Virtual Gods: The Rising Star

I'm down on my knees, hands pressed into my stomach as I cough. Blood falls from my jaws as a river. The cheap carpet beneath me is stained a deep red.

I feel more alive than ever. Somehow.

I struggle to stand. There's no strength in my legs, as if I hadn't moved in weeks. Except something is off. The more I stare at my legs, the more wrong it looks. It's too short. Too thin. Too clean. The small scar on my heel that I got from that one time I worked in a toy's factory is gone.

It's not just my legs. My hands—they're too thin. Too short. My nails are painted black. And my hair—when did I cut my hair? I don't remember-, I'm too busy saving money to-

And the room I'm in-, sparse with nothing but a bed that's too small, a desk that's too clean, a factory-standard office chair, and a laptop I don't remember buying. It looks like a room someone just moved into, and not one I'd thoroughly thrashed during the years I've lived in it.

Something is wrong.

My arms start to shake, but then a dull ping sounds from my right. It came from the laptop. 

I try to stand again. It doesn't work—I flop back onto the stained carpet. I resort to crawling instead. I pull myself up onto the chair. It takes a full minute to get herself up, and I do,

I freeze. The girl reflected on the unlit screen is wrong. Black hair cropped short, sharp black eyes. A pretty face that's too young to belong to a woman in her late 20s. Skin that's too pale for someone who works out in the sun for a few hours every day.

I move my hand to cup my cheek. The girl in the reflection does the same.

It's wrong, wrong, wrong.

Before I can push myself away from the reflection, the screen lights up. It's white, colored only by a text box drawn in pastel greens.

[Do you accept this impermanence?]

It's definitely not something I thought I'd see come from a text box on a screen, but there it is. Below the box is another box. I can either choose [Yes], or [No].

It's beyond fishy. It's like something I'd see from a cult or whatever. But my head's all messed up, and the only thing I can think of is how wrong that [No] option feels like. I don't know why—it just is.

My finger grazes the touchpad. The clicker rests over [Yes].

I push. Another ping sounds as the text box disappears. Another one appears in its place, and the words send a shiver down my spine.

[To live is to die. To live is to be in pain.]

[Remember.]

And I scream.

Suzuki Aiko. She's a lovely girl, although maybe a little too easily influenced by others. She doesn't go out much—she was born too weak to do much else. She loves her parents, and they love her back. They gave her a laptop as a birthday present two months back, as a way for the girl to talk with her overseas friends.

And then her parents died. Her cousins took the inheritance for themselves. The only thing Aiko could keep was her home, and her laptop. Doctors prescribed her pills for her depression. She overdosed the night before.

It's not an uncommon story. My Pa got his stuff stolen too when his parents died. But-

The blood still stains the carpet. My arms and legs feel heavy.

"Fuck." I grin. Cough. "Of course."

I slouch back. My shoulders droop. It's just-, it's sort of funny. I do all that stuff, grind day in and out, and for what? To die and come right back to the bottom? Getting isekai'd sounds fun and all until you don't want to die.

The screen flashes. Another ping comes, and the text box is replaced with another.

[To be in pain is to be Human. To be Human is to want more.]

[Do you seek Heaven?]

…did I get kidnapped into a cult? What the hell's with all these philosophical questions? I still move my clicker and press [Yes].

No more pings come. The text in the box disappears, replaced by a virtual ribbon, spinning in circles. I wait there, my hands clammy as I watch the ribbon spin. And then a large wall of text pops onto the screen.

My brain just halts.

[Suzuki Aiko | Female Human | Age: 19]

Occupation: Virtual Streamer

Str: F- | Agi: F-

End: F- | For: E

Mag: - | Int: E

Talents: -

There's something really wrong here. Virtual Streamer? Like, a YouTuber? Sounds weird enough, but the more I think about it, the less weird it is. Aiko streams when she plays her games occasionally. Mostly when online friends aren't on.

And Mag? Like Magic? That doesn't sound right. It must be something else, right? Right?

Except, what else could've punted me into this girl if not Magic?

Ah, I'll think about it later. There's another text box just below.

[You promised your fans that you'll stream a game of Minecraft today! Start streaming?]

…The tone's completely different. No, no. Aiko promised to stream Minecraft? Without a mouse? What the hell, girl? Did you-?

My rant's cut short when the desk flashes white. I shut my eyes, and when I open them, it's to find a mouse next to the laptop. The cable's plugged into the back of the laptop.

I laugh, and blink. I reach up to find a pair of headphones over my ears. It's nothing special—a non-distinct black pair. My clothes changed too; the blood stains are gone.

Ha. God was just playing with me, by this point.

Fine. Whatever. I'll dance to their tune.

My hand sits onto the mouse. I drag it over. The [Yes] is pressed.

And then the white screen fades away. A normal desktop takes its place, covered by Minecraft's launcher. A recording application is running on the left side of the screen. I can see my own face recorded, my movements followed. A chat box sits just below my live recording, filled with a small stream of lines.

Machigako: Aiko-chan's back!

Kurusu-kun: Welcome back!

Neko11137: She back. Osu queen here.

Lelolelolelo: Took long enough www

There's just over a dozen people watching me. It's nothing compared to the streams I've seen on Youtube back then. And yet-

"Sorry, I got caught up with something." I smile, conveniently not explaining what that 'something' is. "I'm good now."

