NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9
Honestly speaking, I lost my rationality for a moment.
I believe that the influence of Kim Soo-hyun (Female) is significant in this matter.
When I was Kim Soo-hyun (Male), I never got this angry while gaming.
But here I am, stuck in a loop of repeated victories and defeats.
My teammates are squabbling every match.
The usual blame game goes; they don’t recognize their own mistakes and instead turn on me with ridicule. They nitpick over the smallest things, hurling insults and toxic comments.
Maybe my team luck is just terrible.
No matter how much the game is plagued by issues, can it really be this bad?
Anyway, here’s the conclusion.
[Oh, it’s a lady… I see now.]
“Yes.”
I placed a bet with someone who mocked and blamed me while refusing to acknowledge their own mistakes.
A hefty sum of 500,000 won.
For someone like me with little income outside of odd jobs, that was a huge burden, but after a moment’s thought, I accepted.
The reason for my contemplation wasn’t the amount.
A burdening sum?
On the contrary, if I win, that amount will be deposited into my bank account.
The problem lies in this voice.
I’m an audition participant.
Sure, the viewer count in yesterday’s broadcast was barely 100, but I’m confident it’ll soar later on.
What happens if I’m discovered engaging in a mutual exchange of insults with other streamers during a broadcast?
That holds enough potential for controversy.
‘But…’
Controversy is still controversy, but could it be a negative thing?
Getting caught outright would probably be detrimental. So, I cleared my throat and purposely lowered my voice, lowering my energy levels.
In the broadcast, I usually elevate both tone and energy, so it should be hard to recognize me with that gap.
[Then, shall we listen to each side’s arguments?]
And well…
Since I’ve come this far, I have to walk away with 500,000 won, right?
***
“…This isn’t really the ADC’s fault, but the support just had too many expectations.”
– Oof, seems like there isn’t much blame on the ADC
– Sorry to the bro…
– Is that you again, League of Legends dude?
Kang-cheol said that and paused the replay of the last match.
To cut to the chase, the winner of the bet was Soo-hyun.
Well, it wasn’t that someone made a mistake that caused them to lose; both sides played well. However, the male side expected Soo-hyun to perform above her tier, and when she couldn’t meet those expectations, the chat blowing up from frustration sparked the conflict.
“What do you both think? Do you agree?”
[Yes, that’s very accurate. You certainly have pro experience, don’t you?][…I agree as well.]
Soo-hyun, who asked for mediation in response to Kang-cheol’s words, seemed delighted, while the guy appeared disgruntled but nonetheless agreed.
– Seems like someone’s excited!
– She seems pleased
– Your voice is pretty
[Thank you, 1,000 won!]
Ask the strong Kang-cheol if he isn’t just being cocky!
Kang-cheol nodded at seeing the sponsorship message.
“By the way, do you know me, Miss?”
[Ah yes, I’m a pro, you know.]
– Wow, hahaha
– The great Kang-cheol
To be honest, Kang-cheol’s mood brightened as well.
After all, any guy would feel pumped knowing that such a lady with a lovely voice was aware of him, right?
“Do you… happen to watch tournaments?”
[Nope! I don’t watch them. I just looked them up when we started betting earlier.] “Ah…”
– Wow, what a letdown!
– Why would she watch the World Cup, haha
[Sent money…]
[Thank you~]
At that moment, the guy whose energy sank in contrast to Soo-hyun’s, announced he sent money, and Soo-hyun’s tone of voice lifted just a bit.
“Looks like you’re feeling well?”
[Why wouldn’t I be?]
– Oh, her energy has definitely risen, haha
[Can I leave now?]
“Wait, just a moment.”
At that moment, Soo-hyun, feeling light-hearted from receiving the money, attempted to leave, but Kang-cheol absentmindedly stopped her.
[Why?]
“Um… it’s just that.”
– Oh, don’t go, haha
– Let’s just end things and replay the last match
– It feels regretful to just let her go, haha
“Um, she’s the first female participant we’ve had. How about we give her a chicken gift card and do an interview?”
[Then, how about Kyochon?]
“Ah, yes, whatever you prefer, I’ll send a combo set with cola too.”
[Good.]
– Good, haha
– Who can resist chicken?
– Look how expensive he’s going!
Kang-cheol internally cheered at Soo-hyun’s willingness to accept the interview while she seemed to be in a good mood.
Chicken? While it may only be worth about 30,000 won, this video would surely rack up at least 200,000 views.
[So, how shall the interview go?]
“Ah, the interview? It’s simple. You just need to answer questions from the viewers.”
Kang-cheol had already envisioned the title and thumbnail for the video in his mind.
