I didn’t want to be transported to another world.
I didn’t want to end up in a world from a novel or a game.
To be precise, I didn’t want to give up the conveniences of modern civilization.
A life where I could lie in bed, melt away the time on my smartphone, and order food through a delivery app whenever I got hungry.
A life where I could summon dopamine on demand, without having to leave my seat.
Who would want to abandon that kind of life and go to a world where your life could be in danger at any moment?
At least, not me.
Even if there were a chance to woo a beautiful girl, I was confident I’d politely decline.
“…This sucks.”
Of course, just because I didn’t want to be transported to another world didn’t mean I could stop it from happening.
It still happened.
I was transported to another world.
If there’s any consolation to this misfortune, it’s that my transfer wasn’t a possession but a reincarnation.
I was reincarnated as Rein Volcan, the second son of the Volcan Count family and a freshman admitted to the Astel Empire Academy, the most prestigious academy in the empire.
I lived my life as Rein Volcan until, suddenly, memories of my past life resurfaced.
This meant I didn’t have to bother faking amnesia or struggle with a lack of basic knowledge.
Confusion or conflict over my identity?
None of that either.
That’s because Rein Volcan, who existed without my past-life memories, was so similar to me that it felt like we were the same person.
Except for the looks.
To be honest, Rein Volcan was much more attractive than my past self.
But since I was Rein Volcan, it didn’t really matter much.
The consolation ends there.
Considering the major problem I was facing now, I thought that whoever reincarnated me as Rein Volcan owed me at least this much service.
So, what’s the major problem I’m dealing with?
“…Rein Volcan doesn’t appear in any novel or game I know of.”
I had no idea which work I had been thrown into, or if I was even reincarnated into the world of a story to begin with.
The Volcan Count family?
Never heard of it.
The Astel Empire?
No idea.
I searched through Rein Volcan’s memories, but I couldn’t find any clue.
My last memory from my previous life was just watching YouTube Shorts before going to bed, so I couldn’t even make a reasonable guess.
I’d never written a 5,700-character comment in my life, so why did this have to happen to me…
Is this one of those stories where a global crisis threatens to destroy the world a few years later?
I let out a light sigh and muttered a word that anyone who recalled their past life would instinctively say:
“Status window.”
Nothing happened.
“Status screen.”
Still nothing.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
It was bad enough that I was being forced into a digital detox, but to not even have a status window?
I didn’t know who dragged me out of my comfortable life and reincarnated me, but I sincerely hoped they’d be struck by divine punishment.
“…Huh?”
Something appeared before my eyes.
Or, to be precise, something translucent formed in front of me.
For a moment, I thought I was imagining things.
I closed my eyes and opened them again. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand.
But no matter what I did, what I saw didn’t change.
At that moment, Rein Volcan’s younger sister, Lua Volcan, knocked on the door and entered the room.
“Oh, oppa! Did you get that thing called a gallery or whatever too?”
“…Yeah, I got it.”
I immediately took back the disrespectful thought I had just moments ago.
What’s a status window in this day and age?
That’s so outdated.
The real trend is a gallery.
Yeah, definitely.
A year had passed since the appearance of the gallery, a pseudo-internet community site, in a world where forced digital detox was a fact of life.
Was everything smooth after the gallery appeared?
Of course not.
Ever since the gallery came into existence, it had caused plenty of issues.
It was a mysterious technology that couldn’t be deciphered, not even by the great mages, and was distributed to the entire population.
It was beyond the reach of state censorship and control.
On top of that, the gallery had a peculiar culture where using formal language would get you shunned.
If you dared to use respectful speech, you’d get a 30-day ban from the gallery, issued by some “enforcer.”
The gallery was packed with elements that would infuriate the imperial ruling class, who valued authority above all else.
But what if they hated it?
In a society forced into digital detox, a pseudo-internet community site was far too addictive.
To exaggerate a little, the gallery’s existence was like a dopamine revolution.
Even if the authorities tried to ban or censor it, people would still use it secretly.
Moreover, the gallery was an anonymous community.
This meant there was almost no way to catch people who were secretly using it.
In the end, the empire had no choice but to accept the gallery, and it naturally became a part of our lives.
Of course, that included me too.
I didn’t know if a goddess had created it or if someone from my old world who arrived here before me had made it, but how could I resist an escape from the hell that was forced by digital detox?
Sure, compared to the conveniences of modern civilization, it still lacked in dopamine.
But hey, I wasn’t going to complain.
You have to appreciate what you’ve got.
