34. First Stream
34. First Stream
***
After that, Sua seemed to regain her composure and naturally began to smooth the stream over as she talked.
"Plea-lings, seriously... honestly, chat just now was kind of a lot. No, really... I turned on the stream because I was supposed to show someone who's about to debut how things work, and all you saw was me rambling. Plea-lings, are you really going to disappoint me like this?"
As she said it, Sua deliberately sighed and put on a show of disappointment.
Watching her from the side, Serin almost laughed without meaning to.
It was such an obvious act. But it was also so natural that it struck her as impressive.
Right now, even the stream screen showed nothing but a plain background, and only her voice was going out, so to viewers who didn't know the situation, she really would look heartbroken.
[The trolls spamming chat just now were seriously too much]
[fr like a few people were using the chat like it was their own]
[Plea's cutesy reaction brought in a ton of new viewers a few days ago]
[lol yeah the simps definitely multiplied then]
[Everyone's typing like this while feeling relieved that Rin is a woman, right?]
[lololololololololol]
[Plea must be so embarrassed lololol]
The chat kept shifting as public opinion swung back and forth.
After that, the stream continued with Sua looking like she was playing the viewers with complete ease.
She no longer stumbled over her words; she reacted to chat and kept the stream flowing effortlessly.
Watching from beside her, Serin let out an involuntary murmur of admiration.
So this was what a big-name streamer looked like once she went on air. It felt as if Sua had several masks and simply switched between them to suit the situation.
She kept talking about ordinary topics and carrying on a conversation with the viewers, and just the way she kept speaking without hesitation seemed remarkable.
No matter how much reaction there was in the visible chat, from the side it really just looked like she was talking to herself the whole time.
And seeing Sua right next to her, the way she drew reactions from viewers, or sometimes deliberately raised her energy and raised her voice, felt like a kind of talent.
Even though the endlessly scrolling chat clearly contained weird or unpleasant comments, she thoroughly ignored them and kept the stream moving without a hitch.
Even while continuing the stream, she kept glancing over at her.
She was talking to the viewers, but showing that to her seemed to embarrass her, which was cute.
About ten more minutes passed like that. Sua began to show signs of wrapping up the stream.
"All right, I'll wrap up this short stream here and help Rin get ready for hers! Plea-lings, come watch Rin's stream in about ten minutes!"
With that, Sua's stream ended.
Clap, clap.
Serin was clapping softly without realizing it.
When Sua first went live, she had looked flustered by chat blowing up. From the middle onward, though, she recovered completely and finished the stream without a single hitch.
And at the end of it all, she had even finished setting everything up perfectly to help with Serin's stream.
"Haa..."
But contrary to what I'd been thinking, the moment the stream ended, Sua buried her face in her hands and let out a deep sigh.
She looked deeply embarrassed, and she began muttering quietly.
"Honestly, it's my first time streaming with someone else next to me too... ugh, seriously. Did I look really weird to you too, Serin? I said I'd bring in viewers for you to see, and then this is what happened. God, I'm so pathetic..."
She slowly lowered the hands covering her face and looked at me.
Her cheeks were faintly flushed, like she was embarrassed, and she also looked like someone who had tried to confidently show how streaming was done and failed.
Seeing that expression, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Pfft."
I immediately realized my mistake, covered my mouth, and hurriedly wiped the smile away.
"...Ugh. Serin, you're laughing at me right now, aren't you? That's what it is, right? I went and confidently turned on the stream and said I'd bring you viewers and all that, and all you saw was me rambling."
"Ah, no, that's not it."
There wasn't really any particular reason I had laughed.
It was just that Sua had kept up such a composed attitude until the stream ended, and then suddenly started beating herself up and acting mortified after it was over. That was funny and cute.
"But showing you such a pathetic sight is funny... It looked really funny to you too, right, Serin?"