‘Kang-mun-cheolTV’s first female customer? Let’s interview her afterward!’
[Sounds good.]
“Alright, okay, got it. Now, let’s take questions from our viewers.”
Kang-cheol watched the chat room as it rapidly filled up.
“Let’s trim out anything overly excessive…”
Only basic questions are acceptable. The other party is a regular person. Even the slightest line crossed would lead to a controversial line added to the wiki.
“Hm… To start, when did you begin playing League of Legends?”
[Me? Um, I think it was about Season 6?]
“Wow… That’s quite a while!”
[Well, you know? I really like games.]
“Oh? So besides League, what other games do you play?”
[I just pick up various stuff from Steam.]
“Oh.. I see you’re at Diamond rank in League, you must be good at gaming?”
[You just saw me play.]
“Uh? Ah, yes…”
– Is a Diamond 4 rank seriously that high?
– If she’s claiming that, then it must be true
– Quite a few of the people here are just Bronze and Silver players, haha
– A girl who plays games from Steam, oh wow
[Are you feeling a bit uneasy?]
“Um, well, I’m a former pro, right? So, honestly, my standards put all those tier friends of mine on the same level.”
Kang-cheol was a former pro. He had a decent reputation back then.
So, to him, main players who weren’t even in the very top tier appeared all too similar.
[…Same level?]
However, those words from Kang-cheol felt like a jab at Kim Soo-hyun’s, or rather, five years of effort poured into League by Kim Soo-hyun’s bubble of pride.
As the male Kim Soo-hyun, those memories didn’t sit well either.
– She’s getting fumed, haha
– Just a bold take. If you’re Diamond 4, it’s valid to say everyone is same-level, haha
– If you’re upset, you know what to do, right?
Kang-cheol took a quick glance at the chat room and realized Soo-hyun’s pride had been trampled but didn’t care.
‘After all, it’s not like we’re ever seeing each other again today.’
In that case, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to focus on the content of the video?
“Honestly, isn’t it true? My alternate account is Diamond, and when I look at those kids, all I can do is sigh.”
[Not me.]
“From what I saw, um… yeah, that’s correct.”
– Hahaha, that’s just too funny!
– Look at how he’s rubbing it in, haha
– Just rude!
Plus, wasn’t Kang-cheol a renowned pro? Most League players would simply go along with whatever he said.
Of course, not everyone would agree.
[Do you want to 1v1?]
And Soo-hyun was one of those people.
“With just voices? I’d lose too much.”
[What loss? You’d pull in views!]
Kang-cheol felt taken aback by Soo-hyun’s words. While everyone understood that views would come in, usually, people would respond verbally, right?
“Eh, I’ve already earned enough views.”
[Well then, I’m okay with it.]
“Uh?”
[Can I go now?]
“W-wait a moment.”
Ding—
Soo-hyun left the voice channel without a moment’s hesitation.
“Uh, oh.”
– Hahaha, she just left without hesitation
– Why wouldn’t she just accept?
– Are you seriously going to throw away that chance?
– Aah, she’s really leaving now
Kang-cheol felt an uneasy feeling, thinking he had missed out on an opportunity when Soo-hyun bolted without a second glance.
Reflecting on it, how could he lose to an ordinary user in a 1v1?
“Wait, she didn’t take the chicken gift card with her.”
Kang-cheol intended to mention the chicken gift card in an attempt to reduce the distance but found that Soo-hyun had already exited the server without hesitation.
“Ah geez… should’ve just gone for it…”
***
“Ugh, that was close to being an embarrassing moment.”
In a fit of rage, I fired back at the former pro.
I managed to collect myself enough to escape, but the thought that I almost got completely dunked on in front of thousands and turned into a meme gave me chills.
While it wouldn’t be too shameful for an ordinary user like me to lose against a former pro, it was ultimately a matter of pride.
At the very least, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to be completely trampled in a match I initiated?
“Such a waste of that chicken.”
After going through the hassle of arranging an interview, albeit briefly.
“I’m done.”
However, that was that, and now there were only a few hours left until the broadcast time.
I threw myself onto the bed and grabbed my phone.
I generally stream in the late afternoon, but among the other participants, there were plenty who broadcasted since the morning.
Flipping through the participants I had followed in advance, I clicked into a room with a lot of viewers.
[Anna, 2nd Day!]
Anna.
She was a former musical actress who was already exposed by the community with her videos, face, name, and age right after the first audition.
However, paradoxically, her previous life was quite pretty and her singing talent was remarkable, leading her to be among the top tier of the current audition participants.
‘She might actually make it.’
Among the participants, she had the best singing skills.
