A few hours later, I completed my shift. On this rare occasion, the shop manager came to visit me, and we handled the job leaving process and handover together. It was just a position as a convenience store clerk, with high turnover, so there wasn’t much to do or say. Soon enough, we greeted each other one final time, wishing us good luck in the future, and I was finally completely jobless.
As I left the store, I felt a sensation of freedom, together with some anxiousness toward the future.
‘Is that what unemployed people feel?’
Technically, SR streaming was my job, but I wasn’t an employee anymore. No more job security and any other related benefits. I was now self-employed, and, among other things, would need to fill out all my income tax-related information myself, as well as save for retirement and so on.
‘No need to get ahead of myself. I don’t even know how long I’m going to do this.’
The future was wide open in front of me. I now didn’t have any responsibilities toward anybody. Even my viewers, except for the very occasional donations, were still folks who mostly watched my content for free. In reality, it was always the same people donating, with the vast majority never spending a dime. In a way, I didn’t owe them anything whatsoever, even though they probably thought differently. This was a common discrepancy between content creators and content consumers. From my point of view, I couldn’t help seeing people who consumed content for free as leechers, because this was exactly what they were. But, well, it was my choice to keep my channel public, so there was that.
Shaking my head, I left those thoughts behind me. I went back to my new apartment, which would now be cleaned by a professional once a week, and took a well-earned rest. I left again in the evening for my daily streaming session, which I temporarily used to fill my place with nice furniture and appliances like a large TV or a dishwasher.
Since this was just a standard session, I chose not to spend too much time on it, preferring to keep my strength for the next day.
Saturday. After a full week of preparations, I was ready for the challenge that awaited me. As long as she was on the same level of numbness as Genesis, I should be able to manage it. Katia was living around two hours away by train from my city. I left early to compensate for any potential issue that could make me late. I had spent all my life in the same place, and except for a few school trips, paid by the orphanage, I hadn’t travelled much outside of my comfort zone. As for taking a plane, it had been but a vague dream for someone like me.
I enjoyed the rare train ride, watching the passing landscape most of the trip, and arrived with plenty of time at my destination. With my new phone and its plethora of apps, it was no trouble to reach Katia’s home. Just like me, she was living in an apartment building, and she opened the door soon after I rang.
“Welcome. Come in, Parallelver.”
The first thing that struck me as I encountered Katia was her expression. It was very similar to the one Genesis sported before encountering me. Together with her long black hair and black eyes, she was giving quite a gloomy feeling overall. Her clothes were in the same vein, a long black dress that hid most of everything except how thin her forms were. She was also relatively tall, close to my height, allowing me to make eye contact with her without needing to lower my gaze.
“Thank you. Nice to meet you, Katia.”
I entered as she suggested. Her home was also full of dark decorations, and I almost felt like I had made my way into an ancient witch house, or maybe a fanatical goth-fashion expert.
“Nice to meet you. It’s been a while since I had someone at my place. Make yourself at home.”
The ambiance would make it hard, but I tried my best to stay positive.
“Has it been a long time since someone challenged you?”
“Let’s not talk here. We still have plenty of time before the stream. Follow me.”
She took me to a small living room and indicated a sofa to sit on. She brought some drinks and snacks even though I didn’t ask for anything before sitting in front of me to answer my question.
“You’re right. I had many at first, few now.”
“Are you able to make a living out of this?”
She shook her head, looking like she had gotten that question a lot.
“I’m not doing this for the money. You’re an SR streamer, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“When we chatted, you told me you were serious about the challenge.”
“Very serious.”
She nodded, her expression as still as before, but her voice losing some of its funeral-like tone.
“I’m glad. I had many people coming just for the advertisement effect without really trying to succeed.”
“Didn’t you put up a lot of prize money for the winner? You still want people to win?”
“Yes. I’m not doing this for the money. I have a normal job outside of streaming. The prize money comes from what I saved from that for a long time.”
“And you’re ready to give it all if someone somehow makes the cut?”
She shook her head again.
“It’s not somehow. Do you know how many times I reached orgasm in my life?”
Seeing how she breached the topic, I would have been a fool not to understand where she was going.
“No way, zero?”
“Exactly. Do you understand? I’ve lightly felt other people’s climaxes through records, but I haven’t managed to do it myself, not even once. That’s why I created this challenge. I want to know how it feels, at least once in my life before I die.”