Short on Cash (2)
Views and likes are basically aggro by nature. You've gotta grab people's eyes and make 'em click.
So yeah, you need to know what makes folks click and what catches their gaze.
The masses love certain shit. For dude-heavy crowds: girls and money. For girl-heavy ones: animals? Not an expert on girl crowds, but dudes? Girls and cash always crush it.
But the noobs reading this probably ain't got girls or money, right? Sure, you could bullshit, but you'd get banned.
That's when you hype up even the lamest crap. Exaggerate and package it hard—the more, the better. Might feel embarrassing, but that's temporary. Views stick forever lol.
Oh, and crowds love numbers. "5-sec hack," "1 million something"—that shit gets way more views on average.
Best of all? Milk what you've got. Hype it, slap something on it, snag those eyes. Aggro views drop off quick, but if you play your unique angle, likes pour in.
I never imagined I'd be putting that advice to use today.
Truth be told, I wasn't that nervous. I had no plans to show my face. From years of binge-watching streams, I'd picked a format that seemed like a decent compromise.
"Hmm... perfect."
I looked up to check the cam angle. It was pointed straight down at my prone body. No way my face was getting exposed now.
They call it a "hand cam." Yeah, showing my face still freaked me out. Hardly anyone on this planet knew me—elves, humans, whatever. Baek Seol-yeon was about it. And that woman sure as hell wouldn't protect me if my mug got out there.
"Hoo..."
I took a deep breath before any viewers piled in. Reminded myself of my situation one more time. Couldn't stomach the title, so I covered it. I wrote it, but goddamn it's embarrassing.
"Think, Kenis. I'm broke right now..."
I'm broke. Gotta do this stream to reconnect with the internet world... Piece of cake, right? Just like your old magic demos, Kenis. Yeah? Got it? Your body's just a bit different now. You've used illusion magic tons—why get weird about it?
"Haa, haa."
Shit. Couldn't calm my pounding heart. Standing before crowds was always rough, which was why I'd holed up as a hermit for so long.
Maybe quit now and beg Baek Seol-yeon for mercy? Endless thoughts raced through my head when a new chat grabbed my eye.
A chat asking if I'm a mage. I took ten deep breaths in my tensed-up state, flipped on the mic, and answered.
"Yep."
No clue how my voice sounded on the other end. But for the first time, my female voice echoed across the internet.
I knew what that "whoa" meant. Better reaction than expected. Being a girl seemed like a plus so far.
A few more viewers trickled in after. Seven total now.
Folks demanding magic made sense—this was a magic stream, after all. But I wasn't casting yet.
Streams need flow and hooks. Dump all your skills upfront, and they bounce after one peek.
Time to deploy the tricks I'd picked up from endless "internet broadcast" marathons.
Shrrrk—
I swallowed hard and gathered water elements from around me. Summer humidity made it easy.
On stream, you could see elements streaming in from everywhere. Chats exploded in real-time.
That impressive? Anyone with basic mana control could do it.
I gathered a ton, clumped it like I was about to demo a spell...
Pah!
Then forcibly dispersed it everywhere. No spell cast, obviously.
Everyone freaked. But the stream was just warming up. The long gather had lured in thumbnail clickers.
"Whaddya think?"
Mic on, voice out again. Talking made me wanna die of shame. Way easier to just cast magic!
But no cash that way. Had to keep going. For the money, I brainwashed myself nonstop.
Someone already clocked my playbook. But a newbie pulling that crap right off the bat? Everyone'd bail.
Here, I busted out a secret move I thought was pretty slick as a mage.
Vrrrrm—
Showing water clump on stream, I spoke up.
"Wanna know how to do this?"
Back in hermit days, I'd taught magic in human villages to scrape by.
Even total no-talents could handle element gathering. Doesn't lead straight to spells anyway.
Plus, this basics stuff was all over books.
Still, wild cheers cuz public methods are a pain with useless steps.
'Sis,' 'cutie' chats? Gross, but I bit my lip and pushed on.
"Alright then..."
Teaching magic ain't simple.
Element affinity, environment limits, your aptitude, interest... tons to consider.
But pure gathering? Easy. Like piling sand. Sculpting a castle's hard, but any baby can heap it up.
I'm teaching gathering, not magic. No lies.
"Element gathering's simple."
I explained the core kindly and concise. Skipped advancement steps to spells, obviously.
"Close your eyes, imagine pulling vapor to your hands. Chant: Racnir Aqurse. Bene Tarnium."
Those were ma-eon—elves' simplified mana tongue for humans. Speaking it aloud sucks, but easy to learn.
Chats on fire. Viewers climbing fast—exploding lately. Someone drop coords?
About 25 viewers now. Scanning chats: "Looks easy but damn hard irl!"
"Hoo..."
Mic breath break, then—the moment I'd waited for exploded in chat.
A viewer, blown away by my trick, dropped the first donation!
"Th-thanks for the 5,000 Pickles, AmbushDuty!"
No mana at all? Might not work, but ma-eon helped big time.
5,000 Pickles. Huge. Buys ten Sweet & Sour snacks—grape, strawberry, kiwi flavors.
My reaction was low-key for stream size. Donor didn't seem expectant. But then that annoying "hmm" guy's chat popped up.
Blatant troll. And I'm no chick—archmage extraordinaire. Supreme spatial mage, Kenis the Omniscient. In my old body, I'd scoff and ignore.
"Hoo..."
Why so pissed now? This girl's body messing with me?
"I can do magic, y'know?"
Mic caught my edgy tone. Some "ooh" and "damn" chats, but ignored.
Eyes locked on one target.
Crossed the line. Regretted that trash title for the first time. Focused my mind.
My moniker "Omniscient" ain't hype. Spatial specialist, but element basics are mine too.
So blowing that ApprenticeMage away? Easy.
Kuuaaaa—
Not hard at all.
"Impressed?"
Aguar Donia—mid-tier on cast alone, high-rank mastery. "Water Dragon Bomb" in Korean.
Clear blue water roared in perfect dragon form. Elite micro-control demo.
"I'm a real mage."
Grinning smug, checked chats. Weird reactions.
Ignoring my magic, weird chats everywhere. ApprenticeMage had dipped ages ago.
Then I checked the stream feed. Spell's air current flipped the cam upright.
Captured my smug face and slipped tee exposing a bit of skin. Live for all to see.
"Aaaah!"
Screamed and killed the stream. Donations blew up post-end.
...Tons of "keep streaming" chats and donations. Viewers over 40 now. Sudden end lost some, but chat fire exceeded expectations.
"Ah, ah... f-fuck..."
Words failed. Worst panic ever.
"I'm screwed..."
That summed up my feelings.
Screwed. Totally screwed.