Living Under the Same Roof: Editor and Streamer (1)
「One night, when I opened my eyes, what I saw was a clear full moon and my wife’s face, digging through the dirt with bloodied bare hands as she wept.」
Cheoyong - Manwoegyeong is a third-person action horror game set in a martial arts world. Upon starting, that line appears and the protagonist awakens underground. The only thing the once-buried protagonist remembers is that he must protect his wife. The main synopsis is that he intends to shatter the mirror called Manwoegyeong, said to be the root of all evil, and reclaim his originally harmonious family and happiness.
“Ahem, can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you! Why are you so late! You said you’d come early today!”
“I’m sorry. It took some time to adjust the new settings.”
“You should’ve done that ahead of time! I turned the stream on thirty minutes before the collab!”
I was only about three minutes late for the collab with Yujacha, but her voice was trembling, perhaps because she was nervous about playing a horror game. The truth was that I’d taken a while because I was staying at the apartment under Yujacha’s name and wasn’t used to it yet, but I couldn’t say that. I figured there still wasn’t enough narrative or buildup that viewers would accept for the virtual marriage content. Even for a small-time VTuber, Eastern audiences tend to develop pseudo-romantic feelings toward the streamer, unlike Western ones, so pushing too hard too fast would likely cause problems.
What we need is an overwhelmingly sweet, pure-love story. A massive, delicious lump of sugar.
The reason the virtual marriage content succeeded so spectacularly on the rival platform Portrin was precisely because it had a story that even existing viewers and newcomers could accept.
“Yujacha’s growth has been pretty good lately…, so I thought I should get better equipment and work harder too.”
I told the viewers a cleverly disguised version of the truth. Yujacha’s viewership, which had never exceeded double digits on average, was now approaching five hundred, and aside from my early-morning gym visits and work hours, I was pouring every plan into collabs with her.
At that moment, I saw the first chat openly expressing romantic interest toward me in Yujacha’s stream.
‘BaekseolgiOppaFanNo1’ has been forcibly removed from the chat.
While I was wondering how to respond, Yujacha moved her mouse faster than anyone and issued the ban.
“I mentioned this before, didn’t I? A succubus never lets anyone steal the man she has her eye on. Please refrain from asking questions about ‘my’ Baekseolgi’s private life.”
Yujacha spoke in a stiffer, colder tone than ever. Her attitude carried the kind of resolve a saint might show when addressing a demon. Yes, this was the succubus saint. It had been a while since I’d seen her setting of suppressing her instincts through faith and piety toward God.
“Ahem! Anyway, we’ll be starting the horror game Cheoyong - Manwoegyeong now, so please give lots of support to our scaredy-cat Baekseolgi!”
Yujacha cleared her throat and straightened out the viewers. Even as a small-time streamer, the reason she’d been able to keep streaming for so long was probably because of this kind of backbone.
At that moment, something strange entered my view. Yujacha had secretly opened another browser window and was typing “Kim Baekhyun middle school graduation photo” into the search bar—an image only visible on the code window share.
“Yujacha.”
“Y-yes?! What is it? Are you scared? It’s okay. The saint of Seongguk Elysion is right beside you.”
Fortunately, because the streaming PC and broadcast PC were separate, her embarrassing behavior was visible only to me.
“I’ll be counting on the saint’s performance.”
Even as I heard the rapid mouse-clicking sounds that seemed like she was spamming “right-click → save as,” I had no choice but to pretend I didn’t notice.
* * *
The reason Cheoyong - Manwoegyeong was classified under the odd genre of “action horror” was because, much like Sekiro, additional terrifying scenes only appeared if you failed a parry. Normally, every time you took damage from a failed parry, grotesquely twisted clones would lunge close to the screen for a jump scare.
“Aaaaaah…!!! Baekhyun!! Save me!!!”
Yet Yujacha, hiding behind me, screamed just from seeing the bloodied clones that looked like zombies or ghosts. She’d even forgotten to call me “Editor-nim” and used my real name, so she was clearly terrified. Even though I was parrying everything, so the only scary part was the clones approaching.
Just as the chat said, playing with Yujacha made the tension disappear and I felt my skills improving. Maybe people really do get stronger when they think they have to protect their favorite. With her, I felt like I could even aim for pro level.
