29. They Say Rin Might Stream on tweetie?
29. They Say Rin Might Stream on tweetie?
***
Challenger Rank 8, Plea.
She was a user so devoted to Another World that some even called her a crazy bitch, but she was also a ranker whose skill no one could deny.
And with Plea surrendering of her own accord, the duel with the user called Rin came to an end.
A duel with no prior warning, carried out on the spur of the moment like a friendly match.
Because of that, the result didn't even bring any change to rank points or standings.
Plea remained Challenger Tier Rank 8. And Rin, who had claimed victory over Plea, was a user whose name hadn't even appeared in the rankings—a mysterious user who continued to exist outside the ranked ladder.
In some ways, it was a friendly match that seemed like nothing much. But the result of that simple friendly match swept through every community, NewTube, and the gamers of Another World like a massive storm.
—2:0.
A one-sided victory. Anyone who first heard the news or the rumors naturally expected a 2:0 complete win for Plea.
The recently trending Dancer Class user, 'Rin.'
The fact that she had won 2:0 against Plea. At first, everyone denied it or couldn't easily believe it.
The name Rin hadn't yet spread all that widely across the Another World user base, while conversely, Plea, the Rank 8 user, was known to virtually anyone who had spent any real time enjoying Another World.
So Plea's 2:0 complete defeat naturally drew the attention of the vast majority of Another World users while simultaneously igniting a massive wave of discussion.
—Starting with theories that the ranker Plea had deliberately thrown the match to boost the user called Rin.
—The rediscovery of the Dancer class and the Crescent-Moon Weight weapon.
—Where had this user called Rin suddenly come from?
—The controversy over parrying an Awakening Skill.
With all these and more as fodder, community sites across the board continued to burn white-hot.
An outlaw infamous as a vicious PKer, a streamer stuck in the middling Platinum tier.
Even if the user called Rin won against opponents like those, people could dismiss it as simply having good control.
But winning against Challenger Rank 8 Plea carried an entirely different weight.
She wasn't the kind of opponent you could beat with a moment of luck or simply having good mechanics.
A level close to professional play—a tier where breathtaking moves came as naturally as breathing.
That was what the Challenger tier meant.
In Another World, the influence carried by the name Plea was that immense.
And now.
Among the Another World communities, the site 'Another Level'—known especially as a haven for veteran players—was so flooded with posts about Plea and the user called Rin that its trending board was practically occupied by them.
......
Slurrrrp.
She drew the cool cola up through the straw and savored the crisp chill.
"Ahh."
On a midsummer day, an ice-cold cola was a cheat code in itself, a small happiness.
Thinking that, Hana—one of tweetie's big-name streamers—browsed through the community's trending posts.
Today was a rare day off from streaming on tweetie, so without even washing up properly, she was lounging in her pajamas, wandering the community boards and replaying in her mind the broadcast she'd watched yesterday.
The duel between Plea and the user called Rin.
Because of how suddenly it had come together, most Another World streamers had flocked to the crazy bitch's stream.
And even while watching, Hana had spent the entire broadcast staring blankly, unable to do anything but marvel.
Pro league matches and ranker matches were always entertaining, but yesterday's duel had been genuinely shocking in its own right.
The result itself was shocking, but so was the ferocity of the techniques on display as their weapons clashed, and the beauty of the Crescent-Moon Weight.
On top of that, Rin's movements were a feast for the eyes all by themselves.
She did not feel like a game character at all. No matter how naturally the pros moved, none of them moved as naturally as Rin.
Honestly, she hadn't understood even half of what she was watching, but still, she felt like she finally understood why people said watching masters clash was entertaining in itself.
Brilliant bursts of multicolored light, and within them, the savage collision of technique against technique—even watching it back in slow motion, the way the skills were used drew automatic admiration.
"I'll have to watch it again later through the VOD."
And since there was no way she'd been the only one to witness such an incredible duel, Hana was dying to know how other people were reacting.
So she started with the trending posts on 'Another Level,' the community site she visited most often.
