I Won't Play Games, I'll Just Stream!! (3)

I immediately searched for a multi-room. "Seon-a, don't show off... Huh? Only beginners... Guys, if I join a room with only beginners, can we have fun? How about this room? Let's try a complete noob room."

"Ah... I see." Envious. So that's what real skill looks like. If I had that kind of skill, I'd be carrying noobs too. It's pure fun, after all. Just straight-up slaughtering the weak. Back in my FPS days, that was the dream. Joining a beginner room and racking up fifty kills. Heh heh.

"Then... Seon-a's room. I'll join that. Seon-a's room... Let's give this a try."

I joined, and a player with 1,230 wins and 1,092 losses was waiting for me. Is this... right?

"Sir? What's with the match count? Is this correct? It's just... way too... uh... Guys, is this really okay?"

I was seriously conflicted. The number of matches was overwhelming. Ironically, that made it feel both trustworthy and suspicious at the same time. It was confusing. Should I just play one game? I'll know once I try.

"Alright. Let's do it. Sir. Tell me your nickname."

I was a little worried since it was a random user. I'd feel better if they'd chatted a lot, but they hadn't said much. Should I trust this person? Or not? For now... maybe just one game?

"O-okay. I'll give it a shot. I'll go Terran. You're... Protoss, I see. Let's go. Huh? Ah! You've been watching for a long time but you're a shy viewer who doesn't chat or subscribe!! Okay, let's go!!"

The moment the game started, I sent my SCV to the minerals. Then I hit S ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the command center to start production. Now, while waiting for it to finish, I'll check the chat.

"Build? There's such a thing? No, of course there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is... Yeah. There should be. Where do I look? Ah, YouTube. YouTube really is the best."

I clicked on the Terran build posted on the official channel. Wow, so this is how people study. Scrolling through the video, I saw a good build in the comments and clicked it right away. But... it was a bit difficult. Since it was just pictures, I had to match them up myself. At least I knew what supply depots, barracks, and refineries were.

"Guys... what does 9/10 mean? Do I build it when my supply hits 9/10? And what's this?"

"Oh? Really? So I build the supply depot at 9/10?"

I switched back to the game screen and saw 250 minerals piled up. I spammed S to fill up workers, then waited until supply hit 9/10!! Waiting around was boring, so I glanced at the chat!!

7? I was getting way too many questions. I didn't know where to start answering. Hmm, should I just go with my gut? Let's tackle the most obvious things first.

"You build the supply depot at 9/10. It hasn't hit that yet."

One answer down. Next—what the heck is APM? Why do they keep mentioning it? I really didn't know, but if I asked, they'd probably call me a noob who doesn't even try to look things up. Sigh. I immediately searched for APM.

"Ah... So faster is better?" I got it now. But... is faster really better? Isn't playing accurately and honestly more important? Still, I didn't argue. Something told me that would be a bad idea.

"Got it. Uh... Oh. While we were talking, supply went over 10. I was late on the supply depot timing... I'll build the barracks and supply depot together. Ah, I'll throw in the refinery too."

I quickly started developing. Still, I had too many minerals, so I tried to fill the command center with SCVs... but the supply was capped so I couldn't. I should be able to click it though. I want to spend the minerals!!

"In that case... I'll build one more supply depot."

Ten minutes... fifteen... twenty passed. I learned so much. I learned how to make tanks, Goliaths, and even Vultures. They say spider mines on Vultures are broken. The reason you make Vultures is for those mines... but the problem was I had to place them well, and I didn't, so I got flamed hard. Following the advice, I spammed spider mines all around the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠factory. It was a huge hit!! When the opponent used some skill with their air units, all their units just died to the mines. Seeing the opening, I rolled out with tanks, Goliaths, and Vultures to attack their main base. I definitely wrecked their base, but they still wouldn't give up. Didn't I win?

"Why did I lose? Why?"

"Ah... Yeah, that makes sense."

The advice was spot-on. I only had command centers at my main and natural, but that was fine. If I thought it was too late, I just had to do it now. Was I going to skip it just because it was late? Even if it was late, I had to. I checked the areas near me. Just like the viewers said, the opponent had taken every single expansion.

Cannons? I didn't know what that was, but anyway, I just had to take the expansions back, right?

After a fifty-minute game, I won!! I won dramatically with a godlike strategy. I definitely have to watch the replay.

"Do you guys figure out the strategy right away when you watch replays?"

"Oh. So what did the Protoss player do?"

I stared intently at the chat.

"Why? Why is it similar until tanks come out? Isn't there a secret move? Uh... I should've built bunkers too? Build bunkers, repair while holding, then when tanks come out, boom boom boom, wipe out the dragoons... Oh. So that's a thing? It's like Go. Oh!!"

I didn't know that. So StarCraft has its own opening book like Go. It was surprising, but I actually learned Go as a kid because they said it improves concentration... I learned the opening book? Following the book and making those tap tap tap sounds while playing. But when I actually played against people, they never followed the book, so I lost every time. I memorized the first twenty moves for black, but the opponent always used weird variations and I couldn't win. Anyway, so StarCraft has that too...!!

"So they do the double nexus in main? Oh. That brings in more money?"

I really didn't know. I focused hard to learn. The opponent built one more nexus in their main. So this is the StarCraft opening book!! Oh... I guess this is good? Okay, I'll absorb it.

"That's amazing. So this is good, right?"

"Huh? That's not it? Then what is this? Why did they build it like that? Does anyone know?"

I was a newbie. A total newbie. They had to explain it from a newbie's perspective. Why it was bad. Why I shouldn't do it. Please explain slowly!! I really was playing for the first time today.

"I... I really don't know because it's my first time with StarCraft. Please explain it simply."

I read the chat carefully. So building double nexus in the main was a build that shouldn't exist in this world. It was for giving a handicap... Since I couldn't see it anyway, they deliberately spent money to create a dramatic situation. I understood. Good job. Good job. Yeah. That was nice!!

"Nice. Good job. You mixed it up deliciously!! I'll give you the expensive subscription. Good good."

We kept watching the replay. The opponent made a bunch of zealots... and made them fight each other. They reduced the zealots by half again through another fight, down to three, then charged them at me. Maybe... because I was watching a build video at the time? The zealots came into my main, did a lap, and went back home. Honestly, I didn't even realize they came...!! They did that about five times... How unlucky can you be? I missed every single one. Exactly when they came, I was either looking at chat, rewatching YouTube, answering questions while reading chat... or banning someone. Poor zealots. It was fun to watch though.

I immediately gave the most expensive subscription to the viewer and told them to leave their email.

"That's enough for 1v1... I'll do something else."

I was too exhausted physically and mentally to keep doing 1v1s.

"No... Guys. What is 'clothes off'? Is that allowed? Blocking the entrance... Uh. Yep. Uh... There's also playing house? Wouldn't that be better in VR? Hmm... I'll try joining one. Huh? Who are these people?"

What was a warrant officer, what was political bait, what was X-rated spam, this... this. These were low-level jokes we didn't even do in our own stream. What kind of place was this that such raw chats were popping up? It was a weekday at 4 PM—what were these people even? Wait, really? I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't believe it, so I read the post right away.

"Isn't 5 million won a month a lot for a salary? What kind of job lets you ask in a StarCraft chat on a weekday afternoon how much they make? I want to know too."

I was genuinely curious.