160. Rin Is Prettier Than Me
160. Rin Is Prettier Than Me
***
"..."
She'd thought that as the stream went on, the chaotic atmosphere would gradually settle down. Before long, Serin had no choice but to realize that assumption had been wrong.
She'd expected that a collaboration stream with Eunha would be a big deal, starting with the viewer count.
But she'd never imagined it would blow up this much.
And how could she have? The viewer count on screen was soaring far beyond anything she'd predicted.
—96,281 viewers.
The number displayed in the corner of the screen was surreal in itself.
It had passed fifty thousand within thirty minutes of starting, and now, an hour in, it was closing in on a hundred thousand.
On top of that, Serin hadn't fully considered that tweetie was a global streaming platform.
Nor had she considered that the name Jeanne d'Arc commanded fans worldwide.
So among the countless viewers, the fact that even foreigners were watching was completely outside her expectations.
......
[HELO!!!!]
[First time seeing Jeanne d'Arc talk this much lol]
[This chat is legendary lmaooo]
[CAMERA???]
[Jandrc????]
Now the chat was an utter mess, mixed with English messages.
"...Viewers, I think I'm going to have to turn on Follow mode. I'm sorry to those who came to see Jeanne d'Arc rather than my usual viewers, but I don't think I can keep the stream going like this."
She could have put the chat in slow mode to add a delay, but that only helped briefly. Once overseas viewers started mixing in, the chaos hurtled toward its peak.
On top of that, there were plenty of viewers posting strange messages in between, so in the end she had no choice but to add the Follow restriction.
So Serin set Follow mode to 1 day.
It was a restriction preventing viewers from chatting until 24 hours had passed since they followed the channel.
That meant new viewers who'd come to watch today's collaboration stream couldn't chat, but Serin considered it unavoidable.
[Phew]
[So peaceful!]
[The chat was pure madness]
[Follow mode was the right call]
[How do you know Jeanne d'Arc?]
[Turn on the cam please!!!]
[Never thought I'd see Jeanne d'Arc on a personal stream]
[A collab with Jeanne d'Arc—Rin is on another level lmaooo]
[For real, who'd ever think Jeanne d'Arc would show up on a personal stream]
Once Follow mode was on, the flood of foreign viewers' chats vanished. The remaining messages dropped off sharply, and the chat began moving at a pace closer to her usual streams.
Serin let out a small breath, her expression relaxing as she looked at the chat.
'If I'd turned on Follow mode earlier, streaming would've been so much easier.'
The chat had become so pleasant that she regretted hesitating for nothing.
Honestly, the enormous number of a hundred thousand viewers had been a little intimidating. She'd assumed most of them were there to see Eunha, which was why she'd hesitated—but that hesitation had backfired.
"I'd appreciate it if you all could slow down with the chat a little. You're making Rin uncomfortable."
An hour into the stream now. Ironically, Eunha, who was appearing on stream for the first time, was speaking more calmly than Serin.
Eunha looked perfectly composed, as if she'd already adjusted to streaming, and that surprised Serin a little.
[Yes, we will]
[Everyone quiet]
[But seriously, can't you turn the cam back on?]
[You got all dressed up today, so why the hell is the cam off!!]
[Please, the cam...]
[Rin, turn on the cam right now!]
Serin smiled softly at the chat reacting to Eunha's words like devoted followers, and tried to soothe the viewers.
"The reason I turned the cam on at first was to show you all that it really is Jeanne d'Arc. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can turn it back on. I think it might make her uncomfortable."
Even though Eunha's voice alone had caused an uproar, there were still viewers who didn't believe it, so I'd briefly turned on the cam.
Eunha, who'd dressed up even more today, had appeared on screen for barely a minute. After that, the chat had lagged so badly it nearly broke, and the viewer count had skyrocketed from the moment the cam went on.
Serin figured the news had probably spread to communities and elsewhere.
"I don't think the cam can go back on, since it might cause trouble for Rin. So I hope you all can understand."
When Eunha added her own words, the chat's mood shifted instantly.
[Such a shame, but if that's how it is...]
[You got so pretty today, can't you turn the cam on?]
[Enough about the cam]
[Rin, let's just do a cam reveal, show us both!]
[Stop talking about the cam, she's uncomfortable]
[Thought I wouldn't see Jeanne d'Arc until the TSJ match, this is wild]
[Just ban the people going on about the cam. She said stop and they keep going]
[Look how tame everyone got once Follow mode went on]
[They said they're doing an in-person collab, so what's the real-life Rin like from Jeanne d'Arc's perspective?]
