Part No. 9

    Step by Step

    “Big Brother! Are you done eating yet?! I’ve been waiting forever!” Before Gabriel could continue his conversation with Alan, Gloria’s shout interrupted. She had been waiting for her older brother to finish his meal for an hour, but she still didn’t see him walk out. He left her to play the piano all by herself, she was lonely. This is not okay! The girl thought with frustration.

    “Yes, yes. I was just talking to Alan about streamers.”

    Gabriel quickly responded. He had finished eating a long while ago, but he got so engrossed in learning about streamers through the conversation that he completely forgot his younger sister was waiting. He didn’t know when this time bomb was going to explode, so it was best not to provoke it too much. With that in mind, the young man hurriedly got up and made his way to the sitting room, where a grand piano stood. There, his little younger sister sat waiting for him, her face in a pout. When she saw that her older brother had arrived, the little princess pouted in slight anger. 

    “You’re late! I’ve played this piece dozens of times already!” Gloria grumbled.

    “Don’t complain. I wanted to learn about the streamers you mentioned. They’ve changed the rules again.”

    Since they had been together for a long time, Gabriel knew what he should say to shift his mischievous younger sister’s attention from the matter, the one who was in great anger at the moment.

    “Changed?” Of course, Gloria’s mood shifted immediately upon hearing what her older brother told her.

    “Yep. Before, people needed at least ten million followers to become a streamer. But now, they also need five hundred million total video views,” Gabriel pretended to explain with a serious face.

    “What!?” Gloria even exclaimed out of shock.

    “But even with the changes, you’ll still need to be eighteen to activate the streaming system. So, Alan suggested that we start uploading videos to build up views and fans now, and then switch to streaming once we hit eighteen.”

    “I see.”

    Gloria nodded, understanding why her older brother came so late. Thus, her anger was replaced with her usual calmness.

    “Well then, listen to me play Moonlight Sonata, okay?”

    “Have you practiced till you can smoothly play it already?”

     He asked out of curiosity. If that was the case, it meant his younger sister had to be a prodigy. Gebriel secretly smiled satisfyingly in his mind.

    “Of course! I can play the whole piece now.”

    Upon seeing her older brother’s expression, which was filled with pride in his little sister, Gloria was in an even better mood. 

    “Play for me to hear it then.” He also wanted to hear this song from his younger sister.

    Upon hearing her older brother’s words, Gloria immediately went over to the piano. Now she was a thirteen-year-old girl, nearly fourteen. Her body, which was once tiny and chubby, had lengthened. It caused her little fingers to be able to move across the piano more smoothly.

    The girl pressed her fingers and played the piano with enjoyment, each note ringing out correctly. It created a beautiful sound that echoed throughout the room. Although her movements did not create a delightful sense like how it was in an expert’s performance, the precise and complete melody left Gabriel feeling satisfied. He didn’t dare to imagine how much talent the girl in front of him would show in five or ten more years.

    As the girl finished her piece, Gabriel quickly clapped his hands, smiling with joy. The older brother’s sharp eyes shone with pride he couldn’t conceal. Upon seeing that the other was happy, Gloria felt the same joy.

    "You’re so great!" Gabriel praised, clapping in encouragement.

    "Of course, it’s because Big Brother taught me, so I succeeded it.”

    Gloria replied, not missing a chance to flatter her older brother. It caused Gabriel’s already wide smile to become even wider.

    “Then, how about we play together? I’ll go grab my violin.”

    Gabriel suggested. He wanted to play music with his younger sister so much that he was all excited. One of his dreams since being in this body was to play music with someone he loved, and his younger sister was one of those people.

    “Really? I can play with you now?”

    Gloria was just as thrilled. In the six years since their first duet when her older brother got his violin, he hadn’t played with her again. He’d told her she needed to get better first, brushing off her requests for three years until she tired of asking. It was only in the last two or three years that he started agreeing to play with her when she asked. But this time, she hadn’t expected her older brother to be the one to ask her, and it made her feel so happy that she smiled till her cheeks puffed.

    “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

    Gabriel instructed before dashing upstairs. It wasn’t long before the tall, slender young man returned with his beloved violin case in his hand. Within a short moment, everything was prepared. The violin and bow were in his hands. They were in a state that was ready to use.

    “What song would you like to play, Gloria?”

    “I want to try this one with you.”

    Once she heard the question she had been waiting for, she quickly turned on a holographic screen which was displaying the sheet music and title for her older brother to see.

    “Ah! This piece sounds better on the piano.”

