Hiring a Manager (1)
Anyway, Nam Haneul had no time to dwell on the suddenly appearing job change mission or whatever. Of course, the missions from the status window were important, but right now, Hong Suyeon loomed far larger in her mind. And from skimming it, the job change seemed tied directly to the tournament's outcome anyway. So fussing over the status window was basically the same as fussing over Hong Suyeon.
"Eh, E-Emerald?"
Was it even possible? The doubt kept nagging at her, but for now, she logged into the game. And while she was at it, she fired up her stream too. If she was playing anyway, better to have it on.
[Current Viewers: 546]
Unlike before, just turning on the stream pulled in over five hundred viewers right away. Nam Haneul was already reaping the benefits of Hong Suyeon big time, so the numbers climbed fast.
"Huh? Oh, no way. Why are so many people coming in?"
And that was something Nam Haneul hadn't anticipated. She'd always underrated herself so much that she figured one collab with a big shot like Hong Suyeon wouldn't boost her fame. But her prediction missed the mark for two big reasons.
First, the name Hong Suyeon carried massive weight all on its own. Even just appearing as an enemy spiked the viewers. Second, the chemistry between Hong Suyeon and Nam Haneul turned out better than expected. It had that bad-girl-and-awkward-loser vibe from stories—fun to watch from the audience's seat. And there were those subtly spicy moments too.
In the end, she wasn't just riding Hong Suyeon's coattails anymore. Nam Haneul herself had reached a level where she could draw a crowd.
"Uh, w-well, I'm just gonna play the game..."
"Ah! N-No, I'm hitting Gold now. For real."
"...N-No, Gold's impressive too! I mean, ugh..."
But thanks to all the rich-kid teasing, Nam Haneul had cemented her image as the perfect target to bully. Even longtime viewers who'd watched her flail around with Cheri loved that dynamic.
"Uh...? C-Cam? No, I never turn it on..."
The chat exploded with demands for the cam. To them, a big chunk of Nam Haneul's appeal was her looks. Charm at 72, spiking to 80 on a makeup proc—top-tier for a normie.
"N-No, I-I never turn it on."
Of course, Nam Haneul had no intention of grasping why. She just felt a vague panic. She'd always streamed without a cam.
Even after over two weeks—and still basically a total noob—no one had complained about the missing cam before.
Brushing aside her dilemma, the status window blazed into view.
[Mission Generated!]
[Turn On Cam]
Many people crave your looks!
[Turn on cam | Acquire skill 'Camera Massage', Femininity +3]
[Don't turn on cam | Acquire skill 'Toughness', Masculinity +3]
The first mission since the job change period kicked off. It felt less like pass/fail and more like a choice.
Both seem good...?
Skills were always a win. So the tiebreaker came down to the attached stat boosts.
Th-Then don't turn it on.
She was a guy! Well, a girl now, but still a guy at heart. "Femininity" rubbed her wrong—sounded like some hentai corruption trope.
She nodded to herself, all set to firmly declare no cam.
[Turn on cam: 100,000 won]
Not her unique status window power, but a mission from a viewer popping up on stream. Ten grand—not chump change. And money was why she started streaming in the first place—
M-Makeup!
[Success! Charm +6 while applying makeup.]
She triggered Makeup and yanked the cheap cam from her bookshelf. A freebie with her monitor, long forgotten.
Plug it in, tweak the software—bam, stream switched from the LoL client to cam view. Low-end hardware meant blurry quality.
[Mission Clear! Reward granted.]
[Acquired skill 'Camera Massage'.]
Sense how you look on camera intuitively. Gap between real life and screen shrinks; naturally learn to look prettier.
[Femininity +3]
Femininity | 79
"Hehe..."
Not thrilled about Femininity nearing 80, but the praise warmed her up anyway. Not her original body, sure, but compliments always hit nice.
"Hehe... P-Pretty?"
She grinned, rubbing her cheeks with her palms. Direct praise from a crowd? Rare treat.
"O-Outfit change?"
Classic girl-streamer content. They weaponized looks with wardrobe swaps.
"B-But... all my clothes are kinda like this..."
And without a manager, the downsides started showing. Hong Suyeon couldn't babysit every stream. No one to rein in the sleazy chat momentum.
Most viewers knew it was toxic but lacked tools to stop it.
"N-No..."
But Nam Haneul lacked the guts to ignore the attention and praise. Fresh off the high, she was half-ready to obey chat.
One stat dominating her thoughts. Judgment slipped, objectivity faded.
"Th-Then..."
Cheeks flushing, she gripped her hem slowly.
Then her phone buzzed—urgent call.
"H-Huh? W-Wait a sec."
Mic muted, she answered cautiously.
"Unnie?! Are you nuts? Gimme manager access NOW!"
Yang Cheri's voice blasted through. They'd swapped numbers last meetup. Nam Haneul tilted her head.
"Y-Yes? Sudden much? But the viewers..."
"What viewers unnie!! Gimme manager NOW!"
"O-Okay..."
Yang Cheri confirmed and hung up. Even under Femininity's sway, Nam Haneul couldn't defy her. Strangers in chat? Scary. But Cheri? Someone she'd met IRL? Terrifying.
Cheri's ban rampage went on awhile, nuking every sleazebag in chat. Nam Haneul pouted at the dropping viewer count.
As Femininity's grip loosened, Nam Haneul's spinning head cleared. She realized what she'd almost done.
Face burning—practically steaming—she slapped her hands over it and kicked her chair legs wildly.
"Eek!"
The chair tipped, sending her tumbling to the floor with a thud.
Trembling, she gripped the desk, hauled herself up, and plopped back in the chair.
After a moment's thought, she nodded and unmuted.
"Ahem. F-First, hire a manager, then game."
Cheri was a streamer too—couldn't man her chat full-time. Better to recruit properly.
"S-So first—"
Nam Haneul clicked on a few popping-up names right away.