I am Smart

---

[Ah, but did you log in and do something else? There’s no way you actually played for 14 hours, right?]

“……”

[…… Sister?]

There was an answer in the silence.

[…… Sister, seriously!]

After that, Lee Da-ram lectured for a few minutes.

[We promised! No more than 6 hours a day! …… Ah! And you ate several chocolate bars today. Seriously, honestly.]

Her shoulders shuddered at that. I hadn’t even asked her recently.

Once one thing is found out, everything comes to light.

“…… Four.”

[Oh come on……! We agreed on just two a day! That’s really bad for your health!]

Lee Da-ram sighed heavily.

“……”

I’m four years older than her.

My lips slightly pouted. Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud, or I’d just get scolded more.

In the short span of less than a month, the most significant change had been the distance between her and me.

Lee Da-ram had become involved in my life a lot. Sometimes I regretted thinking, ‘Should I have really shown her the real game?’

There was no arguing against her nagging.

Because every word of Lee Da-ram was correct. It was basic moderation I had taken for granted.

But I felt a bit wronged too.

“But I really could quit right now. That’s the difference between a game addict and me.”

[Yeah, yeah. Everyone says that. They say they can quit anytime. Anyway, hurry and go to bed. We have work tomorrow.]

“Da-ram, let’s duo. I’ll boost you.”

[Are you trying to slyly play one more match? Hurry up and sleep. It’s late.]

“…… Aren’t you going to sleep, Da-ram?”

I asked, relieved that the nagging time seemed to be over.

[…… Um, um……]

But Lee Da-ram hesitated a bit.

[Ah, I need to play with my friend!]

“…… You’re playing more games too.”

[Ugh…… I just got home from school and started. You’ve been playing all day. Anyway, really go to sleep.]

“Okay. Oh, right. Da-ram, can you tell me one thing?”

I had been curious about this for a while, almost forgetting today.

[What? What is it?]

“That thing that shows the game you’re playing on your Discord status. Can you turn that off?”

I found it fascinating while reading a game blog, seeing the game someone was currently playing displayed on their Discord status.

But Da-ram and I had it turned off.

[Ah~ that? Um…… It’s a bit late to explain. No, it’ll work right away. I’ll tell you quickly.]

Lee Da-ram said and started screen sharing.

[In the Discord settings, go into Activity Privacy and turn this on. See?]

“…… Oh. Got it. Thanks.”

[Done? I’m really going now! Ah, it’s a bit late……]

With that, Da-ram hung up the call.

The noisy room suddenly fell silent. Checking the time, it was 12:15 AM.

Every day at 12, Da-ram disappears somewhere. She always picks up her phone immediately no matter when I call, but after midnight, she never answers.

I wonder if she does something at that time?

As I briefly imagined it, I noticed the VR device next to me blinking.

– You really need to cut back!

That was true. Playing games for 14 hours a day wasn’t a proper lifestyle.

“……”

I picked up the VR device.

And put it on my head.

Just one more game, just one more!

Starting tomorrow, no, starting April 1st, I’ll cut back. Today is March 28th, so I’ll adjust my lifestyle starting from the 1st.

Thinking that made me feel at ease. Since I’m just doing it this month, I should enjoy it fully until then.

While that thought made me feel good, my profile caught my eye.

―――
– Moon Si-hyun
Playing Fist Over Legend
1 minute
―――

I wonder if Da-ram can see this too?

…… Let’s turn it off.

There’s no point in keeping it on.

– Defeat

The game results screen appeared.

This time, I lost entirely because of myself. I received a mouthful of insults from my teammates.

The game ended unusually quickly at 15 minutes.

Feeling bad for my teammates who seemed upset because of me, I sent friend requests one by one to sincerely apologize.

Again, the only replies I got were ‘Crazy person’ and ‘Seriously lost it,’ followed by a block from them.

It can’t be helped. I understand their feelings. Let’s just sleep and do better tomorrow. After taking a deep breath, I started fiddling with the VR device to turn it off.

And just as I was about to end the Discord call.

“What’s this?”

I saw a somewhat unfamiliar word.

―――
– Lee Da-ram
Streaming on Pazzk
3 hours 13 minutes
―――

“…… Streaming?”

“Whew, I should get going now.”

Lee Da-ram said, stretching her back. The lively 2D girl picture in the bottom corner of the stream screen moved in sync with her.

―――
Oobangal
Rock
Good job
You’re leaving early,ㅠㅠ It’s only 3!

―――

Considering there were just about 100 viewers, the chat was moving quite quickly.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Hehe…… I’ve got someone I need to pay attention to these days. I need to ask something.”

As Da-ram spoke, the lively chat momentarily paused.

―――
Who is it?
Someone you need to pay attention to?
Oh… did our Squirrel friend finally get a boyfriend?

Yeah, making new friends is great at this age!

―――

The chatting seemed heartwarming at first glance, but Lee Da-ram could feel a clear chill.

“Ah, it’s a female friend! She’s 21. My sister!”

Da-ram quickly added.

―――
Oh wow
Hahaha, got it

Yeah, hahaha, you should go out and meet people, Squirrel!

For real, hahaha!

―――

With that, the chill slightly dissipated. Lee Da-ram breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

A big VTuber’s dating revelation.
When such a big incident unfolds these days, one must be more cautious.

“Well then, I’ll really be going now. Sleep well, Da-ram!”

After exchanging final greetings, she ended the stream.

“…… Phew……”

Everything went smoothly. It had been two months since Da-ram started streaming, and her viewers were steadily climbing.

The ‘Squirrel’ broadcasting arcade games and Fiore was growing rapidly, attracting both a niche core audience and viewers who mainly followed virtual broadcasts.

