[TS] Starting the Broadcast

Provocation (도발) is basically used with a negative meaning.
That’s how the Chinese characters were intended.
But in modern entertainment, the meaning of provocation is more diverse.
It’s often done to attract people’s attention, create buzz, and increase the popularity of programs or games.
I understood this incident in that sense as well.
But Mia’s thoughts were quite different.

“Unni, you don’t know the relationship between me and that Yumi bitch. She’s always been like that.”
“R-Really?”
Actually, I’m not completely ignorant.
How could I not know about such a famous story, having watched personal broadcasts for a while?
The incident happened about a year ago.
There was a famous BJ called ‘KickingChulsoo’.
He was one of the top BJs maintaining an average of 5-6 thousand viewers, but he had a civilian girlfriend who he kept secret from his broadcasts and even lived with.
It wouldn’t have been a problem if they met secretly, but as they say, the longer the tail, the easier it is to step on.
A minor emotional fight between them escalated into an exposure war, and the situation grew bigger.
The enraged girlfriend hacked the BJ’s phone and leaked all the internal information on the internet.
Among that information were messenger chats and conversation contents with close BJ friends, and that’s where Yumi and Mia’s bad relationship began.

In fact, their relationship wasn’t good even before that.
A one-year age difference, and broadcast debuts around the same time.
Even without intending to, they were always compared by viewers and had to compete, and had to grit their teeth over unfounded rumors.
After about a year, when they had somewhat established themselves on New Continent TV, their broadcast styles had diverged a lot.
Mia, who had almost no friendships with other BJs except Lark and Keulmumu, and conducted broadcasts alone.
On the contrary, Yumi appeared as a guest on many BJs’ broadcasts, built friendships, and based on the power of those connections, surpassed Mia.
It was in this situation that the ‘KickingChulsoo’ incident broke out.

Yumi had maintained considerable friendship with that BJ, and the leaked phone’s internal information included conversations with Yumi.
A significant portion of it was content badmouthing or gossiping about other BJs… and Mia’s share was about 20% of that.
Of course, this became a significant issue, and Yumi apologized.
She conducted three official apology broadcasts, closed her YouTube channel, and expressed her intention to self-reflect for a while.
Then, after about 3-4 months, when the incident had been somewhat forgotten in everyone’s minds, she used her connections to appear on a major company BJ’s broadcast and performed another round of past-washing.
She shed some tears during the live broadcast… certified that she had lost a lot of weight because it was so hard… then Yumi’s fans and the fans of the major company BJ whose power she borrowed collectively gave her a “poor thing” and granted her absolution.
It’s really ridiculous.
While the actual parties involved, including Mia, were quiet, viewers who think they’re something come forward and forgive her on their own.

Anyway, Yumi made her comeback like that.
For a while, she conducted broadcasts carefully watching her step, but as time passed, she returned to her original style.
The style of clinging to famous BJs here and there and sucking their blood.
Anyway, after that incident, Mia said she doesn’t even care or want to be involved, so she doesn’t mention Yumi at all.
But is it a joke of fate?
Yumi has joined as the jungler of ‘AltF4 Team’, which was finalized last for this tournament.

“Do you know what kind of rumors that bitch has been spreading lately? That I was the one who acted rudely and cursed first. So that’s why she did it too. She says she apologized and took all the blame back then because there was no evidence.”
“Then does she have evidence now?”
“No! That’s why it’s more infuriating. That’s her style. If you confront her saying you heard rumors, she’ll slowly deny it saying there’s no such thing, right? And then she’ll whine and play the victim card saying I’m still not over it. She’s always been like that.”

I can hear Mia grinding her teeth over the phone.
She seems really angry.
After trying hard to calm her down, even pushing back bedtime, she sighs deeply and gets to the point.

“Yesterday on her broadcast, when she was talking about last week’s practice game results, she intentionally barely mentioned our team. When a viewer pointed that out, she openly said the support was the weak point, you know?”
“Ah, I saw that too when a viewer told me earlier, but she was saying it jokingly.”
“Unni! Why are you so clueless even though you’re not a man. She’s intentionally provoking us. It’s a roundabout insult. Pretending it’s a joke.”
“Huh? Oh… really?”
Is this what they call ‘woman language’ that only women can understand?
I really feel wronged.

