"Fine, I'll stream tonight. Same setup as yesterday?"
"Same setup," #69 Replied. "But maybe shower first and eat something. Self care also matters."
Jake looked down at himself. He was still wearing yesterday's clothes, his hair was a mess and he definitely smelled.
"Point taken," he muttered.
He spent the rest of the morning trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Shower. Coffee. Breakfast... instant ramen because he hadn't gone grocery shopping in a week. He tried to do some work, logging into his company's remote portal but his heart wasn't in it. How was he supposed to care about spreadsheets when there were literal monsters in Central Park?
Around noon, his phone buzzed with a direct message on SinStream.
LunaStarlight: hey! just wanted to say i really enjoyed your stream
Jake stared at the message, unsure how to respond. Was this normal? Did streamers talk to their followers?
Jake: Thanks. That means a lot.
LunaStarlight: Are you really that scared of streaming?
"Whoa."
Jake:Absolutely terrified.
LunaStarlight: Thats kind of adorable
LunaStarlight: Most streamers pretend they're confident
LunaStarlight: its nice to see someone being real
Jake: I'm too anxious to fake confidence.
LunaStarlight: lol fair
LunaStarlight: so are you really gonna do adult content? Or is that just the system requirement?
Jake hesitated. This felt like a test somehow but Admin #69's advice echoed in his head: be honest.
Jake: Honestly? I don't know, I have to eventually but I'm taking it slow.
LunaStarlight: smart
LunaStarlight: rushing into it would feel desperate
LunaStarlight: let people get invested in you first
Jake: That's the plan... Sort of, I'm making this up as I go.
LunaStarlight: arent we all
LunaStarlight: anyway good luck tonight
LunaStarlight: I'll be watching
The conversation ended, and Jake sat there feeling oddly encouraged. Someone was looking forward to his stream, even cared enough to send a message.
It was a small thing but it felt significant.
He spent the afternoon researching again but this time, more productively. He looked up streaming schedules, engagement strategies, how to read chat effectively, how to handle trolls. He made notes. Prepared topics to discuss, even tried to plan out the flow of tonight's stream.
By 7:30 PM, he was ready. Or as ready as he'd ever be.
The apartment was clean, the lighting was set up. His laptop was positioned on the same stack of books, camera angled toward the bed.
Jake sat down, took a deep breath and opened SinStream.
[FOLLOWERS: 28]
Twenty-eight? He'd gained five more since this morning. People were still finding his stream.
"Okay," Jake said to himself. "Okay. Let's do this."
He pressed "GO LIVE."
[STREAM STARTED]
[VIEWERS: 0]
For about ten seconds, Jake sat in silence, watching the viewer count. Then it ticked up.
[VIEWERS: 1]
[VIEWERS: 3]
[VIEWERS: 7]
People were joining faster than yesterday, some of them were probably return viewers.
"Hey," Jake said, his voice steadier than last time. "Welcome back... Or just welcome, if you're new. I'm Jake and this is day two of me figuring out how to be an adult content creator without dying of embarrassment."
LunaStarlight: YOURE BACK
xXShadowXx: the legend returns
NewUser_472: lets see if he actually does anything today
[VIEWERS: 15]
Jake felt his anxiety, but it was manageable now. Familiar, almost.
"So," Jake said, "I spent all day researching how to do this properly. Took notes. Made a plan, very professional." He held up his notebook, showing pages of scribbled notes. "And then I realized that planning doesn't actually help when you have crippling stage fright."
PurpleRain88: lmao
CuriousCat42: at least you're consistent
RandomUser_891: F rank in technique AND planning
[VIEWERS: 23]
"Hey, I'll have you know my Planning stat is at least a D-minus," Jake said, pointing at the chat. "I'm competently incompetent."
The chat laughed, or at least he assumed those "lol"s meant laughter and he felt himself relaxing into the rhythm of it.
He talked about his day, about the guilt he felt, even about Marcus and the monsters in Manhattan. He was honest... maybe too honest about his fear and confusion.
And people responded.
They shared their own system stories in chat. Their own fears, their own struggles to adapt to a world that had fundamentally changed.
It wasn't just Jake having a crisis, It was everyon and somehow, talking about it together made it less terrifying.
An hour into the stream, someone donated.
MotivationalMike donated $5: "Keep going, man. You're doing great."
Jake stared at the notification. Someone had given him actual money.
"Oh shit," Jake said. "Someone donated. MotivationalMike, thank you. That's... that's my first donation ever, I don't even know what to say."
MotivationalMike: You dont have to say anything
MotivationalMike: just keep being real man
LunaStarlight: Aww thats sweet
xXShadowXx: WHOLESOME MOMENT
[VIEWERS: 41]
[FOLLOWERS: 35]
Jake watched the numbers climb and felt something warm spread through his chest. This was working. Slowly, but it was working.
"Alright," Jake said, looking at the camera. "I know I said I'd take this slow, but I feel like I should at least acknowledge what this channel is supposed to be about eventually."
The chat perked up.
NewUser_472: FINALLY
xXShadowXx: is he actually gonna do something?
PurpleRain88: dont pressure him
CuriousCat42: let him go at his own pace
"I'm not going to do anything explicit tonight," Jake said quickly. "But maybe... I don't know. Something slightly less PG than talking about my anxiety?"
He felt ridiculous, this was ridiculous. But he'd committed to this path, and standing still wasn't an option.
"Okay," Jake said, his face burning. "How about this, I'll answer questions... honest questions about... anything."
The chat Loved that.
xXShadowXx: TRUTH OR DARE ENERGY
LunaStarlight: ooh okay
LunaStarlight: what was your worst sexual experience?
Jake groaned. "Starting strong, I see."
But he answered, He started telling them about the time in college when he'd been so nervous he'd finished in thirty seconds and then pretended he hadn't, the chat lost their minds.
NewUser_472: BRO
xXShadowXx: NO WONDER ITS F RANK
PurpleRain88: at least you're.... lmao
More questions came. Some embarrassing, some surprisingly thoughtful. Jake answered them all, feeling exposed but also... lighter somehow.
By the time he ended the stream two hours later, he had forty-two followers.
[STREAM ENDED]
[FINAL STATS:]
- TOTAL VIEWERS: 156
- PEAK CONCURRENT VIEWERS: 67
- FOLLOWERS GAINED: 19
- DESIRE POINTS EARNED: 289
- ENGAGEMENT ENERGY EARNED: 134
- DONATIONS: $12
[QUEST PROGRESS: 42/100 FOLLOWERS]
[TIME REMAINING: 5 DAYS, 3 HOURS, 18 MINUTES]
Jake closed his laptop and let out a long breath.
Forty two followers. He was almost halfway there.
"You're doing amazing," Admin #69 said, materializing beside him. "Seriously, that was a great stream."
"I just talked about my sexual failures for two hours," Jake said.
"And people loved it!" #69 said. "You're building trust and building community. This is exactly what you need to do."
Jake looked at the donation total. Twelve dollars. Not much, but it was something.
His phone buzzed. Another message from LunaStarlight.
LunaStarlight: that was fun
LunaStarlight: youre getting more comfortable
Jake: Yeah. A little.
LunaStarlight: Good
LunaStarlight: can't wait for tomorrows stream
Jake smiled despite himself.
Tomorrow... He'd stream again tomorrow.
And the day after that.
And the day after that.
Until he hit one hundred, or until time ran out.
But for tonight, he'd take the small victory.
Forty-two followers.
Halfway there.