Chapter 84

With the stream running, Si-yoon had fully transformed into Momobin and was concentrating hard on the game.

She carefully reviewed the strategy she’d learned from her older sister and gave it her all to take down the monsters in-game.

But then, her smartphone that was resting on the corner of her desk started vibrating.

Ziiing— Ziiing—

Si-yoon, who was focused on the monitor screen, glanced sideways at the phone.

In an instant, her heart sank.

“Wha-wha-what is this?! Why now of all times?!”

Suddenly, a call from her older sister! The timing was impeccable—or rather, disastrous.

Her eyes darted back to the monitor, but her mind was a chaotic mess.

“Gua-gua… Was everything okay?! I thought I hadn’t been caught…”

She had deliberately waited a good amount of time after talking to her sister Ji-a before going live. So why the heck was she calling now?

Wasn’t her sister supposed to be watching the stream in the living room?

What a dirty sniper move!

…Of course, if Si-yoon weren’t Momobin, this whole “sniping” wouldn’t even make sense.

But her mind kept spiraling with endless thoughts, tangling itself into knots.

Ziiing— Ziiing—

The smartphone continued to vibrate.

Her character on-screen was getting attacked, health draining little by little.

However, Si-yoon couldn’t focus on the game.

“Eh, eh… What, what should I do…”

Her confused mind struggled to piece things together.

It had only been a few seconds, but the viewers were already catching on.

– ??????

– What’s up with the host??

– Why’d you stop suddenly???

– Momoya??????

– What’s wrong? Something happen?

– ?????????

The stream didn’t pause.

There was no glitch in the game.

It was simply that Si-yoon’s fingers had frozen solid, unable to move.

Unaware of the situation, the audience filled the chat with countless question marks while Si-yoon stared tremblingly at her phone.

Ziiing— Ziiing—

“Huuuuh… What, what do I dooo…”

To her, the phone’s vibration felt like an earthquake hitting her desk.

Should she answer?

No, maybe just ignore it?

…but ignoring it naturally would be impossible now since it had already affected the broadcast.

Maybe, just maybe, her sister was outside the house and that’s why she called.

‘Is this some kind of happy circuitry?’

Si-yoon glared rigidly at her smartphone.

A decision needed to be made.

The phone kept buzzing as the audience anxiously searched for Momobin.

Finally, Si-yoon spoke in a quivering voice.

“Uh, everyone… Sorry, I have to take this call… Just a sec…”

She muted her mic.

Click.

Swallowing nervously, she picked up the phone.

Her hand shook violently, making it hard to distinguish between the phone’s vibrations and her trembling arm.

“Stay calm. Stay calm.”

Maybe she could bluff her way through this.

Maybe she was just imagining the worst-case scenario.

Si-yoon took a deep breath to steady her racing heart.

Hoooww—

Her heart still pounded furiously.

She could feel cold sweat trickling down her back.

Resenting her body for working overtime, she raised a shaky hand and tapped the screen slowly before bringing the phone to her ear.

“Yes…?”

…

But there was no response.

…

“Sis?”

…

Still nothing from the other end.

Instead…

Knock-knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

‘Whaaat?!’

Startled, Si-yoon turned toward the door.

The only person who could possibly be home was her sister.

And her sister was the one who called.

This was a life-or-death moment!

Si-yoon blurted out frantically.

“Uh, sis? Is that you in the living room? Why did you—”

[User donated 100,000 won!]

– My world has collapsed today

– ??????

– ???????

– Host!! React already!!

– Momoya where are you???

– Are you still on the call??

Suddenly, a large donation appeared on the stream!

Si-yoon’s gaze flickered to the monitor.

For a second, she almost unmuted herself to thank the donor.

But wait—she was still on the phone with her sister.

Crap.

“I-I’ll be right there. Can you wait a sec…?”

– Uh-huh…

Si-yoon ended the call and double-checked the donor’s username.

Blink-blink.

Even after blinking several times, the username didn’t change.

Eventually, she unmuted herself.

“Hey guys… You know what? I think my family found out…”

– ??????

– For real???

– LMAO

– Which family member?

– OMG sudden outing lmao

– Did they see the stream?!

“Yes! They saw it! They totally saw it! Ahaha… Um, I’ll explain and be right back…”

– LMAO

– HAHAHAHAHAHA

– Caught ya!

– Watching the stream rn?

– What’re your thoughts?

