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The broadcast for the World Cup with my chatty junior continued.

“Here is….”

Seo Eun-ha was quite the talker in her field, but on the flip side, that just meant she had a wealth of knowledge.

“Really? So, this lyric is….”

“Oh, that’s about a pet that’s passed away….”

So whenever a question popped up, she would answer immediately, almost like a walking Wikipedia.

I couldn’t help but wonder, how does she know all this stuff?

-Kya hahaha

-Wait, you know this too?

-Insane

The viewers were amazed by Seo Eun-ha’s knowledge, and I was astonished as well.

What doesn’t she know?

Is reading Wikipedia her hobby?

“So, which song did you like better?”

“Um… both have a similar vibe.”

This time, both songs had a similar feeling.

That made it hard to choose.

Both of them were performed live so well that they reached all the way to this neighboring country, Korea.

“Still leaning towards the right one?”

“Yeah, I like the right one too.”

“Alright, then let’s go with the right.”

During this World Cup, I felt that the awkwardness had definitely eased compared to before.

I’m really glad I came.

Indeed, there’s nothing quite like face-to-face conversations to melt away the awkwardness.

While we were proceeding with the World Cup under an unexpectedly good atmosphere…

“Uh.”

Seo Eun-ha let out a surprised sound at one of the songs that played.

“What’s up?”

“This, this is one of my absolute favorite songs…!”

“Oh, really?”

Seeing the title, it struck me as something I had heard somewhere before.

Moreover, her eyes were sparkling, so she must genuinely love it.

“I played this nonstop during exam periods….”

-Exams hahaha

-The song is good though hahaha

-Isn’t this a school lunch pick?

-But the competition is really tough though? hahaha

-So middle school emo vibes, huh? oh yeah

Anyway, since the viewers recognized the song too, it must be quite famous.

Famous means good music, and honestly, it felt like I had heard this song at least once in the memories of female Kim Soo-hyun.

“Shall we give it a listen?”

So, we listened to the song.

Sure enough, as soon as the melody hit, I remembered which song it was.

It truly is a good song, though it’s slightly outside my usual taste, I can’t deny its quality.

“Uh, what do you think? Isn’t it just great?”

But looking at my junior’s sparkling eyes…

“Um, it’s not really my taste, though?”

I felt a slight urge to ‘tease’ her.

“What? Not your taste?”

Her bewildered response made me chuckle.

“Umm… is it bland? Maybe that’s the word?”

-Hahaha

-What a crazy person

-Here we go again

-I thought we were cruising along fine

“Are you saying it’s bland?”

I wondered how Seo Eun-ha would respond.

Even though she seemed a bit more relaxed, she used to find it somewhat intimidating to face me?

“I, I don’t think so….”

“Oh?”

Is she going to counter that?

With an intriguing rebuttal, I narrowed my eyes, signaling her to say more. Seo Eun-ha flinched for a moment but continued.

“I, I think it’s emotional rather than bland….”

“Really?”

“Yes… if you listen closely, it’s really not that calm, right? The bass lightly tickles the ear….”

“You think that way, huh?”

I said that while further squinting my eyes, but Seo Eun-ha faced me squarely and said,

“Y-you’re right. Personally, I think this is the champion song.”

Champion, huh?

That’s a pretty definitive stance, huh?

“Hmm… is that so?”

“What…!”

-Hahaha

-Really… is that so?

-Champion seems a bit much…

-This could be taken off the list, right?

“Then let’s hear the right one first; you haven’t listened to it yet.”

“W-well, that’s true.”

-Solid statement) the right one seems stronger

-Wow that one hahaha

-That’s the real champion song though?

But for Seo Eun-ha, it seems unfortunate to have met such strong competition.

If the viewers are that excited, it must genuinely be impressive.

“Let’s give it a listen.”

Saying that, I started playing the video.

Immediately, an enormous crowd of spectators appeared.

Seeing the overwhelming size made it instantly clear where we were.

“Is this the Tokyo Dome? That one?”

-Yep!

-So big!

-Wow hahaha

How many people are in the audience, for crying out loud?

And the famous Tokyo Dome, at that.

It’s my first time seeing a live performance in a venue like this.

The song appearing here was something that had been shown during previous World Cups.

I had heard the track as a recording before, but this was my first time watching it live.

With such thoughts, I settled in to watch the video properly.

In the dimly lit performance hall.

In an instant, all the lights from the glow sticks in the audience turned on in unison.

Along with that, the stage lights lit up, revealing the vocalist as they began to sing.

The band’s music erupted, instantly grabbing my ears.

The singer elevated the atmosphere, and the full-fledged performance commenced.

“Wow.”

Honestly, I couldn’t help but be amazed as I watched.

Before thousands of fans, the singer performed with a deeply emotional expression while the crowd waved glow sticks and cheered.

Sure, the live performances I had witnessed thus far weren’t lacking in crowd presence, but performing in front of thousands was on another level.

Now I understand why Tokyo Dome is often described as a dream venue for singers.

Just observing the singer’s expression fills me with excitement.

It wasn’t just the singer either.

The other members playing instruments and the occasionally glimpsed fans all reflected similar expressions.

I felt their overflowing emotions sharing the joy of enjoying this performance.

Personally, it was incredibly moving.

This is the essence of a live performance.

I must visit someday.

Though it may be hard to get tickets for a performance in Japan, rather than Korea… if I charm Tenshi, can’t I somehow get tickets?