Neko11137: Know how play Minecraft?

"No." I didn't have much time to play games. And Aiko had never really touched survival sandbox games either. "I can learn. It sounds fun." But I have seen videos about it. It was when I was really young and had too much time to spend. Ha, those were the days.

The title screen flashes open. A new World is made. And with no introduction I'm dropped into a world of blocks and pixels.

I don't know much about Minecraft, but I remember enough. Collect Wood. Make a wooden pickaxe. Mine stone. Make a stone pickaxe. Make a furnace. Find iron. And-, well, that's it, really. I don't really know much else.

But I have the commenters to help me. They've been pretty nice to Aiko—probably because she was so new—but I'm more than happy to use their knowledge.

I'm still pretty bad though. Getting advice from the comments doesn't stop me from getting stealthily bombed by a Creeper from behind. But at least when that happened, the chat was filled with 'www's all around.

An hour passes by without fanfare. I continue through Minecraft's progression with the help of the comments. All the while I fill the silence with my own voice. 

It's…hard. Talking while playing a video game is no easy task. And yet it's something all game-focused Youtubers are somehow able to do. Is it just some sort of innate talent or something?

At least building isn't too bad.

It's during a mining session that a surprising comment pops up.

YogaHlv: Good afternoon, Aiko-san. I am new here. Is this a gaming channel?

I blink. "A new viewer?" I smile. "Welcome. I suppose you can call me a gaming channel. I used to play Osu! a lot, but I'm trying out other games." I laugh. "Although today's session has become something weird."

Machigako: Aiko-chan's gives some really good advice!

Neko11137: She really smart.

I laugh.

I'm not sure when it started, but one of the commenters asked if I could help with their math homework. I was building and decided to help. I'm no math major, but I've dealt with enough calculus in my life to make me go a little cuckoo. 

Then someone asked if I have any advice for their upcoming date. That got the chat riled up a little—I suppose a commenter having a life is weird. I'm no consultist, but I've been in a couple relationships in my life. It's not hard to pull some advice from what I've gone through.

And then someone asked if I had any advice about their financial situation. I quickly reprimanded them and told them to ask a professional and not some random person on the internet.

"But I'm a gaming channel, first and foremost." I smile. "I hope you'll stick around, Yoga-san."

YogaHlv: www. I think I will.

…

Hours later, I bid my viewers farewell as I cut the stream off. I slouch back with a sigh. I feel…tired. I didn't move much, nor did I do anything strenuous, and yet I feel like I've run an entire marathon.

My respect for streamers has definitely risen quite a bit. 

A dull ping sounds, and I blink as the desktop fades back to a white screen. The virtual ribbon spins in place once more, and I can't help but lean forward as I wait for the loading to end.

And then-

[Today's Stream Rating: B!]

[Tallying Stream Points:

+5 (Stream Rating: B)

+2 (Stream Duration: +2 hours)

+5 (Introduced a new program to the channel)

+1 (New Viewer)

Total Stream Points: 13]

The text fades right after, replaced by what almost looks like an online store. Except the more I read through, the stranger it all looks.

Criminite Magic Staves, Calm Breathing Talent, Supreme Dreamcatcher—none of the things I can buy are normal by any sense. They're all supernatural or magical in one way or another-

Ooh, so that's it. Okay, that makes sense.

After a quick filter to only display items I can purchase, I start reading through the catalog. There's still hundreds of items on display, and all of them sound interesting to me.

I eventually settle for three things,

[Home Security System (Door)]

[Induces an 'Unknowable' Charm to the Streamer's home, causing unwanted visitors to forget about the Streamer's home. Any that attempts to enter will be dealt with an almost lethal shock.]

[Cost: 10 Streamer Points]

[Talent: Survivor (Low)]

[Reduces Streamer's consumption of nutrients by 20% without decreasing beneficial effects. Reduces Streamer's need for sleep by 10%. Increases growth of Str, Agi, and End by 100% until Rank F. This is needed for higher levels of the Survivor Talent.]

[Cost: 2 Streamer Points]

[Always-Fresh! Bento Box (10)]

[A set of 10 Bento Boxes, filled with all the required Nutrients a human would need for a day. It will remain fresh as long as the boxes aren't opened.]

[Cost: 1 Streamer Point]

Right now, I need two things: Safety and Food. There's no telling where Aiko's jerk of an extended family will take another visit, so having something to protect me would be nice. The Survivor Talent will help me grow Aiko's body a little, and those Bento Boxes will keep me going for another ten days.

I press [Yes] on the purchase, and the whole room shakes. The one door out of the room glitters an off-putting yellow. The glow fades soon after, and the door looks just as it does before. But I can feel that something's changed. Something fundamental.

Seconds later, it's me that begins to glow. It pulls a surprised shout from me, but I force myself to keep still. The glow disappears soon enough, and I take a breath. My body feels way lighter than it did seconds before. 

Then it's my desk that glows. A flash of white comes and goes, leaving behind a stack of bento boxes next to my mouse. 

"Well," I smile. "That's something."

I stand up and stretch. Sitting for over two hours straight isn't doing my back any favors, but it's something I'll need to get used to. Maybe I can even buy something once I've saved up more Streamer Points.

My stomach grumbles. My eyes drift to the tower of bento boxes.

…

Well, no time like the present. Time to eat!