The next day.
Early in the morning.
Although Nagasaki Soyo was reluctant to see her leave...
Wakaba Mutsumi still had to go home.
...
Around noon.
Nyamu finally woke up and immediately felt soreness all over her body.
She kept rubbing her arms and shoulders, trying to ease the aches in her limbs.
She had spent the entire day hiking, carrying a phone tripod the whole time, and then gone straight to perform on the drums that night.
It would have been strange not to be sore.
Fortunately, there was good news as well.
The video she uploaded last night had gone viral.
It was the recording of her performance with Shiro Aki and Yahata Umiri.
After getting home the previous evening, Nyamu had immediately started editing the footage.
She had stayed up all night before finally uploading it in the middle of the night.
Now, looking at the statistics on her screen, she was both surprised and delighted.
In just one night, the video had already accumulated hundreds of thousands of views, and the numbers were still climbing rapidly.
At that moment, all the hard work felt completely worthwhile.
Opening the comments section, she began reading.
"Isn't this FOLT in Shinjuku?"
"Shinjuku FOLT? I heard there's a band there that smashes beer bottles over people's heads. Apparently the vocalist even stepped on someone's face."
"I know that bassist! She's an amazing session musician. She plays with more than thirty bands."
"The keyboardist is incredible too. Smooth movements and such elegant melodies."
"Is the drummer ambidextrous? That performance was unbelievably flashy!"
"What's this band's name? I want to follow them."
"I'm so jealous of that guy. I want to start a band too."
"You don't want to start a band... you just want to be surrounded by girls," Nyamu thought.
After browsing through the comments, she began replying to the funniest and most-liked ones.
As a professional streamer, Nyamu firmly believed that interacting with fans was essential.
For example, there was Tokyoanon.
As the top supporter on her channel, she naturally had to reply and throw her a little reward.
Tokyoanon:Nyamu-chan, I like your videos more and more! I knew you were good at makeup, but I had no idea you were such an amazing drummer too! My classmates and I are starting a band recently, but we still can't find a drummer...(crying emoji)
Nyamu enthusiastically replied:
Nyamu:Anon-chan, ganbatte! I'm sure you'll find an amazing drummer soon!
Tokyoanon quickly answered:
Tokyoanon:Then I'll gladly accept your blessing!
...
But amidst her excitement, Nyamu also found herself puzzled.
Her follower count had grown to over 70,000, and naturally there were far more comments than before.
That itself wasn't unusual.
The strange part was...
Many of the comments weren't about her at all.
Instead...
They were asking about a light novel author.
"Hehuohuo."
That account had suddenly followed Nyamu yesterday.
As a result, many of the author's readers had flooded into her comment section.
"Miss Streamer, what's your relationship with Teacher Hehuo?"
"Could you help us remind the author to update?"
"Teacher Hehuo hasn't updated either the novel or the account in forever, yet suddenly followed you. Do you two know each other?"
"Can you give me the author's contact information? I'll trade you an expensive and beautiful bass guitar."
That particular comment had received an especially high number of likes.
Of course, there were normal comments too.
"The streamer is so pretty!"
"I love your drumming!"
...
Nyamu quickly realized that a considerable portion of her new followers had come because of this novelist.
She had heard of the author before and had even read a few of the novels.
That was the extent of it.
She wasn't exactly a fan.
Still...
With such unexpected fortune practically falling into her lap...
There was no reason to refuse it.
After carefully choosing her words, she replied to the most-liked comments.
I'm honestly honored that Teacher Hehuo followed me! I really enjoy Teacher Hehuo's works too. If I ever get the chance to meet them in person, I'll definitely urge them to update!
Almost immediately—
Her replies were flooded with countless cries of:
"Onegai!!"(Please!!)
After replying, Nyamu finally put away her smug smile.
She opened her following list and stared thoughtfully at the account named "Hehuohuo."
The follow date was yesterday.
The timing...
It was almost exactly when Umiri and Aki had followed her.
And beneath Hehuohuo's account...
Was Yahata Umiri's account.
Unlike most people, Umiri used her real identity online.
Adding all the clues together...
Nyamu couldn't help but suspect something.
She had been staring at the name Hehuohuo for quite some time.
Suddenly—
A flash of inspiration struck her.
He
Huo
Put together...
They formed the character Qiu
Instantly, Nyamu felt she had solved the mystery.
But that alone wasn't enough.
She immediately searched online for information about the novelist.
Unfortunately...
There wasn't much.
All she found was that the author had only started writing recently...
And was still a student.
Meanwhile—
At Shiro Aki's home.
Aki picked up his phone, frowning slightly.
