CHAPTER 82: SEKIRO STREAM START

"Ah, so that’s why you’ve been so ’kind’ this past week, feeding me grapes, doing chores, massages... you just wanted to butter me up for this." Tony narrowed his eyes in mock suspicion.

Still, tomorrow was the official launch of Sekiro. Letting Natalie try it out a day early would help promote her streaming career get a boost. No harm done.

"Alright, wish granted," he finally nodded.

"Really? You’re the best, Tony!" Natalie squealed, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before dashing off.

"I’m gonna post on Twitter right now! Hah, my stream numbers tonight might smash another record!"

"Hey, don’t just run off after getting your way!" Tony jokingly shouted after her.

"Oh, right, right!" She hurried back, obediently kneading his shoulders and legs again.

Tony was genuinely startled. Natalie was never this well behaved. Looked like she was truly desperate for this early access.

"Forget it. You’re a top tier streamer pulling in millions. Having you knead my shoulders feels... wrong," he said after enjoying it for a while.

"No, no! It’s an honor to massage you, Tony!" Natalie replied with a beaming smile.

For some reason, one word popped into his mind, bootlicker.Cough, no, no. Can’t describe my sister like that.

"I really don’t need the massage. Let’s just get you set up so you can start playing," Tony said.

"Oh, oh, okay!" she said excitedly.

Within minutes, Natalie had posted to Twitter, "The moment you’ve all been waiting for! I’ll be live streaming my first playthrough of Sekiro tonight at 8PM! Don’t miss it!"

The response was explosive.

"I was just wondering if Natalie would get early access!"

"Exclusive privileges, huh? Out of all the streamers, she’s the only one playing Sekiro before release!"

"Natalie’s got it good. Every New World game, she plays early!"

"I’m starting to think the rumors about her and the dev are true..."

"Just tell us when you’re marrying the dev already!"

The post shot onto Twitter’s trending list in under ten minutes. At this point, Tony could treat the trending list like it was his own living room, stepping in any time he wanted.

Seeing more and more comments hinting at her indescribable relationship with Tony, Natalie decided not to clarify. Let them speculate, it wasn’t hurting her.

---BREAK---

By 8PM, Natalie was in position, headset on, hands on the mouse. She glanced at her dashboard, and froze.

More than three million viewers were already online, and the number was still climbing.

"Holy crap... this premiere’s even crazier than Subnautica," she muttered. "Three million real viewers, and it’s still skyrocketing. Even big name celebrities couldn’t pull this off..."

She knew the truth, though. The real credit went to the momentum from Silent Hill and Subnautica, which had made New World an unstoppable name in gaming and even out of it.

Compared to her past premieres, this time Natalie truly had something unique. Even when she debuted Subnautica, the numbers hadn’t been this insane.

So this is what it feels like to be a celebrity. It was kind of nerve wracking.

Back when she used to stream League of Legends, she had never seen numbers anywhere close to this.

"Alright... calm down..." Natalie took a deep breath, forcing herself to steady her racing heart. Then, she clicked the button to officially start her broadcast.

"Good evening, everyone!" she greeted with a bright smile.

"Don’t waste time, start the game!"

"Hurry up, let’s see Sekiro already!"

"Wow, I think you’re looking prettier these days... actually, never mind. Game first!"

The chat was a flood of impatient messages. Usually, viewers came to see her. Today, most viewers were clearly here for the game.

Natalie had expected this and slipped right into her game host role. "Alright, alright! Let’s begin our journey in Sekiro!"

Without any more small talk, she walked over to her VR setup, put on the headset, and launched Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

The screen was pitch black at first. A line of text appeared.

[Produced by New World Studio]

A brief flash, and her in-game vision cleared. She was in a dimly lit wooden room. In front of her, a man with a scar across his face knelt silently on the floor, eyes fixed forward.

A solemn voice narrated, "As time passed, the boy rescued from the battlefield grew into a warrior of great skill..."

It was the same character Tony had played during his demo, the grown up ’Wolf’.

The next moment, a tall, broad shouldered man, clearly the Wolf’s adoptive father, stepped into view and placed a hand on his shoulder. "From today, this is your master. Treat them as the most important person in your life, second only to your parents. You must stake your life to protect them. If they are taken, you must bring them back. Do you understand... Wolf?"

The adoptive father pushed open a wooden door, revealing the figure of a child beyond.

Darkness swallowed the scene again. The voiceover continued. "Twenty years later, the land of Ashina is in decline. The Wolf has lost everything, both the father who raised him and the master he swore to protect..."

When Natalie’s vision returned, she found herself standing in a damp, foul smelling tunnel, rough stone walls on either side.

She looked down, black robe, yellow cloak, dark skin.

"Wow... looks like the game’s started. I’ve turned into the Wolf," she muttered. "But where is this? So dark... It’s like a big sewer."

She was about to explore when she noticed something strange.

"Hey... this feels weird. My body’s so light! My steps are... so quick!" She jogged a few paces, then jumped experimentally.

Whoosh!

"Holy Shit!!" she yelped as her body soared upward. "I’m flying! This is so high!"

She landed awkwardly, nearly stumbling over.

From her first-person feed, the chat exploded.

"She jumped at least two meters!"

"Tsk tsk... really worthy of the name ’Wolf’!"

"I want to play this so bad!"

The audience’s excitement was rising fast. The VR system perfectly simulated the feeling of moving like a martial arts master, light as a feather, fast as the wind.

Of course, in reality, Natalie wasn’t actually leaping that high or running that fast. The sensation came from a mix of VR visuals and the exoskeleton’s assistive feedback.

Still, she kept bouncing in place like a kid with a new toy. "This is amazing! I need to get used to it before we go on, it’s just too good!"

Viewers spammed the chat with envy. Why couldn’t the game release today?

Just then, a gentle female voice echoed from above, "A lost and wandering soul... for your master’s sake, awaken..."

Natalie’s head snapped up. She couldn’t see anyone, only something light and fluttering drifting down from a hole overhead, landing softly on a stone nearby.

She hurried over and picked it up, a letter.

Unfolding it, she saw elegant calligraphy.

"To the Wolf in service of his master, your master is imprisoned in the Moonview Watchtower. Escape from the bottom of the well and make your way there. Even unarmed, with your stealth skills, you should have no trouble."

1189 Words.