Perhaps it was because she was a musical actress, her vocal strength was impressive and you could feel the difference in caliber. Honestly, I wondered why she was even doing the VTuber thing.
Well, there were circumstances, but I hadn’t looked into them in detail.
As for me… well, I had potential.
If I keep going to the vocal academy and singing a lot, I figure I could reach that level someday.
‘Should I quit smoking first?’
I had read somewhere that smoking a lot could lead to increased mucus in the throat, thereby changing your voice.
Being a VTuber is a job that starts and ends with your voice.
It would be wise to start taking care of my voice from now on.
I decided to avoid carbonated drinks, which aren’t good for the throat, and stepped outside.
“*Sigh*… phew.”
I could always start quitting smoking tomorrow.
***
[The Clearly Recognizable Miro, Day 2]
“Nice to meet everyone!”
– Hey hey
– Miro-nim, nice to see you~
– What have you done today?
As I turned on the broadcast, people quickly popped into the chat.
There were 40 of them.
Even if this were an audition, it wasn’t the number of viewers you’d expect on a second-day streamer’s broadcast.
‘If it were just me, I probably would have had one or two viewers by now on Day 2.’
Streamers face their first real hurdle in the early days.
Having to speak alone for hours in an empty room, not knowing when anyone might join, many streamers remain stuck at single-digit viewers for weeks or even months.
In contrast, having dozens of viewers already means I’m doing quite well.
‘Of course, it’s thanks to the audition.’
I decided to communicate moderately with my viewers and thought about running an ideal type World Cup again.
It’s just a straightforward content where I analyze the options given and express which one is better.
“Hm.. how about we try this today?”
While casually preparing the bait, I entered an ideal type World Cup site when a ding rang, signaling a donation message.
[Thank you, 1,000 won from OOO!]
Did you see the controversy surrounding Taesan yesterday?
“Ah, thank you for the thousand won!”
I briefly thought about who Taesan was.
‘Ah, yesterday.’
He was the streamer who got banned during my broadcast after serving as a judge in the second audition. He was also the person who received scorn when I entered the community this morning.
I checked the donor’s ID. It was a name I’d never seen before, and I instinctively realized that this person didn’t typically watch my broadcasts but had come from the community instead.
One wrong word here could end up edited appropriately and uploaded to that community.
I figured the person who donated wanted me to criticize Taesan, even if just a little, seeing as I’d banned him.
“Controversy? What happened?”
For now, I acted oblivious. From what I knew as Kim Soo-hyun (Female) who is somewhat knowledgeable about the internet broadcasting ecosystem, revealing that a broadcaster watches the community is only beneficial for the community.
I shifted my gaze back to the chat window.
– Let’s just stick to our usual content
– Don’t you know about the controversy?
– If you don’t know, what can you do;
– Just ignore them, Miro-nim
Among the nicknames of my viewers, who had seen my first broadcast yesterday, several unfamiliar names started typing in.
Ignoring them is usually the best bet…
But I recalled streamer Taesan. Didn’t he come in and stir things up during my broadcast? Wasn’t that to do with the viewers?
Even if he isn’t getting criticized, he just let it go, so I didn’t feel very offended.
And since he accepted my sudden move during the interview…
“Give me a moment. I’ll look into this.”
‘Just this once, I’ll help out.’
I searched for this controversy on the ideal type World Cup site I was using for today’s content.
Only a day had passed, yet it seemed the echoes of the previous day’s community uproar were still evident.
Honestly, it made me wonder, was it even worth blowing up in the first place?
And I voiced that thought out loud.
“Hmm.. is this really that rough of a situation?”
– ??
– ?
– Aren’t you the one who banned him?
As I muttered, baffled, the chat became more lively.
“Isn’t it a fact that it interrupted the stream, but is it controversy?”
– If it interrupted, isn’t that a problem?
– I noticed you just neglected it
– This is clearly Taesan’s fault
As I realized it was time to hop onto the discussion, a wave of unfamiliar nicknames started coming in, and I couldn’t help but chuckle internally.
They were probably waiting for me to say something they could take to the community.
“Honestly, wasn’t it Taesan who didn’t do anything in particular, but the few excessive viewers that caused the actual issue?”
I decided to fulfill their expectations.
“Or not, who knows~”
Before long, my words reached the community and, quite swiftly, I switched the chat to followers-only mode.
[Thanks for the follow, Elderly Go-Stop Thief Taesan.]
[Thanks for the follow, Grandma Raccoon Upsetter Taesan.]
[…]
[…]
[…]
I doubled my number of followers that day, quickly ending the stream as the chatting grew increasingly chaotic.