Chapter 119: If I were in that city right now, I could shoot the railgun with arcade coins…

Today, my first-anniversary live broadcast starts at 9:30 PM.

In other words, I didn’t need to head straight to the studio after school, so I went home first.

“Starting today, I-I can finally relax a little….”

[Yeah. Izumi, you’ve been really busy lately.]

A 3D debut stream, a birthday celebration stream, and today’s first-anniversary live broadcast.

Even having just one of these would’ve been enough to keep me busy, but I had all three overlapping, along with preparations for an original song and a few other things piling up.

Of course, I did it because I wanted to, but that didn’t mean enthusiasm alone was some kind of cure-all for the exhaustion that came with being busy.

But after today, it would all be over.

Once I finished my first-anniversary live broadcast tonight, I wouldn’t have any major schedules for a while.

If I had to name something, I guess there was the second-gen group collab happening tomorrow for our anniversary?

Well, that was just us gathering at my place to eat something nice while streaming, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Creak— The waiting room door opened.

The person who entered was Akabane, who had just finished her first-anniversary live broadcast.

“Y-You worked really hard, Akabane….”

“Thanks. Now it’s your turn, Izumi. Do your best.”

For our second-gen anniversary broadcasts, we decided not to invite any guests.

I knew that a lot of viewers expected guest appearances for live broadcasts like this, but it couldn’t be helped.

If we each picked one senior as a guest, one of them would end up left out.

There were five of us in the second generation, and our seniors, including Nacchan and the first-gen, totaled six.

If we allowed multiple guests, our seniors would have a hard time.

Some of them might end up having to join a live broadcast two days in a row.

No matter how we handled it, people in the community would have something to say, so we ultimately decided not to invite guests at all.

The first-gen seniors had also done their first-anniversary live broadcasts solo, so we had a solid reason.

…Though, back then, we didn’t have 3D models yet.

“Izumi, please get ready now.”

“Ah, yes…!”

At the staff member’s call, I took a deep breath and got up from my seat.

As I stepped out of the room, I saw that Akabane had already packed up all her things and was following me.

“See you tomorrow, Izumi.”

“Ah, take care, Akabane….”

As I replied, Akabane suddenly ruffled my hair with all her strength before stepping back with a wave.

“….”

She didn’t have to say anything.

I could tell.

That was her way of telling me to do my best.

“Hehe….”

And just like that, my first-anniversary live broadcast finally began.

[【Kaino Izumi 1st Anniversary】Celebration Live! #KainoIzumi #StarsFlow2ndGen #1stAnniversary]

“So, w-we’ve finally reached the first anniversary….”

As the first song, Bright Your Soul, the ending theme of Uncle’s Last Chapter, came to a close, the stage slowly lit up, transitioning into the MC segment.

–How do you feel right now?

“Hmm. W-Well, it still doesn’t f-feel real….”

I knew it was my first anniversary, but it still felt kind of surreal.

Honestly, when I first started as a VTuber, I thought I’d graduate in maybe half a year at most.

But now, here I was, standing on this stage, celebrating my first anniversary.

Life really was full of surprises.

“But still, I think it’s… fun.”

The first time I stood on stage for my 3D debut broadcast, I was so nervous I felt nauseous.
For the second, my birthday live, I was more filled with anticipation because of my original song reveal.

But maybe because this is already my third stage in just three months,
rather than feeling anxious, I was purely enjoying myself.

-Then do another live next month!

“…T-That doesn’t mean I suddenly want to do another live right away! This is, uh, really exhausting….”

You guys can only say that because you don’t know how tough this is.
Dance lessons and vocal training are already overwhelming, and squeezing in broadcasts makes my schedule even more packed.
On top of that, I’m a high school student, so I have to attend school too….

-Calling yourself an idol but saying you don’t like doing lives? That’s a scandal!

“Why?!”

Isn’t this the moment where you should be praising me?
Even when I was super busy, I never stopped streaming for you guys, my Izutomos. Shouldn’t you be complimenting me for that?

And yet, even now, you’re just trying to mess with me.
Clearly, your way of showing affection is totally off….

I have grown.
Like I mentioned in a previous stream, I’ve improved to the point where I can at least make eye contact and hold a conversation if it’s just one person.

To put it in perspective, it’s like the gap between a powerless civilian and a superpowered esper from a certain city.
If I were in that city right now, I could probably fire a railgun using arcade coins….

