act4fun

Initially, older viewers saw this as some kind of whimsical performance art, but after a few days of streams, they found that Streamer U seemed to be dead serious.

Her former subs cancelled one after another, replaced by a torrent of viewers who came to poke fun at her.

But she was always either chanting, meditating, or doing some meaningless chore such as carrying water or chopping firewood with her suspicious Higashinese roommate, never once looking at the chat.

Even after the band of glory-seekers left, a group of viewers who chanted and meditated alongside her slowly assembled.

The platform saw this as an opportunity to save the washed-up streamer, but when they arrived at Streamer U's rental unit, not a soul could be found.

Since then, nobody has even seen Streamer U, or rather, Eureka.

The only gift she left for the city was a note that said, 'All is nothingness,' a pile of bad debts, and a legend.

As for the fact that her rental unit was turned into a bucket of cold water, a slap in the face, a cold reality check for tourists... Well, that wasn't something Eureka could've foreseen.

In a certain place in a certain city on a certain month and year, there was a livestreamer by the name of U-Official, commonly known as Streamer U.

She worked hard on her streams, extended her streaming schedule, and increased their frequency, but none of it seemed to remedy her paltry income.

Most viewers would leave after a quick glance, and of the very few who stuck around, few bothered donating.

She thought to herself that maybe she'd been putting effort into the wrong things.

So she tried to expand the scope of her streams, but the rapidly-changing themes didn't find much traction either.

Today, we'll be watching the famous classic, 'Laterano Bridge'! It's said to be a story between an author and a young Sankta!

What distinctive architecture, solemn and pure-white... This movie must've been filmed on location in Laterano!

The director handles the relationship between the author and the teenager delicately and with—Uhh, what comes after delicately? Let me check—Gah! Forget I said anything! I'm definitely not reading off a script!

Hello everyone. Today, we're going to play a game that's sure to bring back memories—

'You suddenly ended your stream halfway through yesterday. What about the second half of the movie?'

Pshh, don't sweat the small stuff. We can always finish the movie next time. Tonight's game night!

Hello everyone! Let's dive right into karaoke time!

Let's go with something challenging right out of the gate, 'Lingones Love Song'—

'Why'd you stop playing the game halfway through? Lose your save file?'

Don't worry about it! A new sun rises every morning, just like how Streamer U is here to bring you something new and exciting every day!

Today's a cooking stream! I'll have you know, I've been all over, and have seen countless delicacies! This time, I'll be introducing everyone to a new arrival—rainforest mushroom-flavored spicy-and-savory sandworm legs!

'Are you gonna sing or not?' ...Well, I was singing for a while, and it felt like nobody was saying anything so... Err, nevermind.

Let's not talk about that. C'mere, try this tasty grub! Do you like it? Alright, let's give it a bite—

(*chews*)

(*swallows laboriously*)

Hey, wait, who just posted 'sucks at everything except eating lol'?!

I'm gonna get mad! I'm gonna get really, really, really—

(*covers mouth*)

S-Streamer U needs to step out for a second! I'll be right back! A-Actually, I'm gonna call it for today's stream!

Ugh, I spent so long vomiting yesterday, my stomach still feels awful...

I tried so many different stream formats, so why are my numbers just dropping more and more? Could it be... they have something against me personally?

Must be their problem then, if they can't appreciate my greatness!

But... maybe I should look into it a bit. Where do they normally talk about me?

It should be these forums, right?

Register new user... Username... ERK...

After realizing that just working hard was getting her nowhere, she decided to register on the fan forums.

Here, she silently lurked and learned, hoping to improve herself.

Her hard work paid off, and she did indeed undergo a metamorphosis, successfully becoming a master keyboard warrior across multiple forums.

Me? I hate those internet trolls more than anything else. Well, it's not like I ever argue with others. I just say it like it is.

Of course livestreaming shouldn't be restricted to a single format! That's a clear sign that you're just a one-trick burdenbeast!

I'll change up my stream format however I want. And if you don't wanna stick around, sayonara.

No, no, no. If you're sitting around watching streams all day, there's something wrong with YOU.

Specialization? A focus? Those are just excuses made by incompetent no-name streamers.

I watched the first ten minutes of this movie and it was so bad there was nothing to keep me going.

Who even paid the director for this crap? What an absolute waste of money!

What's wrong with what I said? I watched the first ten minutes and decided it totally sucked—am I not allowed to say that?

