chapter01 · 030-ep30
Episode 30: A Monetization Celebration and a Visitor
"Phew..."
About a week after her crafting-skill reveal stream, Karin sighed deeply on her way home from school.
What had happened?
"Setting a new record of 250,000 concurrents on last week's crafting stream made me incredibly happy, but what came afterward was exhausting... I never imagined the Explorers' Association would summon me over the item box..."
Indeed, she'd been called before the Explorers' Association, the explorers' self-governing organization. Naturally, it was about the item box.
The Explorers' Association was a practical arm of the Dungeon Bureau, staffed by former explorers and national civil servants. Like an agricultural cooperative, its work covered a wide range of areas, most importantly supporting explorers, managing entry to and exit from dungeons, and buying, overseeing, and distributing materials.
It couldn't ignore an item box that might disrupt the distribution of dungeon resources or the prohibition on minors selling materials. The Association had promptly arranged an interview to verify what Karin had shown on stream, among other things.
She had barely visited an official institution since getting her license. The formal questioning had left her thoroughly drained.
That said... Karin wasn't the one who'd truly suffered.
"I-it's real... An actual item box... You've gotta be kidding me...!? It comes from <Divine Artisan>, so it's probably fine, but the Association has to try everything to make sure nobody else can interact with it..."
"My! Does that mean you'll help me improve this item box so someone besides me can use it!?"
"!?"
"If we find out someone else can interact with it, whatever the method, that would be an invaluable clue! It's a perfect chance to work around <Divine Artisan>'s shitty restriction that nobody else can use what I make, desu wa!"
"!? N-no, no, no, no!"
"? Oh. You won't...?"
"...! Damn it, top explorers are all eccentric, but this kid takes the cake! Even more than she seemed on-screen!"
Karin had no idea she'd nearly given the Association employee an ulcer with that exchange.
"Haaah. I feel like they were looking at me as though I were insane. And they got my hopes up for nothing. Just remembering it is tiring... I suppose an item box could bypass the detectors to smuggle materials out, so I understand why they'd be cautious, but still. How rude."
Karin puffed out her cheeks a little.
"Well, for some reason, a phone call came in for someone at the Association and the interview ended right away, which was a relief... I wonder what that was about. And strangely, Mafuyu called at the exact moment it ended, as if she'd known. She has always had a knack for timing like that."
What a lot of mysterious happenings, Karin thought, tilting her head.
"Oh well, it's over. More importantly, I must put it behind me today. After all, this is... a very special day for my channel!"
She let out an eager breath, swung her grocery bag, and hurried home.
【Monetization Celebration!】Karin Yamada's Ladylike Live Chat【A Feast Tonight, Desu Wa!】
As soon as she got home, Karin made her preparations, sat on her new sofa, and started the home stream she'd announced under that title.
"Good day, everyone~ It's time for Karin Yamada's Elegant home stream, desu wa~"
【Good day, desu wa!】
【Congratulations on monetization, desu no!】
【You're FINALLY monetized!】
【Her subscriber count rose so fast it actually held up the review lmao】
Congratulatory comments filled the screen from the moment she started. She'd announced the stream in advance on her social-media account, now at 1.5 million followers, and apparently many people had been waiting.
Her concurrents shot past thirty thousand, then forty thousand, growing far faster than anyone would expect for a home stream.
"As the stream title says, my monetization application has been approved! It's all thanks to everyone who spread the word and supported me, desu wa! Thank you so very much, desu no!"
Pop! Karin set off a party cracker she'd prepared and smiled.
And that wasn't all she'd prepared.
"So, as the title also promised... I've made a splendid dinner to celebrate! I'll be eating it during tonight's stream!"
Beaming, Karin showed off her feast.
The menu consisted of freshly cooked rice, miso soup, stir-fried pork and bean sprouts, and a few strawberries for dessert.
【Uh...】
【A... feast...?】
【I don't mean to make fun of you, but... what?】
"I got a little carried away and splurged today. Full-price meat and shiny dessert fruit that wasn't even marked down! I simply can't wait, so I'm digging in, desu wa! I'm sure you've all prepared celebratory drinks, so let's enjoy them together! ...Mmmgh, the meat stir-fried in that slightly expensive yakiniku sauce is sooo delicious, desu wa...!"