[On the Feasibility of Parrying an Awakening Skill]
[Explaining Point by Point the Evidence That the Crazy Bitch Didn't Go Easy on Rin]
[Pros and Rankers Are Saying Parrying an Awakening Skill Is Possible, At Least in Theory]
[Apparently This Rin Person Might Start Streaming on tweetie?]
"Where do I even start..."
Muttering that blankly, Hana clicked to the next page of trending posts and looked through those as well.
And she could see that even that page was filled with talk about Plea and Rin.
Sure, this was a veteran-player site, so interest in the ranker Plea was especially high, but Hana knew the other communities weren't really all that different.
This person called Rin.
When she'd typed those vicious chat messages, Hana had assumed the account behind them was some Master or Diamond 1-2 tier user. But as it turned out, she was the 'real deal.'
If she'd fought a Challenger and won, what else could she be but the real deal?
And considering her opponent was the user they called the crazy bitch, even the phrase 'real deal' somehow felt insufficient to describe the user called Rin.
If anything, she was a monster even worse than the crazy bitch herself.
At that thought, Hana shook her head from side to side.
"...I seriously can't stand talent-stacked freaks. Some of us sink thousands of hours into this game and still cap out as Platinum scrubs."
In fact, Hana was currently stuck in Platinum Tier 1, unable to climb.
She couldn't even see a sign of moving up.
The more Arena ranked matches she played, the closer Diamond tier seemed—but it was a wall she ultimately never reached.
'I want to hit Diamond at least once.'
Even as she thought that blankly, she couldn't begin to imagine how anyone could beat the crazy bitch, a Challenger.
While those thoughts drifted through her head, Hana soon remembered NewTube.
She opened another tab in her browser and went to the NewTube site.
Then she immediately went to her own NewTube channel.
'HanaTube' — 310,000 subscribers.
Her subscriber count had definitely grown a lot over the past few days. Had it really gone up by 40,000 in just three or four days?
And she knew even that was because of the user called Rin.
The video of her being unilaterally toyed with. It hadn't even been up for a few days, and it had already passed a million views on NewTube.
"1.33 million views... it's just too sweet..."
Grinning stupidly, Hana moved her mouse cursor over the view count again.
It was already on par with the highest-viewed video she'd ever uploaded to NewTube.
And considering that her previous top video had actually accumulated those views over several months, it was obvious as day that this video of her getting toyed with would soon break that record.
Because the user called Rin was sure to keep making waves.
"She should come watch my stream sometime."
So she'd hoped Rin would come by her stream again and spam more vicious chat messages, but lately she hadn't even shown up to watch.
Back when she was being toyed with, she'd felt frustrated and scared, and she'd even resented the user called Rin for humiliating her.
But with a NewTube payoff this good, Hana was willing to let herself get toyed with again—several times, even.
No, she'd even fantasized about begging Rin to toy with her even harder next time, going full crazy-bitch concept.
Pride or whatever—for guaranteed honey like this, Hana was prepared to throw it all away.
"Ha, she really won't accept my friend request, huh... And Plea—that crazy bitch—gets to keep milking this goldmine. I'm so jealous."
She was jealous. So jealous. Even as she thought that, she debated which trending post to click on.
And among them, the one that interested her most.
She clicked on the post titled:
[Apparently This Rin Person Might Start Streaming on tweetie?]
Click.
— [Apparently This Rin Person Might Start Streaming on tweetie?]
Author: gosuxxbastard
(Clip from Plea's stream)
-After the duel ended, Plea was talking with Rin, and she asked if Rin had any thoughts about streaming?
And Rin's tone was just kind of whatever about it.
Is this Rin person actually going to become a streamer?
[Watching the clip, her reaction just seemed lukewarm though?]
[If you watch the clip where Plea hands over the gear and Rin frantically hits accept, her equipment looked like trash, so if she's greedy for money she'll probably do it]
[Then isn't it just 100%? She's built up this much recognition and popularity, it'd be weirder if she didn't become a streamer]
[But if it were me I'd just go pro lol streaming's probably easier, but with skills that can beat a Challenger, why not go pro?]
