Viewbot?
Viewbot?
"I-Is this for real?"
$2.6 billion.
Even after taking out all the taxes, bringing it back to Korea meant a whopping 1 trillion won.
Unable to believe it, she pinched her cheek hard.
All she felt was pain, and seeing as she didn't wake up from a dream, this was really reality.
"Powerball 1st place...?"
She glanced at the chat window.
- Viewbot? Why is the viewer count like this?
- No wait, holy fuck, what do you mean 1st place?
- Is this for real?
- Explain the fake setup!
- Fake
- I'm so fucking jealous
- Hello Rue-ya actually I'm your childhood friend from when you were little and I have no money lately so could you lend me just 10 million won
- Crazy
- Legend
- ???
- Are you crazy?
.
.
.
The chat speed was faster than any stream she had ever seen.
The confirmed viewer count was 60,000.
No, 65,000.
70,000....
The viewer count was shooting up like crazy.
At this rate, it looked ready to break past 100,000.
She thought that maybe she could achieve the highest concurrent viewer record for a Korean livestream.
[ VTuberIsABaby ]-nim has donated 1,000 won.
- Explain the fake setup!
[ TooLazyToLogIn ]-nim has donated 1,000 won.
- This isn't clickbait, right?
[ SmartWoodpecker ]-nim has donated 1,000 won.
- Hehe, just 100k won for me
Viewers she had never seen before expressed their egos through donations.
Amidst the madness of the chat, she was still frozen, engulfed in bewilderment.
She had been happy when she won 2nd place.
Now that she won 1st place, how should she put it... it just didn't feel real.
When she had just become a woman, she felt a similar way to this.
The moment she faced something absurd.
An inexplicable, subtle feeling.
On top of that, with the apocalyptic vibe of the chat joining in, she felt like she was truly panicking.
It was right then.
[ CameAfterCourt ]-nim has donated 10,000 won.
- Block your camera right now.
A single chat message snapped her mind back to alertness.
A message from a viewer named 'CameAfterCourt'.
[ CameAfterCourt ]-nim has donated 10,000 won.
- Right now, Rue-nim's personal safety could be under serious threat. Block your camera and microphone immediately, and quietly move as far away from your current lodging as possible. Absolutely do not end the stream while doing so.
[ CameAfterCourt ]-nim has donated 10,000 won.
- The moment Rue-nim turns off the stream, a VOD will remain and everyone will be able to know Rue-nim's location. Do not end the stream until you arrive at a safe location. Turn off only the camera and microphone feeds, pack minimal belongings, and step outside right now.
The viewers expressed doubt at the donation messages that suddenly rained on their parade.
- ?
- What nonsense is this all of a sudden?
- ?
- Why are you being creepy?
- That message is fucking long, are you the only one writing here?
She couldn't easily brush off those chat messages.
[ CameAfterCourt ]-nim has donated 10,000 won.
- I am a practicing lawyer who can verify my identity. You must evacuate to a safe place before Rue-nim's information spreads across American communities.
Memories of being victimized by a shitty stalker suddenly flashed through her mind.
Right now, she was in danger.
Seeing how nearly 100,000 people had already rushed in, news of her Powerball jackpot win had likely already spread to online communities across the entire country.
And soon, it would spread to the US as well.
Someone among them might come with ill intentions to extort her winning ticket.
- What? Are they really a lawyer?
- Getting fucking scary all of a sudden
- What?
- Now that I think about it, it's true. Isn't the streamer in fucking grave danger right now?
- I heard there are lots of crimes targeting Powerball winners
- OMG
- Fuck, the atmosphere turned into a horror movie out of nowhere
- Is this a thriller?
English began to flicker into view amid the chaotic chat window.
[ PowerDramon ]-nim has donated 1,000 won.
- Is this real?
Messages from Americans.
[ Rue ] : Opening Powerball tickets while traveling in the US before quitting streaming
- Viewer count : 135,230
- Just chatting
The viewer count was increasing at a speed impossible in Korea.
"Ah, holy shit."
Only then did her senses snap back to reality.
She switched the camera and microphone to OFF in the stream settings screen.
She inserted the winning Powerball ticket between the pages of her passport.
So it wouldn't get pickpocketed, she shoved the passport into her pocket and zipped it up.
When she arrived at the hotel lobby, the front desk clerk turned their head in confusion.
They seemed to ask where she was going, but she ignored them and walked past. She had already paid upon check-in.
A yellow taxi pulled up to a stop in front of her.
