Chapter 78: Donate your income wisely (1)

Even though the chat and donation alerts were turned off,

The stream itself was still being broadcast.

‘I didn’t do anything too strange on stream, right?’

She hadn’t done anything particularly embarrassing.

The one thing she was worried about was the complete lack of chat management.

Since she had become a streamer, an AI bot was automatically moderating the chat,

But its performance was notoriously low.

If the viewers put their minds to it, they could easily bypass it.

In other words, her chat had likely turned into a lawless zone resembling a chaotic no-man’s land.

‘…It’s not my fault, right?’

With those thoughts swirling in her head, she opened the streaming program, and a list of broadcast statistics appeared.

[Current Viewers: 9,488]

[Peak Viewers: 42,177]

“…Huh?”

She couldn’t believe her eyes.

Nine thousand viewers?

The peak viewership exceeded 42,000?

For her first stream?

Of course, since she had appeared on Raidel’s stream and gained some recognition, she expected a decent turnout.

‘B-But this much?’

Even when a famous user decided to stream, it didn’t necessarily guarantee success.

Often, even well-known users ended up with low viewership.

Sometimes, viewers were more interested in the chemistry between their usual streamer and the guest rather than the guest themselves.

But having a peak of over 42,000, with still over 9,000 viewers after logging out of the game?

It was a figure that felt overwhelming.

As she stood there dumbfounded, the chat, now activated, began to scroll like crazy.

– “Oh”

– “Looks like she finally turned on the chat, lol.”

– “Yoo-ha, lol.”

– “Yoo-ha~~”

– “ㅇㅎㅇㅎ”

– “^^7”

– “^^7”

– “You finally noticed us?”

– “All the donations got ignored, ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ”

– “Silver Punch! Silver Punch!”

– “Heung, noona, I love you.”

– “Today’s stream was great, lol.”

– “Did you take singing lessons or something?”

– “The song was really good, lol.”

– “But how did you make fifteen billion? Seriously?”

Since the chat had been unmanaged, all sorts of comments were jumbled together.

Now that she was finally looking at the chat, it seemed to be settling into a more coherent direction.

“Ah, um… Sorry! This is… my first stream, so…”

“I turned off the chat and donation alerts to focus on the concert. I really didn’t see any of them.”

– “With that singing ability, it’s understandable.”

– “Honestly, it was nice to focus during the concert.”

– “But turn it on when playing games, lol.”

– “Turn on the electronic girl.”

– “Your voice is really nice, by the way.”

– “The way you’re flustered is cute, lol.”

– “It’s okay.”

Fortunately, the mood wasn’t bad.

Since it was her first stream, the viewers seemed to be understanding of the situation.

“Anyway…! Yeah! Did you guys have fun today?”

“I thought it was… pretty fun too. Hehe.”

“Now that the server is ending, let’s wrap up the stream for today?”

She quickly delivered her closing remarks.

Although more viewers had gathered than expected, that was all she had planned for the day.

Even if she wanted to continue, she didn’t know what to do since it was her first stream.

– “???????”

– “What? You’re leaving already?”

– “No, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!”

– “It just started getting fun, ㅠㅠ.”

– “Don’t leave, ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.”

– “But it was a pretty long stream. Just didn’t check the chat, that’s all.”

– “When’s the next stream?”

《‘Silver Hair Iron’ donated 5,000 won!》

• Let’s end it with a song broadcast.

“Ah, Silver Hair Iron, thank you for the 5,000 won donation! Um… I was planning to do a singing stream later after preparing some songs…”

《‘Bangbaedong_Shindangdol’ donated 300,000 won!》

• Please sing a few songs.

“…I was going to prepare first, but since it would feel a bit lacking to end like this… I don’t know many songs, but I’ll do my best.”

– “LOL”

– “Did you just surrender to capitalism, lol.”

– “Shindangdol! Shindangdol! Shindangdol!”

– “You can’t refuse 300,000 won, lol.”

– “How could you resist, lol.”

– “This is what we call a drift, lol.”

Originally, she was going to end the stream.

But 300,000 won…

…It was too much to refuse.

“Alright! Then…”

She cleared her throat and sang a few songs she knew.

Thankfully, the concert setup was still intact, so there was no issue with the audio.

Since donations kept coming in intermittently, she ended up singing everything from songs she casually hummed to those where she only vaguely remembered the lyrics.

“…Ahem. T-That’s it. I really don’t know any more songs…”

– “Bravo”

– “Bravo”

– “That was great, Seo-yeon!”

– “You’re really good at singing.”

– “Please don’t delete the VOD, ㅠ.”

– “At this rate, you’re the Soopjijik song queen.”

– “I want to use it as an alarm, lol.”

It seemed like most viewers were satisfied with her singing.

“Then… I’ll really end the stream now. See you in the next broadcast!”

– “Yoo-bye”

– “Yoo-bye~”

– “When’s the next stream?”

– “Bye bye”

After receiving the viewers’ farewells, she quickly ended the broadcast.

“Phew.”

She took a deep breath.

It felt like she had just finished a massive task.

Once the tension left her body, she felt completely drained.

