How Did I End Up Gaming With a Famous VTuber?
It somehow happened that I ended up playing games with a famous VTuber. The surprising part was that I wasn't the one who sent the duo request first. I didn't even send the friend request. Everything was initiated by the famous VTuber herself.
『Spike planted!』
"Watch out. There's an enemy on the right."
Luckily, Hyume-chan was fluent in Korean, so there was no trouble communicating. We went on a winning streak like that.
After securing seven straight wins, we started some light small talk.
『Chuwang, you're really good at games! Is this seriously your first time?』
"Y-yes…."
Feeling embarrassed, I scratched my cheek. I'd only ever heard compliments through chat. This was the first time hearing it in her actual voice.
『More importantly, you said you're a streamer, right? Don't you do YouTube?』
"No, I don't have the time…."
"I might not do it at all. Do you really need to curse at me like that?"
There had once been a post on the cafe where a viewer asked if I would consider doing YouTube. The guy had even prepared a whole PowerPoint. But it seemed like too much hassle, and I'd have to hire an editor, so I'd firmly decided against it.
『Would you like to play another game with me? Is there anything you want to play?』
"Uh… the thing is, right now…."
『Why?』
"I'm about to end the stream…."
The moment the word "ending stream" left my mouth, the chat exploded into chaos. Wait, don't I usually end streams anyway?
"Yeah, so I've already done half. I have a raid scheduled for tonight."
I had plans to raid with the Paladin tonight. I'd originally planned to stream while doing some practice runs, but the viewers' backlash had made that impossible.
"I absolutely cannot half-ass it."
This was my first try in this life. I wanted to end it with a successful memory.
『Chuwang, do you play LaMae by any chance?』
"Yes, but the viewers seem really upset."
They said they didn't want to watch the raid, so I was planning to turn off the stream and do it privately. I had no idea what they were complaining about now.
『U-um… could I join you?』
"Huh? Together?"
『I-if you don't want to, you don't have to! I-I'm not trying to pressure you or anything…』
Hyume-chan kept explaining herself, rambling on. She must have thought she was being a burden. It really didn't matter to me, though…
"Sure, let's go together."
『R-really?』
"Yeah. I was going to turn off the stream and run the raid anyway. So everyone…."
When I tried to end the broadcast, the viewers frantically tried to stop me.
"……."
Earlier they told me to turn off the stream for the raid, and now they wanted me to keep it on. I had no idea what their standards were.
"…Everyone, thank you for watching!"
Eventually I got so annoyed that I ended the stream, logged into LaMae, and met up with Hyume-chan at the town square. Looking at the avatar she was wearing, it seemed her class was Thief. I checked her character info window to see how geared she was. She wasn't quite at my level, but she had surprisingly solid endgame specs.
『Oh, but Chuwang, you're a Mage?』
"Ugh…!"
When Hyume-chan pointed out that my class was Mage, it felt like a dagger to the heart. Damn, is this what paranoia feels like?
Suddenly, a question popped into my mind.
"…Um, are Mages considered trash on the Japanese server too?"
『No. Actually, there aren't any Mages on the Japanese server at all.』
"……!"
No Mages? What did that even mean? Was there some other equivalent class?
『There's a class called Shaman instead of Mage.』
"Then its performance…."
I asked while desperately hoping my worst fears weren't true. But Hyume-chan just gave me a thumbs-up.
『It's 0-tier, obviously.』
"……."
Thud!
The shocking news made me collapse on the spot and faint.
A world without Mages, where the closest equivalent class—the Shaman—was 0-tier? What kind of hellscape was that?
『C-Chuwang, are you okay? Get up, quick!』
Hyume-chan patted my shoulder, her eyes glistening with tears.
Right. I can't die before Mages get buffed.
"I'm fine."
I quickly stood up and brushed myself off. If they didn't buff Mages in the next balance patch, I would curse the entire Kuzu company—from the CEO down to the newest intern—with three generations of hair loss.
We headed to the meeting spot where we were supposed to link up with the Paladin.
『You're quite late.』
"Haha, sorry. I got caught up in a game…."
I scratched my head. It looked like he'd been waiting a while. I felt bad.
The Paladin sighed and turned his gaze toward Hyume-chan standing beside me.
『By the way, who is this person next to you?』
『Ah, we met while gaming. She's a super famous Japanese YouTuber!』
『Hehe, that's embarrassing…』
『A YouTuber, huh…』
The Paladin kept staring at Hyume-chan.
