Seona, You're Always Welcome (1)

I'd learned a lot from doing free chat.

Every bad script got wiped. It became a chance to rewrite everything from scratch.

Now that free chat had been fun… maybe it was time to go play a game?

"I'm gonna play a game today. Thinking of going for a story game. How does that sound?"

"No… don't leave, please give me an explanation. Ah, wait—not an explanation. You know. Give me recommendations. If you recommend something, I will genuinely, positively, sincerely consider giving it a positive review."

If they didn't like it, we'd fix it together. Just don't leave. Uh… yeah!! Tell me what's wrong and I'll absorb the lesson, okay?

I had nothing to say… because it was facts. I really had soft-locked myself into oblivion. What was I supposed to do when the puzzle was hard!! It wouldn't solve. My condition was… bad. Yeah.

If I tried now it'd be different… probably.

"Ugh… okay, then I'll play something else."

"What's Paradox Interactive? Hmm…"

What even is that? Whoa. This is that thing. That thing!!

"It's a social-studies-atlas game!… I know this one."

Back in middle school… third year, a friend I was close with used to play it. How weird was she? She used to draw world maps in her notebook and play notebook war games with them.

Thanks to that friend, I learned about the Three Kingdoms. Every scrap of Three Kingdoms knowledge I had, I'd learned from her. And every time she launched into a Three Kingdoms rant, she always ran the same macro.

'Chancellor Cao Cao's defeat at Red Cliffs was a clear mistake. People make mistakes in life—I feel like everyone is being way too hard on him.'

I still remembered that one.

Honestly, at the time, I wanted to say that getting three hundred thousand troops killed was a bit much to call a "mistake"… but if I'd said it out loud, I would've been stuck in an infinite history lecture for the entire seventh period, so I just nodded along.

The reason I still remembered that friend wasn't just that. She also played on the computer the same way she played with her notebook—spreading out a social studies atlas and gaming over the map.

I'd gone over to her house once and, instead of playing an RPG, she was staring at a map on the computer and playing a game, and I thought it was fascinating.

Maybe that was why it was burned into my brain.

And the company that made that map game… was Paradox.

"Anyway, got it. I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠keep it in mind. Any other games? This one's hard, you know. I saw it before… it looked insanely difficult."

"I:R? What's that?"

Ah… that was also a Paradox Interactive game. More importantly. What was going on with chat?

Was it really that bad? Hmm… everyone had their own tastes. I didn't think it was bad.

I had a pretty severe underdog streak myself, so I got it. Completely understood wanting to try the thing nobody else was playing. If I'd been the one recommending? I would've recommended something only I knew about.

But I was a streamer… viewer count mattered more, so I had to do what the viewers wanted.

That was how the numbers went up.

"Hmm… tsk… what should I play? If there's nothing, I'm just going ahead with a story game!!"

"LoL… I can't play it. If you guys watch that, my fixed viewers will all leave… Valorant…? Same deal… I'm actually terrible at FPS. Want me to show you? No, wait. Let me tell you why I can't."

The FPS most popular with elementary schoolers… the one people called the next-gen League of Legends: Valorant.

In six hours of in-game time, I'd gotten flamed sixteen times in voice and over a thousand times in chat, at least.

It wasn't like I was bad on purpose.

They just kept yelling at me. Did they think I was playing badly because I wanted to? I was just actually bad!! What was I supposed to do!!

"Kh… I'm sorry about that. The donation… thank you so much… kh. I'm sorry… I told you I was bad."

My scorecard was so catastrophic I had nothing left to say.

I just covered my face with my hands. I'd said I couldn't play FPS. Last time I'd just been good because I liked the character… this was pure FPS, so everything got exposed. Damn it. Damn it.

"I'll delete it… the game is… kh…"

"Let's just do a story game… if a puzzle comes up… I'll copy the answer."

Yesterday had been genuinely humiliating. My scorecard had spread through the Shape World cafe, and reaction videos to it had gotten posted on my cafe.

I always checked the popular posts first… and those videos had climbed onto the popular board, so I ended up watching them against my will.

"Kh… it's not like I was bad on purpose… never again."

Even so, I was curious about the reactions, so I clicked.

That was the full extent of Nemmo's reaction. Next was Raming.

Kh… that… was your friend Yu Seona. Be proud of me… kh… yeah. Nothing to say.

Next was Motteok. I trusted Motteok.

She would definitely spray girl-power perfume and say lots of nice things. Definitely. One hundred percent.

She was analyzing my play… this was a variable. Why analyze it. Don't. Just… end me.

Motteok was suddenly praising me… excellent. High standards. She knew Yu Seona very well.

Good. I would grant Motteok's wish.

"Hmm… nice. Motteok is ready to have her wish granted!! Mwahaha."

What even was a sim game. Should I actually try one? Yeah, I would. Yu Seona would grant Motteok's wish.

Seriously spread out the social studies atlas? I'd spread it. Seriously try? I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠try. Sincerely Chancellor… sincerely Emperor… sincerely President… try them all? Yeah, possible.

"Wait a second…!!"

At times like this I needed to cool my head. Cool it down.

Once I cooled it down, I didn't want to do it anymore.

If I said I'd grant Motteok's wish, I'd burn everything I'd built to the ground.

For real… no matter how I thought about it, I did not have the confidence to spread open a social studies atlas and pour out commentary like a waterfall of eloquence.

And on top of that the systems were… hard. They'd be hard, right?

I searched YouTube for Paradox game tutorials.

Still no idea. They were actually insanely hard.

I'd probably soft-lock myself into losing 50%, and then while sincerely scribbling on the social studies atlas… lose the other 50%.

But!! Flip it again. Thinking about it one more time—what exactly was this sim game Motteok kept talking about?

Curiosity bloomed. A hazy memory of having felt this way before floated up.

I was so curious I typed "sim games" into YouTube. And wow, they just poured out.

Start with the easy ones… if I jumped into a hard one, something terrible would happen. I'd just get flamed and the stream would collapse into rubble.

"Hmm…"

I searched hard, but I still didn't know.

But today I had to find something. Anything… I had no game to play.

So this was a streamer's cry of despair. Nothing to do.

I had no choice… I rewatched Motteok's VODs. Let's see what sim games she liked.

I would check them out properly this time.

Recently she'd played… Tropico 6? What was that? She'd done Anno too. Wait… she'd played every Paradox Interactive game… no. She'd even done Crusader Kings. What… what was this? Wait, she'd done FM too? Why had she played Three Kingdoms? She'd done everything…?

Motteok was this kind of person? I'd only skimmed her VODs before so I hadn't known. Looking carefully, she was someone who loved social studies atlases… no, no, notebook games… no, no, sim games.

"Then… the Tropico she played recently? I should try this."

It was Motteok's pick, so I bought and downloaded it without much thought.

If yesterday's catastrophe happened again it'd be a disaster, so I logged in and played a little.

Whenever I hit a hard part I looked it up on YouTube and burned through some time.

"…Okay."

Got the gist. It was just a city-building simulation game. Easy. Time to go stream it.

I'd show them that I was, in fact, a competent person.

The people would clearly love me. Yu Seona~ if you give everything away, what's left~ Yu Seona's inflated ego is left!!

"Mom!! I need fruit supply bin support. Heading out right now."

"Huh? You're leaving thirty minutes early today?"

"Yes!! I have something to do. I have to do Motteok's pick."

"Uh… okay. I'll pack it right away. Just a sec."

"Yes!! Take your time."

I received my fruit bin supply and left immediately.