Chapter 37: The Hero Is Afraid of Ghosts

My sister and younger sibling left the next morning.

Right before they left, they gave me some weird, complicated looks… but that was something I just had to accept.

There was nothing I could do about it.

Just like how there’s no hierarchy when it comes to jobs, my sister and younger sibling didn’t bring it up. If they had, things might’ve gotten awkward.

Still, I felt pretty good about how things turned out.

My sister, who used to be indifferent about everything, was the one who reached out first, and my younger sibling, who always seemed unimpressed with me, actually thought about me.

That chaotic day passed, and a week had gone by.

[KR Märchen Live Gallery]

[Title: Akira’s collab announcement is out, Märchen fans!]

Upvotes: 912 / Downvotes: 0

• Whoa, how long has it been since Akira’s last collab?
• ↳ Yeah, seriously, it’s been forever.
• ↳ Wait, how long has it actually been?
• ↳ A month.
• ↳ ????????
• ↳ Apparently, she’s been too busy doing random stuff on her own to collab.
• Who’s she collabing with?
• ↳ It’s obviously Yuwol. How do you not know this?
• ↳ Märchen2: LOL.
• It’s either Yuwol or Onuri.
• ↳ Yoruna’s a possibility too.

[Title: But if the collab is with Yuwol…]

A hero and a succubus together… whew.

Upvotes: 2,194 / Downvotes: 3

• Umm.
• └ Approved.
• LOLLLLLLL.
• This could turn into a hunt.
• ↳ Or, the roles could reverse.
• Märchen2: Agreed.
• L?
• MMMMMMMM.
• LOOOOOL!

[Title: If Akira cries again, it’s gonna be hilarious.]

Last time, during the Cohort 9 collab, she kept losing over and over and ended up tearing up, LOL.

(Insert Akira crying emote)

Upvotes: 4,173 / Downvotes: 21

• Stop messing with our poor Akira, you weirdos!
• ↳ Look at this guy’s tone, LMAO.
• ↳ Awwww.*↳ Shut up, oh my god.
• But for real, I kinda wanna see her cry again, LOL.
• L 20.

[KREAM: Akira (AKIRA) Fan Café]

[Title: Tada! Akira’s collab announcement!]*-(419) – Posted 3 minutes ago.

Author: AKI_RA09 (@KRmaerchen)

Everyone, get ready! The stream will start between 6:00 and 6:30 PM!

AKI_RA09: Should I just kidnap them…?

I didn’t feel like moving.

Lying in bed was way too comfortable.

But today was collab day.

“Why does it feel like I never get a weekend…?”

A VTuber and illustrator with no breaks. My week was just Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday, and Friday.

Even in a work-heavy life, I still had to stream. Not that I disliked streaming, but still.

“Akira-senpai said she was preparing the game, right?”

She just told me to bring myself. Akira had prepared everything, so I didn’t need to do much.

That’s why I hadn’t bothered prepping anything.

I got up to start my stream.

After freshening up, I turned on my stream and waited for Akira to message me.

For reference, I didn’t post a collab announcement. People said it’d be too obvious if I did.

So, my viewers were just suspicious, not entirely certain.

“By the way, Chuseok is coming up soon. It’s already September… Time really flies.”

• RIP… Time is going way too fast.
• Ugh, time for another round of family nagging.
• Yuwol, are you going back home for Chuseok?
• The other cohorts will probably take a break for the holiday.
• Time is flying. It’s already been two and a half months since Yuwol’s debut.
• I really don’t wanna go to my relatives’ place.
• I hope Yuwol streams during Chuseok!

“Hmm… I probably won’t be able to stream during Chuseok. I’ll be visiting my family, after all.”

• TT
• Please stream from home…
• Do a space stream!
• TT

6:00 PM.

The collab time Akira had mentioned.

Until the collab started, I was just doing Just Chatting, and Akira had just messaged me.

[Akira: Get ready!]
[Yuwol: Got it.]

I sent a quick reply and opened Akira’s stream.

My viewers were confused for a second, but then they burst out laughing like they had expected this all along.

By now, the news had probably already been posted in the Cream Café in real-time.

Akira was currently introducing the collab but hadn’t revealed the guest yet.

I decided to mess around a little.

I joined Akira’s stream early and positioned my avatar so only my hair was visible at the bottom of the screen.

[“Some of you might’ve already guessed, but! I still need to introduce them properly!”]

At that moment, I joined the Discord call.

