Watch the Broadcast as a Broadcast

"No, hey, can’t you tell I’m confused too?"

-You didn’t even turn on your cam. How are we supposed to tell, Hazy Hazy…

-The important thing is that’s not the issue, okay?

-Explain yourself

-Do it

-Explain

-Hesia, does your boss know your friends?

-What is wrong with the streamer? Does he seriously have something going on?

-Is this really the same Hazy who was hovering around a hundred average viewers just a few days ago? My chest is swelling with pride….

"No, even if you put it like that…."

I honestly had no idea what was happening either.

I’d been shoved into a corner so suddenly that my brain had just short-circuited, and now what? Talk later? And we’re supposed to switch to casual speech too? What was this?

What I remembered most clearly, though, was what Yura-nim had said in the middle of all that.

Hey, hurry up and scatter! That’s it! Today’s goal accomplished!

Maybe the fact that I’d casually called Si-a-nim by her name had suddenly turned the whole room into a “quick, disband now” situation, and that was somehow the goal?

Why was that the goal in the first place? Ugh, my head hurt. The more I thought about it, the worse it got, and the viewers were demanding an explanation in a collective frenzy like they’d all been soaked in madness, so I couldn’t even think straight.

In the end, I decided to call it a stream and get out.

"Ah, I don’t know either. No matter how I look at it, isn’t this just them messing with me?"

-Nope.

-Lucia allows you to speak casually? Wow, that’s not easy.

-I mean, calling her Si-a-nim is one thing, but casual speech is a whole different story.

-Yep, yep, this is totally a streamer-logging-off move.

"Yeah. I’m ending the stream."

"No, what am I supposed to spill? I’m telling you, I don’t know. Go ask Si-a-nim!"

The moment I looked like I was about to end the stream, the viewers started threatening to run off and never come back tomorrow. It was like being surrounded by a pack of younger cousins who had gone completely feral and were whining their heads off at me. Not easy.

What was I even supposed to do now? While I was still thinking that over, a hosting alert rang out.

"What is this now—huh?"

-?

-??

-A host?

-Sudden refugees...?

-Take in the refugees~

-Is this the newbie’s room?

-Not refugees, isn’t this Columbus? They’re being colonized right now.

-He only has a thousand average viewers, and he’s getting a twenty-thousand-person host? lol

"What is this even…."

On top of everything else, Si-a-nim had suddenly sent me a host. My head hurt. I finally understood what people meant when they said their heads felt like they were going to split open.

I really had no idea. For now, the only thing to do was get out of the situation.

"I don’t know, I really didn’t hear anything, and I don’t know what’s going on either, so let’s sort it out tomorrow."

-Come to think of it, don’t you have the day off tomorrow?

-Wow, this little punk is trying to push it off until his break day.

-You think we’d let you get away with that?

-Why go if you can just explain yourself and leave?

-So you’re really running, huh?

"Ah, I’ll stream tomorrow. I’m saying I’ll stream."

"Hey! I’m telling you, I don’t know! Can’t you see I’m brain-dead right now?"

-You didn’t even turn on your cam. How are we supposed to know, lol.

-lololol he’s really mad

-He’s for real, lololololol

-Okay, okay, see you tomorrow, tomorrow lol

-But then why did the boss lady…?

-What even is this?

-Wow, he’s got a veteran streamer’s exit timing.

"Yeah, I got a little worked up too. Sorry, and see you tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who watched today."

Afraid the viewers might change their minds, I hurried through my sign-off. I was about to click end stream when I spotted Yura-nim in the list of live streamers.

"Ah, cancel that. I’m not streaming tomorrow. I’ll host you over there, so ask them."

-?

-?

-Rev-er-se?

-A man’s word is worth gold, idiot.

-Are you seriously chickening out and running?

"I’m sending you to Yura-nim, so go ask her instead. Thanks for your hard work today!"

After I sent the host to Yura-nim, the stream ended. The chat that had been racing upward like crazy stopped dead, and all that filled my room was the steady whir of the computer’s cooling fan.

With nothing left demanding my attention, I finally felt a little better. To cool off the heat still rising in my head, I gulped down the cold water I’d left out earlier.

"Hah. What on earth was that about?"

To make sense of the situation as simply as possible, I tried reducing it to three lines.

1. Si-a-nim asked to collab. And to sort out how we should address each other, too.

2. Turns out it was a collab sandwiched in among major streamers.

3. We decided to speak casually afterward.

If I wrote a novel like this, I’d get torn apart.

"For now, I should send Si-a-nim a message and figure out what’s going on."

But after I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sent the message and spent an hour lying on my bed waiting for a reply, I eventually fell asleep.

*

"Morning already."