[【2nd Gen Group Off-Collab】Celebrating Our 1st Anniversary Together! #StarsFlow2ndGen #1stAnniversary]

“Alright, the first dish we have is Nekoto’s pasta! Carbonara, huh?”
“Heh. Pasta is Nekoto’s specialty.”

-Master’s pasta?!

Today is the day of our 2nd Gen’s 1st-anniversary group off-collab.

And the venue? My house.
It was chosen because it’s the most spacious, my mom is away on a business trip, and since I’m still a student, they took my situation into account.

Yeah. Up to this point, everything was fine. There were no problems.
…No, actually, this off-collab was full of problems from the very start.

The reason I don’t get too nervous when talking with my fellow StarsFlow members over voice calls is because we’ve grown close,
but more importantly, it’s because I don’t have to see their faces.
In other words, I still get a little anxious when making eye contact.

If it’s just one person, that’s fine. I’ve grown enough to handle that.
But when it’s four people, like right now….

“I-I’ll e-eat now….”

-Mei-chan’s voice is barely audible.

The overwhelming nervousness makes it hard to even speak properly.

That whole incident at the cheese dakgalbi place when I struggled to order Coke was an extension of this.
Of course, ordering from a stranger is already incredibly difficult,
but the fact that I was surrounded by four people made me even more nervous, and my words just wouldn’t come out.

“Izumi, is it good?”
“Y-Yeah… i-it’s… good….”

Since Akki’s carbonara was genuinely delicious, I gave her my honest thoughts.

“Mm?”

But maybe because the others were chatting noisily, she didn’t hear me clearly.
So, cupping my hands around my mouth, I leaned in close to her ear and repeated myself.

“I-it’s r-really… delicious….”
“…I’m glad.”
“What are you two whispering about?”
“Izumi said Nekoto’s pasta is really delicious.”
“Akakak! At this level, it might even rival the secret dish I’ve prepared!”

• Make sure to share your thoughts with us too.

• As expected, the (self-proclaimed) super extrovert and mood-maker still isn’t ready for an offline group collab.

Even after that, I tried Utsumi’s takoyaki, Koga’s cheese hamburger steak, and Akabane’s bacon-wrapped rice balls.

“I, I want to eat them again next time….”

I had to share my thoughts on everything with the members.

For reference, the dish I made was cup ramen with pork shoulder.

• This is a disgrace.

For some reason, everyone in the chat was getting mad.

Even though they all said it was delicious. They don’t know anything.

[Destined Battle Minor Gallery]

[Title: Today’s Event Leak is Out!]
[Author: ㅇㅇ]
But who are these guys?
Kaino Izumi? Akabane Yukari? Where are these heroes from?

[Upvotes: 58 / Downvotes: 11]

ㅇㅇ: What? Aren’t these VTuber characters?
└ IWillSaveTheWorldToday: ㅇㅇ They’re both VTubers.
└ ㅇㅇ: This game is doomed. Why collab with VTubers?

LastMasterOnEarth: Aren’t these the VTubers who recently got famous?
└ ㅇㅇ: Collaborating with outdated otaku content, huh.
└ LastMasterOnEarth: This game is outdated too, you f*cker….

Phoenix🔸: They’re really famous.
└ Phoenix🔸: These two are hardcore fans of Destined Battle among VTubers.
└ Phoenix🔸: Their gacha streams always got rebroadcasted here.
└ ㅇㅇ: …They were one of us all along. I take back everything!
└ Phoenix🔸: Fast repentance. I like it.

[Virtual Ontuber Minor Gallery]

[Title: Izumi and Yukari Destined Battle Collab Leak]
[Author: DontLie]
The leaked illustration looks exactly like Izumi, and all the stats are already set.
Only the voice files haven’t been leaked yet.

[Upvotes: 49 / Downvotes: 7]

Boss🔸: For real?
└ Boss🔸: Destined Battle is known for never doing collabs with other IPs.
└ Boss🔸: Is this fake?
└ DontLie: The source has a 100% accuracy rate so far, so it’s highly reliable.

ㅇㅇ: Installing Destined Battle right now.

Maker: If you’re an Iztomo or a Familiar, you should already be playing Destined Battle, right?
└ Boss🔸: Of course, I already play it lol.
└ MeiFanForever: For real lol.
└ OppositeOfDivineIsMortal: Mei-chan’s friend got accepted, so we have to play lol.
└ CrimsonWitch: Why doesn’t our princess accept friend requests?
└ Maker: This game doesn’t even have private messaging, so it doesn’t really matter….

[Destined Battle Elivagar Broadcast Station I Am Here Now]