Two Endings

“I almost said that… but I shouldn’t, right?”

Stop! The chat is exploding.

No donations pouring in—just a barrage of emotes from the crowd.

Damn it. My big mouth. Just like that, the money-printing event is over.

But more than that—my comment just now. It’ll be fine, right? They took it as a joke, right?

Coordinates are already flying around, making everything even louder, but the truly terrifying part is that Haeun still hasn’t said a word.

What if Haeun just declares me dead on the spot? Oh my god.

Sure, having zero viewers was already my normal, so that part doesn’t really matter.

But if dozens of people start standing guard every stream just to cause trouble, even the regular viewers will all vanish.

I finally found a new hobby. I can’t let that happen.

In times like this, the best move is a full sliding dogeza—forehead straight to the floor.

“Haeun-nim. What I just said was a slip of the tongue. I have a lot of useless thoughts running around in my head, and one of them just… escaped. Twice more… well, that’s hard, so four times more—I won’t do it again.”

“Ah, Haeun-nim, even a thousand won is plenty. I blocked it, huh. Manager? Of course I’ll give it to you.”

I handed over manager and waited a moment. Chat started rolling in.

“No no. It’s fine. You’ve already given so much money, and I banned that guy, so it’s okay. And even though I didn’t know at the time, I still cursed using Haeun-nim’s name. I’m sorry.”

“Aigoo, thank you.”

Is this what a mega-corp feels like? The money and grace she bestows are as vast as the sea. I worship you, Great Haeun. From this moment on, Great Haeun and I are one body…

Never mind. Excuse me, Teacher Haeun. Was wrapping things up supposed to wrap me up instead?

What is this? Looking for a fight?

The part of me that wanted to say “Isn’t that obvious?” and the part that wanted to deny it were locked in a fierce standoff when—

Thankfully she wasn’t out to kill me. My wildly trembling pupils finally calmed down.

“That’s true, but… as you can see, the numbers. I’m scared that if I unlock it, a swarm of teachers will just pile on me.”

Save me, Haeun-emon.

I carefully unlocked chat. It was better than before.

Still, following the wise words of Sensei Jirobo—“When five people gather, one of them is trash”—the occasional curse still slipped through.

But it was too fast. A cute newbie like me was struggling.

“Uh… I’d love that, but are you sure it’s okay?”

As expected, experience doesn’t go anywhere. In no time the chat returned to normal.

The firepower had dropped compared to earlier, but it was still scrolling several times faster than usual.

Oh. At this level, is this tourist-attraction restaurant tier? Blowing up in less than a week—maybe I’ve got talent?

Chat had more or less returned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to its usual state.

Contrary to my expectation that she would leave, Haeun stayed a little longer and kept helping moderate.

As time passed, only the cold corpses that had been hammered by the iron mace and our forest friends who had instantly switched masks remained.

She’s not leaving yet? This is starting to feel a bit awkward.

Even if the root ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cause was in her room, I had my share of fault too, yet the other side was being so low-key about it that it left a weird aftertaste.

Are all mega-corps like this? Perfect personality on top of everything else? As expected of Great Haeun.

Leaving it like this still felt off, so I had to do something for her. As a tiny streamer there wasn’t much I could offer on stream.

Then the one thing I’m good at… there’s only one, right?

“Haeun-nim? Do you enjoy eating food, by any chance?”

“Then how about we count the money you sent earlier as meal money and you come visit my restaurant sometime? On the house.”

“You wanna die, pig? Where do you see a pig this slim? And it’s not a straw. I won’t even turn the stream on that day, and I won’t ask Haeun-nim to turn hers on either. Honestly, receiving three hundred thousand won just feels too heavy.”

I would’ve been grateful enough just for the apology, but she even gave money—it was seriously burdensome.

Even so, I had to return at least as much as I received.

“If it feels awkward you can refuse. For reference, I have a business license and it’s a completely normal, legitimate restaurant.”

