Official Commentary (1)
I was buried in my script, rehearsing every line, when a message came through. It was from Maru herself. Maru really was the bigger person. The production team had passed it along.
[Maru]: Hello, Seon-a. I wanted to go over today’s The Global Last Ragnarok 2 Korean Qualifiers. If you have a moment, could you give me a call so I can walk you through the schedule and key points?
How generous could one person be? If it were me, I’d still be grinding my teeth over old grudges. The difference in character was staggering. We’d clashed so hard before, yet here she was, treating me with nothing but kindness. I called her right away.
“Hello!! Maru, it’s Seon-a.”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
“Please, tell me everything!”
“You know it starts at six, right?”
Of course I knew. I might forget everything else, but I never missed a promise—especially one with money on the line. Was she really calling just to check that? Pfft. I wasn’t a kid anymore. Hehe.
“Yes, I know!”
“You’re a VTuber, correct?”
“Uh… yes, that’s right!!”
“Then you’ll need to send us your VTuber feed. We’ll be the ones broadcasting it on our end.”
“H-huh?! Really?!”
That was a thing? Couldn’t I just… stream normally? Corporate broadcasts really were different. I’d never done anything like this before.
“Since you’re only a guest commentator today, we’re letting you work from home instead of coming into the studio. When you start, just send your VTuber screen through Discord—video quality, sync, everything—and we’ll handle the rest.”
“…”
This was bad. I had no idea how to do any of that. I’d never even heard of this workflow. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t know the first thing about it…!!
“That’s why I wanted to let you know ahead of time.”
“Whoa!!”
The exclamation slipped out before I could stop it. I’d thought Maru was narrow-minded, obsessed with nothing but her own stream. My prejudice shattered in an instant. She was genuinely kind. So why had she pushed so hard back then, making me furious? That had been my proudest achievement, my entire career at the time—why had she touched it?! I’d been so convinced she was a bad person…
I listened carefully as Maru explained everything. Pyeongjipja used to handle all the broadcast tech for me… I missed her so much. She’d taught me everything I didn’t know. I downloaded what I needed and followed Maru’s instructions while we talked.
“Maru.”
“Yes. Feel free to speak casually.”
“Do you like your company?”
“It’s tolerable.”
“Maru.”
“Yes?”
“So… you’re still pretty low on the ladder?”
“Hahaha. Still pretty low, yes.”
She’d been there for so long and was still low-ranking? At least five years, right? Five years and still low? Wow… companies really were terrifying places.
“Maru.”
“Yes?”
“Do you like your company?”
“The food’s good.”
“Whoa!! Can I come eat there too?”
“Hahaha… We don’t allow outsiders.”
“Hmm… That’s a shame.”
“You haven’t changed at all, have you?”
Maru suddenly remarked. Of course I hadn’t. It would be weirder if a person suddenly became someone else.
“Nope! I’m exactly the same.”
“You used to say the strangest things out of nowhere. Especially posting about whatever you were eating every single day.”
“H-huh…”
Now that she mentioned it, the memories came flooding back. I really had treated my café posts like a diary. I’d been lonely back then. But I was confident I wouldn’t do that anymore. I had too much to do now. I’d become a genuinely busy person.
“It really is a small world. I never expected to see you as a VTuber. Do you remember that anime collaboration we did?”
“H-huh…!!”
I remembered. Vividly.
“You said something like, ‘That game lost to Japan.’”
“Right. I remember.”
“And now you’re a VTuber yourself… Hahaha. You really never know what life has in store.”
“I’m not doing the Japanese style. Japanese VTubers have that whole RP thing, but Korean-style VTubers don’t.”
“Ah… I see.”
“It’s true.”
I’d thought she was a good person, but she was still holding onto that old grudge!! Yeah, I had said that. Back when they announced an anime collab, I’d gone, “What, another Japanese anime collab? Is this even a Japanese game?” At the time I’d been deep in my “insider” phase and hated Japanese anime—self-loathing, really. I’d carried this stupid, arrogant belief that I was different from them, closer to the popular crowd. I didn’t have that superiority complex anymore. Not at all.
“Anyway, have you finished setting everything up?”
“Yes…! All done. So now I just turn on my VTuber software, right?”
“That’s correct. Would you like to test it?”
I followed Maru’s instructions.
“Perfect, the feed’s coming through clearly. Then… let’s meet again at 5:30—”
“Ah! Wait, Maru. There’s something I want to ask.”
“What is it…?”
“I did that ad read the other day.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Did I go too far?”
