Chapter Text
Zoey braced herself as the timer went from 10 to 9 to 8 all the way to 0 as she said her opening line to every stream. Her chat was going crazy on the monitor as she took a quick breath, her camera ready to display the Minecraft loading screen she had in front of her.
"What is up Hunters!" She shouted excitedly to the camera, "it's your favorite Minecraft streamer, Zoey, and we're playing Bedwars on realms today." She explained breezily glancing at chat.
BuckShotBandit: OMG HI ZOEY
ZoeyLeftEyebrow: Zoey's undefeated at Bedwars
NoDecafpls: it's such a struggle picking between Zoey, Yasaeng and Stripe :(((
Dogluver87: good morning 🙃
Byler4ever: @NoDecafepls I'm switching between the 3 tbh
NoDecafpls: @Byler4ever smart
Arty.Zara: Zoey's been brought back from being shot in the Bronx 😀😀
Zoey chuckled, she slightly heard of the other 2 streamers before. She never fully checked them out despite when she looked at chat spamming their names she felt like she should, but mainly because it wasn't their Honmoon full names and she was a little busy with college and streaming. Oh well, maybe sometime soon.
"I don't know chat, what mode should we play tonight? Singles, duo's or trio's?" Zoey hummed.
A quick glance should a wall of trio's with a small single's or rare duo's. Huh, Zoey thought, usually they have me do singles to watch me rage.
"Alright Chat, trio's it is." Zoey walked over, picking her game mode. She hoped the randoms she would play with were good at least.
Usually in trio's there were 3 roles:
Defense, who's whole role was building the defense and protecting their bed. A good role but never something Zoey ever chose.
Support, their job was to go around grabbing everything so they could actually buy stuff. Fun but not as fun as the last.
Attack, the one were Zoey could truly be a little shit as her older brother put it. Honestly? her favorite part in other games where she could hear the other team was listening to them rage over being beaten by her.
3 games, that's all Zoey could do before having to go to sleep. She'd already had done the last 2, winning her first match but losing the next. There were certainly going to be new clips of Zoey raging about none of her teammates defending their bed or base come the morning. Oh well...
Zoey waited a second as she was pair up with the 2 others for her last game. She was on the pink team, her teammates crouching and uncrouching while punching the air. She returned the greeting.
One teammate had a soft lilac tiger skin, white lines instead of black peaking over the armor with a black bandana around the neck. Her other teammate had a girl skin, straight dark pink hair, dark brown eyes with a white sleeveless shirt and forest green pants under the armor.
They seemed nice.
Currently she was on the Korean server, to lazy to change it after her summer vacation at her mom's house. Hopefully they knew English, she really didn't want to translate the words. Speaking was one thing, reading was another.
'Roles???' She asked in chat.
'Support or attack' StarredStripe, the presumed tiger typed back, thankfully in English.
'Defense' The pink haired girl typed in after a moment. Her gamertag labeled her Munjae.
Huh, Zoey thought, she's either a problem child or it's a joke... Zoey hoped it was a joke on the other gamers part.
'I'll be attack then' she typed back as they split up.
Munjae had gone to get iron and wool to protect their bed while Stripe went to collect emeralds and diamonds. Grabbing some wool of her own, Zoey looked at the other teams, orange was on the left, green straight across with blue on the right.
"Alright Chat watch me cook real quick." She said, speed bridging to oranges bed, jumping to kill the other teams players.
As Zoey landed, the team immediately jumped into action, swords swinging and knocking her back slightly. A few hearts taken before she cornered one, giving them crits before they died and the other ran, likely low. She could see the third orange slightly, over at the green base as they fought the defender.
She watched for a moment, seeing the players fight before one presumably ran low on hearts and tried to escape, the other in pursuit. It was exhilarating, the click of her keys as her character followed the code it was set to, watching pixels like it was a show she couldn't get enough of.
Walking over she mined through the 2 orange wool blocks as she destroyed the bed and the other orange ran back as it broke. She turned to them, jumping away at a swipe before hitting them back. She fell into rhythm, jump, hit, jump, hit, jump!
With a final blow he died. She picked up his drops. The few diamonds, emeralds, gold and iron were used to upgrade. She bought some TNT with what she had saved before moving to the next base.
She glanced at her chat for a moment, the were freaking out over something but it was too quick for Zoey to read. She shrugged, she'd talk to chat after raiding blues base.
It was quick, she could see them chasing off her teammate, the tiger from the small pink and lilac pixels she saw further away. She left her TNT to finish the job as another blue appeared out of nowhere.
They turned to her, sword ready after seeing their bed destroyed. She was hit, running dangerously low as she ate a golden apple, replenishing health quickly while she ran. Once she got over half she turned back, lunging with her sword and getting a solid crit.
