Chapter 35: [?] The Reply to My Question Mark Came from the Viewers, Not Crisu

Why she added me as a friend was a total mystery, so the response to the question mark I sent came not from Crisu, but from the viewers.

I spotted Crisu's friend request popping up alongside the chat, and I instantly knew what was going down. My stream was a 100% pure toxic dump of LoE Gallery degenerates and general gallery trash.

Those assholes invading Crisu's stream to slander her? I could picture the chaos without even looking.

For now, I fired up her stream and dove in headfirst before even assessing the damage.

I might come off like some reckless brawler picking fights over past drama, but I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not the type who loves scrapping. Hell, I even let that jungler off easy after their pad diss last time.

No real upside to clashing with Crisu again. Fighting as a guy back then and now as a girl? It'd look ridiculous. Not that anyone else knows.

Phew, crisis averted for now. Luckily, Crisu's reaction wasn't bad.

Polite small talk flowed naturally. Truth is, Crisu didn't suck—she was solid. The loss came down to height difference in teamfights. No way the enemy had zero gripes with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me either, so best to let it slide here.

But,

What the hell? A sudden chat from Crisu.

Panicking, I checked her stream and spotted the issue right away.

A bit delayed, but that vid donation must've prompted her chat. Misunderstanding. Well, not exactly a misunderstanding, but anyway—

I sure as hell didn't say that to pick a fight.

"No, but how the fuck did they edit that clip into a loop and send it in just a few minutes?"

That vid made zero sense. Probably from like 10 minutes ago, edited into a spam loop that fast? Just to screw me over?

"What kind of psycho does that?"

"No, not Crisu—the asshole who sent that vid. Fuck, what did I do to deserve this? Editing and donating that shit in 10 minutes?"

"That wasn't me, fuck."

Anyway, couldn't just sit idle. I was about to chat Crisu an excuse when another message from her popped up.

Then her stream showed the next donation.

Not really a misunderstanding.

~

...Yeah, it was.

No, but it was an easy shot. Perfect angle—you had to land it.

Couldn't say that in chat, so I buried my face in my hands quietly. Then, an unexpected proposal hit.

Sudden Discord invite—voice chat. Out of nowhere?

...Nah, not really feeling it.

I'd seen Crisu's personality before, and her stream gave me the vibe. Honestly, kinda exhausting type for me. Didn't wanna voice chat while on the defensive.

Sigh, why insist on voice? 100% YouTube bait, but I don't even do YouTube—what do I gain? All profit for her.

But refusing outright? Those raging trolls on both sides bugged me. Didn't wanna, but not like I hated it either, so I caved.

Soon, we were in voice chat.

"Hehe, hi there. Crisu here."

"Pudge Dice..."

"Aw, why so tense? I'm not gonna eat you. Pudge? You weren't really cursing or anything. Relax, relax."

We ended up chatting amicably.

Not that I wanted to be buddies or anything.

"I whiffed Spear Thrower hard, huh? Sorry. You carried so well as Guardian, and I let you down."

Surprisingly, Crisu didn't rage at me like I'd feared—instead, she straight-up owned her mistakes. Feeling off-kilter and unsure how to respond, she kept going.

"For real, if I'd just landed those spears, we'd have won easy, right? Ugh, so frustrating. If I'd been more precise, more careful with the throws, we could've crushed."

"Y-yeah?"

"Right? Even that dragon fight mid-game—I should've trusted your ult and dove in."

"Yeah."

"Seriously, Guardian was perfect, but Spear Thrower bombed. Totally ruined the game. Ugh, if only Spear Thrower had played better, we'd have won."

"...Huh?"

Something shifted midway—her tone got weird.

"You think so too, Pudge?"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Ah, so you agree."

"W-wait a sec."

"What now. Sob, if I weren't a girl, we'd have won!!"

You fucking bitch.

"If I weren't a girl! If not for this game-sucking girl!! If I were a guy, we'd have won!!"

So that's why she laid the groundwork from the start...! Damn! I got played.

I lost.

From the moment that offhand comment got clipped and donated, it was uphill. Never imagined she'd kill me like this.

No choice—swallow my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pride and apologize...

"N-no, uh, that's not it! You did great, Crisu! Seriously great! Loss wasn't on you. All my fault for not protecting you better...!"

