The Eccentric Streamer and Her Viewers (1)

It had been a while since I’d done a solo stream, so I was nervous… but it turned out to be nothing special. Just the usual broadcast. No need to be tense. So I just had to say whatever I wanted. It was my stream, after all. I was the one leading it. Yeah. Say what you want to say, Seon-a. You’re a streamer who does great no matter what you say. I believe in you!!

“First… yeah. What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠should we do today?”

The very first words out of my mouth were exactly what I’d been dying to say. If it were the grown-up Seon-a, she would’ve pulled out every trick in the book to steer things around. Still not quite there yet… damn it.

Even the angels had reached enlightenment. They were straight-up recommending content now.

“Ehehe. Really? Then shall we look together? The cafe? Ah! It’s been a while since I checked the cafe too, right?”

How could they be this sweet? In the old days they would’ve roasted me!! Why the sudden kindness? Ah! I’m so grateful!!

“Then… shall we check the cafe first?”

The cafe. It was literally cheating. A cheat code. Like entering a game fully geared and steamrolling the boss. I finally understood why famous streamers made cafes. A constantly regenerating cafe turned anyone into a communication god. Drop a story and thirty minutes vanish. Start a VS debate and another thirty minutes fly by. Reading viewer posts and chatting? Another one or two hours gone in a blink.

“Oh… games…”

The game recommendation board was piled high. So many requests. From retro games to obscure titles… to downright bizarre ones. Really, a lot. It felt like they just posted whatever came to mind.

“Uwaa…”

There really were some weird games. I couldn’t figure out why they wanted me to play them.

“Adultery Detective… why would you ask me to play this? Ah… a game about dating your little sister… No. What even is ‘Yard Decorating’?”

I really didn’t get it. I just didn’t.

“Raising a Menhera In-Bang… what is this now…?! Huh? This one might actually be fun?”

Snuggle-snuggle… I guess I’ll have to play it? Ehehe. This game’s nice. I hit the like button.

“Cyber Wrecker… what’s this one?”

They said it was a creepy game. Something about becoming a cyber wrecker and… doing stuff. Oh, I should try this one too. I’ll play it if I remember. Liked this one as well.

“Oh… there really are a lot.”

Way too many. But nothing really grabbed me. Since I’d already gone through the game board… I clicked over to the free board.

Whoa… way too many posts. Still, I had to read them, right? I read the entire free board. To summarize: it was exactly what it said on the tin. Just random chatter. “~Did you eat? Seon-a, when are you coming on? This is fun~” and stuff like that.

“Ah~ I read it all.”

Now what? Once the cafe section ended, emptiness hit. This was why I hated the cafe. What next…? My head went blank. That was another reason I hated it. When it ended, everything felt… hollow. Now I had to pull out my own content… haa…

I closed my eyes and thought hard. What should I do? What to do…?

“I’ll take a vote.”

I opened Notepad and jotted things down roughly.

“First option. Should we do VRChat again? Second… play a recommended game. Third… um… look at the cafe some more… um… or take more recommendations.”

The chat was flying. I made a poll and then deleted it. Suddenly I felt like doing something else. My heart was as fickle as a reed, after all.

“Never mind. I just got an idea.”

Calling viewers. I didn’t mean anything bad by it. They absolutely shouldn’t misunderstand. I just wanted to know the level of my viewers. They always said in chat that they showered and went outside a lot… but I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t sit right. I wanted to check for myself. From chat alone they seemed like total social butterflies. Insiders. But I just couldn’t trust it… It was different from videos I’d seen… I was curious. Pure curiosity. No bad intentions whatsoever.

“Um… Discord… I’m going to call viewers.”

“No, no. It’s just once… I swear there’s no bad intent. Please trust me.”

Trust me, okay? I really don’t have bad intentions. It’s fine~ It won’t hurt… It doesn’t hurt. It’s not hard. The Jjangies… if they join… I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don’t know~

“Then please add me as a friend.”

The moment I dropped my Discord ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ID, friend requests came flooding in. Bodies really were honest, huh? They acted like they wouldn’t in chat. Don’t do it… they said. And yet… ehehe.

“First viewer.”

I accepted the request and called.

“Hello.”

“Oh…! Recent viewer.”

“First time meeting and you’re already calling me ‘recent’… that’s too much.”

“Ah, Recent-nim, hiii.”

“Yeah, hiii.”

Recent Viewer-nim’s pronunciation wasn’t slurred, and there was no sign of nervousness. If anything, he spoke with ease.

“Can I say one thing, Seon-a-nim?”

“What is it?”

“When are you gonna purge the new inflows?”

“Huh? How many inflows are you?”

