The Great Bet and the Frozen Hell
After getting thoroughly scolded by Mrs. Kim, I trudged back to the soundproof booth and turned the stream on again.
As soon as I started the broadcast, the chat exploded with Mrs. Kim's scolding followed immediately by the viewers' own nagging. I seriously considered turning the stream off again, but I held back.
"I'm alive, aren't I? You guys are all such drama queens."
"It's my own business, so of course I'm casual about it." If it had been someone else's problem, I wouldn't have spoken so lightly.
"Nothing much. By the time I got there, Rona had already taken down everything."
The expected question came, and the lie slipped out naturally. "It really hit me all over again how strong S-Class hunters are."
I completely agreed. Someone like Rona could easily live comfortably without ever touching a stream.
"By the way, why did you start streaming again? Weren't you done for the day?"
"I've been thinking my streams have been way too short lately. It's a bit late, but I figured I'd try extending the broadcast time."
I never expected them to be this happy about longer streams. Guess I'd have to stream for real from now on.
"Anyway, since the stream is back on, let's do some PK—"
'Tch!' I had bought a brand new VR headset specifically to grind some easy PK wins and make up for that last embarrassing death, but the viewers clearly weren't having it.
"Then why don't you guys recommend something? Don't just say no!"
The moment I saw "co-op," my eyes automatically narrowed into a glare. Every time I checked the cafe, there were always posts begging me to play co-op games. I had no idea why they couldn't just play them themselves instead of forcing me.
"What about Skate About?"
"Skate About?" It was a name I'd never heard before. I opened Steam, typed it into the search bar, and sure enough, there it was. The rating? A glorious 3.6.
"What even is this?"
People always want to do something more when they're told not to. I scrolled down and started reading the reviews.
"......"
The very first review was brutal. One hundred and eight people agreed? I kept scrolling.
No matter how far I scrolled, there wasn't a single positive review. Then I found one written as a full essay.
Hello. I wrote this review with the sincere hope that as few people as possible will play this game.
First and foremost, this game is absolute shit. You skate across ice and travel to the far reaches of space. The process of getting there is pure torture^^ There are no checkpoints, so if you fall you start over from the beginning. Luck-based traps are everywhere, and you have to constantly manage your frostbite gauge because of the snow. The ice is slippery by default, and the controls are complete garbage. Please, if you see streamers playing it, do not follow their example. This is why it's used as a punishment game. I hope this review helps you.
One thousand one hundred and six people agreed. Over a thousand people had upvoted that post. But I was different.
"Should I give it a try?"
All I did was say one sentence, and the entire chat lost their minds.
"Well, you don't know if it's shit or delicious until you actually taste it, right?"
Of course some people could tell without tasting, but for some reason I really wanted to give it a shot.
"Plus, playing this will naturally make the stream longer. Isn't that a good thing?"
My persuasion seemed to work. The reaction wasn't half bad.
'Keep King, huh…'
It was a little tempting. Since I was going to play it anyway, maybe I should go all the way? Doing my first Keep King stream with this game didn't sound so bad.
"Should I do a Keep King?"
A bet?
"Is there something you want from me?"
Everyone wanted to see my face. I'd told them my Lame character customization was based on my real face, but no one believed me.
"......"
I guess it was time to give up on explaining. Still, promising to show my face wasn't a bad idea.
"...Fine. If I fail the Keep King, I'll do a face cam."
"But if I win, you all have to accept a penalty too. We still don't have an official fandom name, right?"
"Yes, exactly. If I win, you all have to accept whatever name I choose without complaint!"
IF KEEP KING FAILS, RANDOM FACE CAM DRAW!!!
I honestly hadn't expected much, but they suddenly threw out a condition like this????
Does everyone already have a fandom name they want?
Her body is definitely top tier, so I'd probably still watch, but I don't know...
Before I knew it, a day or two had passed and the viewers were suddenly thrown into emergency mode.
Fuck, she's already at 30%? Whoa
A week passed.
Is there really no way to stop her now…
1. Alpha Male — 32.6%
2. Gentlemen — 29.3%
3. Unicorn — 17.1%
4. Virgin Simps — 15.9%
5. Dick Simps — 5.1%
In the dark early morning, I had kept the stream running for an entire week without ever taking my hands off the keyboard and mouse.
"Huuuaaaam~ I'm so sleepy…"
My eyelids were getting heavier, but thankfully I wasn't at the point where I couldn't hold on.
The viewers were already regretting the bet they had made. They really should have known better.
"Yeah, I already have one in mind."
"No way, telling you in advance would ruin the fun."
Think about the fandom name I chose and tremble in fear. We were almost at the end now.
In front of me floated a round ice disc in the sky. It looked like it would shatter the moment my sharp skates touched it. I stepped on one at random. And miraculously, the disc didn't break. I reached the destination.
When I pressed the button at the destination, the completely frozen Earth returned to its original state, and the endless winter finally receded.
The moment the completion message appeared, a flood of achievement notifications popped up. With the tension finally gone, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed over me. I pushed my chair back and stretched.
"Uuuugh! I'm so tired. I'm never doing a Keep King stream again."
"What simps are you talking about in my stream?" What kind of simps would watch someone like me? They were obviously just fashion simps.
"Anyway, everyone, please accept the results of the bet gracefully."
"Your fandom name is… drumroll please…"
I slammed my desk to build tension.
Get ready!
"I'll reveal it in sixty seconds!"
The moment the question marks started appearing, I pressed the end stream button.