Chapter 31: Heavenly Voice (5)

The chat was overflowing with praise for Yoo Seoyeon’s singing.

They had assumed Silver was a guy.

They were already surprised by her voice.

Now, with her singing skills on top of that, it was almost overwhelming.

No—this wasn’t just good.

Her voice had a depth that was hard to believe came from an amateur.

There were some joking comments, sure, but plenty of genuine amazement too.

But not a single person said her singing was bad.

Even someone with no ear for music could tell—

That was a good performance.

‘Ah.’

Raidel sat there in a daze.

Even the viewers, who’d only been listening quietly, were shocked.

But Raidel, who had sung a duet right beside her, didn’t even know what to think.

‘…She’s really good, Seoyeon.’

At first,

She’d just thought—

‘Her voice is nice, maybe she’d sound good singing too.’

She had no idea it would be this level.

It was a calm, dreamy song.

Not something that relied on high notes. In fact, it was so soft it was hard to leave a big impression.

Even if a talented singer took it on, it wouldn’t be easy to wow anyone with that kind of song.

But Yoo Seoyeon had pulled it off.

Atmosphere.

Even to someone like Raidel who didn’t know much about music,

That atmosphere had been overwhelming.

Normally, she’d try to sing all her lines in a duet.

But as they sang together, her own voice started to feel increasingly small.

By the end, it was mostly Seoyeon singing alone.

‘…What was I thinking saying I’d teach her?’

Raidel remembered what she’d said earlier.

That she was confident in her singing.

That she’d been professionally trained, and could teach Seoyeon.

She wanted to crawl into a hole.

“A-Ah. Wow, Silver. You’re really good at singing.”

Even through the embarrassment, Raidel kept going.

She had to.

Even if she was stunned, the stream had to continue.

[Haven’t heard Raidel go quiet like this in ages lol]

[Delbung is in shock hahahaha]

[Honestly, anyone would be.]

[lolololol]

[Wanna learn to sing from me? (actual quote)]

[Confidence queen Raidel lol]

“W-Wait! I didn’t know either, okay?! This is my first time hearing Silver sing too… I didn’t expect this! You’ve got such a feel to it!”

[‘RoomCritic’ donated 5,000 won!]

– Didn’t her voice already sound like she’d be good?

[Good voice doesn’t mean good singing though.]

[Delbung’s voice is nice too, but the singing…]

[Yeah, voice and singing skill are two different things.]

[Look, Raidel’s the living proof of that.]

[‘CelloMenthol’ donated 70,000 won!]

– That was amazing! Thanks for blessing our ears.

[‘Destination’ donated 20,000 won!]

– After hearing that, my cancer is cured…

[He’s not joking lol]

[That was genuinely amazing…]

[That’s not the end, right?]

[Please sing more, seriously…]

[Now that’s music.]

“We just got started with the karaoke stream, of course! Silver? Do you think you could sing a few more songs?”

“Ah, sure. But I don’t know that many songs…”

Seoyeon responded, her voice slightly tense.

[Looks like Silver’s a bit nervous lol]

[Understandable, there’s over 10k watching right now.]

[So cute]

[So cute]

[Just sing whatever you’re familiar with lol]

Raidel glanced at chat and chuckled.

“Alright then, once again, Silver and I will purify your ears with a duet…”

[???]

[No]

[Stop]

[No]

[Stop]

[Is a duet really necessary?]

[Stop]

[Just let Silver sing solo, please.]

[Delbung, read the room…]

“Kidding. It’s time for some solo appreciation of Silver’s voice.”

Raidel laughed at the chat.

Even if they did sing together, it’d only hurt her pride.

More than that, she genuinely wanted to hear Seoyeon sing without interruption.

Even as a streamer, she couldn’t help giving in to that desire.

“Well then… I don’t know many songs, but…”

With that, Seoyeon began.

‘…Huh. Didn’t expect her to be into Japanese songs.’

Raidel and the viewers discovered an unexpected side to Silver’s taste.

But since most of Raidel’s viewers were already deep into subculture—lots of otaku types—

Far from turning people off, the mood only got more fired up.

---

[Hey, did you guys catch Raidel’s stream today? ㄷㄷ]

[She was doing a karaoke stream and it was just nuts;;

Not kidding—my ears melted.

Silver doesn’t even use much technique, but it gave me chills.

She sings so casually, but the feeling is just different.]

– Fr man;; No flashy skills, but her voice is broken-level good.

[Wait, wasn’t Silver a dude???]

[Are you living under a rock? Everyone thought that, but she’s a girl.]

– Yup, girl.

– Also into anime songs. She sang like 5 today lol

– Don’t lie

– Nope, it’s real…

[Isn’t Silver basically born to be a streamer?]

[She’s cracked at games and sings like that.

She was literally made for streaming lol

Plus, she’s a weeb, so she totally gets the audience.