Pyeongjipja had said she was shocked. That the tone had been way too intense for an ad. It had been bothering me ever since. I wanted to ask Maru directly and figure out the right approach.
“Ah… It was fine. The reaction was good.”
“Where? Who? The staff internally?”
“Overall? The community liked it too, and the employees said it was funny.”
“The community? I have to worry about that too?”
“No, no. That’s our marketing team’s job. You don’t need to concern yourself with it.”
“Then… can I go just as hard today?”
Silence stretched between us. My stomach twisted. Was this the kind of question that required this much thought? I was getting nervous. I really had messed up, hadn’t I…? Just like Pyeongjipja said. I’d crossed a line.
“Ah… It should be okay, but… since this is commentary… still… um… as long as you don’t insult the players, it should be fine. The game itself… is okay. Just don’t attack the players.”
“Player bashing. Forbidden.”
“Right. Complaining about the game company might get a pass depending on the viewer, but player insults are something we can’t protect you from.”
“Ah… Got it! I’ll keep that in mind.”
Of course I wouldn’t bash the players. What was I, crazy? Those people were incredible. They were gods of game sense. Just making it to the tournament meant they were on another level. This was a turn-based game—every single decision mattered. They were professional gamers in a game that rewarded pure brainpower. They deserved respect.
“Yes. As long as you remember that… and since this is live, please keep it in mind.”
“Understood! I’ll see you this evening!!”
“See you then~”
Whew… The call ended. The one absolute rule: no player bashing. But that was obvious. Even an idiot like me knew better than to tear someone else down just to look good. Still, something else worried me more… Would I be able to do this without freezing up? What if I got so nervous I couldn’t speak and made everyone uncomfortable? I cleared my throat over and over, scribbling notes on a memo pad.
When the tournament time arrived, I turned on the official commentary broadcast on my phone. It was kind of funny. In the middle sat Maru—a real person. On the left, another real person. And on the right… me. My VTuber self. Pfft. It was genuinely hilarious. I still wasn’t used to it. When I laughed, my avatar on screen laughed too.
“Ahem. Hello everyone. Day three of The Global Last Ragnarok 2 Korean Qualifiers. Let’s get started. I’m your caster, Maru. On my left is our regular commentator, K-Monster, who joined us yesterday as well. And today we have our special guest commentator, Seon-a. Welcome.”
“Hello.”
“Greetings.”
“Let’s start with K-Monster. How was yesterday for you?”
“Yesterday… was incredibly fun. That iconic moment—I still can’t get it out of my head.”
Iconic moment… That had to be the one where someone won after hitting four 75% chances in a row. It had been a blast to watch. Even the chat had been spamming “RNG hell game”… Though the players probably found it infuriating, the dopamine rush for viewers was insane.
“Ah, is that so? Seon-a, did you catch yesterday’s matches?”
“Yes. I watched everything. But there’s one thing that really bothered me.”
“Wait… already? We still have plenty of time left.”
“It’s a fundamental issue with the game itself.”
“Already? Are we jumping straight into the final verdict? The matches haven’t even started.”
Maru gave an awkward smile. But I had to say it. Someone needed to speak up. Only then could the game move in a better direction.
“Yes.”
“Goodness. What is it? Let’s hear it.”
“Defense decks and speed decks aren’t balanced at all. There’s no middle ground. I’ve been watching since day one, and whenever a defense deck shows up—”
I took a deep breath, then let the words pour out like a storm.
“Defense versus defense just turns into… huff, huff, huff… fifty turns, 1,000% attack power. Still not enough. More huffing, huffing, huffing—150 turns, thirty minutes… 3,000% attack… Still not there… huff, huff, huff… 5,000% and it’s still not enough. That’s the current meta. For viewers, it’s just—”
“Oh dear. Yes…”
“It’ll happen again today, I guarantee it. And speed decks are a problem too. In a tournament, if a tempo deck or hybrid deck gets outsped by an extreme speed deck, what are they supposed to do? Hybrid? Tempo? Just leave. What are you even doing, dragging it out like that? Just go!! Huh? You lost? Can’t accept it? You lost. Get out. Is that how it should be? Then why would anyone play anything but extreme speed decks? And in reality, nobody does.”
“No, Seon-a…! The matches haven’t even started yet!!”
“Ah… but… really, just this one thing. This one thing. When defense decks clash, it takes thirty minutes, and when speed decks go against anything else… the draft phase takes longer than the actual game. That’s what I wanted to point out.”
I’d said most of what was in my notes, but I’d censored myself and held back the rest. That part still stung a little.