Chapter 3: 3 – Scammed into a punishment game

I dashed upstairs to my room, nervously staring at the timer that continued to tick down as I moved.

[Time remaining: 00:30]

"Those aren't minutes, you stupid VIMS!"

[...Time remaining: 00:25]

I groaned and threw the door to my room open. "I haven't even taken a shower yet or changed, and now I've gotta stream as a trap VTuber... FML."

Thankfully, the timer didn't keep ticking down at a rapid pace. It seemed like as long as I didn't piss off the system too much, it wouldn't do crazy things to mess with me.

I grumbled and then walked into my room, taking a look around.

It was basic. A bed, a closet with school uniforms and clothes. A desk. A shelf with old notebooks from school. And... that was about it.

Mostly because of my dad being a stingy bastard who even made me resell my textbooks after every year.

Of course, that *should* have been the case. I didn't have any personal or high tech belongings in my room since I was flat broke and my dad didn't give me an allowance.

But now there was something that wasn't there before sitting on my desk. Well, over my desk and on the floor beside it.

"...I won't question how this got here, but holy crap." I muttered and then walked over.

A huge monitor that took up almost the whole wall. Not only that, but a sleek black PC tower with all the expected attachments, along with an RGB ergonomic keyboard and mouse to go along with it. A shiny silver smartphone, mounted on a stand and presumably used to track me for the avatar. Oh, and a gamer chair.

In short, one of those fancy gaming streamer setups that I'd always wanted to have, but couldn't afford/rationalize spending so much money on.

But damn, if this did even half of what I thought it would, then that meant when I got some people to join me-

[Note: This equipment will be provided only to you. Further talents must be furnished from your own personal funds.]

I froze and then stuck up my middle fingers at the floating blue window. "Go #@ yourself! @##! How the hell am I supposed to get the money to buy decent equipment for the other idols?!"

[Note: Sources of equipment include, but are not limited to: purchasing with earned funding, donations, sponsorships, and the gacha.]

I glared at the window and then shook my head. "So basically shell out, pray, or pray to RNGesus. @#" I let out a deep sigh and then turned on the PC.

The typical splash icon for Windows... No, here it was 'Mindows' played before booting up to the desktop.

Wait.

I frowned and said, "No security?"

[Note: Concealment of the user's identity is not a priority. For aid, please use the gacha or-]

I swiped the message away. "Yeah, yeah. Tough luck or get lucky. Dammit."

[Time remaining: 00:05]

My eyes widened. "H-Hey! I haven't even turned anything on yet! Oi!"

[Time remaining: 00:04]

"#$%#!"

I cursed and then clicked on the only icon I could see on the desktop.

Since this was a magical gift from a crazy metaphysical system, it should... SHOULD be all I needed. And if it wasn't, I swear to god-

*Welcome back.*

A beautiful melodic voice echoed. Soft, feminine.

And also familiar.

"@#! You're trolling me! You're freaking trolling me!"

It was my goddamned voice. But it was my goddamned voice putting on a girly tone and speaking super delicate. Cute, sweet... and gag-inducing considering that it was my voice. Clearly my voice.

You are reading story VTuber Idol Maker System (VIMS) at novel35.com

But before I had time to dwell on that fact, the screen changed.

The default desktop background vanished, replaced by an exact copy of my room. Like, completely exact, down to the few dings on the wall behind me that I made after I got pissed off when I realized the situation I was in.

"Holy @#"

It was like Unreal Engine decided to completely max out its shaders.

...No, actually now that I was looking at the room, it was different. The lighting was different, somehow more dramatic and appealing. At the same time, I noticed that some things looked stylized, and certain logos and words were removed.

Still.

"What kind of magical future tech *is* this software? No, can it even run on other computers?"

[Note: The Mirrored AI software <MIRAIS> has been optimized to be run on any von Neumann architecture machine at the same level of performance.]

"...Won't that get me in trouble if someone finds it?" I broke out into a cold sweat. "No, this is really bad, isn't it? If I get hacked or someone steals my stuff..."

Heck, if my dad decided to sneak into my room and thought that I didn't need all of these...

[Note: VIMS includes the appropriate legal, cyber, and enforcement staff to police proprietary technology. User need only concern himself with creating the best VTuber idols. Additional staff will be provided as necessary.]

"...That's terrifying."

[Time remaining: 00:02]

I froze and then I started panicking. "W-Wait! I'm still talking to you! Why the hell is the timer running!?"

[Note: Career Missions do not pause. This reflects the realities of life and the unceasing ebb and flow of time that user will face.]

"Scam! You freaking scam of a system! What the hell do I do if I mess up?! I don't have a save system!"

[Note: The Save/Load system will be unlocked when you finish the tutorial and establish the main branch of your VTuber talent agency.]

"@#! And what do I do if I mess that up!? I can't-"

An alarm echoed in my head. At the same time, a flashing message appeared before my eyes.

[Time remaining: 00:00]

[Career Mission <Daga, Otoko da.> failed.]

I froze. "H-Hold on-"

[Failure has activated the Punishment Game system.]
[Punishment for failing <Daga, Otoko da.>: Forced Debut.]
[Career Mission <Nico Nico Ni~!> accepted. Rewards: <Talent Scouting>, <Manager's Eyes>, <Feminine Charm>. Failure: Impossible.]
[Note: During Punishment Games, VIMS will take over your body as a consequence of failing missions in order to achieve the proper result.]

"Wait~ Nn~?"

A splash of light filled the monitor. And when it vanished, a beautiful anime girl with flowing blue hair and sparkling pink eyes appeared in the same spot I should be standing. But not only that...

"Let's do this~!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Teehee!" The girl... No, Azura gave me a mischievous smile and a wink. Wait no, I was doing the same thing?!

Azura laughed... No, I laughed and said, "Don't worry! I'll take great care of you! Let's go!"

My body moved forward on its own and sat down at the desk. At the same time, I moved my mouse and clicked on a button saying start stream.

YouTube loaded. The stream started.

"Oh my~! There's already a hundred people watching?" I brought my hand to my mouth and giggled. A cute, completely feminine, impossible to tell it was a guy giggle.

@######!