Livestream warm-up

Lin Yu: "Look, you do this part like this, and this needs to be set up like this."

Firefly: "Mm-hmm, got it."

Lin Yu had taken two days of sick leave, but he had pretty much recovered after just one day. Still, he had not gone to his part-time job. After all, he had already taken the leave, so why take it back? Besides, he could use the time to teach Firefly how to make videos.

Right now, for instance, Lin Yu was helping Firefly get familiar with various video editing programs to build her foundation.

"Here, give it a try." Lin Yu stood up and gave Firefly his seat.

"Okay!" Firefly sat down and began copying what Lin Yu had done. But after fiddling with it for a while, she turned back to him awkwardly. "L-Lin Yu, how did you do this part again?"

"Let me see." As he spoke, Lin Yu leaned closer to look at the screen, but his proximity made Firefly shy. Her gaze darted to the left, then back toward Lin Yu. Her heart beat a little faster, and her face flushed slightly.

Before, this would have made her a little flustered at most, but now it nearly made her head explode. That was all thanks to the novel Firefly had read yesterday, which had made her realize just how many foolish things she had done.

Only now did she understand the phrase "men and women are different," and what being boyfriend and girlfriend meant, and... Ah-I don't want to remember!

Firefly covered her little face in embarrassment, leaving Lin Yu, who was explaining things beside her, utterly baffled.

Sure, this was pretty hard at first, but was there any need to cover her face?

"Firefly?" Lin Yu called, but Firefly did not respond.

So Lin Yu raised his voice. "Firefly!"

"Ah...?" Lin Yu's shout snapped Firefly out of her thoughts.

Firefly: "W-what is it?"

Lin Yu: "What else would it be? Have you been listening properly?"

Firefly: "Um, sorry, I wasn't paying attention..."

At Firefly's unhesitating admission, Lin Yu merely sighed. "Is something on your mind? Or do you think it's too hard and don't want to learn anymore?"

Seeing that Lin Yu had misunderstood, Firefly hurriedly shook her head. "No, no, no, it's not that I don't want to learn. I was just thinking about something and got distracted."

"Oh, I see... All right, then. Pay more attention next time. Come on, I'll teach you again."

"Okay!"

After explaining it to Firefly once more, he let her slowly figure things out herself, while he sat on the bed behind her. That way, she could easily ask him if there was anything she did not understand.

With some time to spare, Lin Yu took out his phone and logged into Firefly's account to check how the videos were doing. He had not had the chance to look yesterday because he was sick.

What he saw when he tapped in really startled him. The videos averaged seventy to eighty thousand views, with the highest reaching over a hundred thousand and even the lowest getting forty to fifty thousand.

Holy shit, this account was brand-new, and the videos had only been up for a day. Were these view counts for real? Even he had never gotten this many when he first started.

The footage all came from recordings of Firefly playing games earlier. He had edited some into hype videos synced to music, while some of Firefly's in-game mistakes had been made into funny clips.

Although he was a little shocked, he was mostly happy. At least they were off to a good start, and these videos had already earned some money. It was only a few dozen yuan, but every little bit added up.

Watching Firefly's focused figure from behind reminded Lin Yu of when he had first started making videos. Back then, he had known nothing, just like Firefly, and had learned everything bit by bit.

Still, thinking back, he had only started making videos to try to earn some money.

After all, his various drawing tools and equipment had cost quite a bit. Since his family had to put both him and his younger sister through school, he felt too embarrassed to ask for more money.

So he had chosen to become a streamer and make videos. At first, he had indeed done it for money, but after a while, he had gradually come to enjoy streaming. After that, he would occasionally livestream himself playing games, drawing, or chatting with fans and viewers.

But it seemed his last livestream had been over a month ago. Come to think of it, he had not uploaded a video in half a month either, and now his fan group was full of people asking for updates.

Seeing all the requests in the group left him feeling helpless. He wanted to upload too, but he was so busy that it kept getting pushed back.

So that afternoon, Lin Yu stayed in the living room and got to work on a video for his own account, while Firefly continued learning in the bedroom. When he had checked the fan group, it had already been flooded again, all with requests for updates and people tagging him to upload.

To put an end to his fans' message bombardment, he could only hurry and get the video finished now.

Fortunately, he had already been preparing the material. He just needed to record the ending, and it would be done.

Of course, much of that was thanks to Firefly, who had provided him with plenty of material. The drawings in the video had all been inspired by her during their earlier outings together.

For example, one showed a girl with long silver hair in a white dress, standing among numerous fireflies beside a forest lake at night. Their faint light illuminated her innocent face, and her eyes, like purple crystals, watched the scene before her. When she held out her hand, a firefly landed on it. This picture depicted something that had happened when they went camping.

There were also two school-themed pictures featuring the same person, only with her outfit changed to a JK uniform similar to what Firefly had worn then. In one, she was listening attentively in class; in the other, she was sitting on a bench beside a campus path at sunset, happily petting a cat.

Originally, he had wanted to draw Firefly herself, and had even gotten her permission.

Firefly: "Sure! If you need it, Lin Yu, I don't have any problem with it."

But in the end, he had only drawn someone who looked similar instead.

His original intention had been to protect her privacy, but then he thought about it: nobody besides him knew Firefly had appeared in reality. So to everyone else, Firefly was still just a character who existed in a virtual world.

After he posted the video, the fan group filled with nothing but question marks and "holy shit." The streamer had risen from the dead?! Finally, Lin Yu could not resist sending a message.

Lin (group owner): "Weren't you the ones asking for updates? Why are you cursing me now?"

Viewer: "Well, you haven't streamed or posted a video in so long, streamer. Everyone thought you'd died [what a shame meme], so we've been tagging you in the group every day to check on you."

Lin (group owner): "Uh... First of all, I'm fine. I've just been busy lately. Also, what's that 'what a shame' meme supposed to mean?!"

Viewer: "Ehe~=⩌⩊⩌="

Lin (group owner): "All right, same as before, I'll post a giveaway in a bit. The prizes are the drawings from this video, with fifteen winners in total. If you want to buy one, you can message me privately. Prices are the same as before."

Once he finished, the group filled with identical cries of "Yay!"

Then people in the group started asking when he would stream again.

At that question, Lin Yu rubbed his chin, then answered in the group with a smile on his lips.

Lin (group owner): "Soon. I'll stream sometime in the near future. It'll be a collab with another streamer, so you can look forward to it."

At that, the group erupted again. Everyone kept asking which streamer it was, but Lin Yu would not answer. After all, telling them would ruin the suspense.

Lin (group owner): "I'm not telling you now. You'll find out when the time comes ╭☞( ￣ ▽￣)╭☞"