33. Can You Hear My Voice?
33. Can You Hear My Voice?
***
"Umm... the specs really are good."
Sua, who had been fiddling with my computer, murmured with a strange note in her voice.
"What's weird about it?"
I knew enough to check specs, and I'd looked around the community to confirm my PC was still top-tier. So I'd figured there wouldn't be any issues.
"Well, the specs are good, but right now you're using a single-PC setup, right?"
"Is single-computer a problem?"
"No, it's not that you can't. But streamers usually use a two-PC setup: one computer for gaming and another dedicated to broadcasting the stream. So no matter how powerful one PC is, there's still a pretty big difference between a single-PC and two-PC setup."
As she said that, Sua rummaged through the box she'd brought.
Then she pulled out a sleek, gleaming monitor, and I found myself staring blankly at the sight without realizing it.
'Why is a monitor coming out of there?'
Weren't you supposed to be helping with my stream setup?
"...If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've just ordered another tower too."
With that, she neatly set up a separate monitor on the desk, and it just looked fascinating.
Maybe because times had changed, but aside from a few components, everything was wireless instead of tangled cables. It felt convenient that programs just worked once installed.
But to me, it also looked even more bizarre.
She fiddled with this and that so easily, and watching her, I couldn't help thinking I'd been right to ask for help—if I'd been the one messing with it, I definitely would've gotten pissed off halfway through.
"The extra monitor is for keeping an eye on chat and the streaming software. You can stream from one PC, but multiple monitors are basically a necessity. Unless you're in Another World, trying to do everything in windowed mode while checking chat separately is seriously exhausting."
A perfectly poised college girl was talking nonstop like a professional programmer, and all I could do was nod along.
"..."
After that,
An expensive-looking microphone and stand now sat beside my mouse, and a sleek widescreen monitor had been added beside my ordinary one.
And things like a webcam were for cam streaming, apparently, and various broadcasting programs were added too.
When I said I had no intention of using the webcam, she said she would leave it out of the setup, which was a relief.
After that, she seemed to install a few more settings I didn't understand, and even with explanations, I couldn't follow them.
......
About an hour later, various pieces of equipment sat on my once-simple desk, each proudly on display.
I poured two drinks from the fridge and brought them to the room, and without realizing it, I wondered what kind of situation this was.
Things hadn't just gotten big—they were moving way too fast.
As I stared blankly, it hit me that I was really debuting as a streamer that day. The thought felt strangely unreal.
Setting that thought aside, I handed one of the drinks to Sua.
"Here... have a drink at least."
"Oh! Thank you!"
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you."
"Oh, and the stream setup is all done. I've installed all the programs too, so all that's left is testing the stream and checking the audio and frame rate!"
She said it with a bright expression, and while I nodded, I thought, wow, I'm really doing this streamer thing.
"So, want to sit down for a moment?"
"Uh... are we going live right now?"
"No, first we'll test the mic on our own. Then we'll actually turn on the stream and test it."
After that, I just watched as she fiddled with some microphone-related program.
Right next to me as I sat in the chair, she clicked away at the mouse and keyboard like an expert, and I was impressed.
She was so competent and decisive that seeing her help this seriously made me think I should work hard too. The thought came to me without warning.
Honestly, I'd planned to just half-ass being a streamer, but things had gotten way bigger than expected.
"So, Serin, want to say something?"
"Ah. Ahhh. Ahhhhhh."
Maybe she'd set up some kind of echo, because my voice resonated subtly.
"You can just keep saying anything. It's a sound check, so I'm going to test all sorts of things."
"Ah, it's so hot today. I don't know why it's hot, but anyway, it feels hot."
As I just rambled whatever came to mind, I heard giggling from beside me.
After about a minute or two of that, Sua said it was good and I could stop.
"This should be enough to get the basics dialed in. You could go live right now, but..."
Then she suddenly stopped mid-sentence and turned her head to look at me, and I wondered if something had gone wrong.
"Serin! Now that I think about it, have you decided on your streamer nickname!?"
Nickname?
I'd only ever thought of just going with Rin.
"I was just going to go with Rin... but now that I think about it, is it taken?"
The name Rin wasn't that famous in this world, but it wasn't a nickname nobody used either. Just as I was wondering if I should think of a new nickname, I saw Sua slowly nodding in front of me.
"No, well, you can make a similar nickname even if it's taken... you just mix numbers or letters after the name Rin. And honestly, even if nicknames overlap, in the end it's no different from the most famous person having claimed it."
"Then I'll go with something like Rin(91)..."
"Um, Serin? Don't you think 91 is a little weird? It feels like you were born in '91..."
"Hmm..."
She looked at me as if to say that, whatever else I chose, that one was definitely wrong, and I found myself second-guessing it.
I was going to be called Rin anyway, so I didn't see why I had to agonize over the numbers or letters after it.
Then I just picked up my smartphone to check the time.
2:38 PM.
"Then something like rin0238..."
"Don't you think the numbers at the end are too ugly?"
She'd guessed where I'd pulled the numbers from and said it in a slightly deflated tone, so I just shook my head.
"...I'll be called Rin anyway, won't I?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
Sua let out a small laugh at my reaction and shook her head slightly, then, as if realizing something, started opening tweetie.