She jumped, missed before hitting them twice, getting them low to where it was their turn to run. She wouldn't let them. She chased them as they tried bridging the her base. She could see Munjae fighting off the same orange as before, the last one.
She caught up and hit the last blue into the waiting void, if they had pearls they didn't use them while they fell. She ran over jumping as she hit the last orange close to Munjae as she killed him. Munjae picked up his drops and went to fix the damage to their defense, it was practically a mountain with end stone there to fortify.
She ran to blues base, seeing a green running, trying to make it to their base. She fought them, managing a hit that sent them down to the void as well. She looked over to see who else there was to kill.
Looking at orange she knew they all died, and it appeared that the last orange killed 2 greens and their bed while she killed the last one. Blue was almost all out except for 1.
Running over, she saw Stripe was cornered as they desperately tried hitting the blue back. Moving quickly, Zoey jumped and landed a crit on the blue. Jumping back, they tried attacking Stripe again, likely evening the odds but Zoey pushed them low enough where they ran. They chased the blue before Stripe landed the final blow as they won.
Turning to her chat she understood even less why they were freaking out.
Polylight🔛🔝: IS THAT STARREDSTRIPE???
ReiAmiNo.1: Yasaeng AND StarredStripe are playing with her rn omg
Byler4ever: BRO IM SWITCHING RN AND THEY'RE ALSO CONFUSED ABOUT THE TEAMMATE'S
"Uh, chat I'm confused, what was wrong with the team I played with?" Zoey chuckled nervously.
NoDecafpls: it's 2 other popular Minecraft streamers
CinnamonSugar: GIRL YOU JUST PLAYED WITH THE ACTUAL STARREDSTRIPE AND YASAENG
RunedMagpie: ♡♡♡♡♡
Oh.
Oh!
"Wait chat are you guys for real? I was playing with some other streamers?" Zoey asked.
Pieces started to connect in Zoey's head. StarredStripe, someone with a derpy purple tiger skin. Zoey thought the name was familiar she didn't think it was because she was the actual StarredStripe.
Then there was Munjae who was apparently Yasaeng, one of the most popular Korean Honmoon streamers. She was rumored to actually be a semi-famous model but her cameras quality made it hard to know. Oh God...
She peaked through her hands.
Please say sike, please say sike... she prayed.
Looking at the wall of confirmation she was stunned. She had been playing with two of the most popular Minecraft Honmoon steamers and her chat was freaking out.
Holy shit...
"We- well chat I'm going to go to bed now, good night!" Zoey stammered out, still reeling.
She didn't sleep at all that night.
Mira had always known she'd been popular, at least on Honmoon. She wasn't online enough to know every streamer and every update and mod in the game her channel was built around but she knew enough. 2 streamers always stood at the front when she thought of Minecraft.
TurtallyAwsome and StarredStripe. Both streamers were high in the charts, only one out publicly with the other using a digital mask to hide herself. Mira was in between, not hiding her face but making herself look different than how she did during her shoots.
TurtallyAwsome, Zoey, was known for being a troll, playing with others and being nice and sweet before annoying you and defeating you when you eventually snapped. She was, put simply, a menace and people loved it.
StarredStripe was different, fans calling her simply, Stripe. She hid herself. A mask, turtleneck, hoodie and, sometimes, even gloves were worn during her streams. Fans didn't pry, the ones that did were told off, to respect privacy thankfully. She was kind but ruthless in PvP. Viewers who watched American streamers called her the Korean TechnoBlade.
From what she knew, he was a good player, amazing streamer and better friend who was taken far too soon. Safe to say many minecraft players hated cancer, her included, it'd taken someone from her and another from someone else.
She shook off the thought, it was better to be relaxed than overthinking while she streamed.
She usually had time, enough to do at least 2 streams a week with one being today. Sure, she was tired, a photoshoot for some brand was tiring but she wanted to relax by playing the game that got her here. Making money and filling her personal quota was a plus.
As she clicked start, she saw people pile into her stream with greetings of "Yasaeng streaming again?", "We're being fed!", Or a "she works so hard." She smiled lightly at the praise, looking at her chat before asking.
"Alright, what are we feeling tonight?" She asked her chat.
She read for a moment, some spilt, but most leaning towards Bedwars. Like many players, she'd play before, not quite attacking others like attackers did or running around like support would, she enjoyed defending. She liked being able to stand on her own and defend something without being questioned even if for a moment.
"I'm seeing Bedwars right now," she spoke into her mic, going into the realms and navigating through until she clicked trio's.
Bedwars was fun sometimes, not something she mainly enjoyed being a builder in game but fun with the surrounding chaos. She loaded in, randomly assigned pink. Fitting, she mused.
