Pal-kkumchi
"Look at the chat," I said. "Everyone's telling you it's fine."
"Whose side are you people even on!"
"Well then. Shall we settle up?"
"......One coin. Just one coin, please."
"Come on, that's a bit much. Seven pieces already has you right on the edge, doesn't it? Lose once more and it's the underwear."
"......Are you really going to strip?"
"Wasn't that the deal? You were thrilled enough when I was the one taking things off."
"......For real?"
"Wow. Trying to make me the bad guy now, are you? Fine. If you don't want to......"
"Ah, okay...... But, um, not the underwear......"
"I already finished the count. Leave out the underwear, top and bottom, and it's earrings, choker, bracelet—seven pieces. I was even kind enough to count each stocking separately."
"......Ah."
"Hey now. A setup? What did I say—when you aren't sure, you don't force the match. All I did was remind her."
It had gone more or less exactly as I'd hoped, and the viewers weren't taking it badly either. I was just about to let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The moment the name Pal-kkumchi hit my eyes, I stopped hearing a single donation chat after it.
Ah. Stepped right in it.
I'd been in a terrific mood, dosing myself on Lee Hyangsuk like a tonic. The truth was, I'd met him before. Only at the arcade in front of campus back in college, but still. My best record was two wins in a row. The problem was that I'd hardly ever beaten him after that. I'd run into him on console, too.
God, that was miserable.
The second I clawed my points back, he farmed me again, and the moment I climbed, he drained me dry once more. Drop a rank and he'd chase me down on an alt and farm me there, too. So I quit. If this world's Pal-kkumchi was the same caliber, I was going to lose. No question. Wait. A lot of time had passed since then. Which meant—
"......Are you really Pal-kkumchi?"
At that, Lee Hyangsuk hurriedly adjusted the chat so only his messages showed. I gave a small nod of greeting and watched the window, and his chat came up.
"It would be an honor. But this stream is just about to end."
"I'm nowhere near your level, but running away isn't my style. It's just that this isn't my stream."
"I-I'm fine. Please don't worry about it."
"......It's your stream, Hyangsuk. How am I supposed to not care? Viewers, are you really all right with this?"
And once again, messages saying it was fine poured into the window she'd set. I looked at them, dragged the moment out as if I were thinking it over, and held up three fingers.
"How does first to three sound? I feel presumptuous even suggesting it, but."
"All right."
Then I looked at Lee Hyangsuk.
"Are you really sure?"
"Ah, o-of course. I'll watch a little too."
"......Don't think you can blur your way out of this. Even if I miss the last train, I'm staying until I've seen it."
"......S-Shinwoo, I didn't take you for someone this mean."
"If I were, I'd have had every last piece off you ages ago."
"......Ah, I get it, okay."
She held her own stick out toward me. I simply shook my head, then turned the lever this way and that, feeling it out. Pal-kkumchi had weaknesses, too. The download time he needed to read an opponent's patterns. And a softness against blue ranks—more precisely, he sometimes folded, helpless, under the bulldozer patterns peculiar to them. The trick was to disregard the complacency of a player at the very top. However I looked at it, my skill right now was no higher than gold. So in a first to three... this was worth a try.
Play it right, and I might even get my revenge.
I glared at the monitor, drained the coffee in one swallow, and stepped into the room waiting in my Steam messages. The match started at once, and I quietly picked my character.
"Lei? Was Lei your main?"
"Not exactly."
Of all my old records against Pal-kkumchi, Lei had given me the best of them, so there was no helping it. The character had so many patterns that nothing else was as good for catching a strong player, and he tended to work especially well against opponents with a heavy habit of downloading you. I settled in and focused on the match that began right away.
"Ah, that came out. A two-frame gap, and he still caught it."
"......Whoa."
Just as I'd expected. I took the first game before he could download me and stole the second with a blue-rank bulldozer pattern, and my heart started to pound at the thought that my chance at revenge had come. Then I dropped three in a row, and in the end I lost. The games themselves were fine. All five went the distance, close enough to hurt. But a result was a result.
"Figures. Still can't do it."
"Hanging with him? It was a clean loss."
"Not at all. The honor was mine."
"......You still remember that?"
"If you remember even that, you're more of a monster than I thought. It was the only thing I had going for me."
"......Whose fault do you think? The moment I scraped any points together, you took every last one."
It was almost unbelievable. Lei could be as rare a character as you liked, but to dredge up, from a handful of patterns, an opponent he'd completely taken apart years ago? No wonder he was still on top. I'd already acknowledged it, and now I had no choice but to acknowledge it all over again. The kindness hadn't changed, either. The truth was, I'd been a Pal-kkumchi fan myself. After we said our goodbyes, I looked quietly down at the stick.
"Uh, um...... Shinwoo."
At the careful way Lee Hyangsuk spoke, I caught myself and smoothed my expression. I wasn't depressed. Just a little disappointed. I'd only drifted into old memories, but she seemed to have taken it the wrong way.
