Real Recognize Real
I had clearly come home yesterday, showered, and thrown myself onto bed without even thinking.
So why was I opening my eyes to the time I should’ve been on stream? Was this the part Einstein had studied before coming up with relativity?
I sat down in front of my computer, my mind wandering over the hours that had somehow vanished in the blink of an eye, and started setting things up to go live.
After fiddling with the streaming program for a bit and leaning back in my chair for a moment, a familiar notification sound rang out.
[Yoon Red] sent you a message.
Huh? Had I shared my Discord ID with Red at some point? I thought back for a second. Ah, right. That event mission. It looked like he’d pressed my profile from the channel I’d joined then and sent me a private message.
When I opened the notification, he was asking whether I had a moment for Discord.
After sending that, I hit the button to start streaming right away. As soon as the stream went live, viewers began trickling in. I should go grab some water.
"It hasn’t even been five minutes since the stream started. Wait a little."
When I came back with water in my tumbler, the viewers were already protesting in chat along with some ridiculous donations.
They really needed to learn some patience. Not everyone had even gotten into the stream yet.
- Don’t know how to do that
- Never tried it before either
- That’s not something to brag about, guys...
- What’d you do after ending the stream yesterday?
- Give us the post-stream review
"What post-stream review? I just went home and split up."
- Breaking news: Hazy and Sia broke up
- Did they split?
- Welcome to solo paradise, where couples go to die
"I mean we just went home separately. Why are you making stuff up?"
As I was chatting casually with the viewers, I remembered that Red had messaged me earlier. I opened Discord, asked if it was okay to call now, and then joined the channel’s voice chat room.
"Ah, Red, can you hear me?"
"Yes, loud and clear. Hazy, can you hear me?"
"I can hear you."
"Long time no see. I’ve been hearing good things about you. You’re pretty famous on Watch these days."
"No, it’s just... things sort of ended up that way."
At my answer, Red laughed heartily.
"Ah, by the way, I’m rooting for you too. I’m just like the other viewers, an obsessive fake-marriage addict."
"...Pardon?"
- lolololololol
- Red is really an obsessive fake-marriage addict lol
- He’s a legend when it comes to relationship stuff lol
- He’s basically a married auntie lololol
Seeing the chat reactions, it didn’t seem like this was new behavior. Well, there were always people who got weirdly excited whenever they smelled fake-marriage material, so I wasn’t especially bothered. But that Red was one of them was a little surprising.
"I got sidetracked for a second, but let me get to the point first. We can talk slowly after that."
"Sure, go ahead."
What did Red even have to say to me? We didn’t really have much connection, and it wasn’t like I’d done anything wrong to him or he’d done anything wrong to me. What in the world was this about?
"Hazy, do you happen to be interested in entering the Battle Sky tournament Watch is hosting?"
"...What?"
"Of course, with me and Kills."
But the moment he dropped a request I’d never even imagined, I was completely floored.
Me? A tournament? With Red and Kills?
"We’ve already decided on one other member too, but I’ll tell you that part later."
"Why me, though? Why not some other good player?"
"Because I want you. I picked you, Hazy."
Why? Why choose me over other good players? Just as I was sitting there with that question, Red started explaining.
"How should I put it... you make quick decisions in combat. I’ve watched the games you played after that event collab, and if you can handle aim sensitivity and basic situational control, I thought you’d do well in a squad."
"I make quick decisions in combat?"
"If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have thought of blowing yourself up with a grenade when dealing with a hacker."
That was just because I thought it would be funny...
"And even when you first dropped into that game to loot, you kept going into houses and checking the road opposite through the window."
"I did that because I was scared someone might come."
"A lot of people don’t do that. They think they should rely on sound, then get killed by enemies who were just waiting there."
"...Really?"
- lolololololol
- He got walked right into that lol
- Red’s great at dangling bait in front of people
- He really is a legend lololol
- Honestly, it’s a good thing he didn’t go into politics lol
- Good thing he didn’t become a cult leader either lol
- fr lol
It was kind of strange. The more I heard, the more I found myself believing him. So the saying about repaying a thousand nyang of debt with one word wasn’t just a ridiculous proverb after all.
"So, just to be clear, that means you, me, Kills, and one more person, for a total of four, right?"
"Yes. We’ll be entering as a squad."
"I’m really sorry, but has Watch already posted an announcement about it?"
"Yes. They posted it yesterday."
Yesterday had already been a brutally chaotic day. I’d been too overwhelmed to even check the announcement Watch put up.
"How do I apply?"
