Chapter 33: Going Live
[Streamer, show yourself already! Don’t you know you’ve blown up? This once-in-a-lifetime fortune has landed in your lap, so where are you?!]
[Who the hell is this streamer? To be able to write a song like that... she’s just incredible.]
[There are no flowery lyrics, no showy vocal techniques, none of that AI-polished perfection, but it’s just unexpectedly good. That melody is all I can think about now.]
[God knows how many times I’ve listened to it these past few days. Now I’m even hearing it in my dreams.]
[And that voice is just to die for! Seriously one of the best out there.]
[But with a voice like that, she could be a professional singer. Why is she still just a streamer?]
[You probably couldn’t find more than a handful of people in the entire entertainment industry who can sing better than her.]
[Speaking of singing, that reminds me. I don’t know who the best singer is, but I definitely know who the worst is.]
[You don’t mean Sophie Wexler, do you? The one who sounds like a crow cawing every time she opens her mouth? I feel like my ears are being polluted after hearing just one line, and it makes me want to slap some duct tape over her mouth.]
[You nailed it. Could anyone possibly sing worse than her? Even AI autotune can’t save her. Here, have a listen.]
With that, the user posted a video of the old "Sophie Wexler" singing, and a flood of insults followed below.
[She and the streamer are polar opposites, and her character is trash, too. Ugh, let’s not talk about her on such a nice day. It’s bad luck. I’m just going to listen to the streamer’s songs to cleanse my ears.]
[So where on earth did the streamer go? Go live already!]
The comments on StarNet flooded in, one after another, without pause. Aside from a brief interlude about how unbelievably, horrendously terrible "Sophie Wexler’s" singing was, the rest of the discussion was all about the streamer.
As everyone waited with bated breath, Sophie Wexler’s stream finally went live.
Just like always, a woman was sitting at a table. Her face was hidden, with only the curve of her chin visible.
The instant she went live, countless people flooded into her stream.
Sophie Wexler had just opened her mouth to say, "Hello, everyone,"
when the next second, the screen went black.
The Entertainment Division’s director had been waiting in the wings since Sophie Wexler’s stream started, ready to check the traffic numbers. But then the screen just went black.
The Entertainment Division Director: ??
"What’s going on?"
A technician replied, "Director, there are too many people. The server’s been overloaded."
The director: "!"
’He’d expected a lot of viewers, but not this many.’ He sent a message to Sophie Wexler, telling her not to worry, then ordered his team to start working frantically to fix it!
After everyone on the team scrambled to fix the issue, the stream finally returned to normal.
Once it was back up, to prevent further problems, the director specially assigned several moderators to monitor Sophie Wexler’s stream.
Sophie Wexler started the stream again.
[I’m here, I’m here! I have to see what kind of person can sing a song like that.]
[Streamer, what happened just now? Why did the screen go black?]
"Sorry, everyone. The server crashed just now," Sophie Wexler replied, reading the comments on her stream.
[It’s okay, streamer! I’d wait forever for your songs.]
[Streamer, those songs were just so good! *finger hearts*]
Watching the endless stream of comments scroll by, Sophie Wexler felt a momentary daze. Back on Aethel, she’d had many fans, too, who had expressed their affection for her just as passionately. ’Thinking about it now,’ she mused, ’it feels like another lifetime.’
"Thank you for loving my songs."
[Aaaah, no need to thank us! It’s your songs that are amazing!]
[Streamer, what are you singing today? I’m new here. Can we hear "Recovery" again? I really love it.]
In her previous streams, Sophie Wexler rarely sang songs she had already performed. But this time, since so many people had come specifically for that song, she decided to sing it again.
As Sophie Wexler began to sing, the chat exploded with a frantic stream of virtual gifts, their special effects bursting on screen one after another.
[Wait, is it just me, or does it feel like the way she’s singing it this time is different from what I heard before?]
[Huh? Is it different? I don’t feel any difference. It’s just as good as before. The same person is singing it, how could it be different?]
[I can’t put my finger on it, but it just feels different.]
[You’re not the only one. I feel it too. It’s so weird, the melody and everything is the same.]
[What are you guys even talking about? What’s different?]
The popularity of Sophie Wexler’s stream soared to unprecedented heights. Many in the audience had heard her sing before, and soon, this questioning sentiment began to spread.
Several of the platform’s staff members were in Sophie Wexler’s stream, and after seeing the comments, they immediately reported to the director.
The director came over. "Different? What’s different?"
Since Sophie Wexler’s song was posted on her profile, the director had listened to it more than once; he knew almost every note by heart. After listening to it again in the stream, he couldn’t find anything wrong with the melody.
’If he had to say something was different,’ he thought, ’it’s only that it sounds even better.’
Just then, someone in the stream had a sudden realization: [I know what’s different! This time, the song is making my Spiritual Sea even calmer!]
That was it. It wasn’t an issue with the song itself. The song was the same, the melody was the same.
Previously, when Sophie Wexler had sung this song live, they had felt a sense of peace, and some had even said the turmoil in their Spiritual Sea had subsided.
But back then, the change in their Spiritual Sea was so minuscule as to be almost imperceptible. It was more a feeling of comfort, enjoyment, and immersion. So even if the effect was there, they couldn’t be sure.
This time, however, that subtle change in the Spiritual Sea was amplified, becoming obvious.
Some people who were in the early stages of a spiritual disturbance clearly felt the rampaging spiritual power in their Spiritual Sea begin to calm as they listened to Sophie Wexler’s song.
The lower their Level, the more obvious the calming sensation was.
Everyone who felt the change was collectively stunned!
’Could it be that her songs can actually alleviate the turmoil in one’s Spiritual Sea?!’
Meanwhile, Ethan Cross watched the person singing on the stream. After a long moment, he turned to the person beside him and said, "So this is the streamer the Little Prince mentioned."
His subordinate replied, "Yes, Major General."
Ethan Cross had been absent last time and hadn’t heard her sing, so he had remained skeptical of the Little Prince’s claim that her voice could soothe the spirit. But now...
"Did you feel a change in your Spiritual Sea?" Ethan Cross asked the man beside him.
The man nodded. "I did."
His spiritual power was S-class, and the turmoil in his Spiritual Sea was notoriously difficult to soothe; each flare-up was excruciating. But her song had miraculously managed to alleviate it by a considerable amount.
"Prepare the instruments. Test the values of the agitated spiritual power," Ethan Cross ordered.
’If this is truly effective, then the soldiers won’t have to suffer through their treatments at the soothing centers anymore.’
’As soon as this is confirmed, this streamer’s existence will be of monumental importance. This matter must be reported to the Marshal immediately.’