The Unbeatable Board Game Master
As soon as I got home, I turned on the stream. "Hey everyone."
I glanced at the clock. It was ten minutes past the announced time. I must have gotten too wrapped up in having fun.
"Hehe, sorry about that. I stopped by the arcade and lost track of time…."
"Yeah. I went there and showed off my skills a little."
I had gone undefeated against thirty-nine people. It was a record that would live forever in my streaming history.
The viewers didn’t buy it. In moments like this, actions spoke louder than words.
"Then how about we play a quick board game?"
"Hmm. Gomoku… Any requests?"
Would they freeze up again like last time?
It was about the fandom name. Did they really hate it that much?
"You guys dislike the name EunuchSquad that much? I think it’s cute…."
The word itself wasn’t bad. It was the viewers’ adorable way of saying they wanted to castrate the person who kept calling them worthless.
The viewers refused to understand my feelings.
"Changing it for free feels wrong, so let’s settle it with a bet."
"If you win, I’ll change the fandom name. If I win, I get a three-day break. Sound good?"
They really hated the idea of a break. That’s when the magic words came out.
"Chicken?"
The viewers laughed at me.
That worked every time.
"What game should we play? Any favorites?"
All kinds of game titles flooded the chat. Most of them I’d never even heard of. There was no single game that could satisfy over a thousand viewers. I had to pick one that would please the majority.
I should do a quick reading.
I closed my eyes for a moment. Countless words floated up, and I pieced them together.
"Gomoku?"
The moment I suggested Gomoku, the whole chat leaned toward it. Even I thought it was a solid choice. Linking Gomoku to the chat window let us place stones according to majority vote. It was the perfect game to play together.
I quickly launched the board and connected the chat.
"What do you want to play as? Black or white?"
Just so everyone knows, black goes first and white goes second.
"Nope. First time ever."
I shook my head. I knew the rules, but I had never actually played.
Still, I knew the basics. You win by getting five in a row. When I was little, Manager Lee’s friend used to come over and play, so I’d picked up the fundamentals. It was Go, not Gomoku, but close enough.
"Hmm, fine. But don’t regret it later."
You will, though…
Well, if they said they wouldn’t, there was no need to warn them. And so the bet over the fandom name and my three-day break began.
Since it was the first move, I placed a black stone right in the center. The viewers tried to place theirs beside it. But something felt very wrong.
Corner placement: 15%
"…Are you guys idiots?"
How could fifteen percent of the viewers think placing the stone in the farthest corner was a good idea?
Guess I can’t completely get rid of them…
I had banned so many trolls back when the stream first started, yet plenty were still around. Well, the fact that only this many are left is thanks to all the banning I did.
Fortunately the stone was safely placed next to mine. We kept playing. The game ended in a flash, and by the time it reached the final stage I was bored, so I made the last move. In the end I completed four in a row before the viewers could.
"Like I told you beforehand. Don’t regret it."
This was a fight I was always going to win. Humans start fighting even when there are only two people in a room; getting more than a thousand to work together perfectly? That was impossible.
First, as the winner, I needed to do a little victory dance.
"Then the three-day break is mine! Thanks to all of you, I get to rest!"
"Just watch some female cams or vtubers."
The fact that the same people who would switch to female streamers or vtubers the moment I ended stream were throwing this big a fit over a simple three-day break was ridiculous.
It was a lie. Whenever I visited other streams I saw the same familiar nicknames. The people who only tossed me a thousand won here would casually drop ten-thousand-won donations with perfect manners in those other chats. It always made me laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So about that three-day break…."
It’s already been a month…
I wanted to refuse, but taking the million won and running would destroy my reputation.
"…Sigh. Fine. Since it’s the Chairman asking, I’ll make a special exception."
Shouldn’t you be thanking me?
I graciously gave in and let them play again, yet they were bowing to the Chairman. As expected, the EunuchSquad who threw money at vtubers and female cams couldn’t be trusted.
"So what do you want to do? Still want to go 1000 versus 1?"
Fortunately the EunuchSquad had evolved. They seemed to realize that rushing in together would only make them lose.
"Then discuss it among yourselves. I’ll go get some water."
Perfect timing. I should take this chance to wet my throat.
I stepped out of the soundproof booth and poured myself some cold ice water from the dispenser.
Creak.
When I came out, Manager Lee walked out of his room scratching his stomach.
"What? You didn’t go to work?"
"It’s the weekend."
"Oh, right."
The more I got used to streaming, the more my sense of time seemed to vanish.
"By the way, where’s Mom?"
"No idea. She probably went to pick up Ha-im by car?"
From the phone call I’d overheard, it sounded like they were fighting because Ha-im had said she was sleeping over at a friend’s house.
"Mom really hasn’t changed at all."
"What? Was she that conservative even when she was dating Dad?"
"Of course. Back then she told me my shirt was too provocative and made me button it all the way to the top."
"Wow… that’s insane…."
I couldn’t help but be impressed. Wasn’t the guy usually the conservative one? How did they even end up married?
"She’s loosened up a lot since marrying me."
"Huh, really?"
This was loosened up? I was suddenly curious how strict she had been when she was younger.
"According to her, when she was little they kept all the doors open and her curfew was six o’clock. She thought that was completely normal until now."
"That’s crazy…."
"Well, her family was extremely conservative. It’s a relief we cut ties, but…."
"……."
So that was the story. I felt a little ashamed for only learning it now.
"W-well, I’ll be going!"
I couldn’t handle heavy topics like this. I practically fled back into the soundproof booth.
"Then I’ll make a Discord room. Come on in."
The moment the room was created, a user with the nickname GomokuGrandmaster entered.
Since this was the first time, I figured a quick interview was in order.
"Hello. Nice to meet you. Could you introduce yourself?"
"Ah, yes. Hello. I’m GomokuGrandmaster, chosen by the viewers as their representative for this match."
"That’s quite the nickname. Do you have an official rank?"
"Yes. I’m 7-dan in Go and roughly 6-dan in mobile Gomoku."
Oh…
I could feel the viewers’ burning desire to win at any cost.
"Then what shall we play? Go or Gomoku?"
"Do you know how to play Go?"
"No? I’ve only ever watched."
The only Go games I had ever seen were the ones Manager Lee played with his friend, or my master played with his. I guess I’ll just play by instinct.
"…Then let’s play Go."
"Got it. Switching to Go."
Once again the match with the three-day break and fandom name on the line began. We placed stone after stone.
Hmm, this spot looks better.
People called this feng shui, right? Just like how I passively knew which properties would rise in value, even though this was my first time playing Go, I instinctively knew where to place each stone.
This is actually kind of fun.
While Seong-a enjoyed the game with a completely relaxed expression, her opponent wore the exact opposite.
She’s not a beginner…!
Before he knew it the board had turned against him. He absolutely could not lose. Losing to a beginner? His 7-dan title would cry.
I will win no matter what…!
Two hours had already passed. Everyone watched in silence. It was practically a historic match, with only one person unaware of how legendary it was.
The final stone was placed.
The winner was none other than Seong-a.
"Um… there’s no space left. What should we do now?"
But Seong-a still didn’t realize she had won.
The man’s pride was wounded, but a loss was a loss. He had no choice but to accept it.
It wasn’t a bad experience…
Losing meant there was still room to grow. Having confirmed that, it wasn’t so bad. In fact, he felt more grateful than anything.
"…I lost."
"Huh?"
Suddenly? What just happened?
To figure out the situation I checked the chat.
Why are they reacting like this?
Most of the viewers in my room had suddenly burst into emotional tears.
And that was how I earned my three-day hiatus.