Her teammates seemed nice, greeting each other and her by crouching and uncrouching while punching the air. She returned the greeting while looking them over. She paired up with someone with a tiger skin and a turtle skin.
'Roles???' Someone named BlueShell asked in their teams chat. She presumed the player with the turtle skin.
She felt like she knew where she heard that name she just couldn't place where. Maybe another streamer? It would be interesting if they were but the language barrier would be difficult based off the English typed in chat. She didn't mind, she spoke it but not fluently.
"They're asking what roles we'd like guys." She explained, the non-english speakers thankful for the translation.
'Support or attack' StarredStripe typed back.
"Uh, is that the actual..?" She mumbled, slightly stunned.
In her peripheral she could see her chat speeding by. Turning to them, she slowed it's speed just enough so she could actually read what they were saying. Reading, she saw she was correct about she assumption.
Byler4ever: I WAS RIGHT
Arsonide🔥: My girlfriend is watching Stripe next to me rn, they're playing together holy shit
MyCabbages112: are they ACTUALLY Stripe???
Byler4ever: BLUESHELL IS ZOEY!!! SHE'S THERE TOO
Mira was surprised but managed to type back.
'Defense' she answered back, glad she remembered to write in English.
'I'll be attack then' BlueShell, Zoey, replied.
They split up, Zoey ran to oranges base, speed bridging as Mira lost sight of her. Looking around, she noticed Stripe was at a emerald generator. She went to the bases own generator, buying wool and surrounding it.
She waited, saving up for better blocks. She only needed 24 iron for 12 blocks, hopefully she'd get more before but she'd take it. The first player came, a blue from her right.
She jumped into action, fighting them back until they jumped off the side, a small blue wool block catching them. They built up but Mira was ready, hitting them off and into the void. She smirked as they punched desperately in the air.
She waited, thankfully no other players coming to attack as she got her iron. She surrounded it a layer of end stone before getting more. She talked to chat, answering questions, huffing occasionally at a funny joke while she waited. She was building with pink wool when the orange came.
Running over, she saw the orange jumping while hitting the air. She abandoned her nearly finished 3rd barrier, some end stone peaking out. She swung her sword but the orange was quick, jumping and dodging when she tried to drive them back.
Mira didn't know when, but she was backed into a corner, the orange jumping and hitting. Her hearts going down quickly. She tried hitting them but they didn't budge.
Just as she hit 2 hearts, Zoey came. She jumped and hit them in the back, pushing them away so they missed their shot. She didn't let the opportunity get away. She hit them, pushing them to Zoey as she knocked them back to Mira. She landed the final hit. As Mira grabbed the oranged drops while Zoey ran to blues base, running to destroy the 2nd to last bed.
She had finished fixing their defense when they won, a slightly longer than average round for her but fun nonetheless. Mira found that she hoped she'd play with them again, some day soon.
She hopped into her next game, Stripe and Zoey no where to be found. Ah well, she guess it was late for Zoey and Stripe likely was put in another game. Maybe she could get her manager, Bobby, to set something up?
She played 4 more games before logging off to go to the gym and then have dinner. Her thoughts strayed more than once to the two other people she played with. She'll have to watch their next streams.
Rumi started her stream as she always did, fully covered in her clothes and mask. She wasn't shy she was just cold and trying to make herself warm. Yeah, she was cold and her fans loved her mask so why change?
Her scars wouldn't define her anymore.
She turned her digital mask on, purple pixels displaying 2 circles for her eyes. Her chat flooded with people, long time fans and new ones greeting her.
It was a casual stream, a quick game or 2 for fun. It wasn't competitive at all. No, competitive streams were when she turned off her camera and fought in PvP competitions, nothing to block her vision while she played. Those were where she often won in.
"Hi guys!" She greeted happily, the mask showing a purple ╹▽╹ on its screen, "we're gonna play bed wars again today and we're going to do trio's!"
LocalLesbean✂️: the masks little emojis are so cute to me for some reason
Byler4ever: StarredStripe, Zoey AND Yasaeng streaming? It's so hard to choose 😔
BobaBoy🧋: @Byler4ever why not switch between them?
Byler4ever: @BobaBoy🧋 I love you forever for that idea
Rumi chuckled under her breath at her fans interaction. She found herself drifting in wonder of the 2 others mentioned. Maybe they were other streamers?
It wasn't that Rumi wasn't constantly online, she knew that she was a popular streamer (admittedly after her friend Jinu joked that she's a superstar), but she did have to say that she didn't know just how big. She had been absent from the online world except for streams and a few Minecraft videos. Her socials truly were a ghost town.