When I opened my eyes, the sky outside the window was bright. I was sure the weather forecast had said it would rain, too. Figures—forecasting was always wrong.

Then I remembered the message I’d sent yesterday. To check for a reply, I opened the app on my phone—the same one as the desktop program.

The message I’d sent yesterday had been simple. I’d asked why she’d told me to call her casually. And when I opened the app, there was an answer waiting for me. Short and to the point.

It had been sent at four in the morning. What on earth had she been doing until then without sleeping after ending the stream? No, wait, what kind of answer was that anyway? You’ll know when you wake up?

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Still no clue, I turned on my computer and thought about it. Was she telling me to check the Watch café? Was she saying something had been posted in a clip or something?

The most likely explanation was that some video had gone up on YouTube, but I still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had no idea what it could be.

With a sigh, I opened the internet. As soon as the green search portal that was set as my default browser appeared, a notification pinged that I’d received mail.

I clicked the inbox and checked who it was from.

Element Network was an MCN with a huge number of famous streamers under its wing. It was the undisputed number one in the industry—so much so that at least two or three of the people who regularly sat near the top of streaming platforms were signed to it.

Because of that, at some point the name “Element” had become synonymous with the idea that if they reached out to you, then you had the potential to succeed as a broadcaster. Except for the people who had already crashed and burned, nobody who’d gone to Element had ever been sent away as a failure.

"I can’t believe I’m actually getting contacted by Element."

And right now, the most important thing to me was the fact that Si-a-nim was signed to Element.

No—more precisely, it wasn’t just that she was signed there. What mattered was that she’d founded the company.

Element had been started by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some of the people from yesterday’s collab because they all wanted to belong to the same MCN.

Then, as each of their broadcasts grew larger, the company expanded in step with them, and as they began recruiting streamers one by one, the Element I knew today was born.

"So that’s why she wanted to collab."

Maybe the reason they’d proposed a collab with me in the first place was to make contact before recruitment.

But then what was with the way they wanted me to address them? Maybe they just wanted to get friendly. Considering how they’d teased Saengsam-nim with the exact same thing and then later brought him into Element, I could see that happening.

Either way, the fact remained that Element had reached out to me. After reading the email, I found that they’d been watching my stream for a long time and wanted to discuss a management contract, so I should contact them by phone.

One thing I’d learned after stepping into the streaming world: Element always promised the best treatment in the industry. Everything from the broadcast setup to all the little details in between.

So if they were reaching out, there was no reason to refuse. I picked up my phone and called the number listed in the email.

-Ring, ring, click.

"Hello?"

The voice that answered was familiar. A voice I’d heard a lot during yesterday’s collab…?

"Si-a-nim?"

No, why is Si-a-nim answering?

I was startled. Usually, wouldn’t this be answered by some operations manager or something?

I’d never signed a contract before, but from what I’d heard secondhand, a manager-type position usually handled these calls. So why was Si-a-nim answering all of a sudden?

"Si-a."

"Yes?"

"Not Si-a-nim—Si-a. We agreed to use casual speech yesterday."

Come on, try saying it. Si-a.

I could feel the headache that had gone down starting to creep back up. Her playful voice prodded me on, like someone deliberately teasing a friend who always reacted well to bullying back in middle school.

"Quickly. Say Si-a."

"I never said I’d do that, so how did the conversation end up going in that direction?"

"Because you dropped the honorifics yesterday, didn’t you?"

"Haah…."

I grabbed my head and let out a sigh. Si-a-nim chuckled at the sound of it, then changed from her light tone and got down to business.

"Element Network is interested in signing a contract with Hazy. Since you called, should I take that as interest on your side as well?"

"Yes. That’s correct."

"We can discuss the detailed terms in person. Do you have any time available sometime this week?"

"If today works for you, I’ll fit myself to your schedule."

"Then could you come to the headquarters?"

Element headquarters, huh. I wondered how long it would take by subway.

"Yes, that works for me."

"Then let’s meet at 12:30. If you tell the front desk your nickname and say you’re here about a contract with Hazy, they’ll take care of it."

"Yes, understood."

12:30? If I showered and got ready, that was a little tight. Maybe I should just grab a triangular kimbap on the way and call lunch good enough.

"Ah, and if you don’t have any other plans, do you want to eat lunch in the cafeteria?"

"…Element has a cafeteria too?"

"Yes. We can take a look around the company first before the contract, then eat lunch and talk slowly after that, okay?"

"All right."

"Ah, and one more thing."

Just before hanging up, Si-a-nim stopped me.

"If you still don’t speak casually even after you get here, I’ll just ignore you and stare at Hazy the whole time, so keep that in mind, okay?"

…Maybe I should just not sign the contract.