Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: First Taste of Virtual
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"Coin King was a legit baller all along lol, meanwhile I Am President was a total criminal scum kekekeke"
AmericaTV's gallery was ablaze after the identities of the two big spenders who waged the Balloon War on Yeji's stream were revealed.
According to the news articles, Coin King turned out to be a respectable businessman with assets worth tens of billions, while I Am President had made his money through illegal means and was arrested.
— Knew he was different when he was dropping those big Balloon storms lol
High-class money vibes from Coin King.
— I Am President's spending always felt sleazy somehow.
Real rich folks don't flaunt it, right?
— But Yeji really hit the jackpot life-reversal style, no?
Kinda iffy that she took dirty money tho.
— That's the country for ya. Clean money survives to the end, crooks always get caught.
— Just from how Coin King talked on stream, you could tell he had CEO aura. Dude spoke different.
— I Am President was overreaching from the start. Shows up outta nowhere, breaks the big spenders' unspoken rules, ends up in cuffs lol.
— With tens of billions, he could straight-up buy AmericaTV, right? Yeji's one lucky bitch ffs.
— If I were Coin King, I'd ditch streams and globe-trot fr lol.
— At the end of the day, both Coin King and I Am President were just flexing cash the same way, no?
Can't wrap my head around why they'd blow it like that.
— Yeji really won the lottery, huh.
Snag one loyal core viewer and boom, life reversed.
The gallery reactions ranged from praising Coin King and envying his lavish spending to criticizing it as wasteful no matter how rich you are.
Reactions to I Am President, on the other hand, were overwhelmingly negative.
— Hated watching I Am President cap on stream, now I can enjoy it in peace.
— Criminal scum stays scum lol. Bye, won't miss that face on Afreeca.
— This is why AmericaTV's getting regulated now, gonna suck all the fun out.
— Gotta make your money legit, told ya. Even his Balloon storms felt shady.
— Serves I Am President right. Hope this sweeps up all the other dirty big spenders too.
— Without I Am President, won't Excel Plate Balloon storms tank? Kwon Woo-shang's taking a huge L lol.
The gallery vibe was clearly pro-Coin King, with icy cold sentiment toward I Am President.
In the end, internet streaming left the lesson that only big spenders with clean money survive, while dirty funds get the boot.
Kwon Woo was currently downing drinks in a swanky private room in Gangnam.
Normally, it'd be buzzing with flashy lights and girl cam laughter, but tonight the room felt like a freezer.
Kwon Woo picked up his whiskey glass from the table, downed the diluted booze in one go as the ice melted, and let out a heavy sigh.
"Ah... fuck, who knew that Yeji bitch would blow this up so bad?"
Min-jun, the male streamer who'd co-hosted with him, shook his head with a sigh.
"Hyung, that's why—why drag her in? If I Am President hyung was still good, we'd be eating well forever."
Kwon Woo said nothing, just refilled his glass from the whiskey bottle.
Min-jun wasn't wrong about a single thing.
If he hadn't gotten greedy about signing Yeji, they wouldn't be in this mess.
After the scandal broke, I Am President got locked up and effectively banned from AmericaTV.
Kwon Woo-shang's biggest cash cow vanished overnight.
With the top big spender on Excel Plate gone, the others started playing it safe big time.
They figured drawing aggro could put them at risk too.
The whales who'd drop tens of millions on stream were now holding back.
Kwon Woo's prime revenue source—the Balloon battles—had dried up completely.
He took another swig of whiskey and bit his lip bitterly.
"Ha... all my greed, and look at us now. Tried to snag one Yeji and tanked the whole Excel Plate."
Min-jun emptied his glass quietly and chimed in.
"Exactly, hyung. Got greedy over one rising girl cam and ruined everything.
I Am President hyung's done with Afreeca for good, and the other whales'll play cautious with Balloons now... What do we do?"
Kwon Woo closed his eyes, cradled his head, and sank into deep thought.
