Returning Transcendent Opens an Idol Agency

Chapter 92: Hana Homura – [Neighboring Malice] Let’s play more horror! (part I)

A cute thumbnail of a chibi Hana bonking a cartoon zombie with a chair. The words “Neighboring Malice”, emblazoned in a cutesy font with orange letters.

[Neighboring Malice] Let’s play more horror!

Hana Homura Ch.

Live in 5 minutes

November 16, 12:00 PM

[Yes! More gaming with Hana!]

[lol that thumbnail’s awesome]

[Let’s go imouto!]

[Bets on if she’ll get scared?]

[10K yen that she’s going to scream at the first jumpscare]

[10K that it’ll be something unexpected instead]

[I bet it’ll be the boss!]

[*Eh? Hana streams horror games?*]

[*Why a zombie game of all things?*]

[www our little sister’s trolling hard]

[???]

Live in 4 minutes

[MOD: Mama Hana – Good luck Sweetie!]

[Mama!]

[Ara ara]

[*Is that Hana’s real mom?*]

[*I’m new!*]

[*Welcome!*]

Live in 3 minutes

[10 USD – *Zombies? After what happened to Alfi?*]

[100 CAD – Little sister weekly allowance]

[10k yen – www Hana’s trolling Alfi for dying to zombies]

[Hana Homura Ch. – E-Eh? Alfi nee-chan died to zombies?]

Live in 2 minutes

[Poor Alfi]

[MOD: Alfi Titor Ch. – T_T]

[Alfi-chan!]

[So why Neighboring Malice?]

[20 USD – Hana-chan! Luck Good!]

[Hana Homura Ch. – Y-You’ll do better next time, Nee-chan!]

Live in 1 minute

[Let’s go!]

[*I’m excited!*]

[*How different is Hana from Alfi?*]

[10 USD – Kusa]

Waiting for Hana Homura Ch. to start…

[Hana’s BGM]

“Ohanayo!”

The thumbnail changed, revealing a closeup of Hana waving at the camera. She smiled and then stepped back, doing a small twirl. “It’s been a while since we’ve played a game together, hasn’t it?”

[It’s only been a week]

[Not that long!]

[*Oh, she’s cute too!*]

[*Alfi is cuter*]

[Bets on if our imouto will get scared this time!]

Hana glanced over to read the chat and then smiled. “But a week is a long time, isn’t it? And a lot’s happened!” Hana stepped forward and then pulled a chair from out of frame before sitting down. Afterwards, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on a table in front of her and held up her head. “It’s nice chatting with everyone between songs or in the Superchat readings, but playing a game together like this is more fun, isn’t it?”

[1K yen – Yes]

[10K yen]

[100 USD]

[100 yen – yes]

[5 USD – Hai!]

“Oi!” Hana huffed and said, “Don’t waste your money to say one word! And you two with the red superchats! Say something!”

[10K yen – something]

[100 CAD – ok]

[*Wish I had money to burn like that*]

[lol]

[*4AM gang let’s go!*]

[*It’s getting late here, but staying up for little sis!*]

[overseas bros, fighting!]

“Eh? Overseas- Oh!” Hana’s eyes widened and then she frowned. “*No stay up! Too late! Sleep! Watch archive!*”

[100 Euro – No.]

[10 USD – No.]

[5 USD – No.]

.

.

.

[10 CAD – No.]

“…Hah.” Hana sighed and then shook her head. “You all are too irresponsible with your money… But moving on!” Hana quickly changed the subject and said, “Today’s game!” She reached forward and then pressed something. When she did, the screen layout changed.

Hana moved over to the right side, and then chat moved over her head. But it wasn’t the ordinary chatbox. Instead of the usual wireframe, it looked like an old and rotted wooden box, with bloodstains around the edges.

And then, taking up most of the screen, a menu appeared with the title “Neighboring Malice” written in blood. Below that were options for [New Game], [Load Save], and [Exit Game].

[Ooh! Spooky!]

[Neat!]

[*Nice!*]

[*She’s really playing a zombie game?*]

[I don’t think horror suits Hana…]

[You must be new.]