    Gabriel offered his opinion, since the song Gloria proposed was a song composed by a pianist in the past, so he figured the piano arrangement would be better.

    “I don’t believe that. I know you’ll make it sound great, no matter what.”

    Gloria insisted, since she had great trust in her older brother’s skill. No matter how challenging the song, the one before her would surely make it beautiful.

    “Mmm…” Gabriel pondered.

    “...Then, you’ll need to adjust the sheet music to play along with the violin.”

    “Of course! I love this piece so much that I want to hear you play it on the violin more.” Gloria was happy that her older brother still indulged her as he used to.

    “What a sweet word,” the young man laughed, placing his violin back in its case and sitting down at the piano next to his younger sister.

    “Alan, record the sound and transcribe the sheet music, please,” Gabriel instructed the AI, out of habit.

    “Understood, Master,” replied Alan, the AI.

    With everything in place, Gabriel began playing right away. Since Gloria wanted him to focus on the sound of the violin, the piano’s notes had to be changed to ensure that the melodies from both instruments harmonized seamlessly and complemented the piece.

    “The melody seems simpler now,” Gloria commented when her older brother finished the song.

    “And easier to play too.”

    “It might seem simple, but you’ll be responsible for creating the rhythm, and that’s really important. So, you can’t make a mistake.” Gabriel emphasized seriously.

    "Understood." Upon seeing her older brother’s serious expression, Gloria was no longer dare to be careless.

    "Alright then, give it a try and let me hear." Gabriel told his younger sister as he stood and walked to stand beside her instead.

    "Okay!"

    After that, Gabriel spent some time adjusting his younger sister's playing style. But since Gloria had a keen ear and could move and react quickly, it didn’t take long before she could accurately play the notes Grabriel had sent to her.

    "Excellent!" Gabriel ended it with praise once he saw that his younger sister played it correctly, just as he wanted.

    "Master, would you like to record a clip?"

    Before Gabriel could get up to fetch his violin, Alan’s voice immediately captured the two siblings' attention.

    "Are you interested?"

    Gloria immediately turned to ask her older brother, fully aware of Alan’s implication. Since they needed to create clips to accumulate the view number, starting to record now seemed like the best option.

    "Uh… how?"

    Gabriel was still confused; he didn’t know how to register, upload, or even edit videos.

    "ID Watch users can open an account on the streaming system immediately. However, at the initial stage, users can only upload clips until they reach ten million followers and five hundred million total views to register as a streamer.”

    Alan explained in more detail, sensing the Master's confusion.

    "In that case, you can be the channel owner.”

    Gloria quickly shifted responsibility to her older brother. While she enjoyed playing music, she had no intention of focusing on being a streamer. Besides, she thought the profession suited her older brother much more than someone aggressive like her, with a long list of grievances to settle.

    "Me?" Gabriel pointed at himself, bewildered.

    "I know you’re happy when you play music and have an audience. Recording might be a hassle at first, but if you become a streamer, you will have people who come to see you play in real-time.”

    "That’s... true…, but if it’s just me alone…"

    Gabriel hesitated. The thought of having to entertain others by talking made him feel so uncomfortable that he wanted to faint.

    "If you’re worried about talking, you don’t have to.” It turned out that his younger sister’s answer provided him with no clue.

    "...?" Gabriel was left bewildered.

    "You don’t have to do things you don’t enjoy just to get people to accept you, Big Brother. You’re so talented, so there will definitely be a group of people who like you.”

    Gloria comforted him as she lightly patted her older brother’s shoulder to encourage him.

    "If you say so…" Gabriel began to lean towards the idea, though the fear inside made him hesitate.

    Seeing the hesitation on her older brother’s face, Gloria sighed as she stared at him with a serious expression.

    "Do you know that, for me, you’re the most important person. No matter what happens, even if the entire galaxy doesn’t listen to your music, I will be the one to listen. Besides, this galaxy is so vast; if you, a single person, acts differently, no one will really pay that much attention to you."

    Gabriel looked at his younger sister, his eyes wavering. The serious look on the young girl’s face made him feel the warmth in his heart, and his younger sister’s small smile slowly provided him with the great courage.

    "You don’t have to rush into it, Big Brother. We can start by posting clips that we film in an angle that won’t see your face. Then, you have to frequently check viewers’ comments, so you'll get more used to it when you’re a streamer in the future.”

    Even though she supported her older brother wholeheartedly, she didn’t want to force him into doing something that went against his will that much.

    "You sound so sure I can become one.”

    Gabriel chuckled softly once he saw his adorable younger sister's attempt to encourage him.