If it really <i>is</i> a good movie, then why couldn't it grab my attention from the beginning? As a streamer, I've already watched a ton of movies, so why do I have to sit through the entire thing like you people?

You know, I've worked so hard all this time, with nobody to rely on but myself. Shout out to all you real ones for supporting me all this time—

What, you got a problem with what I said? What do you know? You just happened to tune into my stream relatively early on. Do you have any idea what kind of work I put in off-stream? Check yourself.

Speaking of singing, I heard the awards won by that album featured by a certain record label next door all came from shilling out to fudge the data.

Those album sales numbers were also jacked up by their own internal buybacks.

If you don't believe me, I know a whole bunch of people who work there, and apparently stuff like that is pretty common in the industry.

Me? You guys don't get it at all. I didn't even bother trying to make it as a singer, because the filth of the music industry is beneath me.

That record label will definitely change their strategy in the future. Their upper management often asks for my opinion behind closed doors.

It's gonna be exactly what I said, you just wait and see. These companies are all the same.

Streamer U's special livestream sent shockwaves across the net, and the makeup of her fans rapidly began to change as she chased certain people away while attracting other curious viewers.

She actually profited quite a bit from it, and the platform even packaged her as a troll streamer and set up a specific stream category for her.

Having tasted the sweet nectar of success, Streamer U naturally began to intensify her antics.

As expected, she soon received a court summons for slandering many individuals and companies, as well as spreading various rumors.

Due to her wide reach, Streamer U had to pay a large sum as compensation, making all her previous income look like a drop in the bucket.

By all indications, she can only go so far as a streamer.

'I, I just repeated what my other friends said. I didn't know it was fake! I just wanted to share it with my fans, and didn't mean any harm!'

'Why isn't an apology enough? Look, I'm sorry and didn't mean it. It's the fault of the people who spread these things.'

'I've realized that what I did was wrong. Please, I'm really sorry!'

'N-Now that I've paid up, will your record label still consider me?'

In a certain place in a certain city on a certain month and year, there was a livestreamer by the name of U-Official, commonly known as Streamer U.

She made up her mind to say goodbye to her old sad and reckless self.

After extensive and painstaking effort, she finally became a master of her art.

She captured the hearts of all, people flocking to gather beneath her glow.

She would readily give up a whole night's sleep to study her fans' preferences. She would readily spend over half her income on hiring contract specialists to ensure her smooth operations.

She gradually amassed a considerable number of fans and developed good relationships with the platform's gatekeepers, avoiding the pitfalls and drama that other streamers were often prone to.

Finally, her time had come.

During that one dream-like livestream, donations poured into her lobby like a waterfall.

She couldn't even keep up with reading the superchat messages, able to do little more than apologize to those whose messages were scrolled past. But despite that, the donations continued to pour in like crazy.

Everyone was pretty fired up today, huh? With this kind of momentum, maybe I should strike while the iron is hot and do a week-long marathon stream or something...

Let's see how much money I made today––

Th-Th-This is...

I... Am I...

Am I finally going to be free?!

With trembling hands, Streamer U picks up the terminal that had fallen to the ground.

A crack appeared on its surface. Under normal circumstances, she might have cried out in distress.

But right now, she was speechless, motionless, mixed feelings swirling around in her chest as she stared at the digits on the screen.

Finally, she vented her elation loudly towards the ceiling.

It's real... It's actually real!

Click-sensei! Did you see that? You did, right?

I did it! I made enough money through streaming to pay back the loan with interest, and have enough left over for a 500 square meter studio!

Long live financial freedom!

Yaaaaay!!

After the spell of ecstasy wore off, Streamer U's relief did not last for long. She was afraid that another disaster would arrive to beat her back into the depths of hell.

But reality proved that she was overthinking things.

The platform quickly transferred the share she was due to her account, and the debt collectors had nothing to say upon learning that she had become rich overnight, and could only take their money and leave.

Her followers only continued to increase, and even if their enthusiasm for donating did not match what it was before, it was at least enough to change her life.

Nevertheless, she was quite restrained when it came to her newfound wealth, only barely starting to step into slightly better restaurants, occasionally dabbling in luxury stores, and buying the place she was renting to serve as her streaming studio.

However, she dared not stop there.

Her previous traumatic experiences kept goading her on, and only her steadily growing bank balance could give her peace of mind.

But fickle is the human heart, and both her fans and her income would ebb and flow like the tide.

Even if she has now become a leader in the local livestreaming industry.