[“KR Märchen Live Cohort 11, it’s Yuwol!”]

As soon as Akira’s voice rang out, I raised my full avatar onto the screen.

I also unmuted my mic and greeted Akira’s audience.

“Hello. I stopped by once before… and then got kidnapped into this collab.”

[“What am I supposed to be, if you say it like that…”]

“Long time no see, senpai.”

[“Stop trying to change the subject!”]

It felt strange. Seeing two VTubers on the same screen.

Of course, that was already an interesting sight, but the fact that I was one of them felt even more surreal.

Akira seemed a little dissatisfied with my greeting, but she quickly switched back to her usual energetic self.

[“Anyway! I missed you so much, Yuwol!”]

“It’s only been, like, a week.”

[“Yuwol, are you T?”]

• Sometimes, I can’t tell if Yuwol is T or F.
• LOL.
• Are you a CF T-type?
• Why does Akira always say she misses Yuwol every time she sees him?
• She literally said she missed you, Yuwol. LOL.
• Our little Warrior;;; Aww.
• Why can’t you understand her feelings…? Why can’t you understand…?

…Am I the weird one here? Or is the world just strange?

I nodded hesitantly.

“Yes, I missed you too.”

[“Kyaaa! Oh my gosh! Is this love?!”]

• No, you idiot.
• Why does a succubus like a hero…?
• Akira x Yuwol is real!
• What game are they playing today?
• They’re starting off strong, huh?
• Is this love?! LOL.
• Honestly… this might actually work…?

Like chat pointed out, things were a little chaotic from the start, but it didn’t seem like a problem.

Though, it might take me some time to adjust to Akira’s energy.

She wasn’t this intense back in Märchen Offline…

[“Ahem! I got too excited and almost forgot to explain today’s plan!”]

At least she got back on track quickly. That was kind of cool.

[“Today’s collab is split into two parts. First, we’ll do some Just Chatting, and then, in part two, we’ll play a game!“]

[“We won’t stay in Just Chatting for too long, since the main event is the game!“]

[“And I know you guys are going to love it—it’s a horror game.“]

So that’s what we were doing.

I honestly had no idea what today’s collab was about.

She told me it was a collab, but she never mentioned what we’d be doing.

I just nodded along with Akira’s words.

[“Oh my god! That was so cute! Did you see the way he nodded?!”]

• His face is literally dying in real-time, Akira.
• Look at Yuwol’s eyes—there’s a shadow there.
• Hey, hey, chill…
• Overly obsessed Akira fan spotted.
• LMAO, even I’d get tired of this.
• Is this a disease? This level of fangirling…
• Yuwol is cute just by existing…

At this point, I was starting to think this was some kind of mental illness.

I sighed internally and suddenly remembered what Akira said about the game.

A horror game.

I do not like horror.

Because it’s scary.

Ghosts, corpses… Ugh.

I reset my avatar’s expression and opened my mouth.

“Senpai. What kind of horror game is it?”

[“Hmm? Uh… something like Inlust, I guess?”]

“…This was a great collab, thanks for having me.”

[“PFFT! Yuwol, do you get scared of horror games? Don’t worry! Big Sis will protect you!“]

• A succubus protecting a hero…
• Reversed roles.
• Looks like Yuwol isn’t good with horror, huh?
• This collab is going to be fun…
• I better prepare earplugs ahead of time. LOL.
• Our little Warrior won’t cry, right…?

I had nothing to say to these people.

Jump scares.

Aka, sudden pop-ups.

A classic horror game and movie trope.

And every time I saw them, I jumped out of my seat.

Also, I really hate ghosts.

Zombies? I can handle those. But ghosts?

“Ghosts can’t be punched.”

[“…?”]

“It’s unfair.

Ghosts can attack me, but I can’t hit them back. Why?”

[“……”]

• Oh… so that’s why he hates them?
• If he had the power, he wouldn’t be a Warrior—he’d be an Exorcist. LOL.
• Damn, so it’s not just fear—it’s frustration?
• I have no comment.
• Akira went completely silent, LOL.
• Um.
• Actually, yeah, why can’t we hit ghosts?

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I hated them.

They’re just scary.

[GhostHunter77 has donated 50,000 won!]

• If you ever encounter a ghost, just ask: “How did you stabilize your position in the Euclidean coordinate system?”

“I’ll make sure to try that.”

• Wait, but aren’t they not even earthbound spirits?
• “…They’re still ghosts, so it should work, right?”

I have obtained a new weapon.