Hana smiled and said, “I spent all morning putting it together! It’s cool, right? Ah, El- Miss Beta helped, but I told her what to do!”

[El?]

[El… dest sister?]

[!!! Miss Beta is really an Onee-sama?]

[MOD: Beta – Not yours, at the least.]

[Shut down here too?!]

Hana laughed and then picked up a controller. “Let’s get started! I’m excited to play this game. Hopefully it’s actually scary…”

[Our little sister is too strong.]

[You… want to be scared?]

[As expected of Hana.]

[Don’t run around screaming like Alfi when you see the zombies www]

“Eh? Nee-chan did that?” Hana giggled and said, “I didn’t expect her to be the type weak to horror.”

[Alfi Titor Ch. – I’m not!]

[www]

[someone’s in denial]

[Alfi Titor Ch. – I’m really not! Really!]

[The more you deny it…]

Hana shook her head and said, “You guys, stop bullying Nee-chan!”

[Alfi Titor Ch. – Right! Stop being mean to me!]

“…You can do that when she gets Superchats unlocked.”

[Alfi Titor Ch. – !!! Traitor!]

[will do!]

[100 yen – ok]

[5 USD – *Got it!*]

Hana laughed and then said, “It’s your turn to get bullied by money, Nee-chan! I can’t wait!”

[*Must be nice having people throw money at you for not doing anything*]

[*people waste money on this?*]

[*lol otakus*]

[100 USD – *Must be nice not having a job and needing to validate your selfworth by hating others*]

[???]

[What are the foreign bros saying?]

[They aren’t bros!]

[*And you people must have a lot of time on your hands to hate on someone as sweet as Hana!*]

[*No fighting!*]

[There are bad people mixed in!]

“Eh?” Hana set her controller down and glanced off to the side, frowning. “What are you guys talking about?”

[some foreign spammers are saying you’re getting money for nothing]

[ignore them Hana!]

[The Ohana will support you no matter what!]

[Must be nice having a company backing you]

[Miss Beta!]

Hana’s frown deepened as she read the chat. But then she smiled and said, “It’s okay, everyone. Um, I don’t know what the foreign commenters are saying, but it’s true. the only reason that I’ve gotten this far and so fast is because I got a lot of help.”

[You don’t need to defend yourself, Hana!]

[That’s not true!]

[you work super hard!]

[See? She admitted it!]

[so what?! She does more than you do I bet!]

Hana shook her head. “It’s true that I put in a lot of effort practicing with Mister John and the others, but if I never met them… If I never met Mister John, I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t have met my Ohana.” She smiled and said, “I know I don’t deserve all of this happiness and success. But I’ll do my best! And… I hope that will be enough for everyone watching me.”

[of course it is!]

[50 USD – Always support Hana you!]

[5k yen – you deserve everything Hana!]

[100 CAD – Ignore them. Will support always.]

[20 USD – *I’ll follow you anywhere!*]

.

.

.

A rainbow of colors flew through the chat, washing away whatever negative comments might have been written. And at the same time…

[MOD: Beta – *You cannot hide. I hope that paltry sum was worth it.*]

…An ominous message by Beta flew past, hidden in the mix.

Of course, nobody noticed.

Hana’s eyes watered up as she say the colors flying past in the chat. But she didn’t cry. Instead, she laughed, brushing away her tears. “Everyone’s trying to make me cry again with money, huh? Not this time! More importantly…” She huffed and said, “Stop wasting your money! I can accept it when I’m performing since that’s my job as an idol. But today’s just a relaxing stream! A hobby, not my job!”

[75 USD – *That can’t stop me because I can’t read moonrunes*]

[10k yen – And this is spending money for your hobby]

[5k yen – Supporting my imouto in her hobbies]

“You guuuuys!” Hana crossed her arms and pouted. “I’m going to turn off Superchats again if you keep this up!”

[Alfi Titor Ch. T_T I’m sorry I can only play games… orz]

Hana’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “I didn’t mean that, Nee-chan! You’re a great idol! Promise!”

[www]

[lol]

[Distraction success!]

[Are we playing the game soon?]

[So impatient!]

