Chapter 26: cherriestastegood
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 26: cherriestastegood
If I remember correctly, I changed my nickname sometime this spring.
I think it was right after I was discharged from the military, back when I was playing a lot of games by myself.
There wasn't any particular reason for it.
My old nickname, [Lemmedischarge], no longer felt relevant, so I changed it to include the name of the VTuber I had recently gotten into, Luka.
Making a nickname with a famous streamer's or pro gamer's name was pretty common in this game, after all.
I thought it would be great for grabbing attention during viewer participation streams, but...
If I had actually been chosen, I probably would have been flamed to hell by the viewers because of my ID.
"...I'll check something and message you."
"You have to check something just to tell me your nickname?" Doah asked, puzzled.
"Uh, you know. Those nicknames that are just a long string of the same letter."
The so-called barcode usernames.
"Yeah."
"I used the letter R for mine, but I can't remember how many there were."
"Oh, I see."
Doah didn't seem to find anything strange about it and readily accepted my explanation.
"Well, let me know then, Oppa."
"Yeah. Go on inside."
Only after Doah had gone back into the building did I wipe the cold sweat from my forehead.
If I had let my guard down for even a second, I would've been totally screwed.
I wouldn't have even needed to say the full name.
If I had just said the first part of my ID, 'Luka,' any chance of us playing together would have been gone.
Back home, I rushed to turn on my computer.
As soon as the screen lit up, I immediately logged into Legends of League.
"Name change... name change... where is it... here it is."
I topped up about ten thousand won in the game's shop and immediately changed my nickname to [RRRRRRR].
With that, phase one was clear.
I'd put out the immediate fire, but I couldn't tell Doah my ID just yet.
The chances were slim, but she might look up my match history.
Even if you change your nickname, some match history sites still show your previous names.
Ugh... thinking about that, it might just be better to make a new account.
Why is playing one game together so damn complicated?
After wracking my brain, I decided to just brute-force it with a sheer number of games.
Even if Doah looks up my history, she probably won't scroll all the way down to dig up my past, right?
I had already been out, and I'd even put my whole body into playing those rhythm games, but I sat down in front of my computer again.
I could feel my eyes getting sore from fatigue.
"Let's just get five games in today..."
Once I've played about twenty games, give or take, I'll ask Doah to play.
Since I decided to play marksman, I pressed the solo queue button to get some practice in, but...
"No... you fucking bastard! Why would you engage there?!"
Only after getting completely wrecked did I remember why I had quit this game for a while.
*
[Unnies! Unnies!]
Hah. These people really aren't the most reliable.
But I felt like I'd go crazy from frustration if I didn't tell someone the story, so I ended up opening Voicecord.
[Yeah? Luka, what's up?]
Right now, Hanbit unnie was the only one online in our friend group.
In my desperation, I messaged her and asked for a voice call.
[Oh, Luka-tti~ It's been a while since I've heard your voice, huh?]
The happiness of hearing her voice after so long was brief.
I immediately launched into my request for advice.
[Unnie. Ah. What do I do?]
[What's wrong?]
When I told her the story of my arcade tour with Taemin Oppa, Hanbit unnie giggled as she listened, clearly amused.
[Wow... that guy's a total fox.]
[A fox? What do you mean?]
[Hey. What kind of guy wipes something off your mouth for you?]
Remembering his face getting closer and closer, I could feel my ears turning red and hot.
[...He probably just thought I looked like a klutz and wanted to clean it up for me.]
[You're just putting up your defenses because you're scared of getting rejected again, you.]
Hanbit unnie had never even seen my face, but she knew me too well.
Am I that easy to read?
No way. I don't think I'm that transparent.
[Ah, but he already hammered the nail in the coffin by saying I wasn't his type! How can I not be scared!]
I knew it too.
If this were a date between a guy and a girl with no backstory, it would probably lead to a relationship without much difficulty.
But that's not the case.
I've already been rejected.
And I was rejected so pathetically, without even being able to say anything back!
How could I not be scared?
