The next morning Jake woke up to seventy-three new notifications.
SinStream: NewUser_472 commented on your stream*
SinStream: xXShadowXx is now following you
SinStream: LunaStarlight sent you a direct message
SinStream: You have 47 new comments
SinStream: Your stream has been viewed 234 times
On and on... notification after notification. His first stream had apparently gained traction overnight while he slept.
Jake sat up slowly, his back still dizzzy. He'd fallen asleep still wearing his clothes from yesterday, too exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of streaming to bother changing. His laptop was still closed on his desk, the SinStream logo glowing faintly through the lid like some kind of techno-horror nightlight.
[QUEST TIMER: 5 DAYS, 7 HOURS, 12 MINUTES REMAINING]
The blue text appeared automatically in his vision. Jake had almost forgotten about it (almost) but the System made sure he couldn't ignore it for long.
He checked his follower count through the SinStream app on his phone.
[FOLLOWERS: 23]
Jake blinked up, twenty-three? He'd ended the stream with fifteen, that meant eight more people had found his content overnight and decided to follow.
Eight people who watched his recorded nervous breakdown and thought "yes, I want more of this."
Jake didn't know whether to be encouraged or concerned.
He scrolled through the notifications, reading comments on his stream recording.
NewUser_472: "This guy is either a genius or having a mental breakdown. Either way I'm invested."
xXShadowXx: "F-rank in Technique lmaooo bro just admit you're a virgin"
LunaStarlight: "Okay but actually he's kind of cute in a pathetic way? Like a wet cat?"
PurpleRain88: "Can't wait to see if he actually goes through with the adult content or just keeps talking about his anxiety"
CuriousCat42: "Most honest streamer I've ever seen. Followed."
SilentWatcher: "..."
RandomUser_891: "Why is this recommended to me? I hate it. I can't stop watching."
Jake read through all forty-seven comments, his emotions swinging wildly between embarrassment, amusement and a weird sort of pride. People were talking about him, about his stream. They remembered him.
Some comments were kind but some were actually roasting him. A few were explicitly sexual in a way that made Jake's face burn.
And one person, username "MotivationalMike" had left a long sincere comment about how refreshing it was to see someone being real about their struggles, and how they were rooting for Jake to succeed.
Jake read that comment three times.
"Huh," he said to his empty apartment.
His phone buzzed again. Marcus.
Marcus (Work): Dude you awake?*
Jake: Barely.
Marcus (Work): check the news*
Marcus (Work): shits getting worse
Jake's stomach dropped, he opened his news app and the first headline made his blood run cold.
"DUNGEON BREAK IN MANHATTAN - HUNDREDS EVACUATED - SYSTEM HOLDERS RESPONDING"
Manhattan. That was less than an hour away by subway.
He clicked the article. The dungeon had appeared at 3 AM in Central Park, same location as the previous one. This time it was bigger and the hole was forty feet across and what came out of it was being described as "insectoid horrors" by traumatized witnesses.
System holders had responded within minutes, there was apparently an alert system now, coordinated through something called the Hunter's Guild, but casualties were already in the double digits.
The article included photos. Jake wished it hadn't.
He closed the app before he could see more.
Jake: Are you okay?
Marcus (Work): im in queens
Marcus (Work): far enough away but my system is pinging me...
Marcus (Work): It WANTS me to go
Marcus (Work): like theres a quest marker pointing toward manhattan
Jake: Don't go. You're not ready.
Marcus (Work): I know but what if it gets worse
Marcus (Work): or what if the monsters spread and they come here
Jake didn't have an answer for that because Marcus was right. The dungeons were appearing more frequently now, Monsters were real and eventually, everyone would have to make a choice: fight or hide.
Jake: Just... be safe bro
Marcus (Work): you too man
Marcus (Work): Whatever weird quest your system has you doing
Marcus (Work): Stay Safe
Jake set his phone down and sat in the quiet of his apartment. Outside, he could still hear sirens, quite more than usual. The city's new soundtrack.
He knew Marcus would be terrified but would still be preparing to fight, that was Marcus, brave but reckless.
And then he looked at himself, sitting in his apartment, terrified but atleast he was gaining followers... by talking about his sexual inadequacy.
The guilt hit him like a wave.
"I should be doing more," Jake said quietly.
Admin #69 materialized next to him in her same burst of pink sparkles, she was holding a tiny coffee cup now, which she offered to him.
"You can't drink holographic coffee," Jake said.
"It's the thought that counts," #69 replied. She made the cup disappear and floated closer. "You're feeling guilty."
"Of course I'm feeling guilty, people are dying and I'm... I'm streaming. Making jokes, building a follower count like it's a fucking game."
"It IS a game," #69 said gently. "That's what the System made it, and that doesn't make it less real or less important."
"How is me making porn important?" Jake snapped. "How does that help anyone?"
#69 was quiet for a moment, her usual cheerful expression subdued.
"Can I tell you something?" she said finally. "About my first user, the one who made it to Level 47?"
Jake nodded.
"His name was Rafael and he was from Brazil. He got the same system as you, same class, same quest structure and he struggled with the same guilt." #69's voice was soft, almost sad. "He kept asking me: 'How does this help? How does making people feel good help fight monsters?'"
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him the truth." #69 looked directly at Jake. "The world is ending. Slowly, maybe, but it's ending. People are terrified and they're losing hope. They're watching their reality crumble and in the middle of all that horror, you know what they need?"
"What?"
"They need to remember they're human," Admin #69 said. "They need pleasure. Joy. Desire. Connection. All the things that make life worth living. Yes, combat system holders protect people's bodies but you can protect their humanity."
Jake opened his mouth to argue, then closed it.
"Rafael understood eventually," Admin #69 continued. "He built a following of over two million people. His streams were... they were art, Jake. Not just porn, he made people feel things, made them laugh and helped them forget about the monsters for a while and when the dungeon break came to São Paulo, do you know what happened?"
"What?"
"His followers showed up to help evacuate, thousands of them. They organized rescue efforts, distributed supplies, provided shelter. Because he'd built a community. Given them something to care about besides fear." #69's eyes were shining. "He died fighting a boss-level monster to buy time for evacuations and because of him, because of the community he built twenty thousand people survived."
Jake sat in silence, processing that.
"So no," #69 said firmly. "What you're doing isn't pointless, It's not selfish. You're giving people a reason to care, a reason to connect and that matters more than you think."
Jake rubbed his face. "That's a lot of pressure."
"It's also a lot of potential," Admin #69 said. "You're only at fifteen... sorry, twenty-three followers. Imagine what you could do with thousands. Millions."
"I can't even imagine having a hundred," Jake muttered.
"Then let's focus on that," #69 said, her cheerful demeanor returning. "One hundred followers. Five days, you can do this."
He looked at the quest timer ticking down in his peripheral vision.
"Okay," he said. "What do I need to do today?"
"Stream again," #69 said immediately. "Consistency is crucial, and your followers need to know when to expect content."
"But I just streamed yesterday."
"And you'll stream today, and tomorrow and every day until you hit one hundred." #69 pulled up a schedule in the air. "I recommend evening streams, around 8 PM, that's when most users are online. Doing an hour to two hours per stream, long enough to build engagement but still short enough that you don't burn out."
Jake looked at the schedule, his anxiety spiking. "Every day?"
"Every day," #69 confirmed. "Welcome to content creation, It's a job now."
"A job where I eventually have to take my clothes off."
"I mean... it's Technically.. just a job where you eventually CREATE ADULT CONTENT," #69 joked. "And you don't have to rush into that, just build your audience first. Let them get to know you, then when you do escalate..."
"ESCALATE...?"