A Drawing Performance

“Haah… haah… So, it seems you are the last one, my cute little Shiro. No worries, I didn’t forget about you. I’ll give you a nice head bonk – I mean scratch – real soon.”

Grrrrr… Shiro snarled back. Well, technically, its name wasn’t Shiro. The beast standing menacingly before me was a lycanthrope – basically a wolf walking on two legs. Its white fur glistened in a sea of blood and carcasses as it shifted its stance, waiting for my next attack. It was probably aiming for a counter.

“Quite the clever girl, as expected of a boss monster. Wait, are you the boss monster? I don’t know why else you’re wearing an iron helmet, but I just thought I’d check.” Sure, I was rambling, but who cared? After four long hours of hacking and slashing thousands upon thousands of beasts, I was allowed just the teensiest, tiniest bit of insanity. Plus, it kept the viewers rolling in.

Dierdactr: no way, is he seriously gonna pull it off???

Innycaru: how the heck is he still alive??? Come on! I have all my points riding on this!

Dohered: please stop with all the dog puns…

20,000… 30,000… the numbers continued to multiply exponentially. Those who joined at the start watched in disbelief while those coming in now raised the tension. Everyone knew this was the climax: the finale of an unbelievable, crazy stream. I clenched the near-broken axe in my hand. My HP? 10/14,530. Another hit would kill me. However, the boss was on its last legs too. This last fight, no… this next attack would settle it.

I took a deep breath, keeping my blue eyes locked on its.

And then I ran.

AAAARRRRRRROOOOOOOO!!! The boss let out a harrowing howl, swiping its massive claws in the blink of an eye. It seemed pointless, given how far away it was, but that was only a feint. The beast extended its attack with wind magic, covering almost the entire area in front of me. Heading forward was stupid, and trying to retreat was even worse. The sides were not much better. It was near impossible to dodge; there was no escape.

But that wouldn’t be enough to stop me.

I stepped on top of the piles of dead bodies, using them to gain as much height as possible. I thought I made them tall enough, but they weren’t as large as I would’ve liked. It was going to be a close call, but I could make it work. So, stupidly, I rushed forward, and once I made it to the edge…

Airclea: no way

Fireballin: he can’t be

Wirest: my points!!!!!

…I jumped.

My body soared horizontally just a fraction outside its hitbox, letting its claws pass by harmlessly. Meanwhile, the boss’s attack ended, leaving it stunned for a precious few seconds – just long enough to bring my axe down on its iron-covered head.

“Now! Lie down you mangy mutt!”

DONGGG! SNAP!

…my axe broke. Unable to handle the stress, the axe head snapped and flew into the sky. I landed on my feet, staring down at the red-tinted dirt.

Statik: lolololol

Alforig: oh no!

Mobbisi: that was his last weapon right?

Bosson: WOO!! FREE POINTS!!!

Seconpi: wait a sec…

Seconpi: why is he still smiling?

Heh.

“And have a STICKKKKK!” Springboarding up, I jammed the pointy edge of the broken handle into the beast’s neck. Unable to dodge or block, the makeshift weapon effortlessly severed its carotid artery.

GRRAAABABAWWW! The boss cried as blood pooled out of its neck. The last flicker of life drained from its eyes as it dropped, joining its comrades. The sounds of trumpets echoed through the sky as the world slowly faded to black.

Aphina: he actually did it!

Kasset: POGGGGGGG!!!

Sickbat: what the actual–

Talect: NOOOOOOO!!!!

“HAHA!!! Let the world know that I, the–”

SHINK!

“...huh?”

“Your HP has reached 0.”

“Huh?”

“You have died. Restart?”

“HUUUUUHHHH?”

Animeli: lololololol

Botesol: Killed by his own axe. What are the chances?

Mentas: lol

Rushamor: what happens to the points then????

“AGHGHGH!!!! Why the hell can you be killed during the final cutscene?!?!? Who made this crappy game?!? Ugh…” I leaned back in my chair, expertly switching the scenes to my facecam. My handsome face came on screen, backlit from the nightly cityscape outside the window of my penthouse. It was an almost iconic view at three in the afternoon. “Next time I’m playing something simple like reverse pinball.”

