act4fun

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.

Even if local newspapers are scrambling for a chance to interview her. Even if other streamers are frantically vying for an opportunity to collab with her– every time something happens, the alarm bells inside her go off wildly.

The more she had to worry about, the more distracted she would seem during her streams. Even though it had a negligible impact the viewing experience, she felt like she was descending into some sort of vicious cycle.

'I can't go on like this,' she thought to herself when she nervously switched on her terminal for the fifth time after waking up, to watch the ever-increasing number in her bank account–

But she then had an idea to take that steady upward climb and turn it into something exponential.

She thought to herself, nothing could be better-suited for her than this. Her reputation, her good relationship with the platform, and her idle assets would all have their roles to play.

Hello? Oh hi, is this the XX streaming platform?

That's right, I'm Streamer U. I'm calling today to discuss something with you...

Her plans proceeded smoothly with little to get in her way.

Finally, she felt a bit of relief when she thought about the bright future ahead of her, up until the eve of that fateful day.

Hello hello!

Pleased to meet you, new faces!

Welcome to our special episode of–

Streamer U's Doppelganger Conference!

We are... U's!

These three are V-chan, X-chan, and Y-chan!

Tada! This cutie here's V-chan, Doppelganger Numero Uno! She's a great singer, and no slouch when it comes to dancing either!

U-neechan, you're going to make me blush if you praise me so much~

Streamer V, here to make everyone smile with my song and dance! Make a V with your hands, and there'll be a smile on your face in no time!

Over here is X-chan, my second doppelganger. She's our resident movie enthusiast who'll watch anything, masterpiece or total rotten tomato!

Please don't crack jokes about my tastes. I'm serious about my hobby.

Just take a look at the 782 movies I've reviewed and scored, and my favorite plot is where I get to have a bangin' time with U-chan, V-chan, and Y-chan. And that's a wrap.

And here's Y-chan, doppelganger number three! She's our certified gamer, but isn't actually very good. So all those noob plays you see? That's her doing!

Why are you bullying me again, U-neechan, geez! I'm not gonna talk to you anymore!

(*whispers*) B-But... everyone still likes U-neechan the most...

This unprecedented livestream was burned into the memories of countless fans, who affectionately dubbed it––

One of the worst streams of all time.

At the same time, the platform recorded a Catastrophe-esque frenzy of unsubs.

But it was already too late for Streamer U to stop.

All her resources had been invested into this project, and as long as she continued, there was always a chance to make a comeback. Pulling out now would be tantamount to starting from scratch.

Finally, her stream showed signs of recovery.

But for whatever reason, there was a shift in the attitude of U's' fanbase, and an inexplicable tension arose in the communications between the platform and Streamer U. Last but not least, the other three streamers were starting to see her in a different light...

Streamer U, we're here to discuss the terms and conditions...

U-neechan, this is for the future of the entire U's project...

This is the audience feedback you've been getting from the forums. See for yourself what they've been saying...

After graduating, Streamer U could no longer use the name 'Streamer U,' and her streaming career fell into a slump. She slipped into debt once again, and though it wasn't much, debt is debt.

Meanwhile, the U's project continued to expand rapidly in scope, from three to five, then to ten, then to twenty-six...

Until it eventually announced its dissolution.

On the day U's was formally disbanded, our Eureka moved a small bench over and sat outside the studio, deciding to count how many people U's had at the very end.

And finally... 108.

Oh.

Eureka checks her terminal out of habit.

Debt aside, it's about the same as my balance.