『Chuwang, how's your Japanese?』
"Of course it's good! Hyume-chan, I speak Japanese well, right?"
I asked with full confidence, but Hyume-chan avoided my eyes.
『Umm… well, you see…』
She hesitated to answer. Hadn't she understood me when I said "sokomate" earlier?
『I think I get the picture. Let's get going.』
In the end, my Japanese proficiency remained a mystery as we entered the raid in three-player mode.
The first boss, 'Akira,' appeared before us.
[I won't let you get away with this!]
Even though he was a Demon Army Commander on the story side, he wasn't anything special. Since he was an older boss, his patterns were simple and easy to dodge.
We fought the boss while chatting.
『So you're saying you might come to Japan?』
"Yes."
Hyume-chan seemed shocked when I mentioned I might visit Japan.
『Why are you only telling me now?!』
"We only met today, didn't we?"
『Still!』
Her excitement rising, Hyume-chan offered to be my personal Japan tour guide if I came. But things didn't go exactly as I wanted.
『We have a new boss trial scheduled then, so it's not possible.』
『Hiiiing….』
At the Paladin's reminder, Hyume-chan's energy completely dropped.
"Hey, you never know. We might clear it on the first try."
Even if the trial date overlapped with my Japan trip, if we managed a quick clear, the timing might still work out.
『We're only the second team.』
"……."
He really knew how to leave a person speechless. Everyone had good enough gear for endgame content, but our raid group's main goal was to have fun. Clearing on the first try was just a bonus. Since our motivation for first-clearing was lower than other groups, struggling was inevitable.
I chuckled.
"Dodge. There's a horn coming up from under your feet."
『……!』
The Paladin managed to avoid the horn pattern rising from the ground thanks to my warning.
"Pfft. If you have time to pay attention to that, focus on the patterns."
『…….』
The Paladin suddenly turned off his mic.
"What? Are you sulking?"
『…….』
He really wasn't speaking. Sigh. He could be so childish sometimes.
I decided to ignore the Paladin for now, and the three of us continued fighting different bosses. One hour passed, then two. Two hours became four.
『Hwaaaaaam~』
After about four hours, Hyume-chan yawned, clearly exhausted.
"Are you getting tired?"
『Ah, n-no, I'm fine! I can keep going!』
"If you're tired, tell me now. Otherwise we'll be here for another four hours."
『…….』
At the mention of another four hours, Hyume-chan's voice disappeared for a moment.
『…I'm tired.』
In the end, Hyume-chan surrendered, and we hit the abandon button to leave the raid.
After abandoning the raid, Hyume-chan apologized to me profusely.
『I'm so sorry! My stamina couldn't keep up!』
"It's okay. If you're tired, you should log off and rest."
『I'll send you my LINE ID in chat later, so please contact me often!』
I waved as Hyume-chan logged out. It was a shame. I wanted to talk more.
『Well then, I should also…』
I grabbed the shoulder of the Paladin, who was trying to sneak away.
"Where do you think you're going? You still have to practice with me."
『…….』
No escaping this time. We continued our usual raid practice as always.
During one of the runs, the Paladin asked me a question.
『Do you have any plans to visit America?』
"America?"
Out of nowhere?
"Hmm… will you be my guide?"
『……』
No answer. I guess that meant no guide.
"If you're not going to show me around, why did you even ask?"
『Ahem, my apologies.』
"Focus instead of talking nonsense. You know what happens if you do that during a trial, right?"
"Yes, yes."
We roughly ran the raid for another four hours before parting ways. I immediately went to bed and fell asleep.
Then a sudden doubt hit me.
What is it? I feel like I'm forgetting something…
I thought hard about it.
Yeah, better not think about it.
Thinking about it would only give me a headache. Besides, more than anything, I just wanted to sleep.
"Ugh…."
Bright sunlight poured through the window to greet me. I slowly rubbed my eyes and got up. What was Mrs. Kim doing, not waking me up at this hour?
I checked my phone first to see what time it was.
12:39
There were strangely a lot of missed calls from Rona.
Did something happen in the middle of the night?
Riiiiing~!
"……!"
The phone suddenly rang. I answered it immediately.
"Unnie, why are you only picking up now!"
As soon as I answered, I heard Rona's urgent voice. I was worried something had actually happened.
"Calm down and tell me slowly. What's going on?"
"There's a press conference soon! Hurry up and wake that guy up!"
Ah. So that's what I'd forgotten.