No Emotional Blackmail
The chat window scrolled down so fast it was impossible to read.
Most of the chat was utter nonsense, but compared to the [empty chat window with nothing posting] she'd watched about a year ago, this felt way better. After all, it wouldn't feel like she was just talking to herself in front of streaming gear anymore.
And soon enough, an avatar he vaguely remembered seeing once opened its mouth, its eyes sparkling with tiny suns.
"Ah, ah! SandGrains, everyone! Hi there! Thanks so much for coming today!!"
SandGrains must be her fan name.
The avatar itself had always been cute and pretty, but one big change from back then was her outfit. Gone was the bizarre fantasy armor-rainbow raincoat combo—instead, she wore a cute, casually feminine design that oozed charm. Even if her chest was a bit smaller than Sena's perfectly massive one, it still seemed way more crowd-pleasing.
I remember telling her to always change her clothes.
Yeah. Just as he'd thought, the avatar looked way prettier now. Sena's had been fine too... but maybe it wasn't for nothing that she was Infinite Noir's leader. The current RenaPpi had this aura that went beyond mere beauty.
He didn't think, [She changed because of my advice.] Sure, it'd be a lie to say the thought hadn't crossed his mind even a little—but honestly, that was advice anyone could've given.
While he mulled that over, the stream went on. The hot topic right now seemed to be how the streamer Sena he'd just seen had said "brb" and then abruptly ended her stream without a word.
"Y-Yeah... I called her briefly yesterday. We had a pretty serious talk, so I told her to rest up... and I guess she just did... So! Whatever happened with Sena is all my fault..."
...Huh?
He couldn't believe his ears. So she'd told her to rest up at the end of the call, and Sena just ghosted her stream to nap? No matter how he looked at it, that wasn't RenaPpi's fault. It was on that Sena streamer.
Naive as he was, he'd expected the chat to explode with pitchforks.
What the...? Shockingly, the flames weren't rising that high. No demands for explanations? Why was everyone so soft? Had streaming culture shifted overall while he was in his coma? Like... viewers interfering less with streamers or something?
He'd heard that if you can't understand the crowd's actions, you're the odd one out.
Maybe he just couldn't get it because he was approaching streamers with a year-old mindset. Right as that thought hit—
Finally! Something that made sense to him. Starting with that guy, a few more jumped in with pitchforks, joining the wave demanding explanations.
Of course, in these flows, some clueless randos jumped in without knowing the drama. The curse of big-league streamers, probably.
...Realizing that, he suddenly felt how much RenaPpi's position had changed. Viewer count: over 34,000. Prime weekday evening, just 10 minutes in. And that many viewers.
She's made it.
She'd truly succeeded. Now he wondered how exactly.
How's she gonna handle this?
Right now, soothing the temporary outrage was all on her streamer skills. He settled in with popcorn-munching vibes, diving into internet streams for the first time in ages.
"I know...! Words alone aren't enough. So today... I came with a resolve...!"
Resolve?
The word "resolve" dropped, and chat speed doubled.
She always does this for stuff like this?
"Here... I... go...!"
RenaPpi's face flushed beet red as hearts popped in her eyes. The avatar's expressions were vivid and natural—just like in her hakko days—but somehow, it turned the mood subtly erotic.
"Haaang...!"
Quick as a flash, he plugged in and donned his headphones. Dodged becoming the 30-something dude blasting a girl's moan in a PC bang.
"Heut...!"
Her face reddened further, and suddenly the avatar pulled back to full-body view.
And then—
"Sorryyyy...♡♡♡"
Incredibly, her avatar stood, dropped to her knees, bowed low with her waist bent—the classic dogeza!
Why the erotic vibe? The pose itself felt kinda lewd. As she bowed, her massive cleavage jiggled right into view. And that voice moaning "sorry" nonstop...
"Sorryyy♡ Forgive... meee♡♡"
Her voice hit his inner ear, sending chills and tingles racing down his spine.
Gulp.
He snapped back to reality. A few more minutes zoning out, and he'd be the simp with his brains boiling over.
As if responding to her dogeza, chat scrolled at 5x speed.
Shockingly, the mood flipped. Then RenaPpi poured fuel on the fire.
"I'll do anything... forgive me! Special today: one hour of [Free Title Time]!! So forgive meee♡♡"
Pffft! He spat out his water.
What... what? Free title, what?
Clips existed, so this wasn't new...?
Mind-boggling culture, but at this point, undeniable. Just a dogeza flashing a bit of cleavage flipped public opinion.
Hah.
Yeah. That was skill too.
As she finished the dogeza and sat back, a big donation hit.
"I'm not here for this crap. Just log off and sleep."
Ugh.
Yeah, culture changed—but some things hadn't. Slimy simp donations at 100% sincerity!
Chat turned vicious in seconds.
"Waaah! Ieungieungie-nim, 100k donation—thank you sooo much! Thanks!"
Pro move—she handled it smoothly. Smiling through that took guts.
...Not surprising. He knew she had grit overflowing. 100 days of zero-viewer streams, faithfully.
"Thanks so much for worrying! But like I always say..."
She spoke with genuine sincerity.
"I exist because of you fans. Singing, dancing, loved by so many... I never forgot. I exist because of fans."
"So... title time? Totally fine! Honestly, it's cute when my SandGrains can't do it even if I ask... hehe..."
Whoa...
Her moving speech instantly recalled his lesson: [Control the simps.]
The girl rambling about chicken broth had mastered simp-boiling!
Her words purified the simp-tainted chat. Impressive. Just this glimpse explained her success.
"No...! Telling you over and over is still thanks. I had really tough times... these days feel like dreams. Thanks for the dream, everyone...!"
'Really tough times,' huh...
Weird. Why did he—comatose a year, saw her once—choke up at that?
...You somehow succeeded.
Unlike him, failed even at dying, she—same boat, RenaP—shone like a star.
No jealousy. Just relief that she made it.
Then, inexplicably, he wanted to donate. Just one line, then dip. Whether she remembered him or not, didn't matter. Sure, 1.64M KRW was huge... but she probably raked in ten times that daily now.
If she didn't remember, it'd be thanks for the hard work getting here.
He had no right to say much, so caution. But a free donation ticket from logging in after ages. Perfect use.
He resent that first donation—straight to her.
To her, shining bright amid 30k+ viewers.
Haha. Yeah. Just that. 1k punch—buried quick. No reaction? Fine, end.
No chat buzz. Just standard troll donation.
Good enough. Back to job hunting...
............
But.
"...Huh?"
RenaPpi—mid-thanks, beaming—froze solid.
"...Wha... wha, what?"
Avatar locked, no movement.
Chat stirred at the sudden issue—but she ignored it completely.
Like time froze... silent.
Then—
"Ah... aa, aa... AAAAAAAAAA...!!!!!!"
Suddenly—right into the mic, she burst into sobs.