Serin looked at Eunha in amazement as the chat's mood shifted immediately at her words.
'Just how many fans does she have?'
It was a simple statement, really, but the viewers were trying to respect Eunha's wishes.
Under Serin's gaze, Eunha stared at the chat for a moment before slowly parting her lips.
"My impression of Rin? Hmm."
Having said that, Eunha looked Serin over once, as if seeing her anew.
Snow-white silver hair, clear blue eyes so pure you could drown in them, a white tee that looked color-matched to the rest of her—Serin's whole appearance as she streamed was white through and through.
Looking at her again, Serin was an unusual person. A mysterious one.
She'd appeared as if dropped from the sky and shot to fame, and even in person, everything from her appearance to her manner was utterly enigmatic.
Even the everyday side of her that Eunha had seen today was close to flawless.
From her outstanding Another World skills to her radiant looks, and even her cooking—clean and excellent despite living alone in a spacious home.
The more she learned about Serin, the more curious she became. What couldn't this person do?
'A mysterious person.'
Eunha, who'd briefly let herself admire Serin, mulled over how to phrase it before finally speaking.
"Viewers, you were all hoping to see me on screen just now, right? But as someone actually looking at Rin in person right now... I don't think I'd want that."
"...What do you mean?"
When Serin asked, half in disbelief, Eunha answered casually.
"Rin is prettier than I am. Honestly, even now, I'm a little sad that I'm the only one who gets to see her."
[What's this, what's this?]
[Why is this so believable coming from Jeanne d'Arc?]
[I mean, just hearing Rin's voice, there's no way she isn't pretty lmaooo]
[The vibe between these two O_O]
[Rin's real-life looks, certified by Jeanne d'Arc herself, OMG]
[Lmaooo Rin's gonna feel so much pressure]
[Rin, turn on the cam!!!]
[Does Jeanne d'Arc's voice sound extra sweet today or what?]
[Why am I the one getting butterflies here?]
Serin could only manage an awkward smile as she watched the chat threaten to explode again.
All stream long, Eunha had been casually saying things that flustered people with a perfectly straight face. Serin tried to get used to it, but she couldn't quite manage.
"Jeanne d'Arc, you're... praising me way too much. I honestly don't know what to do with myself."
"..."
Eunha watched Serin fluster for a moment, then parted her lips again—and closed them.
She'd been about to add that it wasn't praise, just the truth, but Serin seemed uncomfortable, so Eunha decided it was better not to say it.
Then one of the messages rising in the chat caught Eunha's attention.
[Did you see the G1 players' scrim reviews about Rin?]
The scrim with G1 that Serin had apparently had this week.
Eunha was dying to know about it, too. She'd been watching Serin talk about the G1 scrim during a live stream this week, but due to unavoidable circumstances, she hadn't been able to watch until the end.
"Rin, I heard you had a scrim with G1 this week. How was it?"
"The scrim... I had a lot of fun."
"...Fun?"
"Yes. The G1 players were all really kind during the scrim period, and practicing professionally against pro players felt very different from Solo Queue, so it was fun."
As Serin casually shared her thoughts, Eunha listened but couldn't quite picture Serin in a scrim.
An individual scrimming against a team was unprecedented, so she was intensely curious about how it had even worked, but she couldn't bring herself to ask for details.
She knew that from a pro team's perspective, scrims were essentially confidential.
"So, um, do you have any plans to scrim with other pro teams after this?"
Eunha brought it up casually, and if possible, she did want to scrim with Serin herself.
In fact, she'd been planning to ask Serin's intentions today and then relay the scrim proposal to her team. But Serin's answer was completely unexpected.
"I do have plans. And speaking of scrims, this is a bit late to mention, but I actually have another one next week."
Eunha blinked blankly.
'...She already has something lined up?'
"You already have another scrim scheduled?"
"Yes. It's with the Knights of Charlemagne, next Friday."
At Serin's calm reply, Eunha felt a sigh threatening to escape.
She clenched her hand slightly, out of Serin's sight, unable to shake the thought that she'd been too complacent.
She shouldn't have waited to ask first.
"Rin, just in case... do you have any more scrims scheduled after that?"
"No. Nothing else lined up yet."
As she answered, Serin looked at Eunha with an odd gaze. Eunha hadn't said anything directly, but her intent was far too obvious.