Anyway, I tried to calm Mia’s anger even a little.
“Aren’t you angry, unni? It’s not just about me. She’s bragging that she was on par with you in that game. I’m really dumbfounded…”
“Ah, well, that can happen.”

Yumi is a Gold rank jungler.
Even Gold 3, a level that’s embarrassing to say is close to Platinum.
In that game, Lark was completely rolled over by AltF4 due to human matchup, so I couldn’t perform properly because I had to keep helping bot lane.
And in the next game, I successfully ganked mid and top once each and led in objective fights, clearly showing jungle difference.
She must have a convenient selective memory that only remembers the games favorable to her.

“Even though she said it jokingly, she also said our team is the easiest 1-win sacrifice.”
“Just ignore it. We’ll win in the actual match anyway.”
“I don’t understand. Does she have no conscience?”
“……”
“I never said I forgave her, so why does she shamelessly show her face? And even mentioning me as if nothing happened… I really can’t understand such a person.”
“Yeah. Right. So, don’t get stressed and waste emotions because of such a weird person.”
“I know that, but…”

Mia, who always shows a childlike, straightforward, and lively appearance on broadcasts, sometimes reveals such vulnerability to me late at night on the phone.
It hurts my heart.
Really, what’s all this about.
The special mission I was about to give up on.
I think I need to consider it more seriously.

This tournament is a good opportunity.
Over two days, about 30,000-40,000 viewers on average will flock to SupportBlame’s broadcast, and each participating BJ will have a chance to be in the spotlight during the games.
That’s why I boldly upgraded my ‘appearance’ before my voice.
It was the easiest way to leave a strong impression and likability on viewers who don’t know me.
That was about it.
That was my expectation for participating in this tournament.
Of course, while I said that, the results will be quite sweet.
At the very least, the number of viewers will increase by about 100-200, and it will affect the supply of water balloons for a few days.
But I had no intention of trying harder or being more absorbed than that.
I had already invested enough points and needed to think about the next step.
‘Of course motivation drops when you give such a crappy special mission.’
[You should not disparage the Goddess’s grace.]
But what happened yesterday changed my mind.
No, actually, I should say I got a little angry.
A mere Gold jungler dares to look down on me?
[It was a bit unseemly to search for Yumi’s replay videos after the call ended yesterday.]
“What’s unseemly! I was trying to accurately fact-check.”

Seeing it directly instead of hearing it from viewers, I got quite angry.
I could understand what Mia was talking about.
She said it was a joke and her mouth was smiling, but her ‘eyes’ weren’t.
Eyes that sneer and look down on people.
I knew quite well about people who show such eyes.
‘The crazy senior in the military and balding Manager Park, that bitch Park Boram who was the previous shift worker when I worked part-time at the convenience store.’
They were basically humans who thought nothing of hurting others.

“… I don’t want to be this emotional.”
I felt like I wanted to teach her a proper lesson.
The method was simple.
Smash the ‘AltF4 Team’ along with Yumi.
And we advance to the finals.
Actually, our head-to-head record with AltF4 Team was 1:1, and if we focus and avoid mistakes, we have enough chance to win even in our current state.
‘But that damn human matchup. Lark is fine against other teams, but he always makes mistakes weirdly against this team.’
If Lark falters, Mia, who specializes in supporting the ADC, collapses together.
Then the game becomes hopeless.
We needed to find a solution in the top side.
‘The top laners of both teams are in a Gold battle. Mid is almost even too… In the end, we need to make a big difference in jungle. Enough of a difference that it won’t be a problem even if mistakes happen in bot.’

The answer ultimately lies in points.
How many points can I gather and increase my game ability in the remaining one week?
[It’s a rare special mission, so fight hard.]
“… Every time like this, I really want to hit you.”
It was a helper that increased my fighting spirit.