What was done was done, but the regrets were endless.
Yeji's face and Coin King's kept flashing in his mind.
If only he'd been more careful back then.
If only he hadn't messed with Yeji.
Excel Plate, which he'd built under the Kwon Woo-shang name, wouldn't have crumbled like this overnight.
"Fuck... I really caused all this shit myself..."
Kwon Woo let out a self-mocking laugh, sneering at himself.
He slammed the empty whiskey glass down and plunged into a swamp of deep regret in the cold, dead private room.
Jin-seong's AmericaTV account still had 8 million Balloons left.
That came out to about 800 million won.
He'd burned a chunk in the fight with I Am President, but it was still pocket change for him.
A pretty sweet deal—he'd wiped out a cocky whale for way less than expected.
Jin-seong smirked at the thought.
"No need to recharge for a while."
He leaned back comfortably in his computer chair, scrolled around AmericaTV with the mouse.
He'd only been watching Yeji lately, so other streams were unfamiliar.
With Yeji on hiatus, the end-of-day ritual felt empty.
Post-workout fatigue had him craving something chill to just watch.
He usually tossed a few tens of thousands of Balloons at streams he liked as viewer pay, but he wasn't big on chatting.
Jin-seong slowly browsed the AmericaTV main page, hunting for something intriguing.
Gaming streams, guy cams, mukbangs—plenty of variety.
But nothing hooked him like Yeji's stream.
He peeked into girl cam rooms, but the fake vibes and styles far from his type killed his interest quick.
Jin-seong let out a short sigh and spun the mouse wheel.
"Yeah, no girl cam quite like Yeji..."
He muttered to himself as he channel-surfed.
To Jin-seong, Yeji's stream was like restful downtime after a day's grind.
Her unique vibe and natural charm were hard to find elsewhere.
Jin-seong found himself wanting something mellow and comfy over hype or noisy streams.
As he scrolled the list slowly, one title suddenly grabbed his eye.
『I'll fulfill my late mother's final wish—to see her daughter's stream loved until the day she dies.』
Jin-seong's interest piqued instantly.
'Fulfill mom's dying wish? What's that about?'
He clicked in. The screen switched, showing just 20 minutes into the stream.
No real person on screen—instead, a cute 3D avatar.
Petite and adorable, with long pink hair and big expressive eyes.
"Virtual, huh?"
Jin-seong usually shied away from the virtual genre, tempted to hit back for a sec.
Virtual streamers used 2D or 3D avatars instead of showing their real faces.
It was trending on America lately with growing demand, but Jin-seong's preconceptions kept him away since he'd never tried it.
Still, the avatar spoke in a bright yet slightly trembling voice.
"Hello everyone. Today's stream is a bit special.
Right before Mom passed recently, she said something while cheering on my streams."
Jin-seong sensed genuine heart in her words.
Different from Yeji's cozy comfort—it tugged at the soul with raw sincerity.
He kept watching without realizing.
The VTuber's name was Ji-ming.
She hosted brightly and cheerfully, but a wistful sadness lingered at the end of her sentences.
"Mom wanted to see my stream loved by lots of people, just once before she went.
That's why I'm mustering the courage to stream like this."
The stream was quiet.
Few viewers, sparse chat.
But the reactions were modest and warm.
Hang in there Ji-ming! Mom's cheering from heaven.
Didn't know you had a story like this... I'll tune in more from now on.
Jin-seong smiled faintly without knowing, listening intently to Ji-ming.
He'd doubted if an avatar could convey emotion, but her stream shattered that bias.
The sincerity in her voice pierced the screen straight to his heart.
Ji-ming kept going.
"Mom loved seeing me stream happily most of all.
So today, I prepared a song she liked."
Ji-ming started singing in a faintly trembling voice.
'Wow... crazy. It's just a virtual character, but it hits the feels like this.'
From that moment, Jin-seong ditched his virtual prejudice and dove into the stream fully.