A Crushing Victory
"This place is pretty good, isn't it?"
"Right? I'm glad it suits you."
"Still, are you really fine with just this? I'm worried there isn't enough to it."
"Aigoo, I mean it. You really don't have to worry."
"No. I still feel a little bad."
Donations and chat came pouring up the screen again at my words. I took a sip of water and went on.
"Want to play a simple game or something?"
"Shall we? What do you like?"
"Mm. I mostly play single-player, though."
"Then I'll show you my Steam library."
The library Hyangsook pulled up was stacked deep with games, and I envied it a little. Filling a library like that is half the pleasure. Every famous title was in there, and plenty of them were ones I'd enjoyed myself. Let's see. Something light enough to fill about an hour.
"Oh. You've got Iron Fist."
"No way. Shinwoo, you play fighting games?"
"I've played them. Is there anyone from our generation who hasn't?"
Hyangsook looked at me with a proud little smile and opened her mouth.
"You're going to regret this. I'm kinda good."
"No matter how good you get, it's still the game where you donate your points to Pal-kkumchi."
"……That is true, but. Y-your rank is pretty high, then……?"
"Ah, it's nothing like that. I've only really watched streams. I can show you my Steam, if you want."
"You don't have to go that far."
She said it as if there was nothing worth knowing, perfectly unbothered, and I quietly pressed down the vein trying to jump on my forehead. I'd played mostly on console, so my Steam rank was as good as nonexistent — I'd meant to lay that down in advance and sandbag.
"……More importantly, are you all right out there? You're not leaving, are you?"
I said it while looking out at the viewers, but far from dropping off, the count had grown. Well past ten thousand — twelve thousand people were watching this. I couldn't see why. At this rate I was genuinely going to get the wrong idea.
"No, but seriously, I'm about to get the wrong idea."
"It really is fun, I'm telling you. Sujeong would know even better than I do, but today's stream is packed. We'll get five videos out of this, easy."
"……Then shall we go with this?"
"Sure. Let me show you the skills I've been honing."
She looked so confident that I tensed a little, wondering if she really was that good. But I wasn't a complete pushover either. I'd even worn a gold rank once, so at my level it was fair to say I could make a little noise. Of course, it had been a long time since I'd played properly, and these days you'd be generous to call me blue. I had no intention whatsoever of opening with that. First I needed to see Hyangsook's rank.
"One second."
"Okay. I'll help."
I launched Iron Fist and helped her clear the table out of the way. Then a sound came from the speaker behind us, and when I looked at the screen, her rank was right there. I nearly sighed. Orange. And it looked like she'd only just climbed into it. I'd been an idiot to get nervous. On top of that, my recent date with Rahee had put the feel of the game back in my hands. I kept my face in order and grinned on the inside.
"You seem awfully confident."
"O-of course. Sorry, Shinwoo, but I'm not the kind of woman who loses to a man."
"Dangerous thinking. Pal-kkumchi's a man too, you know."
"That man was just born that way."
"Then how about a bet?"
"……A bet?"
"Yeah. Hmm. How many layers is that."
"Huh?"
She hadn't quite caught the little mutter and tilted her head at me. I looked her up and down without a word. A first-to-seven didn't seem dangerous.
"First to seven. One wish riding on every loss."
The moment I said it, chat and donations crashed down in a flood, but I only smiled and looked down at her like a provocation. Hyangsook stared back with wide eyes, then grinned.
"Oh. You really are confident."
"Why? You scared?"
I knew exactly what she was after. Win, and take some kind of lead over me — that was the shape of it. It was hard to call the way she'd criticized fanservice a lie. But I was serious. I'd been planning to spend the wishes on getting her clothes off anyway, and with her the one who suggested it, the optics only got better.
"As if. Let's do it, then."
"Call. Don't regret it."
"Okay. Everyone saw that, right? If anybody tries to walk it back later, roll the clip."
"Bunchies. At least know you got blessed today."
"We'll see. Whether it's a blessing or a public shaming — you have to crack it open to find out."
On an ordinary day I would have gone easy and entertained her with some other game, but there was no time today. Throwing a few rounds would be enough.
"You have a stick?"
"Of course. You pick first."
True to a streamer, there were three fight sticks and nothing less. I left the best one alone and took a decent one. It was more than enough, but the mean little smile on Hyangsook's face said she thought I couldn't even tell a stick from a stick.
"Want to use this one? This one's actually really good."
"I like this one. It's not broken, is it?"
"Wow, already buying insurance? It absolutely is not."
"You're the one who might need some."
"I don't need anything like insurance. Medical bills aren't a worry for me."
"We sat down to play a game and now you're flexing money."
"I-it's not a money flex! I mean I'm not the one who's going to get hit!"
