Sirin's side as she crowded him, which made the audience protest at once.
They griped that Sirin had no sense of the room, that she was body-blocking like a top-lane bull, and she was pushing the person they wanted to see out of frame.
Some even told her to take the afternoon off.
Half her rosy mood evaporated in a flash of temper, and she shouted at chat: "This is my channel!
I am the owner of this stream!!"
At that, Xander instinctively wanted to stand up, storm out, and slam the line, "Sirin, you'll regret this!"
What could he do?
The déjà vu was too strong.
He grinned as he watched Sirin and the barrage go at it, both sides getting riled up.
[Pufferfish is dead.
Long live Masato.
Just say the word, Old Thief, and we, the hundreds of thousands of Pufferfish Army, will enthrone you as the new owner of this channel!!]
A conspicuous SC floated to the top of the chat, and Xander couldn't help but laugh.
Seeing Sirin's slightly wronged look shoot over at once, he quickly waved a hand and said with a smile, "Don't get me killed, brothers.
I'm deep in enemy territory right now.
The moment that imperial robe falls on my shoulders will probably be the moment I die~"
"Whose place are you calling enemy territory!!!"
Sirin smacked Xander's shoulder.
She couldn't hold the anger, and she wound up laughing too.
The mood turned light and merry.
Sirin's nerves at being alone with Xander in a room melted away, and she started focusing on the game.
The opening UI was a cartoon-style little tombstone that read "Start the Adventure," "Play Mini-Games," "Puzzle Mode," and "Survival Mode."
Not far from the tombstone was a cozy-looking house.
When Sirin moved the cursor over the words "Start the Adventure," a zombie hand suddenly thrust up from the dirt—and a chilling laugh rang out in the background.
"Eek!!"
Sirin jerked in fright and instinctively leaned closer to Xander, her heart pounding.
After a few seconds, she tugged his sleeve in indignation and demanded, "Didn't you say this was a 6+ kids' game?
Why is it so scary?
Were you trying to trick me?!"
"No way.
This might actually be the scariest part of the whole game, and even then it barely counts as scary."
"Really?"
She shot him a doubtful look, then decided to trust him one more time.
Also—maybe because her heart was beating too fast—Rain's charm felt like it was only growing stronger by the second.
And with only the two of them in this room, if they turned off the stream...
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