Joint Broadcast (4)
I finished the collab stream and logged off. That evening, after the explanation broadcast, I grabbed a simple convenience store toast for dinner and hopped into the community forums. Every single featured post was about my apology stream.
“Hah… TteongBucketSquad.”
Between Danbal Queen fans and TteongBucketSquad… man, people really come up with the most savage nicknames when they’re trying to roast someone. Because I visited her stream so often, there were tons of comments comparing me to her too.
I knew deep down that I still had a long way to go before I could truly stand next to her. Still, just being mentioned like this felt like a win. I should ride this momentum and crush my game streams too.
I was scheduled to do a game broadcast the next day, so I turned on my PC to test things out.
This computer is seriously nice.
Barring any surprises, I planned to tackle one of those escape-room style games that were trending lately. With my naturally sharp brain, I figured I’d clear it in no time.
I usually act like a total idiot on stream, so if I show off my genius side here, it’ll be a total twist! That’ll be the end of it~
I messed around on the computer until about eleven, then went to bed.
The next morning, a message from Danbal Queen was waiting in my inbox.
What the—?! Why is she messaging me?!
I frantically opened it and read the contents.
Dear Tteongi,
I hope this message finds you well. I’m Danbal Queen, a streamer on the same platform. I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a while now, and I was wondering if you’d like to do a joint broadcast with me tomorrow. If you’re interested, please contact me at 010-xxxx-xxxx.
— Danbal Queen
“Whoa, holy shit!”
A collab offer?! The undisputed number one streamer on the entire platform—the one they called a large-scale streamer—was reaching out to a rookie who’d been streaming for less than a month?!
“This is insane…”
Not only had she dropped that massive donation on me, now she was suggesting a joint stream. The single message jolted me wide awake, my mind suddenly crystal clear.
“M-my hands are shaking…”
My fingers trembled as I checked the timestamp. Wait… hold on a second.
Fuck! She sent this yesterday!
She’d said “tomorrow,” which meant today. I’d been so busy with the explanation broadcast that I hadn’t seen it until now.
What if she thinks I’m ignoring her and cancels the collab?!
Ever since I started streaming and watched my numbers grow, I’d developed a clear goal: becoming the number one streamer on the platform. That was my dream.
I may be a total newbie who’s only been at this for a month… but the bigger the goal, the better.
Which meant I had to do this collab even if the sky came crashing down.
Why the hell did I ever leave hate comments on her stream? I’m such a piece of garbage.
But whatever. I was a girl now. As long as I kept my mouth shut, no one would ever find out.
That’s right. You’ve gotta be a little shameless if you want to succeed.
I skipped breakfast and immediately dialed the number she’d given me. My heart was pounding so hard I was worried she’d hear it through the phone.
Ah… she’s not picking up. Is the collab with Danbal Queen slipping away? No! It’s only eight o’clock. I’ll just call again at nine…
Just as a million anxious thoughts swirled through my head, I finally heard her voice.
“Hello?”
She answered!
“H-hello! Is this Danbal Queen? I mean, Your Majesty the Queen?! Is that you?!”
“Yes, it is. Who is this?”
Her voice was charming, yet carried a slightly cold edge.
“Ah, sorry for the late introduction. I’m Tteongi. The streamer Tteongi.”
“Ah~ I see. Nice to meet you.”
“First of all, I’m really sorry for calling so late.”
“Don’t worry about it. I figured something must have come up yesterday.”
“So… are you still available for the collab today? Please say yes…”
I made my voice as pitiful as possible.
“I’m free, but where do you live, Tteongi? Can you make it here on the same day?”
“I’m in Seoul…”
“Perfect. So am I.”
She gave me her address. It was only about a thirty-minute bus ride away.
Thank god the top female streamer doesn’t live that far.
“Yes! I can be there in an hour!”
“That’s great. Just so you know, the collab will be short. Two hours at most.”
“Huh? Do you have somewhere to be?”
“I’d like to have a private conversation with you afterward. I hope you understand.”
“Uh… sure, that’s fine.”
Something about it felt a little off, but I pushed the thought aside.
Two hours is still two hours! After the collab, at least a thousand out of her ten thousand viewers should come check out my stream, right?
