Perfect Design
The first major streamer to set foot in Rena World.
And the one who made the biggest fuss about it was none other than the server admin herself — Rena-ttang.
She'd even gone so far as to ask Apple-mong ahead of time to make sure Kim Hak-do's login process went off without a single hitch.
And that wasn't all.
She'd studied every previous entry — Mist, Highsuya, Dananyang, Tteu3, Aegyo0, and the rest — and drawn her conclusions.
Those tiny virtual streamers who'd clustered around the fountain in Taecho Village, waiting in a huddle? This time, that kind of thing was banned outright.
It would only put pressure on the new arrivals, she claimed.
It might have looked like Rena-ttang overstepping, but the truth was that viewers preferred natural encounters over staged ones anyway. There was a reason organic meet-ups were all the rage.
And so Kim Hak-do got to stroll through Taecho Village at his leisure before heading over to the Pokémon Center.
Meanwhile, I was discreetly spying on his stream from my phone.
Compared to other major streamers, Minecraft wasn't exactly his main content — but he was the first of his caliber to show up. The least I could do was pay attention.
I'd said it before and I'd say it again: playing it cool in front of a major streamer, holding your head high, might look stylish and give your hardcore fans a temporary ego boost. But that kind of swagger isn't for just anyone.
Look at the mid-tier streamers pulling two or three thousand average viewers, rolling over and declaring themselves loyal retainers to the big names. Did they do that because they had no pride?
Those same mid-tiers were the ones who showed their vicious side around tiny streamers. They were all adults who'd survived the cutthroat wilderness of internet broadcasting — they simply knew when to bow.
Like it or not, if I want to poach viewers from the human streamers, contacting the major ones is the fastest route. They've got the most casual fans, after all.
To catch a tiger, you go into the tiger's den. Same principle — if I wanted to grow my weight class, I had to face the major streamers who held the biggest audiences on Pangea TV.
Call me a social climber or a calculating opportunist if you want. I had nothing to say to that. I was just a regular person thrashing around for success and survival.
"Ah…"
While I was lost in thought, Kim Hak-do and Apple-mong were heading toward the concert venue that had been slapped together two days earlier.
I'd tried to approach them about selling some building materials, but Rena-ttang had used her admin privileges to generate everything herself — so I'd missed a good opportunity.
Still, I understood. Rena-ttang had put in the work to put on a show for a major streamer's arrival day.
Ah — and as previously arranged, Mayo was the one performing the mini concert. She'd thrown such a tantrum about not wanting to go that I'd had to bribe her with five League of Legends skins of her choice, playing off the fact that she was a hardcore LoL girl. That was the only way I got her to agree.
Seriously — how old was she, and she caved for LoL skins?
I was glad the persuasion worked, but I couldn't help worrying about the crew's future. If I offered her every skin in the game, would she start doing spy work for me too?
Meanwhile, Kim Hak-do and Apple-mong had been making steady progress and were already near the concert venue.
And by pure coincidence, I just happened to be passing through the area myself.
Well… whether it was truly a coincidence, I'll leave to everyone's judgment.
"Mayor! Loyalty, loyalty!"
"Oh? Seo-a, you're not watching the concert?"
"I'm listening to it, but I'm too busy to sit in the venue. I've got it up on a side screen."
"Tsk. You really ought to put work aside when you can."
Apple-mong was a streamer whose Confucian propriety rivaled even Lucy's, and whose legendary kkondae energy was the stuff of rumor. Hierarchy by age was absolute with her — which meant she took group activities very seriously.
Fortunately, I'd always treated her with meticulous respect, so even skipping the concert venue earned me a pass.
"And this gentleman is…?"
"Hello. I just joined today — Kim Hak—"
"You're ridiculously ugly."
"Excuse me?"
"…"
And just like that, I started walking the tightrope again.
Leaving a deep impression on a major streamer and their fans is genuinely hard.
For a tiny streamer, it feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that sets your heart pounding. For a major streamer, it's just another Tuesday.
And on a live broadcast, having the wit and ad-lib skill to win a major streamer's favor without freezing up? Any streamer with that kind of talent would already have left the tiny ranks behind — barring catastrophic bad luck.
In other words, it was about as rare as a dragon rising from a ditch.
I didn't have that confidence either. I wasn't a broadcasting genius — just a humble regressor.
Hmm? You're saying that's an even more broken position?
