I am Smart

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[You need to cherish your body, Daram. It’s not something to easily show to others.]

“Y-yes!? Wait a second!!”

The doubt that had lingered in my mind became certainty with Moon Si-hyun’s last words.

“… Sister. Do you think I’m going to do some kind of broadcasting?”

[I told you. Internet broadcasting. Spilling soy sauce and breaking windows, women take off their clothes for money, right?]

“Wh-what!?”

[As a person, you shouldn’t do that, even before talking about being a minor—Daram-]

“Wait-wait-wait! Just a moment!!”

Moon Si-hyun stopped speaking. Lee Da-ram’s breath became ragged.

Before long, Da-ram’s face became even hotter than when she had been caught broadcasting.

“I-I only play games!!”

“…… Is that so?”

Da-ram shouted desperately to clear up the misunderstanding as quickly as possible. Her eyes were spinning. Moon Si-hyun was much more unfamiliar with the internet than Da-ram had anticipated.

She knew about internet broadcasting but had no interest in it, so all she had seen were the major incidents covered by big news outlets.

There, she had only seen the dark side of internet broadcasting: money laundering, drugs, sexual harassment, sexual assault, violence, and excessive suggestiveness. The news created biases by only covering sensational and significant incidents.

To Moon Si-hyun, internet broadcasting was a lawless den filled with crimes.

And Da-ram appeared to be a pitiful child who had been forced to abandon her chastity by capitalism.

Realizing just how unaware Moon Si-hyun was, Da-ram took a breath to calm herself and aimed to strip away her misconceptions.

“Uh, sister. Do you know about the Magical Library?”

[…… No?]

“U-um! What about Wackgod?”

[I don’t know.]

“Gah……!”

It was a huge shock for Da-ram, who had grown up watching those things. However, Moon Si-hyun had always shattered Da-ram’s common sense.

“… Sister. For now, I’ll share my screen, so please watch some broadcasting with me.”

[…… I don’t want to watch Daram’s broadcasting directly.]

“That’s not it!! Also, I’ll show you something other than my broadcast!!”

Da-ram shouted back. Today seemed to be full of shouting.

The first thing she showed was the broadcasts of the most popular and famous YouTubers.

And she explained that even ordinary elementary school students watch internet broadcasting.

[Ah, so this was also internet broadcasting. I thought it was just on TV.]

“…… Yeah…… But sister, I’ve heard you get all the Fiore information from the internet. Where did you see that?”

[From blogs or wikis.]

“Ah……”

Afterwards, Da-ram unintentionally explained everything about internet broadcasting to Moon Si-hyun, trying to reclaim her severely tarnished honor.

The origins of internet broadcasting, its wholesomeness, and so on…

Then, Da-ram swallowed once.

“…… And sister, what I do as virtual broadcasting is…”

Finally, she started to explain what her ‘virtual broadcasting’ was. It was the tragedy of subculture. She felt anxious if she didn’t explain the basic knowledge.

What a virtual broadcaster is, the current trends in internet broadcasting, the prospects, and so on… She spoke as if persuading someone.

In fact, she had never considered becoming a full-time virtual broadcaster, so she hadn’t thought much about prospects, but tried her best to explain it in a good direction. Moon Si-hyun quietly listened to all of Da-ram’s words.

After a while of silence, Moon Si-hyun finally spoke.

[…… So, to summarize what you’re saying.]

“Yes.”

[You’re a ‘VTuber,’ you don’t show your face or body, and people assume that a Japanese-style drawing is you? And people understand and watch that?]

“…… Yes.”

[And every time you move, the camera captures the motion, so the drawing moves instead?]

“……. Yes……”

[And RP means role-playing, so simply put, your character is a squirrel who came down from the mountain to eat acorns but got hooked on gaming and settled down? And your hobbies are collecting acorns, eating acorns, and gaming?]

“……. Yes…”

With every answer, Da-ram’s head sank further down. Her face became hot and then turned red.

