Now I'm Truly the Strongest!
The next day, stream time.
Just as I'd promised the viewers, I sang through every song they'd requested—and before I knew it, we'd reached the finals.
Vaundy — Monster's Flower Song / Mrs. GREEN APPLE — I'm the Strongest
True to a finals matchup, two singers with absolutely insane talent went head-to-head.
"Since it's the last round, I'll watch the live versions too."
Deep listeners all share one trait.
You just can't feel a song's full emotion from the studio album alone!
Well, there was something to be said for atmosphere, so they weren't wrong. And if you really wanted to see a singer's true skill, you had to watch them live anyway.
Of course, right now I was just picking songs I liked, so it didn't matter that much—
Mention live performances and they light up like this. It also made me look like a streamer who actually cared about the content—two birds, one stone. All in all, there was no reason not to watch.
"We'll start with Monster's Flower Song first."
I found a video on YouTube and hit play.
♩~ ♬♪~
Vaundy, as expected. The fact that a human throat could produce such rock-solid technique was almost uncanny—he just sang that well. On top of that, he wrote and composed everything himself. A genuine genius. Every lyric he penned was delicious enough that even literature lovers flocked to him.
Chat, of course, exploded. Just being able to land those high notes that cleanly, that consistently, was more than enough to steal the audience's hearts.
"Ah, that was so good."
I was about to clap and deliver my thoughts when—
Damn! Finals really brought out the premium live-performance rates!
Sitting in a corner of my room singing paid way better than going out and busking. The world was wrong—spectacularly wrong.
"Thank you for the fifty thousaaaand!!"
But for me, it was a pretty great world.
"Hmm, ah! Hmm!"
I'd taken their money, so I owed them a proper warm-up. I left the live video up on YouTube and set the instrumental track.
"Starting now!"
The accompaniment rolled out, and I rocked my head back and forth as I belted it.
♩~ ♬♪~
My pronunciation held. It wasn't that fast a song, after all. And the key was a male key, so it didn't feel especially high either.
"Hwaah… hwaack…."
Even so, I could still feel the sheer cruelty of those Japanese songwriters. The defining feature of Japanese songs was that they gave you absolutely no time to breathe. You almost had to wonder if they'd written it just to kill whoever tried to sing it.
"Th… thank youuu…."
Through blood, sweat, and tears, I finished the whole thing. By the second half, I couldn't even remember how I'd been singing.
I gulped down water while watching chat. Still, it seemed like my sincerity in trying my hardest had gotten through.
"N-next song, let's listen!"
I'd already heard both of them plenty of times on the way through the Round of 128, so there was no need to ramble on with a review. Listen to both, sort out the pros and cons, and that was that.
Click.
Next up, I'm the Strongest started playing.
♩~ ♬♪~
I'd been completely drained from singing, and yet this song poured strength right back into me. If Monster's Flower Song was all emotional lyrics, this one was pure fighting spirit. It really was the perfect insert song for a certain famous pirate-boy manga. Even if you didn't know the lyrics, Mrs. GREEN APPLE poured that fighting spirit out so hard it hit you anyway.
"Whoa…."
No matter how many times I'd heard it, a gasp slipped out of me midway through. How to put it… a wizard of pitch? The song itself bounced all over the place, and they made it even more delicious live—enough to give you chills.
Insane.
I'd heard that used to be a really unstable live performer. Pure effort had gotten them to this level. Paired with a song that shouted I'm the strongest!, it looked incredibly cool.
I…
Maybe because it was the finals, somewhere in the second half that thought drifted in.
What had I ever done?
If someone asked whether I'd worked hard at games, well—I had. Building skill meant more money from boosting gigs.
…My chest ached a little.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE had reaped the fruits of their effort and were living their dream on a stage like that. Me? I'd spent my whole life shut up in a one-room apartment.
Wasn't I the kind of player who made even pros shake in their boots?
And so what? Did that change anything?
Kim Jio, staring at a monitor with trash piled on the desk. A scene I'd never actually seen with my own eyes floated up in front of me.
"I am… the strongest…."
The song ended.
The song ended, and—
The reaction I'd planned never came out.
Tears welled up for no reason.
Because I was angry? Because I was sad?
After a second of thought, I realized it was because I was happy.
Happy that the thing I used to mutter alone—At least in games, I'm the best!—I could now put out in front of this many people. Happy that even though I'd never once dreamed of becoming a VTuber, I was aiming for the top of Pajijik, and that felt proud.
It must have been piling up.
A life I'd lived alone, comforting myself. The one talent I'd tried to bloom had been a terms-of-service violation, and because of that I could never walk around with my head held high. Maybe that had stung worse than growing up without parents.
But that had been my choice alone.
"Th-that was… good…."
My hiccuping voice went out over the stream as-is. I was a pro now—I was supposed to keep the broadcast smooth—but these damn tear ducts refused to listen to their owner.
I wasn't even this emotional. I wasn't the type to get moved by just anything, either.
︙
Without meaning to, I'd vacuumed up the donations too.
Normally I would've grinned and gone, Wow, even crying makes money?
"Waaaaaaaaaah! Thank youuuu everyoooooone!!"
I am the strongest.
Together with you, I'm the strongest.
Those words echoed through my head.
Yoo Serin's "J-POP World Cup That Koreans Love" was won by Mrs. GREEN APPLE.
I tried to keep streaming after that, but the viewers all told me to go rest, so I ended the broadcast early today.
"Why did I even do that…."
Just thinking about it again made me cringe. Why had I burst into tears right there?
It felt like it had overlapped with the past, but when I'd lived as Kim Jio I hadn't particularly felt wronged. If anything, I'd been happy I could make money from my room.
"Ugh… I even prepped after-party games."
The Round of 32 finished in three hours at most, so I'd even bought a couple of viewer-participation games ready to go. But right now I was just staring blankly at the dashboard.
It took quite a while to get my emotions back under control.
Well. Some days are like that.
Streaming was full of variables, wasn't it? This one had been completely unexpected, but we'd gotten through it, and that was enough. If it happened again later, I'd go to a hospital or something.
Swoosh—
The mouse cursor that had been heading for the VTuber gallery stopped.
Not today.
Every thread about me would be plastered with the crying. No point in looking. There wouldn't be any useful reactions to salvage either. Better to just reply to the comments on Y and take a rest.
"Huh?"
I changed course and opened Y—and a few DMs were waiting.
Most were messages of comfort, plus one toxic one accusing me of faking tears for money.
And then….
Ye Youngja?
A familiar nickname. A VTuber who'd chosen an activity name that sounded like something only grandmas used. Among the indie VTubers, she was the one who particularly often pushed for exchanges and collabs with other streamers.
What does she want?
Half-doubtful, I clicked the message.
The contents soon filled the screen.