Merhen, You're Our Hero!!!

Merhen, you're our hero!!! If you asked her viewers to describe the streamer Merhen in one word, most would say "clown." Her slightly off-kilter behavior, her lighthearted and friendly tone, her prankster personality with zero shame—everything about her delights her audience. That's why they could never see her as a pro gamer, someone who's actually good at games.

With her established image, even when she flashed some artistic plays, they went wild but couldn't help doubting. Is Merhen really that good? Isn't Raider just an easy game that's embarrassing to even call souls-like? Isn't calling her a pro gamer after just a bit of play totally overkill?

It wasn't weird. No one watching the stream had actually played Raider. No one knew how brutally hard it was. So how could they grasp how insane Merhen's performance was?

But those doubts didn't last long. She was fast. No hitches in her progress. No enemy scared her at all. And honestly, there was nothing to fear. The attacks she'd taken so far could be counted on one hand—and those were unavoidable ambushes from blind spots. With skills like that on display nonstop, what was there to fear? It didn't even look like a first-timer playing.

Doubts were impossible now. It would almost be blasphemy. That serious expression on Merhen's face—one you'd never expect—her sharp eyes locked on the game without a hint of a smile—fit her perfectly in this moment.

"...My eyes hurt from focusing too hard. Gonna take a quick break."

She said that, then pulled up the party settings screen—just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in case of ambushes—and pressed her thumbs firmly into her eyelids.

This was the moment her viewers etched a new image of Merhen into their minds.

And the emotions surging through Merhen right then———

I rubbed my eyelids and sneaked a peek at the chat.

Yeah, reactions like that kept hyping me up, so I overdid it and botched the pacing. Even taking a few hits wouldn't have hurt my play at all. I know that. I know, but... what can I say? Brain pickled in dopamine, brakes busted.

...Anyway, time to shut it down. In this state, Raider is impossible even if I died and came back.

"Alright, that's Raider for today."

Of course, viewers wouldn't take that at face value. Not at a climax or anything—just mid-map-clearing, and I announce I'm quitting? They'd go "suddenly?" And as a streamer, I had a duty to clear it up.

Tell the truth? ...Nah. Truth is a bad move. "I focused too hard and burned all my stamina, can't go on"—who'd buy that? Most would call bullshit. I'd think it was crap too.

So now was the time for a white lie over truth.

...What lie, though? Brain's too sleepy for ideas.

And then one hit me.

...Kinda iffy, but too tired to think—let's just go for it.

"Focused too much, brain and eyes wrecked, super sleepy now."

The chat flared up in tantrum mode, but it didn't sway me—I'd already decided deep down. I slumped back in my chair, voice low and sleepy, to gently clear the misunderstanding.

"...I never said sleep stream?"

I skimmed the reactions with one eye while switching the stream to cam-only. Then I slapped some big text on screen.

"I'm sleepy, you hate sleep streams. Logical solution: nap stream. Cool if I crash ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a bit like this?"

That'd tank public opinion straight to hell, so I struck first with my ace.

"Oh, and to kill boredom during the nap stream, I'll unban voice messages. But cross the line and it's permaban, so behave."

I set an alarm in the corner for an hour later. Not to actually wake up, though. With earbuds in, it was cover for sleeping. More precisely, prep for content.

Merhen desperately trying to nap. Viewers trying to ruin it with voice messages. A setup where they can troll me one-sidedly—especially with voices, which were usually banned? They'd eat it up.

As expected, chat quieted way down from before. Perfect. No need to check sentiment anymore. Priority one: max brain/eye recovery during nap stream. At least to a good stopping point in Raider and enough time left to fill the slot.

...Yeah. I'm not freeloading the stream. I'm gearing up for fierce battle...!!!

10 minutes later.

"Ahh, ahh, aaahh, ugh, uh......"

"———You crazy bastard!! Where the hell did you get that from!!!"

...Looks like the nap stream was gonna be way harder than I thought.