19. Creating Fans and Haters Simultaneously
In the globally acclaimed game Soul Frame, if you asked anyone to name a trash-tier hero—one so notoriously R.I.P.-stamped that it always ranks within the top three fingers—Minder would be that guy.
Nobody could fathom what the devs were smoking when they designed and released this overpowered beast.
It packed absurd power, yet the controls were hellish, with skill execution so fiendishly difficult it deserved to be called a "trial by fire."
Even the YouTubers who dabble in every trash pick as self-proclaimed connoisseurs spat out, "Fuck, this one's straight garbage."
That's Minder for you.
Nobody plays Minder.
More precisely, anyone with even a speck of intent to play properly would never pick Minder.
And yet, someone had climbed straight to near-Ranker ratings on day one, using only Minder?
It'd be weirder if people didn't take notice.
Especially after throwing down with the hot new live streamer "Fist King Girl."
"Hmm..."
Fist King Girl—real name Ha Subin—felt his muscles tense as he watched the replay of his own death.
Watching yourself die was always tough.
Especially getting crumpled like trash in a ball. Ugh, it felt like some shock video.
Was it the chill of fear? His arm, thick as a Parthenon pillar, bulged, forearm and bicep twisting like writhing snakes.
He was just spooked by the gruesome replay, tensing up like usual, but the chat, as always, twisted it their way and erupted in chaos.
He had a line ready for moments like this.
"A foe with some skill, perhaps. But to dare defile me thus? Unworthy as a man. Thy sins shall be atoned with that worthless neck of thine!"
Outdated hot-blooded dialogue. Wait, was it even hot-blooded?
Ha Subin still couldn't tell if his lines stuck to the concept.
He'd stumbled on an old webtoon while cleaning his grandpa's drawer—back when they called them comic books? Anyway, that inspired his stream persona, but to his pure soul, it remained baffling.
"...Yet, his skill was undeniably impressive."
Those weren't just lines to please viewers.
Ha Subin meant every word.
He was a man clinging to the edge of Ranker status.
To be precise, if he ditched Magical Girl for his broadcast gimmick and picked something else, he could aim for High Ranker with his physical prowess.
Sure, his brain-game was a tad—just a smidge!—lacking in expertise, causing score swings... but his control was pro-level.
And to his eyes, that Minder's handling was god-tier.
Reading texts from his editor-slash-cousin, Ha Subin shuddered. Thinking of getting diced up in edits again made his head throb preemptively.
He wondered when he'd ditch this goofy concept and live freely—that was another headache inducer.
Fist King Girl was the type where YouTube subs roughly matched live viewer counts.
More accurately, since he hadn't been editing videos long, his sub count lagged behind his hefty live audience.
That massive live crowd meant users who caught his stream were flooding communities with "Mystery Minder User" tales.
That Thing's Already Dead.
Link Pls.
Retard Bait Meme
Was it the flood of top-tier viewers digging for info? Communities overflowed with Minder posts in seconds.
Minder—and Seongwon's stream—bait thrummed with life, aggro rippling endlessly.
"Well, to be precise, Fist King Girl's stream is the perfect pretext."
Team Leader Cha chuckled as he spoke.
Behind him, Ego Searching Team members hammered keyboards, seeding bait across forums, upvoting like mad.
"It's like... a justification for acting without getting caught. Normal celeb drama? Netizens sniff out opinion control instantly. But one streamer pulling this scale? Too big."
"So, you're saying it's opinion manipulation."
"Eh, that phrasing sounds off."
Cha shrugged.
"But our Ego Team's working just shy of outright manipulation. Best posts cut at 10? We push 7. The last 3 are normies. Not us."
He seemed genuinely convinced his actions were clean, giggling.
"If anything, we just dropped the best cutoff to 3. Like... rural quota admissions. Harmless, right?"
Seongwon fell silent.
Evil or good? Unclear. But one thing was sure.
'Team Leader Cha. Minus 10 points.'
Oblivious to his deduction, Cha cackled like a mad scientist.
"You'll feel the effects next stream. I guarantee. At least 100 viewers from the jump. Starting in hundreds! Muahaha!"
Seongwon felt a twinge of unease.
Can I trust this?
The next day, the moment Seongwon went live at the announced time, her chat exploded.