Trial of the ghost pepper

After saying goodbye, Leona and I headed back.

“So do you think you can do a stream?” Leona asked.

“Yeah, I’ve still got plenty of energy left, and a good idea of what to do,” I replied.

Ever since the collab that put us on the map, Leona has been insisting that I stream from her place. At first I was reluctant, but eventually caved in to her request. I have nowhere near the amount of followers or subscribers as Leona or Astrid, but still a respectable number. As of now, I have approximately 10,127 followers on Wich and 7,986 subscribers on Mewtube. I usually do a stream either before or after Leona does hers. I also feel the daredevil nature of those two might be rubbing off a bit on me. While I’m no where near as crazy as Leona and Astrid, the challenges are still fun and entertaining.

                                                                                  …

Leona lounged on the couch as I started my stream.

“YO! Welcome to the crow’s nest.” I stated as I gazed at chat.

It was nowhere near as frantic as Leona’s, but I did have a respectable 943 viewers right now. My average view count ranged between 850 and 1,050, meaning today was right in the middle.

“So chat, how many of you saw the ramen challenge stream over on Astrid’s?” I asked.

A good portion of chat was aware of the challenge.

“Good, then you probably know that the punishment ramen was infamously spicy. If you want to see the making of the ramen, check out Svenfjordsalt’s channel. As for the main culprit of the ramen’s spiciness, here it is,” I said as I pulled out the ghost pepper spice.

“There’s still a fair amount left; however, I’m not going to just sprinkle it on my sandwich. If you want me to finish it off, you’ll need to beat me in a Metriss 66 battle royal. If you fail to do so, the ghost pepper gets it,” I stated as I pulled up a frying pan and placed the ghost pepper spice on it.

“You have one chance, after that I’ll do a chill stream of the remastered classic mystery game, Gumshoe Guild: The Lost Inheritance. Now then let’s set up the room.”

After setting up the room, I sent out the code and watched the room fill up. This was going to be a 1 vs 65 match between me and my viewers.

“I wonder if Astrid’s going to come for revenge? It seems Leona appears to be doing just that,” I said as I pointed to Leona.

She had picked up her Jintendo Joysmitch and was smiling as she stared at its screen.

The match began in a few seconds. Unlike 1v1 mode, battle royal allowed you to attack any one and be targeted by multiple people. However, there was no way to properly tell who was who, meaning it would be difficult for chat to gang up on me.

“Hoh? I’ve got quite a few attackers on me. Bad move little chat.”

My Metriss line finisher combo effectively wiped out the attackers in one go. Attacking in large groups was a very risk/reward tactic. On one hand, you could gang up on someone, but on the other hand, everyone would receive a massive counterattack the greater the number of attackers. Leona’s audible groan confirmed she had been eliminated.

As time passed, the match became an intense 1 v 1 match between me and a viewer.

“Do we have a pro in chat? This might get tricky or even spicy.”

After an intense back and forth, I eked out a victory.

“YES! Whew, that’s the most intense it’s gotten in a while. Well, you fought hard, but not hard enough to make me eat ghost pepper spice. That means the spice gets it!”

I dumped the spice out into the frying pan and set it ablaze. It was gone in an instant. Chat instantly went crazy.

“SAVAGE!”

“Lol it was already a “ghost” now it’s a ghost ghost.”

"It's even deader now."

“#ghostpeppercruelty.”

“Man just murdered that spice!”

“Funny you should mention murder, after a short BRB, its Gumshoe Guild: The Lost Inheritance.”

I then flipped to my BRB screen as I changed the game. My BRB screen was merely my mask and “BRB” spelled out in its shadow. Who would have thought that mask Leona gave me would essentially become my brand image.

Once I returned, I began streaming again. The Gumshoe Guild series is a point and click adventure mystery game series where you help high school detective, Akari Tachihara solve seemingly supernatural murder mysterious. The games also had a neat mechanic where you would be rewarded a rank based on how efficiently you solved the case. Naturally, I was aiming for the highest rank.

“Alright chat, now while I have played this before, I’ve always struggled to get that last percent needed for max rank. Place your channel point bets now, will I do it or will I fall just short?”

“I’m all in on 100%,” typed Leona.

“I say just short, you have to be PERFECT to get max. One mistake or misclick and it’s over,” Astrid typed.

Astrid was completely right. These games were very unforgiving in regards to getting max rank.

I had practice, but it was still difficult to remember every precise action needed to achieve max rank.

                                                                              …

“Shit, I hate this part. Just need to click on the TV first, then that should trigger the yearbook scene…”

                                                                             …

“Just need to click on the note and its over, I better get max on this dammit!”

After the credits rolled, it was time for the results.

“18, 19, YES! 20 badges for max rank! Talk about intense. Well, that’s all for now chat. Thanks for coming out to support the stream, now let’s see if there’s anyone to raid… Well would you look at that. It says Jaime’s playing a Gumshoe Guild game. This should be fun.”

Jaime was stuck on a puzzle when I raided.

“[Crowboy raid incoming! Hey, do you have ANY idea how to solve this puzzle?]”

I reclined as I watched Jaime attempt to beat the game. The stream went for hours, but it was hilarious.

“Wow, that puzzle looks even worse than the last one,” Leona said.

“Yeah, this game in the series is infamous for its complex puzzles,” I explained.

Jaime eventually beat the game.

“[You DESERVE to be crushed under that door for all the hell you put me through! Well, I think that will do it for tonight. Thanks once again for your support.]”

After his stream ended, I logged out and began heading home.

“You really brought the spice today. Thanks for making that ramen a terror to my taste buds,” Leona giggled.

“Any time. It’s that positive energy and amazing personality of yours that keeps me going,” I replied.

She pecked a kiss on my cheek before seeing me off as I happily headed down to my apartment.

                                                                              ...

“Hello mother, did you watch my stream?” I asked as I entered.

“Why would you waste food like that?” she sighed.

“Trust me, that stuff is nasty. Besides, I didn’t waste it, I merely passed judgement on it.”

“Well, I guess there are kids your age doing stupid things with spices.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I retired to my room.