Moving
"I'll treat you next time."
"Yeah... you better."
In the end, Hye-jung stayed for dinner at my parents' house and had galbijjim with us.
"Ooh, so cute~"
Still, she looked satisfied playing with Boksil, so I figured it wasn't too bad.
While Hye-jung was in the living room playing with Boksil, stuffed full of galbijjim, my mom and I started unpacking the boxes I'd moved.
"Oh wow, you play guitar too?"
She picked up the guitar that had come out of one of the boxes, looking nostalgic.
"Your dad used to play a lot back in the day. Guess you can't escape the bloodline."
"Dad did?"
"Back in college. Played nonstop for a while, then just quit one day."
I never knew my dad had that kind of past... I'd never seen him play at home.
"Play something for me."
"Right now?"
"Yeah, we've got time. You can unpack later."
"Well, then..."
I took the guitar back from her and adjusted it lightly.
The weight of it was familiar now, and in my head I recalled one of the songs I'd been practicing.
A Japanese band's piece—not too easy, not too hard, but still a little much for a beginner like me.
Ding—ting—
I strummed a string with the pick, adjusted my posture, focused on finger placement, and started to play.
Ding—diiing—
Luckily, all the practice hadn't been for nothing. Even from the start, I could make it sound decent.
"Ohh..."
"Not bad, huh?"
At some point, Hye-jung had come over with Boksil in her arms to watch me too.
"Well? Do I look cool?"
"Up until you said that."
"Way to ruin the mood."
"Mmhm."
I got scolded for opening my mouth mid-song, but still managed to finish about 70% of it.
"You can't play the whole thing?"
"Not yet. Still practicing."
Her question reminded me of the deadline I'd promised my viewers.
...Not much time left, huh?
At this rate, I might really have to do that 24-hour stream.
But what would I play? The horror game they've been begging me for? Or maybe a cooking stream—if I did it in my parents' kitchen, I could cook and leave the cleanup to—
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
"N-nothing."
My mom, sensing something, snapped me out of it.
"Alright, so is this the last of the unpacking?"
"No, still a bit left."
I hadn't brought over my streaming gear yet.
I'd need it tonight anyway, since I still had a stream scheduled at the apartment.
"Your dad was happy when I told him you were moving back home."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"When's he coming home?"
"Probably late tonight."
"So I won't see him then."
"Not unless you stay the night."
"No, I've got things to do back at my place."
If I streamed tonight, I'd probably have to take a few days off afterward.
Even once the gear was moved, I'd still need to install the soundproof booth.
The room was big, but setting it up would mean boxing up at least half the merch and sticking it in storage.
Just thinking about it made me sigh.
So this is why everyone complains about moving.
Still, once this was done, I'd probably be stuck here for a few years until I moved out again.
If my mom had heard that thought, she'd have smacked me in the back of the head.
With that, the unpacking at my parents' house was finished.
[Important Notice (Real)]
That evening, back at my place, I went live. Since moving meant I'd have to take a short break, I needed to let people know.
More than half my viewers never check the fan café, so if I don't say it on stream, they won't know.
Other members can just post notices there and be fine... but well, I guess this is just how my viewers are.
???
What's this "important notice"?
Graduation??
New song??
Song stream today??
As the viewer count climbed fast, I started speaking.
"Hello, everyone."
Hey hey
So what's this notice?
"I'll wait until a few more people are here to say it."
;;;
Can't you just say it now?
Just tell us
"If I say it now, I'll have to repeat it for people who come in later."
Of course, even then I'd get spammed with "what's the big announcement" every five minutes... but still, it was better to wait until the numbers settled.
Then what do we do?
Hurry up, I gotta put my phone away
Say it already
"Well, you guys can listen to my guitar in the meantime..."
AHHHHH
Please no
Just tell us a story instead
Review a manga for us
I can wait patiently ♥
Why does everyone hate my guitar so much...? Mom and Hye-jung liked it earlier.
"...Actually, I don't have the guitar with me right now."
Phew
Did you sell it?
Finally threw it away lol
Aw, I wanted to hear it
Why didn't you bring it?
"Because not having it is connected to tonight's big announcement."
??? No way
Money problems??
Did you move?
What is it??
With everyone urging me, I checked the viewer count.
Alright, looks like most people were in.
"I'm moving."
Oh okay, so what's the big announcement?
Where to??
When do you tell us the actual thing?
"...So I'll have to take a few days off streaming."
