Hand Cam Verification (2)
"I went on a win streak, didn't I? Thirteen wins and two losses, people. Honestly, at this point, don't I kind of have to do a hand cam?"
"U-ugh."
Normally, if someone suddenly got this good, people would jump straight to hack accusations. That was just common sense. So why was nobody suspecting me? Why was everyone laughing and saying there was absolutely no way I could be hacking?
"Guys. Is my thirteen-and-two record a joke to you?"
— Crunch.
"Seriously…."
A stubborn streak flared up in me all at once. Like some kind of reverse-psychology frog. The harder the viewers pushed back, the more the urge to actually do it billowed up inside me.
It was a pretty snide remark, but it was only a thousand won. Still, you had to treat donors with relative generosity. Someday they might drop real money, so it was best to stay as polite as possible.
"Thank you for the thousand-won donation, FullCamJungle…. And you're saying there's just too much that's suspicious about this sudden win streak and skill jump? All right. I'll do the hand cam verification right now, just like you said."
And that was when a problem cropped up right as I was about to start the hand cam. Namely: I didn't actually have a camera. I'd never imagined myself streaming for a living, so of course I hadn't prepared one ahead of time.
"I'll go buy a cam real quick. Just give me fifteen minutes. I'll be right back, so nobody run off."
If they hated it so much, they could go stream themselves. Anyway, I left the viewers' grumbling behind and hurriedly changed clothes.
The moment I got home, I installed the cam. The price was roughly fifty thousand won. Even if it was a budget model, for something bought just for a hand cam, it was a pretty significant expense.
"Setup complete."
Getting the camera angle right took a fair amount of fussing, but I eventually finished the setup so that the mouse and keyboard came through cleanly. I even double-checked thoroughly to make sure there wouldn't be some accident where the cam wobbled and exposed my face, so there didn't seem to be anything left to worry about.
"Everyone been fretting about the controversy? I'll turn on the hand cam right this second~"
Already I could picture the flashy thumbnail in my head. Me carrying games with the keyboard visible in the bottom right. That was the dignity of a high-elo player if anything was.
Yeah, shut up.
I let every word from the viewers slide in one ear and out the other and powered on the cam. The bottom right of the screen filled with a shot of my desk. On the already neatly tidied surface, keyboard and mouse sat side by side in perfect order.
"Queuing up right now."
Hand cam verified, so it was straight into games. If I kept the win streak going from here, people's reactions would change too. And even if they eventually tried to hit me with late-blooming hack accusations over my steep skill climb, this would serve as my free pass.
The chat suddenly flooded with question marks. Wait, had something weird gotten into frame? Had they spotted the mountain of Chocomong bottles I'd shoved behind the desk?
"What."
I checked everything over carefully, but nothing strange was showing at all. So what were the viewers reacting to?
"…Sorry? They're normal. Five fingers, all attached. What's the issue."
More bad-faith nitpicking?
That was when I cocked my head, and the chat kept coming.
"Ahh."
My body had changed, so of course my hands had changed too. Just like the viewers said, they were small and strikingly pale. And because of that, a little confusion about my gender seemed to have hit the chat.
"Yeah, I'm a girl. That's why I told you when I first turned on the mic, remember? Not a voice changer."
I couldn't explain every last detail, so I stuck to the essentials. Anyway, my current gender was female. That much was true.
"What body double. These are my hands."
"No way. I'm an adult."
If I were a middle schooler, how old would I have been when I started playing Asgard?
The viewers' misunderstanding had leveled up—from a net-cam girl using a voice changer to a piece of garbage who would even exploit his own niece for content. Exactly how trashy were they trying to make me?
"Stop talking nonsense."
"Shut up!!"
How was I supposed to show my face.
After everything I'd done up to now.
"I'll just show you with skill. Playing with these hands myself."
There was no point getting into a verbal spat with viewers who were determined to bad-faith me.
Once the game started and I showed off my familiar skill, the nonsense would automatically dry up on its own.
Twenty minutes into the game.
It didn't take long at all to shut down the viewers' bad-faith takes. In the teamfight that broke out in front of a major objective, this body of mine had racked up outstanding achievements and dragged the team to a massive win.
"Carry."
KDA: 12 kills, 3 deaths, 16 assists.
A result solid enough to instantly silence any niece-abuse controversy.
"See? How is that niece-level play?"
Heh.
Everyone seemed to be drifting toward acknowledgment—until one viewer shattered the mood.
"Certain about what?"
"Sorry? What are you even talking about all of a sudden…."
"…."
"Son of a biiiiitch!!!!!!!"
— Bang bang bang!
Four hundred to one. There was no winning a verbal fight!!!!
"Hey!!!!"
Even you?!
I am a gamer. And a true gamer proves themselves with skill, not cheap talk.
"I clawed out another win this game too, right? I'm just too strong, aren't I? Feels like I don't have a single rival left in Iron!"
I clenched a fist toward the camera and shook it fiercely.
"Bring it. You weak Iron trash are gonna get absolutely wrecked by my sincere punches from now on."
And this time, it didn't end with just one more win added to the pile.
Congratulations. You have been promoted to Iron 4!
"Kuaaaaaaah!!!"
I shot up from my chair and let out a full-throated shout.
"Bronze, Silver!!!! Just wait!!! The rising star of bot lane is climbing up right noooow!!!!!"
You're all dead for real!!!!