"Oh, now that I think about it, I should turn on my stream first and pull some attention your way."
As she said that, she suddenly looked at me from close enough that our breaths nearly touched and smiled brightly, and I had no idea what she meant.
As if understanding my confusion, Sua spoke again.
"You said you definitely weren't going to turn on a cam, right? Plus, your first stream has to double as a mic and general test, so you actually shouldn't jump straight into Another World either."
"...What does that have to do with anything?"
I wondered what the problem was.
"Simply put, if you go live like this, basically no new viewers will find you. You're not playing a game on screen, and you're not turning on a cam. You'd just be showing a plain default background. You might get one or two viewers at most."
"Is it that bad?"
"Even if you reveal yourself as Rin, at first people will probably just think it's bait. If you log into Another World, the whole point of the test stream disappears, right? And being a streamer is hardest when you're first starting out. It's way easier if someone sends viewers your way."
Seeing her so confident, I blankly thought that if I'd started streaming alone, I would've flopped.
Since she was a big-name tweetie streamer saying all this, I accepted that it was probably all true.
The more I learned about being a streamer, the more it felt like sinking into a swamp.
I'd thought I could just turn on the stream, but reality was very different.
...
After that, Sua turned on her stream and said various things, and watching the viewer count skyrocket in real time, I couldn't help but be impressed.
Just by turning on her stream, thousands of people naturally clicked into her channel to watch her—watching it happen was something else.
"...... The streamer with the nickname 'rin0238' really is the Another World user 'Rin.' I ended up coming to their place today after helping with stream setup and all sorts of things. Remember how I told you before that I actually met the person called Rin?"
[?]
[Wait so you're saying you're in the same house as that Rin user right now?]
[Are you seriously telling Rin to leech off you right now?]
[Here come the people screaming "throwing" again lololololol]
[lololololololololol]
[No but is Rin a guy or a girl? Just tell me that]
[Is that Rin person asking for a host or something?]
[Do you really want to see me die...? You're seriously telling me you're under the same roof as someone else right now?]
[Are you dating that Rin person?]
[What's with Plea's simps all having a collective seizure at once lolololololololol]
[Simps collectively combusting lolol]
"...You Plea-lings know better than anyone that I barely leave my house, right? And I really only came over to help with stream setup, okay? Why are so many of you typing weird stuff in chat today?"
As she said that, she glanced at me, and Sua clearly seemed flustered. She'd confidently said she'd bring viewers in and turned on the stream, but honestly, even I thought she'd worded things strangely.
She's at someone else's house right now.
Nobody knows if that person is a woman or a man.
Sua was definitely a famous Another World streamer.
And Sua's appearance had already been widely known when I'd searched her up before.
Her makeup was different enough that she looked almost completely transformed—a near-180-degree change from how she looked now—and even I had mistaken her for a celebrity at first.
So in simple terms, she was basically like a female streamer.
From then on, she chose her words very carefully.
Probably because I was involved and the situation was what it was, she seemed to be watching her words.
I knew right away why the viewers were angry, and there was no way Sua didn't know either. But the reason she was floundering like that was probably because she couldn't reveal information about me.
Or maybe, since this was something unplanned, Sua was flustered too.
In the end, I sighed, moved closer to the mic, and slowly opened my mouth.
"...Ah, ahh."
It felt strange, but this was all because of me in the end, so helping clean it up felt like the right thing to do.
"Can you hear my voice?"
I spoke into the mic, half like a test.
At my sudden action, Sua looked at me as if asking if I was sure, and I just nodded.
Even if I didn't turn on a cam while streaming, I would still have to talk, so my gender wasn't something I could really hide.
[What????]
[Is that really Rin?]
[Wait she was a girl????]
[That voice—thought my ears were gonna melt;]
[A girl?]
[RIN!!! I'M DYING!!!]
[What's with her voice...]
I looked at the chat window on one side of the monitor, took in the situation, steadied my voice, and spoke.
"Yes, it's me. I'm the Another World user Rin."
Speaking into the mic felt so awkward that I found myself paying extra attention to my voice, and I realized this was harder than I'd thought.
It was really embarrassing—saying a game nickname instead of a name and claiming it was me made my fingers and toes curl in real time.
"...It seems there was a brief misunderstanding with the viewers while Plea was trying to do me a favor out of kindness."
[It's really Rin???]
[Wow she was a girl?]
[That voice tho...]
[It's such a unique voice but weirdly pleasant to listen to]
[If Rin says it's a misunderstanding then it's a misunderstanding fr everyone shut up]
[Rin when do you go live? I'll have the tab open right away]
[The nickname is rin0238 search the ID and leave the tab open gogo]
[Is it real that viewers' attitudes completely changed the moment they found out Rin's a girl lolololol]
[Does someone at Rin's level even need to leech off anyone?]
[Fr there'd be tons of people watching Rin even if she just went live, what leeching lolol]
[She's already super famous just from the community and NewTube, why would she leech off Plea seriously lololol]
'Actually, leeching was exactly what I was trying to do.'
I just kept my mouth shut and signaled Sua with my eyes. Meaning she should continue the stream now.
Honestly, I had no idea what to say after that.