After learning editing, I ended up with quite a few uploaded videos.
Besides just the ones we shot casually, we also had the broadcasts we usually did.
I had kept all the videos from those broadcasts separately.
Thanks to that,
“Eek—!”
Surprisingly, a video titled ‘Eek Dispenser’ was uploaded to our account.
For reference, my face, filled with shock, was all over the thumbnail.
“……”
I quietly looked at Mia who was kneeling in front of me.
“How did this video come to be?”
“W-Well, Claire…”
Before I could even call for Claire, she quickly knelt down next to Mia.
“I-I just thought it would get a lot of views! You said it would be good if we made videos that earn money, right?”
I mean, I did say that.
“……Then who made this thumbnail?”
As I pointed to the thumbnail filled with my face, this time Alice knelt beside Claire.
“……”
I was lost for words.
It’s not just some random person; half of the people I live with are involved in this!
“By the way, the view count is skyrocketing. It hasn’t even been two hours since it was uploaded, and we’re already at 100,000 views.”
Indeed, this video’s view count was doing much better than the last camping vlog I edited.
Honestly, it was well made.
The vlog had only a slight cinematic effect, just some music and short conversations, and there seemed to be something lacking in the camera angles and editing.
But in a gaming video, those flashy things weren’t really that important.
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a need for good sense, though.
Knowing when and where to cut a long video, focusing on moments of gaming versus the streamer’s face, and highlighting the most entertaining parts.
They even added subtitles quite well.
Since Mia was a diligent studier, of course, she must have studied hard while watching similar types of videos.
“I didn’t exactly call you all to say anything…”
“Anyone could tell you were going to scold us, though?”
Alice retorted but fell silent when I looked at her.
“However, a thumbnail that’s too overly stimulating might bore people later on…”
I tried to say something, but gave up when I received uninterested glances from the other three.
Yep, anything I say here would just sound like an excuse.
Suppressing a sigh, I said,
“You did well. Uploading videos like this sometimes will be helpful.”
“Yeah! I’m sure workout videos will be helpful, too!”
“And horror games too.”
“……”
Now that I think about it, there are workout videos as well.
Is it just my imagination, or does that video title also seem like it would be ‘Eek Parade’?
“By the way, who came up with the video title?”
“……”
This time, Charlotte knelt down and came forward.
No, was it everyone except me?
The view count was great, but still.
*
Our video had garnered an astonishing number of views in such a short time since it was uploaded.
We had only five videos up now, and all the views for videos aside from the “Eek” series just barely surpassed 100,000, while the video of me freaking out during a horror game in tight-fitting clothes had a significantly higher view count.
If I were to ask if we had become completely well-known, that would clearly be a no. But for someone broadcasting, it was immense. Anyone who had ever uploaded a video on that site would probably feel a pang of jealousy.
Moreover, the growth wasn’t stopping; it was still climbing, which was a bit scary.
Well, thinking about it, we did have all the elements to be popular.
Five pretty girls, doing cosplay while gaming, and uploading daily life videos.
And on top of that, we weren’t just pretty; we looked foreign, even down to our names.
Yet legally, we were Korean.
Isn’t it a bizarre charm that completely attracts people?
Of course, we had only disclosed the fact that we were legally Korean in our broadcasts so far.
However,
But here’s the thing—
“……”
I received an email and was seriously contemplating.
Honestly, I had thought that the broadcasting station might contact us. And I also figured that the program would be about foreigners living in the country.
But I never expected the email to come this soon.
“TV broadcast!?”
Claire reacted that way.
“Yes, it’s a broadcast, but this program features foreigners living domestically.”
I know what it is. As far as I know, it wasn’t a show with high ratings. But it was somewhat known.
“……Ah, I see.”
Alice nodded at my words.
Yes.
Except for me, the other four were technically foreigners. Not from this world, but from another country in a different world altogether. They felt that way too.
But the only ones who see themselves as foreigners are them; legally, they are Koreans.
They weren’t ones who had become Korean after coming from abroad or had a foreign parent… nothing like that. They just always were.
Yet their names are foreign.
Well, once we truly start gaining notoriety, the goddess would probably hustle to restore order to the world, so the settings might be filled in somehow, but the issue lay in the difference between how people perceive our actions and the discrepancies recorded by the national agency regarding our identities.
“I might be able to join the broadcasting station someday if they call, but right now I don’t think it’s the right time.”
Even though more than two months was a decent period to adapt to the country, it doesn’t change the fact that a person doesn’t become “one of them.”
Moreover,
“Here, if you read this, you’ll see it mentions that there could be some director involvement.”
And saying there might be ‘involvement’ is no different from saying they will.
“Why would there be direction in capturing our daily lives?”
“Probably to draw out more stimulating scenes.”
I explained to Alice, who had furrowed her brow.
I once read online about how some people had asked for multicultural couples who seemed to be living well to pretend to argue. Perhaps this kind of direction is something similar?
If they ask us, who had always been living together in the living room, to act like we’re fighting, how would that even feel?
“That sounds dreadful.”
With Claire making a face, I decided not to respond to this email.
*
However, it wasn’t just the broadcasting station that thought our life could be a commodity.
Plus it wasn’t only the broadcasting station.
Because we uploaded our gaming broadcasts to the video site, other streamers were also sending us collaboration emails.
“But we don’t have any plans for collaboration at the moment.”
“Good call!”
“But wouldn’t collabing with someone famous increase the viewer count?”
The audience’s responses were mixed.
Some suggested it would be better to keep broadcasting as we are if we weren’t urgently needing to boost income, while others said now that we’ve dipped our toes in, we should dive deeper.
Just yesterday, I was kind of thinking positively about it, though.
“It might be better to think a bit more cautiously. As you all know, we’re people who directly came from Azernar. The more we dig into our backgrounds, the more holes we’ll find.”
“Hahaha!”
“Consistent concept, haha!”
“But they really do look alike.”
I didn’t lie at all.
Well, believe it or not, that’s up to the viewers.
*
In the Chronicles of Aetherna, there are many playable characters.
Even if we exclude the noble faction, there are even commoner faction kids.
Of course, I ended the story before I could get close to any commoner characters in Azernar.
In fact, most of the commoner friend characters surrounding Lily Baker and Roti were also party members I could use.
The commoner characters didn’t have much importance, but still.
“What on earth…?”
The characters who were the most shocked by the incident in the game were the commoner characters.
As the main party exited the academy, there was nothing but desolation outside. It felt a bit like when we invaded the Papal State.
Of course, there were no blazing pillars of fire enveloping the Papal State.
“Dad, Mom…!”
The commoner characters would have likely belonged to quite successful families to have gotten into the academy.
And naturally, many students were children residing in the current Imperial Capital.
Lily Baker was one of them.
On the way to the imperial palace, Lily ran ahead to see her house. Bursting through the door, she found no one inside.
“Where on earth… is everyone?”
Lily knelt on the floor, mumbling in shock, and the scene ended with the party hurrying to look at each other with concerned expressions.
“That’s similar to what we experienced.”
“Does this mean that the incident only happened because Sylvia didn’t act like me?”
When I replied to Alice, she shrugged her shoulders.
“Honestly, it’s hard to say because the events in the game and what we experienced are so different.”
Well… I guess the truth of what happened would come out when I reach the end of the story.
By the way, my personality in the game and my real self is really quite different.
Will I ever find out the reason the goddess chose me by the end of this story?
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