On the phone screen.
The "Grandmaster" icon shattered and rearranged itself, transforming into "Challenger."
Challenger, 811 points. This was the result of Barbatos's two-day grind.
Staring at the Challenger icon on her phone, she let out a sigh of relief, a feeling of indescribable satisfaction washing over her.
In her previous life, she'd only ever reached Diamond I on the PC version. Now, she could easily hit Challenger on mobile, and it felt deeply fulfilling.
The only slight annoyance was that it had taken two whole days to earn a measly 44 Essence.
On the system interface.
The original 57 Essence had now become 101.
'A long and arduous road lies ahead,' she thought.
'Once you hit Grandmaster, that's when you're playing the real League. If your teammates are trash, there's really no saving the game.'
'A solo queue Challenger on the Japanese servers... that should be a pretty good gimmick for a female streamer, right?'
Unlike the PC version, from what she'd gathered recently, there were actually quite a few female players in the Challenger tier for League of Legends: Wild Rift. It's just that their carry potential wasn't as strong as hers.
Thinking back to those female streamers from her past life, 'Compared to them, I guess I can't do that fake cutesy voice. Would a female streamer who can't do the cutesy voice even get any viewers?'
"All I know is how to feel sorry for big brother…"
(T/N: Chinese internet meme about a two faced manipulative woman saying this line.)
Barbatos instantly clamped a hand over her mouth. Even hearing herself say that felt utterly disgusting.
She was the Uma Musume destined to be the first to lift the Series Trophy! How could she debase herself by saying such things just to attract viewers? No! Absolutely not! She would never bow to the dark forces of pandering!
'Esports ultimately comes down to skill. As long as my gameplay is top-tier, surely I'll get viewers, right?'
'And I could offer boosts for reaching Diamond or Master. Maybe take on some account leveling jobs. Even if the mobile scene isn't booming, the money should be enough to buy a PC to play the proper version, right?'
That way, the accounts she personally played wouldn't get too high-ranked. She could exploit a loophole in the system to farm Essence, accelerating her journey to become Japan's number one Uma Musume! No, the world's number one Uma Musume!
'But which platform should I stream on?'
'Streaming is pretty popular here in Japan, but League of Legends streams aren't exactly hot.'
'Pococha, 17LIVE, TwitCasting… these are all well-known Japanese platforms. Which one would suit me best?'
Names of various platforms surfaced in her mind as she opened a browser on her phone to read up on them.
She was just an Uma Musume obsessed with running. Usually, the only time she used streaming apps was to watch live broadcasts of Uma Musume races or commentaries by famous streamers.
She had no idea about the League of Legends viewer traffic on these platforms or whether they were suitable for her to stream the game.
Scrolling through the browser, she looked at platform introductions and then opened their apps to check for a League of Legends category on the homepage.
Compared to the Uma Musume race streams she'd watched in her past life, the popularity of League of Legends could only be described with one phrase: "utterly pathetic."
'If only I were in China.'
'A young Uma Musume like me, who can solo queue to Challenger… if I streamed in China, I'd definitely blow up, right?!'
'Wait, no. Even in China, just being Challenger might not be enough to get famous…'
Barbatos couldn't help but think of a certain someone. 'Years as a Challenger, unknown to all; one moment of goofiness, and the whole world knows your name.'
Unlike the Japanese platforms, in China, no matter which streaming site you looked at, League of Legends had massive traffic and popularity that was simply on another level.
'If only I were a Chinese Uma Musume.'
'…'
'Wait, that's not right. Who says a Japanese Uma Musume can't stream on a Chinese platform?'
'That actually adds an extra layer of appeal. Better than just an Uma Musume streamer—a Japanese Uma Musume streamer.'
'And I could add another layer on top of that: a Japanese Uma Musume streamer who loves China.'
In her previous life, Barbatos had seen plenty of foreigners posting videos and streaming on Bilibili, shouting "I love China" in their content.
Lots of people really enjoyed that feeling of being praised by foreigners. Just rave about how great China is in your videos or streams, and people would hit the triple button—like, coin, favorite—donate, follow, and keep up with your content.
It was hard to say whether those foreigners genuinely liked China or if they were just being insincere, treating it as a 'wealth password.'
But she was different.
Liking China? Wasn't it perfectly natural for a Chinese person to love their own country?
Even though she was now a Japanese Uma Musume, and had never even been to China in this life, that didn't change the fact that she had a Chinese soul.
As a noble, lofty Uma Musume who loved China.
Barbatos decided. She would stream on a Chinese platform. She would let every single viewer watching her stream know that she loved China.
She would make sure the audience's money went to someone who truly loved China—herself—and not let those superficial, fake patriots profit anymore.
No time like the present. She started downloading the Bilibili app on her phone.
She could download the mobile streaming software from Bilibili later.
Actually, compared to Bilibili, platforms like Douyu and Huya probably had more traffic.
After all, Bilibili was for watching anime. What did 'Uncle' know about live streaming?
But unlike the Japanese platforms, Barbatos had some sentimental attachment to Chinese streaming sites. Compared to the others, she preferred the community atmosphere on Bilibili.
She loved the vibe where you could loudly and proudly declare, "Next time for sure!"
The subscription gifts were different on each platform. Bilibili's subscription gift also happened to fit perfectly with her current identity as a Japanese Uma Musume.
She already had the script ready for when she asked people to subscribe.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 1 Chapter Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.