What Can You Even Do?
In the end, we decided to tell the viewers that the WGM content would be put on temporary hold.While we were talking about it, Sia fiddled with a few things on the computer and then brought up the camera feed, asking me what I thought.
"Does it look okay like this?"
"It’s not bad, but will the people who came to see you even like me?"
"I don’t know about that. I’m the one asking you, aren’t I?"
So listen to me, okay?She looked at me with those pitiful, wide eyes, the exact kind the cat in Puss in Boots made. I’d be ready to go, I really would, but the moment I saw that expression, my resolve crumbled all over again.By then, we had dragged over two chairs and were sitting side by side in front of the now fully set-up computer.
"Have you thought about how you want to run the broadcast?"
"Mm. First I should explain what happened yesterday, and then we need to talk about our WGM content for a bit, right?"
"And then?"
"I haven’t thought past that, but how about we show off a little of our chemistry? Like a teaser for the WGM thing."
Nice. But with what, exactly? At my question, Sia smiled with that secretive little eye-smile of hers.…I don’t know how many times I’d said it, but that smile was seriously cheating.*
After we switched on the broadcast screen and waited for a moment, viewers started flooding in one after another.As expected of a major streamer, the scale was on another level; even the speed at which people came in felt different. For her, the baseline wasn’t hundreds — it was already the thousands.Once some time had passed, Sia signaled that she was going to switch the screen, then turned it over.
"Aramdan, Hello! This is Luccia."
"I’m streaming today to explain the parts we promised you yesterday, and also to clear up some of the rumors that have been posted in the community."
Rumors? What rumors? Startled by the unfamiliar word, I looked at Sia, but she was already calmly continuing the broadcast.
"First, I should introduce the person sitting next to me, right? Please introduce yourself!"
"…Hello. I’m Hazy."
"First, we should talk about the Discord issue from yesterday, right?"
"So why didn’t you turn off your mic yesterday?"
"…It was a mistake."
A mistake. Sure, that could happen. But why did my black history have to be born from that mistake?
"Yes, there was a brief disturbance."
Some lunatic sent that black history of mine in front of all those viewers, so I cut the video off right away.When I heard Sia making little snorting sounds, I turned my head to the side and saw her trying to hold back laughter.
"Isn’t this your explanation stream?"
"It is… pfft! It is, but…"
"If you can’t hold it together just a little, I think this controversy is going to get a whole new line added to it."
"No, no… whew. I won’t laugh."
After saying that, she began explaining things one by one.The situation itself had been entertaining for most people, but the part where I’d been getting scorched alive by the viewers was not something she had intended.And as for the bits where she’d been a little too casual with me, she admitted that she had been at fault there.
"So, basically, yesterday on Discord, I said that Hazy and I had agreed in advance on how we were going to do the WGM, right?"
"Unfortunately, because there were some mismatches related to this issue, we’ve decided to place the content on temporary hold."
At Sia’s words, a flood of disappointed messages went up. Some people said this was the only thing they’d been waiting for, while a few went so far as to spew abuse about how they’d gotten everyone hyped and then canceled it out of nowhere, only to get permanently banned by the managers.In truth, there wasn’t much the viewers could do either way. But from the viewers’ perspective, it was only natural to feel disappointed or angry when the content they wanted was suddenly put on hold.And so, the explanation and the WGM-content talk were wrapping up more or less well—no, wait a second.
"Hey, what was that rumor in the community you mentioned earlier?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing."
"Give me the mouse."
At my words, she shook her head and hid the wireless mouse behind her back. What on earth was she hiding?
I ignored whatever the viewers were saying in the chat. What exactly was she hiding so fiercely?
"Give me the mouse."
"…No."
"Quickly. What are you hiding so hard?"
"…Fine."
Saying that, she popped off the back of the mouse and took out the batteries. Huh? Why would she take those out?
"If you don’t have these, then even if you take the mouse, you still can’t use it."
"No, seriously, what kind of person won’t even hand over the mouse?"
If she was going to keep pulling this kind of move, then I had methods of my own. There was one thing people surprisingly didn’t know: you could actually use a computer without a mouse. It was just a pain.I set the mouse I’d been handed on the desk, then rested my hand on the keyboard.- clickety-clack
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Viewer comments—where do I go to find those community posts?"
"Hey, don’t tell him!"
"Listen, I’m doing this with a keyboard because of the broadcast, not because I can’t just look at my phone, okay? So spill it."
"If you open Pandora’s box, only hope is left."
At my words, Sia hesitated for a moment, then put the batteries back into the mouse I’d set down and opened up some community post.She didn’t even need to look very hard. The second she entered the community, a title jumped out and grabbed my eyes. Sia clicked on it and showed it to me.
From a friend I know on the MCN side, I heard this time Sia really planned on snagging Hazy.Sia used to be someone preparing to debut as an idol, and there were always a lot of rumors about her and men.She was famous among the trainees, and there were plenty of rumors that the reason she didn’t make the debut lineup was because of that problem.Even now, she’s apparently tangled up with male streamers and creators in the broadcasting world.The reason she latched onto Hazy was probably just because he was getting popular lately and she figured she could make use of him.Behind the scenes, she’s insanely calculating. She just acts soft in front of people.It’s sad seeing Hazy and his fans getting fooled, so I’m posting this. The people still boosting Sia are hopeless anyway, so I don’t even feel that sorry for them.The comments were fighting like crazy. Even accounting for the fact that this was the kind of community that always ran hot, the tone was still vicious.After reading the whole thing, I looked back at Sia. Her head was bowed low, and for some reason she looked painfully forlorn.
"I’m really curious about something. Can I ask you?"
"…Yeah."
"Why’d you hide this? It’s obviously just some jealous loser who wrote this after exploding from inferiority complex."
What the hell. I didn’t get it. Did we really need to explain something like this? A crude, trashy post like that?At my words, Sia lifted her head. Unlike the pitiful look from before, she was staring straight at me now.
"You don’t believe that post?"
"Not really. For one thing, the writing is ridiculously bad. I don’t even know if they studied Korean."
"And there’s one thing I absolutely believe."
"…What?"
"Ninety-five percent of community hit pieces with no evidence are just written by mentally unstable people lost in their own delusions."
"What do you mean, different? The only man this girl has used to get where she is is probably Saengsam, the one she’s thrown in front of her in games and told to die for her."
"Check the facts? Sure, we should. But according to that post, she’s supposedly entangled with a bunch of male streamers, and the reason she didn’t debut was because of men, so yeah — it’s just a matter of confirming it."
"Hey, hold on."
Connections exist for moments like this. Leaving the confused viewers and Sia to one side for a moment, I pulled out my phone and called someone.Pick up. Please pick up. I helped you adjust to military life when you were struggling there, didn’t I? You can take one call, can’t you! Hell, we even had drinks together a few months ago when I had time!The ringing went on and on, and then—-click
"Oh, Sh— wait, what?"
The second I heard the voice on the other end, I remembered what I’d forgotten and hurriedly hit the end-call button.Ah.I’d forgotten to ask them not to say my name.