‘Ah, right.’

There was still one more thing to check.

‘…There were a lot of donations.’

Especially from Bangbaedong_Shindangdol.

That viewer, who somehow gave off a musician vibe, had thrown in a whopping 300,000 won.

That alone was no small amount.

“Okay then.”

She cautiously opened the ‘Settlement’ page.

The next moment, she took a sharp breath.

“Hah…!”

[Total Expected Settlement Amount: 3,273,500 won]

Three million… two hundred seventy-three thousand won?

Even after deducting the platform fees, this was the pure amount she would receive.

And this was without any chat interaction or donation acknowledgment during most of the stream.

“A-Amazing…”

Of course, it was practically the server’s final day.

The finale concert, the battle, the Primal pet gacha—

A collection of all the most exciting events crammed into one stream.

Thanks to that, the peak viewership had reached over 42,000.

So, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Still, imagining it and actually having that money in hand felt completely different.

Earning over three million won in a single day gave her a strangely thrilling feeling.

Of course, it was just her first stream, and it wasn’t likely to always bring in that kind of money.

Gulp.

She couldn’t help but swallow dryly.

‘With this money…’

One face immediately came to mind.

Her one and only adorable younger sister, Yoo Seo-ha.

‘Seo-ha. I’ll treat you to a ton of delicious food.’

A smile naturally spread across her lips.

This was the perfect time to show some mature sisterly pride.

She picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number.

Tring— Tring—

After a few rings, a bright and lively voice answered.

〈Hello? Sis?〉

---

The sound of sizzling filled the air, and a savory aroma wafted through the room.

Whether it was sirloin or skirt steak—

High-quality Korean beef was cooking deliciously over the charcoal grill.

Yoo Seo-ha looked at the scene in front of her with a somewhat disbelieving expression.

“What’s going on? You actually bought meat yourself?”

She spoke with a hint of teasing.

Normally, her sister barely ever left the house.

A lifestyle that closely resembled that of a turtle—sticking to the house as if they were one.

For such a sister to not only contact her but also insist on treating her at an expensive barbecue restaurant—

No matter how she thought about it, it was unusual.

A quick glance at the price list made her hands tremble slightly.

If they ate all this, would her sister’s wallet survive?

She couldn’t help but worry a little.

“Hehe.”

But Yoo Seo-yeon, seemingly unaware of her sister’s concern, just smiled happily.

“I found a job recently, so I made some money.”

Yoo Seo-yeon replied bashfully.

“Oh, really? That’s great.”

Yoo Seo-ha nodded, but her doubts remained.

Even if her sister got a job, it didn’t make sense to splurge like this before her first paycheck.

‘Sis… don’t tell me…’

With a worried look, she glanced at her sister again.

That endlessly innocent-looking expression.

An angelic face that instinctively triggered her protective instincts.

Could it be that her sister got caught up in something strange?

She couldn’t help but cautiously ask,

“Sis, you didn’t, like… follow some weird guy, right?”

“What? No! What do you take me for?”

Yoo Seo-yeon waved her hands in protest.

It’s not like she was a child.

“I’m just kidding, just kidding.”

Of course, while her sister was timid and a bit naive about the world,

she wasn’t the type to get involved in shady or dangerous stuff.

It was just that her appearance naturally drew attention, making her worry.

Maybe her sister really did get a good job thanks to that appearance.

Just a moment ago, she’d even overheard the people at the next table whispering,

“Is she a celebrity?”

Perhaps she got into modeling… or the entertainment industry?

But then again, with that personality, could she really be a celebrity?

Despite her suspicions, it was definitely a good sign that her sister was earning money on her own.

It felt like her sister had finally taken her first step into society, and as a younger sibling, she couldn’t help but feel proud.

“Anyway, it’s a relief, sis.”

She had been worried since her sister always stayed cooped up in her room.

But it seemed like her sister had a surprisingly proactive side when it came down to it.

To take her out to a nice place like this for meat—

It didn’t seem like something her usually passive sister would do unless she really had secured a stable job.

“Alright, it’s done.”

Yoo Seo-ha placed the evenly grilled meat onto Yoo Seo-yeon’s plate.

“How is it? Tasty?”

“Yeah. It’s really savory.”

Yoo Seo-yeon nodded.

“Mmm. Wow, it’s really delicious. High-quality beef really is different.”

After taking a bite herself, Yoo Seo-ha couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

“Sis, thank you.”

“Don’t worry about the cost, just eat as much as you want.”

It was a blissful moment as the savory juices filled their mouths.

---

While they were eating, a thought suddenly crossed Yoo Seo-yeon’s mind.

‘What should I do for the next stream?’

Content planning.

Until now, it was easy since she just followed whatever Raidel suggested.

But now that she had to decide on her own, it felt like being adrift on the open sea.

‘Wait, since I’m a VTuber, should I start by making an avatar?’

Pondering various ideas, she absentmindedly pulled out her smartphone.

When she opened YTube, a few of the latest trending games popped up on the algorithm.

“…This is it.”

“Huh? What is?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Yoo Seo-yeon coughed awkwardly and took another bite of the meat.