"For now, I’ve already spoken to Watch, so later I’ll send you a form. Just fill that out and send it back to me."
"I... need to have my broadcast cam on, right?"
"Ah, I should’ve told you that sooner."
"I’m really sorry, but you’ll need to turn the cam on."
Red’s voice gradually faded. Since I was a streamer who didn’t use a camera, this was probably the part he was least confident about.
It made sense that they were being strict about it, since it was an online tournament. There’d even been incidents in the past, so of course they’d be more thorough. Still, if that was the case, then why had I worn a mask yesterday?
"It’s fine if I turn the cam on just for the day of the broadcast, right?"
"I’d have to check on that, but I think it should be fine."
They’d probably need a separate photo from the host side anyway. Whatever, it should be fine.
"...You’re in, right?"
"When Red himself makes a direct offer like this, how could I refuse?"
Count me in. At that, Red thanked me.
He said he’d been nervous about what he’d do if I turned him down, but honestly, it was hard to pass up an opportunity like this. I wasn’t exactly some top-tier streamer.
"I’ll send you the form later. Fill it out according to the format and send it back to me."
"Got it."
"Haa... then the business talk is over. Shall we go back to the original topic?"
"Huh?"
"Hazy, you really aren’t going to do the fake marriage?"
- The obsessive fake-marriage addict has entered the chat lol
- The whole world is shipping fake marriage
- Everyone except Hazy and Sia wants it
- Why leave them out? They probably want it too
- fr lol they’re probably talking like that in public and having meetings in private
- It’d already be a real relationship, so why have the meeting lol
My head was spinning. First the viewers, and now Red too. The whole world really seemed to want a fake marriage between me and Sia.
Wasn’t this basically The Truman Show?
"It’d be such a loss, you know? This is a chance for your stream to blow up!"
"I get the superficial reason already, so can you just be honest and tell me why you’re really pushing the fake marriage?"
"Watching other people date is the most fun thing in the world."
- fr lol
- Red knows what’s up lol
- Other people’s love lives are the funniest thing ever lol
- That too, but the back-and-forth between Sia and Hazy is on a completely different level from other fake marriages
- fr, it’s hard to find people this openly flirty...
- He’s not called Red Auntie for nothing
- Yoon Red can even do girl-talk, apparently...
Red must’ve been a much more malicious fake-marriage addict than I’d realized. Even his answer just now and the viewers’ reactions made it sound like I’d gotten myself tangled up with the wrong crowd.
"You really aren’t going to do it?"
"It’s not that I’m not going to. It’s on hold."
"Oh? So you’re saying you’ll do it?"
"I’m not saying I’ll do it, I’m saying it’s on hold... ugh."
- lolololol
- You’ve met your match
- Just hearing this is frustrating lol
- He’s not listening and only says what he wants to say, this is killing me lol
Was I the only one who felt like I was talking to a wall?
"Sorry. I got one video donation yesterday, and after seeing that, I turned into an obsessive fake-marriage addict."
"What kind of video donation was it that did this?"
"Looks like you haven’t seen it yet."
"What’s there? Is this it?"
"Oh, perfect timing."
At Red’s words, I played the video that had just arrived. The moment a strangely ticklish song reached my ears, a wave of unease surged through me. Goose bumps prickled over my whole body, and before I knew it, my hand had moved to the mouse.
'I, rea...'
"Stop, stop! What is this?"
- Looks like he’d never die before letting anyone see his dark history lol
- Of all places, it starts from that scene lololol
- How did they even set it up so it starts there lol
- People who donate here are built different
- Grave robbing his dark past lol
"Why do you keep digging up my dark history and showing it to everyone? I want to forget it!"
"Hazy, it was only yesterday."
"Today makes it day two!"
- How are you trying to forget it in just two days?
- That’s your karma. Accept it graciously.
- Not a chance, we’re saving it to the hard drive too
- Don’t even think about forgetting it cleanly lol
I was losing my mind.
*
Sia was lying in bed.
Staring up at the familiar ceiling, she replayed everything that had happened yesterday.
"You’re insane! How did you even do that there...!"
Just thinking about those memories made her face burn, and she was taking out her frustration on the bed instead.
Then her phone lit up with a notification, accompanied by the familiar sound.
[Yoon Red] sent you a message.
It was a familiar name. They’d done a bunch of collabs together, but they weren’t close enough for personal messages.
"What does Red want with me?"
Muttering that to herself, Sia turned on her phone and opened the message.
Sia already had plenty on her mind, so her head was a mess. Just as she was about to apologize and turn him down, another message arrived from Yoon Red.