arc1 · 012-ch12

Episode 12: Exclusive Cameraman

"Huh? What did you just say?"

The day after I sent the edited video to Hanazono, I was woken up by her phone call. Looking at the time, it was almost noon, but since I'd been editing late last night, I was still sleepy. Maybe because I answered the phone half-asleep, I couldn't quite process what she was saying. Something about subscriber counts, view counts... Five million yen? If she's giving it to me, I'll take it.

Well, it wasn't just me being groggy—Hanazono seemed excited too, and I couldn't understand a word she was saying. I barely managed to figure out she was talking about the video I sent yesterday, so for now I turned on my PC like she told me to.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a sec."

Since the computer took a bit to boot up, I used that time to hit the bathroom. When I came back, it was already on, so I navigated to the Hyakka Ryouran homepage I'd bookmarked.

"Let's see, the video I edited is... this one?"

There was a link on the top page, so I clicked through to the streaming video page.

"Oh, here it is. Since this is my first job's commemorative video, I might as well give them a follow too. Let's see, follower count is 59.63 million... HAHH!? 59.63 million!?"

Wide awake. Instantly wide awake. What the hell is going on!? It hasn't even been a full day since I uploaded the video!? Why is the follower count this high!?

Feeling a sense of dread at the sheer number of followers, I checked the view count...

"103 million 171 thousand views!?"

No good, I'm getting dizzy. What happened? Thinking this insane number had to be some kind of mistake, I clicked the mouse with trembling hands. But what I saw at the destination was a top news story about Hyakka Ryouran's stream video setting a world record.

Checking other pages, every single one was buzzing about the video I'd edited. Tons of clips had already been made, and it was even being featured on overseas sites.

"Hey! Sota! Are you listening!? Anyway, I already transferred ten percent of this round's earnings to you. Ten percent of fifty million yen is five million! Also, I want to talk about future plans, so I'm coming to your place today—don't go anywhere!"

Hanazono rattled off everything she wanted to say in one go, then immediately hung up. Wait, hold on—five million yen? Seriously? Is this actually real?

To calm myself down, I decided to wash my face in the bathroom.

(Five million... Even yesterday's seventy-five thousand yen was an insane amount for a day's work, but suddenly being told five million is unbelievable.)

Washing my face didn't calm me down at all, so I just paced around the living room.

(Five million, huh. First, I'll put all of it toward Mom's potion. Then yesterday's seventy-five thousand can go to living expenses... Oh right, I should give Umi some allowance too. She'd probably want at least one new outfit. Mom would approve of that much.)

Thinking about how to use the money while pacing helped me settle down a bit. Right, Hanazono said she was coming over. I should make breakfast before she gets here.

I cracked two eggs into our beat-up frying pan, making enough for Umi too.

Ding-dong

Just as we finished breakfast, the intercom—which could barely make a sound anymore—rang. Umi, being considerate, headed upstairs. I opened the door that had gotten a bit stiff, and Hanazono burst in energetically.

"I'm coming in! Come on, hurry up! Oh, excuse me! Wait, where's your mom?"

Still excited, perhaps, Hanazono kept talking non-stop. Kinda awkward to say this right now, but man, she's really cute.

"Uh, Mom's in the hospital right now..."

At my confession, Hanazono went quiet all at once. Well, that makes sense. She's usually energetic and cheerful, but she's not the type to be inconsiderate.

"Sorry for getting all excited by myself. Things have been tough, huh."

After I told her about recent events, Hanazono apologized guiltily. But she had nothing to do with Mom collapsing. It's all my fault. I'm the one who should be apologizing.

"If there's anything I can do, just say it. I'll help however I can."

Yeah, that's the response I expected. If it were me from a little while ago, I might have jumped at that offer immediately. But I'm a bit different now. Since I started working, it looks like I'll be able to manage financially. Maybe because of that change in circumstances, a small bit of pride has returned.

"Thanks. If push comes to shove, I'll consult you. But work seems to be going well, so I want to try handling things on my own for now."

