Uninvited Guests
After the uninvited guest departed, she didn't play any more Asteria. She had finally completed the five normal matches required to unlock ranked play, and the viewers were clamoring for her to start queueing immediately, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"Your Capsule Room time is up?"
"Yes, I think I'll have to call it a day."
The five thousand won she had borrowed from Yu-jeong, which she used to top up her account, was completely spent. Even though three hours was by no means a short amount of time, it felt like it had flown by in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it was because she hadn't just played the game, but had also dealt with various incidents. In a way, she had gotten incredible mileage out of that five thousand won.
Hanya also seemed quite exhausted after everything that had happened; as soon as Jeong-ah said she was calling it a day, Hanya ended her stream as well.
"I'll send you the donations from today's stream and the revenue from the YouTube video as soon as they're calculated. Can you give me your bank account number?"
"Ah... I'll let you know my account number later. There are some... circumstances."
Jeong-ah wasn't even sure if she had a bank account. She probably didn't. She would have to visit a bank and open one later. Instead, she got Hanya's phone number. At the same time, she learned her real name: Kang Han-ah, age twenty-six. She was exactly twelve years older than the current fourteen-year-old Park Jeong-ah—a full Chinese zodiac cycle apart.
Once Han-ah shared her name and age first, Jeong-ah shared her real name as well. Except for her age. She was a little curious about how Han-ah would react when she eventually found out how old she was.
She had intended to exchange numbers by giving Han-ah hers, but then she realized that although she had a phone, she didn't actually know her own number, so she couldn't provide it.
"Forgetting your own number... you're surprisingly clumsy in some ways."
"Ahaha..."
Jeong-ah scratched her head with an awkward laugh. In the end, they decided that once she logged off, she would be the one to text first to establish contact.
"You're not going to just ghost me after this, right? I'll be waiting for your text."
There was no way she would do that. Now that she had developed an interest in streaming, she needed to keep in touch with Han-ah. She had even formed a short-term goal of learning more about the world of personal broadcasting through her. So, Jeong-ah spoke up hesitantly.
"Um—"
"By any chance—"
Their voices overlapped as they spoke at the exact same time. Han-ah nodded, gesturing for her to go first.
"If there's another opportunity in the future... could I appear on your stream again?"
Hearing this, Han-ah's eyes widened, and then a bright smile spread across her face.
"What a coincidence! I was just about to ask you the same thing."
"Pardon?"
"You are welcome anytime, Jeong-ah. Honestly, I was going to beg you to come back on, so I'm really grateful you brought it up first."
As if to prove that their connection was genuine, Han-ah grinned widely, clearly thrilled. She seemed even happier to hear that Jeong-ah had developed an interest in streaming.
"I hope you start streaming soon, Jeong-ah. I don't have any close streamer friends, so it's been pretty lonely. Even when I wanted to do a collab, I didn't have any connections with other creators, and it felt weird to just ask out of the blue... but doing them with you from now on would be perfect."
"I haven't completely made up my mind to do it yet."
"Sure, you can appear on my stream a few more times before deciding. It's important to make careful decisions about everything."
Mhm, mhm. Han-ah nodded happily. She already seemed to be spinning a fantasy of Jeong-ah starting her streaming career.
"There's only one minute left. Your capsule time."
"Ah! Is it that time already? I had so much fun today, and you did great! Let's play together next time, and make sure to contact me as soon as you get out of the cap—"
Before Han-ah could finish her sentence while waving goodbye, the world before Jeong-ah's eyes turned pure white. Her vision flickered like a power outage, and she felt a sensation of disconnection.
Whirrrr— Soon, the capsule lid slid open, and she came to her senses. She was lying in the exact same comfortable position as when she had first entered the capsule before starting the game.
"Hmm..."
She sat up, climbed out of the capsule, and swung her arms to stretch. Perhaps because it was her first time using a capsule, she felt a strange sensation, but there was nothing wrong with her body. She would have to log in again in the future, so it wouldn't do to have any physical issues.
Will I have to keep coming to the Capsule Room to log in? It would be so much more convenient to have a capsule of her own. Actually, even if she had one, she wouldn't have anywhere to put it. Still, out of curiosity, she pulled out her phone and searched for the prices of the latest virtual reality gaming capsules.
"It's ridiculously expensive..."
