Kael sat still in the dim, crumbling corner of his shelter, the faint glow of the smartphone illuminating his face. The Feral's body lay motionless on the floor, its grotesque form now a silent testament to Kael's first brush with death.
His hand shook as he reached out to touch the screen again. The app icons shimmered in front of him, Broadcast+, ShopNet, and Gallery. He stared at the glowing notification:
"You have received your first gift: x5 StreamCoins"
A strange, foreign sense of power pulsed through his veins. Five coins. It didn't seem like much, but considering the world he lived in, where every scrap of tech was worth more than life itself, it felt like the universe had suddenly tilted in his favor.
The sudden attention he had garnered from the stream was both unsettling and fascinating. The comments continued to scroll, lighting up the screen with usernames Kael had never heard of before. Some were amazed, others skeptical, but they were all watching.
[PastWatcher88]: Damn, what kind of sick ARG is this? This feels too real…
[MikaLuv]: That dude is not acting. This is insane. Real monsters in the background. This is like… A documentary.
[AxelPrime]: Get out of there, bro!! You're gonna die!!
Kael frowned, wiping a smear of blood from his cheek as he let the stream continue running. The thought of ending it never crossed his mind. His heart raced with a mix of fear and excitement. He'd never been watched by so many people before, let alone have so many strangers… Care.
He had always been invisible.
And now, he was the center of something... Something bigger than his miserable existence.
The glow of the smartphone was almost soothing in the otherwise dark, damp space. The air around him felt heavier with every passing second as if the device itself was pulling him toward an unknown future.
His fingers hovered over the ShopNet icon. He had no idea what it meant or what it could offer, but after the strange notification, the impulse to explore it was undeniable.
He pressed it.
The app blinked, loading up a clean interface with a single line of text:
"Welcome to ShopNet. Use your StreamCoins to purchase items. Available products will be shown below"
A small window opened, displaying a range of products. Each item was listed with a price tag, far more extravagant than anything Kael had ever seen in his life. Some of the products appeared to be high-tech survival gear, others more mundane but still clearly valuable in this broken world: weapons, food rations, medical kits, and even tools for scavenging.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
He had no idea how this worked, but something about it felt right. These were the kinds of things that could change his life, things that could let him live beyond the next scuffle, beyond the next fight for survival. These items had value and with those five coins…
His fingers brushed against the options. One item, in particular, caught his attention: "Lightweight Tactical Armor (Level 1)", priced at 5 StreamCoins.
A protective vest. Nothing fancy, but in his world, it was a lifeline. He didn't need to think twice.
He tapped it.
The moment his finger left the screen, the icon shimmered and vanished. A few seconds later, a soft pulse filled the air, and an object materialized in front of him, shimmering into existence.
A black tactical vest. Lightweight, sleek, and surprisingly well-designed. It looked new, with no rust, no wear, nothing that screamed: "scavenged from the ruins"
Kael's breath caught in his throat. He reached out slowly, almost afraid to touch it as if it might vanish.
But it didn't.
It was real.
His mind raced.
"How the hell...?"
He grabbed the vest, pulling it over his shoulders. It fits perfectly. The fabric was lightweight but sturdy, and the material gave off a faint hum of energy. It wasn't just armor... It was something else entirely. Something from a world long lost. The sensation of holding it, of feeling its presence, made Kael feel like he had crossed into another dimension.
For the first time in his life, he felt like he had something worth holding on to.
The smartphone buzzed again.
[System] You have a new message from [ShopNet]: "StreamCoins: 0"
Kael's heart sank.
He was out of StreamCoins. The reality of the situation hit him harder than he expected. What could he do with nothing left? Was the vest all he could get?
But then, something else caught his eye on the screen.
Another icon flashed.
"Unlock Streamer Status."
Kael squinted.
He didn't know what it meant, but the thought of getting back into the system somehow, of having something that would allow him to continue exploring this strange new world, was too tempting.
He pressed it.
A confirmation screen appeared.
"Unlock Streamer Status for 50 StreamCoins?"
Kael froze.
Fifty? That was way beyond his reach. His current five coins were nowhere near enough.
Suddenly, the phone buzzed again.