"Ah, sorry. I was thinking about the old days."
"Well, Pal-kkumchi is kind of a natural disaster......"
"I know. If his personality were bad, I could at least curse him. But his character's good, too."
"Ah, have you talked with him before?"
"A long time ago. Briefly, at that arcade in front of campus."
"Come to think of it, you said you went to Hansung University, right?"
"Yeah. The department was... what it was. The professors would be hurt to hear it, but it wasn't a major that did you any favors getting a job."
"Even so. That's impressive."
I could feel her turning the subject, trying to lift my mood. I smiled faintly at the consideration in her voice and put the stick away. It was nearly private, but so what. It wasn't as if I couldn't tell her.
"Then, um, back then. The day we first met. That woman...... was she your girlfriend?"
"Ah, that friend? Mm. Not at the time."
"......At the time?"
"If I'm being precise, I suppose I'd have to say it was after I met you."
"Really?"
"That's how it was. These days we're...... seeing each other just fine."
"Ah......"
There was no need to go out of my way and announce that I was a multimale. I had not the slightest intention of putting it on a broadcast and making myself a target. How long I could keep it a secret, though, even I didn't know. And that was the moment.
"Sure. If it's something I can answer."
In that instant the chat and the donation messages froze, as if someone had hit pause. I couldn't help flinching myself.
It's already out?
My head, gone stiff from soaking in old sentiment, kicked into high gear. Now that it was public, dragging my feet would only make me look pathetic. Buying time would get me a few days at best. Too late to pretend I hadn't seen it—I'd already said I would answer. Refuse, and it would amount to a yes anyway. Better to at least act unbothered and salvage the image.
"That's already up? This really won't do. I'll have to file a complaint."
"Shinwoo, is it true?"
"Well, that's how it turned out. I'm seeing two people these days."
"......Really?!"
Lee Hyangsuk shot up out of her chair, shock written all over her face. Then the most violent reaction I'd seen yet began to flood the monitor in chat and donations. The amounts were on another level entirely from everything that had come before.
"Is it really worth being that shocked?"
"N-no, I just...... I've never actually seen one before."
"I wasn't exactly planning to hide it. It's just getting out much faster than I expected. I filed the report today."
"......Today?!"
"Yeah. Sometime after lunch, I think?"
"......S-Shinwoo. Ah, you all! Keep it down!"
"Hey now. Is that any way to talk to the people donating?"
"Do you have any idea how important this moment is!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"......Ah."
"Don't tell me. Because I'm a multimale, you're thinking of taking a shot?"
I tucked the stick into the drawer and rose, slow. Her face had flushed red as she watched me. I looked down at it, took one quiet step closer, and smiled.
"Sounds like you're confident."
"......N-no...... that's not it......"
I let a finger drift down her cheek, tracing it. Over that milk-white skin, I could see every fine hair slowly standing on end.
"Ah......"
"Mm. Can't even keep a single promise. And you lied to me today, too."
"I-I didn't mean to......"
"I told you over the phone. I despise lies. Truly, to an extreme. Especially ones told to my face."
"Nnh......"
The finger I'd drawn downward passed her jaw and began to slide along her neck. Past the choker, down into the hollow between her collarbones, and then I quietly started toying with the buttons of her blouse. I'd just taken a bit of stress on account of a certain someone. Might as well let off a little steam. I hadn't forgotten we were live, of course. In an adults-only room, this much would have been nothing more than playing cute, even back in my old world.
"I'll put this on your tab."
"Ah...... Y-yes......?"
"What you agreed to take off today. I'm keeping the debt. That's two already."
"......*gulp*"
"If you don't want it, say so."
"......Ah......"
"And where did all that boldness from a moment ago go."
Under my hand there was a soft pop, and one button of Lee Hyangsuk's blouse came undone.
"Did I look easy?"
"No, no. It's not that......"
"Then what is it?"
"I just. Just......"
"I just told you. I like it when you're honest."
Another soft pop, and the second button came free.
"Hnn......"
Lee Hyangsuk covered her mouth, swallowing the sound, and her eyes began to lose their focus. I looked into them, letting the moment simmer, then murmured as if I were only whispering.
"......That's all for today."
"......Huh?"
"This is more than enough for a short, or a thumbnail. Should I actually strip you?"
"N-no! I-I'll take it off myself! No, that's not—!"
I grinned at the flustered Lee Hyangsuk and dropped into the chair. She stared back at me, breathing hard, her clothes in disarray, and when I tipped my chin at the monitor, realization hit her face and she jerked her eyes toward the screen.
"Th-that's the stream for today!"
"Ah, I'll be back later!"
I smiled at the chats piling up, every one of them mangled with typos, and gave a small wave. The streaming program cut off in an instant. Lee Hyangsuk stood with both hands planted on the desk, breathing hard.