A Drunken Broadcast at 3 A.M.
You soup-drinkers.
While everyone else was soaking up the end-of-year spirit and the fresh start of a new year, there were those who could not enjoy any of it.
It was the community where Kayak's old friends gathered — a name that had long since become familiar.
And then, that very thing actually happened.
Kayak's stream went live.
Three in the morning — an hour when most people had long since fallen asleep. And yet the viewers' reaction was nothing short of explosive.
That was because the only people gathered were those who hadn't been sleeping in the first place.
People whose life rhythms had gotten so twisted they were up and about at this hour, or people who, even with the new year begun, still felt some lingering incompleteness that kept them from going to bed. Those were the ones who had mostly gathered in Kayak's stream right now.
And so of course they could only cheer for Kayak's broadcast, appearing without any warning at all.
Chat opinion split cleanly down the middle. Those who related and agreed with the donation, and those who pushed back insisting this guy needed to be banned.
But whether they made a fuss or not, Kayak gave no particular reaction. It seemed for a moment like she might have turned the stream on early as usual and stepped away to grab water or something — but that wasn't it either.
The mic was currently on, and through that mic all sorts of ambient noise was bleeding in.
The noise had a strangely realistic quality to it. A rustling sound. The pssst of carbonation escaping a can. Someone's voice, and so on.
"…ing that?"
With their sharp hearing, the viewers immediately deduced that the voice belonged to Kayak. And at the same time, they realized she was speaking to someone, and at once began interrogating her.
"What boyfriend. I keep telling you there's no such thing… You guys always have the exact same repertoire, huh."
That was when a reply came back, laced with a subtle undercurrent of laughter. The viewers welcomed Kayak while also thinking they must have misheard something, given how casually she answered — but they had definitely heard a voice.
And then a voice that would answer their questions came through the stream once more.
"For real though. I'm so sick of that boyfriend crap—. Every time she takes a day off it's 'oh she got a boyfriend.' Even having to keep explaining the same thing over and over is exhausting."
It was Ririyang. Viewers reacted quickly to the vaguely lamenting tone of her words, and among them were people who recognized her immediately.
"Let's talk about it a little later. It was fun."
"No, I just relate way too hard to the whole thing where everything turns into boyfriend talk."
Then, after clearing her throat for a moment, she offered a proper greeting.
"Hello, I'm streamer Ririyang. Today I was invited by Mun… by Kayak to come on stream together. Not a boyfriend — a girlfriend, gotcha~. Did I get you?"
Ordinarily, Ririyang was the type of streamer whose energy ran on the lower side. The front page of her channel itself said she aimed for a calm, quiet stream, which pretty much said it all.
No matter what viewers said, her reactions rarely went beyond Ah, I see or Oh my, really? — she almost never got genuinely startled by anything. Her pretty looks and naturally calm voice tone meant that people who liked that pure, gentle image were the ones who mainly watched her streams.
Ririyang herself didn't fully realize it, but her stream was an environment where soup-drinkers thrived. The kind of place where people would try to determine whether girl streamers were virgins, and where all hell would break loose the moment she did a one-on-one collab with a male streamer.
Things had improved somewhat recently thanks to her being an Abyss streamer and the viewers who'd flowed in through the tournament — but the fundamental nature of it hadn't really changed.
But the Ririyang of right now was different from usual. There was a slight drawl at the ends of her words, and her voice pitch had climbed — something about her was clearly off.
Her word choice and manner of speaking were the same. Bringing up how hard it was to keep explaining herself. Saying girlfriend instead of boyfriend. The usual Ririyang would never have said or done anything like that on stream.
That was when Kayak's voice came through again.
"Hmm, they want the cam on… Is it okay if I turn the cam on?"
"Yeah yeah, I don't mind. Do whatever you want, Kayak."
Leaving the viewers fretting about the two of them dropping formal speech behind them, the cam feed came on. It was Kayak's room as usual — and yet, starting with Ririyang, a great many things were different.
First among them were the beer cans scattered around behind the frame. From the empty cans lined up behind the two of them, you could roughly estimate how much they'd already drunk. Even a conservative count put it at over ten — a considerable amount for two people.
You didn't even need to count the cans. Just looking at the two faces on screen made it obvious they were drunk. Flushed red faces and unfocused eyes were unmistakably those of people who'd had too much.
And so the viewers finished piecing the situation together. The two of them had been drinking, gotten drunk, and then turned on the stream—. Even the reason for going live at such a late hour was fully explained.
"Ah, I don't care, I don't care. Today I'm doing whatever I want. Stop pretending to worry while you keep butting in. You— you soup-drinkers."
"Hah."
Calling her fans soup-drinkers— from beside her, Kayak sucked in a sharp breath. Chat stirred at a remark of a severity unprecedented in the entire history of Ririyang's streaming career.
Some among them even criticized Kayak for having infected Ririyang.
"I didn't even use the word soup-drinker, okay?"
Of course, for Kayak herself — the one being blamed — it was an unfair accusation.