"Ah, so you're saying I sucked so bad you had to babysit and still lost?"

Did the viewers even say that shit?

"That's bullshit, viewers twisted it! I never said that! For real!"

"Sob sob, guess I gotta quit LoE. Yeah, what place does a girl have in LoE? Girls suck at games anyway."

"No, seriously, no. You're good."

We bickered like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that forever until she finally forgave me way later.

"Okay, enough, enough. Haha, just messing with you—why so serious?"

"...Didn't feel like joking."

"You're so cute."

"Huh? What?"

"Nothing."

"You said something."

"Misheard?"

"...Don't think so."

"Anyway, obviously you didn't mean it seriously. Just trolling Tsukan, right?"

Hm, well, not seriously? But here's living proof—me. Girls suck at games is fact. Not misogyny or anything.

Couldn't say that, though.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Gotcha. You sounded so genuine at first."

Cuz it was genuine...

"Was I that scary? Why so nervous."

"You read kill angles great."

If you'd read them in-game, we'd have won.

I muttered that internally.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"What'd you say?"

"...Did I say something?"

"If you'd read kill angles that well in-game, you'd have won."

Fuck.

"Misunderstanding."

...Not a misunderstanding.

"Wow, seriously! Me! Because! I'm! A girl! I! Suck! At games!"

No, why the hell did I mutter my inner thought out loud? Crisu's second meltdown gave her another kill-sec, leaving me speechless.

"Aigoo, aigoo, gotta quit for real now. Can't even hold Grandmaster, demoted cuz I'm, sob sob, really wanted to git gud."

...No, but fuck, do I deserve this roasting? I knew I shouldn't, but eventually, I snapped.

"No, but honestly, if you'd hit that spear, we'd have won!"

"Aigoo... Huh?"

"Straight up, land the spear, take my ult follow-up, push in—we win!"

"Ehhh..."

"That dragon engage was low reward high risk...!"

Unable to hold back, I unloaded every critique I'd bottled up from the game.

Crisu froze in shock, the vibe turned icy, and I realized I'd gone too far.

"...Ahaha, r-right."

"Uh..., no, I-I just panicked for a sec, uh, s-sorry."

Inside, I knew it was fucked. Apology dropped, but this chat was toast.

But Crisu was kinder than I thought. Or seemed to be.

"No, it's fine! Games get frustrating, you get mad—normal, right?"

...Huh, her mentality's tougher than expected. Was she always like this? If she lets it slide, great for me, but somehow I doubted it'd be that easy.

"Can't please everyone you queue with in solo, y'know?"

"R-right?"

"So yeah, you had gripes. I wasn't perfect either."

"Then..."

"You're kinda shit too, so it's fine!"

...What, you little shit?

"No helping it, hehe. You're Master tier."

"Hold up, what'd I do wrong? Forgot my 5-man stun and invade carry?"

"Sure, you landed 5-man stun early, but enemies braindead dove. Teamfights were iffy. Ult timing rushed, skills hit but focus got peeled? Yeah, you focused right, but maybe shift to ADC sooner?"

"No, ult timing was perfect. Barbarian's kills were rare—how predict Mystic's ult drop? Focus threats first. Fluid yeah, but killing your target meant zilch. Lock down carries."

"Ah, but you didn't lock 'em? No kill cuz of it, we burned flashes—loss. Guardian good but my ult enabled initiate, no? Not support main, what playmaking? Not pro."

"W-well, sh..."

That moment, my fuse nearly blew.

"Pro" hit too close. Nearly spat profanity, barely stopped mid-word. Too late by Crisu's face.

"Sh what?"

"Sh... Shall we check viewer opinions?"

Lame pivot to viewers for damage control.

...Of course opinion favored Crisu. Game facts aside, my words, her fans—expected.

"See?"

"Ughhhh."

Grotesque noise escaped me.

Almost salvaged, ruined by my slip. Real talk near blows cuz of it. Nearly cursed too.

But couldn't admit I sucked. Half-mad, frozen. Then,

Stunned groggy, chat sparked genius. Win the fight, no grudges, sway opinion—perfect.

Crisu winding up finisher.

"Gonna admit defeat?"

"Crisu."

"Yeah?"

"I'll prove I'm right."

"How?"

"Duo."

Yeah, I'll send you to heaven today.