Finally, Lavron had everything he needed to become a superstar—recording devices, a streaming platform, survival bag, and most importantly, a cute companion to elicit the admiration and support of viewers. Having done enough research, he was ready.
He was currently outside an ancient cave covered with vines. The vines had pink and violet flowers. It was the exact cave he'd seen from that post. On his shoulder sat a baby Silverwhisk cat with a fluffy body and large, cute eyes, licking her paws. She had dazzling amber fur with red stripes.
From the moment Lavron saw Cooh at the pet store, he knew she was the one and had immediately purchased her. Luckily, it didn't cost him much despite Cooh being a magical creature. Despite having appreciable intelligence, Silverwhisk cats had extremely low aptitudes and would take a lot of resources to develop, so they were considered pets rather than beast companions.
Lavron placed Cooh on his head and activated her camera using his Holocuff. Soon after, his stream appeared on Skylink.
Damn right, a man should walk with his head held high and stable, lest the cat falls from his head.
"Let's get those viewers, Cooh."
The Silverwhisk meowed in response, leaving Lavron quite satisfied.
Thus, Lavron ventured into the cave, his cameraman on his head.
The cave was dark, but Lavron had come prepared. He took out a lantern from his bag and switched it on once they got deeper in.
His bracelet chimed. Checking, Lavron was pleased to find a viewer. He quickly switched on the Holocuff camera and pointed it at himself, making sure Cooh was in view. He forced a smile.
"Welcome, @Aman_Elk, I'm glad to have you here. You're witnessing history."
He switched to Cooh's camera.
"As you can see, I'm currently inside the horrid spider cave. Me and my cat Cooh are going to retrieve an embercrest's egg. If you're interested, stay tuned and see what happens next."
After a moment, Lavron saw a comment.
@Aman_Elk: No way bro, do you want to die. don't get yourself killed for followers.
"Me? Die? No way, I'm the luckiest man you'll ever find."
Just then, another viewer entered the fray. Lavron continued engaging them as he walked deeper into the cave. Honestly, he was scared, but to complete the system's mission, this was necessary.
Following directions from the Mystnet, Lavron navigated the cave and soon arrived at the chamber with the egg.
Viewer count: 3
Lavron glanced at the corner of his HUD. Just three people. He forced a smile anyway.
"Welcome, everyone! This is the stuff of myths. If you've never seen an embercrest's egg, you're in the right place. Remember, do not blink, lest you miss the chance. You're never going to find this anywhere else. If you're patient enough, you might even get to see us eat an embercrest omelette today."
He shifted to Cooh's camera for them to see the entrance.
"I'm standing before the embercrest chamber now, but I won't go in. Three viewers is too little for me to risk my life. If you want to see me enter, share with your friends. Once I hit 50, I'll go inside."
@Dereh-nik: I knew this was fake. Cute cat tho
Lavron nearly cried when he saw his viewer count drop to 2. Still, he smiled.
"I promise, this is not fake. Just wait and you'll see."
Two viewers? I risked my entire wealth on a Silverwhisk for two viewers? No, please catch up. Please catch up.
Cooh suddenly let out a tiny sneeze.
@Aman_Elk: Okay, that sneeze was adorable. Shared.
Lavron blinked at the sudden notification. Viewer count: 4. Then 7. Then 12.
His heart lurched.
"Oh-ho! Look at that, folks! The power of a cute sneeze. Cooh, do it again."
Cooh, of course, ignored him completely and began meticulously grooming the tuft of fur between her ears, causing the camera on her neck to wobble slightly and give viewers a dizzying close-up of a pink nose and whiskers.
The comments picked up.
@Yuna-Starfall: THIS ANGLE CUTE
@CaveCrawler99: is this real? that's actually the Whispering Depths cave
@Aman_Elk: Yeah, he's legit standing outside the egg chamber don't die dude.
Viewer count: 19.
"Alright, everyone, I'm a man of my word," he said, peering at the viewer count. "We're at 19. Just 31 more shares, likes, whatever you can do. Spread the word—history is waiting behind this vine-covered archway, and my cat is definitely going to judge me if we turn back now."
He reached up to scratch Cooh's chin. She rewarded him with a rumbling purr that the Holocuff mic picked up beautifully.
Viewer count: 28.
@Dereh-nik: ok i'm back. if this is fake i'm reporting.
@EmberSeeker: Wait did you say EMBERCREST egg? Those are Class-C protected magical fauna. You're gonna get arrested on stream.
Lavron's smile faltered for half a second. Class-C protected? The Mystnet post hadn't mentioned that. He quickly composed himself.
"All the more reason to watch, right? Exclusive footage before the authorities even know we're here." He winked at the camera. "Besides, we're just… documenting. Educational purposes."
Cooh let out a soft mrrrow that sounded suspiciously like disagreement.
Viewer count: 41.
Lavron's pulse quickened. Nine more to go. He knew it was daytime, the embercrest was out hunting and the spiders were sleeping, but he wanted to get in quick and leave. He had come here to avoid death, but he surely didn't want to die here—
A skittering sound echoed from deeper in the cave.
Not from the egg chamber. Behind them.
Lavron froze. Cooh's purring stopped abruptly. Her ears swiveled backward, and for the first time since he'd bought her, her large cute eyes narrowed into slits. A low hiss escaped her tiny body.
@Aman_Elk: uh
@CaveCrawler99: turn around
He turned, the lantern illuminating the direction of the sound.
Long legs—eight of them. Myriad eyes gleamed in the lantern light. The clicking of legs echoed in the cave as it walked toward him.
"Holy F*ck."
Lavron exclaimed in English before quickly switching to Felner. He smiled.
"Guys, I think you are going to witness my death. Leave likes in case I survive."
