Back again in college...

  While it's been a few days since the incident, I'm relieved that I'm back here focusing on my studies rather than [Isekai] this week. While I'm suspicious that I haven't seen David and Eric lately, it's been very quiet. I finished my essay for Literature and managed to breeze through Advanced Algebra. This respite is brief, but I'm glad everything went well for today. Well, all except for the inevitable reunion with Danica later.

  "Yo, Luke! Over here!"

  I turn around to see not only Brycen in the cafeteria but also Harley standing right next to him by our usual table. I walk up to them while waving my wallet in my hand.

  "Hey, guys. I'm surprised David and his goons haven't gotten to you next," I said.

  "Yeah. I'm surprised Eric is also AWOL, too," Brycen pointed out. "I'm guessing the Goodie's incident must have been too much for him."

  "I heard what happened on Twiddle, Lucas," Harley said. "I'm still shocked you quit that dumb job like that. Not to mention how you did it without raising your voice until you gave him the flip."

  I sheepishly chuckle at the flip part. "Yeah... It's a bit dumb about it. But it's either that or I'll be walking around with a black eye. Regardless, some of the customers at that time recorded most of the incident, and with Eric being one of the "main stars" of those viral clips, there's a chance he will be recognized by other students. So hiding might be his best option right now. Besides, both choices are worse than the other. Face David for his failures or face the public for the humiliation he deserves."

  "That's...one way to put it."

  I sighed and put down my bag next to my seat. "In any case, I'm done with Goodie's, and I'm done with one of David's minions for now. All I care about right now is my studies and my new job."

  "Well said! We have to move forward, after all. There's no point in worrying about David and his goons for long. Besides..." Bryce quickly pulls me closer to him. "Luke and I have some big things in mind, both in the writing and [Isekai] opportunities!"

  I chuckle dryly at this. At least he didn't mention the [Lycanthropes].

  "Right... But before all of that, I got a lot of things on my agenda today," I declared. "Don't forget that I'm still in the red after leaving my only stable job. I have to be prepared for the transition."

  "Not only that, you're going to meet with your sister later on, correct?"

  I flinch at the mention of that word. How the hell did Harley kno-

  "Danica texted you, didn't she?" I quickly guessed.

  He then responds with a chuckle. "I'm not much of a backstabber. But you know her by now."

  Ugh... This is why I keep my activities away from Danica's eyes and ears. She can be a tattle-tail sometimes...

  [A few hours later...]

  And done! All of my classic novels and novella collections, along with some fantasy ones, are now packed in the box. The move is not until tomorrow, but I'm glad I'm mostly carrying light, and most of the furniture is already owned by the landowner. So it's enough to hire a moving company with a cheap price for the boxes I have right now. All that's left is my [VeilCon], which means I can't log into the game for today due to my packed schedule. That also means I won't meet Fenrir and the others later since I have to wake up early tomorrow. I would have to worry less about the game since they're only NPCs. But they've been looking out for me ever since I accepted the [Lycan] [Hidden Quest]. I guess that means I need to log in and make an excuse about my absence in . After that, I'll pack up and doze off for the night.

  That aside, there is only one more issue to settle. I just hope she isn't lost like last time.

  KNOCK! KNOCK!

  "Hey, Lucas! It's me! Write me in!"

  And I shouldn't worry about her for nothing. I stood up from the floor and headed to the door so I could open the door for her. When I do, I see the very same woman I saw in that selfie photo. A 19-year-old woman is standing in front of the door with a cheeky grin. She has the same brown braided hair with pink highlights and wears an orange crop top with orange shorts and yellow-orange sneaker boots.

  "Glad to see your smug face as usual, Danica," I greeted in my own way. "I'm surprised you weren't followed by a paparazzi along the way."

  "Oh, shut it. You already know what I do in my streams. Unless there's a dox, no one will get to my RL self that easily!" Danica said with a burst of confidence. But then, it disappears when she pushes me aside and looks around behind me. "By the way, are you planning to redecorate or something? What's all these boxes, bro?"

  "Those? You might have guessed it by now, but I'm moving out starting tomorrow."

  "Moving out?!" She gasped before catching her big mouth. "Are you sure you weren't hurt by that incident? Since when did you get a new apartment or house?"

  I sighed. "Since the incident. I have a feeling that might bring me trouble in my usual pad now that the clips from it have gone viral. I can't say much, but I'm moving to a place where I can start my new life away from Goodie's. Don't worry, I have a plan to take care of my rent and income."

  "That's...good to hear," Danica looks at me with worry in her eyes. "I won't pry more about your reasons. I'm more surprised you're making a risky decision just to restart your life after the incident. Are you sure you don't need my help?"

