75. How Much Would It Cost to Ban FreshSteamedRice?
75. How Much Would It Cost to Ban FreshSteamedRice?
***
『Anonymous donated 100,000 won!!』
《Don't react. And don't say thank you.》
Hayoon, who had been staring blankly at the donation alert, searched once again for the person who had donated.
"The person who donated... you really won't tell me who you are? I want to express my gratitude somehow... really."
It was even an anonymous donation.
No matter how she tried to find them, she couldn't.
[FreshSteamedRice: Whoa, who is that.]
[Staric: The person who donated??]
[Larile: They're saying don't react or thank them at all...?]
[Jambl: They donated 100,000 won and don't want anything in return... They must have been watching the stream all this time?]
Looking at the people chatting right now, there were only the familiar people who chatted every day.
Staric, Larile, Jambl, FreshSteamedRice. Just these four people.
Including the viewers who listened like it was a radio or just left it on, the viewer count had dropped to 25 before she knew it.
That bothered her and made her heart ache a little. But still, she was curious about the viewer who had just made such a large donation.
"Um... you said not to thank you or react at all, but... can I really just accept this?"
She couldn't believe it, so she asked again and again.
Receiving a donation this large was a first in her six months of streaming.
Even when she occasionally received a 10,000 won donation, she would write down the donor's ID in a notepad to remember them.
But a sudden 100,000 won donation from an anonymous ID, for no reason at all.
—Ding-ding-ding-ding!!!!
『Anonymous donated 100,000 won!!』
《I'd like you to just do a drinking stream. Since you said it's your last stream, I'm giving this hoping things go well for you from now on.》
At the flashy alert sound that went off once again, she stared blankly at the donation alert.
Even the message itself was nothing but heartwarming.
"I, really... ah, yes, I understand. Then I'll start the drinking stream right away."
Stammering, she forced down the thanks that had risen all the way to her throat.
The hand holding the soju trembled without her realizing it.
Another 100,000 won.
This was undeniably a big-spender viewer.
The kind of big spender you usually only heard about on successful big-name streams or pretty female streamers' channels.
'...So I get to receive one too, at the end of my streaming career.'
She was dazed, but so happy.
Today was my last stream, but still—someone had watched my stream and donated the huge sum of 100,000 won. The amount itself was one thing, but even the donation message felt like it was meant to support me.
So she was even more grateful.
"If the person who donated wants anything from me, please just type it in chat once. I don't know if I can satisfy you, but I'll do my best to show you what I can."
Remembering the donor's words telling her not to react or thank them, she tried to express her gratitude in some other way.
[FreshSteamedRice: Whoa... so combined that's 200,000 won in donations?]
[Jambl: Hayoon, you're finally seeing the light at the end.]
[Larile: The big-spender viewer doesn't seem to want to chat.]
[Staric: There really is no chat from them! And an anonymous donation on top of that.]
Watching the chat, she felt anxious without realizing it.
She had received such an enormous donation, but they told her not to do anything, so she could only fidget and agonize alone.
"...Do you really not need any reaction or thanks for the donation?"
From about half a year of streaming, she had learned that donations must never be taken lightly.
If a streamer acted even slightly arrogant or like it was no big deal, viewers would catch that disrespect instantly.
So if a streamer showed even a slightly inadequate reaction, viewers would stop donating.
The only people who could maintain that kind of attitude while still receiving donations were a few unusual big-name streamers whose image had been built that way, or a small number of streamers overflowing with their own charm.
For example... right, like 'Rin.'
Her minimum donation amount was 50,000 won, a price that could be seen as the height of arrogance unprecedented in internet broadcasting history, yet people who donated to her consistently existed.
Having watched Rin's streams every day, I knew. That at least ten donations went off per stream.
But even when receiving such large donations, Rin didn't express much gratitude.
Whether the message telling people not to donate was bait or not, her reaction ended with just a simple thank you.
I wondered how on earth she could do that. But recently, I had given up trying to understand Rin.
That must be talent.
She must be born with it.
I had realized Rin was the kind of person you'd only get burned trying to imitate.
Her overwhelming Another World skill, her uniquely mysterious personality. Those things had all layered together to create the Rin of today, so trying to imitate the small details would only bring backlash.
In fact, I knew that a streamer who had raised their minimum donation to 50,000 won to imitate Rin had been cursed out horribly on the community sites and their image had completely tanked.
Drip.
Erasing the thoughts that kept trying to continue, she poured soju into her glass. She was live right now, after all.
Right now, she wanted to find out who among the 25 viewers had donated 200,000 won, but she erased that thought too.
'If the person who donated says not to do something, I shouldn't do it.'
"For my first drink... I'll drink it as thanks to the viewers currently watching my last stream, and to the anonymous viewer who donated such a huge amount."
So she tried to express it somehow through the first drink's toast.
It would be nowhere near enough, but she still wanted to express at least a little gratitude.
As she said that, she raised her soju glass to the cam,
"Cheers."
She said carefully.
Embarrassed alone during her first-ever drinking stream, she quickly brought the glass to her lips.
The extremely bitter soju went down her throat, and her face naturally scrunched up.
But today, the soju felt so sweet.
'Somehow... things seem to be going well lately.'
At that thought, I smiled like an idiot without realizing it.
No longer the unstable life of a streamer and NewTuber who couldn't see an inch ahead, but now she had become an editor, something that could be called a proper job.
And not just anyone's editor—Rin's editor.
Rin, who had suddenly appeared recently and was rising faster than any other streamer.
