The Streamer's Proposal
I doubt there are many people who wouldn't be flustered to hear the words, "Please be my friend!"
Even the most stoic person would react if they heard that in person, rather than through a text or an online messenger. Of course, it was a stretch to view the current situation in exactly that light. No matter how realistic it felt, this was still virtual reality—a game.
Usually, a friend request in this kind of situation meant...
Are they asking to play together?
That was really the only reason to send a friend request to someone you just met in a game. Even in my own memory, I could recall sending friend requests to people who pulled off unforgettable, amazing plays or with whom I had great chemistry, just so we could play together again.
The woman in front of me was probably sending a request for the same reason.
"You mean you want to play a match together, right?" I asked, just in case her reason for adding me was different from my assumption.
"Y-Yes! Could we... play together?"
"Hmm..."
It was a bit sudden, so I hesitated for a moment.
"Ah, is that a no? Whimper..."
When I didn't give an immediate response, her face fell instantly. It seemed her desire to play with me was far from small.
Come to think of it, she had been incredibly enthusiastic ever since we first met, starting with her questions about my character customization. She wasn't badgering me about it or refusing to believe my answers anymore, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
"Sure, let's play together."
I accepted. It wasn't like playing a game together was difficult, and I had no real reason to refuse.
Yet, for some reason, the woman was so thrilled that her red ponytail whipped back and forth as she cheered.
"O-Oh, wow! Yay...!"
One second she was moping, and the next she was bouncing up and down. I was just starting to find the contrast strangely cute when she spoke up again.
"Please tell me your username and code...! I'll send the request."
"Let's finish the game first."
She was surprisingly impatient. We could easily add each other in the plaza or the lobby after the match was over.
"Ah, right."
Realizing she had gotten ahead of herself, she bowed her head slightly. I smoothly sliced down the final enemy.
"What do I do, what do I do, guys? What should I say to her?"
During the brief window of the post-game results screen, Han-ah let out a torrent of emotions—a mix of accomplishment, excitement, and sheer joy—in front of her viewers.
The viewers found her reaction a bit puzzling.
Granted, the other person was an absolute beast. A mysterious blonde beauty who used a rare weapon like a katana and was suspiciously good at Asteria.
But at the end of the day, it was just a friend request and playing a game together. It wasn't like they were becoming lifelong soulmates.
Han-ah's attitude, on the other hand, was a bit much. She looked like a sales representative who had just landed a multi-billion-won contract. Glancing at the chat, Han-ah slapped her own cheeks with both hands and muttered as if hypnotizing herself.
"R-Right? I'm overreacting. Let's just act natural... like always."
It wasn't her first time bringing someone onto her stream. In fact, hosting guest segments where she invited people to play with her had played a major role in growing her channel during its early days.
Her guests ranged from ordinary players she met in-game, to big-name streamers who were completely new to Asteria, to high-tier pros who were leagues better than her.
Though she hadn't done them as much lately, these guest segments were a core, foundational part of her content.
"Okay, first we'll start with some light banter, play a few normal matches, and then maybe some ranked..."
Han-ah racked her brain, trying to remember how she used to run these segments.
"Wait... can we even play ranked together?"
Suddenly, she hit a snag. It was the ranked matchmaking system.
Han-ah's main account was in Diamond. Meanwhile, the blonde beauty's skill level was estimated to be at least Master or higher.
To prevent boosting and massive skill gaps, Asteria's ranked matchmaking blocked players from queueing together if their tiers differed by two or more ranks.
In other words, if the user 'JjeonguPark' was Grandmaster or Challenger, Han-ah wouldn't be able to play ranked with her.
"Hey! Ranked is way more fun than normal matches. Besides, if we want to see her actual skill, we have to play ranked..."
On the surface, Han-ah's argument sounded reasonable, but the trailing end of her sentence carried an undeniable, greedy desire. She was always dead serious about her rank, and objectively speaking, this was a golden opportunity to climb.
"It's like priming a pump. I'm not just getting carried. If she pulls me up just a little bit, I'll shoot right up from there. You guys saw it too—I'm not stuck in this tier because I'm bad!"
Just as comments like "Hanya, you're pathetic," "So many excuses," and "CEO Han is at it again" were scrolling up the chat:
"Hello."
"Ah, hello!"
The protagonist had arrived. As the blonde beauty accepted Han-ah's invite and entered the lobby, the chat went wild.
These chat messages, invisible to the girl in front of her and only visible to Han-ah, were quickly swiped to the corner of the screen. Han-ah then addressed the most important matter first.
"Um... so, JjeonguPark?"
"...Yes."
Seeing the girl look slightly flustered at hearing her username, Han-ah continued.
"Actually, I'm a streamer. I do internet broadcasts. Have you by any chance heard of a streamer named Hanya?"
There was a tiny sliver of hope in her voice that the girl might recognize her.
"I'm sorry. I don't really watch streams..."
"Ah, no, it's fine! I'm not that famous anyway, so it's totally normal that you haven't heard of me. Anyway, that's not the important part..."
Han-ah waved her hand to brush off the slightly awkward atmosphere.
"I'm streaming right now. Would you be okay with appearing on my stream?"
"Hmm..."
Hearing this, the girl hesitated for a moment, just as she had when accepting the friend request.
"Could you give me the link to your stream?" she suddenly asked.
"Ah, yes!"
She wanted to check what kind of stream it was first. After sending the link, Han-ah waited anxiously like a student waiting for her homework to be graded.
She didn't have anything to feel guilty about. Han-ah's stream was relatively clean and mild, with nothing that would make an ordinary viewer uncomfortable.
The only potential issue was her viewers, whom she was usually embarrassed to show to anyone. But even though they were mischievous, they weren't completely brainless, so surely they would keep their chat civil for now—
"Um... Hanya? Can I call you Hanya?"
"Yes, of course! Feel free."
The girl called out to Han-ah, her tone genuinely puzzled.
"Why are these people calling me 'Noona'?"
"Huh?"
"They keep typing 'Noona, Noona'... Doesn't that mean older sister?"
"Ah, that's..."
Han-ah looked at the chat and couldn't lift her head.
You brainless idiots.
They couldn't even hold back for a single minute.
She quickly issued temporary bans to the ones spamming "Noona" and scrambled to explain.
"It's... kind of like an internet meme. These guys just call any girl they see 'Noona'."
"Hmm... I don't think there are many people who can actually call me Noona, though."
"Is that so?"
Is she younger than she looks? Or does she have some special status where people shouldn't call her that?
After briefly pondering, Han-ah laughed it off and changed the subject.
"Well, on the internet, if someone is pretty, they're automatically a 'Noona'. I get called that too sometimes."
"...A bunch of question marks are popping up in the chat, though?"
"Ahem."
At Han-ah's joke, the girl's expression softened, and she finally gave the answer Han-ah had been hoping for.
"I think it's fine for me to be on the stream."
"Wow, yay! Thank you so much. You made the right choice. It's not much, but I'll give you all the donations I receive today."
"Not half, but all of them?"
The girl's eyes widened. Satisfied with the reaction, Han-ah smiled and added:
"About half of the donations will be because of you anyway, and since you're appearing on my stream, it's only fair to pay you an appearance fee. And since you've agreed to be on the stream..."
Now that the girl seemed convinced, Han-ah brought out her real proposal.
"Can I upload the match we just played, and the new matches we're about to play, to YouTube? Of course, I plan to split the revenue generated from those videos with you as well."