Chapter 75
The most demanding project undertaken by the imperial family in recent years was undoubtedly Col Champs.
After hosting Col Champs twice over the past two years, they were finally confident that next year’s Col Champs would be easier to prepare for.
At last, with some free time on his hands, Rikal was fully indulging in gaming after a long time.
“This feels like forever… Ha. These pathetic idiots.”
Naturally, the busiest person in the imperial family was Rikal.
He had often wanted to kill Leo and the other officials for slacking off and gaming instead of doing their jobs.
But somehow, he endured and managed to hold it all together, earning some rewards in the process.
Even so, he resolved that he wouldn’t work for a while, no matter what.
For the next few days, he planned to catch up on events and updates he had missed.
“Hm. Oh… A new story and boss, huh?”
In Maple Leaf Story, the release of hero job classes had been advancing the storyline significantly.
To progress through the entire story, players needed to have a high level.
However, there weren’t many high-level players yet, so much of it remained undiscovered.
Since Rikal’s Light of the Empire character was still ranked among the top-level players, he could proceed with the story quests.
“Ooh… This is intriguing.”
The unfolding past and the lore of the Maple Leaf World captivated him.
Rikal played Maple Leaf Story for hours, losing track of time.
Then, a thought crossed his mind.
“Didn’t the Maple Leaf Story streamers say they were progressing through the story live?”
This brought him to Tworch.
Even recently, Rai had jokingly asked if Rikal would stream as Light of the Empire.
Many people still hoped that Light of the Empire would go live again.
Articles speculating about Light of the Empire’s whereabouts still occasionally appeared in the newspapers.
“…No. Definitely not. I already vowed never to do it again.”
Rikal shook his head firmly.
He had sworn never to become Light of the Empire again.
Besides, while everything seemed fine now, who knew when things would get busy again?
Resolving to drop the idea, Rikal returned to his game.
“…Hmph.”
However, the more he played, the more something felt missing.
Hunting and questing solo meant he rarely interacted with other players.
Moreover, since his hunting grounds were for high-level players, he hardly encountered anyone.
Originally, in Maple Leaf Story, he’d gained levels by participating in party quests and raids.
Interacting with fans and playing around with them had been a key part of his gaming experience as Light of the Empire.
But now, merely hunting and doing story quests alone didn’t feel the same.
“Should I try some party quests…”
Rikal hesitated.
If Light of the Empire reappeared among the players, it would undoubtedly attract immense attention.
People would flood him with questions about his absence and what he’d been doing.
Journalists camping in Maple Leaf Story for 24 hours would surely come seeking interviews.
While he wanted to do party quests, he didn’t want to stir things up too much.
After all, he had resolved not to live a life of false adoration as Light of the Empire anymore.
“Oh, oh?”
“No way, is that…”
“Light, Light of the Empire! It’s Light of the Empire!”
But boredom was inevitable.
Gaming was supposed to be fun.
In the end, Rikal joined a party quest, preferring the fun over the monotony of solo play.
“Well, it’s just for a few runs.”
Party quests were essential for leveling up efficiently.
They also had daily quotas to complete, so Rikal convinced himself he’d just do those.
But the moment he received the players’ enthusiastic reactions, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of dopamine.
“It’s been a while, everyone!”
-Woaaahhhhhhh!
Waving his hand, Light of the Empire was greeted with cheers from the players.
The familiar feelings and emotions made him happy.
“Light of the Empire, please join my party! We desperately need a healer!”
“Light of the Empire, is everything okay? Why were you gone for so long?”
“Are you feeling better? I hope nothing serious happened…”
Players bombarded him with questions as they crowded around him.
Feigning innocence, Light of the Empire responded with a cheerful expression.
Before he knew it, Rikal had completely reverted to being Light of the Empire.
“I wasn’t feeling well… But I can at least play games now.”
“Oh, heavens… Why would the gods test Light of the Empire so…”
“If I could suffer in her place… I’d gladly endure it a hundred times over. Ahhh!”
The familiar, over-the-top reactions of Light of the Empire’s fans returned.
It seemed news of his return was already spreading, with journalists beginning to swarm.
Not wanting to deal with reporters, he quickly joined a random party and dove into a quest.
There would be articles, but he could just pretend not to know in real life.
While enjoying the party quest, a party member suddenly asked.
“By the way, Light of the Empire, have you heard about this Tworch thing?”
“I’ve heard of it, yeah.”
“If you streamed, your viewership would skyrocket. But is your condition not good enough for that yet?”
“Hm…? How does that work?”
Feigning ignorance, Light of the Empire asked with an innocent expression.
