Sora-san's Dungeon Stream: The Expressionless Girl Is Actually a 38-Year-Old Salaryman - The sympathy Super Chats won't stop.

A little over a week had passed since the stream began. Souji sat in front of the small desk in their apartment, just like always. The laptop screen glowed faintly in the dimly lit room. Silver hair slipped softly from their shoulders. Their gray eyes stared intently at the numbers displayed on the screen. Expressionless. (Yesterday's earnings from material sales were about twelve thousand yen. Still short of the monthly goal of ninety thousand yen.) Calculations ran quietly through their mind. But that was fine. Efficiently, without waste, dispassionately. Surviving in this small body without anyone noticing. That was what they had thought. Souji opened the DeepCast streamer management screen. To start the stream today, just like always. The small fingers moving the mouse stopped dead. "...Huh." Their voice was absorbed into the quiet room. The numbers displayed on the screen. Channel subscribers: twelve thousand. Yesterday, it had been two thousand. Peak concurrent viewers: two thousand one hundred fifty-three. Yesterday, barely reaching double digits had been the best they could do. (What is this?) Souji scrolled through the screen, expressionless. The comment section was flowing at a tremendous speed. 'Poor thing...' 'Where are her parents?' 'Should someone report this?' 'Someone help her' 'She can't even make a sound... she's trembling...' 'I wonder if she's getting enough to eat' Souji tilted their head slightly. (Poor thing? Parents? Report?) They didn't quite understand what was being said. But something was happening. That much was certain. "Hmm." They had no way of knowing. That last night, a clip video someone had posted on social media had been shared over thirty thousand times overnight. 'A Girl Who Fights While Trembling, Unable to Make a Sound.' In the video given that headline, the silver-haired girl faced the Goblin King, expressionless. With minimal movement, calculated steps, showing no emotion whatsoever. But to the eyes of those who watched it, it looked different. She's so scared she can't even make a sound. Her small body is trembling slightly. She's being forced by someone to dive into the dungeon against her will. —That's how it looked to them. Souji sat in front of the computer, lost in thought for a while. (More viewers is more efficient.) But these comments... something about them didn't match their streaming style. "...Anyway, I'll start the stream." They stood up and put on their usual equipment. The white half-mask, the voice changer "MuseLink," and the black hooded cape. In front of the mirror, they put on the mask. Their long silver hair swayed beneath the cape. (Alright.) They swayed on the bus, heading toward Minase Hill Park. The scenery visible from the window was the same as always. But somehow, the air felt different today. Maybe it was just their imagination. At the Dungeon Agency's management gate, they held up their license. An electronic beep. A young female staff member stared intently at Souji's face. Her brows were slightly furrowed. "Um... are you okay?" Souji nodded, expressionless. "Yes." A gender-neutral young boy's voice through the voice changer. But the staff member's expression remained clouded. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she withdrew her hand without a word. (The reaction is different from usual.) Holding a small sense of unease in their chest, Souji descended the stairs into the dungeon. The underground air was cool and damp. A faint smell of earth and iron. The glowing moss on the walls shone with a pale blue light. Souji set up their smartphone in the usual spot. They checked the MuseLink connection. With a small finger, they pressed the "LIVE" button on the screen. In an instant. The screen was buried. Comments flowed like a waterfall. From top to bottom, from bottom to top. At tremendous speed, a wave of text covered the screen. 'She's here!' 'This is the girl from that video...' 'She really is small... how old is she?' 'What about her parents, what about her parents' 'Poor thing, she's trembling' 'She can't make a sound, huh' And at the same time. Sparkling star animations overflowed from the edges of the screen. Red stars, blue stars, gold stars. Super Chats—donations. 'This is for food' 'Eat something warm' 'So you can go home' 'Buy shoes with this' 'Don't push yourself' Souji stopped moving. Their gray eyes beneath the mask tracked the numbers on the screen. Concurrent viewers: two thousand one hundred. Total Super Chat amount: already exceeding fifty thousand yen. (Unable to comprehend what is happening.) But there was one thing they understood. This was far more efficient than selling materials. "Uh, is it okay if I use this for living expenses?" They muttered it, intending only to confirm a fact. But the voice changer transformed that voice into a slightly higher, faintly trembling, gender-neutral boy's voice. The comment section accelerated further. 'Living expenses!? So she really is alone...' 'Of course you can use it!!' 'Super Chats are meant to be used for living expenses!!' 'I'm crying' 'Use it for yourself' More Super Chats poured in. Ten thousand yen, five thousand yen, two thousand yen. Colorful stars burst across the screen. Expressionless, Souji bowed their head slightly. "My livelihood has been stabilized. Thank you very much." A flat voice, devoid of emotion. But that flatness sounded to the viewers like the trembling voice of "a small child desperately trying to act tough." The comment section erupted further. 'It's not stabilized!! Now I'm worried!!' '"Has been stabilized" is not what you say here...' 'Don't act tough...!' 