Anyway, as for my overall assessment of the song I just heard…

“This is the number one.”

“Huh?”

“Number one.”

“No, but about that earlier….”

After saying this, I chose the right song.

This one won, right?

-Hahaha

-To be honest, it was great

-I agree

-The left one… just come later hahaha

-The right one was good, ‘Let’s Drink’

“Uh, wait?! Oh!”

It seems our junior had a slightly different opinion, but honestly, the right one was clearly superior.

Surely, she wouldn’t have major complaints as my junior.

“Oh, oh….”

Was that not the case? Whatever.

Whether Seo Eun-ha was sulking or not, the World Cup continued.

Though my personal number one had been decided.

**

As time went on, the champion song was finally announced.

“Phew… that was fun.”

“Indeed. Choosing the final championship song was really difficult.”

“You too? I found it challenging as well.”

Even though the song I declared number one ended up winning, the other stages were also formidable.

It’s clear that the essence of a band lies in live performance, not in recordings.

-For sure

-Today was intense hahaha

“Is that why you’re doing the champion cover?”

“Cover the champion song? I can’t do that.”

How could I possibly pull that off?

With my skills, it would be utterly impossible.

“So, what shall we do now?”

“Now? Hmm….”

What to do now?

It feels a bit early to end the broadcast, you know.

-League, let’s go

-How about a two-player game?

-Not doing another World Cup?

-Karaoke?

The viewers seemed to be demanding a second part, flooding the chat with requests.

Well, amongst those options, we can just pick one, right?

“Then I’ll step away for a moment, so please discuss among yourselves.”

Since I had been sitting for too long on the stiff dining chair instead of my usual comfortable broadcasting chair, my body felt all sore.

I needed to step out of this cramped room to stretch and relieve my muscles.

And I saw my phone received a message earlier too.

I hadn’t answered it because of the broadcast, but it could be important.

So, I got up, apologized, and headed to the living room.

With Eun-ha’s mother out, and her father at work, the living room was empty as I took a moment to stretch.

Then, I called the person I couldn’t reach during the broadcast.

“Hello?”

[Hey, Soo-hyun!]

A female voice came through my phone.

It was none other than Ah-young.

She’s the drummer for Hyeon-su’s band.

I guess it’s because I just witnessed the live performance?

I’m suddenly feeling a newfound respect for Ah-young.

Will Hyeon-su do a live performance someday too?

I definitely need to request tickets from him.

“What’s up?”

[Did you see it?]

“What do you mean?”

In a brief moment, I pondered what there was to see, but soon I figured it out.

“Did Hyeon-su’s album drop?”

[Yeah! It was just released, and the response is phenomenal!]

“Already a response?”

How long has it been since it was released?

It seems Hyeon-su went out of his way to promote it on variety shows, which seems to be paying off.

[There are a ton of posts flooding Instagram right now!]

“Really?”

[Yeah! How about you post something too? I heard you’re a YouTuber, right?]

“Haha.”

Ever since the rumors circulated previously, the members of Hyeon-su’s band have somewhat figured out that I am the VTuber Miro. Of course, they live lives far removed from VTubers, so they probably just know me as a YouTuber at most.

“I’m good.”

If I post, what will happen?

Nonsensical drama.

What’s my status compared to those famous celebrities?

It would likely go along the lines of that.

Anyway, was that what you called about?

I thought something serious happened or something.

After casually chatting a bit, I broke off the conversation, remembering the broadcast.

“Alright, I have to get back to the broadcast, so I’ll contact you later.”

[Okay!]

After ending the call, I returned to Seo Eun-ha’s room.

However…

“S-senpai….”

How long had I been gone that Seo Eun-ha’s pupils were wildly shaking as she looked at me pitifully.

“What’s wrong?”

“Please… help….”

What could have happened?

I wondered if something had gone wrong, and as I got closer, I finally noticed the chat.

“What’s going on?”

The chat was scrolling up so quickly that it was hard to read even one message.

“What happened?”

I felt a little flustered, wondering if something had happened in the brief moment I was gone.

I considered the possibility that my inexperienced junior might have made a verbal slip, so I controlled the scroll to temporarily stop and read through the chat.

-Is this real?

-When did the featuring happen?

-Explain it, explain!

-Is this the broadcast with the featuring artist?

-What’s with that bizarre drawing on the screen? hahaha

-Is this for real?

In the short period of time, the chat had turned into a chaotic frenzy.

“Whoa.”

I recalled the conversation I just had with Ah-young.

The album of Hyeon-su had just been released and became a hot topic.

Did it spread through the community?

The number of viewers skyrocketed in the meantime.

It seemed the coordinates had been revealed.

…This isn’t even my broadcast; it’s my junior Seo Eun-ha’s.

I glanced surreptitiously at Seo Eun-ha beside me.

No matter how confident she was, this must be horrifying for someone with less broadcast experience.

Well… I had somewhat anticipated this when she mentioned the album release today, but I never expected the viewers to swarm in so suddenly.

However…

I’ve been in broadcasting long enough to not panic at moments like this.

Rushing to end the broadcast would be something a mediocre would do.

That kind of inferior behavior doesn’t suit the top-tier Miro.

“Eun-ha.”

“…Yes?”

“Shall I buy you a game or two?”

I was planning to teach her and Haeil together later, but if this is the only way…

 

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