"No, I was just impressed by how naturally you streamed all the way to the end. The reason I laughed was just that it was so fascinating how embarrassed you got after the stream ended, like now."
"Ugh..."
She shook her head slightly at what I'd said and fidgeted with her hands, and I felt like I might start laughing again.
"And I think I've gotten a bit of a feel for streaming too."
I said that and slowly got up from my seat. Sua stood too, apparently thinking I meant to switch places, and we naturally swapped seats.
"As for streaming advice, if the chat gets weird or bad while you're streaming, I'll help you out."
I smiled faintly at how Sua kept offering to help even while still feeling mortified. The more we talked, the more I thought she was genuinely kind. She felt almost innocent.
"Okay."
After all, a big-name streamer had offered to stay right beside me and help.
And since Sua had already laid the groundwork so well, I figured I didn't need to be exceptionally good at streaming myself.
Tap tap tap.
I tapped the keyboard with practiced ease, logged out of tweetie, and logged in with my own ID.
Since she had watched Sua handle the general setup while streaming, Serin didn't touch any settings separately. She just went into her personal channel and moved the mouse cursor to the Stream ON button.
"Serin? There are three minutes left until the time I mentioned. You should at least decide on a stream title."
Sua spoke urgently at how fast Serin was moving.
"Ah. Right."
Serin slowly began thinking about the stream title and what to say first.
***
—[Another World Rin.]
A very simple stream title. She figured Sua had already drawn all the attention, so she went with a plain title.
Honestly, now that I was about to start my own stream, I felt a little nervous, and any desire to bait attention had completely vanished.
'No, seriously... why am I nervous over this?'
When the time came, I clicked the "Stream ON" button.
At the top of the chat, a message appeared saying the stream had started, and the grayed-out chat window turned white and activated.
I looked at it, thinking there wouldn't be any viewers yet, and was about to say something as practice when—
[Alright let's go~~~~]
[lolololololololol]
[Did all the Plea-lings gather here?]
[Is this really Rin?]
[Hi, Rin!!!]
[Rin, let us hear your voice!!!]
[Feels like all the toxic ones gathered here lololololololololol]
[Mega rookie streamer ON]
The chat was scrolling nonstop. I forgot what I had been about to say and stared blankly at it.
'What is wrong with these people?'
I hadn't even said anything yet, but chat was already scrolling like crazy.
I turned my head without thinking and looked at Sua, who mouthed to me, "Just say anything."
I figured I had to say something.
I parted my lips, and just as I tried to speak—
"...Uh."
Suddenly, as if my mind had gone blank, the words wouldn't come out.
Without realizing it, I fiddled with a long strand of my silver hair.
No, I had definitely thought through what to say just moments ago.
But suddenly the words wouldn't come.
For a moment, my heart seemed to drop and my head spun.
I placed a hand on my chest and checked chat, trying to calm myself down.
[Huh?]
[Uh lololol]
[lololol]
[What's with this lewd newbie-streamer vibe]
[Hit 1,000 viewers one minute after going live lolololol]
[Other rooms ban mentioning viewer count but they're just saying it openly lololololol]
[Rin is a baby... she doesn't even know how to talk properly...]
But after watching the chat race upward, I finally managed to pull myself together and speak.
"Ah. It's my first time turning on a stream, so... I got flustered."
This time, the words came out naturally.
Only then did I begin saying the things I had prepared.
"Hello, viewers. I'm Another World Rin, and also new streamer Rin. Does my voice sound okay to you all right now?"
As I brought out the words I had prepared, my fingers twitched.
Even after saying it, I felt like I sounded really childish. Was this even right? I wasn't sure myself.
Then my eyes suddenly went to the number displayed beside chat.
1,500 viewers.
Seeing that viewer count the moment I went live felt absurd.
[yeah it's fine]
[Didn't Plea set everything up in advance?]
[Please refrain from mentioning other streamers]
[Her voice is insane]
[RIN, I'M DYING!!!!!]
