A Complete Newbie?

"Really? A complete, absolute newbie?"

The streamer Hanya's proposal was actually quite welcome to me as well. Sharing the revenue generated from appearing on her stream and YouTube... I had only hopped on for a quick game, but now an unexpected source of income was presenting itself. I had already been planning to save up some money anyway. For a fourteen-year-old orphan with absolutely nothing to her name, money was an absolute necessity. Right now, even a single thousand-won bill was incredibly precious. Whether it was to integrate into society, live life doing what I wanted, or prepare for unforeseen emergencies, money was indispensable. Originally, I had planned to use my physical combat skills to make a living, but who would have thought an opportunity like this would arise through a video game?

"Sure, you can upload it to YouTube."

Since I was already appearing on her live stream anyway, it would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weird to draw the line at YouTube. If I was going to refuse, I should have done so from the very beginning. Since I was already in the spotlight, I might as well go all the way, get featured on YouTube, and rake in the cash. Just you wait, YouTube... The view-count bomber, Park Jeong-ah, is coming! I'll make sure people can't resist clicking, mwahaha...

"I'll make sure you're well compensated. You can look forward to it!"

"Yay."

Hanya's satisfied reply came, followed by a brief, amicable conversation.

"By the way, 'JungwooPark,' is your real name Jung-woo?"

"No, it's not my name... but it's a very important name to me."

"Ah, I see. Jung-woo isn't a very common name for girls, so I did think it was a bit unusual."

"Ahaha..."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I could only laugh awkwardly and brush off her question. After all, I couldn't exactly tell her that my name used to be Jung-woo but I had somehow become Jeong-ah.

"Then what should I call you? 'JungwooPark' is a bit too long to call out in the heat of the moment. Jung-woo? Ms. Jung-woo? But that's not your real name, so wouldn't that feel super awkward for you?"

"I don't mind either way. Just call me whatever you're comfortable with."

Honestly, 'Jung-woo' or 'Mr. Jung-woo' was what I was most used to... but that was a truth that had to remain buried. If I couldn't go by Jung-woo, it meant I needed a new name. But at the end of the day, it was just an in-game nickname. It wasn't particularly important, so did it really matter what she called me?

As I was pondering over this, Hanya raised her voice as if she had just gotten a brilliant idea.

"Oh! Someone in the chat said you're so pretty that we should call you 'BeautifulGirl-chan,' or 'Girl-chan' for short. What do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think?"

"I'd rather not."

"How about 'Beautiful Girl Samurai'?"

"That's also a bit..."

"Blonde Beautiful Girl?"

"...Why does every option have 'beautiful girl' in it?"

"Well, because you're pretty! Your character looks like a beautiful girl."

"And you said you wanted a short name for urgent situations, but all of those are longer than 'JungwooPark.'"

"Ah, you caught me."

"..."

It wasn't that I didn't care. Nicknames and what others called me were far more important than I thought. There was no way in hell I was going to let myself be called something like that.

"...Just call me Jung-woo. It's barely any different from my nickname anyway."

"I'm surprised you don't like being called a beautiful girl."

"Why? I'd love it if someone called me a beautiful girl."

After lightly punishing the chatters who brought up her age, Han-ah laughed and continued.

"Then I'll just call you Jung-woo. You can call me Hanya, Hanya-nim, or just 'Unni' if you're comfortable with that."

Although they had agreed on a name, in reality, she was being called things like "Beautiful Girl Samurai" and "Blonde Beautiful Girl" far more often. At least, that was the case in Han-ah's stream chat. Her image had already been firmly established that way.

"Okay."

The girl's reply sounded a bit drained. Well, it was only natural. Ordinary people who weren't used to streaming often found this kind of fast-paced banter exhausting. Still, perhaps because of the girl's outstanding natural charm, she made for great content. If uploaded to YouTube, it would probably pull in a massive number of views. Anyway, it was time to move on to the main event.

"Now that we've settled on what to call each other, shall we queue up for a duo?"

"Playing the game actually sounds a lot easier."

"Speaking of which..."

Han-ah swallowed hard and asked in a subtle, probing tone.

"W-What tier is your main account?"

"Huh?"

