Easy Mode World, Now With Streaming on the Side
"Oh."
That was my first reaction when something vaguely god-shaped told me it would grant my wish.
I shall grant that wish.
"Whoa."
And that was my first reaction when I arrived in a world where men were vanishingly rare.
This is a world with a 1:99 male-to-female ratio.
A virus that spread across the globe has driven the male birth rate to extreme lows.
Simply by being a young man, you will live a life in the top 0.1%.
"Fuck."
And that was my reaction when I saw the catch.
And you must spend the rest of your life streaming in this other world.
But I came around soon enough. In a world with barely any men, wouldn't a male streamer be in absurdly high demand? In which case, even if it was a bit of a hassle, wouldn't I still be living on easy mode?
With that thought, I looked up the male streamers of this world.
SHOCK! Famous Male Streamer A Found Dead in His Room After Prolonged Stalking
Ongoing Stalking of Male Internet Streamers — How Long Can This Go On?
Famous Male Idol A Shot During World Tour; Suspect Says, "He Ignored Me"
...... I'm fucked.
The grace period is one week. Fail to stream within that time, and you will be returned to your original world.
"Huh."
What do you know? That's actually pretty generous. Still, this was the lucky part.
I stood up from my seat. First things first — I needed to find out whether this world was worth risking my life for.
Someone who looked like a part-timer approached with trembling hands and set the food down in front of me.
"U-um, here's your drink....!"
"Ah, thank you."
"Heeut♡ Ah— I mean, yes! These are on the house....."
She set down the tray and fled back to the counter like she was running for her life. On it sat a slice of chocolate cake, a slice of strawberry cake, an assortment of cookies, a smoothie, a coffee — and a note. For the record, all I'd ordered was a one-dollar cup of coffee. It had even been listed at three dollars on the menu.
These are for tasting our new products, so please enjoy them without any pressure!
The handwriting was a little shaky, the kind of script that was trying very hard to stay neat. I glanced around, and most of the people in the cafe jerked their heads away the instant my eyes swept over them.
Had they all been staring at me?
I turned back and slowly savored the coffee. I wasn't particularly fond of cookies or cake, and even I had something resembling a conscience. And as I quietly sipped, the whispering started.
"There was a guy in our neighborhood?"
"Holy shit, I've never seen a real man before."
"This... this is fate, right?"
"Wait here. I'm getting his number."
A chair scraped, and someone stood up. Wait — she was actually coming over? She walked toward me with a cup full of her drink. Planning to sit down, then.
Click. Click.
The moment everyone's attention drifted toward her, she walked right past the chair in front of me. Unless she was about to pull the most theatrical U-turn in history, she clearly had no intention of joining me.
Crash!
At that exact moment, she lost her grip on the cup. No — from where I was sitting, she let go of it. She looked down at the spilled drink and launched into the world's shabbiest performance.
"Oh my, I dropped my drink? What should I do?"
Her gaze slid over to me as naturally as breathing.
"Ah, are you okay? I think some of it splashed on you?"
It had not. If anything, she and the person next to me had taken about six times more of it than I had.
"If you don't mind, I'll wipe it off for you."
"Huh?"
She pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped my hand. It happened too fast for me to even react. The cloth wrapped around my fingers, and with that soft texture came the warm brush of her skin.
She's pretending to wipe it off while just feeling up my hand, isn't she?
"Um, I feel so bad about this — could I get your number? I'd like to at least cover the cleaning bill."
She said it while still clutching my hand. Not even trying to hide it anymore. I found it so absurd that a small laugh slipped out.
"That's...."
"Hnnnngh....."
She suddenly started making a very strange noise. I looked up, and her face was already flushed a deep, vivid red.
"Hwaaah! I'm sorry! I messed up!"
She covered her face and bolted straight out of the cafe.
What was that? She's just leaving?
I looked down at the spilled drink. Now what. But I didn't need to worry — the staff were already coming toward me with an arsenal of cleaning supplies.
"You don't have to get up! We'll clean it!"
"Still..."
"No, please don't get up, I'm begging you!"
I started to rise, then sat back down. They cleaned up the spill with impressive speed, edging closer to me little by little.