【(´;ω;`) sobs】
【I had my suspicions from her previous streams, but she's genuinely struggling to make ends meet as a student!?】
【Thought it might be an act to get pity, but she's smiling way too sincerely for me to doubt it lmao】
【This celebration dinner hits too hard to be 'pretending to be poor'...】
【This is the kind of feast an underpaid anime animator would draw...】
【She's eating so fast lmao】
【Like a starving stray dog】
【It's a miracle she became such a strong explorer on a diet like this...】
【Government, seriously, let minors sell their materials... Even if it's only those who pass a tough qualification exam】
【W-well, at least ojou-sama will finally have some income】
¥10,000
Then here's something to start with... Eat plenty...
¥20,000
Grow up big and strong... (but please don't destroy the world)
"BWOOH!?"
The instant those red messages appeared on-screen, Karin sprayed the rice in her mouth toward the camera.
They were superchats of over ten thousand yen—large donations known as red superchats.
【Gross!】
【That's seriously gross, desu wa!】
¥50,000
Thank you!
¥50,000
I'm licking the screen, desu wa!
¥50,000
Nice of you to give back to the viewers so quickly!
¥1,000
You rich pervert ojou-samas can go back to your holes!
¥5,000
Three people donated the maximum amount just for this ridiculous superchat joke lmao
"Exactly, desu wa!? Fifty thousand yen is a lot of money, desu no!?"
Karin yelled at the sudden flurry of large superchats, though she'd hoped for donations to some extent.
"I'm very happy about the superchats! I am! But d-do you have any idea how long fifty thousand yen could keep you fed!? Even a thousand or five thousand yen would pay for days of food...! Everyone, please take better care of your damn—I mean, your money!"
【That sounded painfully sincere lmao】
【She's so intense lol】
【The thug slipped out for a second lol】
¥10,000
No joke, that scared me more than a dungeon boss. I nearly wet myself... Thank you!
¥5,000
She sounds as furious as she did lecturing Lord Vomit lmao
¥10,000
Not something I'd expect someone claiming to be an ojou-sama to say lol
¥10,000
You couldn't fake that intensity by pretending to be a poor student to beg for superchats...
¥50,000
Karin ojou-sama, some of your viewer ojou-samas consider an amount like this pocket change...
¥10,000
It's NOT pocket change to me, but I want Karin ojou-sama to eat until she's full It's not a waste of money for us at all...
¥20,000
We can't keep watching streams this entertaining for free And Karin ojou-sama's meals were worse than I'd imagined... Please, eat properly with this... I'm getting too old to watch young people go hungry
"...!? N-no, that wasn't my intention...!? What do you mean!? I made a lavish dinner to celebrate tonight, desu no!? Look, please look closely! Such a splendid meal with meat AND dessert! So why are you—w-wait, everyone, please just calm down for a moment!?"
¥10,000
The fact she genuinely thinks it's a feast... Of course we'd react like this Not that I'm saying it isn't a feast to Karin-sama
¥10,000
In a way, this is more shocking than finding out she has an item box...
¥50,000
Besides, there are nutrients you can only get from watching a streamer panic over their first red-superchat festival...
¥20,000
Hehehe... This is why I can't quit hitting new streamers with huge superchats ...Seriously, please eat plenty
¥5,000
So this is how ojou-samas with too much money amuse themselves!
¥10,000
Oh, she's at 90k concurrents!
¥10,000
Congratulations on 90k concurrents for a chatting stream!
¥5,000
The number and size of superchats with 90k concurrents is wild!
"...!? ...!?"
No matter how she tried to stop them, the storm of large donations continued. Perhaps everyone was getting carried away by now. Karin finally began to panic.
This was the so-called red-superchat festival, something that only happened on the channels of famous streamers. When she'd watched one as an outsider, she'd thought, "How enviable!" or "How exciting!" But now that it was happening to her, it was so overwhelming she felt like every pore in her body was pouring out a strange sweat. Ninety thousand concurrents didn't even register.
(Wh-what is this, desu no!? Chat's been bright red for ages, like a river of blood—and wait, this isn't a crime, is it!?)
Utterly bewildered, Karin was about to call Mafuyu for help, even though she was live—when:
¥50,000 @motimotimotimoti
Congratulations on monetization. Sorry to contact you so suddenly, but I'm Mochimochi Tamago, the creator of the original Dungeon Alive manga.
A red superchat appeared that would leave Karin's brain even more broken.