12 : The Game Has Changed 13: Part No.
12 : The Game Has Changed Part No.
12
The Game Has Changed
“Happy birthday, my dear.
You’re finally eighteen.
You’re finally a grown-up, my son.”
The mother was still as beautiful as ever.
She smiled as she gave him birthday wishes, hugging Gabriel close and whispering softly to congratulate him.
Then, the father followed suit with a hug.
“Happy birthday, Big Brother!”
The event couldn’t be held without Gloria, the lovely younger sister who was always by his side.
The once small girl had grown into an agile teenager, with sharper eyes and a tall, slender frame that was nearly the same height as her older brother’s, causing Gabriel to feel a bit sad about his own height.
“Thank you, everyone.”
Gabriel smiled in joy, just like they did.
What made him happy wasn’t turning eighteen, but the fact that his father, mother, and younger sister were all there together.
“Congratulations on reaching five hundred million views!
It almost missed your birthday.” Gloria kept teasing her older brother, seeing that he was smiling in a good mood.
“Are you really going to become a streamer?” The father, standing nearby, turned to ask his son once he heard his daughter’s words.
“Yes!
As long as it allows me to keep playing music.”
Gabriel answered in a firm manner, his eyes glowing with joy at the mere mention of music.
“Okay, if that’s your goal, I wish you the success.
But remember, your mother and I are always here for you.
If you ever run into trouble, you can tell us.”
Augustin, seeing the happiness in his son, didn’t think to object.
He never had any intention of controlling his son in the first place.
He wanted his son to pursue what he wanted to do, and seeing both Gabriel and Gloria happy was more than enough for him as a father.
“A lot of my friends have been talking about your G Clef channel a lot.
If you hadn’t begged me not to tell, I would’ve been bragging to my friends that these are my son and daughter.”
Rebecca was also happy about her son’s first step towards success.
She reminisced about when she first discovered that the people in the video were her son and daughter.
It was when her friends showed her the clip, talking about how the wealthy madams had become enamored with the music from G Clef channel.
Even though the people in the clip didn’t reveal their faces, there was no way she would forget her own children’s figures.
And the piano, the violin, even the background scene—it was her own house!
It was clear that the channel owners were none other than her kids.
Upon seeing it, Rebecca immediately told Augustin everything before they both rushed home to question their children further.
While she wasn’t angry at them for doing as they wished to, she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that her children hadn’t thought to tell her, their own mother.
Not to mention Augustin, the father, he was sad for three or four days straight.
Of course, when both children saw how downcast their parents were, they hurried to apologize in guilty.
The four of them, the parents and the children, had a big conversation to get a better understanding of each other’s feelings.
The son and the daughter apologized for acting on their own, while the parents apologized for being too absorbed in work that they had no time to return home, leaving the children to take care of each other to the point that things had gotten out of hand.
After this reconciliation, the relationship within the Salazar family noticeably improved.
The parents made more time to come home and do activities together, while Gabriel and Gloria kept them updated on their plans’ progress.
The way they had more time to talk and update on each other’s situations more regularly, Gabriel learned how popular he had become among older audiences, particularly those aged forty and up.
Even Alan noted that nearly 80% of the five hundred million views had come from this demographic.
At first, Gabriel was confused about how this had happened.
It was, of course, Alan who provided the answer.
Analyzing data from the system, the problematic Alan concluded that this was due to differences in age.
Younger people to middle-aged adults preferred enjoying entertainment on the streaming system, because they could interact with streamers.
In contrast, older adults tended to avoid such energy-wasting activities.
Their reasons mainly revolved around health and limited free time, which made it hard for this group to keep up with streamers.
Moreover, with declining eyesight that led to slower typing speeds, this group preferred to spend their time watching videos than following the streamers.
“Phew!
It’s lucky I rushed to buy you that violin.
Recently, the music instrument brokers have been saying that violins are becoming popular again—far more than pianos.
They can hardly secure the goods for selling.” Augustin, the father, complained after releasing the embrace.
“I heard that too.
It’s probably all because of you, Big Brother.” Upon hearing it, Gloria also complained.
“Me?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow, confused.
What did he have to do with this?
