So Easy It's Almost Hollow (1)

Taeya's Studio, Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu.

"Aigoo~ Come in, come in!"

The moment Taeya saw me, he scurried over, rubbing his hands together.

"Thank you so much for coming all this way, hyung-nim!"

"It's nothing. Seoul to Seoul, anyway."

"Honestly, I really didn't think you'd call. You're on fire these days, you know? Network TV and NewTubers way above my weight class must be clawing over each other to get you, and you picked me! This little brother is moved by your loyalty, hyung-nim!"

"Mm."

Tell him I'd only reached out because he was the streamer I could get ahold of the fastest, and he'd be crushed. Some truths stay beautiful only when you leave them covered.

"And the person behind you — the one you said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would be coming along..."

"Jeong Suhyuk."

Hyung offered a crisp, textbook greeting, every inch the former elite.

"For the moment, think of me as Jaeha's manager. Something along those lines."

I'd said I would go alone. He'd worried anyway and tagged along no matter what. Taeya didn't look like the type to run a scam, and having hyung beside me couldn't hurt.

"A personal manager already? Thorough as ever, hyung-nim."

"Haha. Well, something like that."

Turned into a one-day manager on the spot, hyung let out a quiet sigh.

"By the way, hyung-nim. If you're asking for a collab, does that mean you're thinking of becoming a streamer?"

"Yeah. For now..."

"Hold on!"

Taeya cut me off out of nowhere and grinned.

"Talk easy, hyung-nim. Hearing you keep it formal with me is weird."

"You sure that's all right?"

"Come on. You did just fine back in the underground prison."

"That was because the situation called for it."

"Formal speech is weirder for me, so please, just talk comfortably~"

If he was going that far, there was no point standing on excess courtesy.

"All right."

"Yes! Perfect!"

"Anyway, yeah — I am planning to stream. The goal might sound a little mercenary. Money, and driving up my price."

"Hahaha! Take those out of streaming and there's nothing left!"

Fair enough. Taeya himself had only been able to make contact with Eclipse because he'd made his name as a streamer. I'd privately worried he might bristle at what I'd said. Apparently I didn't need to.

"So the broadcast style you're aiming for is a skill stream, then?"

A skill stream. No extra content — the kind of broadcast where overwhelming ability is the entire show.

"That's right."

"With your skill, of course it'll land. But this side of the industry has gotten seriously competitive lately. Whatever you do, you have to show it clean and overwhelming if you want to lock in regular viewers."

A hundred streamers means a hundred broadcasts. I needed something that would make people skip the other ninety-nine, choose mine, and open their wallets.

"I'll lay the stage out perfectly! Hyung-nim, you just dance as hard as you like!"

"Excuse me."

Suhyuk-hyung stepped in on Taeya, who had been glittering with excitement.

"How will the donations from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠today's stream be split?"

"Obviously fifty-fifty with hyung-nim! Fees aside, of course."

"Mm. Good."

In short, today was a trial version of a stream — and a chance, while I was at it, to stamp my name in properly.

"This is a good shot, Jaeha. You have to take it."

"Don't worry."

I gave a light pat to the shoulder of a hyung more nervous than I was, then walked into the studio Taeya had finished setting up.

"There are probably a lot of viewers already waiting, hyung-nim. I put out a notice that an ultra-special guest was coming."

"I saw it on the way. Most of them were already guessing it was me."

The thing that had made me famous in the first place was getting caught on Taeya's broadcast, so the ultra-special guest he'd bring on right afterward being me was, in a way, obvious. If it turned out to be anyone else, whoever walked out would only disappoint them.

"Guessing and actually showing up are two different things."

With the last camera set, Taeya took the center.

"You looked over the plan I sent ahead, right? Wait outside, and when I call for you, that's when you come in!"

"Got it."

I slipped out of the camera frame.

A moment later.

"Stream... start!"

The moment the stream went live for real, viewers started slamming into the broadcast monitor at a ridiculous speed. Even I, watching from the side, nearly let out a startled sound.

The second the chat lit up, a storm of text poured in like they'd been waiting for it. Too much even for my eyes to track. Taeya stalled for a while, letting the viewers pile up, and the moment the number hit its peak, he launched into his greeting.

"Hey, everyone! So glad you're here~! Thanks for coming to Taeya's stream today!"

Maybe it was the viewer count, several times what he usually pulled. Either way, an excitement he couldn't hide soaked his voice.

"Like the notice said! Today we've got an ultra-special guest lined up!"

Taeya played tug-of-war with the chat on purpose, almost revealing it and then not. Right when their hearts had cooked to a perfect ache—

"The most famous person around these days, right? The legendary player who found the Minotaur strategy and conquered the underground prison at level 6! Please welcome Shin Jaeha-hyung!"