– Hilarious lmao

– HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

– Who in the family tho???

After muting herself again, Si-yoon closed the chat window and stood up from her chair.

She slowly opened the door and stepped out.

Immediately, her eyes met those of her sister Si-hyun sitting upright on the couch.

“…”

Wordlessly, Si-yoon sat beside her sister, unable to muster any words.

Si-hyun stared intently at her younger sibling.

Finally, Si-hyun broke the silence.

“Si-yoon. Were you Momobin…?”

Nod-nod.

“Were you really Momobin…?”

“Yeah…”

Si-yoon slowly answered and turned her head to look at her sister.

The big eyes revealed trembling golden irises.

She’d never seen her sister wear such an expression before.

Not even when she got caught wearing a suit skirt during practice lessons.

Si-yoon felt a twinge of unfairness.

‘I’m the one who got caught, so why does sis look like that?’

Suddenly, she felt a bit resentful and pouted.

“When… When did you figure it out?”

“Just now…”

“When Ji-a called?”

“Yeah. …Can you believe my favorite streamer is my own little sister?”

“Whyyy!”

As Si-hyun muttered under her breath, Si-yoon puffed her cheeks dramatically.

Regardless, Si-hyun kept talking to herself.

“It kinda crossed my mind because your voice sounded similar to when you were younger… But nah, I thought it was impossible…”

“Well, yeah.”

“Ugh! It’s all because of your lispy speech!”

“So what?!”

“You don’t talk like that normally!”

“It’s a broadcast!”

The two women shouted at each other, staring straight into each other’s eyes.

One was embarrassed about being outed.

The other was flustered about discovering her favorite streamer was her little sister.

They were equally awkward, their faces turning bright red from embarrassment.

Eventually, both of them covered their faces with their hands and bowed their heads.

“Whyyy… Whyyyy… Whyyyyyy…”

“No, sis? Do you hate it or something?”

“No, it’s just… Having my favorite streamer as my sister is the problem!”

“What?!?”

“Ghhhhh…”

Si-hyun groaned in frustration and hunched over even more, wrapping her arms around her knees.

Her chest pressed slightly against her thighs, her smooth white hair covering her reddened face, though her flushed ears betrayed her embarrassment.

While observing her sister’s profile, Si-yoon thought,

‘I’ve imagined this scenario a lot, but I never expected it to go down like this…’

Would revealing this before moving out have been better? Or should she have just moved out entirely?

She had thought about it a lot.

None of those thoughts helped now.

Reality hit, and she just went with the flow.

“…Having her as my favorite is the problem?”

Si-yoon felt a mix of emotions.

It was incredibly embarrassing, but maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

Smiling awkwardly, she looked at her sister.

Si-hyun lifted her head from her knees and sat up properly, stretching her back.

Her expression was unusually serious, as if she had made some sort of resolution.

Tensely, Si-yoon waited to see what her sister would do next.

After hesitating briefly, Si-hyun cautiously extended her hands.

Her flushed cheeks radiated heat, unable to hide her embarrassment.

“I want merch.”

“Huh?”

“All the merch you don’t have yet. I want it all.”

“Aahhh!”

Caught off guard by her sister’s cute request, Si-yoon burst into laughter.

Her sister’s bashful expression was absolutely adorable, and her tone carried a hint of cuteness.

“I’ll give it to you after the stream ends!”

“Okay…”

After exchanging a few more words,

Si-yoon returned to the stream.

Pausing the game, she explained the situation to her viewers in a casual storytelling manner.

[User donated 1,000 won!]

– Sorry for interrupting the stream earlier. This is your older sister speaking.

For the first time ever, Si-hyun referred to herself as “sister.”

The audience erupted in cheers.

They found her appearance far more entertaining than the game itself.

Many hoped she’d join the stream and chat with them, but…

– Not happening anytime soon.

She declined.

* * *

Meanwhile, news of Ji-a achieving S-rank wasn’t just causing chaos for Si-hyun and Si-yoon.

“Kim Ji-a Hunter reached S-rank!”

“Wow, already? She levels up super fast, huh?”

“I knew she was promising from the start!”

There had only been one S-rank spear user in Korea until recently, but their passing left many saddened.

Ji-a had neatly filled that void.

Even though her official promotion to S-rank wasn’t confirmed yet, it hardly mattered.

Once news outlets began covering her story, excitement spread across Korea like a festival.

The prestige associated with the title “S-rank” was immense.