Since the professor fainted, the class was dismissed earlier than expected. As for the exam itself, the quick ones had already copied Ram’s code and implemented it in their own way.

The efficiency dropped, but they still earned a "perfect" clear easily enough.

I guess it was Professor Karashi’s fault for projecting not just my program’s results, but the raw code itself. Well, after what happened, I doubted he’d have the gall to say anything about it afterwards.

"So..." I turned to Kiki, walking beside me. "I win, right?"

"Tsk!"

Winning or losing wasn’t entirely clear-cut, of course. I was the only one who’d managed to submit a solution, after all. But since mine was practically perfect, even if Kiki somehow scored the same, I’d still win on time alone.

Cheating? Ram had paved the path, sure—but it wasn’t like everything she wrote was flawless either. I had to debug her code quite a bit, mostly by eye. That’s what ate up the 30 minutes. It was a miracle it actually compiled on the first try.

Kiki looked more than a little chagrined, but a bet was a bet.

"Alright, alright!" She waved her hand dismissively. "This is my character name. Just message me when you log in."

She quickly scribbled something down, stuffed the note into my pocket, and immediately bolted.

"...How does someone manage to be this awkward?" I chuckled, pocketing the paper. Then I called out to her retreating back. "I’ll log in around 8 tonight! Stay in the Beginner’s Village by then!"

With those sharp ears of hers, I was sure she caught every word.

After that, I spent the rest of the day in campus until 6, attending my classes diligently. Not for the grades—those wouldn’t matter much when the world started breaking apart—but to look for more allies.

It wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped, though.

Thinking back on it, there weren’t many standout players in our college to begin with. And among those I could recall, only Kiki shared my department. The day ended without me crossing paths with any other familiar faces.

Not even in the cafeteria. Though, for whatever reason, a lot of girls came to talk to me while I was eating, and Ram started sulking—or something close to it. Hard to tell with that flat voice of hers, but it was noticeably different from her usual tone.

Do AIs even have emotions? I genuinely couldn’t tell.

After leaving campus, I went straight to Miyabi’s for a bite. Though this time, food wasn’t the only reason. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"A live streamer...?" She looked up curiously.

"Yes." I nodded, slurping the noodles off my chopsticks. "You already have a lot of viewers following you, so I don’t think it’s a bad idea."

Once we hit ten thousand viewers and finished linking to the streaming site, the revenue alone would be more than enough for us to live comfortably.

"It’d be a shared account between the two of us—we’ll be streaming as a party most of the time anyway." I clarified. "The revenue gets split between us, and whoever else we add to the party down the line, as long as they agree to the terms."

"This..."

Miyabi hesitated, staring into her bowl without blinking.

I knew she wasn’t the type who liked standing out. But honestly, the revenue from streaming would dwarf whatever the ramen shop brought in by a few hundred times over. That alone should’ve been more than enough of a pull.

Still, she was hesitating.

It was a big decision. One that deserved some thought.

If I told her the truth—that the game would descend into reality in roughly six months—she’d probably agree on the spot. But there was a 90% chance she’d just think I was insane and leave the party entirely.

That I couldn’t risk.

’I can’t spring that on her yet. I need something to leverage first. Maybe after we hit level 100, when the in-game stats start bleeding into reality...’

"I understand."

While I was lost in thought, Miyabi gave a single nod.

"Let’s do it. Livestreaming."

"..."

Honestly, I hadn’t expected her to fold that quickly. I was briefly at a loss for words.

"You’re sure?" I asked. "Just so you know—your in-game character resembles your real face pretty closely. If the channel picks up, you’ll basically become a celebrity. You’re really fine with that?"

Miyabi set her chopsticks down and sat up straight, turning to face me directly. Her gaze was warm and steady.

"As long as I’m with you, Kamishiro, I wouldn’t mind."

Those weren’t words she’d thrown together on the spot. I could feel the conviction behind them. A small smile crept up my lips before I could stop it.

"Then I’ll handle all the setup." I said, extending a hand. "Looking forward to working with you, Miyabi."

She took it with a quiet smile and shook firmly.

"The pleasure is mine."

[Master, you are behind schedule. Please return home immediately.]