“You’d just share the wonder of your gameplay with people. Everyone’s been waiting for you, so it would make a lot of people happy.”
“Hm, hm…”
The party members continued to try to convince him.
Although he hadn’t intended to stream again, their persistence gradually swayed him.
“Even if it’s just ten minutes a day, everyone would love it. And with your presence, donations would probably pour in by the millions. Not that money is the point, of course.”
“But if your health isn’t up to it, there’s no need to force yourself. Your well-being is what matters most.”
“These days, even demons and dragons stream. You’d undoubtedly be the best among them!”
“Hm…?”
It seemed that far more people wanted JeBbit than Rikal had imagined.
Since they were so earnest in their requests, JeBbit found it hard to ignore.
And there was no more room left to fabricate lies.
“Um… Alright, for now, I’ll consider it.”
After playing the game for several hours,
Rikal logged off Maple Leaf Story and browsed Tworch.
“Streaming, huh…”
A thought that had never moved him before.
But ignoring the heartfelt pleas of his fans wasn’t easy.
For several days, he deliberated.
In the end, Rikal made a decision.
“If it’s just a little bit… why not…”
The plan was to stream Maple Leaf Story briefly.
No other content, just playing the story quests and streaming the gameplay.
After all, playing the story alone had been a little boring.
He could interact with fans and clear the story quests—two birds with one stone.
Thus began JeBbit’s streaming career.
Since he had returned the JeBbit transformation artifact,
he planned only to stream the gameplay screen.
Viewer1WantJeBbit: “Could it really be JeBbit?!?”
JeBbitToTheRoyalPalace: “No way. It’s JeBbit!!!”
HawaiianPizza: “Heard rumors about JeBbit on Maple Leaf recently, but it’s true. Welcome back.”
Even without promotion, viewer numbers steadily climbed.
JeBbit focused on playing Maple Leaf Story without much care.
“But… it’s less than I expected.”
Considering people had said the server would explode, JeBbit’s viewership wasn’t that high.
Of course, it was still impressive, and for a first-time streamer, it was great.
But it wasn’t the explosive reaction he had anticipated.
“Goodbye, everyone! Take care, alright~!”
Ending the stream, JeBbit felt a bit unsatisfied.
While it was fun, something felt lacking.
As he browsed other streams on Tworch to quell his lingering feelings,
he stumbled upon a stream.
One with an overwhelmingly large number of viewers for this timeslot.
[The Demon King has Arrived!]
A single stream with viewer numbers several times higher than others.
It was none other than Demon King-sama’s stream.
Rikal knew many had fallen for her after the Col Champs.
But he hadn’t expected this many people to be watching her stream.
“No matter how you look at it, she’s still a demon…”
Who were these people falling head over heels for the Demon King?
Rikal entered Demon King-sama’s stream.
As soon as he joined, chat messages scrolled at a blinding speed.
Compared to his own channel, the activity was on a completely different level.
While he couldn’t read most of it due to the sheer volume, he caught a few messages:
DemonKingSamaSoCute: “Aww, as expected, Demon King-sama is adorable.”
NoShameInLikingDarkness: “JeBbit of the shadows, wow.”
HopeToWorkAtDemonKingCastle: “By the way, I heard JeBbit made their streaming debut earlier?”
LaLaLaLa: “JeBbit? Who even cares about them anymore? It’s all about Demon King-sama now.”
MinerUnionChairman: “True. Why watch JeBbit, who’s always sick and skips games and Col Champs, when you have Demon King-sama? She’s cute, interactive, strong, and even a pacifist demon.”
OnePunchTwoTeethOut: “Goodbye, JeBbit… You’re just an ordinary mortal born in the wrong era without Demon King-sama…”
“…Huh? What? What are these idiots saying…!”
The chat worshipped Demon King-sama like fanatics.
It was like looking at JeBbit’s old fanbase.
“JeBbit of the shadows? Ha, what nonsense…”
And now, most of them claimed JeBbit was washed up, even calling Demon King-sama “JeBbit of the shadows.”
The general sentiment was that Demon King-sama’s streams were far superior.
Rikal couldn’t stand it.
“When did they love me so much, and now…”
Of course, it wasn’t something he should care about.
He hadn’t intended to take streaming seriously in the first place.
But seeing this unfold made his blood boil.
Thinking about how his original fans had been stolen,
and imagining being completely forgotten because of Demon King-sama’s rise,
it was unbearable.
In the end, Rikal made up his mind.
The next day, JeBbit started streaming again.
He changed the stream title to grab attention.
[Hawawa~ JeBbit’s Comeback~ A Big One’s Coming~]
Thus began the competition between JeBbit and Demon King-sama.
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