When I gently declined, Hanazono looked a little surprised, but then she smiled.

"If Sota's going to try his best, then I'll support you all the way!"

Ugh, she said something that makes me happy. That's my childhood friend for you. She sees right through my thinking.

After that exchange, Hanazono started talking as if she'd just remembered. Apparently, she wanted to officially hire me as their exclusive cameraman. The salary would be one million yen per month, plus twenty percent of video revenue—that was the offer she presented.

Having never worked a job before, I didn't know if these conditions were good or not. But apparently, this was the absolute maximum Hyakka Ryouran could offer right now. This time might have just been a lucky viral hit, but if it continues, she said they'd raise my pay.

She also told me that parties with higher ranks would probably offer even better conditions. With that in mind, she wanted me to choose whichever I preferred.

It seems like they think pretty highly of me, but I can't imagine getting that much work just from one viral video...

When I told her that, she told me to check my homepage. Thinking "no way," I cautiously opened my homepage and...

"GYAAH!? What is all this!?"

An insane amount of comments had come in. The email address I made for work was flooded with DMs requesting jobs. This is bad. The response was way beyond what I expected. There's no way I can handle all this. I need to shut down my homepage temporarily.

Forgetting Hanazono was even there, I frantically began the process of temporarily closing my homepage. Then I set it up so that anyone who somehow ended up on my homepage would see an apology message.

Phew, what should I do? I never expected this much response. No, I should have realized it when I checked Hyakka Ryouran's homepage. My own disbelief kept me from seeing reality.

"So, what are you going to do?"

Hanazono, who had waited for me to finish, asked hesitantly. Just from the DMs I'd glimpsed, there were requests with better conditions than Hyakka Ryouran. Even so, it was Hanazono who created this situation for me. Betraying that isn't an option I have.

"I'll accept that contract. But can I add just one condition?"

"Really!? You will!? That makes me so happy! So, what's the condition?"

"When Hyakka Ryouran isn't diving into dungeons, I want permission to take requests from other parties. I want to earn money as fast as possible."

Hanazono immediately agreed to the condition I proposed. I asked if it was okay not to check with the other members first, and she said it was no problem. Knowing they trust me that much made me a little happy.

▽▽▽

"Onii-chan, you look really happy—did something good happen?"

After Hanazono left, Umi—who had been holding back in her room—came downstairs.

"Yeah, work is going better than expected. At this rate, we might be able to get Mom's potion sooner than we thought!"

"Really!? That's great, Onii-chan!"

My little sister Umi was happy for me too.

"On the flip side, I'm going to be pretty busy, so I'll need your help with things around the house. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine. But tomorrow I was thinking... maybe I'd go out somewhere..."

Oh, now that's unusual. Umi's cute and has a good personality, so she should have plenty of friends. But because our family is poor, she doesn't like going out much. She doesn't have many clothes she can wear out either... Wait, looking closer, the clothes she's wearing now are pretty tight too.

Alright, the five million yen is a bank transfer, but yesterday's seventy-five thousand filming fee was in cash. Tomorrow, as a reward for my cute little sister going out, let's give her some allowance from her big brother!

"Oh, perfect timing. Actually, I already got paid for yesterday's work. Let's give Umi some allowance for always helping with the cleaning and laundry! Ta-daaa! Here, twenty thousand yen!"

I pulled two ten-thousand-yen bills from the envelope and handed them to Umi with sound effects.

"Huh!? Allowance!? I don't need that. Use it for Mama's medicine!"

As I expected, Umi tried to hand the bills back to me. But I won't let that happen.

"Listen, Umi. Leave Mom's medicine to your big brother. Big brother got paid because he worked. Umi, who's always working hard at home, deserves an allowance too. Use it to buy cute clothes or something. But no wasteful spending, okay?"

"Onii-chan... thank you."

My persuasion seemed to work, as Umi clutched the ten-thousand-yen bills and started crying. But this is how it should be. I've gotta act like a proper big brother once in a while.

That night, we had a slightly fancy curry rice with pork in it.