Here's One Way to Change Your Life

“And that’s all the time I have left,” I announced to the audience of five viewers. “Next time, we’ll finish building this castle. This has been Nachibaan, and I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

I waved at the camera, which was reflected at the bottom-right corner of the stream recording over the game I played. After shutting off the stream and closing the game, I breathed, then stretched my body out. Relief coursed through me after being hunched over a keyboard for two hours.

I opened my channel’s statistics and followed a line on a graph that showed my average views from last night’s stream to tonight. From left to right, the line remained straight before rising a little, representing a growth from three to five average views. A small accomplishment that called for celebration once payday arrives. But I knew that number could grow higher.

Glancing at my wall clock, I figured there was enough time to do research before heading to bed. “How to get more Twitch followers,” I typed in the search bar. Hitting enter made a long list of articles appear.

If This is How You Stream, You’re Doing it Wrong

The Number One Way to be Gain Thousands of Followers

PRO Twitch Streamers Are Using THIS POWERFUL APP

I skimmed through each headline, unsure of which one to read first. They all seemed to offer useful information, but did they have to be so vague about it? What was this powerful app streamers were using? Is there truly a number one way to grow followers? Desperate to find the answer to these questions, I opened a bunch of them in different tabs.

After a while of reading, I ruffled my hair in disappointment and groaned. Not a single article had advice that was particularly useful; most of which I’m already following without much success, like gaining a social media presence and finding a niche. Others had paragraphs upon paragraphs that dragged on before they concluded with selling a faulty product.

For a moment, I thought of my next action. If these articles won’t help, I can probably rely on videos.

But luck wasn’t on my side when I searched for the same thing on Youtube. The results bombarded me with bright, flashy thumbnails that made me squint; red arrows pointing at nothing specific, someone in the corner wide-eyed like they saw a ghost, and rainbow backgrounds that clashed with the rest of the thumbnail.

Surely, these thumbnails were meant to draw in unsuspecting viewers. But should the content be judged based on how over-the-top the thumbnails were. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I clicked a ten minute long video titled “SIMPLE 0 to 100 Twitch Followers INSTANTLY.”

It started with the uploader nearly screaming off the top of his lungs about how his technique was “number one.” But before he explained the technique, he read aloud a message from the video’s sponsor which lasted for a couple minutes.

After the sponsor read, he began the actual content and said, “Getting hundreds of Twitch followers is not simple or instant.”

Seething with frustration, I closed my browser, knowing that was minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

My phone vibrated and a text from Rui appeared. “Still coming tomorrow?” she said.

“Wouldn’t spend the holiday any other way,” I replied. Since it was a week-long holiday, she, Benkei, and I planned a bunch of days to hang out. Knowing I’ll need the energy for the rest of the week, I shut my lights off and headed for bed.

---

Around noon the next day, I was glued to my phone at a cafe in the heart of Tokyo. Sitting around me were Rui and Benkei. While they spoke, I continued my research from last night while giving them a glance occasionally to catch up with what they were saying.

“So, I finished that book you recommended,” said Benkei.

Rui downed her ice coffee and beamed. “Really? How’d you like it?”

“Loved Nariyuki’s commentary about Japan’s TV industry. But did his boss have to trick him that way? I swear I’ve seen that in a million other novels.”

“But something like that can happen. When I finished it, I thought about my job prospects. What if those companies aren’t who they seem on the inside?”

I zoned out Rui’s and Benkei’s debate while flicking my thumb through a list of videos I searched. The exaggerated thumbnails and titles made me hesitate to watch any of them.

“Naoya, what’d you think?” called Rui

I jerked up and looked at her. “W-what?”

“You alright? You’ve been on your phone since you got here.”

Benkei crossed his arms, “He’s probably texting some girl. She cute?” He flinched at a tiny french fry Rui flicked at him.

I scratched my head and put my phone away. “Sorry, just been in a bit of a slump.”

Rui said, “Well, you didn’t seem all that excited in your stream last night.”

“I have my small view count to thank for that. Plus, I can count the number of followers by the people sitting at this table, not including myself.” I rested my head on my arm. “And don’t get me started on looking online for help.”

Benkei raised a finger, “Maybe you gotta spice things up a bit. Try something different.”

“Exactly. How about something other than gaming?” Rui clasped her hands together. “Why not karaoke?”

Benkei laughed. “You just wanna hear his dying animal singing voice, don’t you?”

“Dying animal is a bit of a stretch. More like a parrot with a sore throat?”

“Okay, karaoke rejected,” I said, shaking my head at flashbacks of our drunken karaoke hangout last Sunday.

“Have you thought of getting yourself a VTuber avatar?” Benkei suggested.

Rui rolled her eyes. “You mean using an anime girl in place of your real face? It’s like I see a new one pop up every day.”

“Rui’s got a point,” I said. “I considered trying it out, but it just feels gimmicky at this point.” In fact, I didn’t realize it until now, but during my research, it seemed every thumbnail had some sort of anime-like avatar instead of someone’s real face. I probably didn’t notice it from all the flashy, over-the-top imagery.

“But everyone’s doing it ‘cause people love cute girls,” Benkei added. “And cute girls on the internet make money.”