Gotta admit, Delbung knows talent when she sees it.]

– When’s her debut tho lol

– Tbh, she could just do karaoke streams.

– Yeah, hope she does them regularly.

[Wait, didn’t Zeronix say they were launching a streamer server soon?]

[It’s opening really soon.

Apparently it’s gonna be a massive event.]

– The PixelWars server, right?

– Yup

– Kinda hyped lol

– Supposedly all the big ForestTV names are joining.

– Is Delbung in too?

– Probably?

[Newbie here—what’s the Zeronix server?]

[Did Zeronix make a game or something?]

– Basically it’s a special PixelWars server just for streamers.

– They made an RPG game inside PixelWars.

– Oh, so you can do PK and stuff?

– Yeah, you can. But mostly it’s farming, looting, gearing up, and monster raids.

– They’re picking big-name streamers only. They’re building custom maps too. It’s a full-on RPG.

– Wait, aren’t custom maps expensive?

– Yeah, very.

[Zeronix said they’re picking based on size, right?]

[Can Raidel even make the starting lineup? Didn’t she have just 2k average viewers until recently?]

– She’s big now lol

– She hit almost 20k today alone.

– Honestly, Zeronix should be begging her to join.

– She’s basically a free pass at this point.

[Zeronix already said they’d picked Delbung ages ago.]

[Yeah, based on game skill. 2k average isn’t small either, so no one complained.]

– Kinda excited for it lol

– Finally something fun to watch again.

---

“Silver, thank you for today’s stream!”

The karaoke stream ended,

And Raidel—Kim Hayoon’s voice came through VoiceLink.

“The viewers were loving it. All thanks to you, Silver.”

Raidel sounded thrilled.

Clearly, the stream had gone better than she expected.

“It’s nothing. I don’t know that many songs. Sorry I couldn’t sing more.”

Maybe because of all the viewer requests, Raidel had let Seoyeon sing solo as much as possible.

The problem was—she didn’t know many songs.

She’d been added to the karaoke stream at the last minute. There hadn’t been time to prepare.

So within less than an hour, she ran through everything she could sing,

And the rest of the time, Raidel did her best to fill the gap.

“Not at all! It’s my fault for asking you in a rush. I should’ve let you know ahead of time. I’m really sorry.”

Kim Hayoon added quickly.

“Thanks to you, we hit 20,000 viewers… By the way, are you sure you’ve never taken vocal lessons?”

“No. I’ve only ever gone to karaoke with friends a few times.”

“Wow… Honestly, I’ve never heard someone sing like you. And to think you’ve never even trained… I—I don’t even know what I’ve been doing with my life…”

Raidel murmured like she was in despair.

“Anyway, since you worked so hard today, let me send over your cut right away.”

Ding~♬

At the same time, a deposit alert popped up on Seoyeon’s banking app.

Just seeing the money hit her account sent chills down her spine.

…Capitalism really was powerful.

How much had she made this time?

She wasn’t sure of the exact total, but she had seen a few whales come through.

Especially the one at the end—“Bangbaedong_ShinChangdol”—who dropped 1.5 million won in one go.

After splitting with Kim Hayoon and accounting for fees, she should still end up with over a million.

“…?”

But the number on the app read: 3.72 million won.

Even more than the 3 million she’d received last time.

…Did she really make that much?

Sure, today had more viewers.

The atmosphere had been great.

But karaoke streams were usually shorter than game streams.

So technically, she should’ve made less.

“That’s the total for today. After fees, it should come out to that.”

“Huh? But…”

If you give away that much, what’s left for you?

She didn’t say it as a joke. She genuinely meant it.

Kim Hayoon had practically given her the entire day’s donations.

Even her own share.

“I didn’t do anything, though.”

There was a hint of bitterness in her voice.

“To be honest, today’s stream would’ve been better even without me. Just you alone… would’ve been enough.”

“Ah.”

What could she say to that?

Seoyeon had been reading chat in real time too. She knew the reaction.

Today, the viewers were far more interested in her songs than Kim Hayoon’s.

Even that massive donor at the end, “Bangbaedong_ShinChangdol,” left a message saying, “Thanks for the song”—and it was clearly directed at Silver, not Raidel.

“But you don’t have to give me all of it. You planned everything—the concept, the songs…”

“Haha, you’re really kind, Silver.”

“But I honestly can’t take this money. It’s thanks to you that the donations came in. So—”

“It’s only right that it goes to its rightful owner.”

“So please, just accept it.”

Her tone made it clear—she’d already made up her mind. Refusing again would just be rude.

“By the way, Silver. How’s your stream prep coming along?”

Trying to change the mood, Kim Hayoon shifted the subject.

“Once everything’s set up, we’ll be able to invite you to the PixelWars Streamer Server as soon as possible.”