“Judging by that look, you probably don’t know about it.”
Upon seeing that, Rebecca sighed at how her son did not care for anything other than music.
“Music streamers are all the rage now.
Do you know that?” In the end, the responsibility of explaining the whole situation fell on the little sister of the family.
“And isn’t that a good thing?” Gabriel still didn’t understand.
“What’s good about it?
The most popular instrument right now is the violin.
All the streamers are using your clips as content.”
“…” Gabriel still didn’t get it.
Why was it bad that the violin was popular?
“Ugh!
It means that the number of your competitors has multiplied manyfold.
The game has completely changed.
Right now, the rankings are filled with streamers who play the violin and piano.
Even though they can’t compete with the singing category in sheer numbers, they’re starting to catch up.
If you keep streaming violin content, it’s going to be harder because these viewers already have their favorite streamers,” Gloria explained with a sour expression.
“Do these people know how to play the violin?
Nobody knew how to play it before,” the boy asked further.
“About that…”
Upon thinking about this matter, Gloria grabbed her temples.
Even though she didn’t want to tell him, she couldn’t hide the truth from her older brother any longer.
“It’s all my fault for suggesting that you play simpler pieces.
When these streamers saw them, they copied the method from your clips and made content teaching violin… and the most frustrating part is, they didn’t give you any credit.
It’s so infuriating!”
Ah, so that’s what it was.
Gabriel now understood why his younger sister and his parents were upset.
It meant that some streamers had taken advantage of his underage status to secretly imitate his techniques and create content on the streaming system, just to have something to show.
They assumed he wouldn’t notice, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to do anything since these streamers had an army of fans.
In the end, it turned out that the contents they intended to create just to have something to show had become extremely popular and become widely known within just a short period.
The other streamers who didn’t know the origin saw that this kind of content was popular, with many people interested in it, they used these songs, one after the other, to the point that they forgot that it all came from his channel, G Clef.
However, these matters didn’t make Gabriel angry at all.
On the contrary, he felt more excited.
It just meant he had more rivals to defeat!
Sigh, that old competitive streak from his past wasn’t quite great.
He had originally planned not to compete in music anymore.
“That’s fine.
Everyone, please don’t worry about me.
Really, this situation isn’t all that difficult for me,” Gabriel said with a smile and laugh to show that he really was fine.
“But you’ll be at a disadvantage,” Gloria tried to point out the problem.
“If starting with the violin isn’t working, how about starting with the piano instead?” He thought of a solution that had come to mind just a few minutes earlier.
“That’s true!
You play the piano just as well as the violin!” Gloria exclaimed.
“Oh dear, I’ve been watching the clips you uploaded that I forgot that Gabie is the one who taught his younger sister how to play the piano.” Rebecca turned to talk to her husband with equal surprise.
Gabriel felt like crying.
It seemed his family hadn’t seen him play the piano for too long that they’d forgotten he was also good at it.
So, the issue with the violin or piano was resolved.
But that didn’t mean all the problems were over, since Gabriel’s problems weren’t that concerning.
If you looked at it from his perspective, as a musician who suddenly found himself in a future where musical techniques had almost entirely vanished, this was the worst thing for Gabriel.
Therefore, the teaching of violin techniques was more beneficial to him.
It meant that this instrument was being approved more, even if the way it came about wasn’t entirely noble.
But the real problem was…
“Big Brother, you’re worried about talking to people during the stream, aren’t you?”
Of course, the one who had always known Gabriel’s mind was his adorable younger sister.
Gloria could easily guess about this matter, since this was the only issue that troubled her older brother the most.
“A little.”
Gabriel admitted with a nod.
While it was true, the fear had significantly lessened compared to before.
The reason was that he had been regularly reading comments left by the clips’ viewers, exposing himself to both good and bad comments.
At this moment, he thought he had built up a certain degree of resilience.
“Don’t overthink it, son.
You can’t make everyone like you.
Just do what makes you comfortable, and those who accept you for who you are will come to you,” Augustin encouraged, seeing the worrying face of his son.
“That’s right!
To me, you’re the best musician, and many of my friends feel the same way.
