—I heard the news. You really want to start a stream?
The voice of an old acquaintance echoed from the phone speakers.
I quietly nodded my head.
"Yes, I want to start a stream. That’s why I called you."
—Hmm.
There was a little hesitation on the other side of the phone. I couldn’t blame him. After all, this wasn’t a small request.
But in the end—
—Alright, fine, but you owe me one. I’m thinking of doing another stream soon. I’m not sure if you’re willing, but I’ve found this old factory that I want to explore on the outskirts of Zone 9...
"Fine."
I agreed to the request immediately.
This wasn’t a big issue for me. I had already decided to start streaming more frequently to boost my follower count. It had become clear that having a solid audience would be essential in the long run if I wanted my games to truly succeed.
The more followers I had, the less I had to spend on advertising.
—Awesome!
Jamie sounded unusually excited, the sound of shuffling and muffled clattering echoing through the phone. After a couple of minutes, he finally came back on the line.
—Sorry about that, I was jotting everything down on my computer. Anyway, regarding the stream, I can set it up quickly. I saw your announcement. Do you want me to start it in the next few minutes?
"Yes, that would be ideal."
Of all the people that I knew, Jamie was the one who knew how to handle this stuff the best.
His channel had been growing rapidly as of late, and while I hadn’t been able to keep up with his recent content, from what I’d heard, he was pulling in anywhere between five to seven thousand viewers per stream. This was a number that was considered quite massive.
’With him helping me, it should be somewhat easy to get everything going.’
Streaming wasn’t necessarily hard. All I needed was a phone, but considering the number of people that were potentially going to be entering the stream, I needed someone to make sure that everything went smoothly.
Especially given how hostile the situation was.
—You’re going to make a stream? Shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself? The evidence is clear. You’re obviously a thief.
—Some people really have no shame.
—This guy is getting quite desperate. I really want to hear the excuse that you’re going to come up with in order to dodge all responsibility. Don’t tell me you’re going to say that they stole from you lol.
—Pathetic.
A lot of them were most likely the paid agents from the Studio, but that was more than enough to sway public opinion.
I could see that a lot of people were deeming me guilty.
This was just how the internet worked. Words like ’allegedly’ were meaningless. The moment they deemed you guilty, there was no turning back.
I knew this, and yet...
—Everything is ready. Tell me when you want to start. I don’t know how many people will join the stream, but I estimate there to be at least ten thousand. I’ve got a couple of my friends to help and monitor the chat.
"Yes, thank you. I think that sounds about right."
Ten thousand viewers...
The thought of thousands of people watching me while hurling insults all at once made my stomach twist uncomfortably.
Even so, I knew that I had to do this.
"Start the stream."
—You sure?
"Yes."
—Alright.
[●Live]
Viewers — 0
My attention immediately fell on the viewer count, my heart tightening in my chest as I quickly made another post on social media, announcing that the stream had officially begun.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
I could feel my heart drumming against my chest as I stared at my phone screen, turning my attention towards my reflection.
I didn’t look too bad.
Although I could have cleaned up first, the spontaneous nature of the situation left me no time to do so.
’I’ll make due with this.’
I was never one to care about my appearance.
Sitting quietly, I waited for the chat to load, but...
"Hm?"
Even as a minute had passed, I noticed that the chat remained quiet. The viewer count also remained the same.
’No one...?’
This left me a little surprised, and even worried.
Was my influence this small? No, but even if nobody cared about it, surely it wasn’t this bad...
Just as I moved my head closer towards my phone, something changed.
Ding!
A chime rang.
Ding! Ding!
And then another.
Before I even had the chance to fully process what was happening, one chime after another rang from my phone. I froze in place, my breath catching in my throat as my eyes drifted toward the viewer count.
".....!"
[●Live]
Viewers — 37,280
This...
This was beyond anything I had originally expected.
Not only that, but it was also continuously climbing. Staring at the screen and then the chat, which moved so fast that my eyes could barely keep up, I suddenly felt dizzy.
’Oh, shit.’
Rather than my influence being low, it was a lot higher than expected.
This situation...
It was spiraling out of control.
***
At the same time, Nightmare Forget Studios.
Two figures sat in the CEO’s office, both silently watching the monitor before them as a particular stream began to play. The atmosphere within the room was rather light, with the CEO and his assistant not taking the situation seriously.
They had both considered any potential action that Seth might take, and considering how he was back when he used to work, neither feared him.
This was particularly so for the CEO.
He was well accustomed to people like Seth. They were total pushovers that he could do anything to without worrying about any form of retaliation from them.
And even if they did do something, it’d be something tiny.
’Yeah, I’ve got nothing to worry about. He’s a pushover like he’s always been. I don’t know how he managed to develop such programs, but I’m sure he did it using our technology. If he were that talented, we’d know. He’s probably also the main reason why our previous game failed. He must’ve sabotaged it on purpose, knowing that he’d get fired and be free from us. Little did he know about the clause.’
The CEO tapped his finger over the table, his eyes glossing over the ring on his finger.
"...He’s started to stream."
Daniel’s voice brought the CEO’s mind back from his thoughts. Turning his attention towards the monitor, his eyes fell on the figure that appeared shortly after.
"Ha."
He immediately chuckled upon seeing him.
"Judging from his face, it doesn’t seem like he’s gotten much sleep."
Seth’s eyes looked as dead as ever. No, in fact, they seemed even more dead than the last time they had seen him.
The thought made the CEO smile somewhat.
"Daniel."
He turned to his assistant.
"Get a little bit more traction on this stream. Let’s also get more people to comment on it. I’m sure he’s going to answer some questions. Let’s make it so that he answers our questions. There shouldn’t be too many vi—"
"CEO..."
Daniel cut the CEO off, his voice lowering as his expression tightened. Confused, the CEO turned his attention towards the stream, and it was there that he noticed the viewer count.
[●Live]
Viewers — 51,332
".....!"
His expression changed almost instantly, his head turning back towards Daniel almost immediately.
"Quick! Get everything sorted quickly!"
He shouted, prompting his assistant to move immediately.
That was also the moment when Seth opened his mouth.
—I’ll cut straight to the chase. Regarding the allegations... It’s all true.
"Huh?"
"Ah...?"
Everyone in the room froze at the same time, both heads turning towards the stream once more.
—I stole from Nightmare Forge Studios.