What Moon Si-hyun said was merely a reflection of what Da-ram had said, but the unaware questions from an ordinary person jabbed at Da-ram’s heart.

“… Sister.”

Still, Da-ram raised her head and spoke.

“I’m proud to be a VTuber, and I really like my broadcasting. I really appreciate the viewers who enjoy it.”

This was Da-ram’s heartfelt confession.

Moon Si-hyun fell silent. Then she opened her mouth.

[So, it’s not the kind of broadcasting I thought it was? … Hmm. After actually searching, it seems like VTubers really exist, so I’ll trust you.]

“…… Phew.”

Thank goodness it seemed the earlier misunderstanding had been cleared up.

“……”

However, Da-ram felt a slight disappointment in the silence that had settled between them.

An understanding female friend, the only ordinary person who knew about her broadcasting. And a bit of a desire for recognition.

She wanted to take one step closer. So, Da-ram opened her mouth.

“… Sister. Would you like to visit our room tomorrow?”

*

Da-ram was instinctively proud of her broadcasting.

An average of 100 people watch her doing something. They laugh and chat together. She brings joy and happiness into their daily lives.

Perhaps that’s truly a great and wonderful thing.

Moreover, for Da-ram, who had just entered high school and lost all relationships with her friends due to some issue, her broadcasting was the greatest and most wonderful outlet for communication.

So she wanted to be recognized by Moon Si-hyun for her broadcasting.

“… Are you going to use that nickname?”

[Yeah. tlgus123.]

“I see you like your Fiore nickname and your real name…… It’s very you. Oh, right. Sister, could you possibly be my manager?”

[Manager?]

Compared to her desire for recognition, Da-ram wished she had a manager for her broadcasting.

The most significant authority of a manager is to kick out users. Of course, the host also has the power to kick out, so it’s not a hassle to click a few times.

Even with 100 viewers, Da-ram was still relatively new and small, so it wasn’t impossible to handle rapid chat movements without difficulty.

However, because it was a small broadcaster’s channel, there were problematic toxic comments that weren’t buried.

Since she had to kick out troublemakers one by one, it often created awkward situations.

For instance, when a chat saying “Fighting Yoon Seok-myeong” appeared while she was in the middle of broadcasting, she had to kick them out.

Or chats related to “Large VTuber Dating Scandal,” which was the biggest topic in recent broadcasting communities, had to be dealt with even quicker.

But kicking them out inevitably led to some silence.

Once she kicked someone out, the tension of the broadcast shifted drastically.

It was recognized that both the broadcaster and all the viewers had observed that chat. It was akin to how a few handfuls of dirt can turn a pond into murky water.

But if there was a manager to delete the chats, they could pretend not to see and keep reading.

Sometimes, a friend who had become close enough to add on Discord would occasionally help as a manager for a fellow ‘small VTuber.’ But that was only occasionally. It’s because those friends were in someone else’s stream, not Da-ram, who had just started a few months ago.

[Just press the nickname, and click kick, right?]

“Oh, yes. And to unban, you just press it again.”

She created a ghost account to experiment.

Da-ram thought that if Moon Si-hyun declined, there wouldn’t be much she could do, but surprisingly, she was quite cooperative.

And the next day, late in the evening.

Da-ram began to explain examples of toxic chats she had encountered so far and taught her.

“And you can chat, but please be careful not to chat too much. And, absolutely, under no circumstances should you ever mention my real name, the area I live in, the name of the restaurant where I work part-time, and anything related to my personal information. The same goes for you, sister.”

After explaining all the things Da-ram must not say to Moon Si-hyun, she finally added,

“Alright, I’ll be heading out of Discord. Please come check out what my broadcast is like!”

*

“Phew……”

Da-ram took a large breath in and out. She always felt nervous just before beginning her broadcast.

Then she clicked the button marked ‘Broadcast Waiting Screen’ that she had noted down. The prepared screen was displayed for the viewers.

