Streams of Determination

**A/N: Sorry for the long absence. I finally got some time to continue. Work has been increasing, so I just had time to move on to the next chapter.**

---

John stepped out of the cab, feeling the weight of his therapy session lifting slightly. The familiar scent of the city, mixed with the evening air, greeted him as he walked towards his apartment. The session, focused on his leg injury, had been draining but necessary. He knew he needed to address his physical health if he wanted to move forward with his new life.

As he entered his apartment, John immediately headed to his computer. He was eager to check on the progress of his newly released game, "Pokémon Red/Green." The anticipation was almost tangible as he powered up his PC and navigated to the game's analytics page.

John's heart skipped a beat as he saw the spike in downloads and positive reviews. The game was doing well, better than he had hoped. But what caught his attention the most was a notification from a streaming platform. Diana, a popular streamer, had been playing his game.

He clicked on the link and was taken to a live stream. There she was, battling her way through the game, her reactions filled with excitement and frustration. Diana's enthusiasm and determination were contagious, and her fans' reactions were overwhelmingly positive.

John watched Diana stream, promoting his game. John wanted to help her with her struggles, but his messages like "Why don't you go to school?" in the chat were lost among the flood of comments from her enthusiastic viewers. He decided to let her figure it out herself and went to sleep.

The next morning, John woke up with a renewed sense of purpose. He checked his phone and saw that it was early morning, just 7:30. After going to the toilet and grabbing something to eat, he realized he needed to do some proper grocery shopping since his fridge was half full with beer and the other half with ready meals. He went back to his PC to check the results of Pokémon.

The first thing he realized was that Diana was still streaming.

"She is still stuck in Viridian?" John muttered. After reading the chat and having fun with the comments, he decided to send a superchat.

"Ding, you received a $10 superchat."

Diana, in the midst of playing, noticed the notification in the PaidTube background. Normally, she was too lazy to read private messages, but being tired from playing for so long, she decided to read it slowly.

[GC: Anchor, you are poisoned.]

John watched as Diana read the message, her face a mix of confusion and realization.

[Diana: Is it a virus in my computer? Is this game a virus game?]

John chuckled at her reaction. He typed another message to clarify.

[GC: It's not your computer that has a virus; it's your Squirtle that has been poisoned.]

[Diana: Squirtle poisoning? What does it mean?]

[GC: In this game, poisoning is a DEBUFF...]

[Diana: Why didn't you say so sooner?!]

John watched as Diana followed his advice. First, avoid fighting Weedle. Weedle's Poison Sting had a chance to poison. Diana was obviously unlucky, with a 100% poison rate.

Second, upon entering the Viridian Forest, there was a tree with detoxification fruit. The Detox Fruit could remove the poisoned state.

Third, before entering the Viridian Forest, go to the store and buy antidotes, then enter the forest well-prepared.

Fourth, because he was a bit miffed, he told her, "You really need to visit the school in Viridian City. Explore the cities more; you can find some hidden things." He made sure to give players a lot of help with starting the game.

John smiled as he saw Diana's character buy antidotes and gather the Detox Fruit. Her fans were thrilled by the new approach, and other streamers watching her were equally excited. John realized she completely ignored the school comment...

Just as he was about to leave the stream and check his system, his phone rang. It was his father. He hesitated, knowing this conversation would likely be another push towards going to work for him.

"Hello, Dad," John answered, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"John, we need to talk," his father said firmly. "You can't keep living like this. Yes, you did have your accident, and we decided to give you some space, but you need to start working. Yes, you were a great football player, but you need to change after your accident."

John took a deep breath, feeling the familiar pressure build up. His father wasn't a bad person; he just wanted to control him. He agreed to let him go for his football career since he was good, but he was sure he would push him to be a lawyer like him. John, not the one he reincarnated to, nor the one he was before, wanted to be a lawyer. He looked at Diana's stream and had an idea. Streamers were very profitable if you were a good one. In his previous life as a journalist, he had some experience with what people wanted to hear. Also, in his second life, he was very social.

"Well, I actually decided to be a streamer. There are some new games that I look at that will be popular, so if I start early and be successful in the game, I will have a lot of followers."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. John braced himself for the inevitable argument.

"John, I just want what's best for you," his father finally said, his tone softening. "But if this is really what you want, you need to prove it. Show me that you can make this work."

"I will, Dad," John promised. "Just give me some time."

His father sighed. "Alright, I'll give you two months. If you don't have a significant following by then, you come work for me. Deal?"

"Deal," John agreed.

After hanging up, John knew that his father didn't believe that he would succeed. He thought that in two months, he would finally get him to work for him. John smirked. "Two months? Give me a week."

He realized that Diana had finally gone to sleep, so he went to check his system. He was happily surprised with the results.