Aftermath (1)
I'd seen it coming. That's why I skipped all the romantic fluff in the skill tree and picked ones optimized for streaming. Before throwing that first pitch, I figured this face plus solid mechanics would draw eyes—maybe like those celebs who'd gone viral for ceremonial pitches or baseball stunts. Solid attention magnet.
But one toss in, and I knew. This was jackpot. Perfect timing too—a big-name baseball YouTuber drops by, and boom, I'm on his stream. My original plan? Zero content, just chuck balls at the range on stream and rake in donations. Pretty girl + sports? Literal cheat code.
Pretty girl who dances well? Fades fast. Korea's crawling with hot dancers—idols, streamers, you name it. But a stunner crushing baseball, the country's top sport? That doesn't evaporate. Problem was, it had to be insanely good. And honestly? I had zero doubts there.
Face aside, a non-pro woman cracking 100 km/h? Rare as hell. That Japanese idol went viral for it stateside and here. Lately more common—one Korean cheerleader, Yu Han-na, hit it on Yaman's channel last year. Blew up huge; debut year and she's Taiwan-bound now.
Throw Master—picked it as S-rank filler—felt meh at first. Then I tried it. Cheat. First practice run, this body's base specs clocked 120 easy. Regretted picking it for a sec... until Copycat combo. Holy shit. Under 160? Unreal. Ditch romance, copy a velocity freak for overhand? Might've cleared 170 easy.
"Ye~ long time no see."
The chat exploding faster than I could track from the waiting screen was intimidating, but I played it cool with a greeting. Should've killed the stream after a short break? Or hit go in the quiet morning slot? Peak evening prime time, and yesterday's Yaman clip must've blown up—viewers swarming like crazy.
Chat scrolling at warp speed was straight terrifying. Viewer count? Already topped my collab with Seung-yoon. Scary. My growth curve.
"Yesterday I ended up taking an accidental break—hope you all held up okay?"
Rocked the black suit sans glasses again, like last time. Making it my brand now. Outside? Glasses for the cringe. Keep this up, maybe SNK tosses me a King of Fist ad. Streamer ad bucks are juicy—hook a girl up, SNK?
One Throw Master test-run, and now I'm itching to grind cash for upgrades.
"Tons of new faces today, huh? Gotta admit, I was kinda fire in Yaman's vid yesterday."
"Guys, eyes are way too high these days. Even dudes struggle with 100. Hit a range yourself—first-timer at 80 is solid. Oh, Pangpang Baseball Practice is prime. Locals, check it."
"Felt like hate bait, scary? Nah. Yaman prolly ate more. Ahem. But proved it, right? I always do."
My cocky line sent shoulders-to-the-sky emojis flooding. Waiting screen chat overload stressed me, but live? Face cam off, text-only vibes—way less pressure. Hid viewer count after peeking, but better than intro nerves.
"Oh yeah. Almost got spoiled by a relay stream, right?"
"No clue till Yaman asked the embargo poster to yank it special. Day it went up, I had under 10 watchers—easy spot."
Yaman said low turnout was a bless; bigger crowd, embargo fails, no surprise upload. Heard he comped folks there later, but no leaks for over a week after. Baseball fans: salty but solid.
"How'd I link with Yaman? Planned pitching content. Long layoff, test run at range. Remember that morning-only stream? That day."
"Vid opens with O commentator chat, right? That day I met him mid-pitch... oh, one sec."
Sudden brainflash—dug box like last time.
"Ta-da. O commentator's autograph."
"And this... announcer's player-era signed uni!"
"Dad got it in his young days. Somehow landed with me—fate, huh."
Dad's sig uni from my age. Felt nostalgic... nah, why's this here? No clue his junk mixed in my box. Unearthed digging—poor sort last time, corner hidey-hole. Guess over-neat's a curse. Finds like this.
Eh, just my thought—no such saying.
"But why's it in my house?"
"Nah, Dad's got a whole display case at the folks' for his gear. No idea why in my box."
"Ahem. Still, sparked old dad-baseball-lure memories. Thanks, Dad. Led me here—streaming gold."
"Family has no clue I'm streaming?"
Not just stream—haven't shown this form. No idea how perception shift hit 'em. Kinda spooked. Cousins too. ID says current look registers, but fear's real—no calls, no meets. Silver lining: holidays-only contact, texts fine. Smooth so far.
Ugh. Holidays far, but dread rising.
"Kinda scared how they'd react knowing."
Not the fear, but fear's fear. Fam cool with inbang if self-sufficient. Cousins? Jury out. Glasses for meets? Shift prolly not "always elf~" deep...
Wait, glasses post-shift? Whatever. Later.
Dodgy answer flips chat to earnest future-worries. Touching...
Revenue chat sparks dilution spam—touching gone.
"Drop my earnings curiosity. What's next?"
"Yaman lore? Where was I? Oh, met commentator? Picked his sig post-pitch, Yaman's too. His on a free ball from Pangpang owner. One sec."