"Um, we feel so terrible about this — could we maybe get your number?"
"As compensation for the unpleasant experience at our store..... I mean, for the cleaning bill!"
She was rambling, but the part about wanting my number came through loud and clear.
"No, really, it's fine. Where's the restroom, by the way?"
"W-wait, what?"
They started whispering to each other.
"Hyejin, you cleaned it properly, right..?"
"Huh? Ah, did I..? I don't remember..."
"You were on men's room duty this week....!"
"How was I supposed to know a man would actually show up....!"
"Um.... so......."
"Ah, I'm sorry! It's on the left once you go out."
Her pupils darted around, restless, like she felt she still needed to do something more.
"Ah, I could walk you there......"
"No, that's all right."
"Yes, sir."
I stepped into the restroom and gave my hands a quick wash. Looking around, it was actually in pretty decent shape. So they kept a men's room even though men never came here. How strange.
When I got back to my seat, the staff were hovering around it, hesitating over something. The second they spotted me opening the door, they dropped straight back into mopping the floor. I watched them for a moment, then tipped back the rest of my coffee.
"Ah, are you leaving...?"
"About that number......"
The part-timer held out her phone as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"No, I really don't need it."
The cafe door chimed as it opened, and the whispering behind me slowly faded. I started walking, no lingering, no looking back — just heading home.
Tap. Tap.
Then a sudden burst of footsteps, and someone overtook me at a full sprint.
"Chaewon!"
"Yeah?"
Pretending her friend had called her, she turned around — and stared at my face with absolutely zero subtlety before walking back the way she'd come.
"Dude, that's a real guy. A real guy....!"
"For real...?"
Wow. She put on a whole production just to look at my face? I'd never experienced anything like this in my life. I'd never even seen it happen to anyone else. I picked up my pace and headed back to my studio.
"Hey, I think he heard us...!"
"Keep your voice down..!"
The door clicked shut. I collapsed onto the mattress in my studio, closed my eyes, then opened them again. Then I picked up my phone and searched for the gender ratio.
In the modern era, a specialized virus has caused the birth rate of male children to drop severely. While a vaccine and treatment have been developed, experts estimate it will take decades — or even centuries — before a complete recovery.
The resulting problems are especially severe among the younger generation. This is because the parents of current middle-aged and elderly men had low infection rates, while the parents of young children belong to the generation in which the vaccine was developed.
I tossed the phone aside and buried my face in my hands.
"Whoa......"
"Whoooooaaa!!"
"A world like this? Fuck, I'd risk my life to stay here!!!"
I bounced around my tiny room like an idiot. All right. Decision made. I was going to stream. No — I had to.
I sat down in front of the computer and stared blankly at the streaming platforms. From the biggest agencies down to the tiniest no-name channels, there wasn't a single man. A guy debuting in a situation like this? Even if I genuinely didn't want it, blowing up would be a foregone conclusion. And after that, I would understand — viscerally, down to the bone — exactly why men didn't stream.
Of course, I'd also considered just flipping the stream on and off for a second. But the moment I went live, this thing slapped a new condition on me.
Goal: 10 or more average viewers
Grace period: same as before
And just like that, I dropped the idea of cheesing it. Even if I somehow hit this one, the thing would keep throwing new goals at me to stop me from skating by. Which meant the important thing wasn't finding a patch for each individual target — it was finding a fundamental solution.
And that was how I arrived at this.
"Netkama..."
Not a bad idea, right? I could enjoy the perks of being a man in this world in my private life, and on stream I'd just pretend to be ordinary. But that plan hit a wall before it even got off the ground.
"There's no way I could pull off a girl's voice, right?"
Q. What are the odds that a healthy adult man can master a feminine voice in one week and hit 10+ average viewers in a world this starved for men?
A. 0
Damn it. As a backup, I did look into voice changers. But with no demand for them, the ones that turned a male voice into a female one were vanishingly few, and the quality was garbage. I grabbed the least terrible option among them, but..... it was still garbage.
"Eugh..... still, might as well try?"
Figuring that something was better than nothing, I hit the start streaming button.
Just a Normal Stream