Chapter 11: Even the Word “Cute” Makes Me Blush.

A slight metallic taste in my mouth, the broadcast fell silent.

And someone’s avatar swayed silently up and down.

There was only one person using an avatar on Inuko’s stream.

“…Pfft. chuckles.”

Ah, Inuko-chan.

She failed

The first one to break LOL

“Hehehe… It’s okay, Palette-san. It was super cute.”

“Th-Thank you…”

I’m not thankful at all. Damn it… My face is burning. I’m so embarrassed. Even the kind Inuko-san couldn’t hold back her laughter. When she bursts out laughing so heartily, I can’t believe it’s an act even if I want to.

Inuko-chan finally laughed

Everyone’s desperately trying not to laugh

Yui’s silence in the midst of all this is scary LOL

Is she already dead…?

I have to post this on the forum

It’s natural for the chat to laugh when the host is laughing. Countless viewers disappeared to mock my blunder on the forums.

I’m embarrassed. Incredibly embarrassed.

It feels like my loser status has been exposed in front of 100,000 people. Actually, that’s exactly what happened. It’s literally been exposed.

Biting my tongue while talking. Does that actually happen in real life? Isn’t that something writers force into their stories for cheap moe appeal…?

But what was harder to bear than the embarrassment was the reaction of the other collab members. Besides Inuko-san, who burst out laughing first, Yui and Sayo tried their best to hold back, but…

“Pfft. No, it’s okay! Mama. A person can bite their tongue while introducing themselves! Especially when it’s Mama’s fir- hic first ti- Ah, sorry… bursts out laughing!”

“You’re the worst, Haru.”

This b*tch. She’s not even trying to hold back. After laughing once, Inuko-san seemed to have given up and was laughing along with the viewers, making fun of me. Yui still hadn’t even made a sound.

…Huh? No sound?

Shouldn’t I be able to hear her breathing?

It was Sayo, not Yui, who answered my sudden question. In a mocking tone, a voice clearly holding back laughter. Pure ridicule.

“Uh, Yui seems to have something in her mouth.”

“Gasp…!”

So that’s it…! No wonder I couldn’t hear anything even though the mute icon wasn’t showing on Nightcord. Did she use that method to avoid even letting out a chuckle at my expense?

Good effort, though…

“I’m satisfied with that attitude, Yui…”

“Mama…”

Yui trailed off, seemingly touched. Just as Sayo was about to retort, Inuko continued.

“Ahem. Now everyone, let’s calm down, okay? We didn’t bring White Palette-san here to make fun of her, right?”

Inuko-san cleared her throat and displayed some materials on the screen. A crude but effective PPT with some questions, my chat logs, and pictures of my work.

“Oh…”

As expected of a professional…

Right. If she just kept attacking me, she’d miss the point of this broadcast: dispelling the saltiness and subtly revealing my charm. A professional broadcaster should know when to stop.

Well, Yui is a complete newbie, so that’s understandable, but Sayo… well, it’s Sayo, so I’ll let it slide. Thinking ‘it’s Sayo’ somehow makes it make sense.

“Mama, what are you thinking?”

Good intuition.

“Nothing. Really.”

Mama’s communication skills suddenly improved

Eh, she turned cold

Her reaction to the viewers is so different LOL

Isn’t that disdain? There’s room for salt…

“We’ve received a ton of questions, Palette-san. Listen carefully and answer.”

“Y-Yes…”

Since Inuko-san isn’t reacting to the chat, I won’t either. From now on, I’ll follow Inuko-san’s lead as much as possible. That’s the best approach…

“Now. First, it would be weird to receive questions for White Palette-san through Marshmallow, so I picked a few from the YouTube Community tab. My manager filtered them, so you don’t have to be nervous.”

I can’t imitate that.

“Yes…”

Honestly, I’m only comfortable talking to Sayo and Yui. Reacting to Inuko-san or the listeners’, or rather, the viewers’ chat is too much for me. They’re practically strangers.

Fortunately, Inuko-san is subtly helping me by making the questions easy to answer with simple interactions.

It was consideration for me, who wasn’t a broadcasting genius like Yui or had diverse experiences like Sayo.

Inuko-san, perhaps because she’s 0th generation, is so kind…!

Inuko-san cleared her throat with a pure, innocent smile.

“First question, between Yui and Haru, whose design do you think is better?”

Scratch that. She’s evil. Overflowing with malice.

