Chat Meltdown: Karin's Epic Rant

Karin's quality was on another level—embarrassing to even compare to your average cosplay. I was inwardly marveling at it when...

"Oh..! Get a shot over there. Quick..!" Suihwa said urgently.

I whipped the camera around, and a group of cosplayers in flashy outfits filled the frame. Perfect getups, top to bottom.

The moment the cosplayers hit the screen, the chat started rationalizing that 50k yen price tag like crazy.

'At that quality, yeah, it's fair.' You don't see stuff like this in Korea. I was zoning out filming, thinking that, when a guy with blue skin makeup and a massive sword started stomping toward us.

What the hell? Did we piss him off somehow?

Before I could figure it out, he was right in front of us.

"You guys Korean, right?"

He spoke Korean fluently.

My brain froze for a second, but I quickly got it together and played it cool.

"Ah, yeah yeah. You too...?"

"Nah nah, I'm Japanese. Love Korean culture, so I speak it well."

Come to think of it, his pronunciation was a tiny bit off. Or maybe not. Hard to tell. I could nitpick if I wanted, but no point—he wasn't out to cause trouble.

I asked cautiously, "Anyway, what's up? Something you wanna know?"

"Oh, no big deal. We're doing cosplay here, saw your camera—looks like you're streaming. Thought I'd swing by for some promo."

"Ah."

Promo? No harm in that. No money changing hands or anything.

As we chatted...

The chat exploded.

Ah, right. Shouldn't have spoken.

The chat turned vicious in seconds.

'..But is this really worth flipping out over?' I'm older than Suihwa, but we never pretended to be the same age. She never even introduced me as a girl—just a close friend.

I was glancing at the raging chat, a bit flustered, when Suihwa peeked at it and kept streaming smoothly.

"Wanna bring your crew over here? I love having cosplayers on the broadcast."

"For real? Cool, I'll grab 'em."

"Yep yep."

The blue-skinned guy, with her okay, rounded up his whole group and brought them right over. Insane cosplay quality.

"Whoa.. you guys look so cool..!"

"Haha, nah."

The guy scratched his head, embarrassed by the direct praise, and they all moved in sync like pros.

Even with the cosplay pulling aggro, the chat wasn't kind to Suihwa. Felt like one wrong word and they'd pile on.

"We'll head out then. Thanks for the promo!"

"Haha, no prob!"

The blue guy vanished. Left with a trashed chat and Suihwa.

She seemed to think for a sec, then...

"Haa… you guys. What the hell. Seriously."

She sighed heavily and stared down the camera.

Nothing changed. Chat still burning, and AnimeCon hadn't even kicked off proper.

'..Shouldn't have said anything.' Guy approached, so I responded. Should've let Suihwa handle it.

I sighed inwardly, and she spoke up again.

"This guy's got a girlfriend. Dating since high school. Y'all say shit to a guy with a gf you can't say to your own. And I'm single despite looking like this—keep bullshitting and I'll lose it. Fuck.."

Her sincere words calmed the chat instantly. Streamer experience shining through—she handled it like a pro.

Impressive, I thought, relaxing... when

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠donation was too big to ignore, loaded with aggro.

Suihwa stared at the screen, then...

"I don't see this guy as a girl. Never have, since high school. Talk that shit and it's permaban."

She said it coldly, looking pissed.

'..Scary.' The nonstop virgin bullshit had her fuming.

'Even I'd snap if donations like that kept coming.'

With the chat finally quieting down, we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠started wandering AnimeCon.