Maybe it was because I was so content with my attitude.
Now, a year after the gallery’s arrival, a new source of dopamine appeared.
“…Oh my god.”
When I woke up, NewTube had been born.
To be precise, it was a pseudo-internet video platform with editing features.
But calling it that was a hassle, so I decided to just call it NewTube.
Wait a second.
This isn’t something only I can see, is it?
I immediately opened the gallery.
Title:
What’s this NewTube thing?
Is it like video uploads for the gallery?
Comment 1:
This looks better than the gallery.
The video quality is fucking amazing.
Title:
fuck, this is screwed.
I work for the imperial palace, and it looks like I won’t be getting off work today fuck.
They’re definitely going to order us to find whoever made this.
But seriously, when they couldn’t even find the guy who made the gallery, let alone the enforcers, how do they expect to pull this off?
Comment 2:
Absolute chaos.
Nuke the collaborators.
Title:
What’s this monetization thing?
So, can you actually make money by uploading videos here?
Comment 3:
What?
“How is this real?” (This doesn’t make sense).
Why? Is this not fake?
Title:
Quitting the gallery.
Why waste time browsing the gallery when I can duplicate money by using NewTube?
Comments:
0,
Title:
There are so many editing features.
I started messing around, and time flew by.
Comments:
0,
Title:
Who the hell uploaded this?
Someone made and uploaded a video out of explicit content, Thanks!
Comment 1:
Wait, fuck, where’s the video?
Reply 1:
Looks like it’s gone?
Reply 2:
Does NewTube also have “enforcers”?
The sudden buzz around NewTube made the gallery feel much more active than usual.
It seemed like, just like the gallery, NewTube was visible to people all over the world.
Alright, now that I’d seen enough of the gallery, it was time to move on.
I needed to dive into this brand-new, steaming-hot NewTube.
My heart raced.
How long has it been since I felt this way?
Welcome back, NewTube!
The excitement didn’t last long.
“Wow… this is complete garbage.”
How could all 10 out of 10 videos be trash? Is this even possible?
…Thinking about it, it made sense.
How long has it been since a video platform appeared in this world?
It wasn’t realistic to expect high-quality videos to pop up right away.
There was no accumulated knowledge about video production, so expecting decent content this early was a bit much.
“…Would live streaming be any different?”
I muttered to myself, not expecting much.
And then
“Oh?”
The moment I discovered a NewTuber who seemed to be a VTuber, my eyes widened.
Yes.
Amazingly, NewTube even had a feature to create models for VTubers.
It was a system that combined data and commands to generate results, like some sort of AI.
The creator of NewTube must have been a huge VTuber fan to include a feature like this.
That said, creating a model cost a significant amount of money, and the art style of the generated models didn’t align with the typical VTuber styles I knew.
In fact, it seemed to be an extremely niche art style for this world.
I figured it’d be rare to see a VTuber appear here.
But apparently, some noble with too much money and curiosity decided to burn cash to test the feature.
Or maybe they were fishing for attention.
Judging by the lack of proper stream titles, it seemed like this was just a simple test.
“Well, I guess this person is the first VTuber of this world, huh?”
I praised my luck for not missing the moment I was witnessing the first VTuber in this other world.
I checked the current viewer count.
The stream had just started.
There was only 1 viewer.
It seemed I was the sole spectator.
The first viewer of the first VTuber in this world.
Feeling a sense of grandeur, I immediately started recording.
There was a chance the archive would be deleted after the broadcast ended.
I made a calculated decision—if NewTube gained traction and VTubers became popular, uploading this video to the gallery as the first VTuber video would definitely secure a legendary post.
Though there was no guarantee that day would ever come.
“Master, how may I assist you?”
“…Something feels a bit lacking.”
“Let’s make it a little more provocative.”
“Yes, like this—
‘Master, please punish your humble maid.’”
“…Hmm.”
The voice was perfect.
The model was exactly to my taste.
I couldn’t help but hope this wouldn’t just end as a test but would continue into regular VTuber activities.
That thought consumed my mind.
And then—
“Princess Savella, I apologize for interrupting your busy schedule.”
[The live stream has ended.]
“…What?”
Just like that, VTuber’s first broadcast was over in an instant.
The archive was also gone just as quickly.
But luckily, I had the recording, so I could replay what I had just heard.
After listening again, I was certain.
“Princess Savella? …Could it be Princess Isabella?!”
Apparently, the first VTuber was none other than the empire’s princess.
Wait, why is the princess doing this?!