As soon as the broadcast started, I could feel something was off, like whoosh.
It wasn’t because our content was any different—nope! The vibe from the viewers was just way different! ding ding ding
[Did Claire visit Hongdae?]
That was the very first chat that appeared.
Usually, people drop in with greetings, but starting with that comment? Something must’ve happened.
“Is that so? But how did you know?”
[Did you see the video?]
[The video dropped!]
[Claire’s song!]
“…….”
Hmm.
It seems earlier today, Claire’s singing was caught on video.
I quickly opened an internet browser and searched for Claire.
[A foreigner in Korea caught singing like a pro on the street!]
… and there it was.
As the thumbnail suggested, the video had a huge close-up of some guy with a surprised expression, and right next to him, Claire looking just as spectacular.
“Is this my video?”
“Looks like it.”
“Now that you mention it, I think there was a camera in front of that guy earlier.”
Alice casually commented.
“Is this person famous?”
[Who knows?]
[Did you think we’d watch something like that?]
[Honestly, if Claire wasn’t in it, I wouldn’t have watched it, LOL.]
That’s true.
Content tends to fall into categories—regular folks watch their thing, while otakus watch their own fun videos. Of course, some people watch both, but it seems none of the folks who showed up right after we started the stream were in that category.
I clicked the video to check the views.
It hadn’t been up long—only about an hour or so.
The video looked like it didn’t have much editing, given that it was just Claire singing.
Yet it had already racked up over 10,000 views.
I don’t really know how many views these types of videos typically get, but compared to our usual viewer count, that’s a significant amount.
“Let’s see, let’s see!”
“Hold on.”
I stopped Claire, who was about to grab the mouse.
“We can’t just play the video or the song on the stream without worrying about copyrights.”
[Do we even care about that during a live show?]
We should.
We don’t have great editing skills. If we just post an unedited video, we really need to be careful about copyright. Even a little hiccup could block any revenue from the video we worked hard to upload.
Since it had come to this, I wanted to boast with just our stream. Finding work out there can get stressful! I know all too well that looking for a job is way more annoying than just doing one.
And if we start working this way, we might end up with our schedules all messed up. Part-time jobs are usually at odd hours compared to regular office jobs!
I didn’t want that. While I was here, I wanted us all to enjoy our time together!
“For now, we’ll watch it ourselves. I’ll mute the mic for a moment, and you all can check it out directly.”
I copied the video link and dropped it in the chat.
Some grumbled for us to play it, while quite a few replied saying they understood.
“Isn’t it weird that I have to worry about copyrights for a video I’m in?”
“Copyright lies with the person who created the video, after all.”
Sure, we could get into rights of publicity and such, but I didn’t want to get bogged down in that.
“Alright, I’ll watch it.”
As I clicked the video—
[After finishing a street performance safely today…]
The video started with the guy just finishing his song, and some simple subtitles popped up.
It was like a VLOG. The main content seemed to feature outdoor performances and the reactions from the crowd.
The camera was stationary. Seeing the guy tilted slightly to the right, it was clear he was planning to film a guest.
Just as we remembered, the guy called out for Claire, and the subtitle popped: [I found a very pretty lady among the audience and decided to talk to her!]
[Can I just sing whatever I know?]
[Sure! I’ll play along on the guitar!]
The two of them chatted like that.
A brief wait time was edited out, and Claire started singing.
[!!!]
Such a subtitle popped on screen.
…huh, watching this really shows how well she sings!
Of course, you could hear the crowd’s cheers, claps, and passing cars, and the mic quality wasn’t top-notch, but considering all that, Claire sang splendidly.
And seeing it in this video showed just how thrilled the audience was!
After Claire finished singing, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
The guy asked Claire her name afterward.
[It’s Claire!]
Claire answered him.
[When I got home and looked you up, I realized you do broadcasts. You should totally do a singing stream…]
And just like that, the video ended.
Thinking back, it was just about lunchtime, so there must’ve been a few hours for editing. We did go to karaoke and had a meal afterward. So, if the guy wrapped up his performance then, it wasn’t strange for it to be uploaded at this time.
“Hmm.”
I switched the mic back on.
“It’s clear that Claire really sings well.”
[Do a singing broadcast!]
[Are you three considering a singing broadcast?]
“We’re thinking about it, but for now, we’re just mulling it over. We plan to take it one step at a time.”
[Oh!]
[Looking forward to it!]
Though I didn’t outright say we would do it, folks took the hint.
Well, since I was considering it anyway, no harm, no foul!
“Now I see why there are so many people watching today—all because of this! Thanks for joining us, everyone!”
“Thank you!”
Claire chirped with enthusiasm.
[LOL]
[LOL]
[700]
The crowd’s response spiked! Some were saying they preferred her over the character!
No surprise there—it’s a living character in action, after all.
“Now, let’s wrap up the video talk and move on to today’s content… Last stream, Claire came up with the idea, but this time it’s Alice’s turn. Alice, over to you.”
“Uh… huh? Me?!”
“You prepared the items for this, didn’t you? You said while shopping that you could use them for the stream!”
“No, but I didn’t say I wanted to do it!”
“Since you bought it with your money, you should do it, Alice.”
I pressed firmly.
Honestly, I could do it, but let’s face it: I’m not a huge collector of figures; I’ve seen all those otaku things before, but tearing into a figure would elicit no reaction from me. If I tried to make things exciting artificially, that’d just feel cringe.
It’s fun to get a regular person to handle something they don’t know about.
You know how videos of foreigners eating spicy tteokbokki are more entertaining than locals doing it? It’s the same thing! Sure, this figure was created in a Chinese factory for a Japanese company, but still!
“…Fine.”
Pressed hard, Alice finally nodded.
And she stepped over to the spot I had cleared out for her.
[Alice, hello!]
[Crown Princess is coming!]
[Crown Princess, we await your presence!]
Perfect timing for a royal entrance!
“I’ve been here the whole time, you know? And if we’re being technical, we’re all princesses here!”
“Not me!”
Claire sharply retorted.
“Technically, I don’t carry royal blood myself.”
“Still a Crown Princess on record!”
Alice shot me a side-eye.
Whatever; after that banter, it seemed everyone was a bit more relaxed as we pulled out the items we’d prepped under the table.
I walked over to Alice’s now-empty space and set up the 5,000 won folding table I bought on the way.
[What’s this?]
[A Crown Princess playing with another Crown Princess figure, LOLOLOL!]
[Did you buy this with your own money?]
“Is that a problem?”
[Not that!]
[But really, did you?]
“Well, the Imperial Palace has statues of the Emperor, and there are the statues of the founding Emperor in the plaza too.”
[LOLOLOLOLOL]
[LOL!]
[That’s true, LOLOLOL!]
[Anyway, they’re right, LOL!]
Alice seemed to have said that seriously, but the viewers took it as a joke.
Understandably so! It’s a classic gag—seeing the symbols from the ancient past and joking, “Aren’t these just figures made by some nerd?” Every otaku has probably said that once or heard it at least!
“So then… let’s start with the box!”
Reclaiming her usual composure, Alice pointed at the box.
“Even so, it’s pricey! You should consider the cost of the box too!”
A pretty accurate review.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
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