Seems Like He Really Struck Gold

"Cough, cough. I can hear you. Hello." Zhao Yu cleared his throat, speaking in flawless Japanese.

He had his many extra years as a corporate drone compared to his parallel-world self to thank for that.

Before crossing over, he had been a manager at a foreign trade company. He might not have been great at much else, but his Japanese and Korean had been polished to perfection.

[Well, damn! He knows Japanese too? What else does the streamer know that we don't?]

[Someone who knows, is the streamer speaking authentic Japanese?]

Zhao Yu muted the voice channel first before interacting with the Bullet Screen.

"What do you mean, whether it's authentic or not? This is a genuine Old Tokyo accent."

[Oh, so he's a proper Rising Sun Flag, huh?]

[What a rare creature, opening his mouth like that.]

"Stop, stop! I'm not some rare creature. The Emperor is in Niigata—I have no intention of replacing him!" Seeing the Bullet Screen becoming increasingly dangerous, Zhao Yu hurriedly stopped joking around.

What a joke. If those guys branded him a rare-creature streamer, he really would never recover, just like some corpse in Niigata.

On the other side, a young-sounding male voice came through Yuuka's headphones. The moment he spoke, her fear of this stranger eased a little.

Well, at least his voice didn't sound unpleasant. He probably wasn't a bad person, right?

Yuuka couldn't be blamed for worrying. Precisely because Japan's gaming companion industry was so well-developed, it attracted all kinds of customers.

Some people were even incredibly rude right from the start. Yuuka had been afraid of meeting someone like that and not knowing how to respond, so she felt much more at ease now.

"Um, I'm Yuuka. This is my first time working as a gaming companion. If anything makes you uncomfortable, please forgive me," Yuuka said again, gathering her courage.

"Shh, the girl's talking. Let me reply to her first." Hearing her voice again, Zhao Yu paused his interaction with the Bullet Screen.

"It's fine. This is actually my first time hiring a gaming companion too."

"Is that so? Then we really are destined to meet."

"Damn, Japanese girls really know how to talk. Her voice is completely different from those fake cutesy types," Zhao Yu quietly said to his viewers.

[Honestly, true. She isn't putting on airs; her voice is just naturally sweet.]

[Can someone translate? I can't understand raw audio.]

[Basically, she said it's her first time and asked the streamer to be understanding.]

[Huh????]

[What kind of filthy line is that?]

"Don't talk nonsense. She just means it's her first time being a gaming companion." Zhao Yu hurriedly cut off the Bullet Screen's dirty jokes.

Although Zhao Yu had spoken quietly, he had not muted himself this time, so Yuuka heard his exchange with the stream.

Unfortunately, Yuuka did not understand Chinese language at all and had no idea what he was saying. After glancing at Zhao Yu's ID on the gaming companion site, she spoke again.

"Is Tyou-san a foreigner?"

Hearing that Zhao-san, delivered with a slight Major's accent, Zhao Yu froze for a moment before realizing she was talking about him.

His nickname was in romanized spelling, one of the Japanese words closest to the pronunciation of Zhao. Naturally, when Yuuka pronounced it in Japanese, it came out with a strong Major's accent.

"Yes, I'm Chinese."

"Wow! That's amazing! This is my first time chatting with a foreigner. Your Japanese is really good—I thought you were a local from Tokyo."

"No, no. I just study Japanese in my spare time." Yuuka's constant praise made Zhao Yu a little embarrassed.

Meanwhile, with translations from the unofficial subtitle crew, the Bullet Screen kept up with the conversation between the two in real time.

[So this is a Japanese girl? She's completely different from gaming companions back home.]

[It feels like she's been considerate of the streamer's feelings from the start, and she keeps complimenting him.]

[Her emotional support is maxed out. I'd be willing to spend money on a Japanese girl too.]

[Can't help it. Japan is practically the perfect industry match for this. Just look at how many ASMR streamers they have.]

Zhao Yu chatted idly with Yuuka while keeping an eye on the Bullet Screen. Seeing the viewer count steadily rise, he could not help but feel delighted.

He had picked the right gig. With the previous gaming companion as contrast, the entertainment value was through the roof.

"Was Tyou-san talking to a friend just now?" Yuuka asked curiously.

She was actually a little concerned about whether Zhao Yu had friends nearby. If he did, would his friends be satisfied with her performance?

In Yuuka's eyes, even though this was only an experimental attempt at being a gaming companion, it was still a job. And since it was work, she had to take it seriously.

"No, I'm home alone." Zhao Yu quickly denied it after hearing Yuuka's question.

"Then what was Tyou-san doing just now?"

"Actually, I'm a streamer. You know, the kind who livestreams games."

"That's amazing!" Yuuka's eyes immediately lit up when she heard Zhao Yu's words.

In her view, being a gaming streamer was an incredibly impressive thing. She had actually wanted to do it for a long time.

But she was rather timid and did not dare interact with viewers, so she had chosen to start as a video creator instead.

As for why she had ultimately become a food creator, it was purely because she could not bring herself to speak while commentating on games.

"So Tyou-san is livestreaming right now?" Yuuka asked again.

"Yes. The viewers in my stream seem to like you quite a lot," Zhao Yu said as he watched the rapidly scrolling Bullet Screen.

"Would you like to say hello to them?"

"Can I?" There was obvious anticipation in Yuuka's voice.

"Don't worry, everyone in my stream is a good person. It's fine." Seeing that Yuuka was already tempted, Zhao Yu continued coaxing her.

[This is so weird. Even though she gave us the good-person card, why don't I hate it?]

[That's right! No more pretending—I really am a law-abiding citizen!]

"Hello, everyone. I'm Yuuka. It's nice to meet you all!"

The next instant, a rustling sound rang out, followed by Yuuka's introduction.

"Don't tell me you stood up and bowed?" Zhao Yu asked, his expression strange as he listened.

"Eh? Isn't bowing during an introduction the proper thing to do?" Yuuka asked in confusion after sitting back down.

"But the stream can't see you."

"I'm sorry! You must think I'm ridiculous, Tyou-san!" Yuuka's face instantly turned red. Only then did she realize that Zhao Yu was not video calling her, so the stream could not see her bowing.

[Hahahahaha, this Japanese girl is so interesting!]

[So cute.]

[IG Awesome sent Dream of Nine Hundred Million Girls 20 rockets.]

Holy shit! Twenty rockets in one go? Zhao Yu was startled as the sudden barrage of rockets flooded the stream.

"Thanks to boss IG Awesome for the 20 rockets! So generous!" Zhao Yu loudly thanked him while also making the boss a Room manager.

[IG Awesome: Great content. Interact more with this Japanese girl in the future. I think she's pretty cute too.]

"Eh! Was I... disliked just now?" Yuuka was startled by Zhao Yu suddenly raising his voice and asked uneasily.

"No, they were all saying you're cute." Zhao Yu immediately lowered his voice and explained to Yuuka.

"Thank you, everyone, for the compliments. I don't know if everyone can understand Japanese language, but I can say a few words in Chinese language too." After pausing for a while, Yuuka spoke in a halting voice.

"Ni hao?"

"Xie xie!"

[This Japanese girl is way too cute!]

[I declare that from now on, I'm Miss Yuuka's dog!]

From the moment Yuuka said those two phrases, Zhao Yu watched the number of viewers in his stream begin multiplying rapidly.

He had only one feeling now: it seemed like he had really struck gold.