Contave: wth is reverse pinball

Timely: points?

Decksact: ponts?

Siterari: oints?

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll just call this one a wash and refund them. Dying while winning(?) is a can of worms I’m not going to deal with.”

Menuclif: cheapskate

Splichoi: give us points!

Acknoah: chat rise up and strike!

Reamex: …………..

BuzzIssue: …..

Nonlig: ……………………………

“Really? This again? Well, I was thinking it’s the perfect time to end the stream anyway…”

Colocomu: wait, end the strike! he can’t leave us now!

Poltert: finish the game!

Movieste: points!!!!

I gave a little smirk. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see. Thanks for sticking around everyone! And I’ll see you all in the next life!”

Footsen: noooooo!!!!!

Combatri: bye, Jest!

Primentrix: great stream as always

Cartooli: points…

The stream has ended.

~~~

“Glad that’s finally done. That was the hardest performance I put on to date,” I muttered to myself. Yep, that’s right. Throughout the stream, from the final clash to axe killing me in the end, the entire thing was choreographed. What better way to bring in more viewership than to set up the tension and release accordingly? There were a few parts a bit too close for comfort (I was doing it live, after all), but it worked out in the end. Of course, that was only because…

I looked at myself in the mirror. “Ah right, I can get rid of this now.”

“[Creation (Illusion) – Dispel]”

With a snap of my fingers, the glamorous penthouse blinked out of existence. Left behind, or I should say its true form, was a dingy, small apartment room with some mold growing in the corner. My computer, supposedly a top-of-the-line gaming desktop, was a decade old machine I fished together from spare parts. My reflection? Nothing like the persona I crafted online.

I was the streamer known as the Jester: a handsome entertainer known for inhuman gameplay with perfect comedic timing. But in reality, I was just an average man in his late twenties wearing a white t-shirt and some brown shorts. My dirty brown hair was an unkempt mess, and my belly had begun to stick out from underneath my shirt. My eye color? Definitely not blue. I even had a real name, believe it or not, though I hadn’t used it in a few years.

This was all thanks to the first of my two spells: creation magic. Although I didn’t have the spellpower to make my creations real, I could use its illusions to adopt any facade and adjust any issues in my streams, like when I hid my movement to line up with the falling axe head. Outside my apartment though, it was absolutely useless compared to combat magic. Unless they were behind something like a screen, almost everyone had the skill to easily see through such trickery. It’s the reason I dropped out of university after my first semester.

Of course, the streamer life wasn’t that bad. In fact, as a relatively popular one, I was pretty well off, enough so that I could move into a much nicer place if I wanted. Would I? Well, no. Not yet, anyway. This was the place where I grew up with my mom, dad, and sister. Mom and dad moved out a few years ago, and my sister…

“Jest! You done streaming?” Ana, my girlfriend, yelled from outside, distracting me from my thoughts.

“Yeah! Gonna check my mail first before I come out!”

“Okay! I’ve made your favorite noodles for dinner tonight!”

“Woo! Noodles!” I was so lucky to have her in my life. I never understood how she could put up with me, especially when I sometimes disappeared for one reason or another. She was a miracle and a blessing.

Well, noodles were a-waiting, so I quickly checked my inbox to see if there was anything important.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The annoying sound chimed, and three unread emails popped up.

“Let’s see… They’re trying to raise my rent again? I don’t know what they’re expecting after signing a [Contract], but it’s not going to work. They should’ve read the fine print. Next one… hair loss supplement? Why do I want something that makes me lose hair? Is this a new fad or something? Those Gen Beta? Theta? Whatever kids sure are weird. And the last one…”

* PAX: Sponsorship Opportunity

“A sponsorship, huh?” For streamers, sponsorships were part of our lifeblood. They gave us money, and in return, we promoted their products. Of course, not all sponsorships were legitimate, but that’s why we had lawyers and contract magic. I usually put on a show for my sponsors, creating an entirely new persona to keep the ad reads unique. I never heard of PAX before and the header didn’t tell me anything, but the email should contain more information.

So, I clicked on the–