Anyway, I had to play to my strengths. Not improvisation or off-the-cuff charm — thorough planning and a prepared script, with a topic ready that would make Kim Hak-do sit up and take notice.
"Wow, this person is incredibly rude. Calling someone ugly on first meeting?"
"No, no — not your actual face, Kim Hak-do. Your Minecraft character. You're using the default skin right now."
"Ah, you're right. Wait — so I'm the only ugly one here?"
Apple-mong and I were both wearing custom skins our fans had made. Mine was a cute character with black hair and red eyes, wearing a gaming headset — close to my virtual avatar.
Seeing that, Kim Hak-do started whining at Apple-mong.
"Come on, give me something cool too, Apple-mong. Even in LoL, you play better when the skin looks sick. This is just wrong."
"Hak-do, that costs money. You either commission it or ask a fan who knows how to make one."
"Huh? This is paid? Ugh! This filthy capitalist world!"
Kim Hak-do bellowed and overacted as if the shocking reality had shattered him. But our model Confucian elder Apple-mong was no pushover. She shut him down immediately — there was a concert nearby, and he needed to keep it down.
"Hak-do, stop making noise and let's go watch the concert. Seo-a, we're heading over."
"Ah! Wait just a second. Actually, I'm a fan of Kim Hak-do, so I prepared a little gift for him."
"Oh! A gift? Nice. Some good items, maybe?"
"Seo-a, didn't you hear? We decided not to give items to new arrivals anymore. It was settled at the Rena government meeting two days ago and posted as a full notice on the Discord channel."
From the start, Apple-mong had been grumbling that if you handed new arrivals a full kit of items and gear, they'd never experience the real fun of Minecraft. She was probably still annoyed by Mist swaggering around in a full endgame set, courtesy of his company employees' slave labor.
"No, I heard. It's not gear — I prepared a different kind of gift. I just uploaded it to Kim Hak-do's stream community board. Go check it out."
"Hmm? My community board? What is it?"
Kim Hak-do looked puzzled, then went to check his own stream page. He quickly found the Minecraft skin file I'd uploaded.
"Oh?! What's this? No way—"
"Yes. It's a Minecraft skin. I heard you were joining the server, so I prepared it in advance. Go ahead and apply it."
"Whoa, but the way this looks…"
Green was practically Kim Hak-do's signature color — he even had the nickname "Dorok" for it. He downloaded the file, applied the new skin, and spoke with genuine emotion in his voice.
"Squinty eyes and a Dorok-green character… you really are a fan of mine, huh. I'm actually a little touched."
"I'm a Plat 3 jungler in LoL. I like watching LoL streams, so I became a fan."
"Oh! Really? So you're not just saying it — you're an actual fan? And a woman at Plat 3 jungle is seriously impressive."
Apparently he'd checked the chat, because Kim Hak-do raised his voice in genuine surprise.
"Wait, you actually won a hundred thousand candy in MCK? Whoa, that's not easy."
"I only entered twice. Got lucky."
"By the way, if you like LoL — are you a fan of Lee Seong-ho too?"
"Yep. Honestly, anyone higher ranked and better at LoL than me is someone I'm a fan of. You agree, right, Hak-do?"
"Damn! Listen to this person's lines. She's right. Anyone higher ranked and better at LoL than me is hyung-nim, noona — end of story. Look at that sense~"
The skin gift and the friendly remarks had earned me plenty of attention from Kim Hak-do and his fandom. So I started looking for my exit.
Stick around too obviously and you start looking cheap. Funny as it sounds, you can end up with a reputation as trashy or as someone who clings to major streamers.
So I picked the right moment and said my goodbyes first.
"I've got to run — I'm busy. If you run into trouble while playing or need help, just shout in all-chat: 'Noona Seo-a, help me!' and I'll come running."
I held the cheerful position all the way to the end. That cool, clean vibe was exactly the non-clingy organic encounter that major streamers' fandoms wanted.
Every line, every beat of timing — calculated down to the millimeter.
"Huh? Noona? How old are you, exactly?"
"Twenty-three."
"Hey, hey! Where do you get off being so rude! I'm early class of '96. Call me your older brother."
"Hmm~ I'll think about that one."
Success.
He'd clearly taken a liking to me — dropping formalities first, speaking comfortably. We parted on a bright note, promising to meet again.
A custom gift tailored to no one else. Fan cosplay powered by future knowledge. A perfect design that squeezed every drop of value from a regressor's abilities.