On Taeya's cue, I stepped into the camera.

Hotter than I'd expected. I waved, casual, and answered.

"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Shin Jaeha."

They seemed to have been hoping I'd look dazed.

I've taken plenty of looks like this before the regression, too.

Climb high enough to reach Grandmaster, and attention finds you whether you want it or not. Once word got out that I was a half-broken thing with a shattered mana circuit, it had died down fast enough.

"Hyung-nim, you're really calm? Don't tell me you've done other broadcasts before?!"

"Well, it's better than fighting a giant boss right in front of you, isn't it?"

Comments were still climbing when the first donation popped.

The message came out in a synthetic voice. The moment Taeya caught what it said, his eyes lit up.

"For part one, we'll keep it simple and roll the underground prison footage while we take questions. My hands have been itching to peel that mosaic off."

Taeya brought the video up. It was the underground prison clear that had already been released. The one difference was that the mosaic over me was gone.

How do I put it. Sitting there while a crowd watched footage of me felt a little strange — like being dragged onstage for a school recital and then having the video screened at the neighborhood theater.

A grander sound effect than before, and another donation message.

Whoa. Five thousand won.

All at once, my motivation to stream caught fire.

"The strategy? That just came to me after a little thinking."

They wouldn't believe the truth if I told them, so better to just keep the genius image going. I'd be putting future knowledge to good use from here on, and I couldn't stop to explain myself every single time.

"Come on. What's handsome about me? This is just average."

The stream was rolling along in a pretty easy mood. Then a donation of a very different caliber detonated.

Ba-da-bam~!

A grand fanfare, and a single message flew in with it.

One million won. At that astronomical figure, everyone froze.

Taeya stepped in front of the camera at once and shouted.

"Aigoo~! Our big-spender hyung-nim has donated one million won~!"

Taeya, who had been sticking to easy casual speech, slipped into honorifics and started talking through his nose.

"For reference, every major team's nickname is unique, so this is not an impersonator!"

I laughed on the inside, careful not to let it show.

They bit.

And if it was MK Thunders, I'd met their prospects not long ago and cleaned them out myself. They'd already been hunting for me. Finding me here, they'd be desperate to open a line of contact.

"First, thank you for the donation. I'll pass along my contact information separately later."

I let it pass without much of a reaction.

Two more donations in the million-won range went off back to back. Both from KPL First Division teams. Not what you'd call the upper ranks, but large organizations all the same — just playing in the First Division was proof of serious scale.

"Kya-hoooo! Ah, wait, no... ahem! Thank you for the donations! Today is seriously insane!"

Taeya, halfway through a cheer, caught himself, glanced around, and cleared his throat.

Streaming was the right move.

Three First Division teams had their eyes on me. That alone was as good as a certification of my worth. The mid-tier and the upper tier, who still wouldn't care much about me — and even the Three Great Houses — would tilt their heads the moment this news reached them.

And above all else.

I just made one and a half million won!

Not even an hour into the broadcast, and I'd pulled in that much. It took superhuman patience to still the twitch at the corner of my mouth.

After that, a few Second Division teams squeezed in for a piece of it as well, tossing donations of about five hundred thousand won, or a hundred thousand.

"Thank you for the interest. I'll reach out to the rest of you separately later as well."

A line of chat jumped out at me.

"I'm not level 6."

"Come to think of it, I still haven't said what part two is."

I folded my arms, grinned, and said it.

"Part two is my ranked Placement Test."

"Yes."

I brought up only the level line of my status window and held it in front of the camera.

"I'm level 10."

A player who had been level 6 only a few days ago had climbed to level 10 in a single breath. At that unbelievable news, the viewers straight-up flipped.

"I'm shocked too, you know? Until recently hyung-nim was level 6, and now he's 10... how on earth did you do it, hyung-nim?"

"It just happened."

Beat the Minotaur, and it graciously dumps four levels on you at once. If that bothers them, they're welcome to clear the underground prison as the top performer at level 6 themselves.

That seemed like enough of a warm-up. Taeya read the room, glanced at me, and gave a small nod.

"All right, riding this mood! Part two, just like hyung-nim said! We're starting hyung-nim's ranked Placement Test!"

The ranked Placement Test. A system that reads your level across the first three ranked games and places you in the rank that fits your skill.

Placements usually split two ways. Most people start at Stones, the lowest rank there is. Show real skill, or perform well in the ranked games, and you land one tier up, in Iron.

But ordinary wouldn't be any fun.

"I'll make you a promise."

I stood, loosened up, and declared it to the viewers.

The reaction, of course, was that it was impossible. I was sure of myself anyway — sure I would walk out of this Placement Test with a better result than anyone before me.

"Starting now."

No point dragging it out. I finished the screen-share setup with Taeya's broadcast, and connected straight to the Channel.