The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Last night, after finishing the short test stream, I explained the plan I had come up with to Claire and Alice, then went to sleep.

To be honest, I never thought the stream would go well from the start. No matter how pretty or fitting someone is for a character, it’s not easy for viewer numbers to grow unless word of the stream spreads.

Besides, yesterday’s stream didn’t even have proper lighting—it was just me turning on the smartphone camera and winging it. With no setup, people weren’t likely to gather. Even a pretty person doesn’t look great on camera without lighting.

But still, the number of people who came into our room yesterday hit double digits. And the first digit wasn’t a one.

After the stream ended, I looked it up and found that screenshots of the three of us had been posted online.

It was in that gallery I used to browse often in this world. It made sense—people who liked Azerna Chronicles would naturally be there. Judging by the posts, it looked like the viewers had come after seeing those screenshots.

For a moment, I considered logging into the account I used to use here and revealing, “I’m the one who did that stream.” But that seemed risky in too many ways.

That gallery forbids socializing. I was a well-known fixed-nickname user, but if I used that as a way to promote my stream, people would jump at the chance to mob me. On top of that, I had stirred up quite a bit of drama under that nickname before.

Now that my identity had conveniently been reset, there was no need to drag out my dark history just to get a tiny bit of promotion.

Second, I saw potential.

It was just once, but someone had actually donated during that short stream.

Donations in online streaming are generally meant to get the streamer’s attention. So if we keep doing cosplay—well, to be precise, it wasn’t cosplay but just us being ourselves—then with some effort, it could help with our financial situation.

Well, if it didn’t work out, we could always sell off the stuff we prepared as secondhand goods and try to find part-time jobs.

Anyway, the plan I explained to the two of them was that we should try streaming consistently and diligently for a while. Claire and Alice seemed to agree. Claire looked like she was just enjoying the whole situation, and Alice seemed a bit reassured when I mentioned it might help our livelihood. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“But why would people give us money just for watching us talk?”

“You know how there are people who sing on the street? It’s the same as dropping coins into the hat in front of them. Plus, when they donate, they get the right to say something directly and make it stand out.”

“That’s what it is?”

I gave Alice that explanation, and though she made a strange expression, she didn’t object to what we were trying to do.

So the next day, we decided to go a bit farther out to buy what we needed for the gaming stream.

And in the process, I ran into something I completely didn’t expect.

“...Where did this come from?”

“It was in my wallet.”

What Alice showed me was, unbelievably, an ID card.

That’s right. It was the same kind of resident registration card that had appeared when I crossed into this world—one that said “Sylvia Fangryphon,” with the name order just flipped into Korean style.

Naturally, hers said “Alice Fangryphon.”

“I’ve got one too.”

Claire said that and handed over her card, which said “Claire Grace.”

We’d bought their wallets when we bought clothes. They should’ve only had transit cards inside.

But both of them had ID cards showing adult ages.

“Did something get adjusted when we came over?”

At Alice’s words, I paused to think.

“...Maybe it’s because the goddess governs ‘Order.’”

I wasn’t sure if that goddess governed this world too, but the appearance of me, Claire, and Alice in this world definitely broke its order.

And if we just showed up and left gaps unfilled, it would create all kinds of issues. People wouldn’t know where the two of them came from or how they got here.

So an explanation had to be created. And between simply making us Koreans or marking us as “illegal immigrants,” the former obviously created fewer holes. Being undocumented doesn’t mean you don’t have a nationality.

Rather than inventing where we came from, how we settled here, and all the rest, it was simpler to just have us processed as Korean. Since we’re all from another world anyway, whatever nationality we have would come with contradictions.

“The Goddess of Order is making it so we blend into this world?”

“It wouldn’t be strange to think that.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“So the longer we stay here, the farther we might get from the world we used to live in?”

“......”

Surely, as time passes, the Goddess of Order might try to fill in our “missing pieces.” She’s someone who once tried to consume an entire world just to build the orderly world she desired.

Maybe from her point of view, this world is already perfect. Not ideal, but a world governed by a single principle—physics. Though ironically, the biggest hole was created when she dragged me over here.

“But in that case, the solution is simple.”

I answered Alice.

“As long as we don’t forget who we are, that’s enough.”

“And if we spread the fact that we are who we are to others, that’s even better.”

Claire, who had been listening, jumped in.

“We just need to live in a way that makes it obvious we don’t belong in this world—so much so that the Goddess of Order would hate it. That’s what you mean, right, sis?”

“Exactly.”

“...I see.”

So basically, we just have to keep doing what I did with Claire when we shattered that illusion the goddess had made.

We have to stand out as much as possible, showing as many people as we can that something is off.

“You really seem to enjoy going against the goddess, don’t you?”

Alice said that, looking at my face.

*

What we bought was an external capture card, a microphone, a mic stand to hold it in place, and a monitor.

Lighting turned out to be expensive and surprisingly tricky to set up, so we decided to stream without it for now and adjust later if needed.

And then...

“She’s really drawn on the cover.”

“You said you didn’t know you came from a game, right?”

“That is correct.”

It was the latest installment of Azerna Chronicles.

Just like people had said—shockingly, I was drawn on the cover.

Right next to Leo.

“She kind of looks different from the real you, though.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. This version looks a bit colder.”

“...It doesn’t look like me?”

“Yeah. The one drawn here looks way colder than you.”

“True. It’s not quite your vibe... Oh.”

Alice, who had been agreeing from the side, suddenly went quiet as if something clicked.

Maybe she remembered what I was like when I was a child. Back then, I lived while hiding my emotions even more than I do now.

[Claire figured it out exactly]

[Already exposed as mid-tier trash LOL]

The chat started flying in as viewers watched us looking at the game package and talking.

...Wait. Are they saying that even in the game, my personality is just a persona?

What kind of character am I in the game?

“Anyway, today we’ll be playing the latest Azerna Chronicles title. I’ve never played this game before, so please refrain from posting spoilers. If I see one, I’ll ban on sight.”

With that, I opened the game package.

*

The opening sequence of the game felt incredibly familiar.

“Oh, this is when we first entered the academy.”

[???]

[What the heck? Is that really the concept they’re going with? LOL]

[LOLOLOLOL]

That’s right.

Before the stream, I told the two of them—

Since we decided not to hide anything, we might as well say whatever comes to mind while playing the game.

People who don’t believe us will think we’re just roleplaying as the characters no matter what we do.

And even if just one person out of all of them ends up actually believing us—what does it matter?

That’s exactly what we’re aiming for.

The only problem—

“[Un...nie, Sylvia un...nie, right?]”

—The only problem was that, as always, this game wasn’t fully voice-acted.

And since it wasn’t fully voiced, some of the lines only appeared as text.

Which meant I had to read them out loud myself.

I told the worried Claire and Alice I’d do the reading without thinking much of it, but this was way more embarrassing than I expected.

“Unnie, did you really mean to stammer right there?”

“I don’t think there were any ellipses in that line.”

[LOLOLOLOL]

[She’s embarrassed LOL]

[Exactly like Sylvia in the game /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ LOL]

[So in character LOL]

......

Should I just quit?