She felt a great deal of pressure about taking on the NewTube channel editing for such an amazing person, but more than that pressure, the fact that she got to work with her made her happier.
As the saying goes, reflected glory—Rin was the one who had succeeded, but working with her made me feel as though I'd succeeded too.
'No, couldn't this be considered half a success? Rin is already famous on NewTube.'
She thought that as she poured soju into her glass again.
She felt good for no reason, and the corners of her mouth loosened.
[Larile: Cheers!]
[Jambl: We'll pray that things go well for you too, Hayoon, whatever you do next.]
Heartwarming chat.
The chats from Larile and Jambl, who could be called regular viewers, were always appreciated.
Among the few regular viewers, they were the ones who chatted the most and reacted well.
It was so disappointing to have to say goodbye to viewers like that, but she couldn't do both jobs at once.
The editor position had been hard-won.
She had exchanged contact information with the woman she'd be working with, Park Soyul, and had gotten to know her a little. Park Soyul was a woman who already had experience as an editor for a big-name NewTuber.
'...I need to work harder.'
She faced reality.
I had to work harder to catch up to Soyul.
So she would boldly give up being a streamer and NewTuber.
Even if there was some regret, she had no great hesitation about quitting.
I knew trying to chase two rabbits at once out of greed just because an opportunity had come my way was beyond me.
And so, another drink.
—Cheers! she shouted, raising her glass to the cam and drinking, her face scrunching up before laughter soon spilled out.
The sharp buzz of alcohol circulating through her body just made her feel good.
It wasn't the worry and anxiety she felt every day, but rather a floating happiness from the happy things that had happened recently, so even drinking the bitter alcohol, she was simply happy.
"The alcohol really does feel sweet today. Today is my last day as a streamer, but I truly hope that everything each of you viewers does goes well and that you all succeed. I really mean this."
She said it with genuine sincerity.
Now that something good had happened to me and I had room to breathe, I could sincerely cheer my viewers on like that.
Always failure after failure.
A life of nothing but that.
Rather than hoping for someone else's success, I'd lived every day mired in negative feelings, pessimistically wondering why I couldn't succeed.
But a single success.
Becoming Rin's editor—that alone made her so happy.
After being selected as the editor yesterday, she had been so excited she couldn't sleep. So she had rewatched Rin's streams over and over, she didn't know how many times.
Rin, announcing the second viewer vote and its results, kindly saying her name.
Then, when I checked the contract that came by email, that feeling doubled. Rin's words saying she'd seen my effort—I stared endlessly at that sentence, then spent about three hours agonizing over how to write my thanks before sending it.
'Has she checked it by now?'
As of before she started today's stream, she knew Rin hadn't checked the email yet, but she must just be busy. That was all she thought; nothing else came to mind.
She was the person I'd be working for from now on, after all.
The dark and sticky feelings she had initially felt toward Rin—envy, jealousy, inferiority—had vanished as if they'd been lies, and now she simply liked Rin as a person.
Aside from the voice she'd heard on stream, she knew nothing about Rin. But she just felt positive emotions, like she must be pretty, she must be kind.
Now, pouring soju into my glass out of habit, I found myself grinning so goofily that even I could tell.
"Cheers!"
As if her energy had spiked, she thrust her soju glass toward the cam and shouted louder than usual.
Feeling the bitterness again, she looked at the chat window. A few messages had come up.
[FreshSteamedRice: Ah, then I have something I've always been curious about—may I ask?]
[Jambl: Hayoon, but do you have a direction set for what you'll do after quitting streaming?]
[Staric: Still, I'm satisfied that we can end things warmly like this, talking with each other.]
"If you have questions, please ask. I'll answer everything I can. After quitting streaming, I think I'll set my career path toward video editing work. So rather than my own videos, I'll probably be handling someone else's."
Editing.
She looked forward to the viewers being shocked when they heard the good news she'd reveal before the stream ended.
Because it was none other than Rin, the streamer who was all the rage right now.
[Jambl: Editing work... I was really enjoying your NewTube videos, Hayoon.]
[Staric: That's right. The videos are really high quality, so I found myself watching them without realizing it.]
[FreshSteamedRice: Where in Yeoksam-dong do you live?]
I felt good at the viewers' compliments about my NewTube content,
but I flinched without realizing it at FreshSteamedRice's final chat message.
"I'm always grateful to those who watch my NewTube videos. And... I'm sorry, but I can't answer questions about my personal information."
As she spoke carefully, her mind, which had been floating on the alcohol, suddenly felt sharply awake.
Asking out of nowhere where in Yeoksam-dong I lived—that specific question felt like they were trying to find out where I lived.
For a moment, she felt goosebumps rise.
[Jambl: Why are you suddenly asking where she lives?]
[Staric: That person is a bit weird.]
And it wasn't just me who felt it—other viewers in the chat also pointed out how strange it was.
[FreshSteamedRice: No, I could just be curious, right? Since you said it's your last stream, I feel regretful... Couldn't we run into each other by chance?]
And so FreshSteamedRice typed another strange chat.
They were certainly a viewer I was grateful for, someone who often watched my streams and occasionally donated.
But what on earth were they saying now?
'Do they mean they'd recognize me if we ran into each other?'
Hayoon's hand holding the soju glass trembled without her realizing it.
—Ding-ding-ding-ding!!!!
『Anonymous donated 100,000 won!!』
《How much would it cost to ban FreshSteamedRice? You said earlier to tell you what I wanted. I just don't want to see that person at all anymore.》