Of course, I’d been quietly ignoring Ram’s grumpy notifications the entire time. Something was definitely off with this AI. Broken, maybe?

After saying my goodbyes, I walked back to my apartment.

From there, with Ram’s help, setting up the streaming account, signing contracts, advertising agreements—everything came together smoothly.

Dropping the in-game name WhiteGod probably helped grease the wheels more than a little. Being part of the top-ranked party in the entire game world, levels above anyone else, had its perks. But anyway—all’s well that ends well.

By the time everything was done, it was almost 8 p.m.

Remembering my promise to Kiki, I downed a glass of water, made a quick bathroom stop, then lay down on my bed, put on the Dive Ring, and logged in.

Each player had a hard cap of 8 hours in-game per day, with the timer resetting at noon—midnight for the company’s home timezone. Which meant tonight, we’d be playing a full 8-hour stretch.

I’d already gone over this with Miyabi beforehand, and we’d synced up our login times.

I opened my eyes slowly.

I was still in the same spot I’d logged out from—the outskirts of Teru Plains. Almost immediately, a familiar figure materialized in a flash of light beside me. FleetingCloud—Miyabi. Our timing was perfect.

"Oh, WhiteGod! You’re already here!" She spotted me right away and waved. "So, what’s the plan?"

I nodded, then pointed toward the city. "First, we grab the item we need for streaming. Then, we pick up a new party member."

"Party member...?"

Ah. I’d forgotten to mention that part.

"You’ll see when we get there." I just smiled and patted her head.

Miyabi’s status was set to private for now—even her existing followers couldn’t watch. The last thing we needed was that noisy bunch crashing our stream’s launch.

We headed back to the city at a light jog.

Without hesitation, I went straight to the grocer and picked up the Advanced Bubble Camera—the premium version of the standard streaming camera, giving viewers the same freedom they currently had, with a full hemispherical bubble covering the entire party’s range.

While Ram got everything configured, we made our way to the fountain in the center of the plaza. Nobody was waiting there yet.

"Already sent a message, so they shouldn’t be long..." I murmured.

"Got it." Miyabi nodded. "I hope we get along well~!"

"..."

Well. Not entirely sure about that one.

"WhiteGod...?"

A voice came from behind.

I turned around to find two figures standing there—one wearing an expression caught somewhere between awe and respect, the other barely containing pure excitement.

"Ohh! So you really weren’t lying! You’re actually WhiteGod!"

The first one—a woman in standard, somewhat revealing female brawler equipment—grinned wide as she rushed over. A far cry from her disheveled real-world look; her in-game character was the picture of a neat, energetic girl, hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.

An appearance I wouldn’t mistake for anyone else. The name floating above her head, Kristal, was exactly as I remembered.

"Surprise." I smiled at her—Kiki—and opened a trade window. "As promised. A new set of armor. Enjoy."

"OOOH! RARE EQUIPMENT!"

While she erupted in excitement, I turned to the second figure and frowned.

A woman in priest’s robes, staff in hand, with long brown hair and a soft, gentle expression. She looked the part of a healer down to the last detail. But...

"You are...?"

I didn’t recognize her.

Even the name above her head—GentleBreeze—wasn’t ringing any bells.

"It’s me." She smiled sweetly. "Eri. You remember, right...? Or did you forget me already?"

"Eri...?"

I searched my memory.

Then, suddenly, the image of a bob-cut woman flashed across my mind.

"Ah! The lady from earlier today!" I blinked. "Wait—why are you here?"

I didn’t remember sending her an invitation.

At my question, she scratched her cheek with a slightly sheepish look.

"Well... you did shout the time and place pretty loudly earlier. And as luck would have it, I’d been looking for a party too, so I figured I’d try my luck!"

"..."

I guess it’s my fault for shouting like that earlier.

But still—

"WhiteGod...?"

"Huh?!"

A cold chill crept up my spine before I even turned around. A hand came to rest on my shoulder—light, deliberate, like the touch of a reaper collecting what was owed.

"These women..." Miyabi’s voice came out soft and even. "Mind explaining~?"

She was smiling.

A smile that didn’t reach her eyes at all.