“Hmm. Hum-hum. Ah.”

Clearing her throat for ‘RP.’

She pressed the broadcast start button.

―――

Ramha

Ramha

You came early

―――

A few seconds later, several chats appeared.

Da-ram’s lips curled up slightly at that.

‘What could they like about me so much?’

Thinking to herself, Da-ram silently listened to a song during the broadcast waiting screen.

If she started chatting immediately after starting the broadcast, latecomers could find it awkward.

―――

So the music ended. By that time, about 70 viewers had gathered.

Da-ram pressed the ‘Next Screen’ button.

Then, a black screen with only the character’s forehead peeking out suddenly shot up.

It was a character with light brown hair and a hood, with lively brown eyes.

“Hi! Nice to meet you, Daram!”

―――

Nice to meet you, Daram

Nice to meet you, Daram

Ramha

I waited

Hi hi hi welcome

Welcome

―――

“Today I’ll be playing Fiore! I came a bit late yesterday, so I’ll play longer today! Alright then! … S-starting now, Daram~”

Thinking that Moon Si-hyun was watching, she hesitated for a moment before adding ‘Daram’ to her last sentence, but she soon became familiar with it over time.

After that, Da-ram skillfully continued her broadcast. It was impressive how adept she was given that she had only been doing this for a few months.

Just then, a chat appeared.

―――

But didn’t a manager just get introduced?

Oh, really

It’s not just a manager, but a simple manager

―――

“Ah, yes, yes, that’s right. This is my new manager. You know, the 21-year-old sister. Do you remember what I told you yesterday? Sister! Please introduce yourself!”

She emphasized the word ‘sister’ on purpose. Da-ram was aware that beyond the community, outsiders who weren’t broadcasters were a target of caution for the viewers.

―――

Ah, so that’s her

Oh

The squirrel’s only friend

Nice to meet you, Si-hyun

―――

After a brief pause of several seconds, the most captivating chat appeared.

―――

tlgus123: Hello. I will be managing the broadcast of Daram. I’m new to watching internet broadcasts, so I apologize for any shortcomings, but I hope we can create a mature internet community together.

―――

“Ha!!”

―――

LMAO

What’s with the tone?? LOL

Seems like it’s really their first time

I really need to type nicely now

Sister……

They seem innocent

―――

Rather, the seemingly completely unfamiliar manner with internet broadcasting seemed to appeal even more positively to them.

Feeling relieved that Moon Si-hyun blended in well, Da-ram continued her broadcast.

*

“Okay! 13-minute break!”

―――

Nice

Nice one

The best current realm support, squirrel

For real, you’re going to hit Master soon

―――

Time flew by. The broadcast continued smoothly without any troublemakers. The tension that someone she knew was watching her broadcast had vanished.

Da-ram’s broadcast was notably wholesome among VTubers.

Many female VTubers occasionally used suggestive jokes to stimulate the viewers’ dopamine, but Da-ram didn’t do any of that.

Firstly, her personality didn’t match such content, and she knew from watching other broadcasts that when topics like that arose, some viewers occasionally crossed the line.

Da-ram wasn’t someone who could handle sudden situations smoothly.

She could continue the broadcast with various ordinary conversations, but when someone sparked a sudden outburst, her mind would freeze momentarily.

As long as she was just reading, it was bearable, but after pausing to kick out a user, she often wasn’t sure what to say next.

When the broadcast was going smoothly, a long chat appeared.

―――

But, doesn’t the squirrel have a boyfriend? Recently, it seems that even large VTubers are dating ㅠㅠ Ah, wait, do you already have one?…[This message was deleted.]

―――

The system’s chat window was faster than the chat displayed on the broadcast screen.

That chat was deleted before it even reached the screen.

‘Sister, nice one!’

Internally celebrating, Da-ram continued her broadcast.

More toxic comments followed, but Moon Si-hyun kicked them all out within seconds.

The broadcast flowed smoothly and ended without issue.