The Bronze Showdown
The chat was flying by at an unbelievable speed. The higher the viewership, the lower the percentage of viewers who actually type in chat—people say it drops to around ten percent. Even so, the chat in a stream with twelve thousand viewers was an absolute deluge compared to one with only five hundred, messages scrolling up the screen in a relentless torrent. Feeling it wash over her entire body, Oh Sorin instinctively hunched her shoulders.
‘Th-there’s so much chat!’
Jina. A top-tier streamer on Twitch. Oh Sorin, who had joined the audition content Jina was hosting, had seen her viewer count hit an all-time high thanks to the influx from the audition, but she had no room to care about that. Jina’s company was so massive that there was even a half-joking rumor that if you fell out with her, you wouldn’t be allowed to stream here at all. Realizing that over ten thousand pairs of eyes were fixed on her, even someone as normally composed and sociable as Oh Sorin couldn’t stop her voice from trembling.
Jina handled it with the ease of a veteran, smoothly steering the broadcast.
The oddly specific example left Oh Sorin flustered. She remembered the time she had gone to her younger brother’s school to drop off something he forgot, and every single window had flown open as the boys inside erupted into cheers at the sight of her. The current situation felt eerily similar, and somehow the tension began to ease.
Oh Sorin’s smile returned. A quick glance at the chat showed the mood wasn’t too bad either.
Even as the chaotic chat continued to scroll, the broadcast moved forward. Jina’s audition content. Though it sounded legitimate, it was really just a project she had started to rescue promising but under-the-radar streamers who hadn’t yet broken out. Gathering people to showcase their talents and spread the word about the stream—that was why Jina had held the audition in the first place.
The unexpected declaration left Jina momentarily speechless. She had said anything was allowed within the time limit, but she never expected to be dragged into it herself. The sheer audacity of the idea actually impressed her. And she wasn’t the only one.
Oh Sorin pressed the advantage.
She could have sworn she heard something crack.
Their match began.
*
A video had been uploaded to YouTube. The title was “I Beat the Big Shot in a 1v1.” The thumbnail showed Oh Sorin triumphantly claiming victory in front of a despairing Jina. Who’s that Oh Sorin girl? A 1v1 against Jina? Jina lost? Is this clickbait? Viewers who saw the title and thumbnail clicked play with all sorts of expectations.
The intro opened with highlights. The short ten-second clip was packed with screams, pain, shrieks, and sheer madness from both Oh Sorin and Jina. Curious about how things had escalated to that point, viewers couldn’t help but watch the full fifteen-minute video. Once they finished, they all opened the comment section to share the funniest moments.
The comments kept rising with every refresh. Views and likes climbed just as steadily. Oh Sorin read through every single one, unable to calm the excitement bubbling inside her at this brand-new sensation. Her own channel. Her own video. Other channels had uploaded clips of her before, but this was different. This was entirely hers. The thought made her chest swell.
Every refresh brought more comments. They all praised how fun the video was, and there were plenty of compliments for her too. The slightly rude moments had been cleanly edited by Raccoon into perfect comedic beats. A few viewers even left comments marveling at the editing skill.
Refresh. Views and comments increased again.
Refresh. Even more.
“Hee, heeheeheehee. Hehehehehe…”
She couldn’t hold it in. Every press of the magical F5 key gifted her another hit of dopamine.
Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.
…Just one more time?
Refresh.