Chapter 80: Summer Welcome Co-op Game (2)

‘Oh, ooh.’

A girl trembled slightly in front of the monitor.

Siren.

Her real name was Im Chae-A.

She was a VTuber active on Soopjijik, streaming both music and games.

Her gaming skills were so-so.

But what had significantly boosted her recognition was her powerful singing voice.

Her attention-grabbing vocals were her main weapon.

Recently, Siren had a voice deeply etched in her mind.

It was the song of a streamer named Yoo Seo-yeon, which she had heard at the recent Pixelwars streamer server finale concert.

A style completely opposite to her own.

Instead of explosive volume, a delicate and soft, beautiful voice.

But that voice strangely burrowed into people’s hearts.

Like gently opening a secret jewelry box.

‘It’s a song I’ve never heard before. I don’t know what song it is, but it’s really good…….’

Though it was her first time hearing the song, the melody itself was also very beautiful.

Above all, it was a song that perfectly harmonized with Yoo Seo-yeon’s voice.

Calm, yet with a lingering resonance that stayed in her ears for a long time.

That night, after the stream ended, she replayed it countless times.

‘I want to meet her.’

Was it due to her sincere personality when it came to music?

As soon as she heard Yoo Seo-yeon’s voice, she liked it very much.

And a desire to talk with her at least once burned brightly.

– I’d like to talk with Seo-yeon-nim. Perhaps…….

So, first, she contacted Raidel.

Because she seemed to be the streamer closest to Yoo Seo-yeon.

If there was a chance, she wanted to talk.

Could Raidel convey that? She asked directly.

– Shouldn’t it be fine? I’ll ask Seo-yeon-nim later.

Raidel answered coolly, as if it didn’t matter.

– Seo-yeon-nim. Hello. I am Siren, a streamer active on Soopjijik. It’s not much, but…….

Then, she went to Yoo Seo-yeon’s broadcast station and sent a message via direct message.

At first, she intended to write something short and concise.

‘Heeok.’

But when she finished writing, it was a long letter of 5,500 characters.

She condensed the content, shortening it to about 3,000 characters, and then carefully sent the message.

‘Whew.’

Due to her slightly timid personality, she had never done anything like this before.

Siren was slightly surprised by her own uncharacteristic proactiveness.

And, not long after, a reply came from Raidel.

– Siren-nim. Would you perhaps be interested in a game collaboration? I’m planning a collaboration with Seo-yeon-nim, and we have one spot open.

– …Huh? Yes! Of course! Gladly!

Had God himself helped?

She had been slightly regretting contacting Raidel, wondering if it was a bit over the top, even doing the ‘blanket kick’ in embarrassment.

But this way, it was actually a gain.

And the long-awaited first meeting with Seo-yeon-nim.

〈Ahaha! Hello!〉

As soon as she connected with the owner of the voice coming through the voice link,

Siren, without realizing it, excitedly poured out her words.

〈I’m Siren! Seo-yeon-nim. I really enjoyed your performance!〉

Her tone unknowingly went up.

She was usually a bit shy, but it turned out like this.

〈At the streamer server finale concert, wow, it was really so good! How do you sing so delicately?〉

〈That… slightly melancholic yet wistful feeling! Your vocal tone is really… wow.〉

〈And are you perhaps acquainted with a famous composer? That song back then, it sounded like a song I’d never heard before, but the melody was so good! Like an unreleased masterpiece?〉

〈It was a bit of a difficult song, but Seo-yeon-nim’s voice really brought it to life.〉

She chattered on for a while without even taking a breath.

Then, suddenly, she realized the silence on the other side of the screen.

〈Ah, ahaha…….〉

A hint of bewilderment was present in Yoo Seo-yeon’s faint laughter.

‘Oh, ooh.’

She had done it.

She was usually quiet, but when she got fixated on something, she tended to over-immerse herself and lose sight of her surroundings.

She was conscious of needing to reduce her over-immersion.

But sometimes, it was uncontrollable like this.

‘Will Seo-yeon-nim feel burdened……?’

Even to herself, it seemed her sense of inner closeness was a bit excessive.

Just as she was about to press her lips together in apology,

〈I-It’s okay. Thank you for liking my song…….〉

〈Th-This is the first time I’ve directly talked to someone who likes it this much.〉

Siren let out a sigh of relief.

Thanks to her overdoing it, it seemed the other person felt a little burdened.

But still, their voice wasn’t one of disgust or anything.

〈Ahem. For now, shall we talk about Scrap Planet?〉

Raidel, who had been listening quietly, straightened out the situation.

〈Ah! Right.〉

Scrap Planet.

The game they would play together in the collaboration.

In fact, they had gathered today to talk about this.

