N-No, a Song...?
Jireongi kept showering me with praise and affection until the chat finally calmed down. Every time I spoke, it felt like they cried even harder, but that was probably just my imagination.
"Everyone… have you settled down…?"
"I-I'll gratefully accept it… mhm……"
I forced an awkward smile and told them I'd happily receive any donations. One by one, the Jireongi started sending support—small and large alike.
"H-Huh…! No way…! M-Money is precious, how do I even refund this…?"
It looked like a young viewer had donated. Startled, I widened my eyes and asked the Jireongi how to process a refund. The chat burst into laughter.
Only then did I realize I'd been completely fooled.
"Ah… I got tricked? I-I see… um……"
"No… this is just how I am normally."
With the most nonchalant expression I could manage, I hid the blush creeping up my face and smiled before crouching down. My throat still bothered me, so I popped another throat lozenge into my mouth.
"Throat… candy… I cried way too much yesterday……"
I rolled the candy between my cheeks with an awkward expression and stared blankly at the camera. The chat went wild again.
"Huh? What's this……?"
The chat was flipping out. I chuckled, but my throat hurt, so I grabbed a notepad and whispered into the mic.
"…F-From now on… in thirty minutes… I'll do a singing stream… Gotta save my voice……"
I quickly scribbled an explanation on the notepad.
Honestly, I felt happy but also strangely conflicted.
'…Am I cute?'
I wasn't sure. Of course the avatar looked cute—mature yet adorable at the same time.
'Especially the chest. Just the right size. Pretty.'
With that thought, I gently swayed and added a few more words to the notepad.
The chat exploded.
* * *
"…I'm sorry……"
I had to apologize for causing a commotion. While some viewers liked it, far more were shocked. What was even scarier—
Both Minwoo and Jiwoo sent warnings, apparently watching the stream. I turned the mic back on and gave a sincere apology.
'Now that I think about it, that was a bit much.'
"My chest is pretty, right?" What was I thinking? My past life as a guy probably made me a little desensitized to this kind of thing.
'…Not that I'd ever say that out loud.'
"Ahem… I'm sorry."
Before I knew it, they were looking after me like guardians. I smiled and thanked them, saying I was fine.
"Thank you, and… I'm okay! Singing a little won't hurt. After the song, let's play a healing game… Recommend something."
Even when I said I was fine, they kept worrying until the end. They really were such warm people.
"I can sing… I want you to hear my voice."
"Hehe… Thank you for saying you want to hear it."
Only then did I notice the notepad still floating on screen.
"Ah."
My face flushed instantly. I hurriedly closed the notepad.
"N-No, let's sing! A song!"
In a panic, I pushed the remaining lozenge to one side of my mouth and opened YouTube to find an MR track.
"It's an old song… You might not know it?"
I clicked on the song that had comforted me the most back in middle school.
"It's the song I listened to on repeat with the earphones I bought with my first paycheck… It gave me so much comfort……"
Muttering that it had been a great source of solace, I added echo to the mic.
"A-Ah… Can you hear me…? Not too loud?"
"ASMR… Should I try it? I-I don't think the level will be too high."
I let out a small laugh. Just raising the mic sensitivity a bit made the chat go wild again.
"D-Did you hear that? I should lower the sensitivity a bit……"
Muttering to myself, I adjusted the mic and asked whether to display lyrics.
"Should I show the lyrics? Or just show myself……"
"Th-Then, big… Okay, got it. I'll turn off donations for now."
I was about to disable donations when—
Since Mama said to turn off only the donation sound, I asked how and managed to mute just that.
"Ah, it worked."
After confirming the test, I smiled and was about to play the song when a massive donation came through.
"…Eek!?"
Stunned by the situation, I spotted Mom's message telling me to just sing.
"A-Ah…! Y-Yes…! A million won… uh……"
I tried to reboot my frozen brain but failed.
After that, it took about five minutes of brain rebooting before the stream could run normally again.