    "Not to brag, but I’ve got great instincts! I’m positive that you’ll become a diamond-level streamer for sure!" Gloria told him with a face overflowing with confidence.

    "Another sweet talk," the young man laughed, gently pinching his younger sister’s nose in an affectionate manner.

    "Well then, let’s give it a shot!"

    "Okay! I’ll be cheering you on, Big Brother!" Gloria grinned widely.

    "Alan, what kind of videos can I record?" With his mind set, Gabriel turned to deal with his AI.

    "Yes, Master! Alan has a video recording system but does not include editing system. If you need additional features, you must purchase and install them via shopping system.”  

    "Then… can we upload clips without editing?" Gabriel asked him further.

    "Yes, Master. However, most people don’t prefer to do so.”

    "We can do it without editing. We’re only playing one song anyway. I think music like this doesn’t really suit editing.”

    Upon seeing that her older brother was starting to overthink things, Gloria quickly made decision in his place. If he ran into too many issues at the start, her older brother might be so shocked that he gave up on recording videos altogether!

    "If you say so…"

    Gabriel, upon hearing that, agreed with his younger sister immediately, since he didn’t want to get himself a headache because of these matters.

    "Does Master confirm using the existing system?"

    "Yes," Gabriel agreed.

    "What title would Master like to use for the clip?"

    "Uh…" It turned out he hadn’t considered that.

    "Just use the song’s title.”

    Gloria answered on her older brother’s behalf once again. This AI Alan kept bringing up things, she started to get angry at it. It kept talking in an unpleasant manner—unlike her adorable Alice, who was always on point and in tune with what she wanted.

    "Let’s go with the song title.” He definitely agreed with his younger sister.

    "Please specify the clip title.”

    “..” Gloria’s eyebrows twitched as she started to get angry.

    "Let’s use Nocturne No.20 as the title then."

    It was one of the famous pieces by the historical pianist Frédéric Chopin.

    "Alan has set the clip title. The video will be uploaded to Master’s channel as soon as recording is completed. What would Master like to name the channel?"

    "Ahhhhh! Will we ever get to recording today?"

    Upon seeing that, Gloria started to shout in anger because of Alan's fussiness. Gabriel, who sat beside her, had to rush to calm her down for a long while.

    "Mmm… I shouldn’t use my real name for the channel.” Gabriel thought.

    "In that case, let’s go with ‘G Clef’.”

    "Does Master confirm naming the channel G Clef?"

    "Confirm," Gabriel nodded quickly to confirm, before his younger sister shouted again.

    "Basic settings are complete. Master can start recording by giving the command, 'Begin recording video.'"

    "Big Brother, what does G Clef mean?"

    Gloria didn’t want to sound like Alan, but this unfamiliar name made she feel curious, so she couldn’t help asking about it.

    “G Clef is a musical symbol from the past. It indicates the pitch range of musical notes." Gabriel turned to explain it for his younger sister.

    “Why did you choose a symbol as the name?” Gloria asked further.

    “Because to me, it’s the cutest symbol,” Gabriel replied with a soft laugh.

    “Cute?”

    Gloria tilted her head as she asked. She didn’t even understand what her older brother’s words meant, having just heard the name of this symbol for the first time. She couldn’t picture what it looked like.

    “It looks like this.”

    Seeing his younger sister’s curiosity, Gabriel quickly called up the hologram, switched to a drawing board mode, and immediately sketched the symbol that had a spiral-like curve.

    “Wowww… it really is pretty.” She looked at the picture before her with sparkling eyes… Goria liked it a lot!

    “You like it?” Gabriel asked once again with a smile on his face, even though he knew his younger sister liked it.

    “Like it so much!” The little princess nodded repeatedly.

    “Then let’s use this symbol as our channel’s profile picture.”

    Then, an interesting idea popped up in Gabriel’s mind.

    “That’s great! I’m certain that lots of people will find it eye-catching!” Gloria nodded in a supporting manner. She was the other one who agreed with it.

    “Alan, please set the symbol I drew as the channel’s profile picture.”

    Gabriel turned to give his final instruction to Alan once everything was in place.

    “Understood, Master.”

    “Alright! Now that everything’s ready, let’s play some music together.”

    After everything was prepared, Gabriel turned to speak to his younger sister as he walked to fetch the violin. He picked it up and got into position, ready to play. Gloria, seeing her older brother ready, quickly ran to sit at the piano.

    “Alan, is the camera ready?” Gabriel double-checked.

    “Ready, Master.”

    “Good! Then… start recording!”