The stream was live.
A small red dot blinked on his webcam, showing his round face with the greasy hair and big glasses. The game screen was on, but the chat box on the side was empty.
No viewers. Zero.
"Okay guys… today I'll beat the boss for sure," Liu Yang said, trying to sound confident. His voice came out weak, and it echoed in his empty room.
No reply. No messages. Just silence.
He forced a laugh and scratched his fat cheek. "Maybe no one's watching now… but someone might come later, right?"
He kept playing, mashing the buttons, his sweaty hands slipping again and again. On the screen, his demon princess character moved fast, casting skills.
"See? Nice dodge," he said out loud, as if someone was there to hear it.
Still, the viewer count stayed at zero.
On the desk, a donation alert box was open in the corner of the screen, but it never lit up. His phone beside him buzzed once, but it was just the internet bill reminder.
No subs. No likes. No one cared.
It was like he wasn't even streaming at all.
He sighed, grabbing an energy drink can and taking a long sip. The bitter taste hit his tongue, but he forced it down. Anything to stay awake and beat the boss that had been blocking him for days.
"Shit… shit… fuck…"
"This stupid game! Who makes the boss this hard?!"
"One hit and I die? How does that make any sense?!"
His voice came out weak and loud at the same time in the empty room.
His fat body shifted back and forth as he dodged, parried, dodged again, then attacked.
The fight dragged on. His hands were shaking. You could see the controller moving up and down in his grip, almost falling out, like he couldn't hold it steady. But then—
One hit.
[Game Over]
"Fuck this stupid game!"
He shouted loud and threw the controller against the wall. The plastic hit the wall hard and made a sharp breaking sound that echoed in the room.
He stood up from his gaming chair, face red, and started smashing it on the floor. Again and again. Until it broke into pieces.
His chest was going up and down fast, like he had run a long distance. His eyes burned with anger, but the anger didn't stay.
The second he looked at the broken controller on the floor, he felt bad inside, like his stomach turned heavy and his whole body went weak.
It was the kind of regret that comes right after you do something stupid in anger, when you wish you didn't do it but it's already too late.
He sat back on the bed and then lay down flat. His controller was gone now, broken in pieces on the floor, scattered around like junk.
He stared at the ceiling. His lips moved, whispering to no one.
His hand fell to the side. His eyes opened. The energy drink can rolled off the desk, hitting the floor with a dull sound.
"I'm not good in looks… not good in games… what the hell am I even good at?"
He stared at the ceiling, lips moving but no sound came out.
He wasn't good in looks. He wasn't good in games. What was he even good at?
The truth hit him again and again. He was the type no one noticed. Socially awkward, an introvert.
If life was a novel, he wouldn't even be the side character. He would be the extra. The kind the author didn't bother to describe, the kind the artist didn't even bother to draw.
The thought made his heart feel tight, like it was squeezed hard.
Finally, he gave up.
He turned his eyes to the poster on the ceiling. It was a succubus NPC from the game he streamed.
Her face, her body, the way she looked at him from the poster made his chest beat fast. His stomach turned hot.
He started to feel excited inside, his body getting hotter the more he looked. His mind filled with wild thoughts, the kind that made his head spin.
His left hand slipped down into his pants. He touched the soft part there. It twitched, it started to rise, but it didn't last long. After two minutes it went soft again.
He pulled his hand out, breathing hard, his chest moving up and down. His face was red, not from pleasure but from shame.
As fast as the excitement came, it faded away just as quick, leaving him empty again.
"Even instant noodles take more than two minutes… but me? I can't even last that long."
He sighed...
He covered his face with his hand.
"Pathetic. So pathetic."
"I'm a loser here as well… zero subs, zero donations, zero likes. Nobody wants to watch my ugly face or my trash skills."
"Forget it… just sleep…"
The room was dark and quiet, and Liu Yang's body stopped moving as he fell asleep bit by bit.
Even after drinking the energy drink, his body still felt tired, and the moment he lay down he fell into sleep, deep and heavy.
Liu Yang's eyes opened in the dream, and he froze.
He moved his head, and it felt endless. No walls, no ground, no ceiling. Like space itself, stretching forever, no end anywhere.
He looked down at his legs. His feet were not standing on any ground. They were floating, like he was stepping on soft clouds, but there was nothing to hold him.
Above his head the sky was dark, full of stars, small and bright, blinking again and again like they were watching him.
In front of him stood two tall white pillars. They looked too big, too tall, reaching high like they could touch the stars. He stared at them, not even sure what they were.
"What a strange dream," he whispered to himself.
Then the voice came. Soft, clear, wrapping around him from every side.
"Oh my child, it's not a dream but reality."
Liu Yang's body went tight all of a sudden, like he couldn't even move his arms or legs. His heart was beating so loud it felt like it was banging inside his head, each beat hitting harder than the last.
Then it happened.
From between the pillars, someone appeared.
A woman came gliding toward him from the pillars. She moved slow, like the air itself was carrying her forward. No, not just a woman. She looked like a goddess.
Her long dark hair stuck to her wet skin, shining under the strange blue light. Drops of water slid down her arms and chest, rolling slow, like even the water didn't want to leave her body.
Her body was covered by a thin wet dress, the cloth sticking to her skin so much that every curve was showing.
Her eyes were glowing bright, too bright, staring at him with a smile that made his throat dry.
The violet dress clung to her body, tight, showing everything it should hide. Golden straps hugged her waist and thigh, making her look both holy and sinful at the same time.
Liu Yang felt his mouth open, but no words came out. His chest was beating fast, too fast, each beat hitting hard inside him, and his whole body felt hot, like his blood was boiling.
"She's… she's unreal…" he whispered to himself.