The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"Are you saying you could’ve ended up like that version of yourself?"

Claire asked with an unusually serious expression, and I shook my head.

"The chances of that happening were extremely low. You could say we were practically different people to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} begin with."

Of course, the in-game Sylvia also used polite speech like me and tended to act emotionless in front of others. If someone didn’t know me well, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell us apart.

"Well, Sylvia does tend to be a little sloppy with her planning, anyway."

...That’s not exactly the distinction I was going for.

When I turned my head in reaction to what Alice said, Charlotte joined in.

"Rather than succeeding because the plans were flawless, it’s more accurate to say she just kept trying over and over until it worked."

"Isn’t that the same for the in-game Sylvia, too?"

"But the game Sylvia had even less humanity than you."

"Exactly."

Claire nodded in agreement with Alice.

Well... I mean, I appreciate them saying that.

But with Mia sitting there, staring straight at me since earlier, I couldn’t exactly agree out loud with being the more ‘human’ version.

If I really wanted to understand how things ended up that way, I could just go back and play the game right now.

But then I wouldn’t be able to show any genuine reactions during the stream. Viewers don’t like it when we play off-stream.

"Let’s get ready for bed soon."

At my suggestion, the girls all went off to their respective rooms.

And then, one by one, they came back out, dragging their blankets with them.

We did have beds, technically, but none of us were really using them.

Funny how that works.

*

Play during the day, stream in the evening, get ready for bed together, and check how brightly the Zibo glows—that was our daily routine.

Tonight, the Zibo was glowing quite brightly.

"But not as much as when Mia and Charlotte first crossed over."

"Why do you think that is? Surely we’re way more popular now than we were back then."

Mia tilted her head in confusion.

She had a point.

Now that we were well-known online, getting invitations from broadcast stations, and being approached by other streamers for collaborations, we had definitely become more famous than when it was just the three of them.

"Maybe people have gotten used to us."

I said, staring at the Zibo.

"It might look more natural to them now to see us stream as a group of five rather than when just two new members joined the original trio."

"Plus, we’ve adapted to this world way more than we had back then."

I still think winning that lottery ticket was some sort of trick by the goddess—a shackle meant to keep me from leaving this world.

And if that’s true, then this situation must be unfolding just as she intended.

"I think it’s about time we change the format of our stream a little."

At my words, the others all turned to look at me.

"How, exactly?"

"It’s important that people stop thinking of us as just ‘cosplayers.’"

I began to explain slowly.

"Instead of just playing the game and trying to highlight how we’re different, maybe it’s better if we tell our story properly."

"Oh, like what we did last time?"

Charlotte asked.

"Exactly. We just need to share the things we’ve experienced and emphasize that they’re all true stories—whether people believe us or not."

"That sounds fun."

Alice smiled.

"Honestly, there are a lot of things I’ve always wanted to talk about. This might be a good chance to get it all off my chest."

...Seems like she’s been holding in quite a bit.

Was losing to me as a kid really that frustrating for her?

Yeah, probably. If it had been because she lacked skill, maybe it would’ve been easier to accept. But I was basically cheating, after all.

"Then... will we get to hear everything about Sylvia, too?"

"Huh?"

I responded reflexively to Charlotte’s question.

"I mean, just like we’ve all got things we’ve kept to ourselves... maybe Sylvia has her own stories too, right?"

"..."

"You came to this world from another one, didn’t you? Didn’t you have family back there?"

Hmm...

"I have thought a little about maybe going to see them..."

But realistically, it’s not that simple. I’d be just some stranger showing up out of nowhere—and we definitely don’t blend in, looks-wise.

Even if I tried to watch from a distance, I wouldn’t know exactly when or where they’d appear. Even if there was a pattern to it, watching from within that pattern is actually harder. Standing around outside during commute hours would make me stick out even more.

"If you’re uncomfortable meeting them, you don’t have to... but isn’t it worth telling us about that time in your life? We’ve never heard it before."

"..."

My life in that world, huh?

Nothing really special, to be honest.

If I had been super social, with lots of friends and a bunch of experiences, I might have had stories to share. If I’d had a girlfriend, I could’ve told some romance stories too.

But before I came to this world, I was just commuting to work, playing games in my free time, and occasionally grabbing drinks with friends.

Other than that... maybe the stuff I did online?

"..."

So, yeah. I wouldn’t call it trolling exactly, but I did post a bunch of nonsense while writing about Chronicles of Azerna on the internet.

But hey, that’s something people do all the time online. And I never wrote anything that targeted real people.

I did bend the truth now and then to make myself look better, and sometimes I edited translations a bit to suit my taste before sharing them. Some of the guides I wrote got criticized, sure—but it’s not like I caused any actual harm, right?

...Yeah.

No need to talk about that stuff. No one goes around sharing all the forums they used to browse.

"There’s not much worth telling, but I could probably share some stories from when I was younger."

That’s all I said.

*

The next day.

It’s not like we always go outside during the day.

By nature, I’m a homebody. In my downtime, I usually watched streams, movies, dramas, or anime.

Claire liked to get out and about, but that didn’t mean she was never at home.

Charlotte was fairly sociable, but she rarely went out alone.

Alice, surprisingly, was very much a homebody. And Mia... well, no explanation needed there.

No one actually said, "Let’s just stay in today." But somehow, we all just ended up in the house together—probably because we were all secretly craving a quiet day indoors.

"..."

Even though we were all gathered in the living room, everyone was deeply focused on doing their own thing—

"Pfft."

Claire let out a stifled laugh.

Since she was sitting right next to me, it did catch my attention. But I’ve never been the type who likes others commenting on how I act, so I ignored her.

Still—

"Sis, look at this."

Claire, ever the social one, apparently didn’t want to laugh at it alone.

Well, I was a little curious anyway, so I glanced over at her phone...

...and instantly stiffened.

Judging by Claire’s lack of reaction, she hadn’t noticed yet.

Azerna Minor Gallery.

It was a forum I used to frequent all the time. A gathering place for fans of the series I loved. I was actually pretty well known there.

"This person’s last post was about a sequel to Azerna Chronicles, but apparently they got everything wrong. They disappeared after getting roasted from all directions."

[Not a single thing they predicted came true in that "likability ranking post" LOL]

The title of the post was a direct attack—comparing everything I wrote back then to the actual content of the newest game.

"..."

"Huh? What’s wrong, sis?"

"Ah—no, it’s nothing."

Claire asked after seeing my reaction, but I quickly shook my head.

No way... did our rise in popularity somehow revive that forum?

I mean, I did check it myself after our stream blew up, so it makes sense, but still—

"Apparently this person used to make all sorts of weird arguments just to win discussions?"

"..."

"They got super into character debates. Someone insulted ‘Claire’ and they went off with this huge wall of text defending her."

My shoulders finally relaxed a little.

Phew.

Now that I think about it, I was more into twisting settings and lore than tearing down specific characters.

The only one I openly criticized was Sophia.

...

Yeah. That’s definitely not something I can ever let slip.