So, there’s no doubt there will be people who love your music,” Rebecca also added.
“If you’re that worried, why not watch some other streamers’ videos to get some ideas?
But don’t copy them!” Gloria offered her older brother a choice while reminding him of the important matter.
“A violin streamer?” Gabriel was curious.
“Exactly.
There’s one streaming right now, and he’s one of the top-ranked streamers in the system.”
Gloria didn’t just say it, but she also instructed Alice to open a large holographic screen showing the stream, so that everyone could watch it.
On the screen appeared a young, handsome man around Gabriel’s age, with radiant fair skin, golden hair, and ocean-blue eyes that made him seem like a perfectly sculpted Greek statue.
Moreover, his face was clean, both handsome and beautiful, and he had a gentle and polite manner, making the one on this holographic screen the epitome of a well-mannered gentleman.
“Fiddle?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow when he saw the streamer’s name.
“What’s wrong, Big Brother?” Gloria turned to the same direction, noticing Gariel’s clearly shifted expression.
“I just find it interesting.
He must really like the violin to use that name for his channel,” Gabriel said with a smile.
“Fiddle?
Does that mean violin?” Gloria still asked further.
“Yep.
But not many people know that.
Most just know it as ‘violin,’ which means this guy has studied this instrument quite deeply,” the young man said as he nodded slightly.
“He’s pretty good.”
Gloria was surprised by the way the young man held his violin and played flawlessly.
Besides, his style was distinctive.
It was new and unique, different from other violin streamers she had seen.
Even though the piece he played was one her older brother had uploaded before, the feeling Gloria could sense from it was different from when her older brother played it.
Because when her older brother played, the melody was soft and brimming with delicate and profound emotion.
In contrast, the streamer’s rendition mainly provided aggressive and rigid feelings.
This didn’t mean the other party played it badly, but Gloria preferred the emotions she felt from her older brother’s music.
“This guy is really skilled.” Gabriel watched the performance before him with an expression of excitement.
It had only been two years since he uploaded his first clip, yet this young man had already managed to learn and play the music in his own style.
If this wasn’t talent, then what was?
With further refinement, he could be a professional violinist in the past world Gabriel came from.
“Stop sending those kinds of messages!”
Before Gabriel could further observe the other’s playing style, the song the streamer had been playing stopped mid-performance.
The male streamer’s calm face contorted in anger, ruining the initial gentlemanly image.
“I’ve said it before—I practiced and learned by myself.
And these pieces aren’t even composed by that channel’s owner.
The information below clearly states these songs are public domain and can be used freely.”
He seemed infuriated by the messages sent to him with ill intention, clearly disdaining the streamer.
Moreover, the content those people mentioned probably involved him, since Gabriel had credited the composers of the songs.
The songs were composed thousands of years ago, making them free of copyright.
Thus, anyone could play those songs, there was no problem with it.
As a result, this created an opportunity for anti-fans to attack.
“It’s not right to talk like this.
If you continue to come in and cause trouble, I’ll have my AI block you.”
Watching those actions, Gabriel raised his eyebrows.
It seemed that streamers didn’t have to be overly courteous to their fans.
Seeing this made him feel a bit more at ease about the first stream in his life.
Now that Gabriel understood what the streamers did during the stream, he nodded to signal Gloria to close the live stream.
However, she would have done so, if it weren’t for the streamer’s next words that ignited a small bomb.
Gloria’s hand, which was about to hit the shutdown button, paused.
She then clenched it tightly in anger.
“Who’s better, me or G Clef?
Of course, it’s me.
Can’t you see how I bring life to those dull songs?
If we were to compete, I’d definitely win.”
“Hey!
You pig-headed idiot…”
Gloria blurted out angrily, startling Gabriel who sat beside her.
The young man rushed over to cover Gloria’s mouth before she could let out more profanities, worried that if their parents—who weren’t far away—heard, he’d be the next one to be punished by them for not properly supervising his younger sister.
Gabriel thought as he inwardly cried.
“Don’t use swear words, little one.”
Gabriel whispered to her softly, even though he was on the verge of tears.
The sweet little child in the past was no longer here.
His younger sister was truly turning into a walking time bomb!