Chapter 10: Ryo and Kaoru and the First Stream

The week after the day they ate chicken paiku noodles.
Sunday afternoon.

“Kaoru, can you really keep up with just that?”

“I’ll be fine.
And it’s Moka-P.
During the stream, call me that.”

“Got it, Kaoru.”

“That reply means you didn’t get it at all.”

They were at the Tamagawa sandbar dungeon, the same one in Tama River where Ryo had previously run into Otsuno Dia.

Ryo had brought streaming gear with him and come here for his debut broadcast.

They were checking the equipment in the first-floor entrance area.

In this dungeon—and really any dungeon—the entrance space rarely saw monsters, making it relatively safe even for Kaoru, who had only minimal explorer abilities.

“There are a few filming options, but I personally thought this one would be best for a starter, so I bought it!

A silent drone for dungeon streaming.
I splurged like crazy from my part-time pay!”

Kaoru puffed out his chest, but Ryo looked at him with little interest.

“It’s basically auto-follow, and you can also manually control it remotely.
You can even display a holographic window with the switch on top of it.
It’s the latest model!”

Kaoru struck a proud pose, but Ryo looked uneasy.

“The rotor noise is really quiet, sure…
but if there’s a monster that’s sensitive to sound, that’s kind of scary…”

“There aren’t any like that in this dungeon, right?”

“There aren’t, but still.”

So this was the kind of risk streamers always carried, Ryo thought, shivering slightly.

“Streamers probably don’t think about it as deeply as you do.”

“That’s scary in its own way.”

“Hey, cut them some slack.”

Even Kaoru had only realized the sound risk after Ryo mentioned it.

It made him feel like he was seeing again why so many full-time explorers disliked or felt uneasy around streamers.

As Kaoru was thinking that filming methods would be a future issue, Ryo turned a serious look toward him.

“So… just to confirm again, this time we’re getting footage of a sleeping Sharkdile, right?”

“Exactly.
Talk to the camera and explain things as you go.
If it looks like you need cue cards, I’ll send messages through Linker, so keep your phone easy to check.”

“I usually keep sound and vibration off during exploration, but I’ll be careful.”

They went over several other precautions and concerns, syncing their understanding as they finished preparations.

“So… that’s about it.
You think you’re good?”

“Yeah.
For the sake of fried chicken, I’ll manage.”

“If you say it’s for fried chicken, I can believe you.”

“Right?”

When Ryo nodded, Kaoru operated his phone and activated the drone.

Its following behavior was built from a combination of command codes, something Kaoru had tested repeatedly up until today and brought to a workable state.

Of course, if there were issues in today’s stream, he would need to rebuild it later.

And if anything happened, he could always switch to manual control.
Kaoru had practiced that too.

“Once the stream starts, I basically won’t talk.

When you leave the entrance, I’ll take the gear and head outside.

So it’ll all be on you… you good with that?”

“I’ve heard it plenty of times.
I’ll handle it.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Kaoru pulled up the newly created account on the major social network Warbler called “Ryo Channel,” and posted.

“‘First stream starts at 13:00.
Nice to meet you☆’”

He had created the account last week and promoted it repeatedly through his main account.

Still, since countless personal streaming accounts popped up every day, the follower count had not grown much in a single week.

Even so, one account reacted immediately.

It was Otsuno Dia—Minato.

In fact, Kaoru had deliberately asked her to hold back from reacting to “Ryo Channel” until the day of the stream.

She must have been holding it in, because she immediately rewaved it from her own account.

And right after that, with a quoted rewave—

[> RW
This is Ryo-chan’s account, the person who saved me from a Sharkdile the other day.
Apparently he hadn’t started streaming at the time, but he’s beginning personal streams today.
He said he didn’t need thanks, but I still wanted to show my appreciation, so I’m rewaving this to support his stream.]

—that message appeared.

That was incredibly helpful.

Since this was his first stream, Kaoru had been prepared for the worst-case scenario of zero viewers, so even having a portion of Dia’s fans drop by was a big plus.

Being treated like an insider by Dia despite having no connection to her agency was a little scary as a potential source of trouble, but this level was not only fine—it was helpful.

“It’s almost 13:00.
I’m starting the camera.”

“Okay.”

“After your opening greeting, thank Dia for rewaving the announcement.”

“Got it.”

After a final check and a brief reminder, Kaoru switched the drone to manual mode and moved it in front of Ryo.

He counted down with his fingers, and at zero, activated the camera and signaled Ryo.

“Um, hello.
Nice to meet you.
My name is Ryo.

I’m a complete beginner with streaming and don’t really know left from right yet, but I’m happy that there are people watching from the very start.
Chicken-wise.”

Chicken-wise—what does that even mean, Kaoru nearly shouted, barely managing to keep his mouth shut.

There were plenty of things to comment on, but Ryo’s usual blank expression, calm tone, and slightly stiff delivery were all intact.

Kaoru felt a bit uneasy, but when he checked the comment section, people were greeting him, so as a first-stream opening, this was probably fine.

Thanks to Dia, the concurrent viewers—the number of people watching right now—were already over 100, which was a huge relief.

: First comment thanks to chicken
: Came from Dia-chan’s Warb
: Nice to meet you
: Same here, nice to meet you
: Hello
: Good luck on your first stream
: Ryo-chan is cute
: Chicken??
: Chicken-wise??

Naturally, the chicken line drew reactions.

Still, a character with easy-to-comment quirks might actually work in his favor.

“And Otsuno Dia-san.

Thank you for rewaving the announcement right before the stream.

Thanks to that, people are watching from the very start.”

It was a bit stiff, but he said what needed to be said, so that was fine.

Contrary to Kaoru’s internal nerves, the comment section kept filling up.

: As a Dia fan, thanks for saving Dia-chan
: We couldn’t see your face, but that was you, Ryo-chan?

“I said it when I helped you that I didn’t really need thanks…

But I was happy about the promotion.
Thank you.

If you give me thanks next time, please make it chicken.
Fried chicken or karaage.”

From the public’s perspective, “treating him as thanks” had technically not happened yet.

Whether Ryo understood that and still said this was a little questionable.

: Chicken lol
: Fried chicken, karaage lol
: He was going full fried-food mode even in front of Dia-chan
: Chicken again
: Ryo-chan really likes chicken huh
: This deadpan humor is kind of addictive

Ryo’s chicken obsession seemed to have grabbed the viewers’ attention.

If they watched through the main exploration too, they might become regulars.

Kaoru knew it was an optimistic thought, but he still hoped for it as he watched Ryo.

“Um… about today’s exploration…

We’re in the Tamagawa sandbar dungeon in Tama City, Tokyo.

It’s the same dungeon we just mentioned… the one where I helped Otsuno Dia-san before.”

: Oh, that place
: The riverbed vibe there is really pretty

“And the goal of today’s exploration is—”

: Oh
: What is it
: What are you fighting
: Material farming?

“I’m going to take pictures of a sleeping Sharkdile.”

: Huh?
: What?
: Wait
: What do you mean?

“I want to show everyone that Sharkdiles are actually cute.”

: Wait wait wait
: That thing is cute?
: That huge one Dia-chan tried to eat, right?
: Sounds terrifying
: Cute…?
: I was planning to lurk but had to comment

Even people who had been silent started commenting, so the initial response seemed good.

“Alright then, Moka-P.

I’m heading into the dungeon, so please support the stream from outside.”

Ryo waved as he headed deeper from the entrance, and Kaoru, wearing a serious expression, headed out of the dungeon as well.