"Everyone thinks that."
"Until they get hit? That's my line."
"No. Until they're lying in the ICU."
We bickered our way through setting up the sticks and picked our characters in a flash. The first game and the second, I lost both in a row. Thrown, of course.
"Contrary to what you said, this is way too easy."
"You're not bad, though?"
"I told you. There — the socks are already off."
I looked at that beaming face, then slowly brought a hand to my coat. She swallowed, eyes tracking every movement, and as I eased the coat off I watched the chat detonate up the screen.
All this over a single coat.
It was secretly cute enough that I nearly laughed, but I put on an aggrieved look and unhurriedly draped the coat over the back of the chair. And then the heat of the gaze on me. At some point Hyangsook's eyes had grown unmistakably hotter. Whether it was the game, the thrill of watching me undress, or the anticipation of what came next, I couldn't tell.
"There. Good?"
"Classic Shinwoo. You keep a promise like a blade. Then the rest…… I can really look forward to it, right?"
"Don't worry. I trust you'll keep yours too, Hyangsook."
"Obviously. Shall we go to the next one?"
Two rounds had been enough. Pure orange, just as I'd thought. I was no Pal-kkumchi, but at this level I didn't even need to lab anything. And from that aggressive tendency, one character came to mind at once.
"Let's run it straight through to seven and settle it all at once. You'd all rather have it that way too, right?"
"Are you sure you're all right, Shinwoo? Now you've only got…… pants, a T-shirt, and underwear left?"
"Don't worry. Let's go."
I wondered whether Hyangsook was about to learn what Phoenix tasted like.
"Matchmaking is awful today."
The man who had been searching for an opponent in the practice room, face gone dull with boredom, sighed and stared at the monitor.
No matter how long he waited, nothing popped. Pal-kkumchi was about to sigh again when a donation printed on the screen, and his eyes went round.
"A newbie? A streamer?"
"Ah. Her. I know her. Back when she was just starting out, wasn't it? I think I've met her once."
"……A man? A guest?"
"I was getting bored anyway. Perfect timing. I'll watch while I wait."
He moved the mouse and found Lee Hyangsook's stream at once. Fifteen thousand viewers.
"That viewer count is something else. I was wondering where everyone had gone."
The moment he entered Hyangsook's broadcast, the scene in front of him held even Pal-kkumchi still, quietly spectating the match.
"Why aren't you blocking? Low, low, low."
"Ah!"
"D-do you just not learn?"
"Foul! This is a foul!"
"It's not. This is just how Phoenix works. Something wrong with that?"
"Are you insane?! It dodges lows?!"
"Because that's Phoenix."
I nodded, launched her again, quietly put the inputs in, and kept talking.
"If you don't know the matchup, you eat the hit. Oh? She's sticking her buttons out again."
"Aagh!"
"D-don't you know your wakeup? Or a roll? You got launched, so you have to go somewhere. Where? Into the wall. Thaaat way."
"Ah!"
The face that had been swaggering was white now. This was already the last game. Hyangsook's character, slammed into the wall, had a health bar glowing red, and the instant she backdashed her special popped. I let out a short little laugh.
"This is way too easy, isn't it."
I handed her own words straight back and smiled as meanly as I could. The chat was filling with choked little laughs, and then Hyangsook slammed the stick down and shouted, and I nearly burst out laughing for real.
"Ah! Damn it!"
"Oh, now we're swearing. You know swearing means you lose, right?"
I blocked the move she threw with a screw it and ended her on a hopkick. The moment the character dropped, Hyangsook planted her head on the stick.
"Oof. That stick's done for. Looked expensive, too. Oh — were you about to use that as your excuse?"
"……You. What's your Steam rank?"
"I told you I don't even have the game. Want me to log into Steam and show you?"
"Don't lie to me! This is a scam!"
"It's not. I really can show you."
She had been trembling with frustration. Then the trembling stopped all at once, and she looked at me through narrowed eyes.
"……Console. What's your console rank?"
"Ah, now you ask. I thought you'd ask about ten minutes ago."
"What is it!"
"……What?"
"Ah, that was my old rank, of course. These days blue would be generous. It's been years since I played."
"……Th-then those two games. What were those two losses?"
"I had to check whether you actually meant to make me strip. Didn't think you'd tell me to take it off on the spot, though."
"……I'm not accepting this. It's a scam."
"If you'd asked my console rank, I would've answered."
"That's the kind of thing you say before you make the bet!"
"I only put wishes on the line. You're the one who said we should take clothes off, Hyangsook. And isn't it on you for not asking? What do all of you think?"
I shrugged and needled her, and Hyangsook puffed her cheeks and glared. Donations had been blocked for the fighting game, so the chat scrolling up the screen was nothing but choked laughter.