Overnight, the world changed.
The clip "[GOD-TIER] Bottom-Tier VTuber Forgets to Turn Off His Mic, and His True Feelings Are Way Too Kind" hit twenty million views in three days.
Subscribers: nine hundred thousand.
The red Super Chats didn't stop.
Eight million yen from that one night alone.
Within a week, the running total had long since passed a hundred million.
All the "big sisters" around the world had found me.
Nurses on night shift. Mothers worn out from raising kids. Office workers heading home from overtime.
That single line, "Stir-fried bean sprouts again, huh," had apparently pierced something in them.
I no longer belonged to the agency.
The contract had already been terminated. The rights to the avatar, too—
"You're not taking back the avatar?"
On the other end of the phone, Shinozuka's voice cracked.
"No, no! That's agency property! ...I mean, no, we're not taking it back! In fact, we'll transfer it to you free of charge! So please come back!"
The way he flipped on a dime was so perfect it was funny.
"Roumaru—no, Morita! I saw your talent from the very beginning. That's why I kept you close, right?"
"Kept me close."
"Exactly! A development slot, a diamond in the rough, you know! That low voice is one of a kind, I always said so, didn't I!"
He never said that.
If anything, he'd said the exact opposite, to my face.
"Didn't you tell me, 'Your voice sounds like an old man's, and it doesn't sell'?"
"Huh? Well, that was, uh, strategic... tough love, you could say."
"And that a stir-fried bean sprout recipe couldn't pull in four hundred thousand."
"........."
"Mr. Shinozuka. Right now, I've got nine hundred thousand subscribers. Just from cooking streams."
The other end of the line went dead silent.
"You told me that day, didn't you? That effort's pointless unless you put it where you can grow."
"Well, that's—"
"You were right. I found where I can grow, on my own."
"Roumar—"
"With a stir-fried bean sprout recipe, I pulled in four hundred thousand."
"There's no reason for me to go back. I'm sorry."
I hung up.
I added Shinozuka's number to my block list.
Strangely, I wasn't angry. I just felt clear-headed.
As if to take his place, a call came in from Leo, my genmate.
"Daichiii! Long time no talk! So, uh, wanna do a collab? You and me, it's gonna blow up for sure!"
This was the guy who'd laughed and called my voice "a horror movie" a few months ago.
"Hey, Leo."
"Yeah?"
"You said, 'I've thought so from the start,' didn't you. That I couldn't hide how old the guy inside was."
"Huh... uh, that was, um..."
"Guess it's true, huh. Even with a nice voice, what's inside leaks out."
"...!"
"Good work out there, man."
I hung up.
I'd handed his own line right back to him.
That night.
I started a new stream.
The title: "Cooking Dinner for All You Big Sisters."
Concurrent viewers: one hundred twenty thousand.
"So, today, uh."
I pointed the camera at the kitchen.
"I'm making the number-one request: stir-fried bean sprouts. And yes, the mic is on this time."
The comments filled up with laughter all at once.
never forget to turn it off again lol
ill follow you for life
Cat-Rice Sis: I ate a proper meal again today. Thanks to you.
I heated the frying pan.
A sizzle, the usual sound. The steam rose.
"I really love this sound, you know."
¥10,000 Night-Shift Sis: hearing that in that low voice makes me cry
¥100,000 Cat-Rice Sis: I want to eat your cooking, always.
Red letters streamed across the screen once more.
But they didn't scare me anymore.
I stir-fried the bean sprouts.
So that someone's night might get a little warmer.
"Good food, for all you big sisters. I'll keep making it properly, from here on out."
In the voice they'd laughed at for sounding like an old man's, I said it quietly.
The stir-fried bean sprouts with nothing but salt tasted far better than they had that night.