  "On moving or money? Don't worry, I'll call Brycen and Harley to help me with the move, while my new boss and landlord will take care of the rest." I answered. "I told you before, I'm now an adult. I can't rely on you too much for finance and job hunting. Besides, you earned your money fair and square. Well, I can't say it is since it's mostly donations."

  "Hey! I have to tell you know donations count as income, and I also earned money from sponsorships and ad revenue. Plus, I can't keep all of my paychecks since I have to pay my editors and artists, too," she protests with the somehow cutest pout I've ever seen.

  "Don't worry. It's not like I'm making fun of your career. Uh, slightly..." I can hear a growl under Danica's throat, not unlike an angry werewolf. "Okay, I'm sorry! All I'm saying is that I'm not much of an entertainment kind of player like you. You have your own ways to work, I have mine."

  Danica huffed. "Okay... You have a point. I get you don't want to abuse your role as my brother, but just know that I'm here to help you out in whatever kind of pinch you're in. I may be the brains behind the Warrior Princess of Bonds, Venus Qizu-"

  I quickly covered her mouth before she could finish her sentence. "Idiot! I thought you said revealing your identity to the public without being planned means chaos, remember?! And some of my neighbors are fans of yours."

  "Oops... I almost forgot. Thanks, bro."

  I sighed while Danica laughed sheepishly. As expected of an aspiring content creator, she has growing confidence the bigger her reputation grows. However, it can be a double-edged sword since she has a habit of spouting out secrets. For example, her identity as one of content partners and as one of the famous Vtubers, .

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  After a close call, we decided to head out for dinner at a nearby restaurant. As much as we want to hang a little longer in my apartment, it's full of boxes, and I doubt Danica will be comfortable on the old sofa in the living room. Luckily, it's a ramen stand owned by some nice Japanese immigrants, and while I don't want to treat her as an emergency wallet, I let her pay the bill this time for my sake. I've been wanting to try out their miso ramen for so long, and I thought I wouldn't have the chance if it wasn't for her. Then again, this is also my "payment" for giving me money for my first visit.

  Once we had made our orders, we left the chefs to their work as we continued our conversation from earlier.

  "So Luke, what have you been up to in [Isekai] lately?" Danica asked. "I know what you're going to ask, and I have to say, 'Yes’. I've been busy a lot on my end. Though you really need to check me out from time to time. You know how much of a pain I have to tell you everything beyond your little world. It's not hard to go to my channel every once in a while."

  Yeah, yeah... I have gotten this lecture a lot of times ever since she became a Vtuber. Unlike normal streamers, she has to hide behind an animated avatar to stream and create some kind of backstory behind it. While I'm not behind with the concept of Vtubers, the fact that they can create a story while hiding their identities is an ingenious way to become a content creator. No wonder it became a thing in the 2020s. However, Danica's VTubing style is a bit different in recent times. Before, she mostly streamed with an avatar just like any other virtual streamer. But ever since [Isekai] was released, the game offers several camera perspectives for potential streamers like her. And to my surprise, she managed to create a character that closely resembles her old avatar and slowly became her new appearance, especially when she became a content partner for the game. No wonder she got so many subscribers after the launch.

  "I wish, but multitasking with your stream is too much of a pain whenever I try writing or studying," I answered. "And while the in-game video streaming feature is released in beta, I can't be distracted with [Quests] and customers moving my attention away from it."

  "Yeesh... Even in the game, you're still the same busy-body as I remembered." She sighed. "Though I like the old, reckless, and confident Lucas more than the strict and pushover Lucas."

  I groaned when she brought up my embarrassing past. "Danica, please. Don't bring that up right in front of the customers. I have to tell you, know I still have a bit of fun in me."

  "Yeah. But you only show that in your writing style and blogs. You really should express yourself more than cooped up in your ol' little bubble in your noggin."

  I groaned again. "Trust me. There's a difference between reckless and confident and I doubt I have time for either of them."

  "Hmph! Keep telling yourself that. But I assure you, your old fun self will come back to you eventually. You never know where it pops up."

  "Yeah, like that will h-"

  Wait, "pops up"? Hold on a second... My [Inner Wolf] is supposed to represent my personality scanned from the [VeilCon] as Mr. Spencer said, right? Don't tell me that wolf is my...

  "Uh... Earth to Luke? Our ramen's here."

  I almost lost my cool when she called out to me. Just like she said, I turn around and see my miso ramen and Danica's shoyu ramen have already been placed on the counter with two pairs of chopsticks beside them. Of course, saved by dinner.

  "Thank you." I bowed to the chef who gave us our orders before he went off to take care of another. I slowly split off the chopsticks and grabbed most of the noodles with them. It's a bit clumsy since I haven't used them before. But I managed to eat them without dropping into the bowl. We spent a few seconds enjoying our ramen before we continued the conversation. "Skipping to another topic, do you want to share anything from the game? Considering you were completely updated with the game events compared to both of us, I have a feeling I might miss a lot from the past week."