Rui placed a hand on my shoulder. “Honestly, Naoya, just stream like you always have. Eventually, you’ll find something that’ll make you stand out without using gimmicks.” Rui gasped at a sudden idea. “I know, why don’t we collab? All three of us?”

Benkei rose. “Rui’s right. You always stream by yourself. Why not let us join in on the fun?”

I rubbed my chin. “Hey, that’d be a great idea.”

“Right? And with Rui, new followers are sure to come flooding in.”

Rui tossed another french fry that hit Benkei in the nose.

I smiled, “How does tonight sound?”

We all nodded in agreement. While I wasn’t sure about gaining any followers, being able to stream with friends lightened my mood from before.

---

That night, while making preparations, Rui and Benkei texted about being late. As unfortunate as that was, it gave me ample time to browse.

As I made an announcement on my socials about the stream delay, I pondered what Benkei mentioned during our cafe outing. What if I used a VTuber avatar in place of my face? I’ve only been streaming for two weeks, and I haven’t built much of an audience yet. It shouldn’t be too dramatic of a change if I tried a VTube avatar for a bit.

“How to be a VTuber,” I typed in the search bar. As expected, a list of exaggerated thumbnails and titles appeared, which I ignored.

After about a hundred flicks of my mouse wheel from scrolling, I stumbled upon a video that stood out from the rest. Its title read, “How to be a VTuber in Two EASY Steps.” Of course, it sounded too good to be true.

As for the thumbnail, it had an anime girl in front of a white background. She had short black hair and donned a grey school uniform blazer. She stood in the middle of the thumbnail and stared at me with a faint smile.

When I clicked the video, it began with no fancy intro animations or greetings, as most of these videos start with. The girl’s blazer showed full detail down to the fabric stitches. On her left breast was a symbol of two red snakes weaved around a triangle. Probably The logo of her fictional school.

The girl first raised her index finger then pointed at her eyes, making me stare into them. Is this step one of two?

This staring contest lasted for about ten seconds before she raised two fingers, breaking my gaze from her eyes.

Believing this may be a waste of time, I checked the video’s timeline. Only a minute out of its eight minute runtime has passed. Eight minutes I’m not gonna bother watching.

As I moved my cursor to return to the search results, I halted at the video suddenly turning black. I clicked through the rest of the video’s timeline all the way to the end. The only piece of content the video offered was the first minute. I gotta hand it to the uploader, they’re a master of wasting time.

After I returned to the search results, the monitor suddenly shut off. “How the-” I muttered in surprise. Was the cable disconnected? I took a peak at the power bar below my desk. Its LED lights were still on, indicating power was running through it. The cables for the computer, monitor, and speakers were also plugged in. I reached for the monitor’s power button and pushed it a couple times, but it wouldn’t turn on. I leaned back on my chair and exhaled harsly.

A few long seconds passed, and my PC also shut off. “Seriously?” I pressed its power button, but like my monitor, it wouldn’t turn on.

I grabbed my phone and began texting Rui and Benkei about my power outage. Once I sent the text, every light in my room shut off, leaving me in darkness. The only lights were the ones from outside shining through my window.

Not long after, my vision went black.

---

Shock jolted through me as I sat up and inhaled a gallon of air as if I recovered from drowning. Sweat drenched my head and arms, which gave a cool sensation as a cold breeze blew past me. Hold on a second, breeze?

My breathing slowed and I spun my head around to look at my surroundings. Hanging over me were the leaves of an oak tree that swayed in the wind. Beyond them was the blue sky with the sun shining overhead. That wasn’t right. It’s supposed to be evening. Did I pass out until noon?

I pushed myself up and before me was an endless blanket of green pasture; nothing but a barren field of grassy hills and mountains hundreds of kilometers away. At first, I believed I was in the countryside. But if that was the case, I would’ve seen a town or farmland amidst the endless valley.

What if I wasn’t in Japan? Regret from asking that question made my palms clammy. I clenched them and my breathing grew heavy again. If this wasn’t Japan, then where am I? I spun around, hoping to find any landmarks of other countries I could recognize. Would the days of reading travel guides during my free time be worth it? Needless to say, I couldn’t find Mount Fuji or the Himalayas anywhere.

My lips trembled. No matter which direction I faced, grass, hills, and distant mountains were all I saw. I should move. But I don’t know which direction to turn.

I jerked my eyes everywhere to find somewhere to walk towards, but everything around me looked the same.

When I turned, I yelped and hopped away from a girl who I didn’t notice was behind me. How long had she been standing there?

The girl was about as high as my shoulder. She looked up and smiled with bright, blue eyes.

I scanned her from head to toe, and instantly recognized her as the high school girl from the video I watched last night before waking up in this place. She wore the same grey blazer, and I saw the snake emblem in full detail.

“Nice to meet you,” she greeted.

I stepped further away but was stopped by the trunk of the oak tree behind me. “Wh- Who are you? Where am I?”

She laughed and waved her finger, as if she was telling me, “No.” Then she turned and walked away.

“Hey,” I yelled. “Are you listening?”

The girl halted but continued facing forward. “Hmm, how do I put this?”

A short pause loomed over us. Each second of silence made my blood pressure rise. How long will she keep me waiting? Either I force answers from her or I leave and figure out where to go myself.

Then the girl faced me. She maintained the same smile. “You’re in a special place. Here’s why.”