Tyuni's Helping Hand
“They call people like you useless!”
“…You were actually streaming like this?” Tyuni’s voice rang out, laced with disbelief.
The stream Tyuni was watching—the one belonging to Inquisitor… Lene—was so bad it made her mutter without thinking. It wasn’t just the voice, the content, or the overall direction. Those were problems that could be addressed later. Right now, the real issue was the video quality, which kept glitching every few minutes.
‘It didn’t look like this when she sent me the recording last time.’
The difference was simple: back then, Lene had sent a personally recorded video. Now, Tyuni was watching the replay saved on Lene’s channel. Figuring out the cause wasn’t hard.
‘She probably didn’t tweak the streaming settings properly…’
It was the kind of mistake only a complete beginner would make. Still, because Lene was a fresh face with shockingly good PVP skills, the chat wasn’t in a bad mood.
‘Yeah. When someone’s this skilled, a little bad quality isn’t going to bother people right away. They probably won’t say anything for now.’
Hardcore gamers were willing to overlook some inconvenience if the player’s skill made up for it—especially the ones active in communities. But that tolerance was temporary. Once those little annoyances piled up, they’d explode all at once. Even dedicated viewers would eventually leave if the discomfort kept accumulating.
‘…I guess I’ll have to help her.’
Of course, Tyuni still didn’t have the best feelings toward the “Inquisitor.” But after more than three years as a small-time streamer who’d never even interacted with other streamers, having someone rely on her was a first. That alone was enough to make her oddly happy and eager to lend a hand.
She also wanted to get closer to her first streamer acquaintance while she was at it.
★
“Bora? I… have plans today, so…”
“Just call me Bora!”
“I-I’ll try…”
I wanted to, but it was harder than it looked. Why didn’t Bora understand that?
“Anyway, someone’s coming over today because of those plans…”
“Can’t I stay with you?”
“It’s not that you can’t, but… I thought you might feel uncomfortable…”
“I’m fine.”
Bora rolled around on the bed as if it didn’t matter at all. Even after hearing a stranger was coming, she looked completely unbothered. I kind of envied that.
Meeting people wasn’t the problem for me. I just worried they’d look at me strangely. …I really wished someone would fix that part of me.
“By the way, Lene.”
“Yes…?”
“Do you have plans too?”
“…Huh?”
“I know! They call people like you useless!”
“Pfft?!”
Bora’s bright, innocent smile drove the words straight into my chest like nails.
“B-Bora? Where on earth did you learn to say that…?”
“Huh? I asked my teacher at school! I wanted to know what you call someone who doesn’t work, stays home all day, and complains about having no money.”
“I-I see…”
“It’s okay, Lene! When I grow up, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life! You bought me chicken, after all!”
The follow-up attacks left me dizzy. What hurt even more was that I couldn’t argue against any of it. To think I’d end up living off Bora for life just because of one chicken meal. Was I supposed to be happy about this…?
“Aren’t you happy too?”
“Haha, sure…”
In the end, it was decided that Bora would stay at our place.
“So, Lene. Who are you meeting?”
“Ah, well… I guess you could say it’s work-related…”
I’d considered refusing dozens of times, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn down someone who was coming for my sake—especially when I was the one who’d asked for help in the first place.
“Work? Are you starting a job now?”
“It’s still just a trial stage…”
Of course, the fact that I was doing internet streaming was still a secret from Bora. I wanted to surprise her properly once I succeeded.
“You don’t need to work, Lene…”
“Huh?”
For some reason, my mention of working seemed to upset her. Her lips stuck out in a pout, cheeks puffed with air. I avoided her eyes, sure she was frowning, but I couldn’t help wondering if I’d done something wrong.
“If you start working, you won’t be able to play with me anymore, right?”
Ah… Right. Bora only came over because her parents both worked. It made sense she’d think we wouldn’t have time to play together once I started a job.
“D-Don’t worry. I’ll still have plenty of time to play with you, Bora…”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Really really?”
“Really really.”
Even after I said that, Bora still looked doubtful. Only after we hooked pinkies and promised did she nod and beam at me. Well, I’d planned to stream only after six anyway, when she went home.
“…Still, you don’t have to work.”
“Huh?”
“I told you earlier! I’m going to take care of useless Lene for the rest of your life!”
…So that conversation wasn’t over yet? Bora was smiling so innocently, so why did my chest ache like this…?
★
While listening to Bora, the doorbell chimed.
Well, the only people who usually came to our place were delivery drivers, but today was different. I’d already finished all the housework in advance.
“Bora, just a moment…”
“Okay.”
Leaving Bora rolling on the bed, I went to the front door and checked the intercom. A familiar face stood there, smiling brightly—though the familiarity was one-sided.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Tyuni—Jeong Se-yeon. I said I’d come today~”
Even the voice was familiar. Definitely not a thief here to knock me out and steal my stuff.
“Ah, yes…”
After answering, I pushed the door handle. With a click, the front door opened.
“Ah, hello…”
“Hello?”
When I bowed and greeted Tyuni, the first time we’d met face-to-face, she accepted it but then froze in place.
“Um… Ty-Tyuni?”
“Ah, yes? Huh? This address should be right…”
She suddenly pulled out her phone and started checking the apartment number. Why was she doing that?
“Tyuni…?”
“Ah, yes?! I’m sorry?! Uh… I mean… Inquisitor? No. You’re Lene, right…?”
“Yes, that’s me…”
Even after coming inside, Tyuni still wore an expression like she couldn’t quite believe it. What on earth was going on?
“Lene! When are you coming back?”
While we stood at the door in that strange standoff, Bora poked her head out of the room, apparently tired of waiting.
“Oh… Is she your little sister?”
“She’s the girl who lives upstairs. I just watch her when her parents are out…”
“It’s the other way around, Lene! I’m the one taking care of you!”
“…Huh?”
“Ah, well, um…”
“I come over because I worry when you’re alone!”
Bora puffed out her chest with a proud “Hmph!” Tyuni seemed to take it as a child’s playful remark and simply smiled kindly while scratching her head.
“Anyway, B-Bora, this is Tyuni. She came to help me with something today. Tyuni, this is Bora, the girl I look after during the day…”
“Hello! I’m Yu Bora, a first-grader at Areum Elementary!”
“I’m Tyuni. Nice to meet you. Let’s get along, Bora.”
“You can just call me Bora!”
“Got it, Bora. You can call me Tyuni. I’ll be counting on you from now on, okay?”
“Okay!”
Bora answered brightly, then turned to me with a sunny smile. Her eyes seemed to say, ‘See? That wasn’t so hard, was it, Lene?’
Yeah. It really was hard for me, so please cut me some slack…
“I’ll go prepare some drinks… Please wait in the room…”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Lene! I’ll figure out if Tyuni is a good person or a bad one! You’re too naïve—you might get tricked by weird people!”
“Haha, sure…”
“…”
Please don’t look at me with those eyes…