Chapter 9: VR Is Scary/A Coincidence Among Coincidences

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Author: Nito Rin	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: Yuusari	English Source: V-rus Translations

Right now, I’m feeling intense regret.
Who said they’re fine with horror games? I didn’t sign up for this.

Earlier this noon, Yuuto and I browsed for games at a shop and bought the latest VR game from the R* franchise.

I put on my HMD (head-mounted display) and started recording a video while I played the game.

I also booted the software to record my movements in 3D, which I plan to add to the final edited video.

So far, so good. Special emphasis on so far.

[Ohh, this feels pretty realistic!] At first, I was still enjoying myself.
The game has high-quality graphics that keep me engaged.
The zombies haven’t shown up yet, so I can fully immerse myself in the virtual world.

[The ground textures look so realistic…] This latest game is made with serious attention to detail in VR, and apparently, it even supports VR gloves that let you feel like you’re actually holding objects.
They haven’t quite figured out how to make your feet feel anything yet, but it’s something to look forward to.

Still, I feel a gun in my hand, even when I’m not really holding one in real life.
I’m oozing with excitement.

[Woah, this is so cool! I’m holding a gun!!! It even feels like I’m holding a gun!!! Woahhh!!! Though it does feel a little light, so the realistic factor isn’t quite there yet.] And then the moment of destiny arrived.

When my character entered a suspicious alley, there was a zombie there.
Not only could you see realistic internal organs, but the muscle pulsations were also well recreated.

Above all, the voice is repulsive.
Since it’s VR, the sound is recorded in binaural stereo, giving it a 3D effect.

I like horror games, but I hate gore.
In other words…

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Ewewewewew, gross! Don’t come over here!!! Die!!! Why?! I already shot you! I shot you so many times!!!] In reality, I’m panicking so hard I can barely land a hit on the enemy.

[No, don’t come near me! Ahhhhhhhhh! The sound!!! Something just went squish! Don’t come! Please!!!! Ahh!!! Out of ammo?! How can this be?! Take that! That! That, that, and that!!! Why won’t you die?! It’s metal, you know?! Didn’t I tell you not to come this way?!] It’s useless. I hate gore.
As I experience a panic-induced ammo shortage, I start whacking my enemy with the gun itself.
But mercilessly, the enemy won’t die.

[Ah…] The enemy comes right in front of me.

[aaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I HATE YOU, ***!!!!!] I died while cursing Yuuto, who strongly recommended this game.
Of course, his name will be bleeped out in post-production.

The Game Over screen appeared, and I stood there frozen for a while.
I was in a semi-conscious state for several seconds before finally coming to my senses again.

[…Ah, I’m alive.] My hands are trembling.
I never thought the zombie would be that gruesome; I found myself shedding genuine tears.

[“I’m good with horror games♪” my butt… that was so scary…] At the same time, I felt anger rising from within me.

[I’ll definitely beat them. I’ll make them regret scaring me like that!!!] From then on, I HS’d (headshot) every enemy that appeared.
Whenever a zombie popped up, I would mutter to myself, [That’s just CG. That’s just CG.]

Before I knew it, I had been playing for three hours, and it was already late, so I decided to stop playing and recording.

“I don’t have the energy to cook tonight, so I’ll just make something easy…”
The mental damage was too much for me, so I settled for rice and some frozen side dishes.

After quickly eating, I started editing my video.
I was about to take a bath when I noticed that my favorite VTuber was streaming late at night for the first time in a while, so I decided to watch it in the tub.

—Fuwari Ukigumo’s Live Stream—

On the screen is a person dressed in a white and blue traditional Japanese outfit.
This person is none other than Fuwari Ukigumo, one of the most popular members of the large VTuber agency Imananji’s 7th wave.
It seems like she’s doing a zatsudan stream today, and the stream starts with her usual greetings.

