The kitchen table.
When I got home, my dad was already sitting there waiting for me.
He didn't say a single word, simply waiting for me to sit down.
I did, and tried my best not to show how nervous I was.
It wasn't because I thought he'd disapprove or anything. No, my dad wasn't that kind of person. Instead, he was the type to go all-in to support me. That, and troll me the entire way.
So to say that I was just a little nervous knowing he found out would be putting it lightly.
Of course, there was a chance that it wasn't related to my forced stream. So I played dumb and just waited.
Silence, and then the sound of a kettle whistling.
My dad stood up without a word and then poured a cup of tea for us both. Placing one in front of me, he grabbed the other and sat back down.
I dragged my cup close and then took a sip.
It was good. Sweet, a bit flowery-
Wait.
"Dammit, Dad! I told you I hate lavender tea! Where'd you even get this?"
I could have sworn I binned the last few packs after the incident last time...
He shrugged and said, "Well, since my lovely otokonoko decided to show his true interests, I thought it'd be fitting."
"It's otoko! I'm a guy! Stop trying to gaslight me!"
My dad sipped on his tea and shrugged. "Hey now, you're gaslighting yourself." He shook his head and said, "Honestly. Imagine my surprise." He raised his head and stared off into the distance with a thousand yard stare. "There I was, scrolling through YouTube at work looking for more VTubers to simp-"
"First of all, stop slacking off at work. Second of all, is that why we don't have any money?!"
My dad ignored me and continued. "...And lo and behold, I find a new indie VTuber girl. Cute, pretty, super high spec avatar and setup... Not only that, but she was a blue-haired waifu. Exactly my type of gal. And then there I was, my card out and ready to simp... when I heard her voice. A super cutesy and flirty girl's voice... Or what should have been a girl's voice."
I coughed and sipped on my tea.
My dad shook his head and then looked at me. "Kid. We're already in the 2020s. I'm not gonna judge you for coming out of the closet-"
"Dammit Dad! I keep telling you, I'm not like that!"
He raised his hand and said, "It's fine. I didn't expect to have a son-in-law, but I'll do my best to be a warm and accepting father for my cute-"
I threw my cup at him.
The porcelain flew threw the air as a white streak, followed by the steaming liquid soaring with it.
A perfect attack. One that would smack my dad right in his face and burn him like he was trying to roast me.
But it didn't work.
My dad idly stood up and hooked the handle of the cup with his finger. After that, he leaned forward and then pulled the cup back, scooping in the hot liquid, not leaving a single drop to fall to the table.
He sat back down and took a sip, shaking his head. "Son. You're a hundred years too early to try to off me."
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Crazy bastard. Just what kind of past did you have anyway? Are you secretly working as a hitman or something?"
"Like I said, if I told you-"
"You'd have to kill me. Yadayada... Tch."
My dad chuckled and set the cup down. "On a more serious note though... Good job, Kid. If I could pass for as good a girl as you do, I'd stream as a chick too. Do you know how much money simps like to throw at VTuber? More than Twitch Thots. And I would know. I'm one of those simps."
"If you have that much money to spare, you should throw some of it my way instead of chucking it at e-girls Dad."
He paused, rubbing his chin. "I could... but a dad simping on his kid, guy or girl... That's weird. I'll make sure to pass your stream around though."
I slammed my fist on the table. "I meant give me an allowance, dammit!"
"Ah." My dad shrugged. "Well, I was going to, but you went and got a job already. You're already earning more than any amount of cash I could give you, right? I mean, look at the gear you got in your room." He paused and then gave me a sideways glance. "Just how did you get all that anyway? That's gotta be at least 100K yen worth of equipment up there..."
I coughed. "T-That's... I lost a bet, alright?"
"A bet, huh?"
"Y-Yeah."
"...And you have to stream as a chick to make up for this bet?"
"...Yes?"
My dad frowned. "...Kid. I know I joked about compensated dating, but-"
"I am not selling myself- Argh, why do all our conversations go this route? Stop it! I'm not doing anything like that!"
