ODL – Chapter 25 – I Didn’t Hear About This!?

[Shizuka PoV]

I’m good at lazing around.

I was especially good at lounging around on my bed, and back in my hometown, no one could beat me at that. I’m confident that I could easily compete with the top loungers in Tokyo as well.

“(Hii, so how’s life here so far?)” (Zeria)

After an hour of lazing around on the bed, not doing anything in particular, I received a message from Zeria-chan.

Zeria-chan was a VTuber genmate¹ from the same agency as me, [Virtual Real].

Her character was a “mischievous little devil who got lost in the human world”. Features of her 3D model include a black frilly dress, small horns, and tiny wings.

As a mischievous devil, her outfit was intentionally designed to have a modest feel, which could be described as cute or, in a less flattering way, somewhat trivial. This style seemed to match well with a content series called “Zeria Torture”, where she would attempt various challenges for entertainment. Apparently, there was no shortage of fans who wanted to see her suffer in a playful way. I looked it up out of curiosity and found a lot of fanfiction along those lines, which made me chuckle.

Since Zeria-chan and I debuted in the same generation, we collaborated with each other quite frequently. On top of that, we were on good enough terms to chat like this in private. It may not be far-fetched to say that we might have one of the closest bonds within [Virtual Real].

“(Heyy, things are going quite well.)” (Henrietta)

“(Looks like you’re enjoying living alone. And your ‘#EtteMeals’ seem to be getting pretty popular too.)” (Zeria)

“Ahaha…” (Shizuka)

The little lie that started with “Ette-sama is quite feminine” ended up becoming common knowledge among [Virtual Real] fans.

It’s too late to say, “Just kidding” and it’s making me anxious about what to do at this point.

“(By the way, can I come to your place? Let’s hang out!)” (Zeria)

This is probably what Zeria-chan wanted to talk about. She continued to send messages without giving time for me to reply.

“(I want to hang out, but… at my place?)” (Henrietta)

I looked around my streaming room and bedroom from my bed.

—On the computer desk, empty coffee cups and plastic bottles were scattered around, along with energy drink cans. What couldn’t fit there had ended up on the floor.

—Around the bed, candy wrappers were scattered everywhere. If I tried to get off the bed, I would end up stepping on them, causing most of them to flatten.

—The floor was practically impassable due to the abundance of hamburger wrappers, though in my defense, it’s not my fault that their burgers are just too delicious.

“I guess I can’t invite her over…” (Shizuka)

No one would ever see this room and say “Ette-sama is so domestically capable”. If someone did, that would be pretty terrifying. Clearly, it would seem like I have grown up in a very twisted environment.

Souma-kun always came over during weekends to help clean up, but his efforts were undone in an instant. I guess I’m just not cut out for this.

Yeah, it’s impossible. There is no way I can invite her over. If we are going to hang out, doing it outside would be better.

“(Let’s hang out! But how about not at my place? It’s a bit messy due to the moving stuff.)” (Henrietta)

Well, it’s more than just “a bit messy”, but in my mind, the current situation doesn’t quite qualify as “messy”. So, in a sense, I’m not lying.

By the way, I wonder what kind of person is Zeria-chan. We voice-called a lot, but I have never actually met her. She might be more of a mature older sister (onee-san) type… Nah, there is no way.

While I was busy thinking about this, I was suddenly brought back to reality by her unexpected suggestion.

“(I want to go Ette’s house… or rather, how about we do an off-collab! I want to try Ette’s cooking! Or rather, I might have already blurted it out on Twitter lol)” (Zeria)

“Huh!?” (Shizuka)

An off-collab refers to VTubers coming together in real life for a stream. It usually takes place at someone’s house, giving a glimpse of the life behind the screen. It’s like a festive event where the chat gets really lively.

Back when I lived in the countryside, I never experienced it before. When I moved to Tokyo, I did have thoughts about trying an offline collab since it looks fun…

But!

“Why did you say that!” (Shizuka)

I hastily checked Twitter.

Zeria-chan… Zeria-chan… Zeria-chan…

“Ugh.” (Shizuka)

【 [Announcement] Is Ette really domestically capable!? I’m heading to Ette’s place to uncover this mystery! [Off-collab happening!] 】

“What is this ~~~~~!!!” (Shizuka)

Zeria-chan’s latest tweet was something else entirely. I couldn’t help but hold my head in my hands and gaze upwards.

“(Don’t decide things on your own~~~!)” (Henrietta)

“(Eh~ But you said before that I could come over and hang out.)” (Zeria)

“(That’s true, but I never agreed to an off-collab!)” (Henrietta)

“(My viewers kept asking me for an Ette collab lol. Well, I eventually give in since I wanted to have a taste of your homemade dishes hehe.)” (Zeria)

Zeria-chan’s tweets had already gathered thousands of likes and retweets. There were plenty of comments stating that they were eagerly anticipating the event, I probably can’t just ignore this tweet.

And if I stubbornly refuse, it might sour the atmosphere with Zeria-chan, and it’s not like I don’t want to hang out with her. I just don’t want to be misunderstood.

“(I’ll decide the schedule!)” (Henrietta)

With tears welling up, the only thing I could do was wait for Souma-kun to return from university.

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

No. Zeria isn’t a heroine, or at least that’s the impression I get so far. But, I am looking forward to Zeria and Souma meeting each other. We all know it’s gonna happen.