Proof (2)
Han Seung-yoon's words went like this. Since proving it in my own room could lead to suspicions of someone else doing it remotely while pretending to be me, blocking that out entirely was priority one. Priority two was to shut down the inevitable "cam boost" or "filter abuse" comments that always pop up whenever a woman appears on stream. I had no idea why that mattered to me, so I shot him a doubtful look, and he said, "You're gonna end up streaming anyway. You might not get it now, but once you're in the streaming world, you'll realize these are the things that cut to the bone."
What the hell did that even mean? And when I pointed out that these days you can filter even on phone streams, so what's the point, he said it's fine because streaming from an arcade means more witnesses. Even if I stream, why would I ever get caught up in that crap...? Anyway, the final third priority was that just explaining it away would be boring. To me, that third one felt like the real first priority... The first two were probably just excuses, and the truth is that third one.
"I already booked the arcade in advance. Got permission to film, too, so now you just have to prove it."
"But I haven't played King of Fist in a while. What if I suck? Things have changed so much—my senses might be all off."
"Ha·ha·ha·ha·ha. Don't say such horrifying things."
Well, I've got some experience built up over the years, so maybe it'll be okay? But the last couple days have been such a whirlwind I haven't even touched a game, so who knows how my instincts are holding up. It's not just that I haven't played King of Fist in ages—my whole body is different now, so I'll only know for sure once I crack it open. That said, from living with this body so far, even though my eye level's higher and my center of gravity's shifted a bit, it never felt awkward like some foreign hunk of meat, so I'm vaguely hoping my gaming sense is about the same.
"We're he~re."
"Thanks."
"Ah~ I don't wanna get out."
"Hurry up and get off. The driver's waiting."
"Heh heh. Take your time getting out."
I was dawdling because I didn't want to get out, but unlike whoever was nagging from the front, the driver uncle just chuckled good-naturedly. Yeah, what did the driver do to deserve this?
"Thank you. Drive safe."
"You too, young man and lady."
Leaving the driver's farewell behind, we arrived back in the bustling street. Earlier, I'd been too busy shopping for clothes and shoes to notice, but now the stares felt intense. This wasn't paranoia—our eyes were actually meeting.
"Why are you so jittery?"
"Feels like everyone's staring at me."
"Idiot. You got celebrity syndrome or what? Why not just slap on a hat, sunglasses, and mask?"
"No, it's not just one or two—it's actual eye contact."
"Yeah, yeah. Even if it is, you think you're on the level of actual celebs or influencers? People care more about fame than looks anyway, so just act natural. Real celebs have to deal with this."
"Ahem..."
True... Come to think of it, people aren't that interested in others. Even if their eyes linger for a second, most are just passing by on their way. I've been to baseball games and spotted celebs or big names plenty of times—cool, then move on. Sure, it varies by time and place, but even celebs deal with it, so who am I to complain? Man, looking back, I must've looked like a total moron. Time to reflect.
"We're here."
"What? TT?"
"You know it too?"
"Anyone into fighting games knows this place."
Reflecting inwardly as I followed my friend, we arrived at TT Game Center. Once a holy site for fighting game fans, packed with machines beyond just King of Fist. But as game companies shifted from arcades to PC and consoles, Korea naturally leaned that way too. Foot traffic for arcades dropped, so even TT—once all fighting games—didn't shut down but scaled back to a few fighters, filling the rest with claw machines and popular casual games to stay afloat.
"Oh yeah, you don't have a King of Fist card, right?"
"Haven't played arcades since the latest ones dropped, so nope."
"While we're here, let's make an offline card. Need it for online matches."
"Sure, why not."
King of Fist offline play. It's an arcade-exclusive game. Coins get you CPU battles or local versus, but a card unlocks matches against players in Korea or overseas. No cross-play with PC or consoles, so not many offline users in Korea, but Japan and China still hold offline tourneys and have active communities. Korea used to have them too, back in the day...
"Made it?"
"Yeah. But let's warm up with some CPU first."
"Nah uh. Gotta start the stream from the warm-up. Alright, streaming now?"
"You bastard..."
Memories of watching old offline tourneys online flashed by, but before I could complain, the stream went live. I swallowed my curse and shrank quietly to the side.
As the stream started, I pulled out my phone to check chat. Even on a weekday afternoon, messages flew up fast. Viewers had already blown past our usual crowd just minutes in.
"Can everyone hear me okay?"
The chat sped up like during last time's explanation show, and my friend was already grinning ear to ear.
"Wondering where this is? You know TT Game Center, right?"
Maybe because it was huge and a fighting game mecca, or since today's proof was King of Fist, tons of chats said they knew it.
"I was gonna stream from home originally? But then it'd be all 'prove with hand cam' this and that, so I came to the arcade instead."
"Alright, now for what you've all been dying to see—introducing my girlfriend!"
He gestured for me to come over with his line, so I nodded, took a deep breath.
"Hoo..."
Not like I was shy or anything—just greeting faceless internet randos, but my heart was pounding like crazy.
"Hi everyone. I'm Im Gyeong-guk, here to prove it today."
Thankfully my voice didn't shake. I glanced at chat—total explosion.
Chats gushing over looks mixed with the expected filter accusations and "is she even Korean?" waves like a tsunami. Chat was so hyper it lagged and went into slow mode despite viewer count.
"What filter? If it was a filter, my face would change too. Here, look."
He flipped the phone from my face to fill the screen with his own for proof, and the filter doubters vanished, replaced by "get outta the frame" floods.
"Ow, you guys are too harsh. I'm hurt."
Stream banter for sure, but he pulled a wounded expression at the harsh chats. That is banter, right?
"Hey, they're all calling for you."
"Haha... Hi everyone. Somehow ended up on stream—nice to meet you, take care of me today."
Chats I agreed with, even though it was my face. I still feel like I'm seeing something new every time I look in the mirror—haven't fully adjusted. Beyond pretty, it's like she stepped out of an illustration, a fresh vibe every day.
"Greetings done, so before proof time! Gyeong-guk hasn't touched King of Fist lately, so she wants a CPU warm-up first. Let's taste some button-mashing."
Heart still a bit shaky, I slotted the charged card and started the game, picking my main, the elf girl Baleta.
"Yes, as expected—Threay's main, Baleta!"
Baleta, the black-haired black-suited elf girl who's appeared from the first game to the current numbering 5, is one of the King of Fist series' popular picks. Mutant elf from another world, boxing base—design barely changed across the series except hair length. Long hime-cut in 1 and 2, straight bob in 3 and 4, wavy long in 5, but always that similar black suit.
Hm... looking now, kinda matches my image? Waist-length waves, profile height 181cm tall build, elf vibe—feels similar. Back when I picked her as main, it was the contrast of her sleek look with aggressive boxing that hooked me, but now it seems like fate for real.
"Threay, what's your King of Fist history?"
"Started in elementary, so about 10 years now?"
His sudden player-interview skit had me slipping into polite speech without thinking.
"Baleta the whole 10 years?"
"Main's always been Baleta, but fighters try other chars, right? Gotta know their moves to counter, so I dabbled."
"Current take on Baleta?"
"Uh... can I be honest?"
"Gotta be honest."
"Honestly? Baleta's total Bugleta right now."
"Whoa! 'Bugleta' from the lips of Baleta's top player!"