〈Playing a game with Seo-yeon-nim, sounds fun, doesn’t it?〉

She wasn’t originally the type to collaborate often.

But now, her heart was pounding a little.

And, although she was known as a music streamer who was serious about music.

Originally, Siren also played games often.

Rather, she enjoyed them.

〈But Siren-nim, that game… it’s a horror genre, will you be okay with that?〉

Raidel asked, as if confirming.

Scrap Planet.

Actually, it was a game that mixed various genres.

It wasn’t purely a horror game.

But still, horror was horror.

Moreover, as it was a VR game, many reviews said it was quite scary.

〈Ah… Come to think of it, it was a horror game, wasn’t it?〉

Siren momentarily trailed off.

‘I’ve never played it before?’

To be honest, she had never played a VR horror game.

Thanks to that, she couldn’t even gauge how much of a coward she was, or wasn’t.

〈Uh… um… Actually, I’m completely new to VR horror.〉

Siren, who had hesitated for a moment, soon added in a bright voice.

〈Still, let’s try it this time. What the heck.〉

Raidel, who had been pondering for a moment, smiled slightly to herself.

Siren seemed to be playing a horror game for the first time.

Actually, she was a little worried too.

‘But it might actually be good?’

Originally, horror games are best when played for the first time.

There’s such a thing as raw reactions.

In fact, a big reason viewers watched such streams was to see those reactions.

Thanks to that, even if Siren was playing a horror game for the first time, Raidel thought it was actually a good thing.

〈But by any chance, Raidel-nim, are you good at horror games?〉

Yoo Seo-yeon’s voice.

〈O-Of course! I-I’m good at horror games. Ahahaha…….〉

Raidel’s voice trembled slightly as she answered.

〈A-Ahem! Anyway.〉

Raidel changed the subject.

〈What about the schedule? Is everyone okay with tomorrow evening?〉

〈Yes! I’m good!〉

〈I-I’m okay too.〉

Since there were no other schedules, the three quickly agreed.

〈Okay. Then let’s plan to meet around 8 PM tomorrow.〉

Raidel summarized and added.

Around 8 PM was prime time.

It was the best time for content, so Yoo Seo-yeon and Siren also agreed.

〈Then let’s meet again tomorrow.〉

With Raidel’s closing remarks,

The first voice link between the three ended in a pleasant atmosphere.

---

With a ding- sound, the voice link connection was severed.

I stared blankly at the computer screen.

I felt a little dazed.

‘Siren-nim is such an energetic person.’

It felt as if a storm had just swept through.

Her voice tone was very high, and she spoke quickly.

Still, she didn’t seem like a bad person.

Just a feeling of her purely showing goodwill towards me.

‘Her name was Siren, right?’

I tapped on the keyboard, typing ‘Siren’ into the search bar.

The TriWiki entry caught my eye first.

“…So she was a VTuber.”

A character illustration with mint-colored hair filled the screen.

An off-the-shoulder, flowing dress.

A subtle aurora-like sheen.

Fitting the name Siren, the character had an overall sea-like atmosphere.

Her specialty was singing.

It was written that her energetic vocal volume was particularly her forte.

‘Wow. Her e-Tube song views are incredible.’

Her average viewership wasn’t low either.

But as she primarily focused on music activities, the views on her cover songs or original songs uploaded to e-Tube were considerably high.

Among individually active VTubers, she was one of the top.

‘She must really love music.’

It was written that she had a personality that got excited when it came to music or singing.

No wonder her eyes seemed to change when she talked about songs.

She was someone who was sincere about singing.

Above all, a VTuber.

‘If I get close to her, will I be able to ask her various things?’

Like modeling, or broadcast settings.

Information necessary for VTuber activities.

Raidel had also tried to help me a lot, but she wasn’t exactly an expert on the VTuber side.

I thought that if I got closer to Siren, I could hear various stories.

I was a little flustered by the sudden collaboration.

But this way, it was actually a gain.

More than anything, just finding someone to collaborate with immediately was a relief.

‘Scrap Planet’ required three players.

I had been slightly at a loss as to how to find one more person.

‘Ah. Come to think of it.’

When the topic of ‘Scrap Planet’ came up,

Raidel’s voice seemed to tremble ever so slightly.

Was it just my imagination? Or,

Was there something she was reluctant about?

‘If she disliked it, she’s not the type to hide it.’

Raidel, unlike herself, was the type to speak honestly if she really disliked something.

It wasn’t even during a broadcast with many eyes watching.

They were just talking comfortably.

If she really disliked it, she would have said something like, “I can’t do it because of this and that.”

Above all, if she really didn’t want to do it, she wouldn’t have connected me with Siren right away.

‘…..Wait a minute.’

A rational suspicion suddenly popped into my head.

I immediately closed TriWiki and went to Raidel’s e-Tube channel.