'This gap is insane' 'Being so expressionless makes me worry even more' They continued the stream for an hour after that. Souji moved dispassionately, just like always. Defeating Stone Rats with minimal movement, silently gathering glowing moss. Not a single wasted motion. Movements as precise as a machine. But even during that, the Super Chats didn't stop. By the time the stream ended, the day's earnings had exceeded two hundred thousand yen. Back at home, Souji stared at the computer screen and let out a small sigh. (Two hundred four thousand five hundred yen.) Including material sales, it was more than double their monthly living expenses. "...This is too efficient." They removed the mask and lightly combed their silver hair with their fingers. Their small mouth remained expressionless as ever. (A structure where money gathers through sympathy. Ethically, it's a gray zone, but...) But it couldn't be helped in order to survive. Besides, the viewers were sending it voluntarily, so there shouldn't be a problem. Souji told themselves that. They felt a small catch deep in their chest, but pretended not to notice it. (More importantly, I need to update the payment plan for utilities and rent.) Around that time. In a building a five-minute walk from Minase Station, on the third floor. In a room of the streaming studio "Nova Base," Kanata stared at a large monitor. On the screen was Sora's stream archive. The one that had just ended, the one where Super Chats had flowed like a waterfall. Kanata leaned back in her chair and crossed her long legs. Her black hair swayed softly over her shoulders. Her sharp eyebrows were furrowed seriously. "...Everyone, they don't understand at all." Her voice was quiet. But deep within it, a faint irritation was mixed in. The comment section reflected on the monitor. 'Poor thing,' 'Where are her parents?,' 'Let's report this.' Certainly, Sora looked young. Long silver hair, a small body of one hundred forty-eight centimeters. The figure fighting expressionlessly, without making a sound, looked to anyone like a "poor lost little girl." But that was wrong. Kanata replayed Sora's movements on the monitor over and over. That small footwork. Dodging the Stone Rat's attacks by shifting just half a step sideways, as if she could see them coming. Handling a simultaneous ambush by three of them in an instant, using the terrain. "She's not a poor child. This is a talent that must be protected." Her eyes narrowed sharply. (I am watching this child's stream properly. More than anyone.) Kanata placed her hands on the keyboard. At this rate, Sora would be consumed by the label of "pitiful girl" and that would be the end of it. Her true talent would be buried in a sea of sympathy. That was something she couldn't tolerate. She took a deep breath. Then, she opened DeepCast's DM function and slowly typed out a message. 'Would you let me support your stream as a behind-the-scenes assistant?' She clicked the send button. A light click sound. That night. Souji was reading a single DM that had arrived on their computer. The sender was Kanata. They knew of her. She was the one who had written "Your footwork is like a pro's" in the comment section yesterday. Souji still remembered the ticklish feeling that had stirred deep in their chest at that time. (Support, huh.) Souji placed a small finger against their mouth. Expressionless, they ran calculations in their head. (A streaming consultant. The going rate is ten to twenty percent of earnings. With my current income, that's a cost increase of about twenty thousand to forty thousand yen per month. But her analytical skills are certain. If I move efficiently, earnings will rise further.) The profit-and-loss calculation was finished quickly. But it wasn't just that. (This person sees my 'calculations.') Not sympathy. Not worry. She said it was "tactical." It was the first time. The first time someone had seen them that way. Deep in their chest, a warmth spread gently. (What... what kind of emotion is this?) Souji was slightly bewildered by an emotion they didn't quite understand. But admitting it felt somehow frustrating. So, as always, they decided to convince themselves with a rational reason. "...If it increases efficiency." They placed their hands on the keyboard and typed a short reply. 'If it increases efficiency, please do.' Send. Even though it was just that short sentence, their heart was pounding somehow. The same sensation as that night in EP2 spread through their chest again. (It's a strange feeling.) Souji closed the computer and lay down on the bed. They looked up at the ceiling. Old stains floated dimly in the darkness. (Will something change with this?) They didn't know. But at the very least, they were no longer completely alone. Someone was watching their "calculations." Just that made this small room feel a little bit bigger. Meanwhile, at Nova Base, Kanata saw the reply from Souji and smiled slightly. "'If it increases efficiency'... As I thought, that's just like this kid." She immediately pulled up Sora's past stream data. Monster appearance patterns, movement routes, heart rate during combat. Various data lined up on the screen as graphs and numbers. "I'll start the analysis. I will definitely show Sora-kun's talent to the world in the right way." The light of the monitor shone strongly deep within her black eyes. Around that time, on social media, Sora's expressionless thank-you scene saying "My livelihood has been stabilized. Thank you very much" was beginning to spread as a new clip video. 'Saying "stabilized" with no expression makes me worry instead' 'It's definitely not stabilized...' 'This gap is addictive' 'Have her parents still not been found?' The number of shares for the video was skyrocketing. The chain of sympathy showed no signs of stopping yet. The night grew late. The autumn wind rattled the window of Corpo Sakura-dai softly.

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Episode 3

Name: Sora-san's Dungeon Stream: The Expressionless Girl Is Actually a 38-Year-Old Salaryman
Author: Novelia

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