Chapter 1: First Stream, Again
The room was quiet, save for the soft hum of Cal's PC tower. A faint smell of instant ramen clung to the air, mingling with the scent of dust and energy drink residue. Outside, the world moved on like it always did. Inside, Cal stared at the strange, floating interface before him, unsure if he was dreaming or going insane.
It looked like a game overlay. Transparent panels hovered with crisp text, glowing faintly blue in the dark.
[Welcome, Host.]
[You have been selected as a Streamer of Timeline 2010-A.]
[This is an alternate, accessible timeline that mirrors Earth's year 2010.]
[You may livestream content from your current reality to viewers in that past timeline.]
[Points may be earned via Viewer Donations, System Missions, and Milestone Achievements.]
[Points may be exchanged for Cash or System Benefits.]
[Streaming Permission: Unlimited within 4-hour daily limit.]
[First-Time Mission: Perform your first livestream to Timeline 2010-A.]
Cal rubbed his eyes, blinking. He even slapped his own cheek. It stung. Not a dream, then.
He looked toward his keyboard. The OBS software he had closed moments ago was now open again. And there, in the top right corner, a new toggle glowed:
[Broadcast to 2010-A]
"This... this is nuts," he murmured.
It was like something straight out of a web novel. A streaming system? A parallel past timeline? He didn't know what was real anymore—but a part of him, the otaku part that always wished for something more, was giddy. Curious.
"What's the worst that could happen?" he said under his breath. "No one's watching anyway."
He clicked the toggle.
The interface changed instantly. New stats, currently all zero: viewers, likes, donations. A green bar labeled "Connection Stability" pulsed at full. The time read: 11:22 PM.
[Connected to Timeline 2010-A.]
[Broadcast initialized.]
A small window popped up on the corner of his screen. It displayed a strange chat log—empty for now. He didn't know who, if anyone, would see it. Maybe he'd talk to nobody again. But this time… it was different. Strange. New.
He grabbed his headset and turned on his mic.
"Hey, uh, this is Cal," he said. "I don't really know how this works, but… welcome to the stream?"
Silence.
He hesitated. "Anyway, I was gonna watch some anime tonight, figured I'd put on an episode. Something you guys definitely haven't seen yet."
He clicked over to his collection and selected the first episode of Attack on Titan—remastered in 4K.
The system responded immediately.
[Unauthorized future content selected. Confirm special stream license use?]
[Cost: 10 System Points]
[First-Time Bonus: License use granted for free.]
"Yeah, confirm," Cal said.
The episode loaded. A crystal-clear, ultra-HD version of the 2013 anime played, though to viewers in the 2010 timeline, this would be completely unknown. He settled back and let the intro roll. As "Guren no Yumiya" thundered in his headset, he watched the stats.
0 viewers.
1 viewer.
Then 2.
Then… 4.
His heart skipped a beat.
Somewhere, in a version of 2010, four different users stumbled onto a strange, newly listed stream in the early days of the internet. The site resembled an early version of YouTube Live mixed with Twitch—primitive UI, rough bandwidth. But the stream was flawless. The picture, sound, even subtitles were crisp beyond anything they'd seen.
Chat messages began to appear.
[guest91]: what the heck is this quality??
[OGanimefan]: this isn't fansubbed, this is pro studio level
[jin2002]: bro what anime is this???
[Retro_Neko]: titan anime?? never heard of it
Cal's eyes widened.
He had viewers. Real viewers. And they were reacting.
He unmuted his mic again.
"This anime is called Attack on Titan. It's... from the future, I guess. You're the first people to ever see it."
Silence followed, then more messages popped up.
[guest91]: future? lol what kind of gimmick stream is this
[jin2002]: idk man this animation is INSANE
[Retro_Neko]: can you show more? please??
Cal smiled to himself. For the first time in six months, someone was actually asking him to keep going.
By the time the episode ended, the viewer count had hit 28. Nothing viral, nothing grand—but 28 was nearly ten times more than Cal ever had at once. And better yet, they talked. They laughed, they spammed emojis, they begged for another episode.
The system pinged.
[First-Time Mission Complete.]
[+50 System Points]
[+10 Bonus for Viewer Retention]
[Unlocked: Point Exchange Tab, Archive Upload Permission]
[New Feature: Stream Clipping & Automatic YouTube Upload Enabled.]
"Wait… automatic YouTube upload?" Cal muttered, clicking through.
He found a new panel labeled Clip Vault. It had a highlight reel already rendered: his introduction, viewer reactions, and key anime scenes—all cut together like a YouTube video. The title was autogenerated:
"Unknown Streamer Shows Never-Before-Seen Anime in Unbelievable Quality"
Cal watched the clip, amused and slightly embarrassed by how excited he sounded. Then he clicked "Upload."
[Upload to Timeline-A YouTube confirmed.]
[Expected Discovery Window: 3 days]
[Expected Viral Probability: 72%]
He leaned back, the moment finally sinking in.
This wasn't a joke.
He had just streamed a 2013 anime to people living in 2010. And they'd loved it.
The next morning, Cal barely slept. His mind buzzed with ideas. He sat at his desk, staring at the stream interface that hadn't vanished like a dream. The system was still active.
"Okay," he whispered. "If this is real… what can I do with it?"
His thoughts raced. Anime, sports events, future manga chapters, even game walkthroughs—he could become a legend in that world. Like a one-man oracle of entertainment.
But he didn't want to rush. This wasn't about exploding overnight. It was about enjoying it. Slowly. Calmly. The way he'd wanted to do it from the beginning.
He checked the new Point Exchange tab.
[Current Points: 60]
[Exchange Options:]
$1 USD = 10 Points
Stream Perks (ad-free feed, visual effects)
Content Licenses (early access to future media)
Viewer Boosts
Mystery Box (Costs 100 Points)
"Sixty points. That's six bucks." He chuckled. "I've streamed for months and made nothing. Now I get paid for showing anime from the future."
It was insane. But strangely... comforting.
Then a new notification arrived.
[Mission Unlocked: "Make a Daily Stream Habit"]
[Objective: Stream once daily for 7 days straight]
[Reward: 100 Points + Equipment Upgrade Token]
"A habit, huh?" Cal grinned.
He could do that. This time, he wouldn't burn out chasing numbers. He'd just stream what he loved—anime, sports, maybe some future games. Chill with the past. Let the audience grow naturally.
The chat window pinged again.
[jin2002]: yo are you streaming again today?
[Retro_Neko]: plz do more titan!!
[OGanimefan]: you're my new favorite channel ngl
Cal reached for his headset.
"Yeah," he said softly, to himself. "Let's stream again."
He clicked the broadcast toggle.
[Connected to Timeline 2010-A.]
[Stream Initialized.]
[Welcome back, Host.]
The slow life had begun.
End of Chapter 1
[A\N: Next Chapter 08 : 00 : 00 16 May]