Clang, clang, clang—!
The metallic clash of blades sparked, and the moonlight-kissed sword cut down the grotesquely twisted clones.
“Just stick right behind me and follow.”
Since it was two-player co-op rather than solo, I was playing as the protagonist Cheoyong while Yujacha played as his wife. Normally other streamers would help by taking down clones together or coordinating parries, but—
“Y-yes…”
Just like the title of some Japanese light novel, I was parrying every attack, including the ones meant for Yujacha.
“H-how are you so good at this game? It’s designed for two players, so it must be hard to do alone…”
“Ah, that? It’s similar to rock-paper-scissors. Each enemy seems to have a fixed pattern.”
Perhaps feeling guilty for not helping because she was scared, Yujacha spoke to me with concern. It was surprisingly easy, though.
“Patterns?”
“Yeah, the clones with twisted limbs attack after a half-beat delay…, and the headless ones start spamming attacks the moment they see you.”
Clang—!
I parried the clones approaching Yujacha’s character again while continuing.
“Want to try? Instead of mashing the parry key, think of it as waiting a half-beat before pressing. It’ll be easier.”
This time, to give Yujacha the spotlight, I asked her to handle the remaining enemies.
“I-I can’t! Baekhyun, those clones look too scary…”
“I’m right here. Don’t be too scared. It’s okay if you fail.”
After all, there’s no greater sense of accomplishment in games than beating an enemy you couldn’t beat before.
“Do you think I can do it…?”
“Of course. You’re someone who puts in an incredible amount of effort every day. You’ll do great.”
Because I’d been a regular viewer of Yujacha’s streams, I knew how hard she worked to escape being a noob. I’d seen her attempt back-to-back streams to climb out of Bronze in Grand Arts Hero only to fail, and her efforts to clear TenTenDo games without any guides. Despite failing that much, she never feared failing or getting frustrated again.
“…Okay, I’ll try.”
“One, two, three…, then wait. Just repeat that.”
Eventually the tremor left Yujacha’s voice, and she began controlling her character as I instructed.
“One, two, three…”
“Yes, wait like that…”
Our breaths overlapped as we moved in sync, almost as one. Yujacha focused on my voice rather than the terrifying creatures in front of her and parried the attacks with perfect timing.
— Krrrk!
All the attacks bounced off the sword in her hand, and the twisted-limbed clone’s stance broke, creating an opening.
“I-I did it! Baekseolgi!”
“Great. Now just finish it off. You can do that, right?”
“Yes! Of course!”
Yujacha, making her first kill in a horror game, spoke to me in a much brighter voice. Normally, horror games where players can only run or fail to resist dilute the feeling of fear. But the game Cheoyong - Manwoegyeong I’d chosen let you skip scary scenes entirely if you had the skill.
“Gotcha…! Everyone! I defeated one of those heinous monsters!! And with a successful parry, no less!”
If I could just give Yujacha the experience of “I can do this,” she’d have more fun, just like with the previous games. Of course, recommending a horror game in summer also played a part—some big-company streamers always played these in the second half during the humid rainy season.
“Well done, Yujacha.”
“Hehe, see! I told you I’m a top female player! Did you see me take that monster down in one go?”
After Yujacha’s first kill, most of the chat was filled with praise and surprise, everyone cheering her on.
「Cheoyong’s clone has revealed your sins! A spirit that belongs in the underworld dares to appear in the mortal realm and disturb the world—this is a grave crime among grave crimes! Defying the will of the heavenly gods and deceiving another’s wife is a sin that can never be washed away for eternity!」
Right after, with an eerie BGM, an enemy wearing a gat and reaper’s robes appeared, riding a massive tiger made of shadows and approaching us.
“W-what’s that?”
“Looks like a mid-boss.”
Watching the cinematic, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. If we’d practiced a little more, Yujacha could’ve handled the other clones just fine.
“We have to split up the tiger and the reaper. We’re going straight into the fight…”
This boss attacked together, so it was impossible to parry one while blocking the other.
“…You trust me, right, Yujacha?”
No choice. I had to help her apply what she’d just learned. I said the line that men say to women that inspires the least trust, then stepped in front of the tiger’s paw lunging at Yujacha.
“Yes, I trust you completely.”
She answered with confidence and prepared to take down the enemy together with me.