236. A Grand Reward
236. A Grand Reward
***
"Rin... hold on a moment."
Serin, who had been about to say her closing remarks at Eunha's words, shot her a puzzled look.
'Does she have something to say?'
Since this was an unexpected collab, Serin had figured the sooner they wrapped it up, the more comfortable Eunha would be. But Eunha looked like she had something on her mind.
Unbothered by Serin's gaze, Eunha made a small gesture to manipulate her hologram and immediately connected to the tweetie site.
—Payment completed.
After quickly finishing an additional payment, Eunha went straight into Serin's stream.
Serin, who had simply been watching the small gestures, waited in silence.
On one hand, she felt relieved that the Jeremian's Ring she'd given as a gift had rolled good options. On the other, she had no real idea what Eunha was trying to do.
She could see Eunha's hand movements as if she were manipulating a hologram, but she couldn't tell what they meant.
As Serin stared blankly at her—
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!!!!
『Yoo Eunha donated 10,000,000 won!!』
《A small token of my appreciation》
Along with a sound loud enough to make her ears ring, the stream screen filled with an enormous donation message.
On tweetie, the size of the message scaled with the amount. This donation message filled the screen so completely that Serin wondered if it could possibly get any bigger.
Serin, who had looked at the stream screen at the sound, was momentarily speechless.
Because the number of zeros in the donation amount was absurd.
Staring blankly at the donation again, Serin soon realized this was an amount she had never seen before.
Serin looked at Eunha and moved her lips vacantly.
"...Eunha?"
Eunha smiled softly at Serin's reaction and answered calmly.
"Just like the message I wrote on the donation, I hope you'll accept it as a small token of my appreciation. I'd actually been meaning to donate for a while, but I never found the right timing... But after receiving such a nice item directly from you, Rin, how could I just sit back and take it?"
As she spoke, Eunha lifted her left index finger slightly to show the sapphire ring she was wearing.
Even though Serin could clearly hear Eunha's actions and calm voice, she didn't know how to react.
'Ten million won?'
Even looking at the stream screen, she couldn't quite believe it.
Maybe it was because the amount was so huge. Serin, who had never received a donation in the ten-million-won range all at once, was still dazed when Eunha glanced at the time and made a regretful expression.
"I should get going since it's almost time for my scrim. Rin, I hope you wrap up your stream well. I'm always rooting for you."
As Eunha moved to leave, Serin hastily replied.
"Eunha... um, I hope your scrim goes well... I'll be rooting for you."
In the suddenness of the moment, Serin forgot even the formal "Jeanne d'Arc" address she used to separate business from personal matters. Noticing this, Eunha smiled even more deeply and nodded.
"Thank you, Rin."
After expressing her gratitude with warm words, Eunha was soon enveloped in light and vanished.
[Leaving already?]
[Yoo Eunha that person was actually Jeanne d'Arc??]
[The big spender was Jeanne d'Arc???]
[A ten-million-won donation;;]
[Wow]
[A huge donation followed by a cool exit, what the hell lololol]
[Is Jeanne d'Arc's ten-million-won donation class for real]
[That's a small token?]
[So she showed up on stream right before her scrim?]
[This is insane for real]
[Yoo Eunha was actually Yoo Eunha lmaoooooo?]
[The person who's been donating since Rin's early days was actually Jeanne d'Arc?]
[Rin's expression lol]
[The collab ended way too fast]
[Ten-million-won punch lololololololololololol]
With the massive donation and the revelation that the donor known as "Yoo Eunha"—the so-called big spender in Rin's stream—was actually the real Yoo Eunha, Jeanne d'Arc, the chat erupted more fiercely than ever.
And right now, with news of the Jeanne d'Arc collab spreading, Rin's stream was seeing its viewer count surge dramatically just before the stream was supposed to end.
— 60,182 viewers.
But even so, Serin simply sat there blankly, leaving the stream unattended, her lips twitching without managing to say anything.
Rather than joy at the enormous donation, her heart was filled only with bewilderment and an ambiguous feeling.
The gift had clearly not been given with any expectation of something in return, yet she had received an unimaginably large sum.
And she hadn't even properly expressed her gratitude.
At the sight of Serin's flustered expression, rarely seen, the chat grew even more excited and scrolled upward in waves. Only after some more time passed was Serin able to collect herself.
Looking at the chaotic chat, Serin let out a baffled laugh and moved her lips.
"Really... I couldn't even say a proper thank-you, and Jeanne d'Arc has already left."
She moved her lips, which wouldn't quite settle, and expressed deep regret.
After ending the stream, Serin thought she should at least convey her thanks through BaTalk, and slowly swept her hair back.
And the time then was 7:50 p.m.
Ten minutes before 8:00, the time she had agreed to meet Sua.
***
"So I just need to prepare Jeremian's Ring, right?"
