Kai Morita woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating across his desk.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
He groaned and rolled over in bed, half-awake.
"Five more minutes…"
BZZZT.
The phone vibrated again.
Kai sighed and grabbed it.
The moment he unlocked the screen, his eyes widened.
Messages.
Dozens of them.
From Ryo.
From random numbers.
From social apps he barely even used.
Kai sat up slowly.
"…What happened while I was sleeping?"
He opened the first message from Ryo.
Ryo:BRO ARE YOU A CELEBRITY NOW???
Kai frowned.
"What?"
He opened the next message.
A link.
It led to a ClipTok video.
Kai tapped it.
The video started playing.
It was the clip from his stream where he had been singing the night before.
The caption read:
"This random streamer only had 30 viewers… but listen to his voice."
Kai watched himself sing.
Then he looked at the view count.
His brain stopped working for a moment.
1.2 million views.
"…Excuse me?"
Kai blinked.
Then blinked again.
"THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE."
He scrolled down to the comments.
Thousands of them.
"WHO IS THIS GUY?"
"Why does he only have 30 viewers??"
"Someone link the channel!"
"He's actually good wtf"
Kai slowly placed the phone on his desk.
Then he laid back on his bed.
"…This has to be a dream."
Across the city…
Aika Hoshino sat in a large black car as it moved through the busy streets.
Her manager sat across from her reading a schedule on a tablet.
"Today you have a radio interview, two photo shoots, and rehearsal for the concert."
Aika nodded politely.
"Mhm."
But she wasn't paying attention.
Her eyes were glued to her phone.
The same ClipTok video was playing again.
Her finger hovered over the comments section.
She smiled proudly.
"Look at them discovering him."
Last night she had uploaded the clip before going to sleep.
She expected maybe…
A few thousand views.
Not this.
Her manager glanced up.
"Aika."
"Yes?"
"You're smiling like you just committed a crime."
Aika blinked innocently.
"I would never."
The manager narrowed his eyes.
"Last time you said that you dyed your hair pink without telling the company."
"That was artistic expression."
The manager sighed deeply.
"Please don't cause trouble today."
Aika simply smiled.
Too late.
At school, chaos had already begun.
Kai walked through the hallway when suddenly—
"HEY IT'S HIM!"
Kai froze.
"What?"
Two students were staring at him.
One of them held up a phone.
"Bro it's the singing streamer guy!"
Kai slowly turned around.
"…Nope."
He immediately started walking faster.
But someone else stepped in front of him.
"Wait wait wait."
They showed him the phone again.
"Is this you?"
The ClipTok video played.
Kai's voice echoed through the hallway.
Several nearby students turned their heads.
Kai felt his soul leave his body.
"…I'm going home."
But before he could escape—
Ryo tackled him from behind.
"BROOOOO."
Kai nearly fell over.
"Ryo!"
"You're famous!"
"I'm not famous!"
"You have a million views!"
"That doesn't mean I'm famous!"
Ryo shook him violently.
"YOU'RE INTERNET FAMOUS."
Kai grabbed his head.
"Please stop saying that."
But deep down…
He couldn't deny it felt strange.
People were actually noticing him now.
Meanwhile, across campus…
Aika stood near a window looking at the same ClipTok video.
Students around her were talking excitedly.
"Did you see this streamer?"
"Yeah he's good."
"I followed his channel."
Aika hid a small smile.
"It's working."
She tapped Kai's channel again.
The numbers had changed.
Followers yesterday: 12
Followers today: 2,800
Her eyes sparkled.
"Wow."
She whispered quietly.
"You're leveling up fast."
That evening, Kai sat nervously in front of his computer.
He stared at the stream setup like it was about to explode.
"Okay…"
He took a deep breath.
"Maybe a few more people will join tonight."
He clicked Start Stream.
LIVE.
The viewer counter appeared.
Kai looked at it.
Then he leaned closer.
Then closer.
"…No."
The number read:
1,304 viewers
Kai stood up so fast his chair fell backward.
"WHAT?!"
The chat exploded instantly.
Messages flew across the screen faster than he could read them.
"HE'S LIVE"
"THE SINGING GUY"
"CLIPTOK STREAMER"
"PLAY A SONG"
Kai held his head with both hands.
"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU?!"
The chat spammed laughing emojis.
Kai slowly sat down again.
"…Okay."
He breathed deeply.
"Stay calm."
"Act normal."
Then suddenly a familiar name appeared.
StarrySky99: Hello again.
Kai's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Oh hey."
He pointed at the screen.
"You again."
Across the city, Aika giggled.
"He noticed immediately."
Kai scratched the back of his neck.
"Chat, this person has been here since I had like… three viewers."
The chat started spamming:
"OG VIEWER"
"LOYAL FAN"
"VIP"
Aika smiled softly.
It felt strangely nice hearing him say that.
The stream continued.
Kai played his game while trying to read the insanely fast chat.
Viewer count:
1,600
Kai laughed nervously.
"I feel like I accidentally walked into the wrong room."
The chat spammed:
"SING"
"SING AGAIN"
"SONG TIME"
Kai raised his hands.
"Alright alright!"
"If we hit 2,000 viewers…"
The chat went wild.
Kai grinned.
"I'll sing again."
Across the city, Aika leaned forward in excitement.
"Challenge accepted."
She quickly opened her contacts.
Then she paused.
"…No."
She closed it again.
"I won't cheat."
Instead she simply shared the stream link in one small private group chat.
Her closest friends.
"Just a little help."
Back in Kai's room…
The number climbed.
1,700
1,850
1,940
Kai stared at the screen.
"…Chat."
"Are you serious right now?"
Then finally—
2,000 viewers
The chat exploded like fireworks.
Kai leaned back in shock.
"Okay."
"A promise is a promise."
He grabbed the microphone.
"Any requests?"
Thousands of messages flooded the screen.
But one stood out.
StarrySky99: Sing something you like.
Kai nodded slowly.
"Alright."
He closed his eyes.
Then began singing.
Across the city, Aika listened quietly.
Her smile slowly softened.
Even with thousands of viewers now watching…
Kai's voice still had the same honest feeling.
The same warmth.
The same determination.
She whispered to herself:
"You're going to go far, Kai Morita."
The chat was going insane.
People were spamming hearts.
Clipping the moment.
Sharing the stream everywhere.
Kai opened his eyes after finishing the song.
Viewer count:
2,800
His jaw dropped.
"…Okay."
He laughed in disbelief.
"I think my life just changed."
Across the city, Aika smiled brightly at the screen.
"Not yet."
She whispered.
"But it will."
And deep inside…
She had already decided something.
Soon.
Very soon.
She was going to meet Kai Morita again.
Not as a mysterious viewer.
But as herself.