I Became a Malicious Streamer

There was some controversy, but I didn’t really care.

Whether it was because they heard the rumors or just showed up out of nowhere, some people sent me DMs on Instagram asking if I was a lesbian, but I could say that was relatively peaceful.

-Hmm…

As far as I remember, did I respond like that?

It wasn’t that I was trying to dodge the question or didn’t want to answer— I genuinely couldn’t decide for myself. If I liked women, was that lesbian? If I liked men, was I gay? This was a deep issue that delved into my identity.

In the first place, if I wanted to brush it all under the rug, I could have easily done so. I could have just flashed a picture of a suitable male celebrity and said, “Isn’t he handsome?” and it would have been resolved.

There would be people suspicious of my virginity, desperately trying to validate the chastity of female streamers, but whatever… that was a secondary issue. Compared to the problems I was facing now, it seemed trivial.

Still, giving such vague answers was due to my inherent nature of being honest; on the other hand, I felt there was no real reason to lie.

So what if I liked women, and what if I liked men? I wasn’t intending to proudly come out later, but there was no reason to feel small in front of others.

Since things had come to this, I even considered pushing forward with the image of a lesbian broadcaster who likes women. It was like a gimmick.

I could make sounds as if I was swallowing when a pretty woman walks by, or say “Wow, she’s something!” while giving a lecherous stare, or react like a water buffalo.

Just like the native virtual YouTubers, who continued performing business-yuri actions to show their closeness with viewers, I could go for a similar vibe.

If we got technical, I wasn’t fully a virtual YouTuber, but close enough. It wasn’t much different from benchmarking the examples of the successful.

I rambled on, but to sum it up, I meant to say I would just ignore it and act comfortably.

The thickened skin from being on air so long helped during times like this.

However, regardless of the comfortable conclusion, my mind was complicated, and there was no way around it. I was facing a significant issue that crossed over my life, so of course, I couldn’t have no worries.

In that regard, I decided to take a short break from broadcasting and was caught in a loop of thoughts.

[Switch invites you! - Official Switch]

There was an event happening in the United States, where the Switch Headquarters was located. I received an invitation as a representative figure of Switch Korea.

It was fine to decline it. Normally, I probably would have. After weighing various factors, I would have declared my participation out of sheer laziness.

But this time, I boarded the plane to the United States willingly. I didn’t really understand why. I acted on impulse, and before I knew it, I was already at the venue.

Luckily, Si-young, who tagged along with me, helped carry various things. If I had come alone, I might have easily drifted off and become an international missing person.

Upon arriving at the venue, there was something that relieved some of the pressure weighing on my mind.

All I had to do was enjoy the games. There was no better place to clear my mind than here.

-Get ready for the next battle!

I positioned myself at a booth where a famous fighting game was being played. I ended up here while searching for a game that didn’t require any brain power at all—one that I could play instinctively.

From then on, I immersed myself solely in the game. I didn’t even notice Si-young filming me behind as I focused on the game.

I concentrated on defeating my opponent. Hitting their character, knocking them down, kicking them, and stunning them.

How many rounds did I win in a state of complete focus? I suddenly realized one thing.

The fighting game arcade I was sitting at allowed two players to face each other one-on-one.

If there was no opponent, a trained AI would fill in, but that wasn’t the case for me.

There was someone across from me. And that person hadn’t won a single round against me yet.

With this profound realization, once again, the opponent’s character crumpled, and a loud “What the fuck!” erupted from the opposite arcade.

A voice filled with frustration from consecutive losses.

I must have hit them way too hard while I was zoning out.

*

-Would you mind if we did an interview?

A microphone was suddenly thrust in my face. An interview. In English. Translation.

For a moment I was flustered, but accepted the reporter’s request and conducted the interview in a whirlwind.

It seemed the interview would be live-streamed on the official Switch channel.

Now that I thought about it, this was an event location. Not just a simple gaming space.

Hadn’t it been said that they were holding a large-scale event organized by Switch, with streamers participating from various countries? I hadn’t really read carefully so I didn’t remember the details, but I knew they were there.

The man in front of me was one of them. The very same guy who had just been my opponent in the fighting game was here as a streamer.

His nationality was American. So, this streamer’s name was…

“George?”

“Yep! George. George Victor.”

The man grinned as he nodded at my clumsy English. It felt like he was a big shot in the U.S. Twitch scene, with ten million followers, based on what I just heard from the interpreter next to the reporter Jessie.

“What? You don’t know me?”

I couldn’t blame him for thinking that. After all, we were in different countries.

Yet, Victor shook his head dramatically, as if something terrible had happened.

You could tell immediately—he had high self-esteem and a strong sense of self-love. It was quite clear he thought he was the best. During the explanation from the interpreter, he was told he had numerous fans and was good at all games.

But he just lost to me. The representative streamer of the U.S.? Not so great.

It was as if he read my inner thoughts when he pointed somewhere and continued.

“He wants to have a rematch in another game.”

“Aha…”

I quickly grasped the situation. It’s always people like him. They can’t accept defeat.

On the surface, he seemed fine, but inside, he was probably burning up with competitive spirit.

Of course, it might also be simply for fun, wanting to play together. Regardless, it wasn’t for me to worry.

Well, then, I might as well take on the competition. I wasn’t one to shy away from a challenge.

But there was one thing that concerned me.

“Are you just going to keep filming us?”

“The viewers are enjoying it. Can we keep filming? If it disturbs the game, I’ll move to another spot.”

I had clearly heard that the broadcast was about moving around the booth, meeting various streamers, and watching different games, yet here were the reporter and crew continually following me and George.

So I asked, and returned with an answer like that.

“Just a moment….”

I got the inside scoop from the reporter. This event was an official one, but when you boiled it down, it was merely an event where streamers had fun playing games. Thus, it was hard to find fun points for the broadcasts.

In the midst of that, I met George Victor, one of the super mega-streamers from America. Yet he had just lost to an unnamed, stunning Korean streamer. Badly, at that.

Fueled by competitive spirit, he was now calling for a revenge match.

Upon hearing the explanation, I fully understood why the viewers would be glued to watching the broadcast.

As I nodded to the reporter, agreeing to continue filming, George, who had been waiting for me, provocatively teased me.

“Haha, are you nervous? Afraid of being recorded on the broadcast? If that’s the case, you can ask Jessie for permission to not stream. I’m here just to play the game anyway.”

Now that’s classic showmanship worthy of a pro broadcaster. I didn’t know whether he meant it or not, but the atmosphere had definitely heated up.

Looking over at the reporter, I could tell she was grinning, clearly pleased with George’s provocation.

On top of that, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of it all. Who exactly was worried about whom right now?

“Aren’t you confident?”

That question implied whether he’d be okay losing in front of all these people—whether he was okay losing to me.

To be honest, I had nothing to lose. Since this was America, the audience was mostly American viewers. The broadcast scale was far larger than mine.

George was already wrapped in a frame of talent recognized by locals as a gaming prodigy.

If by any chance I lost, I could just say it was a good match and move on, but for George, it wouldn’t end so casually.

“Let’s just play the game.”

As I quietly grasped the controller, looking at George, who was urging me with an uncaring face, I thought about it.

Alright, if that’s how it’s going to be.

A challenge had been extended. I had no reason to avoid it.

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