Chapter 23: Echoes of the Sailor’s Anthem

“Oh? Ah, well…”

Chajingyuan paused again, a fleeting moment of surprise, though she quickly dismissed it from her mind.

Her gaze swept over the treacherous landscape within the game, and after a moment’s reflection on her recent gameplay experience, Chajingyuan blurted out without hesitation.

“How about ‘Sailor’?”

“Wait, wait… such an old song? Do we really have to pick a Chinese song for our debut as anime characters!? Ah, fine, I suppose.

Just a moment, let me find the backing track. Oh, and I need to adjust the sound card too…”

Gengetsu Shiori paused, a brief flicker of surprise crossing her face. Hearing the song’s title, Chahuayuan, watching from beyond the screen, also registered a moment of stunned silence.

It wasn’t long before Gengetsu dutifully located a suitable backing track. The rich, lingering melody then resonated simultaneously through both live streams.

♪“Bitter sands, a stinging sensation upon my face.”

♪“Like a father’s stern rebuke,”

♪“A mother’s sorrowful cries,”

♪“Forever etched in memory…”

♪“As a youth, I found solace by the seaside, alone…”

Chajingyuan’s voice, now transformed into that of a young loli, was undeniably too adorable, too soft.

In contrast, her colleague Gengetsu Shiori, possessing a boisterous and somewhat unrefined vocal quality, tragically lacked any semblance of singing talent, completely missing every note.

Yet, despite the jarring disparity, both performers were clearly pouring their hearts into the song. Chajingyuan, in particular, seemed completely engrossed.

Beyond the live stream, Chahuayuan found herself irresistibly drawn into the resolute melody of the chorus.

“Hmph, my brother’s singing ‘Sailor’,”

Chahuayuan let out a brief, wry chuckle.

“That fellow, for all his talk of hating it to the bone, clearly can’t forget it, can he?”

♪“When others sought to bully me,”

♪“I always heard the sailor say—”

♪“He said, ‘In wind and rain, what is this meager pain?’”

♪“‘Wipe away your tears,”

♪“‘Do not fear,”

♪“‘At least we still have dreams…’”

♪“…………”

Their father, a former naval officer, harbored a profound connection to the popular song.

When Chahuayuan and Chajingyuan were young, he delighted in teaching them to sing it, whether he was spending time with one or both of them.

Their father would often speak to the siblings about the ‘sailor’s spirit.’ He’d preach that no matter the adversity, they must hold firm to their beliefs, cling to their ideals, and press onward.

Yet, ironically, many of those very difficulties were often manufactured by certain individuals themselves. In such circumstances, the daily lesson of singing ‘wipe away your tears, do not fear’ felt more than a little sardonic.

However, by the present day, Chahuayuan had chosen to move out and forge her own path, while her brother had completely severed ties with their parents.

In this very moment, singing the song once more imbued it with a distinct and poignant significance.

Whether applied to the platform game or to reality, to academic pursuits or employment, to the world within the live stream or the world beyond it.

“Hah—!”

Chahuayuan tilted her head back, a light, relieved chuckle escaping her lips. Unconsciously, she began to hum softly, following along with her brother and their fellow streamer.

♪“Wipe away your tears,”

♪“Do not fear,”

♪“At least we still have dreams…”

♪“He said, ‘In wind and rain, what is this meager pain~~’”

♪“Wipe away your tears, do not ask, why.”

“Woohoo~~!”

As the music faded, Gengetsu Shiori spontaneously erupted in a cheer.

“That was incredibly good, Chizaki! To master such an old song, that’s impressive!”

“Ahahaha, well… wait, are you subtly implying I’m old…?”

“No, no! Everyone has their own preferred repertoire, you know. I actually sing some really, really old songs myself, like ‘My Heart Will Go On’ or ‘We Are the One’… Anyway, how are you feeling? Want to tackle another chapter?”

“Ergh.”

Chajingyuan’s expression immediately turned rather peculiar.

