[MANDATORY QUEST: FIRST STEPS]
[OBJECTIVE: GAIN YOUR FIRST 100 FOLLOWERS]
[TIME LIMIT: 7 DAYS]
[REWARD: ACCESS TO LEVEL 2, SKILL UNLOCK]
[FAILURE PENALTY: SYSTEM REVOCATION]
"One hundred followers in seven days," Admin #69 said. "Very achievable! The average new streamer gains fifty followers in their first week."
"Average new streamer," Jake said slowly, "probably isn't having a mental breakdown on camera."
"True! But authenticity is attractive and Viewers respond to genuine emotion. Your anxiety could actually be an asset."
"My crippling self doubt is an asset."
"Yes!"
Jake stood up and started pacing. "Okay. Okay, let's say I do this. Let's say I actually try to stream, what do I even... what do I do?"
Admin #69 brightened. "Wonderful question! Let me show you the basics of content creation!"
What followed was possibly the most mortifying educational experience of Jake's entire life.
#69, with the cheerful professionalism of those flight attendant explaining safety procedures, walked him through the fundamentals of adult content creation. Camera angles. Lighting. Audio quality. "Setting the mood." Engagement strategies.
"Eye contact with the camera is crucial," she explained, demonstrating with her own oversized eyes. "You want viewers to feel like you're looking at them specifically, It creates intimacy."
"Intimacy," Jake repeated. "With strangers. On the internet."
"Exactly! Now, for your first stream, I recommend starting simple. Just introduce yourself. Talk to the camera and let people get to know you. You don't have to do anything explicit right away."
"Really?" Jake felt a surge of hope.
"Really! Building an audience is about personality first, content second. If viewers like YOU, they'll stick around for the content. If they only care about the content, they'll leave the moment they're done."
That... actually made sense, Jake had watched streamers before (normal gaming streamers) and the successful ones were always the ones with personality. People tuned in as much for the streamer as for the gameplay.
Maybe this wasn't completely impossible.
"What about equipment?" Jake asked, looking at his ancient laptop. "I don't exactly have a professional setup."
"The System provides basic enhancement to your recording equipment," #69 said. "Your laptop camera will function at 1080p quality automatically, and Audio will be cleaned and optimized. You won't have professional grade equipment until you level up and unlock better tools, but you'll be adequate for starting out."
"Adequate," Jake muttered. "Story of my life."
#69 floated over and patted his head with her tiny hand. "Hey, I know this is scary and you didn't choose this but you're not alone, okay? I'm here to help, and you'd be surprised how many DPS holders started out just like you... terrified and convinced they'd fail."
"How many of them actually succeeded?" Jake asked.
#69 went quiet for a moment. Then: "Seventy-three percent make it past the first quest."
"And the other twenty-seven percent?"
"Some lose their systems, some..." she trailed off. "Some don't make it."
The room felt very cold suddenly.
"Right," Jake said quietly. "No pressure then."
"Jake." #69's voice was serious for the first time since she'd appeared. "I can't force you to do this.. but I need you to understand something: the world has changed, permanently. Dungeons are appearing more frequently. More monsters, more deaths and system holders are humanity's best defense, and every single one matters."
"Even porn streamers?" Jake asked bitterly.
"ESPECIALLY porn streamers," #69 said firmly. "Do you know what happens in a dungeon? When people are terrified and exhausted and ready to give up? Morale matters, Jake. Hope matters. Connection matters, and your system taps into fundamental human needs... desire, pleasure, connection. In a world falling apart, that's not nothing."
Jake looked at her, her cheerful exterior hadn't changed but there was something else in her eyes now, something sad.
"How many users have you guided?" he asked.
"You're my fourth," #69 said quietly. "My first user made it to Level 47 before a dungeon break in São Paulo. My second quit after two weeks and lost her system, and my third is..."
Jake noticed a reluctance and changed the question.
"And you?"
"I'm an AI construct created by the System, I don't have a choice in this either, Jake. I was made to guide users, help them survive and watch them grow or watch them die." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "So please. Try, because I really don't want to watch another user die."
The apartment was silent except for the distant sound of sirens, always fucking sirens now, Jake thought. The city's background noise had changed.
He thought about Marcus, terrified but preparing to fight along with the people in LA battling monsters in the streets.
He thought about the seventy-three percent who made it past the first quest.
About the twenty-seven percent who didn't.
"Fuck," Jake said softly. Then louder: "Fuck... Okay... Okayyy, I'll do it... I'll try."
#69's face lit up with genuine happiness. "Really?"
"Really. I mean, what choice do I have? Die, or embarrass myself on the internet, but at least embarrassment is survivable." Jake ran his hands through his hair. "When should I start?"
"Whenever you're ready," Admin #69 said. "But I'd recommend sooner rather than later, the quest timer is always ticking and building an audience takes time."
Jake looked at his laptop, with the SinStream interface still displayed on one of the floating screens and the "GO LIVE" button that seemed to be mocking him.
"Not today," he said. "I need... I need to prepare. Mentally prepare, also maybe clean the apartment, and definitely also figure out what the hell I'm going to say."
"That's fair," Admin #69 said. "Take today to get ready but Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't overthink it, the best content is authentic. Just be yourself."
Jake laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Myself is an anxious data entry clerk with an F-rank in Technique and crippling self-doubt."
"Then be that," #69 said simply. "You'd be surprised how many people find that relatable."
She started to fade, the pink sparkles returning.
"Wait," Jake said. "Will you be here? When I stream?"
"Always," Admin #69 said. "I'll be in your interface, you won't see me but I'll be there. Monitoring, helping and cheering you on."
"Cheering me on while I make porn."
"Adult content," she corrected automatically. "And yes, that's my job."
She disappeared completely, leaving Jake alone in his apartment with a dozen floating screens displaying information about his new reality.
Jake looked at the quest timer.
[QUEST TIMER: 6 DAYS, 5 HOURS, 32 MINUTES REMAINING]
Six days.
He had six days to figure out how to gain one hundred followers by creating adult content.
Six days before he either leveled up or lost his only protection against the monsters.
Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Okay," he said to the empty apartment. "Okay. I can do this. Probably... Maybe..."
His phone buzzed. *News alert."
"ANOTHER DUNGEON BREAK IN CHICAGO - SYSTEM HOLDERS RESPONDING"
Jake's hands clenched into fists.
"I can do this," he said again, more firmly. "I have to do this."
He opened his laptop and started researching, not monsters this time, not even dungeons.
He was looking up successful streamers. Content creators. Adult performers. Anyone who'd built an audience from nothing.
If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right.
Or at least, not completely wrong.
The F-rank in Technique might be accurate now but it didn't have to stay that way.
Jake was going to become a porn streamer.
And somehow, he was going to survive.