She said she’d think about it, but it was probably a polite rejection.

Honestly I hadn’t expected much when I offered. Just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that Korean-style meal-promise vibe?

Obvious, really—if I gave a homeless person ten thousand won and they felt so bad they invited me to their shop for a free meal, I’d also go “Why me?”

“Well, can’t be helped then. I’ll send the restaurant address by email, so if you’re ever nearby just drop in for a meal.

This is the restaurant owner talking, not Streamer Jian, so don’t feel pressured.”

I wondered if giving out the address was okay, but she didn’t seem like the type to do anything bad with it.

I’d done everything I could. If fate brought us together again someday, we’d meet.

The moment Haeun left, the viewers who had finished their business all stampeded after her.

I feel it anew every time—mega-corps really are something else.

Most of them drained away, leaving fifty viewers. Back to neighborhood hole-in-the-wall status.

Some people might call that a small number, but compared to yesterday’s stream alone the viewer count had more than doubled.

They say a beautiful person leaves beauty even in the place they stayed. That saying was exactly right.

It’s a famous saying you can find just by searching the internet, yet here they are force-hating again.

Of course I had seen it myself.

I believe everyone already knows exactly where that line comes from.

For reference, our archenemy HaeunLoveDog is getting blacklisted after word went out to both rooms and every streamer Haeun knows.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Medetashi medetashi.

“A lot happened today, huh?”

Isn’t that obvious? It’s not like I’ll die if I don’t stream, but there’s no need to make enemies either.

Especially when that enemy is a Gigantamax dinosaur compared to me.

“What do you mean I beat you up. It’s because I feel how precious you all are for watching my stream.

Think about it. Do you go around saying ‘Hey you fucking bastard’ to your company coworkers? But with high-school friends you just do it. That’s what this is. Got it?”

“Ah. Sorry. I should’ve asked first whether you even have a company or friends. My mouth really is a menace—yesterday too.”

Sorry sorry.

They’re having fun. Seeing chat back to normal puts my heart at ease.

“So what now.”

I feel like I prepared something for today, but with all the chaos my head is completely empty.

“What do you mean not doing it. Can’t you see the stock simmering over there?”

It still needs five more hours of boiling. So what now for real.

“Dinner? I should eat, but maybe because I’m drained nothing’s coming to mind. Should we just wrap it here?”

There’s plenty to do. I just don’t do it because it doesn’t fit the stream concept. If I turn it off I’ll play games and watch anime.

“Yeah? But I’m not sure this laptop can handle it. Wait a sec.”

While chatting with the viewers I finished installing the game.

If I’d known it would come to this I should’ve bought something with a bit more power.

If it really doesn’t work I’ll just turn it off.

“You guys told me to do this, okay? Don’t flame me if it’s boring.”

Humanity.

One of the three great demon games—start it after lunch and you’ll only quit when it’s lunch again. A true god-tier game.

Simply put: pick a leader, develop your nation from the prehistoric age all the way to the modern era, and win by fulfilling certain conditions.

It’s not exactly a great streaming game. The person playing has fun, but from a viewer’s perspective it’s slow and “what even is this.”

Honestly even I only use other people’s videos of it as sleep aids, so that says everything.

But actually playing it is fun. Probably.

I finished setting the leader and hit start. The loading screen and narration appeared.

From the first spark of life beneath the waves, through the great beasts of the Stone Age, to the first upright-walking ancestors of humanity—you have come a long way.

From the cradle of civilization to the exploration of the stars, your greatest mission now begins.

This narration always hits me with pure hype no matter how many times I hear it. The previous numbering was more fun, but I play the sixth one just for this one line.

“Guys, isn’t the narration fire? I get emotional every single time. Kids?”

Chat went dead silent. Viewer count: ten.

“Hello? Where’d everyone go?”

No. You guys told me to turn it on.

Fastest return to tiny-streamer status.