She clicked her tongue at the astronomical price, which was exactly as absurd as she had expected.
"Yep, you really need money."
Having once again confirmed the absolute truth that governs the world, she walked out of the Capsule Room.
"Ugh..."
Han-ah sat up, feeling refreshed. The sweat that had gathered on the back of her neck trickled down her spine. It seemed her body had heated up more than usual from the intense concentration. She had clearly pushed herself harder than normal. Yet, she felt no fatigue, likely because today's stream had been so incredibly satisfying.
"Phew..."
She turned on the air conditioner and sat in front of the cool breeze, slowly reviewing her stream. This was a routine of Han-ah's. After every broadcast, she took time to reflect on how she had performed, what she shouldn't forget, and how she should run the next stream. Since today's broadcast had been so extraordinary, her review naturally took much longer.
Resting her hand on the bridge of her nose, Han-ah fell into deep thought, her gaze drifting to the phone beside her. Unfortunately, contrary to her hopes, the phone had not rung yet.
I guess she isn't texting right away.
She was thinking about Park Jeong-ah, the eccentric who had suddenly appeared and taken her number. Even thinking back on it now, the whole thing felt unbelievably mysterious.
At first, she had only been interested because of the character customization. Then they got matched in the same game, and she thought she was a troll, only to realize she was a complete newbie. Han-ah had tried to carry her, but it turned out she was an absolute master with skills far superior to Han-ah's own. Capturing that entire sequence live on stream was an incredible stroke of luck for a streamer. Just like journalists hunting for daily scoops, streamers were always stressing over finding unique content for every broadcast.
On top of that, she had even received permission to upload the footage to YouTube, which was bound to bring a meaningful boost to her stagnant subscriber count. She couldn't help but hum a happy tune. However, the reason Han-ah felt like she was floating on clouds wasn't just because of business.
"Hehehe."
Letting out a silly giggle, she replayed their conversation in her mind. Exchanging numbers, learning each other's names, promising to meet again on the next stream... Yes, Han-ah was simply thrilled to have made a friend.
Her high school friends had moved to Seoul and lost touch, she had been on a leave of absence from university for a long time, and though she had been streaming seriously for a year, she hadn't managed to make a single colleague she could open up to. This was why she could never deny it when her viewers teased her as "No-Friends Hanya." How could she argue when it was the absolute truth? She could only get briefly huffy about it.
But she could finally say goodbye to those lonely days. Just moments ago, she had made a friend she genuinely liked for the first time in ages. Furthermore, this friend wasn't just a gaming buddy; she might even become a fellow streamer. And not just any streamer—Han-ah predicted that the moment Jeong-ah started, she would take the entire streaming industry by storm.
A fleeting worry crossed her mind about whether her own viewership would get cannibalized, but it vanished as quickly as it came.
Once Jeong-ah starts streaming, there's no stopping her anyway.
She would likely absorb not just Han-ah's viewers, but the audience of almost every other Asteria streamer out there. The Jeong-ah she had witnessed was just that absurdly overpowered.
Having reached that conclusion, Han-ah made a swift decision. She wouldn't set herself up as a competitor in the first place. Instead, they would collaborate right from the start. Since Jeong-ah was planning to make a few appearances on Han-ah's stream before launching her own, it was a highly feasible plan.
We'll go for a win-win relationship, yep.
If they did that, the viewers drawn in by Jeong-ah would naturally flow over to watch Han-ah's stream as well. It felt like she had bought shares in a blue-chip stock that was guaranteed to skyrocket. She hadn't even eaten, yet she felt incredibly full and satisfied.
Of course, it was nothing more than counting her chickens before they hatched, considering Jeong-ah hadn't even started streaming yet. But for some reason, Han-ah had a powerful premonition that Jeong-ah would indeed start. It was more than a hunch; it was a deep, intuitive certainty.
"Heh."
Even putting all those calculations aside, Han-ah was simply in high spirits. It was the pure joy of finding a kindred spirit after being lonely for so long without even realizing it. I hope she texts soon. With that thought, Han-ah began reviewing the recording of her broadcast.
"Is this the girl?"
"Yes, unni."
Meanwhile, the very person Han-ah was waiting to hear from was currently in a rather awkward predicament.
What on earth is this now...?
Jeong-ah frowned as she looked at the group of uninvited guests blocking her path.