RPG (1) Woke Up to a Long Letter

I woke up, and there was a long letter waiting for me.

The moment I read that letter, I realized Maru's actions yesterday weren't an act.

Suddenly, my mind cleared, and I started remembering what I had done yesterday. I thought it was all just acting on my part, matching her vibe. But it turns out... it was all real?

She shouldn't have apologized. Now I'm suddenly anxious. What does that make my actions? If she goes and apologizes like this after the fact, what am I supposed to be? What do I do? No. No. I immediately started drafting replies.

First reply: No way! I had no idea! Totally awesome!

Second reply: No way! It was super fun! Awesome!

Uh... which one's better? While I was agonizing over it... I accidentally hit enter and sent both.

Aaah...! I messed up. What now? My brain just froze hard. Should've jotted it down in a memo and thought it over.

But more than that, I really had no idea. I genuinely thought it was all an act. But it wasn't... As penance, Himaru Wiki read-through 100 times. Operation... OPERATION! To make sure this never happens again. Every last detail!

After like two reads, my focus went poof, so I stopped. I'd definitely read up on Himaru before, but here's a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brand-new truth I learned.

She's someone who really fears public horror games. Not acting—legitimately can't handle them out of pure terror.

Someone who turned down 7.2 million won in mission gold. I would've said yes in a heartbeat. She's seriously amazing...

Normally she'd read and reply right away, but still no response from Maru. Is she sleeping? If she's sleeping... should I start streaming? Just 30 minutes... I'll wait exactly 30 minutes. Please reply.

No reply came, so I fired up the stream. My growth is tiny, but it's climbing. Huh? What? Yesterday's peak viewers hit 2,500. What's this? I recalled yesterday. Yesterday... hmm.

'The chat was blowing up.'

Chat was nonstop. That's why there were donos mentioning how fast the chat was flying.

It's just a mirage anyway. Maru wasn't streaming, so they came to me. Data like this isn't useful. If it goes from 200 to 220 because of this, that's a 10% increase, but with a peak of 2,500, it feels like a drop from 2,500 to 220.

Still, someday I'll break that peak... maybe? Who knows. Right now it's 130 anyway.

"Hey everyone!"

But what do I do? Every single day is torture. Seriously, what? I really need to make... fixed content today. No content means every day's agony.

No ideas before starting. Screen cover on, thoughts explode.

Then I remove the cover, do the greeting, and poof—what to do? Vanishes. Stream ends, crash without a thought, wake up, daily routine, start stream, screen cover, sudden content panic... infinite loop.

"What should we do today?"

They've all figured it out now. Fine, since it's out, I'll own it.

"Then, give me content."

People with nothing to lose are the scariest. You know, so hand it over.

"Not... joking! For real! Dead serious!"

Public opinion's meh, but lying's bad. Question marks piling up by the dozens. No choice. This is on me to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠endure.

"Something we can do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long-term? Let's share game hobbies! Play together! Fun stuff together. Make a guild and be little troublemakers!"

"No toxic stuff... just fun little troublemakers... like that."

Do these folks even have it in them? Hmm...

"Nah, won't work. I give up."

Felt too hard. There's that saying—that streamer, that audience. No matter the tweaks, fun troublemakers is impossible. Expecting that is genius-level delusion.

"I gotta pay to get strong... no gimmicks or anything. Brainless hack-n-slash games. But not boring."

"Oh right! I hate console controls, huge lore. I want games where I'm the best. Click, boss dead. That kinda thing. Ah, ah, ah! And lots of people. So lots of F2P players... kids ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠playing would be great. They see me and go 'Whoa! It's Sena! Epic. High-five!' That vibe!"

"Ah, right. New release. Recommend newest ones if possible."

"Popular game? Nah. Popular means no room for me. I wanna be top 1% at least, but popular ones are solid—new inflows bounce off. You all know."

Sudden Moteok appearance. Normally I'd greet with mo-ha~ tteok-ha~ vibes.

Hate for Moteok spiked. My room's free-for-all, but not this free. Sometimes it tips over, and I gotta rein it in. It's my room—my responsibility.

"Ease up on the swears... No hating unless Moteok says she wants to die young. I can take it. I know it's all suppression."

They swear like that, but let me slide if I do it. Chat doesn't slow, though. They stick around to pad numbers. Proved in Rust. Total tsunderes.

With even worse reactions than Rust, I barely convinced the viewers. Just vague till ad break, then full commit.

Arena World, out 9 years.

Demands top-tier GPU for max settings.

I hate MMORPGs. My style's polar opposite. Once downloaded a "god game" over 200GB. MMORPG too.

3-4 hours to download, deleted in 20 mins. Couldn't click to win. No instant power-ups = no fun... Same here. Stale, boring.

If not streaming, deleted already. Guess MMORPGs just ain't my thing.

Beat around bush, tried "maybe later?" to bail.

But... it got fun. The game? Nah.

Quests, must-have early mats, key skills, guides, tough bosses. No worries for me.

Emperor carry. Hit quest zone, viewers drop items.

"Again! Thanks! Our angels play a ton too? Seriously grateful. Oh, another quest."

Hunting? Bosses? Viewers handle. Essential skills/builds? Viewers tell.

Lost on quest? Donos and chat guide fully. Epic. Viewers from 180 to 300.

[Newbie] [Day 1] [Freshie] tags working.

Ultra-comfy emperor carry skipped no-fun parts. Now it's fun? Hehe.

"This is fun!!"

The game I wanted. Just click... yeah. This. Real gaming. I do nothing, click. Grow. Click. Grow. Yeah, this is it. Right. Phew, invest a bit? Got one creed: Play tank in games. Tank? Frontline brick wall, gets cheers. Cool job that soaks praise without bragging.

Tank pride etched in my heart. Must play tank.

Strict game picks. Tanks must be strong, pay-to-win. No skill needed for #1.

Kid me did that. Not now. Broke. Parents' cash made it possible then, not anymore. Can't. Hence no MMOs.

Allowance life was nice. No daily worries. No, no. But I succeeded! Months ago ramen-only, now delivery food.

And that era gave me... fat Steam library! Ramen savings filled it! Wait... refunded all... what'd I spend on? Memory... blank.

Definitely survived on ramen. Hard days... grew tons!!

Decent turnout for 300-viewer stream. Like 20 peeps. Checked classes.

DPS or healers. Tanks? Two. So niche.

"Welcome all! What now?"

Honestly nothing left. Now paywall. No control confidence. No prep, I see the fail coming. Sneak-checked bank. Tiny bit ok. One truckload max. More's impossible...

"Whale a bit?"

If fun, why not.

Would've said 'I'd skill if I could afford no-whale,' but held back. All first chats—newbies. Gotta look good to keep baby angels? Everyone wears masks first meet.

"Then... one... challenge run?"

One shot!! Bad reactions, but prove it!! Practiced DPS cycle 30 mins. Still noob. Lucky tanks have few actives. 6 buttons. Tap tap tap. Good job.

Boss: Lightning Phoenix. Nick: Fried Chicken. First try.

Failed. Nailing first try's god-tier anyway.

"Effort makes it work."

Kept mashing keys after.

What? Was 9, now 10:08. Where'd my hour go? Stopped tapping, peeked chat.

Ah, what. Was worried a sec, but they're having fun. Ok, focus time. Went ham after. Result? Gotta whale. Whaling's the answer.