Why had his video account suddenly received so many notifications?
Did I accidentally offend the entire internet?
He opened the notifications.
Then...
He froze.
"Huh?"
"Nyamu?"
"That big cat?"
"What happened?"
"Why is my account suddenly connected to hers?"
Could it be because of yesterday's performance video?
That shouldn't be it...
A bad feeling crept into his heart as he carefully read the comments.
"Confess already! What's your relationship with Nyamu?"
"You finally logged in! You have time to follow streamers but no time to update your novel?"
"When's the next volume coming out?"
"Please update! I'll do anything!"
"Onegai! Watashi!"
...
Very quickly...
Aki understood exactly what had happened.
He let out a long sigh.
The performance video featuring the three of them had indeed gone viral.
But that wasn't the real reason everyone had found him.
The real reason was...
He had accidentally followed Nyamu using his author account with over 300,000 followers.
He actually had two social media accounts.
One was his official author account used to promote his novels through Fujimi Shobo Bunko.
The other was his personal account—the one he'd used to leave the comment:
"The vocalist is giving it everything they've got."
When he followed Nyamu...
He had mistakenly been logged into the author account.
An account that hadn't shown any activity for ages.
Yet simply because Nyamu's name had appeared in its following list...
His eagle-eyed readers had immediately noticed.
And naturally...
They all rushed over to demand updates.
Just then—
Although she had no concrete proof yet...
Nyamu contacted him directly.
She didn't bother with small talk.
Nyamu:Aki-chan... "Hehuohuo" is you, isn't it?
The corner of Aki's mouth twitched.
Speak of the devil...
Aki:At this point... if I said it had nothing to do with me, would you believe me?
Nyamu:Ahahaha! Of course not! Don't tell me you followed me on purpose just to send me traffic? I'm so touched!
Aki: ...
Aki:It's me. You didn't tell anyone, did you?
He decided to come clean.
Nyamu:Of course not! My lips are sealed!
Aki wasn't entirely convinced.
But he had no choice except to trust her.
He seriously warned her.
Aki:Good. Please keep it a secret. You know there are a lot of people trying to figure out who I really am...
Nyamu:Then let's collaborate more often. You wouldn't want...
Aki's eyes widened.
Miss Japanese Internet User... please calm down.
After ending the chat with Nyamu, Aki shook his head helplessly.
One careless mistake really can haunt you forever...
Now he was stuck.
Continuing to follow her felt awkward.
Unfollowing her would be even more suspicious.
Thankfully...
At the moment, only Nyamu knew the truth.
Ding!
A notification popped up.
The profile picture labeled "Prosperity and Fortune" belonged to Chihaya Anon.
Aki paused.
No way...
Don't tell me even Anon knows already?
He switched over to LINE.
Anon:Shiro Aki-kun! How did you end up getting so close to Nyamu?!
Aki:Did you watch Nyamu's video?
Anon:Yep! I'm one of Nyamu's fans!
Aki sighed in relief.
At the same time, he couldn't help muttering inwardly,
You're a Nyamu fan too?
Kita is as well.
Her videos really are ridiculously popular among outgoing girls like you.
He explained:
Aki:It was just an accident. We happened to collaborate once.
Anon:Could you invite Nyamu to be the drummer for our band?
Aki:You're giving me way too much credit.
Anon:Ehehe, true. Nyamu's a creator with two and a half times Guitar Hero's follower count now. Being able to perform with her was probably just a lucky coincidence for you.
At home—
Lying on the sofa with her phone in its bright red case, Chihaya Anon couldn't help imagining...
What if she had been the one standing on stage beside Nyamu?
What if she had appeared in that viral video?
What if everyone online had been talking about her?
Then she could proudly show it off to all her classmates...
Meanwhile—
Aki suddenly felt a little offended.
Hey, Pinky... aren't you underestimating me a bit too much?
If I told you the truth, you'd probably faint.
I'm actually a light novel author with ten times Guitar Hero's followers... and four times Nyamu's.
But since Nyamu had already uncovered his identity...
There was no way he could expose himself in front of Anon too.
So instead...
Aki:You know Guitar Hero too?
Anon:Yep! I've been learning guitar from her videos recently. I've been practicing really hard!
Aki:Then keep it up.
After finally finishing his conversation with Anon, Aki prepared to head off for lunch.
But her words had reminded him of something.
Perhaps...
He should ask Yahata Umiri whether she'd be interested in becoming the bassist for Anon's band.
Even serving as a substitute member would work.
After all...
The last time Nyamu had brought up forming a band...
Aki had noticed that Umiri seemed genuinely interested.
-------------------
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