Sua, believing Serin had chosen her, was running her stream without hiding her excited expression.
[Probably?]
[Rin said she has Grianne, so that seems likely]
After checking a few chat messages, Sua immediately purchased the Ring Imbued with Jeremian's Lingering Will from the auction house.
The price of 40 million silver coins didn't make the excited Sua hesitate in the slightest.
Because Sua's heart was filled with nothing but the joy that Rin had chosen her over Jeanne d'Arc.
Ding!
After receiving the purchased Ring Imbued with Jeremian's Lingering Will, Sua held it in her hand and smiled softly.
Then the chat suddenly began flooding with other news.
[Rin is collabing with Jeanne d'Arc right now?]
[???]
[What? So the ring wasn't meant for Sua?]
[lololol Plea got some whisper and got all worked up over nothing?]
[pffft hahahahaha]
[Wasn't Rin supposed to give the ring to Plea???]
[BREAKING!!! Rin collabing with Jeanne d'Arc!]
[Holy shit lololol it's Jeanne d'Arc]
[Ta-da~ Rin's choice was Jeanne d'Arc lolol]
[What's Plea even lololololol]
[She was counting her chickens]
[Wow Rin is so cold...]
[What did Plea's whisper say?]
Sua, who had even canceled her arena matchmaking and was preparing to exchange the ring, blinked as she stared at the suddenly transformed chat.
"What is everyone talking about...?"
Even looking at the chat, she couldn't quite understand.
Because everyone was saying strange things.
The person Rin chose is me.
She had clearly just exchanged whispers agreeing to meet Rin at 8:00.
But the chat was suddenly full of incomprehensible talk about Jeanne d'Arc and how Jeanne d'Arc was the one chosen.
As Sua blinked blankly, half the chat was typing excitedly, while the other half—supporting Sua—was typing messages of confusion.
"..."
Sua, who had been about to say something, said nothing and simply stared at the chat, her excited expression slowly fading.
Even as Sua gradually sank, the chat continued to relay various facts.
The news that Serin had gifted Jeremian's Ring, the news of Eunha's ten-million-won donation, and so on.
Sua, sitting quietly on a rock in the arena and staring fixedly at the chat, finally spoke flatly.
"A ten-million-won donation went off?"
Her voice was deeply subdued.
A few viewers noticed that her mood was very different from usual.
[Everyone mind your manners]
[Sua seems kind of mad?]
[Ugh you clueless idiots, read the room before you type — —]
Sua, who had always shown only a bright and energetic side on stream, now wore an expression of utter calm. To her viewers, this side of Sua felt unfamiliar and different.
Her indifferent expression, which even looked cold at a glance, had never been seen on stream before.
As many viewers began holding back their chat messages at the sight, Sua suddenly flashed a brilliantly bright smile.
"...Pfft."
Sua smiled as radiantly as if she had just received a massive donation, then spoke as if nothing was wrong.
"What do you mean? I'm not mad. Why is everyone typing such weird things?"
[Sua seems really disappointed in Rin...]
[For real, I've never seen that expression before, seriously]
[What's even real...?]
[Sua could be an actress lolol]
[Let's not be too heartbroken...]
[Maybe she just came down from being excited?]
[Jeanne d'Arc just got the ring and left]
[T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T]
[Maybe Rin whispered that she'd give her something else?]
[Rin is seriously awful...]
The chat was plastered with messages seemingly meant to comfort Sua. Looking at it, Sua curled the corners of her lips and suddenly put on a sulky expression.
"No, really. I'm fine, okay? Just chat like normal. Ugh~ you Plea-lings, seriously... Are you trying to embarrass me like this? Why are you suddenly being so awkward?"
A playful tone, a sulky expression.
At Sua's usual on-stream demeanor, a few viewers began typing playful chat messages as usual, but the majority still flooded the chat with messages comforting Sua over not being chosen.
"...You're really mean, Plea-lings."
After that, donation after donation went off, and Sua's stream screen filled with words of comfort for her. But Sua only reacted energetically on the surface, as she always did.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!!
『DisappointedInRin donated 1,000,000 won!!』
《Honestly Rin was really in the wrong, agree?》
As several large donations went off in between, Sua let out a small laugh and shook her head.
"...I'm really grateful for donations this big, but please hold back on donations like that. Got it?"
While giving reactions befitting the amounts and bantering back and forth with viewers, Sua inwardly wondered.
'Does Rin have something else to say, then? Is that why she wants to meet?'
Just as she was thinking that—
Ding.
— [Rin : Sua, where should we meet?]
A whisper notification rang.
"Ah, Plea-lings, I just got a whisper from Rin."
Sua, who had been fiddling with the Ring Imbued with Jeremian's Lingering Will she'd bought from the auction house,
glanced at the ring once, then without hesitation put it into her inventory.