With the money she earned from part-time jobs, she even commissioned small outsources and fulfilled her dream of a virtual debut.

There were days when donations came in by the tens of thousands. It was unintended joy since making money wasn’t her main goal.

“Um……”

But something was still bothering me.

Kickouts – 14 times

As her broadcast grew, so did the counts of the so-called ‘trolls.’

What used to be an occasional troll was now happening once a day.

Kicking them out was just a few clicks, but it disrupted the flow of the broadcast a bit.

‘Should I really look for a manager?’

While pondering this, Lee Da-ram was closing the stream windows.

She noticed a red notification on the Discord icon in her taskbar. Checking it, it was a DM from Moon Si-hyun.
Without thinking, Da-ram clicked it.

―――
Da-ram

Do you do internet broadcasting?
―――

“…… Huh?”

Lee Da-ram momentarily blanked at those words before regaining her senses.

Her whole body shivered.

Could she have misread it? That couldn’t be.

‘How did she find out?’
Lee Da-ram felt that Moon Si-hyun was too oblivious to modern culture, especially internet broadcasting.

There was no way she had heard it through rumors or searches.

“No way…… No way.”

Murmured Da-ram as she entered Discord settings. Then she went into Activity Privacy.

―――
– Display current activity as status message.
―――

The green light was on.

“No!”

‘I definitely turned it off!’

Despite her bright image, Da-ram wasn’t the type to be careless. That was why she was well liked at her part-time job.

It must be a clear Discord bug.

‘Of course, this is a place that rarely fixes bugs……!’

Da-ram clicked her tongue inwardly.

The only good thing was that now there was only one person in her friend list—a broadcast personality and a regular person, Moon Si-hyun.

She had tidied up her old friends long ago. Luckily, it was merely coincidence.

Lee Da-ram bit her nails and stared blankly at Moon Si-hyun’s chat. Then she moved her fingers to the keyboard.

[No?]

Deciding to play dumb for now. She could twist her way around Moon Si-hyun, who really knew nothing. Even though she runs, she doesn’t buy earphones, and has a computer but is completely oblivious to this culture.

So, who knows, if she spoke well, she might be able to weave her way out of this.

She wasn’t ashamed of her viewers.

However, for ‘generally proper’ Moon Si-hyun, being exposed to internet broadcasting would hit her mentally hard. Internet broadcasting. Especially ‘virtual broadcasting,’ which has a slightly worse reputation among the general public. She feared how Moon Si-hyun, a regular girl among regular girls, would perceive it.

Lee Da-ram typed with trembling fingers.

[No]
[I’m not doing anything like that]

After sending, she took a deep breath.

– Diroloondirolooon

“Yikes!”

The sudden ringtone made Lee Da-ram jerk.

The caller was Moon Si-hyun.

‘Should I pretend to sleep and not answer?’

Of course, that was not a good choice.

‘We’re meeting in person tomorrow.’

In the end, Lee Da-ram took a deep breath and clicked the green icon.

[Hello.]

Moon Si-hyun’s neat voice came through.

“Y-yes?”

Lee Da-ram tried to sound as composed as possible. But she couldn’t hide her fluster at all.

[Da-ram. Is it true you’re streaming on a place called Pazzk?]

“Ah, no, no! I think it was just an error. Why would I stream? Hehe….. I don’t really have the time for that.”

Lee Da-ram decided to blabber nonsensically for now.

“Hmm.”

“Hehe……”

‘Though the broadcasting platform got exposed, sister seems like a huge computer newbie, so she won’t find it-‘

[Small Squirrel. Just a moment ago on the broadcast, self-introduction: I’m a little squirrel who came down from the mountain to find acorns and got lost in a game. Please take care of me!]

“Kyaaah!!!”

As soon as Da-ram heard that, she screamed. She banged her head several times against the keyboard.

But it felt stingingly painful. Her breathing became ragged. Her face grew hot.

“How did you find out!?”

Lee Da-ram no longer had the luxury to dodge the conversation.

[I just searched for Pazzk without your last name in it.]

“Ah……”

…… Clearing her head and thinking, it was natural for her to be found out.

‘I shouldn’t have used my real name.’
This was the first time Da-ram regretted her naming sense.

“…… Hoo……”

Lee Da-ram covered her face with her hands and sighed deeply.

…… She didn’t want to be found out. Especially to someone completely unaware like Moon Si-hyun.

That was just how the subculture genre is.

Whether it’s music, drawings, novels, comics, or streaming. You need basic knowledge to understand.

Moreover, moving towards a more niche area like ‘virtual streaming,’ if someone lacks understanding about subculture, they might hear blasphemous remarks.

‘It’s over. She won’t spread rumors about me to the internet or my job, right?’
As her extreme imagination ran wild, the calm voice of Moon Si-hyun reached her.

[Da-ram……]

Moon Si-hyun spoke in a very calm tone.

“…… Yes.”

[How could you make such a choice at this age? The internet’s label doesn’t come off.]

“……”

It sounded a bit extreme, but in some ways, it was true. Even if it’s just her voice, it would indeed remain on the internet for life.

It was Moon Si-hyun’s rare adult perspective being shared with Da-ram.

[At first, you might earn quickly with something provocative, but over time, your mind gets exhausted. There’s a reason why others don’t do it. Even if you don’t care, if you’ve grown up learning societal norms, your heart takes a toll when you act against them. Especially for women, it’s more pronounced in this area.]

“Yes, yes?”

‘Huh?’
It seemed somewhat right, but the direction was gradually getting off track.

[Da-ram, you need to value your body. It’s not something to show easily to others.]

“Yes, yes!? Wait a second!!”

Moon Si-hyun seemed to have formed a more serious misinterpretation.