Kon-fuwarin, everyone!

kon-fuwarinnn

good eveningg

ive been waiting

you seem to be in a good mood today

Yeah, Fuwa-chan, did something good happen?

Ohhh, you can telllll?~

your voice is so high, so I can tell

it felt a little off at first

i couldn’t even tell…

no, im sure anyone could

So, what happened?

Hehehe, well, actually, I found a reaaaally cute person todayyy.

you really like your lolis and shotas, huh, fuwa-chan

What kind of person were they?

loli is the best

nothing beats shotas, duh

Fighting is bad, they’re both good

Yeahhh, you shouldn’t fighttt.

oops, sorry about that.

im sorry too…

good

Good of you to make up

So, there’s this kid, righttt? And they’re like, sooo my typeee. Good-looking, cute voice, and a liiiittle bit boyish, toooo. And then, I got to huuuug them, but only because they tripped and were about to falll…

yikes, saving the person aside, if she were the opposite sex, she’d be in big trouble

id be stoked

are they an effeminate guy or just boyish?

im curious!

I honestly couldn’t telllll. But if I see them again, I wanna give them a biiiiig ol’ hug…

fuwa-chan is in the clouds again.

speaking of effeminate men, wasn’t there a new VTuber who’s suspected of being one? an indie, if i recall

for real?

Someone knows a lot

we’re listening

Spill the tea.

character!!!

she’s not elongating her words???????

shes already way too invested in this…

huh? are you sure? but isnt it against VTuber etiquette to name-drop other streamers during your own stream?

I don’t care, just spill the tea already.

fuwa-chan!!! youre breaking character!!!

snap out of it, fuwa-chan!!!

you shouldn’t go any further than this!

eh.. (confused) oh well. i think the VTuber’s name was Yuka Shirahime or something

Yuka Shirahime… let me look that up real quick.

anddd shes already looking it up lol

Well, that escalated quickly

ive never heard of them before, so ill check too

idk them either

Huh? Isn’t her model pretty high-quality?

dis some high-quality stuff indeed

pretty amazing for an indie. i wonder how much she spent on it

Ohh, her character design is great too.

huh? haven’t I seen this art style somewhere before?

The artist is Yuru Kakizaki… Wait, you mean the Kakizaki-sensei?

so you know her

ah!!! it’s Kakizaki-sensei!

their art style is good, but they haven’t been doing much lately. did they step up their game?

Ohhh, it looks pretty gooood.

back to normal, are we?

Welcome back fuwa-chan

fuwa-chan’s back

And play.
[Hey there, onii-chans and onee-chans watching this video for the first time! My name is Yuka Shirahime, and I’ve decided to become a VTuber starting today!]

aw how cute

she has a nice voice

mb I should subscribe to her channel

maybe I should too

Eh-

whats wrong

hm? did smth happen?

“Huh? Is that even possible?”

?????????

whats going on dattebayo

(blindfolded) i see

fuwa-chan’s back to her unfiltered self again lmao

Umm… this is just a guess, but that kid I said was genderless earlier? …Her voice sounds similar… Is she faking it a bit? Maybe… they’re the same person…?

ha?

this isn’t a fictional world

that’s too much of a stretch

would be funny if it were true

Hey, do you guys mind if I watch her archived debut stream right now?

go ahead

i don’t mind!

s’fine.

fuwa-chan’s showing off some mysterious power, lol

After finishing the one-hour-long archived stream and the cooking videos, Fuwari Ukigumo was convinced.

Guys, I’m telling you, she’s definitely the same person I met today. Especially her arms in her cooking videos match perfectly.
In fact, that girl looks way too young for her age…Seriously? 17?

are you serious?

truth is stranger than fiction, eh

is she really that baby-faced?

I wanna see too…

Same…

Ahem.

oh?

ah… (sensed it

it’s time (for sure

I’m sorry for suddenly getting carried awaaay. I know this was supposed to be a zatsu streammm… I’m sorry it turned out like thisss.

issok

dwbi