But I'm a Different Person Though

I let out a long yawn, rubbing the sleep from my heavy head as I sat up. Right on schedule, the clock read exactly eleven again today. I shuffled out of bed, headed to the bathroom to wash up, then returned to my room and dropped into the chair in front of my computer. The very first thing I did after powering it on was open my inbox.

I never used to check something like this. Email had always been nothing more than a necessary step when signing up for some random website.

We can’t always reach you through Ga-eun. We could use MissCode, but then every time other staff members try to contact you it would cause the same problem… It might be a little inconvenient, but would you mind if we kept in touch by email?

Still, after what the Play Coach people told me last time, I had no choice. And the inbox I saw that day was… yeah. Absolute hell. Over thirteen hundred unread messages. It took me two full hours to open every single one because I had no idea what they might contain. Most were from MCNs that streamers join, followed by pro gaming teams. …And there were also a mountain of emails I’d rather not talk about. After that I blocked every single personal email address without even opening them.

Having survived that nightmare, my new morning routine became checking my inbox the moment I woke up, just to keep the flood from building again.

“Mmm…”

No contact from Sirius. Figures. I did tell them I’d only be able to help once every two months, so it was expected. Everything else was probably just more offers from different MCNs or teams. After skimming through and clearing them all, I opened Rema Gallery.

“Boss. Miss Lene still hasn’t read the email.”

“Huh? When did we send it?”

“Three days ago…”

“…Seriously?”

“Yes.”

At Seo-hye’s report, Harum scratched her head in bewilderment. Most internet broadcasters made checking email a habit. Not reading anything for three whole days? For a second she wondered if Lene had simply deleted them unread, but she quickly shook her head. That was beyond common sense.

“There might have been a delivery error. Send it again after today’s meeting.”

“Understood.”

Harum gave the order, yet even after another full week the situation remained unchanged. Lene hadn’t opened the original message or any of the new ones.

“Why…?”

Lene had even streamed yesterday, so at this point suspicion had hardened into certainty. She was either ignoring emails entirely or deleting them the instant they arrived. And the more likely option was the latter. It was simply impossible for an internet broadcaster to never read their mail. At least, that was true inside Harum’s common sense.

“What should we do…?”

“Should we try reaching out to someone else?”

“Not yet. We’re not short on time.”

Plenty of streamers would be thrilled just to receive an offer from our channel…

That thought wasn’t baseless confidence. Especially for female OnTubers and streamers. Which was exactly why the current situation felt so baffling to Harum.

“How should we handle this…”

Of course, considering the size difference between Health Project and Lene, Harum didn’t strictly need to obsess over inviting her. But her instincts were screaming that building a connection with Lene now would be worth it.

“…Seong-hyeon. How did Ga-eun contact her last time?”

“Uh… he probably just sent a donation with a message.”

“That’s not a method we can use.”

“True.”

If Health Project suddenly spoke to a female streamer mid-broadcast, everyone would assume it meant she was the next guest for ‘You Can Be Like This Too.’ After filming the video it would be fine, but announcing it beforehand had to be avoided.

“No helping it. Keep sending them until she reads one. One per day… No, three per day.”

“Is that really okay?”

“We don’t have a choice. We have to try everything we can. I know it sounds ridiculous if you ask whether this is truly necessary, but… please take care of it, Seo-hye.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After the meeting ended, Seo-hye followed the instructions to the letter. On the fifth day—

“Boss! She read it!”

Finally, Lene had opened one of the messages.

“Is it just me…?”

The subject line looked suspiciously similar to the ones I’d seen earlier. Or, to be precise, the ones that had been arriving nonstop for the past several days.

“It’s real.”

Just to be sure I checked the trash folder and found more than twenty emails from the same sender over five days. What the hell was this person doing…? Should I block them? The thought crossed my mind, but the words “OnTuber” kept bothering me. I searched the name on OnTube and—

It was an absolutely massive channel. Why on earth would a channel this huge be emailing me? Was it a scam? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It had to be a scam. Definitely a scam. Thinking that, I opened the latest message.

The beautifully designed email greeted me with flashy formatting. …It didn’t seem like a scam, at least. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said, just because they invited me didn’t mean I had to go. I was busy. From now on I had to lie in bed, roll around, play New Dimension, suffer through Bora’s teasing when she came over, and then stream…! Therefore I unfortunately had zero time to spare for anything else.

Having reached a perfectly logical conclusion, I quietly clicked the delete button.

“Ah, everyone… Do you know the OnTube channel called Health Project…?”

“They contacted me this time…”

“No, I’m not going to do it though…”

And just like that, I casually dropped the information on stream without thinking and got thoroughly scolded.