#11
“Ah, I didn’t mean it was easy in that sense… It’s a bit complicated. He’s not a real-life friend. I, um, met him in a game.”
– Wow, amazing! You became friends through a game? lolol
– Didn’t you say before that you talk on the phone and stuff?
– I thought you were obviously real-life friends since you’re soul duo partners lolol
Tempted by the suggestion that he needed to know how close they were to give an accurate diagnosis, Hajun reflexively glanced at his PC KaTok. But the messenger remained silent.
Are we… close? He wasn’t sure if his relationship with Imun met the definition of what people call “close.” Suddenly feeling stifled, a confession slipped out unintentionally.
“We exchanged phone numbers quite a while ago. We chat on KaTok whenever we have time, and we call at least… once a day, I think. Recently, he’s been busy, so it’s more like once every two or three days… Guys, seriously… how would you feel if you found out your friend was a streamer? You wouldn’t mind, right?”
– lolol That level of contact means you’re super-duper close by my standards
– I only contact my real-life friends once a month lolol;;;
[10,000 won donation! If my friend told me they were a streamer, I’d dance naked with joy lolol]
– But I really recommend revealing it soon ã… ã… ã…
– Stop worrying about future consequences and just tell him today;;
He had worried it might be his own misconception, but objectively, they seemed to be in the close category. It felt like their friendship had been validated, and his mood soared.
His excitement must have shown because viewers also raised their energy. He carefully took in each piece of advice they offered, like precise tutoring.
The impromptu consultation had very positive results. The guilt that had been tightly knotted in his chest, which he couldn’t share with anyone, disappeared, replaced by courage and confidence.
With his current mindset, it felt like nothing was impossible. Encouraged by the support and cheers heating up the chat, he nodded vigorously and drew a line in the sand for himself.
“Thank you all. As you said, for better or worse, I’ll settle things with him soon.”
Having declared it to his viewers, he could no longer run away, nor did he want to. If it came to it, he’d have to beg. Even if Imun got angry, he needed to reveal the truth first.
[10,000 won donation! Hang in there, hyung ã… ã… We’re always on your side]
[20,000 won donation! F-I-G-H-T! F-I-G-H-T!]
– Admitting you lied and apologizing is really difficult ã… ã… You made the right choice ã… ã…
[30,000 won donation! If he says he doesn’t like you, I’ll be your duo partner—after I raise my rank a bit more lolol ã… ã… ã… ]
Why are they all like this, really. For a moment, his heart was filled with emotion as he awkwardly observed the warm chat and donations.
Despite their sometimes selfish and grumbling behavior, no one cared for him unconditionally like his viewers. It wouldn’t be easy for non-family members, complete strangers, to look after someone like this. Realizing this anew made him smile.
“I got valuable advice, my Legend of Legend account is unlocked, and today has been all-around gratifying. Though I have less than an hour left, as payment for the consultation, I’ll try to do whatever you want for the remaining time. Thank you all so much.”
Viewers tested the waters one by one, asking if he was serious. “Time is ticking away, you know?” he teased playfully, but immediately after his lighthearted remark, the wishlist began streaming in.
The chat was moving faster than expected. “Just a moment,” he said, hastily bringing up a notepad on the broadcast screen and reading through the requests one by one.
“Singing requested songs, showing my face, showing my collarbone… This one is definitely a no. Dancing to girl group songs…”
Aren’t these people perverts? The list of requests became more and more outrageous as he wrote them down. Pausing and hesitating, he carefully conveyed his original intention.
“…You know, I’m really good at games. I can finally play Legend of Legend again, so things like getting 20 kills with 0 deaths, playing without one core item, having 5v5 viewer matches—there are lots of good options like these.”
The viewers got annoyed, asking where all these boring requests were coming from. A scene from a movie saying “Stop pulling cards from the bottom” kept flying in as video donations. It seemed like his words weren’t going to have any effect.
To think they always wanted this sort of thing. With a forced laugh, he scanned the list and adjusted the camera angle first. Showing his face seemed easiest for now.
– My monitor suddenly lit up so brightly I thought it was broken, but it was just Gangha’s face shining! lolol
– Is Gangha dreaming of becoming an Olympic athlete? Why do you keep breaking visual records every day?
– Wow, how can you suddenly show your face without warning? You’re really something;; Something in my heart><
The viewers quickly changed their attitude as if they had never been upset. Hajun, who had been staring at the lens with a blank expression, smiled by lifting the corners of his eyes as if to say “here you go.”