“While it still seems early, and there appear to be many more chapters and levels ahead, I’m just… a little reluctant to keep calling someone ‘Goshujin-sama’. It’s simply too tormenting…”

“Wow, so whose devilish idea was it to include something so perverse?”

“You tell me.”

“Uh… well…”

As the two first-generation virtual streamers performed their comedic banter on air, a resounding ‘Achoo!’—a sneeze from Makino Shibahime—echoed through the backend voice channel, eliciting a burst of derisive laughter from Chahuayuan.

“Honestly, that was just too much.”

“Ah, hehehehe… I just lacked experience, you know?”

Makino Shibahime chuckled, trying to brush it off.

“Still, I didn’t anticipate that the most perverse option would be chosen in the end. But then again, a gameplay style so awkward, so utterly shameful, so utterly lewd~~~~—isn’t it incredibly thrilling in every sense?

I’m absolutely obsessed; Chizaki is just too adorable, too cute! You must think so too, right? Don’t tell me you haven’t been secretly watching her stream all along?”

“Ergh—”

“And I distinctly heard it! During the most frequent instances of Chizaki calling out ‘Goshujin~sama~’, you accidentally let out a little moan of pleasure in the backend channel.

Ayuan, if you’re so depraved at heart, there’s no need to hide it!”

“—My sushi delivery has arrived! I’m going to go get it first!”

In short, confronted by Makino’s suggestive interrogation, Chahuayuan swiftly made her escape, using the timely arrival of her takeout as a convenient excuse.

With the most tumultuous period for both live streams now behind them, the subsequent hours indeed required far less intensive monitoring.

After Gengetsu pledged to share half of the ‘Goshujin-sama’ punishment play with Chajingyuan in the next game chapter, Chajingyuan assented, and they proceeded with the subsequent strategy.

The ambiance within the live streams shifted dramatically.

What was once a ‘stubborn little brat trading insults with viewers while enduring humiliation’ transformed into a more theatrical dynamic of ‘coach and student playfully pranking each other.’

The viewing experience was profoundly altered, yet the entertainment value only seemed to intensify.

“Look, look, based on the terrain to the right, this blue bubble—if you enter it and then exit to the right…”

“Mm, and then what?”

“…Wait, wait, wait! I said the distance wouldn’t be enough if you just exited to the right, so you need to go upper-right! Oh, come on, let me finish explaining!”

“Wait, wait, wait!?”

—And so it went.

All in all, after nearly forty minutes of continued strategizing—punctuated by miscommunications, reciprocal pranks, and an even more elaborate ‘Goshujin-sama’ segment thanks to Gengetsu’s participation—Chajingyuan finally conquered the game’s fourth chapter.

The hour was fast approaching midnight. For two nascent streamers, their broadcast time was drawing to a close.

Chajingyuan’s and Gengetsu Shiori’s live streams concluded in succession, while Makino Shibahime left them with a final message:

“You’ve worked hard, Ayuan. Go check on Chizaki, will you? I’m off to give Gengetsu a piece of my mind; how dare she call me perverse!… I’ll have to give her a thorough ‘training.’ Good night, good night, good night.”

“Hmph, well…”

The audio from the club’s backend channel was also cut. Silence once again enveloped her ears. Within the room, every furnishing seemed to freeze obediently under the stark white glow of the chandelier.

Only the faint chirping of insects from downstairs, the distant, muffled wail of sirens from the far-off city, and… a delicate aroma of rice wafting from a closed drawer, broke the stillness.

It was Chahuayuan’s specially ordered sushi supper, which she had nearly forgotten.

“Hmph…………”

Chahuayuan let out a long, drawn-out sigh, pushed away her rattan chair, and rose to her feet.

‘…Wipe away your tears, do not fear, at least we still have dreams…’

Picking up the takeout bag, she pushed open her room door, walked to the secondary bedroom, and gently rapped on its door.

Influenced by Makino Shibahime (and Chajingyuan himself), today’s live stream had indeed veered into excessive pranking, pushing the boundaries of stress tolerance far too much.

She ought to go comfort her older brother.