"I mean... rather than just playing normal matches like this, playing ranked duos together would make for much better content. With your skills, playing normals is just going to be a one-sided slaughter anyway. To be honest, my main account is in Diamond..."

Han-ah rattled off her excuses—which actually made a lot of sense—in a rapid-fire burst before finally getting to the point.

"If our tiers match, do you want to play ranked duos? Is your main account in Master? Or even if it's not your main, do you have a Diamond, Master, or Platinum account?"

Glancing at the chat, Han-ah smirked as she saw the exact reactions she had hoped for. In truth, this desperate, pathetic clinging to ranked tiers was an act Han-ah was putting on. She was exaggerating her behavior to make the stream more entertaining. For some reason, whether on live streams or YouTube, viewers always preferred seeing Han-ah humble herself and get teased. Of course, that didn't mean it was entirely an act. Han-ah really was competitive about her rank, and she genuinely wanted to use this opportunity to take a step closer to escaping Diamond. She was simply playing it up for the camera.

Now, this beautiful girl will reveal her main account's tier, and I'll shamelessly beg her to carry me.

Even if her main account was Grandmaster or Challenger, making it impossible for them to queue together, it didn't matter. It would be a shame, but she could just settle for normal matches in that case. Instead, it would reveal that this gorgeous girl was actually a top-tier high-ranker. Perfect. Everything is going exactly to plan. Having finished her mental calculations, Han-ah waited expectantly for the girl's response.

"Um, Hanya?"

"Yes! I'm ready to hear whatever you have to say!"

"Well, you see..."

The girl spoke in a cautious, apologetic tone.

"...This is my main account. I don't have any other accounts."

"?"

A literal question mark popped up in Han-ah's mind. The completely unexpected answer caused her brain to short-circuit. Once she finally processed the girl's words, Han-ah let out an awkward laugh.

"Oh, come on, you're joking. You're just saying that for the stream, right? You don't have to force a bit just to make a good YouTube video."

Her first reaction was denial. But when the girl remained silent, Han-ah's eyes widened as the truth finally sank in.

"Wait, no way. Seriously? You're a complete, absolute newbie?"

It was one shock after another. Incredible things had been happening ever since she met this girl, but this was undoubtedly the most mind-blowing revelation yet. She had just watched her slice through enemies' necks with a katana like it was nothing. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That was clearly the movement of someone deeply experienced in combat.

Sharp criticism from the viewers began to flood the chat, as the situation made absolutely no logical sense to anyone. But strangely, looking at those chat messages only cleared Han-ah's head. For some reason, she began to feel that the girl was telling the absolute truth.

A newbie. A complete newbie...

Her behavior at the start of the game—charging in alone without any strategic discussion—was a classic rookie mistake often made by players who didn't understand the game. In fact, before witnessing her actual skills, hadn't Han-ah herself dismissed that charge as just a typical newbie's reckless blunder? And when they first met in the plaza, the way she had looked around with sparkling, curious eyes... When she put the pieces together, there were plenty of details that screamed "newbie."

Of course, she could just be a troll looking for attention...

While there was a possibility that the girl was a malicious troll who enjoyed messing with people for attention, Han-ah felt a strong gut instinct that this wasn't the case. Besides, it was incredibly easy to verify. All she had to do was contact the game company to check the account history. They would get a response within a day showing exactly how many accounts were registered under her name. Why would anyone tell a lie that could be so easily debunked? Han-ah believed the girl in front of her wasn't stupid, and so, she decided to trust her.

"So you're saying this is really your first time playing the game?"

"Yes. I can verify it if you want. I think we can just ask the game company..."

Her immediate, unhesitating response made it clear. The girl was telling the truth. Having reached her conclusion, Han-ah's mind began to race at a million miles an hour.

Wait, if that's true...

A girl with an incredibly gorgeous custom character, who wields a katana—a weapon literally nobody uses—at a high-ranker level, is actually a complete, absolute newbie who has never played the game before?

Holy crap.

Once she put it all together, Han-ah shivered, but this time for an entirely different reason.

This is guaranteed to blow up!

Her identity as the streamer Hanya, rather than just the gamer Han-ah, was whispering in her ear. This entire situation was absolute gold for a YouTube video.