Inuko-san’s ears perked up. Since it wasn’t pre-programmed, it seemed the real her was also curious.

It’s an easy question to answer with a little thought… I answered without hesitation.

“Yui.”

“Yay!”

“Damn it…”

I don’t think I need to say who cheered and who groaned. I don’t even understand why there’s a difference in reaction. Such an obvious question…

Yui is my most recent work, created as a fully matured, professional illustrator.

On the other hand, Sayo’s avatar, Haru, is a fake gyaru I made in high school, cobbled together from things I saw, when I couldn’t even draw properly.

If I drew it now, I’m confident I could incorporate more gyaru characteristics and improve the quality of the design. That’s why I’m personally looking forward to remaking Sayo’s avatar. A mindset of showing my growth.

“Hmm~. What’s the reason, Palette-san?”

“I drew Haru’s design in high school. I think Yui’s design, which I did more recently, is more complete, both aesthetically and in terms of quality. Especially the arrangement of the flowers in Yui’s hair…”

“Hmm. I understand. I understand. Palette-san is the type to become more articulate when talking about something she likes.”

Like an excited otaku.

It’s not unpleasant, is this the power of a beautiful girl’s voice?

The chat is collectively hypnotized

Aren’t they the usual virtual otaku?

High school 3 years ago…?

I can hear the unicorns laughing from here.

Huh? I only said the truth, why are they reacting like this?

Everyone, focus on the content of my words. Don’t just listen to my voice…

I don’t understand why the fact that I was in high school back then is important.

“I only said the… truth, didn’t I? Inuko-san. Did I say something… wrong?”

“Hmm, right. Whatever Palette-san says is fine. Just answer these questions quietly, and there won’t be any problems.”

“Mama didn’t do anything wrong! The answer was long because of that ‘relatively inferior design’ self-proclaimed older sister!”

“Huh? This baseless thief cat…”

Inuko-san’s avatar is grinning. That’s not pre-programmed, it’s recognition-based. Why is she genuinely smiling? Hmm… Maybe I’ll understand once I get used to the Vtuber world.

While I was pondering that smile, Inuko-san brought up the next question, the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

“Then, the next question! If you could adopt one as your real daughter, who would you choose…?”

When are we going to address the saltiness?

Well, it’s fun, so it’s okay, I guess.

Adoption, huh…

“…Hmm.”

Eh, is she thinking about it?

Thank you for not immediately abandoning our Haru-chan.

It’s okay, she’ll abandon her eventually

I need some time to think about this.

First, Yui… She’s a good kid, but she’s a bit creepy. She seems to remember every conversation we’ve had. Whenever I say something, she naturally brings up lighthearted things we talked about before and laughs.

It was a bit scary when she calculated my average meal times from the messages I sent hinting that it was time to eat and recommended lunch menus.

Sayo is stupid but kind. She has a slightly creepy side, though not as much as Yui. But she never creeps me out like Yui does…

The problem is, if I choose one of them, the other will definitely cry somewhere. Both options are terrible. There’s no lesser evil.

After what felt like ten-something minutes of agonizing, in front of 100,000 people, I chose my child.

“I think I’d like Inuko-san.”

“Eh?”

Instead of hurting only one, I decided to hurt both equally. This house had enough creepiness with just me.

“Palette-san. Is there a… reason you chose me?”

Inuko’s avatar blushed and fidgeted. Her eyes were spinning in circles. Is this a tee tee tee moment…?

But do I like women? No, even when I was a man, I didn’t particularly like yuri, and even now, I don’t feel anything for either men or women.

“…?”

An awkward sound and an awkward laugh.

…?

This Mama, her broadcast sense is hopeless

Her voice is cute, so it’s totally fine.

Did I do something wrong…?

How was I supposed to react?

《Thread about Shiori Haru and Yui》

411 Haru-chan went on the trial broadcast.

347 >>411 I told you a trial for saltiness is a guaranteed failure. Is Haru-chan graduating now?

328 >>411 It’s okay, Hanasaki Yui herself appeared

372 >>328 What?

403 >>328 Now Haru and Yui’s Mama has also appeared. Since all parties involved are present, the saltiness is gone.

472 >>403 What’s with that voice, isn’t it dangerous?

501 >>472 That’s the voice of a Mama with two daughters? It’s like a real JK. A superb voice.

“…Seriously. What is this?”

The Vtuber-related threads were on fire, and I found another trifecta of childish fantasies in the Vtuber scene.

Hoshino Sumire gave up on thinking.