Scam
F***ing small-fry streamer
Trash
This is lame;;
Scam
Trash
[Thank you, OOO, for the 1,000 won donation!]
Just stream at a PC café.
"Come on, at a PC café? Do you know how much setup I need?"
A VTuber's stream takes way more equipment than people think.
And setting up a camera in a PC café? Never mind the inconvenience—imagine the stares.
I'd sooner stream without a booth than try that.
So basically, a break?
Just take one day and do it fast
Moving isn't that big a deal;;
But why move?
"Why? Because my lease ended, and I'm moving back to my parents' house."
Ohh
So how are you gonna stream then?
"I'll have to set up a soundproof booth first, of course."
[Thank you, OOO, for the 1,000 won donation!]
Do your parents know you're building a weeb-box in their house??
"...They don't. I made up something else."
LOLLLLL
Are you ashamed of being a VTuber?
Nah, we're the embarrassed ones
I'm un-subbing
Sigh... Miro, I'm disappointed
Dropping my oshi, bye
F***ing trash Miro
I'd expected it, so I just watched the chat go up in flames and opened the fan café.
At this point, fiery chatrooms didn't bother me. Let them burn.
"Well, I'd better post an official notice too."
I went into the now-busy Miro-only board and wrote a short announcement.
Even though more than half my viewers never checked the café, the ones who did deserved updates.
[Stream Break]
Reason: Moving
Duration: 2–3 days
"Not like you'd read it if I wrote more, right?"
LMAO then don't even post it
Why bother writing notices, we don't read the café anyway
[Thank you, OOO, for the 1,000 won donation!]
But why move back home? Why not find another apartment?
"You guys know I dropped out, right? I only lived alone because college was far away. Since I quit, I'm going back home."
Still, wouldn't independence be better??
Streaming's easier on your own tho
"Well... I'm too lazy to do housework."
LOLLLL
Okay fair
Hmm... not wife material
What an unfilial daughter
"Anyway, that's the announcement done. Now, let's do this."
I switched the screen.
??
?
Bruh
LOL
It was none other than the lobby for Royal Ground.
I'd queued during the notice-writing so the chance of sniping me was near zero.
Please, give us a chance to snipe...
Solo queue this time?
Not playing with that Japanese you friended last time??
"You mean the Japanese player I friended? Oh, you guys know she's a VTuber?"
Since chat had been quiet about it despite the massive community fight last time, I brought it up myself. The chat exploded.
Of course
Yeah, she's huge
Wait, really?
No way, fr?
Are you pretending not to know or actually clueless?
"My manager only told me after the stream. Turns out she's super famous."
LOL Miro's insane luck again
This girl's RNG is broken
Pure luck GOAT
"So are you playing with her again?"
"I don't know. Looked like she was offline just now."
With that, I focused on the game.
I usually played duo or squad, so going solo felt weird. Still, I looted steadily...
Bang!
Got sniped while walking down a road. Dead.
"..."
LOLLLLLL
No side-strafing?
For real...
I told you to drive a car
Walking lootbox moment
[Thank you, ArtisanMiro, for the 1,000 won donation!]
Alright, time to queue up for the snipe lol
Let's gooo
Hide your matchmaking all you want, we'll find you
Queue up!! Queue up!! Queue up!!
These guys... they were hyped, already camping the snipe queue like vultures. I sighed.
"...Should I just spin random duos instead?"
Playing solo just meant looting and then dying. Fun the first time, but it'd get old.
Do it do it
Pleaseeee
Can't you just pick a viewer?
[Thank you, ArtisanMiro, for the 10,000 won donation!]
How much for a duo carry?
"Hey! Thanks for the ten-thousand, but no. I don't sell duos."
Random matchmaking was the whole point. It had to have that little thrill of not knowing who you'd meet.
LOL capitalist sellout Miro where are you now
You've lost your Korean-woman license!
Just take the cash and duo, coward
"Tch. I said no. Alright, starting the queue. Snipe if you want."
I'd had my fun with the snipe-free game; now it was time to just deal with it.
Ding—diiing—
A message popped up in my friend list.
"Huh? Who's that?"
My Royal Ground friends list only had the Celestial Project members, some big SixCorp YouTubers I'd collabed with, and... that Japanese VTuber.
No way the project members or SixCorp stars would be DMing during their streams. So then—
[awxt1004: Let's play together!]
[awxt1004: Together!]
"Uh..."
As I suspected, it was her—the Japanese VTuber.