Real-Time Apprehension

"Huff, huff." Kang Hanna let out a ragged breath as she returned home.

"What just happened?" She had intended to ask the man next door, who had suddenly become so noisy since yesterday, to keep it down, but...

"He's actually a man?" At first glance, she hadn't thought of him as a man, but looking back, he felt like a man in every sense of the word. It was just that he was so similar to the men in her imagination that she hadn't truly believed such a person existed in reality.

"But... he won't report me, will he?" She had made an absurd mistake from their very first meeting, and even before she left, she had been incredibly rude, even if she hadn't said it out loud.

"If I had his number... no. That would be even more rude..." If she had his number, she could have calmed down and sent an apologetic text, but the very act of asking for his phone number felt like it could be a major issue, so she stopped herself.

"Anyway... was I really his first?" Among the things he said to her before they ate, he mentioned that she was the first woman he had ever brought home.

"That can't be true, obviously..." It was hard to believe that someone who looked like that had never brought a woman home until now.

"Right... let's just say hello if we meet from now on. No need to be greedy..." Hanna had never once thought she was lacking in looks in her life, but she realized that she was also a lacking woman to be standing next to Miru.

"Ah, I should have asked for his channel name." Kang Hanna was left with a lingering sense of regret.

"Hmm, that's cheeky..." Honestly, whether or not I saw a character similar to me in some manga didn't matter to me, but the fact that I had to clean up the desk by myself put me in a bad mood.

"If I meet her later, I'll have to tease her once more." After stacking one more 'prank point,' I finished tidying up and lay down on my bed.

"Should I watch some streams?" I entered the stream at the very top of the list. Kwak Gwangpal. She was a streamer who used a stage name rather than her real name. She was achieving excellent results in her live broadcasts, and she was a successful streamer whose YouTube subscriber count was about to hit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠1 million.

"I hope I can grow to that level, too." It wasn't exactly a thought someone like me, who had done something controversial from my second day of streaming, should be having, but hey, isn't it okay to dream as much as you want?

"Hmm... 'Beginner VTuber Legend Incident'? That looks interesting." Currently, Kwak Gwangpal was browsing her own fan cafe. The post Gwangpal clicked on contained footage of me.

"Huh? Why am I there?" The video in the post captured the moment I was having a seizure after eating spicy *Yeop-tteok* (spicy rice cakes).

"Pfft-hahaha. What is this? This person's raw physical talent is hilarious."

"Who did they say it was? Hakuryu? Is he Japanese?"

"Ah."

"Ah."

Kwak Gwangpal sighed at the same time as I did. *'Ah... did I set the persona too aggressively at the start?'* But what can I do when I hate the men of this world?

"A women's rights activist? That's reasonable enough."

"They're an interesting person. I wonder if I can upload this to YouTube? Does this person have an email or something?"

As soon as I heard Gwangpal's words, I left my email address on my channel page.

"No, wait. I can just do it via stream chat, right?"

"?"

"Hakuryu-nim? You're watching my stream?"

And just like that, I was caught red-handed.

"Would you happen to be available for a call right now?"

I hurriedly turned on my computer.

"Yes, yes. I'll send you a personal message."

After entering the phone application on my computer, I added her as a friend through the link Gwangpal-nim sent.

*'Must not forget to turn on the voice modulation program...'* In my previous world, I had often forgotten to turn on the program, leading to my 'red pill' (true identity) being revealed many times, but I wouldn't make that mistake now.

As soon as I turned on the modulation program, the ringing tone sounded.

"Yes, hello?"

"Would this be Hakuryu-nim?"

"Yes, that's me!"

"Are you currently on a break from streaming?"

"Uh... actually, that clip was an incident that happened today, so..."

"Ah. You were resting after your stream. I'm sorry. I rudely interrupted your break."

"No, no. It's fine. It's actually an honor."

"Really? Then, I'll cancel the request."

"Pardon?"

"You said it was fine, didn't you? Anyway, how old are you?"

Kwak Gwangpal proceeded naturally.

"I am, uh..."

"For reference, I'm asking for your real age."

"Ah. Then, I'm twenty-one."

"Pfft. Then what about your RP (Roleplay) age?"

"Uh... I haven't thought about it yet, maybe around twenty-nine?"

"Hahaha. Do you not know what RP is?"

"What? I do. I'm a VTuber, after all!"

"Hahaha. I really can't hold it in. Anyway, I'm twenty-five."

"Ah, so you're an *unnie* (older sister)?"

"That's right. In that case, can I speak to you informally?"

"Yes, yes. Please, go ahead!"

"Alright. Kuryu, you can speak informally to your *unnie* too."

"Uh... should I call you Gwangpal *unnie*?"

"Yes, yes."

We quickly switched to informal speech.

"When did you start streaming, Hakuryu?"

"Uh... yesterday!"

"Really? You have a great sense for streaming. Were you always interested in it?"

"I suppose so? That's why I was watching your stream and got caught..."

