Yoo A-yeon's Solo Stream (2)

That day, he lay on his futon and turned on his smartphone.

It was his third year of being unemployed.

He had no particular daily routine.

Waking up in the morning, browsing online communities, leaving troll comments on trending posts, and giggling at people's disgusted reactions—that was it.

A troll, as they were called on the internet.

That was the perfect word to describe him.

Even during Yoo A-yeon's lecture, the massive issue that had recently swept South Korea, he had trolled diligently.

Someone had posted a MeTube link to A-yeon's lecture in the gallery, and when the gallery users started raiding the chat, he joined in.

Controlling other people's emotions—that was the sole joy of his life.

Then, today.

A certain livestream popped up on his MeTube algorithm.

He smirked.

It's finally here.

Yoo A-yeon was a celebrity whom no one in South Korea didn't know at this point.

News of A-yeon's broadcast was already starting to spread across various online communities.

The stream's viewer count was steadily climbing.

He cracked his knuckles and entered the stream.

Perfect timing. I was getting bored.

But then.

Something caught his eye.

An image occupying the bottom-left corner of the screen.

A photo of Yoo A-yeon and a woman in her late twenties who slightly resembled her.

And a business card below the photo.

He stared at Yoo A-yeon, who was writing alien-like characters on a whiteboard with a dry-erase marker.

"A lawyer's niece...?"

His hand, hovering over the chat window, froze.

"...I'll let you off the hook just this once."

Giving up on trolling, he opened his favorite gallery.

Posts about A-yeon's stream were popping up here and there in the gallery as well.

Then, a post caught his eye.

As soon as he read the post, his eyes widened.

"What? Yoo A-yeon browses the gallery...?"

That in itself was entirely possible.

After all, the gallery was a site anyone could access with a simple search.

But now that he knew A-yeon's aunt was a lawyer...

A creeping sense of anxiety washed over him, wondering if something might go wrong because of the posts he had written.

Cold sweat broke out.

Gulp.

Swallowing hard, he immediately ran a cleaner program to delete every single post and comment he had ever written.

And the other anonymous users who had been trolling similarly, posting weird, borderline-creepy comments, also panicked.

As soon as they realized Yoo A-yeon was a lawyer's niece, they deleted all of their posts as well.

Thus.

The internet became a slightly cleaner place.

Yoo A-yeon's "lawyer talisman" had played a part in purifying the internet.

The broadcast continued smoothly.

Standing in front of the whiteboard, I chattered away without a pause.

As the stream neared its end, I felt my voice growing a bit tired.

Still, standing up and writing equations on the board with a marker was much more comfortable than sitting in front of a laptop and typing.

The atmosphere of the chat window changed dramatically as the broadcast went on.

For the first fifteen minutes, the chat was filled with compliments from Korean viewers.

And so on.

But once I started chattering in English, the speed of the Korean viewers' chat slowed down noticeably.

Occasionally, a question would pop up in Korean.

But I answered in English to accommodate the international viewers.

At that, the chat grew even quieter.

For those who couldn't understand spoken English, it must have been a boring stream that offered zero dopamine.

Most of them probably just left it on in the background while doing something else.

The only watchable content was looking at my cute ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠self in a sailor uniform.

Wait... isn't that incredibly entertaining content?

You guys! Share my stream with your family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances right now!

Anyway.

The slower chat speed was actually better.

The people who just wanted to see me act cute had filtered out, leaving only those who listened closely to my serious explanations.

Questions poured in from various countries in different languages.

I answered each question diligently.

I also smoothly answered the follow-up questions that branched off from them.

Then.

Mom quietly stepped up beside me.

"A-yeon, let's wrap it up soon."

"Huh? But... there are still questions left."

"It's already been two hours."

"Really?"

Swish.

I turned my head to look at the clock.

10:00 PM.

Since the stream started at 8:00, two hours had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠indeed flown by, just as Mom said.

My legs were stiff, and my throat was starting to hurt.

As the tension suddenly released, a yawn escaped on its own.

"Yaaawn... I'm sleepy."

I capped the dry-erase marker with a click.

Then, I bowed toward the camera.

"That's it for today's stream! Thank you for listening!"

Since I spoke Korean again for the first time in about an hour and forty minutes, the Koreans lurking in the stream began to react slightly.

I took the desk clock from Dad and showed it to the camera.

"It's late, so I'm going to go night-night! But since there are still a lot of questions piled up, I'll do another stream later! Bye-bye, everyone!"

As soon as I announced the end of the stream, applause and complimentary comments poured in.

It seemed the Korean viewers, who had been doing other things with the stream on, had rushed back only after hearing the Korean announcement that the broadcast was ending.

I read the complimentary comments one by one.

Even though I couldn't hear them, getting showered with applause and praise through the chat made me feel great.

"Hehehe."

A goofy grin spread across my face.

The corners of my mouth soared to the heavens.

Dad pressed the button to end the stream.

"Unni, you worked so hard!"

As soon as the broadcast ended, A-rin rushed over and hugged me tightly.

Our parents had strictly instructed A-rin that her face must never be exposed on stream, even by accident.

A-rin had understood that well and played by herself while I was streaming.

Knowing how to suppress her urges ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even though she was only three years old.

Good girl, my little sister!

Mom handed me a glass of cold water.

"A-yeon, good job."

*Gulp, gulp!*

"Ahhh! That's the stuff!"

Drinking water after chattering for two hours really felt like the water of life.

"I should sleep quickly so I can stream again tomorrow!"

At that, Dad shook his head.

"Not tomorrow. Your voice is already sounding a bit hoarse. Let's do it again after you get some rest and fully recover your energy."

"Hmph..."

"Pouting won't change my mind."

"...Okay."

After that, the broadcasts continued about three or four more times.

A massive amount of MeTube VODs of my lecture-style explanations piled up.

If I received emails with duplicate questions.

It became incredibly convenient because I could just attach the MeTube VOD link and stamp the exact timestamp for them to check.

"As expected of Mom! Best idea ever!"

Thanks to Mom's idea, I could easily respond to the barrage of question emails, feel good from receiving tons of praise, and even become a little more famous.

"Hehe, right? I'm just glad you don't have to sit in a posture that's bad for your health, A-yeon."

"I'm going to praise Mom a lot!"

*Pat, pat.*

I climbed onto the sofa and gently patted Mom's head.