The Second Time I Got Recognized

The broadcast ended. "Well, that's all for today. Thank you so much for watching," I said, waving at the camera as I gave my final farewell. Then I pressed the end stream button.

"Huu..." It was over. The broadcast screen had frozen on black, and the chat window no longer scrolled upward. I kept my hand off the mouse and stayed still for a long while.

To be honest, I thought it would be a disaster. When I first turned on the stream and saw zero viewers, I figured I'd end up awkwardly muttering to myself before shutting it down. But the peak concurrent viewers reached eleven. Six new followers. It wasn't some massive number, but for me, it felt enormous.

People had watched me cook. They'd even told me it looked delicious. I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from lifting into a smile.

"...This is fun."

I already loved cooking, but I hadn't realized how good it would feel to have someone watching along with me.

"Am I actually cut out for streaming?" The moment the words left my mouth, I felt embarrassed. I was getting way ahead of myself again. I stood up from my chair.

The stream was over, but the kitchen was still a mess. I'd tried to keep things tidy while cooking, but now that it was done, there was still quite a bit to clean up. Cooking isn't finished until the cleanup is done. That was a principle I'd always tried to follow.

I turned on the faucet and started washing dishes. I scrubbed the plates, cleaned the pan, and rinsed the cutting board. I wiped the knife dry and returned it to its place. After throwing out the trash and wiping down the counter with a dishcloth, the kitchen finally looked spotless.

"Done!" I took off the kitchen gloves and flopped onto the bed. The moment my face sank into the soft comforter, a wave of exhaustion hit me. Yeah, I had been pretty tense the whole time.

I was thinking about taking a short nap when my phone buzzed. There was a new notification. It was from Minji.

"...."

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.

As expected, my gut feeling was spot on. How? Why? I didn't even show my face. I tried to play dumb and texted back.

My heart sank.

"Screenshots?!" I shot upright on the bed. "What did she even capture?" Was there something that could identify me? The mole on my wrist? Had my face shown up somehow? No way. I'd checked everything. All sorts of thoughts raced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through my head.

In a panic, I fired off another reply to Minji.

"Ah." I'd been caught.

"Ughhh..." I kicked at the blankets on the bed. I'd only streamed for forty minutes and my best friend had already figured it out.

The sudden sincerity left me momentarily speechless. I should just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say thank you. But for some reason, those simple words wouldn't come out.

Keep streaming, huh... Honestly, I didn't hate the idea. In fact, I liked it. But when I thought about doing it seriously, there were parts that scared me. Minji was a close friend so she'd always look at it favorably, but would other people keep watching too? What if they got bored and left?

"Ah, whatever." My head was starting to hurt, so I stopped thinking about it.

We kept exchanging silly messages for a while.

I put my phone down. "Next broadcast, huh..." Lying on the bed, I stared at the ceiling. What should I make next? Kimchi fried rice? An egg dish? Maybe something with broth would be nice. As I thought about it, my hand naturally reached for the memo app.

"About this much?" I closed the memo after writing that down.

"Status window."

The newly unlocked Feast Invitation. For now, it only slightly increased immersion. I wondered what would happen if it grew stronger. Would I eventually be able to let people experience the food I made exactly as it was? Then the A Warm Meal skill would apply too. Or maybe it could even invite them straight into my house or something.

"No, that's going too far." I shook my head. What kind of scary thoughts was I having?

Cooking Mastery had also leveled up once. If I kept streaming, it looked like my levels would rise a lot. Well, the ability was just an excuse. I simply wanted to do the next broadcast too. If people could watch and feel comforted, that alone was enough. I wanted to prepare a little better and chat with them.

With that thought, I glanced at the clock.

"Ah." I checked the time and jumped up. "My part-time job!!!" More time had passed than I'd realized. I hurriedly washed up, changed clothes, grabbed only my phone and wallet, and left the house.

*

The afternoon shift was the same as always. Stocking shelves and working the register. It wasn't that busy, so I kept finding myself thinking about the stream. What should I make for the next one? It couldn't be too difficult. Something viewers could easily follow along with would be best. And most importantly, it had to look delicious.

Ding~

"Welcome~"

Even while lost in thought, my mouth moved on autopilot. Maybe going with a home-cooked meal vibe would be good next time. Kimchi jjigae or stir-fried pork.

"...That sounds good." I muttered without thinking. Right now I was scanning the instant noodles and triangle kimbap a customer had brought up. The customer standing at the register looked at me.

"Yes?" Oops.

"Ah, it's nothing. Would you like a bag?"

"No thanks."

My ears burned with embarrassment. What was I doing, spacing out during my shift? Luckily, the customer left without saying anything else. I lightly slapped my own cheeks. Get it together. Stop thinking about the stream.

*

Time seemed to crawl, yet before I knew it, my shift was almost over. The next part-timer arrived, and I finished handing over duties.

"Thanks for your hard work~"

"You too, Hayan. Take care!"

"Yep~"

I still felt good whenever a shift ended. When I stepped out of the convenience store, the sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky. I was about to head straight home but changed direction.

"Should I stop by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the mart?" Since I was planning another stream, I'd need ingredients anyway. There wasn't much left in my fridge that was worth using. Plus, rather than just thinking "what should I make, what should I make," seeing the ingredients in person might help me decide.

I headed to the nearby supermarket. It was a fairly large one. Because it was right after work hours, there were quite a few people. Folks pushing carts, parents with their kids, people shopping alone like me. I picked up a basket at the entrance and walked inside.

First, the vegetable section. As I looked over the vegetables, small information windows popped up one by one, just as expected.

So convenient. I put green onions, onions, and chili peppers into my basket. These were ingredients I could use for almost anything, so it wouldn't hurt to have them. I skipped the zucchini.

Next was the meat section. I was debating whether to buy meat when I spotted the discount corner. Pork shoulder was on sale.

"Stir-fried pork..." The moment I said it, the image of bright red stir-fried pork flashed in my mind. Served over fluffy white rice, with a simple egg soup on the side. It looked good, was easy to explain, and most of all, it was delicious. Since my first stream had been Western-style, doing Korean food this time seemed like a great idea.

"This is perfect." I picked up a pack of shoulder meat. That's when it happened.

"Excuse me."

Someone called out from behind me. Was it me? I turned my head. It was a woman I'd never seen before.

"Me?" The woman who nodded was a little taller than me. She wore a comfortable hoodie and a mask. Somehow, she didn't feel like an ordinary person. Her posture was straight, and there was something different about her. Was it because I had Sensory Correction turned on? I could faintly sense something flowing inside her body. An Awakener?

The woman glanced at my basket and the pork in my hand, then spoke carefully.

"Are you... by any chance HayanBab?"

".....W... wha... yes??" I froze on the spot. I'd only turned on the stream for the first time today. And this was already the second time someone had recognized me.