“I’ll head out right now!”
“Alright~ I’ll see you soon.”
I dashed into the bathroom and took a shower. Just thinking about the collab made me so excited that I started humming without realizing it. After quickly drying my hair, I opened my closet.
Good thing I went shopping. I almost showed up at Danbal Queen’s house in sweats.
After trying on a few outfits, I settled on jeans, a white t-shirt, and a gray cardigan.
“Nice~”
I stood in front of the bathroom mirror again and checked myself out.
At this rate, I might steal all of Danbal Queen’s viewers.
I looked like a stylish college student.
“Hawa~ I’m college girl Tteongi-chan~”
I’d better save the cringey lines for the actual stream.
“Alright, time to go.”
My goal was to poach at least a thousand of her viewers… or even just a hundred if that’s all I could get.
I finally arrived at Danbal Queen’s house. It was a massive mansion complete with its own garden. The place really did look like somewhere a queen would live.
“Whoa…”
No wonder she could casually drop million-won donations without batting an eye. My hands started shaking from nerves as I pressed the doorbell at the front gate.
“Who is it?”
An elderly man’s voice answered.
“Um, this is Tteongi…”
“We’ve been expecting you. Please come in.”
The heavy iron gate swung open automatically. I walked through the enormous garden just to reach the front door.
Why is there a lake and so many flowers in one garden…?
No! I couldn’t let myself feel intimidated!
When I finally reached the mansion entrance, an old man in a formal suit was waiting.
“Welcome. I am the butler who manages the estate.”
They even have a butler?
Time to seize the initiative.
“I’m not buying the house.”
“Pardon?”
“Sorry, that was dumb.”
If I’d just stayed quiet, I might’ve been halfway to winning him over…
“The young lady is waiting for you in the studio.”
Studio? There’s a separate studio inside the mansion?
I followed the butler inside. He stopped in front of a door and knocked.
“Miss, Tteongi has arrived.”
“Send her in.”
This is the studio?
Inside the room were two high-end PCs, professional lighting, a camera, microphone, and all the usual broadcasting equipment. I also spotted a bed tucked away in a corner where it wouldn’t show up on camera.
It looks surprisingly modest compared to the mansion.
It actually reminded me of an upgraded version of my own old room.
“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Hoo…”
This was Danbal Queen in the flesh. Her elegant, refined appearance made it obvious at a glance that she was the owner of this enormous estate.
Don’t get intimidated. Even after my gender swap, I’m still prettier. My chest is bigger too.
“Hello, Your Majesty! I’m Tteongi.”
“You’re even more beautiful in person.”
“Thank you for the compliment~”
“It wasn’t a compliment. It just means you haven’t invested much in your streaming setup.”
“…”
What was that? Her tone felt a lot sharper than when she’d been donating on my stream.
Did I do something wrong?
“You don’t even seem to be wearing makeup. Just lotion? You don’t do your makeup?”
“W-well, makeup is… um…”
I couldn’t let her catch even a hint that I used to be a guy. Time to be confident.
“I don’t wear it because I’m already pretty enough!”
“I see…”
The best strategy was to dodge any unfavorable topics as quickly as possible.
“Also… thank you so much for all the donations, and for even agreeing to collab with me like this.”
“Don’t mention it. By the way… actually, let’s talk about that after the stream.”
“Huh?”
What did she want to talk about?
“Please sit next to me.”
“Okay.”
I took the seat beside her.
“Your studio looks pretty simple compared to the mansion.”
“That style seems to attract more viewers.”
“I see. And that bed over there?”
“My bedroom is too far away, so I sleep there when I’m tired.”
“Oh…”
Everything had a purpose after all.
“Being number one really is on another level.”
“Well, it also attracts a lot of weirdos.”
She probably hadn’t meant it toward me, but I still felt a sting of guilt.
“Y-yeah, I bet.”
“If you’re ready, shall we start the broadcast?”
“Yes!”
I nervously smoothed my hair and straightened my clothes.
Gulp…
I swallowed hard.
I’m about to be a guest on the number one streamer’s broadcast…
The moment she turned on the stream, the viewer count shot from five thousand… to seven thousand… and instantly broke ten thousand.