“Inflow count.” It was a kind of game that only existed in small or stagnant streams… basically like military service numbers. A culture. A point of pride? At first it had shocked me. On days when my viewer count rose, it always came up. “I’m this many inflows, it’s uncomfortable. It’s hard. I’m sweating. Tell the floaters to shut up and stop polluting the chat.” And then, just like the army, someone would declare “I’m an October inflow,” and the chat would reply…

“I’m a November inflow.”

“What?”

It was ridiculous. It was already December… they’d only been here a month.

“Since when does a one-month inflow get to act like a veteran? There are actual seniors here!!”

I was genuinely angry. Even the seniors were staying quiet. October inflows, September inflows were all behaving, and a November inflow was acting up? Had the world gone mad?

“Sorry, but as an MZ senior, I’ll say one thing. Purge the inflows! The soup’s gone bland!”

Wow, a one-month inflow was even delivering a finishing blow? This one really needed to be scolded. Huh?

What? Why were they praising him? Normally they’d be cursing… Had the water changed? Ah. It was funny now, but at first this culture had felt a bit off to me. Like the room was getting stagnant… So I’d gone and scouted other small streams and stagnant ones… and noticed one pattern. This kind of thing was strongest in fast-moving chats, and almost nonexistent in slower rooms. In other words, it thrived in streams where viewers were genuinely invested.

Anyway, since they liked me… and they didn’t really mean it. The moment my numbers went up they’d be happy again. They’d do the snuggle-snuggle thing just fine. Our president, vice-president. Even ancient Jjangies I’d never met before would drop subscription tickets and donate more.

“Sorry… but seeing nicknames I’ve never seen before polluting the chat pissed me off, so I just…”

“You have to snuggle the floaters!!”

“They chat without any manners…”

“Ugh…”

He had a point. Viewers without supporter emotes tended to chat more aggressively. Of course even the ones with emotes could be rough, but the vibe was different. It was more like angels who were constantly provoked finally snapping out of sheer exhaustion.

“That was the right call. But… instead of getting angry, there’s a report board in the cafe, you know? Post it there.”

“That’s… something only girls do. I’ll just say one thing.”

“Huh?”

“JongGame1192. SignalJammerSeon-a. IWannaDropThis. GeunGameSeon-a. Seon-aJjang. PublicToilet. You bastards, why aren’t you chatting pretty?”

“What??????? No! No…”

How could he snipe like that!! Hey, you… I ended the call without thinking, startled.

The viewers had suddenly turned into snipers, firing at everyone.

“No… don’t just dump it in chat… There’s a report board in the cafe. Post it there and the managers will handle it all at once… Stop. Please stop. Everyone, whoa~ whoa~ Okay? So everyone, good good. I’ll check the next person. Uwaa…! Why snipe…! November floaters really went all out? Ugh… Okay. It was a joke! Everyone, focus on the stream now.”

They must’ve had a lot pent up. Reports everywhere. Augh… Seriously. My head was spinning. I’d used so much energy trying to suppress it. But it didn’t work, so in the end—

“Everyone… stop now. I’m really going to ban people?!”

I should’ve threatened bans from the start. These people listened so well… I wasted energy trying to persuade them with words.

“Next viewer… let’s meet them.”

“Hello… Hello. Jjangbro… I don’t see Jjangbro as a woman. Ehehehe.”

“Oh. Yep! You’re exactly the talent I was looking for!!”

Found one. The owner of that nasal voice… and those brutal lines. But the more I replayed it, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the more it felt like a bit. No real sincerity, so I felt a little disappointed. The speech was spaced out, but the diction was actually good, so it stuck in my ears.

“Huh? I, uhehe… Jjangbro. I told you I don’t see you as a woman, right? If you like me… hoo-hoo.”

“Ah… It was a concept. I thought our stream’s average viewer was like this and got my hopes up… but it’s just a bit.”

I wasn’t hoping for someone deficient… I just wished I had a weapon of my own… Stop. I’d said too much. Honestly… it didn’t make sense. People who watched streams seven to nine hours a day, spoke well, went outside, dressed neatly, knew makeup, had tried lots of restaurant food, had girlfriends?, were knowledgeable about current events… like walking encyclopedias who seemed to know everything. How was I supposed to believe that!! It didn’t add up. Of course I was suspicious!!

“No… eoh… Jjangbro… I don’t see hyung as a woman. We could even go to the bathhouse together.”

“Why are you suddenly speaking so clearly about the bathhouse?”

Counter. This person’s creepiness knew no bounds.

“Uh… No. We can go to the bathhouse together. Uhehe.”

“Enough. You’re fake. Go practice more and come back.”

I hung up decisively. After a short break, I called the next person. What kind of viewer would pick up this time? It felt like unboxing. Exciting, yet worrying—what if there was a problem? This strange, mixed feeling. Ehehe. I wanted to open it quickly.