Taste
The moment she turned on the stream, the first words out of her mouth were some rambling nonsense about how even looking at Camilla no longer made her heart race.
Kayak's sudden, out-of-nowhere declaration had the viewers cracking up nonstop. It wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened; by now they were thoroughly used to her antics.
"…I'm not joking. I'm seriously asking for advice here. I figured you guys might actually have some solutions, so I came to you."
But the way she looked and sounded was different from usual, and the viewers started to hesitate.
Her voice was a full step lower than normal, a little hoarse, and her mouse cursor kept drifting aimlessly across the screen as if mirroring the chaos in her head.
Only then did the chat finally grasp how serious this was.
They weren't wrong. What was Camilla to Kayak? This was the same person who had once called Camilla her girlfriend, the one who cherished her more than anyone.
Her extreme character devotion had been famous for years, and that affection had never once wavered.
Kayak the Camilla artisan. The person who loved Camilla more than anyone. The weirdo who liked Camilla to a suspicious degree. Those were the titles that always followed her name.
It had become so familiar it felt like common sense—half an accepted law of nature.
And that common sense had just shattered. Shattered by the very person it was about.
Kayak's bombshell statement and her visibly dejected state left the viewers unable to hide their panic.
Even though it had been a while since her last stream, three thousand people had already gathered in a hurry. They scrambled around, each throwing out different solutions.
"I already tried that. Didn't do much."
"Relationship fatigue? Uh… then what's the solution?"
"Nvision is a bit…."
"Mm… sorry. I'm not in a state where I can play anything else right now. I need to solve this problem first…."
But the situation itself wasn't making any real progress. Kayak had thought that with this many people, collective intelligence might produce a solution—but that idea was starting to look like pure delusion.
She muttered in a slightly drained voice.
"At this rate there's no point in even having the stream on…."
"Yeah. I just didn't feel like playing games, and if I streamed like that the energy would've been dead…."
Only then did Kayak start talking about herself—including the recent days the viewers had been most curious about, the period she hadn't streamed at all.
"So I tried solving it on my own, but it wasn't working… that's why I came to you guys."
While things were still going nowhere, one person finally offered a pretty solid take.
"Huh?"
"…."
Kayak fell quiet for a moment, lost in thought. The chat, however, reacted even harder than she did.
I sat with the donation that one person had sent and thought it over carefully.
According to him, the problem was that Camilla's performance had become excessively good. Because of that, so many people started playing her that my interest dropped.
Once I heard it and actually thought about it… yeah. It was pretty convincing.
On top of that, Ionic had made an all-time gorgeous skin for her. No matter how expensive it was, there was no way players would pass up a skin of that quality.
Naturally Camilla's pick rate climbed, and whether you were in ranked or normals, you started seeing her everywhere.
I had to admit what needed admitting. That was around the time my interest in Camilla had quietly started to fade. The hypothesis from the donation was probably right.
I'm a hipster…?
Borrowing the expression that had just floated through chat, that was exactly it.
Honestly it was a little shocking. I hadn't known I had that kind of personality myself.
Sure, I liked walking a different path from everyone else and enjoyed starting at a disadvantage and overcoming hardship… but when I first picked Camilla, it hadn't been because of her performance or pick rate.
I just liked how she looked, and it turned out she was a dumpster-tier character. Once I'd already chosen her, I figured I might as well stubbornly main her all the way.
But whatever the original reason, the current cause was exactly what the viewer had guessed. Even I had to quietly agree that it was true.
"I think you're right… Camilla's doing so well that it's actually making me feel petty about it."
"No. I'm never dropping Camilla. And the solution is clear anyway… it'll get better with time. She's going to get nerfed eventually."
In the end it was a problem caused by Camilla being too popular, and that popularity wasn't going to last much longer.
A nerf was basically guaranteed. Fusion Gaming had already promised to use her at least once in the league, so there was no way she was dodging the nerf hammer.
Once I understood the cause, my heart felt a lot lighter.
I was chatting with the viewers in a much more relaxed mood when—
Why do the modifiers keep getting longer.