Sh*t. Sh*t. System, bestow me powers to fight this monster. Aren't you supposed to be my golden finger?
Lavron didn't check the comments—he was too busy begging the system for help. But on his stream, the chat erupted anyway:
@Aman_Elk: Bro is dead.
@Lurada: he's even speaking gibberish, he really is scared
@InfiniteVoid: How beautiful, to witness someone's death
@Aman_Elk: @InfiniteVoid Get out of here.
@Dereh-nih: it wasn't fake??
@EmberSeeker: That is a RANK1 beast! Are you an awakened?
@Yuna-Starfall: WHY DID YOU BRING THAT CUTIE. I DONT WANT IT TO DIE
Hisss!!
Lavron was about to turn and run into the embercrest chamber when he heard a hiss.
Behind the spider, a giant newt with a burning crest stood with a dead rabbit in its mouth. The rabbit dropped from its jaws when it saw the spider.
The fire on its crest flared as orange flames spread along its spine to its tail.
It arched its back, stood on its hind legs, and started approaching the spider while hissing. The spider moved back slowly in response.
@Aman_Elk: I can't believe I'm witnessing a fight between rank 1 magical beasts.
@CaveCrawler99: Me too bro
Lavron's Holocuff chimed as comments started flooding in.
Viewer count: 1345
His viewer count was rapidly increasing and numerous comments flooded his stream. However, Lavron was too busy spectating the fight to check them.
Shouldn't I be taking this opportunity to escape?
@EmberSeeker: Why have you stopped recording?
@Aman_Elk: It was just getting started.
Many complaints flooded his stream. Lavron, however, had no time to check them.
He took Cooh from his head, quickly spun, then ran inside the chamber. Just as described, there was a large stone slab at the center.
On the slab, strips of animal hide had been crafted into a nest. In the nest rested a large red-and-white egg. Lavron's eyes sparkled when he saw it.
"Meow."
Cooh, now tucked in his arms, was also excited.
Lavron set the lantern on the slab, then, just as he'd planned, placed Cooh beside the egg and quickly snapped a selfie with his Holocuff.
He stretched his hands to pick the egg but then remembered it was a C-class protected fauna. He couldn't afford getting arrested, he didn't have time to be in jail.
"Just as promised, I have shown you the egg. I'm out of here now."
He quickly took a 97-Boom speaker from his bag and ran out of the chamber, carrying Cooh and the lantern.
The spider and embercrest were still fighting. The spider hung from the cave roof by its web, while the embercrest sprayed fire at it from its mouth. One of the embercrest's legs was entangled in spider webs. The spider shot webs to the walls with its abdomen and kept pulling itself away to avoid the flames.
Sensing Lavron, the spider turned its abdomen toward him and shot a web. Luckily, it missed.
"F*ck."
Lavron quickly switched on the 97-Boom and ran toward the magical beasts.
@Renah-Renal: Isn't that pixel paradise by @Meawotola_official, I love that song.
The embercrest sensed him and shifted its gaze. It spewed fire at him. Lavron ducked to the side, placed the 97-Boom on the floor, then dashed in a zigzag past the fiery newt. As expected, the embercrest sprayed fire on the 97-Boom and failed to notice him. Or rather, to the embercrest—which sensed vibrations through its hind legs—the 97-Boom was a much larger target.
@Aman_Elk: You are moving too much, I can't see anything.
By the time the 97-Boom was destroyed, Lavron had long since passed the beasts and was running toward the exit. When he reached a safe distance, he stopped, placed Cooh on the floor, and bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily.
Phew.
"Meow."
Cooh was also glad to be alive.
After recovering, he started recording again.
@CaveCrawler99: finally, we are back
@Aman_Elk: No way bro, you actually survived, you are officially my fav streamer @Adventurous-Lure
@InfiniteVoid: Boring.
@Aman_Elk: Get out of here @InfiniteVoid
@Yuna-Starfall: SO CUTE
@EmberSeeker: Don't get defeated, embercrest.
Having destroyed the 97-Boom, the embercrest shifted its attention back to the spider and continued spewing fire at it.
The spider kept evading while shooting webs; whenever a web caught one of the embercrest's legs, the newt would bathe the leg in flames to burn the silk away. The fight went on for a while. The two magical beasts were evenly matched—the spider with its speed kept evading the embercrest, while the embercrest easily burned the webs.
Things were starting to get boring when Lavron decided to check his stream.
"We did it Cooh, we finally did it."
Lavron said as he jumped excitedly, invoking the audience's wrath for ignoring the fight.
He currently had 40,073 views, 27,201 likes, and had even acquired 11,010 new followers. With every passing second, the number kept increasing.
And, to top it all, he had received rewards worth 500 neo-chips from the viewers. Not enough for awakening, but surely enough to up his game.
He summoned the system panel to check the mission's progress. In the meantime, he switched the stream to Cooh's camera.
[Captivate the hearts of 50,000 unawakened beings within 2 weeks]
[Mission progress: 9 days remaining, 17.19% complete]
Yes. Way to go. Come on, admire your superstar some more.
Lavron flung himself into the air again. Maybe, just maybe, he could escape death. That was when he had another crazy idea.
Hehe. Why not.
Reaching into his bag, he took out 3 daggers he had planned to use if things got messy.
"Cooh, stay put. I'll be back shortly."
He told his cat as he rushed toward the magical beasts like a maniac craving blood.
@Aman_Elk: "..."
@Yuna-Starfall: DON'T LEAVE THE CUTIE
@CaveCrawler99: how much can this guy do for likes
@Mekiow: What have I stumbled into, love it
@Mekiow has sent you Cult Orb worth 3,000 points