“Enough about my face! Due to time constraints, I’m not sure if I can fulfill everything, but I’ll keep writing them down. Speak in nyah-language, what’s nyah? Oh… cat language. Curse at me? Who’s cursing whom? Oh, you want me to curse? Why on earth do you want to be cursed at? …Collab with Sorit? Who’s Sorit?”
Based on the collab request, it seemed like this Sorit was a person. Just to be sure, he asked, and suddenly a viewer appeared in the chat. It was Sorit himself, with a streamer icon.
– â– Sorit: Hello, Gangha-nim!!! I’ve been following your broadcasts for a while
– â– Sorit: Actually ã… ã… ã… please save me!! ã… ã… ã…
– â– Sorit: If you duo with me, I’ll be your slave for a month *sob* ã… ã… ã…
Sorit claimed he had rushed over after hearing about Hajun’s return, pleading for the mercy of a duo session because he was on a 10-game losing streak in Legend of Legend. He must be quite a famous streamer, as the chat was flooded with welcomes the moment he appeared.
While Hajun appreciated that Sorit was a fan, the sudden pretense of familiarity wasn’t particularly welcome. Worse, he seemed ready to keep posting in the chat indefinitely if Hajun didn’t cut him off.
“Yes, yes, I understand for now,” he replied with an awkward smile before continuing to take requests from viewers.
“Maid cosplay… Please maintain some boundaries. Cross-dressing… I’ll skip that too. Collab with grandmother, pfft, collab. Calling everyone noona or hyung, so you guys like that kind of thing… Holding back from being too clingy, that’s difficult. Duo with ‘that person,’ yes, yes…”
He paused for a few seconds at “Duo with that person” before resuming typing. It was obvious he wouldn’t be able to play games with Imun anyway.
After confirming the scrollbar had shrunk somewhat, he was about to close the request period when a video donation hit his monitor.
[10,000 won donation! (Twitch clip)]
An unfamiliar man was putting his hands together as if praying toward the camera. “The merciful Gangha-nim has heard my plea. Gangha-nim! I’ll contact you, so please answer!” The man, presumably Sorit, winked, and a wave of disgust rushed through Hajun’s body.
He looks normal, so why is he acting like that? Only after seeing the chat buzzing did he belatedly notice his camera. He hurriedly lifted the corners of his mouth, but the viewers didn’t stop laughing.
– Hyung, your face seriously soured lolol
– lolol Sorit’s going all-in;; Gotta admit he knows Gangha well;; Super smart
It was just a simple, meaningless response. He was somewhat annoyed that Sorit had officially declared a collaboration on his own. He considered refusing, saying that wasn’t his intention, but held back, not wanting to dampen the pleasant atmosphere of the broadcast.
He wrote down a couple more requests before stopping. This should be enough. The list appeared to contain over 30 items, excluding duplicates. Sweat was trickling down his face.
“But guys, I’ve written down everything you suggested, but there are too many requests. I don’t think I can do all of them in the remaining time, even if I pick only the doable ones. What should I do?”
While pretending to be distressed and giving the performance of his life, a thunderbolt proposal came in.
[50,000 won donation! lolol Then let’s do a roulette!!]
[20,000 won donation! Put aside unnecessary worries and let’s go with a fair roulette!]
The roulette was one of Twitch’s donation features—a kind of lottery where streamers set content and probabilities, and viewers could enter by making donations.
His plan to cut off requests using limited time as an excuse seemed likely to fall apart.
“A roulette? What’s that?” He desperately pretended not to know, but his shallow tactic didn’t work. Following the kind chat messages explaining the settings in detail, he reluctantly set up the roulette.
“Ah… You can set the probability as low as 0.001%? And blanks are possible too? Well, that’s not bad then.”
He smiled deviously at the camera and entered 95% for blanks. He quickly deleted requests that had space-time constraints or required props, using the excuse of inevitability.
– Is that blank probability for real?;; Why so selfish? lolol
– I’ve been deceived, deceived lolol This is the most gambling-heavy roulette of the century!!!!
– You skipped the duo request, right? lolol Caught red-handed lolol
Hmm, that’s a shame. There was no room for excuses. After reluctantly registering the duo request, as a backup plan—
– Raise the probability a bit more!!!
– I can’t believe he’s using 0.001% for the duo request lolol
He set it to the minimum probability. Ignoring the inevitable outcries and protests with a bright smile, he opened his mouth with excitement.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
