Why Me?

The sudden eruption of Kayak's age controversy.

The top output of the Abyss Gallery, a named user and famous female streamer, turned out to be a young girl who had just turned twenty (or so the gallery put it).

Back when the gallery was in its prime, during the era when Kayak co-founded it and streamed with the 30th Suicide Squad—no cam, no mic—about three to four years ago.

The revelation that Kayak had been nothing more than a high school student at the time sent shockwaves through the community.

But initially, right after Ririyang's comments exposed Kayak's age, the reaction hadn't been this extreme.

Age was just a minor detail, after all. Kayak's face wasn't revealed, her relationship status wasn't exposed, and there were no scandals about past school violence.

Most people assumed she was at least in her late twenties. Some guessed she was around thirty. But even at twenty-one, it wasn't entirely implausible—many regulars in the gallery had been active since their school days. Why couldn't Kayak have been the same?

It was just a rare case: a female gallery member who was also a streamer.

The whole thing seemed destined to end with Kayak earning the new title of "High School Girl Streamer."

Until that post appeared.

A small spark. But it didn't take long for that spark to ignite into a raging inferno.

The reason was simple: there had always been people waiting for an opportunity to strike. Even within the Abyss Gallery, those who disliked Kayak had never been silent—they'd just been quieter.

Mostly, it was the newer members who felt this way. Those who hadn't weathered the game's rough patch alongside her, who'd only started playing when Abyss became a god-tier game.

When fans created anti-Kayak content, it was often driven by resentment. The gallery's sudden shift from ostracizing streamers to worshiping Kayak felt jarring to long-time members.

Before Kayak's rise, mentioning streamers in the gallery meant being called a "parasite." Now, it was a completely different world.

And the fact that Kayak's biggest supporters were old-timers like the gallery's admins and moderators only fueled the fire. Many casual members suspected some kind of hidden connection between Kayak and the gallery's leadership.

From there, the rumors escalated: underage drinking, delinquent behavior, gang involvement, even claims she wasn't a virgin. The gallery became a breeding ground for absurd, malicious speculation.

Some even joined the hate train from neighboring communities—fans of other streamers who felt overshadowed by Kayak's rapid rise.

It was chaos.

That was why Yu Sia, the former gallery admin who'd stepped down to focus on editing Kayak's Vtube channel, called her.

"Boss, we have a big problem!"

Yu Sia had called earlier than usual for work-related matters, and Kayak's voice was still thick with sleep.

She felt a pang of guilt for waking someone up, but she had to explain the situation.

Despite her excitement, Yu Sia did her best to stay calm and summarize the crisis for Kayak.

But on the other end of the line, Kayak's voice remained eerily calm.

"What?"

"So you had a plan all along..."

Amid the rustling sounds, Kayak's calm voice came through. Listening to her, Yu Sia suddenly felt like she'd been overreacting.

Now that I think about it, she's right...

Yu Sia felt a flush of embarrassment. The person at the center of the storm didn't seem bothered at all, while she, the editor, had been swept up in the public outrage.

"Boss, you're really only twenty-one, right?"

Yu Sia was twenty-five, four years older than Kayak. And the other editor, Kim Jaejun, was thirty-three—Kayak's age in zodiac years.

Despite her youth, Kayak seemed incredibly mature, Yu Sia thought.

She didn't notice the awkward smile Kayak was forcing on the other end of the line.

"This is a disaster..."

Kayak glanced at the community while eating breakfast.

She could feel the severity of the situation Yu Sia had described. The coordinated attacks were relentless.

"Did someone rig the voting system?"

Any post trashing Kayak got upvoted immediately—and generously. They'd rise to the top of the "quality posts" section, visible to everyone.

At least the downvotes were nearly matching the upvotes. Thankfully, there were still decent people in the community fighting for her—though how long they could hold out was uncertain.

Whether the claims were true or not, the mere existence of such rumors was damaging for a streamer. It was a successful smear campaign, no doubt.

But despite all that, Kayak felt oddly at peace. She hadn't done anything wrong, after all. And in a way, this was bound to happen eventually. She'd known her rapid rise would invite backlash.

She understood how people lashed out at those who succeeded—jealousy, resentment, hatred. She'd been there herself, back when she was a useless internet ghost, wasting days on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠community drama.

Based on that experience, she doubted anyone was genuinely angry at her. Most were just looking for something to tear apart, someone to hate, a way to vent meaningless emotions.

In truth, it was nothing new. The internet was a space where real-world morals and boundaries didn't apply, and such incidents were commonplace.

This time, she was just the target. Nothing special.

"If you're going to change things, why not fix this too..."

She muttered under her breath, annoyed. She was fine with being a woman, fine with looking like Camilla.

But if they'd gone through the trouble of making her ID, why not adjust her age to avoid this mess?

If she were twenty-three like Ririyang—or even twenty-four—this headache wouldn't exist.

She felt more frustrated by the current situation than grateful for her youthful appearance.

But Abyss had become a god-tier game. She'd have to endure this inconvenience.

With that mindset, she turned on her stream.

Kayak's stream went live right in the middle of the chaos surrounding her.

No one had expected this timing. The post-drinking stream had already ended, and everyone assumed Kayak would wait for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the heat to die down before going live.

The trolls who had been spamming the gallery were thrilled and flooded into her stream to cause chaos.

It was pure chaos. Insults, sexual harassment, and meaningless trolling flooded the chat as viewers surged past twice the usual count.

Some fans desperately called for the manager, but no moderation seemed to be happening. No one knew if the staff had stepped away or were deliberately ignoring the situation.

Just as the trolls were about to completely take over the stream, Kayak spoke.

"Looks like a lot of you came. I wonder what you all want. Oh, right—you want me to explain. Explain..."

A faint laugh echoed through the mic.

"No, it's funny. You want me to explain... Explain. Explain what?"

Amid the rustling, Kayak's voice suddenly grew louder.

It was different from her usual lazy, lethargic tone.

It was low, serious—and at the same time, dripping with exasperation.