The driver's window rolled down.
"Where to?"
She didn't know. First, she just had to get out of here.
"Any hotel please."
The taxi driver gripped the steering wheel without saying much.
'Is it safe?'
She checked the thick bulge of the passport felt inside her pocket.
The thin paper caught slightly between her fingers indicated that the Powerball ticket was safe and sound.
Praying that this taxi driver didn't know she was the Powerball winner,
she lifted her phone to check the stream.
- What's with the sudden horror movie vibe
- Dd-dd-dd-dd
- What, I came because it hit SilBe (Real-Time Best), why is it a black screen?
- She's currently moving locations in case her address gets doxed
- Hello Korean V-tuber
- Runnnnn
- Isn't it fake?
- Power ball is real?
- What's up with the viewer count breaking 300,000?
- Did the coordinates get pinned in the US? People are flooding in all of a sudden
- You're telling me this isn't a viewbot? LOL
*
"...Augh."
Along with the sound of the front door closing, a woman threw herself straight onto the sofa.
Her name was Emily Kim.
She was a Korean-American lawyer practicing in Los Angeles, USA.
Today, after finishing a grueling schedule, she barely managed to return home.
"I'm gonna die..."
She took off her jacket and tossed it over the sofa armrest.
Although she desperately wanted to lie down in bed and sleep right this second,
Emily immediately sat down in front of her computer.
"Gotta watch my babies."
Emily had an indispensable hobby.
Watching livestreams.
And VTubers, specifically.
As a hardcore VTuber otaku, Emily made sure to watch streams from various VTubers every single day without fail.
Being bilingual, she didn't discriminate between America and Korea,
but on days like today when reality beat her down, she craved the voices from her homeland, Korea.
However, it was currently 2:00 PM in Korea.
It was too early for big-name VTubers to start streaming.
Naturally, Emily opened a VTuber discussion forum.
'Is there anything fun at this hour?'
Scanning the posts, her mouse cursor stopped at one article.
"...Jackpot?"
Suddenly, stories about a small-time VTuber named 'Rue' winning 1st place in the Powerball began spamming the community.
Entering the stream through the link, Emily was able to confirm that the community posts were real.
"...She's broadcasting that live right now?"
And in America, no less?
Switching back into lawyer mode, she examined the situation coolly.
Right now, this VTuber named Rue was in immense danger.
[ CameAfterCourt ]-nim has donated 10,000 won.
- Block your camera right now.
She poured in donations from the funds she had recharged in advance.
Fortunately, Rue understood what she was saying and put it into action.
Thirty minutes had passed since then.
- Streamer, what are you doing
- Came here because I heard someone won 2.6 billion dollars, but it's been a black screen for 30 minutes. What are you doing?
- What's the situation?
- ???
- The streamer is filming a thriller right now
- R-uh-hee-hung-reng-rrr
- Hello Rue-ya, I'm your long-lost ex-boyfriend and
- Rue-ya, it's halmeoni, your halabeoji is in critical condition
- Eung-ae-eung-ae-eung-ae-ung? A-ga-ga-ga-gak
- Almighty Akart, protect me with your almighty light, almighty...
- You must believe in the Lord. If you do not believe in the Lord, you will go to hell.
Ultimately, the viewer count surpassed 100,000.
It was an inevitable outcome.
Since all kinds of internet communities were already being plastered with news about Rue.
With zero chat moderation taking place, a chaotic mess unfolded in the chat window.
In the midst of attention seekers, trolls, profanity, and raw unfiltered chatter being tossed around:
[ Chat window has been frozen. ]
[ Only the streamer and managers can participate in chat. ]
Rue, who had vanished, reappeared and paused the chat.
- Rue : .
- Rue : Is CameAfterCourt-nim here?
[ < CameAfterCourt > has become a manager. ]
Now, there were only two people who could type in chat.
- CameAfterCourt : Yes, I am here.
- Rue : I am currently moving in a taxi.
- Rue : Please tell me what I should do.
Emily wrote down the advice she had prepared.
- CameAfterCourt : The most important thing is to absolutely not rush to claim the prize. Powerball prize money won't disappear just because you don't claim it today. Even if someone claiming to be police, a lawyer, or Rue-nim's family/acquaintance approaches you, never trust them until they are verified.
- CameAfterCourt : I will post my attorney verification as a secret post on Rue-nim's channel board. After arriving at a safe location, please look up my name and state bar license status in the US directly to verify.