Chapter 2: The One-Man Chatroom
Mornings were always quiet in Cal's apartment. No phone calls. No knocks on the door. No texts asking, How've you been? The only sound was the soft whirr of his ceiling fan and the occasional creak of the wooden floor when he paced.
He poured himself a bowl of cereal, not because he was hungry, but because it was something to do. His eyes kept drifting to the corner of the room, where his dual monitors sat cold and still, the interface from the system dimmed but ever-present, waiting.
He had no plans for the day. No job. No school. No obligations.
This was his life.
"Looks like it's just you and me again," he muttered, glancing at the floating system panel.
It flickered in response.
[Daily Mission Reminder: Stream at least once today]
[Reward: +15 Points]
[Optional Objective: Viewer Interaction Bonus (+10 Points)]
Cal sighed, dropping the spoon into the bowl with a clink. "Guess I've got work after all."
He went to his desk and sat down. It was still strange seeing this system interface—so advanced, so unreal—like some sci-fi overlay stuck in his reality. Yet it hadn't gone away, not even after rebooting his PC or sleeping it off. It was real. Somehow.
And yesterday… it worked.
He remembered the chat. The usernames. The short burst of comments filled with curiosity and excitement. It wasn't much. But it was more attention than he'd had in months. More than he'd had since—well, ever.
He leaned forward and clicked "Broadcast."
[Connecting to Timeline 2010-A…]
[Stream Initialized.]
[Welcome back, Host.]
[Current Stream Status: 0 Viewers]
"Back at it," he said, forcing a small smile. "Let's see who's around today."
He didn't start with an anime this time. He just turned on the camera—his cheap webcam flickering to life—and let his face fill the corner of the screen.
He looked tired. His shaggy black hair was unkempt. His eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep. But he didn't bother fixing anything.
Instead, he started talking.
"You ever just… feel like you're the only one left?" he asked the void. "Like, everyone else has their lives and you're stuck pressing replay on the same day?"
The chat was empty. Still 0 viewers.
He paused, then laughed softly. "Not that anyone's listening. Just thinking out loud."
Ten minutes passed. Then twenty.
Then the viewer count changed. 1.
Then 3.
He sat up straighter.
[Retro_Neko]: you're back!
[jin2002]: hey man
[OGanimefan]: didn't think you'd stream again lol
Cal smiled. It was small. Faint. But it was real.
"Hey," he said, voice steadier. "Yeah. Thought I'd hang out again. Nothing fancy tonight, just talking for now. We can watch something later if you guys want."
[Retro_Neko]: your voice sounds different today
[jin2002]: chill vibes. like late-night radio
[OGanimefan]: let's do more titan later, i showed my cousin and he flipped
"Titan, huh?" Cal grinned. "Alright, maybe later."
The chat continued trickling in. People asked questions. About where he was from, how he found the anime, how he got such high-quality video. Cal deflected most of it with vague answers.
"Just… call it early access," he said.
It wasn't lying. Not really. He couldn't tell them the truth anyway—not that he was from the future, not that he was completely alone in a world that had forgotten him.
He turned the stream into a casual hangout. Played some background music. Talked about anime that hadn't been released in 2010 yet—carefully, teasing bits of things like One Punch Man, Your Name, and the upcoming Naruto: The Final Arc.
Reactions were instant.
[OGanimefan]: bro what
[Retro_Neko]: there's a naruto MOVIE??
[jin2002]: dude stop you're gonna give me a heart attack
He laughed, genuinely now.
The system pinged.
[Viewer Interaction Bonus Complete]
[+10 Points]
[Daily Stream Complete]
[+15 Points]
[Total: 85 Points]
And then, another notification:
[New Archive Upload Rendered]
[Clip Title: "Streamer Reveals Naruto Movie?!"]
[Upload to 2010-A YouTube: Success]
[Estimated Reach: Moderate]
[Discovery Window: 2 days]
After the stream ended, Cal sat there in the dark, his room lit only by the faint blue of the screen.
He didn't turn off the computer. He just leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
The silence returned—but this time, it didn't feel so heavy.
He had talked to people. Real people. They didn't know him, but they laughed at his jokes, reacted to his spoilers, and asked for more. He wasn't just yelling into the void anymore.
Maybe it didn't matter that they were from the past. Or that he couldn't meet them. Or that they would never truly know him.
Maybe… the stream was enough.
His eyes drifted closed, just for a second. And for once, sleep came easily.
Two days later, Cal woke to another ping.
[YouTube Clip "Unknown Streamer Reveals Naruto Movie?!" has gone viral in Timeline 2010-A]
[Views: 2.1M]
[Subscribers: +34,000]
[Fan Forum Mentions: 1,200+]
[New Feature Unlocked: Stream Customization + Chat Mod Tools]
[Reward: +150 Points]
[Total: 235 Points]
[Mission Unlocked: "Establish a Channel Identity"]
He stared at the numbers. Two million. His heart pounded.
"...I'm famous," he whispered.
But no one here knew. Not in his timeline. Not in his world. The Cal in this reality was still a nobody, still eating cereal in silence, still waking up to an empty inbox.
But the other Cal—the one who streamed to a world stuck in 2010?
That Cal mattered.
And for now… that was enough.
He clicked the button to start another stream.
[Connecting to Timeline 2010-A…]
End of Chapter 2