“Oh!” Hana nodded. “Right! We should start! It’s already been… fifteen minutes?! Sorry! Let me get the game going…”

[It’s okay!]

[Let’s do this!]

[*No worries!*]

[For you we are here!]

[overseas bros using Googol translate again www]

Hana picked her controller back up and pressed start on [New Game]

A cutscene began to play. A helicopter flying over a dark evergreen forest, illuminated only by the headlights. Flashes of newspaper reports with headlines like [Mysterious Homicides], [Hannibal Lecter Copycat], and [Cannibalistic Serial Killers]. Following that, a narrator mentioned that the elite COMET Team were flying to Tycoon city to investigate the source of the reports.

[Spooky.]

[We’re playing the remake?]

[This will be scary!]

[But will it be scary for Hana?]

[MOD: Mama Hana – Sweetie? Will you really be alright playing this?]

Hana glanced to the chat, waiting for the cutscene to finish. Reading it, she smiled and said, “It’s alright! It’s bright out and I have a cup of hot chocolate here in case things get too scary, so I’ll be fine! See?” She reached off to the side and pulled back a tall thermos.

[I… don’t think hot cocoa helps with scares]

[Well chocolate helps with stress so maybe…?]

[I believe in our invincible imouto!]

The cutscene ended with the helicopter crashing and text stating that the COMET Team were scattered, leaving three survivors to fend for themselves. And as they wandered through the dark forest, they found themselves at a mysterious manor…

Following that scene, a character selection screen popped up. One was a policewoman with a beret called “Julia White” and the other was a soldier called “Kris Bloodland”.

“Oh!” She glanced at the chat and said, “Who should I pick?”

[Kris!]

[Julia!]

[Kris has better weapons]

[*Julia unlocks the true ending!*]

[*Does she?*]

[There’s a lot of bad endings for Julia…]

[Aren’t there more bosses in Julia’s route?]

Hana waited, reading the chat. But after a few minutes and seeing a split, she hummed. “Well… We can always try Kris later.” She moved her cursor over to Julia and said, “If we get a bad end, we’ll try again. Okay?”

[:sweat:]

[G-Good luck!]

[aren’t there more jumpscares in this route?]

[Don’t tell her!]

“Ooh! Are there? Then we’re definitely picking this!” Hana pressed confirm and the game started.

[We’re going…]

[Let’s go!]

[:gulp:]

[*popcorn*]

Another cutscene. The camera panned to Julia White walking into a lush and luxurious manor lounge, followed by two men, one a tall and muscular African-American soldier and the other a suspicious man with blonde hair and shades.

Narration started to play out. Story unfurling as the characters talked. And talked. And talked.

Hana frowned. “…Do all horror games have cutscenes this long?”

[Nah. Only Neighboring Malice]

[Yep!]

[*Don’t get me started on indie horror games…*]

[*At least it’s not a walking simulator*]

[walking simulator, lol. Foreign bros are funny]

The cutscene ended and Hana got control of her character. “Finally!” She immediately ran off to go explore the manor.

[Be careful!]

[Don’t get scared!]

[Oh no…]

“It’ll be fine!” Hana smiled and made Julia open a door. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

[SHE SAID IT!]

[OH NO!]

[Wait. Isn’t this where the first- fwesd]

*GRAGH!*

A gargled roar, followed by a zombie with rotting flesh and exposed blood vessels lunging out at Julia.

A forced jumpscare, one meant to introduce the player to the damage system as well as combat. Most would get caught off-guard and damaged.

But-

Hana giggled and made Julia dance around the zombie. “How silly. Isn’t this monster funny, everyone?”

[…]

[S-Sasuga, imouto]

[Alfi Titor Ch. – :sweat:]

[10K yen – I lost the bet…]

“I wonder if I can… Oh!”

Gunshots flashed and then the zombie fell down, collapsing in a puddle of blood.

Hana blinked and then tilted her head. “He died that easily? But I wanted to play with him a bit more…”

[S-Scary.]

[PANIK]

[No wonder our sister is so fearless…]

[*Wait. Hana’s the scary one?*]

[*Always has been.*]

[50 USD – *BANG*]

_________