[Your voice is insane... hnngh]
[fr eargasm insane, listening with earphones in]
[lolololololol the chat is insane for real]
[This is what a 2,000-viewer chat looks like? lololol]
[You don't need to touch any more settings here!!]
Even while watching the viewer count rise in real time, I tried to read chat.
I had prepared things to say, assuming it would take some time for people to come in. Now all of that was useless.
Her voice is insane. Rin, I'm dying. Eargasm...
As I took in the rapidly scrolling messages, I figured they were basically saying my voice sounded good. So I carefully spoke.
"So you're basically saying my voice is nice?"
Even as I spoke, the whole situation felt strangely awkward.
It was bizarre, being praised out of nowhere by complete strangers whose faces I didn't even know.
I couldn't quite keep my thoughts together, and just looking at chat felt overwhelming.
Then suddenly a notification sound rang out.
Ding!
『Hinoa donated 2,000 won!』
<Yes. Your voice is really nice!>
"Ah. A 2,000-won donation... Thank you for saying my voice is nice."
Feeling dazed, I read the donation message at the edge of the screen.
Donations had definitely gone off several times during Sua's stream earlier, but honestly, they hadn't really registered with me.
It wasn't my money, and even when a large donation went off, it hadn't really felt like that amount of money.
But once a donation came in on my own stream, it felt completely different.
『Ruins donated 1,000 won!』
<yeah>
[Wtf where is the donation button]
[I couldn't find it either so I didn't donate, what is this?]
[fr I looked and couldn't find it, and they're somehow forcing donations through anyway lololololol]
While watching chat react, I remembered that I had deliberately left the donation panel hidden.
Since this was both a test and my first stream, I had told Sua I would enable donations starting with the next one. That made me wonder how the donations that had just come in were even possible.
"Ah, and since today is my first stream, I deliberately didn't set up the donation panel below. I turned this on as a test, so I wasn't planning to stream for long. I don't know how the people who donated just now managed it, but you don't have to donate."
Ding-a-ling!!
『Oagang donated 10,000 won!』
<Rin, please say my name!!>
"Oagang... Thank you for the 10,000-won donation."
As I blankly said the donor's name aloud, I felt embarrassed and unconsciously fiddled with my hair.
No, I definitely didn't set up donations separately.
How on earth are those people donating to me right now?
My thoughts grew tangled, and I began to wonder whether I should really be accepting donations like this.
I turned to Sua beside me and mouthed a question asking what was going on. Sua shook her head with a flustered expression and whispered.
"Serin... I definitely turned donations off. Donations shouldn't be working right now."
With that, Sua grabbed my mouse and opened the donation panel herself.
The donation history was there, but it clearly said, "Donation settings are currently blocked."
'A bug?'
I thought that as I watched chat.
[fuck say my name too]
[lolololololololol no but why are only some people donating]
[Rin, do you not have a donation reaction?]
[Please do a reaction]
[Are you deliberately not turning on a cam?]
[Most of the viewers here look like Plea-lings—don't you know Plea's reaction rate?]
[Ah lolol so the rate didn't match]
"...A reaction? Honestly, I really wasn't planning to receive donations today, so I didn't prepare anything."
I spoke because I felt I couldn't just stay silent, but I also wondered whether I looked too half-hearted right now.
No, I definitely blocked donations, so why are they donating and making things awkward?
[No reaction prepared?]
[fr she's really trying to coast lolololol]
[Her voice itself is a reward, why would she need a reaction]
[No, it's just that the rate doesn't match lolololol]
I considered just enabling donations since things had come to this, but opening them with nothing prepared might create even more chaos.
If I suddenly received a large amount of money, I felt like I would genuinely panic.
In the end, I decided to try blocking donations again.
"H-hold on. Let me block the donation settings again."
I moved the mouse to close the donation panel.
Click.
"Ah."
Without meaning to, I pressed the End Stream button.