"Just saying that it's suspicious." My dad sipped the tea and said, "And tell your dad if you've run into any trouble. I can mess with you 'cause that's my right as your dad. But if anyone else is trying to take advantage of my cute kid..."
"And I'm telling you, it's fine!"
"Mm..." My dad sipped his tea and said, "If you say so. Just making sure you're not getting involved with any weirdos. Though, I have to say that you almost gave me a heart attack when I found out my son was streaming around as a cute and sexy young anime girl who liked to play coy and flash her boobs."
I turned a deep red and said, "T-That was an accident- I mean, subconscious, okay?"
He laughed and then said, "Fine, fine. I've grilled you enough. Anymore and you'd faint, so I'll stop here for now."
"I would not!"
My dad raised an eyebrow.
"...Okay, I won't anymore at least!"
"Sure. Whatever you say, Kid. Anyway..." He stood up and stretched. "I came back because I wanted to check up on you before I went overseas, but it looks like you'll be fine with your new simps sending you cash."
"Wait, what?"
My dad shrugged. "I'm going overseas."
"When?!"
He pulled out his phone and said, "Well, my flight leaves in... three hours, so I'll be seeing you."
"Wait, wait, wait. Why? For what?"
"Can't, for work, and to oversee a business deal and smack a few heads if things go wrong."
"...Just what the hell kind of job do you have, Dad?"
My dad finished his tea and then picked up his suitcase from the ground beside him. "Oh, the usual. Isekai protagonist, returner from another world, yakuza boss, time traveler... the whole schtick."
I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Don't tell me."
My dad laughed. "I'm just joking, Kid. Your dad's just a regular businessman right now who has to deal with a bunch of dickheads who don't know how to conduct proper business... But anyway, be good. Don't die... or lose your purity."
"Go screw off already! I hope your plane crashes!"
"Been there, done that. Water landings are a pain in the ass. Anyway, stay safe. I'll try to remember to call and check up on you. If you don't answer though, I'll assume you're dead and collect on your life insurance policy."
"$#@$ you!"
"Incest is bad civ, Kid. Now arrivederci." My dad walked off, locking the front door behind him.
I sighed and headed back to my room.
That could have gone a lot worse... It seemed like my dad was having mercy on me today. Or maybe seeing the stream really did shock him.
Either way...
"Whatever. That just means less stress for me." I chucked my bag and uniform off to the side and flopped onto my bed. Afterwards, I stared at the ceiling and said, "Open menu."
The moment I did that, a floating blue window popped up in front of my eyes.
[VIMS]
1. Quests
2. Money/Achievement Point Exchange
3. Skill/Attribute System
I tapped on the quests mission to check.
[Quests]
1. Daily Mission: To Become Strong -Complete-
2. Career Mission: Recruit a new talent! -Available-
3. Mandatory Mission: Weekly stream -Complete-
There weren't many. Well, that was obvious. To begin with, most quests I got were either Urgent quests that vanished when I was done. The career mission and the mandatory mission were new though...
I sighed and said, "Dammit. I really do have to keep streaming, huh?"
If it was a normal stream, I'd be fine. But having to act all cutesy like that... just the thought of it made a shiver run down my spine.
In fact, I was going to stop thinking about that.
I was curious about my new skills, but my mood was completely wiped out. As a result...
I pulled out my phone and opened that sketchy gacha app.
A splash logo popped up with three letters, HVG, and then a simple UI appeared.
On the bottom, there were three buttons. Inventory, status, and gacha.
After trying things out earlier, the inventory looked to be the place where I kept the goods I got from the gacha, status was just a digital version of my skills and attributes, and gacha was... well, the gacha.
And it was also the default page.
"A new banner, huh?"
I swiped my thumb across the screen, flipping through the summoning banners. And then I paused on that new banner.
I read the banner name. I stared at the icons. And then...
"#$%$#! You should have told me you had these, you $%#%$# System!"