  "Past week? What? Don't tell me you've been living under a rock lately?"

  Sort of... Since I'm stuck in the village because of my [Lycan] transformation, I have no idea what happened in during my absence lately.

  "Right... Well, nothing else happened except some sightings of those two boys who were able to control the chaos in the potion incident. Heard that they were bombarded by several players like paparazzi. Although there was an interesting rumor roaming throughout

  lately..."

  "Interesting rumor?" I repeated before I sipped a bit of the ramen soup.

  "Yep. Some players encountered a new type of werewolf prowling around the lately. A pelt colored in almost pure silver pelt and gold eyes!"

  And that's the point I spit out my soup away from my sister. "S-Silver werewolf?"

  "Oh, you're interested in the story. Normally, it's Bryce who should be, since he's a werewolf nerd," Danica said. "It's not fully confirmed since the screenshots were too blurry to be seen as genuine and some of the anonymous players claimed they were killed by it during a [Dungeon Quest]."

  "Anonymous", my ass. They must be the party members who were with Eric that day, and they still must be salty from the outcome. I'm surprised they left out the part where they were also interrupted by a "brown werewolf" and a "gunslinger player," nor being aware that telling other players about the forest meant penalties to whoever tried to follow David and Eric's example of not leaving the shrine alone.

  "Hehehe... I guess they should have been careful around those mid-level dungeons. They might be easy for veteran players, but the [Chaos Rooms] and the monsters roaming there are no joke," I feigned a bit of concern.

  "Wise words from a guide blog writer. Whatever the case about the werewolves, I'm concerned about those kinds of players, especially since I'm going pub for some [Dungeon Quest] sessions on my stream." She then gasps in realization. "Is it possible for you to write about [Dungeons] and the dangers when tackling their [Quests]?"

  I hummed with a feigned interest. "Is that a commission post I hear?"

  "Hmph! I know what you're thinking, and no, you're not getting more money from that joke."

  I chuckled, seeing how gullible my sister is when it comes to my bad jokes. "I'm kidding. I'll make a note of that. I was planning to write about it soon. Although a boost from your site helps my blog plenty."

  Danica sighs. "So you are taking advantage of your poor ol' sister after all. You're mean!"

  "Oh, come on! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!"

  Yeah... I forgot I shouldn't make jokes in front of my sister. She's not as aware as Brycen and Harley were.

  After we finished our dinner, Danica paid in full as promised, and we started walking back to my soon-to-be former apartment.

  "Since you're moving tomorrow and I still have to stay here for a week, I feel like you need some extra hands to help you with your VR equipment," Danica suggested.

  "Nice try. The only stream I saw was your PC building for your [VeilCon], and we know how you had trouble carrying it, let alone building the PC itself."

  She groaned. "Please don't remind me of that disaster. My clippers already immortalized it on E-Tube, and I have already been humiliated as it is... But seriously, should you get some kind of a housewarming party or present? You've been in that old coop since you enrolled in university, and no one, including your friends, has been into it for years now."

  "That's okay. I want my move to be as uneventful as possible. Besides, I don't want to burden you in the middle of your convention week along with your stream schedule."

  "Yeah, you're right." Danica frowned at this. Then she stopped and blocked me from walking any further. "But you have to promise me not to flake me at every call or stream. You might be a college student, but that doesn't mean you have the right to ignore me as your older sister. Don't forget you're not alone, and I won't say no to any excuse you'll make up to say otherwise!"

  She's right. Every time she calls me, I end up making excuses after excuse just to get by with my own issues here in New York. But as I learned from my experience with the [Lycans], excuses will lead me nowhere from my burdens. I don't care what David says. I have friends and my older sister backing me up, and I won't turn my back on them anymore.

  "Yeah... I promised."

  "Hmph! A typical excuse fr-" Danica flinched in mid-sentence. "Wait, you do?! What happened to those stuttering excuses and your studies? Did you replace my strict brother with a robot?!"

  I chuckled dryly as she shook my body like a ragged doll. "Nope. I'm still me," I assured. "Again, a lot has happened since the Goodie's incident, and I decided I won't be a pushover any longer. I can't promise I will watch most of your streams and VODs, but I'll see what I can during my playthrough."

  I watch Danica staring in shock, as expected. But then, she regained her composure and smiled. "Guess I can't pry any more than that. You really changed after we left our parents. I guess your decision to be independent away from them paid off in the end. I'll see you later then!"

  I waved goodbye to Danica as she went off in the other direction. She isn't wrong about my decision. I had a bad start thanks to my shitty job and David's bullying. But thanks to my friends and , I know what it means to be truly independent without sacrificing your friendships.

  I guess all that's left is a brief login into and get ready for the move tomorrow.