Mia's Birthday Broadcast (2)

The host's seat fell to Clemoomoo as if it had always been his.

From the left we lined up Lac, Mia, me, and Waka, standing behind a table that hid everything from the waist down.

"All right, let's begin. First question—who among them is standing on the acupressure mat? We'll start with a group round."

The moment Clemoomoo gave the signal, all of us broke into a march in place, as naturally as we could manage. Then, out of nowhere, Waka started limping, his face pinching into a grimace, and Clemoomoo's finger shot out with the commentary right behind it.

"We picked a product with a real price tag, so the quality's no joke. You won't be able to just grit your teeth through it. Waka, is it? He looks like he's in serious pain. The culprit? Or maybe it's an act, meant to fool the viewers."

"Hmm, the viewers aren't buying it. Waka, they say fix your face and drop the act before somebody smacks you."

"Yes, sir!"

"As expected, this much won't give it away, will it? Let's get serious. Three jumps in place. Go!"

"Agh! Aaah! Th-this is no joke."

"Kyaa! Why did it have to be me from the start... ugh, unnie, it hurts so much!"

Lac and Mia wailed over each other, both insisting the acupressure mat was under their own feet. Unbelievable. The sheer nerve of them. I was the one actually standing on it, and watching the performance, I had to wonder whether streamers really were two-faced creatures by nature.

"From here on, it's individual time. Now you can watch without your attention getting split, so you'll find the culprit in no time. First up—Lac! Hop one full circle on one foot."

"...Hyung, do you have a grudge against me?"

Still grumbling, Lac put on the most agonized performance he could muster and hopped a full circle on one foot.

Next was Mia.

"Mia, five sit-downs and stand-ups!"

"Hiiing! My feet hurt."

Finally, my turn.

Clemoomoo wore a nasty little smile.

"One minute of impromptu dance time!"

"...!"

I swear... I swear I'm telling Yuri unnie about today.

Past the acupressure mat, a transparent chair, a foot bath, and all sorts of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠other items flashed by. In the end, a final winner was chosen.

Astonishingly, the one who seized the glory was ACupDetector.

The first segment we'd prepared ended there, and we took a short break. Clemoomoo and Lac put on a lively edit of our collab broadcasts so far, and while the viewers cackled, I finally caught my breath.

"Not easy, is it? You've never done an in-person collab improvised on the spot like this."

"You're telling me."

Even when we'd collaborated before, we had rehearsed, or at least prepared a script. This was the first time we'd only roughly lined up what we meant to say and then mixed in ad-libs as we went, so I couldn't help tightening up from one moment to the next.

Come to think of it, he's incredible. Hosting this smoothly...

Lac's turn had stuck in my head for no good reason, and I found myself curious about Clemoomoo's stats. I asked the System Helper to show me his eloquence and the abilities tied to hosting.

There was a reason he was that good, after all.

I was nodding to myself, privately convinced, when the break ended before I knew it.

"Hold on a second. I brought an outfit, so I'm going to change."

"Oh, sure. Take your time and come out when you're ready."

"Me too! I prepared something for today's collab."

"Mm. Waka, come out once you're ready too."

I asked Mia for a spare room and changed.

I'd prepared two concepts for today. One was the fresh, innocent look of a young girlfriend, the outfit I'd worn in straight from the shop. And the other...

"Uh... u-uh?"

"Unnie?"

"...!"

A black slit skirt. The hem parted just slightly, and round silver buttons ran in a line from the waist all the way down to the edge of the slit, shamelessly stealing the eye. From that gap a long leg extended, ending in platform shoes—a line so dizzying there was no choice but to fall into it.

Was that the end of it? No. This time the gaze traveled up. Between strands of hair, a black band circled the shoulders, only just showing. A white off-shoulder blouse laid the upper chest bare in one clean sweep, and black frills brushed along just above the bust, gathering the eye and making the line stand out all the more.

"Gulp—!"

I couldn't tell whose mouth that came from. Every man in the room was wearing more or less the same expression, and I didn't even need to check to know the chat had exploded.

The previous outfit had played up cute and lovely. This was different. It sold nothing but sexy, and it landed on men far too well.

It isn't only famous streamers who get called names around here. A streamer lives off viewer attention and the Water Balloons they pay, so viewers who flaunt enormous wealth end up with names of their own.

Clemoomoo was the one who cracked.

"Uh, um... GangnamCrownPrince, thank you truly for the Water Balloons. Is there a reaction you'd like? I, I can even do two apology headstands back to back."

In the modern world, the power of money is truly overwhelming. Watching streamers fluster themselves in front of a named viewer who was clearly loaded was a sight you could find anywhere.

Money. In truth, more than half the reason anyone worked as a streamer lived right there. But I was a little different.

Money? It matters, but it isn't much different from viewers or view counts. To me, cash was nothing more than another means of exchanging for points. Water Balloons? What did it matter if I took in a few less? If my viewer numbers climbed, or a video I uploaded to YouTube blew up, that was enough.

For that reason, I took the named viewer's request for a conversation without the slightest tension.

"Hello. Thank you for the Water Balloons. Is there a reaction you'd like?"

Honestly, this type made me sick. I wasn't some newbie internet streamer. I had about five years in before I became a woman, so how many people had I watched wave money around and sour the mood of a broadcast? More than one or two.

On top ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of that, there were plenty of ugly rumors about GangnamCrownPrince. There were even stories that, while serving as president of female-streamer rooms, he had used Water Balloon donations as leverage to start sexual relationships. I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, so I couldn't say it for certain, but the bad attitude he showed on stream had landed him in gossip more than once. That alone was a red card.

To go back to the start and put it plainly: Water Balloon donations were nice, of course. In the long run, though, this was poison. If I were a professional camgirl broadcaster, I would have been satisfied sweet-talking whales like him and milking out as many Water Balloons as I could. For women like that, so long as the money came in, everything was fine.

What mattered more to me was the majority of the viewers. The many people who would clear my concurrent-viewer missions and my fan club signup missions. And even on a personal level, the rest of the viewers who enjoyed my stream and met me halfway were far more precious than one man showing off with his money.

So I answered firmly.

The chat plastered itself wall to wall with question marks. Watching it, I laid out the thoughts that had been filling my head until a moment ago, my expression not shifting an inch. I softened the wording a great deal, of course... but the conclusion was the same.

"More than money, I want to protect the mood of the broadcast and have fun streaming with the majority of my viewers!"

The named viewer must have been thoroughly embarrassed at being refused to his face, because he vanished on the spot. Seeing that, the viewers declared it a victory of the people and cranked the mood up into a festival all on their own.

"Hahaha... Hani, you really are something."

"What did I even do."

I answered Clemoomoo's praise with an awkward look. Mia, watching me in silence with sparkling eyes, came as a bonus. By now she seemed to regard me not merely with admiration, but as some kind of great figure.

This was a little much.

"...What? Fallen for this sensible woman all over again?"

"Pfft! You really do have princess syndrome. Though you kind of are a princess."

Lac burst out laughing at my nonsense, unable to hold it in. We went right on enjoying the broadcast with the viewers, just like that.

"Uh... hey, I prepared something too, you know. Hello? Over here?"

All of it while completely forgetting Waka, who had slipped away with me when I vanished into the room to change.

Set aside the one person left out in the cold, and it was a collab broadcast everyone enjoyed.