[└lololol just the donation income and ad rates alone are insane, with Rin's current popularity, being a streamer instead of a pro makes way more money, just look at this thread—there are tons of people ready to donate the second she turns on a stream]
[└She parries an Awakening Skill, how the hell do you not simp for that? lololololol it's literally the dream lolol]
[└For real, if Rin starts streaming on tweetie I'm planning to drop a donation right away yeah]
[lolololol Another World pros are all mentally ill, if they lose even one match at a tournament they get cussed out six ways from Sunday]
[Looking at that pro Argalia? Or whoever it is getting cussed out every single day, seriously, staying a pro is impressive]
If she became a streamer, success was guaranteed. No, with skills like that, she should just go pro. And so on.
Reading the wide array of comments, Hana found herself nodding along without realizing it.
"Well... whatever she does, she'll succeed anyway."
Just from the way she was trending across communities, it was obvious. Even Another World-related internet articles were showing up about the user called Rin with noticeable frequency.
Even on NewTube, wasn't it true that any video with the name Rin in it—no matter how weird—saw its views skyrocket?
Well, actually, she herself had been reaping those benefits quite handsomely.
"Oh, but wait—if she starts streaming, won't my viewer count drop?"
She muttered that blankly, and a sigh escaped her.
Please, let her not become a tweetie streamer.
Hana found herself praying for that without thinking.
***
The cool air from the air conditioner kept the room at just the right temperature.
The ultimate luxury: blasting the AC like that, then lying in bed and pulling the covers over herself.
"This is happiness."
She murmured that blankly, tucking the top-quality blanket snugly around herself.
A few minutes passed.
Beep-beep-beep.
Beep-beep-beep.
She turned off the blaring alarm.
After lying there blankly under the covers for a moment, a thought flickered through her mind.
'Unemployed. 25 years old. Han Serin.'
When she tried to imagine introducing herself to someone right now, that was all there was.
Nothing to add, nothing to take away.
That really was it.
No matter how much money was sleeping in her bank account, when meeting someone and introducing herself, she couldn't just blurt out, 'I have a lot of money.'
And the fundamental reason she was thinking about this now.
It was because of the brief small talk she'd exchanged with Plea after their duel yesterday.
She recalled last night's memories for a moment.
......
Her opponent's Awakening Skill. She'd parried everything that looked like a beam of light, but in the end, she'd failed to properly parry the final strand.
Out of dozens of light strands, she'd allowed just a single hit, and her HP had dropped from 20% to 17%.
The Awakening Skill 'Final Performance' had ended the moment she finished those dance-like movements.
So afterward, her HP was effectively at the point where even one clean touch from Plea would have ended the fight.
With 'Final Performance' over, she'd lost the sense of omnipotence and was experiencing a kind of lethargy, so she thought that if the duel had continued, she probably would have lost.
But then came her opponent's sudden, clean concession.
—I lost. Rin.
Plea's words sounded incredibly matter-of-fact to her.
Afterward, as she was leaving the Colosseum, she received a whisper from Plea.
Even in defeat, Plea didn't seem to be in a bad mood, and she kept whispering, so Serin readily answered her.
Then, somehow, the topic of work came up.
—[Plea : Rin, what do you do for a living right now?]
—[Rin (rinhh) : Just unemployed.]
—[Plea : Rin, then hey. Do you have any interest in trying streaming!? If you become a streamer, you'll seriously succeed!]
After that, Plea kept recommending streaming to her, insisting that she'd definitely succeed if she started broadcasting, and Serin just gave half-hearted replies.
......
That was the end of last night's memories.
"...A streamer, huh."
Serin lay blankly in bed, still wrapped up tightly in the blanket, and muttered.
Inside Another World, she was undeniably more confident than anyone.
Just yesterday, she'd beaten Plea, a Challenger-tier player.
Even now, the satisfaction of victory lingered faintly around her.
Just that alone made her feel recognized.
They said one of the greatest biological drives was the desire to be acknowledged by others, and that seemed right.
To prove herself, and to be recognized by others.
The fact that she'd secretly cared about the chat reactions might have been rooted in that very reason.
"..."
But.
This world wasn't one that ended with Another World alone.
Step outside the game called Another World, and reality undeniably existed.
A powerless version of herself, different from the one in the game world.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt she needed a proper identity.
"Streaming... should I give it a try?"