[System] Congratulations! Your Streamer Status has been unlocked for the first milestone: "Fringe Streamer"
The phone blinked, and a message appeared:
"First Milestone Reward: 10 StreamCoins"
Kael blinked.
Ten coins.
Enough to get him started again.
He was still on the map. This wasn't over.
"Fringe Streamer," he whispered aloud. He didn't know what it meant, but the system had given him something. That was more than he had ever had in his life.
The stream continued. The comments had slowed down for a moment, but Kael could feel their eyes on him.
[PastWatcher88]: Is he going to keep streaming? That was one hell of a close call.
[MikaLuv]: This guy's insane. He doesn't even seem scared. He really beat that thing down!
[AxelPrime]: What's next, man? Show us more of your crazy world.
Kael looked at the phone again; the stream still lives, the world still watching.
He had something now. A way to survive. A way to fight back.
But what would he do with it?
As the viewer count continued to rise, Kael realized something.
This wasn't just a broadcast. This was his chance. A chance to change everything.
And maybe, just maybe, it was his only way out.
--------
Kael leaned back against the wall, the tactical vest hugging his frame like a second skin. He could feel the faint energy coursing through it, like static before a storm. He wasn't sure if it was protecting him or marking him.
The stream was still live.
His fingers hovered over the cracked screen. The viewer count had climbed past 800 now. That number felt alien. It was more people than he'd ever spoken to in his entire life.
He tapped the screen.
The camera view shifted, showing more of the cramped shelter. The bloodied corpse of the Feral was still visible. The image flickered from time to time, as if the app itself was struggling to process the grotesque reality it was broadcasting.
The chat exploded again.
[VoidRamX]: Yo is that a real body?? WTF
[MikaLuv]: Bro don't move the camera like that I almost puked
[PastWatcher88]: This has to be real… too much detail. I've seen war footage with less grit than this.
Kael watched their words fly past, half in disbelief, half in awe.
He licked his lips, unsure, then muttered toward the camera, "Can… you guys really see me?"
The comment feed slowed... Then erupted.
[AxelPrime]: HE TALKED!!! HE ACTUALLY TALKED!!!
[MikaLuv]: YES WE CAN SEE YOU OMG YOU'RE REAL
[DigitalDrifter]: Holy hell. This is real-time. No filters. No CG. That's a real human voice.
Kael blinked, then rubbed his face. "I don't know what this is… Or how any of you are watching me, but… I'm not acting. This is real. The monsters, the world... It's all real"
Another flood of reactions:
[SurvivorJunkie]: WHERE ARE YOU??? What city??
"I... I lived in Zone 5X-44" He paused. The silence weighed on him again, but this time, it wasn't loneliness, it was attention. Eyes. Hundreds of them.
"I… I killed that thing. I didn't mean to stream it. This thing just turned on by itself"
[TechnOrchid]: We watched you. That was INSANE. Like, you fought it off with a pipe.
Kael chuckled, dry and sharp. "Yeah. I thought I was gonna die. I still might"
A beat.
Then he looked directly into the lens. "But you're still watching"
A moment passed.
[DigitalDrifter]: We are.
[MikaLuv]: Of course we are.
[AxelPrime]: You're not alone anymore, man.
Something cracked in Kael's chest, not pain, but something warmer, more fragile. He hadn't realized how long it had been since someone had seen him.
The system pinged again.
[System] You've gained 15 Followers.
[System] Viewer Donation: +5 StreamCoins
[System] New Emote Unlocked: "Feral Down!"
A glowing icon appeared in the corner of the screen, a pixel-art version of the Feral, its head comically detached. A laugh escaped Kael before he could stop it.
"... What is that?"
[MikaLuv]: We cope with humor.
[PastWatcher88]: Honestly this is better than anything on NetStream.
[VoidRamX]: This is a survival horror with a REAL main character; I LIKE THIS SETTING!!
Kael stared at the screen a moment longer, then something shifted in his face, resolve hardening like cooling metal.
"Alright, then," he said. "If you're really watching… I'll keep showing you what this world is. But if I'm gonna survive it…"
He tapped open ShopNet again. The ten coins were waiting.
"… Then I need your help!"