"Hahaha. That's true."

The stream proceeded smoothly.

"Anyway, I didn't introduce you properly to the viewers! It was such a sudden joint stream that I forgot. Go ahead and introduce yourself!"

Gwangpal *unnie*—no, *noona*—suddenly made me introduce myself.

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Gwangpal-nim's viewers. I am the Queen Hakuryu who is currently streaming!"

"Wow! Clap clap clap, a Queen? No wonder your character looked so elegant."

"That... that's not the character, that's my actual appearance..."

"Ah, okay, okay. Then should I treat your age like that too?"

"No. My age is fine."

"Hehe, okay. Anything else you want to introduce?"

"Hmm... I am working to improve women's rights in this kingdom!"

"Ah. Right. You had that persona, too."

"It's not a persona..."

"I know, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I know. Anyway, why that persona?"

*'It's not a persona...'* I felt like I was being looked down upon, but she was a big-time streamer. It was a realm where a small-time streamer like me couldn't fight back.

"Hmm... I don't have a grand goal like 'I will create a society where women are respected!'... I just want to do it?"

"Really? You're just doing it for fun?"

"A little bit? But it's not like I have no thoughts on it at all... just something like that?"

As I showed signs of wanting to change the subject, she naturally moved on to the next topic.

"And I heard a rumor that you're an *Egen-nyeo* (a girl who is 'Egen')?"

She probably saw in the chat that I call myself *Egen*.

"It's not a rumor, it's the truth! Every commoner in this kingdom knows that I, Queen Hakuryu, am *Egen*!"

"Really? Is that why you ate spicy *Yeop-tteok* and ended your stream while crying your eyes out?"

"..."

"Anyway, how did you know I was watching this stream?"

"Hmm... it's obvious you're trying to change the subject, but I'll let it slide this time."

"...Yes. Thank you."

"It's nothing, I just typed in your ID to send you a personal message asking if I could use your video, and it showed that you were watching my stream."

"Does it show things like that?"

"Yeah, it does?"

"Ah..."

"Hey now, don't insult our Hakuryu, no matter what!"

"Gwangpal *unnie*, I trusted you!"

"Even though our Kuryu cries after eating tteokbokki, gets caught watching streams secretly, and doesn't even know what RP is!"

"*Un...nie*?"

"But she's still a good... kid, right?"

"Hey. Let go."

"Hahahahaha. This is so fun."

"Is it fun only for you? Is it enough for you!"

"Yup."

"Where do you live?"

"Why? Are you going to come find me? Are we doing a real-life joint stream?"

"...No. Sorry, I was wrong."

"Pfft. Right, that's what I thought. Ah, you're so much my type. Are you going to stream often from now on?"

"I have to. I need to work hard to earn money."

"Really? Then can I invite you to a joint stream later?"

"Oh? I'd be grateful!"

"You said it yourself. I'll look forward to it."

"Well... it's not anything weird, right?"

"It's not anything weird!"

"Then... well, I don't care. I should properly suckle on the big-time streamer's straw."

"...Are you allowed to say that so confidently?"

"... Sorry."

"So, do you have any schedule now?"

"Uh... I don't really, but I was planning to rest..."

"Ah. So you want to ditch this joint stream and go to sleep?"

"No, no. That's not it..."

"Not it. What is it, then."

"...Actually, that's right. If I run away now, what can you do, *unnie*?"

"What!"

"I'm going to get some sweet sleep now. Good luck, Gwangpal."

"Damn it, where are you going!!"

"Goodbye."

Still, I ended the call with a polite greeting at the end.

"Whew. That was a surprise."

It was a joint stream that had been arranged so suddenly that I felt like I hadn't been able to speak properly, but it seemed like Gwangpal *noona*, being a veteran, had handled it well.

"I should get out of things like this quickly. No need to be greedy."

Thinking it would be better to hit and run quickly rather than dragging it out and making it boring, I exited.

"Hmm... a joint stream."

I didn't know what kind of joint stream would take place, but I thought it would be one that wouldn't put too much pressure on me.

"She said it wasn't anything weird, so I shouldn't worry too much."

With that, I lay back down on my bed and watched Gwangpal *noona*'s stream.

"Joint stream?"

It seemed like she was going to talk about the joint stream she would be doing with me on her stream right now.

"What could it be, obviously a horror game."

"Oh, it was there? Ah. This isn't fun if it's like this..."

"Hey, well, if you *really* don't want to do it, you don't have to... but, future joint streams might be difficult?"

"Decide quickly. I have to go to a joint stream right now."

It seemed Gwangpal had another joint stream after this.

"Balding, get out, then I'll set the horror game joint stream schedule?"

"Are you going to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠keep watching the stream?"

"No, it doesn't matter. If you can handle the embarrassment yourself?"

'?' Why would I have to handle the embarrassment?

"I'm going to show my members Hakuryu eating tteokbokki!"

"Yes, then have a fun evening."

With Gwangpal's final words, I ended my stream viewing.