My Virtual Lover

Live 9: Different Perspectives

Kevin Darius is having fun with his newfound online friend, a cute girl with the username Tempesta. She’s tomboyish and somewhat clueless about her surrounding, after his jog he would always visit Holorealm to talk to the girl who constantly tailing him like a younger sister. The young man is somewhat curious about the obedient girl who gawks at her shooting skill.

Kevin finds her actions to be cute, resembling the Vtuber he likes. He somewhat wants to coddle the cute girl he talks with, but there’s little information regarding her identity. Judging by the tone of her voice, it doesn’t seem as if Tempesta is a young girl. Perhaps, she’s around his age or even older.

The young weeb Kevin is twenty years old, barely starts his freshmen year at Bandung. He wonders if Holorealm will be the place where he could find a friend, a gaming mate that he can depend on. Even if he already joined some Discord gaming community, it feels as if something within his chest is missing.

However, seeing Tempesta next to him eases his mind quite a bit. He would never have thought he gains a devotee, a person who devotes her time to someone as insignificant such as him. Even though she tries to hide it, Kevin can see Tempesta’s intention. Her attitude is as bright as the sunrise, she might try to hide her admiration for him but her shyness proves his point.

“You never tried APEX before?” he asks Tempesta who’s sitting next to him. “I thought you know something about APEX by now”.

“Yeah, I know it” she gulps nervously. “My oshi Kano loves playing APEX”.

Kevin makes a confirming noise, it was surprising to see the girl is into Kano who is a mischievous Vtuber. He asks if Tempesta has been a fan of a Vtuber to which she replies with an enthusiastic nod. 

“Kano is my lifetime oshi! For real!” she grins in wonder. “I found him for the first time when I was in the dump! He cheers me up, I love seeing him pranking people and making fun of his peers”.

Her enthusiasm for Kano is contagious, Kevin find himself smiling while listening to Tempesta rambles about Kano’s achievement in APEX. Suddenly, an idea shows up inside Kevin’s mind, thinking that perhaps Tempesta would be delighted if she plays APEX with him. She’s glossing over APEX gameplay and fun environments but never tried it for herself.

He offers his hand to Tempesta who is still on the hype of telling Kano’s tales to him.

“Say, why don’t we play APEX together? You like APEX right?” he tilts his chin.

Tempesta is frozen at her place, unable to answer Kevin’s offer since she feels inferior in that kind of game. Kevin notices Tempesta uncomfortable gestures, nevertheless, he still asks Tempesta to play with him since she loves Kano so much. 

“You like Kano because he plays APEX right? Why don’t you try to be in his shoes, to feel what he feels when you’re playing his favorite game?” Kevin suggested to her. “I think it’ll be great for you too, APEX is famous for the battle royale game!”.

“But I don’t know how to play the game at all” she shrugs uncomfortably as her eyes wander to the ceiling. “I have a bad aim, so I don’t know what should I do”.

Kevin feels the urge to teach the cute girl, despite looking tomboyish can act cutely in front of the college man. He wants to bully him, that’s the first thing he thought of when she sees her being so obedient to him. However, he needs to keep his image since he just knew her. Kevin smirks at her, the girl accepts his offer as she shakes his hand enthusiastically.

“Alright then, teach me how to play APEX” Tempesta grins satisfyingly. “You’re my senior now!”.

*   *   *

After conversing for a few hours, Jury exits the Holorealm app since she knows that she needs to return to her graphic design job sooner or later. Her heart skips a beat whenever she hears Kani’s smooth voice, she’s melted with his avatar smile along with his kindness to her. 

She’s interested in knowing more about him, she blushes brightly when she thinks of him whispering next to her ears. Kani’s voice is an ASMR quality material, she’s enchanted with his voice as she daydreams of Kani pushing him on the wall with his sweet-flavored accents. His voice sends a shiver to her spine, perhaps the woman is frustrated with how good he sounds.

“HE CAN MAKE AN ONLYFANS ACCOUNT AND I WOULD PAY A HEFTY MONEY FOR HIM!” she slams her fist on the desk with a joyful smirk. “GEEZ! KANI IS MY NEW IDOL IN HOLOREALM APP! I hope he doesn't find out though, that would be embarrassing”.

Jury jumps on her ivory bed as she rolls around the bed, enveloping her body with the warmth of the blanket. She’s now a sushi roll, a happy sushi roll that rolls around her comfy bed in a huge grin. Like a child who just found a new toy, Jury can use Kani as her inspiration for boyfriend material.

“I want a boyfriend like Kani! His voice is as soft as a silk! It’s undeniably gentle” she talks to herself in a trance, hugging her body pillow dearly. “Then again, APEX has been pretty popular among gamers”.

She gets up from the bed and sits on the office desk, she opens her laptop browser. She searches for APEX, she found out that other Vtubers are also joining the APEX popularity bandwagon to increase their cloud. 

“This might be a good chance to learn a thing or two about APEX with Kani” she smiles to herself, gushing in happiness that she can use APEX to approach Kani who she admires a lot. “I hope Kani won’t find out who I am though, that would be a hassle”.

She minimizes the bowser and continues to design the logo design for a cafe in Jogja, she has submitted the revision but no one replies her email yet. Jury sees this as a chance to read the mangs he has yet to read, she searches through the browser of her laptop to find an online comic she already bookmarked before.

“I hope the client doesn’t take too long, I want to finish it as soon as possible” Jury clicks through her laptop browser.