Her screen already displayed the Minecraft title page. Her character was simple, a nice light purple tiger, it's stripes a soft white with a black bandana. She tried to model it's eyes after Derpy, Jinu's pet cat that he dyed blue, the 2 black pixel eyes spaced out in a blank expression.
Clicking through she was in Realms and going through the motions to play her game. She preferred to play trio's, teams made her feel like she wasn't as alone even when she knew she'd likely never see them again. It wouldn't be different this time.
Clicking through, she spawned in, pink leather armor on her Minecraft skin. Pink team, I swear it reminds me of someone, she thought curiously, but who? She left her thoughts alone as she turned and greeted her teammates.
She noted their names and skins. One was named BlueShell with their turtle skin a light apple green with an even blue shell that reminded Rumi of lapis ore. It was cute in an odd way and reminded Rumi of her own skin. Their gamer tag was fitting too she supposed.
Her other teammate, Munjae, had a somewhat common type of skin. Rumi wonder for a moment if Munjae had long hot pink hair like her Minecraft skin suggested or if her eyes were the same deep brown eyes. Rumi could she her clothes underneath, forest green pants and a white sleeveless shirt with a collar, maybe her favorite?
After crouching and uncrouching for a moment, Rumi got a notification in the player chat.
'Roles???' BlueShell typed.
American? Rumi thought it was odd. They were in the Korean server but she thought it could be someone who accidentally joined the wrong server or a student trying to learn a new language. Either way, she was grateful for learning a small bit of English from Celine.
'Support or attack' she messaged back.
She had to admit, most of her English was just for simple small talk but gaming allowed her to learn more. A few slang words and words often used in friendly games along with some viewers who only typed in English. She didn't mind all things considered.
There was a small pause before 'Defense' popped up after Munjae took a moment.
Normally Rumi would find it weird, hoping that whomever she played with hadn't realized who she was but she just shrugged it off, likely trying to translate into English for the seemingly American teammate.
'I'll be attack then' BlueShell finalized, moving towards oranges base while she herself went to collect emeralds and diamonds.
As she gathered things she would answer questions from chat.
Why do you need emeralds and diamonds? They were a form of currency in Bedwars.
Did she always play Bedwars? This was actually her second time, she was defender last time and wanted to try each role.
Why didn't she show her face? Personal reasons with her long time fans backing her.
She took a small sip of the Taro milk tea that sat next on her desk, careful to not let her mask sip when she read it.
Biyo🍊: did you know that you're playing with the streamers TurtallyAwsome Aka Zoey and Yasaeng?
Rumi coughed on her milk tea, her mask showing a surprise °∆° on its screen. She tried to regain her breath as her character stopped moving in game. She felt a twing grateful that her hadn't choked on a tapioca pearl. That would be an awkward way to face reveal.
"Chat I-" Rumi coughed, bringing an ungloved hand to her mask, "I'm streaming with who?" She asked nervously.
Her mind recalled the earlier messages.
StarredStripe, Zoey AND Yasaeng streaming? It's so hard to choose 😔
She was playing with the other streamers and it had unfortunately hit her where she'd heard their names before. They were other streamers but that wasn't the worst part...
The worst part was that they were in the top 10 of Minecraft streamers for Honmoon along with her so they most definitely knew who she was. She recalled how Yasaeng looked like someone. She's the rumored model! She realized. The turtle now also made sense, she'd been hearing about a blue shell but assumed it was the item from Mario, not, an American-Korean streamer.
Rumi was silent as she processed, her mask wore a blank expression before she saw herself getting attacked on screen.
A player from the green team had attacked her, pulling her from her stupor as she fought back. Luck wasn't on Rumi's side when she realized there were two, one further back. The fight wasn't as quick as Rumi hoped, every time she attacked they got closer to Blue's base just as she managed to kill the green player. It was only then did she realize that she was surrounded.
Rumi speed bridged, trying to escape and looking around for the missing Green player but was unfortunately cornered. Rumi swatted them with her sword but watched her health go down quickly but that's when she saw her. Zoey arrived, jumping across her bridge and she hit her attacker.
The blue jumped away before trying to target Rumi once more. They're trying to even the odds, she though in dismay. They fought them until eventually Rumi managed the final blow.
As the blue died, a Victory! Screen appeared. She let the breath she'd unconsciously kept out. She didn't dare to look at her chat, the words speeding away as quick as they came in her peripheral.
"Well guys, I think I'm going to end stream here," she said awkwardly, usually she'd go longer but honestly she was tired, "sorry and I hope to see you all next time!"
As she clicked the end stream button she sighed. Gods she was tired but also intrigued, maybe finishing her lastest chapter could wait, she had research to do.