It was true that the distance between me and Taemin Oppa was closing, but nothing was set in stone.
[Anyway, so you're worried about what to do if he figures out you're Luka from your game ID, right?]
[Yeah...]
[Is he interested in VTubers or anything like that?]
[No, I don't think so, but our group project involves a lot of research on that stuff, so you never know...]
Playing games with Taemin Oppa was a good thing in itself.
If we played more games and got closer, our relationship might progress.
But if, by some one-in-a-million chance, he saw my ID and figured out my identity...
What would happen if he found out I was the virtual idol, Luka?
Thinking he'd just go, 'Oh, I see,' and move on was way too optimistic.
Why would a super handsome guy like Taemin Oppa watch something like a VTuber?
If anything, he'd probably hate them.
He'd probably think I'm just some girl hiding behind a 2D model, streaming for otakus...
The thought that even if things worked out dramatically and we got together, we might be a sinking ship, quickly made me depressed.
[Just make a new account.]
Did she notice I was getting gloomy?
She offered a solution as if to say, 'Why are you even worried about that?'
[Besides, your fans can look up the match history of the account you're using now, right?]
[Right.]
[If you duo with him on that account, you might attract some weirdos.]
[Ah... you're right.]
Until now, I'd always streamed by myself when I played, so I'd never had that kind of problem, but her point was valid.
Even when I play with the unnies, people might start investigating, asking 'Isn't that her boyfriend?' If it was just the two of us, who knows what kind of rumors would start.
If he got dragged into something like that because of me, it would be game over.
Game over in the ugliest way possible.
[Making a new one isn't a problem, but then I'd have to level it up all over again from the beginning...]
[Well, if that's too much trouble, then you just can't play with him.]
It was annoying how she was so blunt, but she was right.
[...I'm making one right now.]
[If you want, I can play a few games with you? I'm free this evening.]
[That would be great! Unnie, get on right now.]
Still, if I can just get it to around level 10, I should have all the basics, right?
I wouldn't have many champions, but as long as I had a few that I could play, that would be enough.
And since I wouldn't be playing alone but with my unnie, I was always up for it.
[So Luka, what position are you gonna play?]
[I'm going support!]
[Wow... look at you, throwing a fit to play support just so you can be next to your prince charming. You little brat.]
[That's not it! I'm actually good at support!]
[Whatever. Don't you remember back when we used to play a lot, you had some kind of epiphany and spouted a bunch of bullshit while one-tricking that bearded old man all day?]
While steadfastly ignoring my unnie's slander, my fingers were busy creating a new ID when I hit a snag.
[Unnie, what should I name my ID?]
[How about 'wherehaveyoubeendarling'?]
[You're crazy.]
Even though I thought it was a truly insane idea, it was so funny that I burst out laughing.
[Ah, Unnie, be serious.]
[Is 'TakeaHint' no good?]
[I'll just figure it out myself.]
Staring intently at the monitor, I decided to just pick something I liked.
Ah. Let's go with that.
[cherriestastegood.]
It wasn't a name that was obviously dropping a hint or anything, but it did contain a reference to the cherry ice cream I ate with Oppa.
It was a nickname I made just to commemorate it for myself.
[So what's your nickname, Luka-tan? I'll send a friend request.]
[It's 'cherriestastegood'.]
I sent her the nickname through the Voicecord chat and stretched.
[Wow... that's bold.]
[Huh? What is?]
What's so bold about it?
[What? You didn't do it on purpose?]
What kind of hidden meaning could there be in 'cherries taste good'?
I still didn't get it, even after thinking about it again. I wanted to ask her instead.
[What did you think it meant, Unnie?]
[In English, 'cherry' is slang for, you know. That.]
Cherry is cherry.
Does it have another meaning?
[I don't know. What is it?]
[It's slang for a virgin in English.]
Wait a minute... so if you interpret my ID literally...
[Ah! Seriously! Unnie!]
I knew perfectly well that Hanbit unnie was wearing earphones, but I just screamed my head off anyway.