How to Subdue a Korea-Hater

After deciding to head to Japan, I felt a slight buzz of excitement and cautiously logged into X-Net. It was finally time to savor that comment from "Komai Rito" at my leisure.

...The fun's in reading the comments, after all.

I'd been running the account purely for the thrill of seeing reactions to my uploads, and now none other than the master among masters, Komai Rito, had dropped a comment. My expectations were sky-high as I logged in—and that's when I saw it.

"Hm...?"

"...?"

My brain froze. This was definitely my account. What the hell? Why was my country of residence showing up? A bug? It had to be a bug—nothing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠else made sense.

I barely managed to sort through the chaos in my head and switched to my sub-account—the one I used for uploads—to check what was going on.

A moment later, comments started pouring in.

This account had a decent following, so comments usually rolled in fast.

"Ah, hold on..."

From what others were saying, they'd announced it yesterday. I'd turned off X-Net notifications then, which was why this had blindsided me.

...I'm screwed.

Once I pieced it together, I slipped back into the "Sino" account and cautiously checked the comments on my latest upload.

"...What a shitshow."

I tried not to swear usually, but this? No way around it. The comments were a total dumpster fire.

Before, it was all art-related feedback. Now that my nationality was out, every single art comment had vanished, replaced entirely by nationality shit-talk.

"Haa..."

I sighed deeply, but there was one silver lining: I didn't run a paid site. If I had a subscription thing going, I'd be busted red-handed right now.

"Gotta say something, at least."

If I didn't address this, every future upload would drown in nationality crap instead of art critique.

I posted as calmly as I could, playing it cool.

Less than ten seconds later, notifications went berserk.

It was dizzying. I knew the crowd hunting hentai on X-Net wasn't exactly highbrow, but seeing them spew this unfiltered... my mind was reeling.

As that thought swirled, a new comment dropped.

And then the explosion began.

"Shit from both sides for real..."

If it was just one side, maybe. But no—Japs and Koreans were piling on at warp speed, like it was a damn grill.

True catch-22.

...Wanna delete and bail.

But I couldn't. I'm an attention whore, after all. How do you casually nuke an account with this many followers? Sure, I could if I really wanted, but it'd take serious agonizing first. Meaning, not right now.

How much time passed? After Rito's comment, no follow-up for a bit. But the silence didn't mean it was over.

If anything, imagining Komai Rito's face staring at the screen during that brief hush was so vivid it gave me chills.

And then, finally, a new notification.

"......?"

I stared at the screen, glued.

My breath caught. A guy infamous for far-right views—who'd normally despise knowing the artist was Korean.

Rito's comment kept going.

Even in a single comment, his inner conflict shone through. Clean, restrained tone—pure Rito. But underneath, a suppressed tremor.

He must hate that I'm Korean. With his history of Korea-bashing, admitting talent from one for the first time? Unbelievable. He's got his worldview.

But all that crumbled, leaving him faltering—because of my art, of all things.

So right now, Rito was—

Caught between his ideology and my drawings, lost.

And finally, he added quietly.

Komai Rito. The guy who hates Koreans.

Was shaking because of me right now.

And that fact stirred something inexplicably thrilling.

With that, Rito left his full thoughts and dipped.

Moments later.

My account was utterly swamped—and

Click.

Impulsively, I killed the notifications again.

Then flopped onto the bed.

Hoping this wasn't real.