19 - Comeback Stream
Sia scrolled through various communities, checking reactions to the comeback announcement. Back when the bury campaign hit hard, she'd been so wronged she could barely sleep. But a stress-free month focusing on her main gig as a college student had been a relief. For her long-awaited return stream, she'd prepared meticulously.
It hadn't even been three years since she started streaming, but she'd really blown up after appearing on Docu4Days. She'd gained even more fame than Retro, the top pro gamer and true star of the Legacy of Legend episode—the world's only female Celestial.
Part of it was proving her gender crystal clear on Twishi, where avatars and voice changers hid everyone's sex. Just in case, she double-checked the announcement comments for any weird vibes.
"Ready? Let's go live then?"
"Do we have to wear this?"
The cat-ear headband felt ridiculously annoying. But since it was the voice-sharing mic for the collab, she couldn't just chuck it.
"It's cute! You'll get used to it once we're gaming. 5 seconds to start."
The countdown began. Was she nervous? Hell yes. Extremely. I'd never been one for crowds. My relationships had always been narrow and deep. You could argue if they were truly deep now, but narrow? Undeniably.
Sia's waiting room, plastered with colorful posters and wallpaper, lit up with a pop.
0:00:01 - Hyebam
"Night~ Hi hi!"
The camera still only showed Sia. She adjusted angles and lights like a pro.
"Streaming after so long, I'm shaking! That month 'vacation'... nah, self-reflection period nearly bored me to death."
'TofuMom' donated 10,000 won!
"Thanks for the 10k, TofuMom! Anyway, safely out of the slammer. That's how it went!"
"Where's a loner like me gonna go? Started with prepping for classes, then ditched that for preseason solo queue grinding."
'Delete' donated 50,000 won!
"Saying it like that feels off, Delete oppa? First time in ages, no love. Anyway, thanks for the 50k."
"I got it, geez! I shower daily! And are you my mom?"
Her emotions flipped every few seconds even in this short time. Real-time compressed streaming? Sia fielded more welcome donations, chatting with viewers. She recapped the situation and resized the screen. The camera pulled back, leaving more empty space.
"Alright, as announced. Time to intro today's collab content. Why no partner reveal or game info? All part of the plan. It's a proper surprise we've prepped."
'Levranto' donated 2,000 won!
"Kinda, but I've been planning this for years, so not wrong."
"Before the partner intro, today's content—er, this week's—is solo queue climb, celebrating the new season boom boom boom."
"But! Just grinding's boring! With solo duo revived this season, let's try that. They axed it for fairness before, but brought it back for fun?"
Sia's lips curled up. She flashed her last season rank big on screen.
HyeNightBecomesFace Challenger / Ladder Rank 186 / Top 0.00239%
"See the gap between you all and me?"
"So our duo partner this time... No instant reveal, here's their record first."
■■■■■■ Bronze III / Ladder Rank 6,880,996 / Top 88.71%
Nickname censored on purpose. Her strategy to keep curiosity peaked till game start. Avatars alone couldn't ID billions of players worldwide.
"Come on out!"
I stepped beside her as she beckoned. Viewer count had topped 3k.
"Hello."
Response lukewarm. Her vague intro plus my plain girl avatar didn't help. Viewers fired question marks nonstop.
"This person's super famous in the LoL scene? Even I've never chatted with them till today, so this collab's our get-to-know-you."
She laid out the usual Twishi tier-goal donation conditions, but tweaked them this time.
"How about Master in a week? I dunno their skill, but they're not that bad, right?"
Master in 70 games
***
Master. A term for one who's mastered something. Swordmaster's an example. But in modern times, too many Masters dilute the prestige.
Estimated 10k in LoL total, but proportionally rare. Viewers stayed skeptical. Even a Challenger hauling Bronze to Master? Unrealistic.
But stories smashing expectations hit harder, so they bet on her mission. You'll fail for sure, but if you succeed, it'll be worth more than my stake.
Solo Rank Season 2051
Entering...
NoName has joined
"Think I'll fail? That confident, everyone?"
NoName
My avatar now sported those six letters overhead. The nickname that'd become me.
"Hello. Nice to meet you again. I'm NoName."
Time to let the world know.