Stream raided (Patreon)

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PREVIEW only. For the full story, I highly suggest you check out the Discord server included with your member benefits! 😊 If you don't have Discord access, please DM me for an invite link!

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...“I can do this, come on.” You sit before the pre-stream screen. The timer’s already counted down to the double digits—it’s been twelve minutes since your broadcast began, and you’re still stuck on the “Stream starting” scene. Your fingers are jittery, trembling on top of the arrow keys as the little pixel dog that you commissioned for your channel’s pre-debut assets does laps from one end of the screen to the other. Your gaze lingers over the viewer count and chat screen, like someone will pop in if you keep staring at it.

CoolCat54: Yo, brand new streamer?

‘An actual viewer…’ Your eyes blink a couple of times, barely believing themselves as you take in the message that just popped up on your chat log. Nervous as you are, you tap on the keyboard, switching the scene to your webcam overlay—only to broadcast your bare desktop and dumbfounded face. You forgot to even boot the game. “H—hey, everyone.” ‘Why did I say everyone? Am I stupid? There’s only one dude in here. Whatever, focus.’ “Yeah, Coolcat. I—it’s my first stream ever.”

CoolCat54: Cool, what are we playing?

“Oh, right. I wanted to try out this one sim game. It's, uh, Steel Nest; I think that’s what it's called.” You shift the mouse to your game library, completely forgetting to hide your user ID, login info, or anything as you rush to open the game and keep your measly one viewer entertained.

CoolCat54: Oh, is it the one that’s on sale right now?

“Yeah, I thought it looked pretty cool for an initial stream,” you sigh, immensely relieved at seeing the start menu boot to life. “It’s about managing some kind of turret, but since you have to do geometry and stuff, maybe we can get a few laughs out of it.” 

Apart from your clumsy small talk, it makes for a smooth game stream, as smooth as a one-person stream can be, at least. Most of your commentary starts and ends whenever you react to an in-game event or mechanic. That is, until an alert pops up on your chat log.

CoolCat54: Nice shot, man

TraitSWP is raiding with 54 viewers!

TraitSWP: Don’t go too fast this time, guys. Remember to use /trait before any specific thing you’d like to change; others should see it in bold. Keep it subtle. The identity filter only does so much if you spam the chat with just traits and commands. And for the love of god, no more turning the streamer into a blonde bimbo, or I am ending this fucking thing!

MothBagel: That’s the best part?!?!

CoolCat54: What are you guys talking about???

Junlamp: Shhh, he can’t read that. Don’t ruin this for us

DustySpoon: Hey! New viewer here. Nice to see a nerdy chick streaming on this site

LeftOverGoblin: MF went right for it, lmao

CoolCat54: But he’s a guy?????

‘Holy shit, holy fuck. That’s so many people.’ Your character momentarily stops in the middle of the screen, frozen as your fingers tremble and hover over the keyboard. “He—hello, everyone,” you stumble through the greeting, amazed at the sheer number of viewers pouring in. “Thank you so much for the raid, TraitSWP. I, uh, can’t read your message for some reason, but thank you! Today we’re playing Steel…” Your gaze scrolls through the chat messages as you explain the game mechanics, promptly ignoring the weird back-and-forth they’re having with your raider when two words in there catch your eye: ‘Nerdy chick? Wh—’...

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My body is a machine that turns what should've been a short 600-word story into 2000+... damn, at least I can say that I had a lot of fun with this one. I was mostly amusing myself with the "chat" windows. Soo I'm pretty sure 7 is nowhere near close to the 30th—L—but... weekly releases are back! Honestly I'm glad to've gotten the rhythm back again, I'll strive not to let go of it at all this time because I do not want any more 2 story months. I hope you enjoyed this and see you on the next one! : )

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