More Attention Than Expected (1)

After Seolhwa's broadcast ended and word of Hwarang's existence spread, players began flocking to Euljiro 4-ga in search of her.

Every last one of them either came back empty-handed or found themselves circling endlessly through the Dokkaebi Territory, only to be spat out where they'd started.

Reactions like these were steadily curdling into fascination with Seolhwa herself, and the follower count on her channel began climbing faster than any other streamer's.

Seolhwa, however, had no idea any of it was happening.

"Ended quicker than usual today."

The more she repeated her routine, the shorter her times grew, and even the dark circles under her eyes were gradually fading away. Finished ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with her workout and a quick shower, she uploaded the recorded footage to her YourTube channel.

"That should about do it."

And this, too, became yet another source of amusement for her viewers.

"I'm not a professional streamer" — the line Seolhwa had once said soon became a meme all its own within the gallery, and before anyone noticed, she had become its Galju.

And so Seolhwa was setting the Last Promise community ablaze, whether she knew it or not.

Around that time, somewhere in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

"Ah, no reply yet."

The streamer Ente. Real name, Yeon Taejun.

Several days had passed since he'd sent Seolhwa his collab request, and with no answer forthcoming, the anxiety was eating at him.

"Maybe I messaged her way too early after all?"

Just as he was about to give up —

a single notification slid onto his messenger.

"Huh?"

Taejun doubted his own eyes.

"Is this for real?"

With trembling hands, he began typing his reply.

A few minutes after Taejun sent his reply, another notification arrived.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Reading Seolhwa's message, Taejun let out a roar of pure joy.

"I did it!!"

That evening, notices went up on Seolhwa's and Ente's channels at the exact same time.

"Hmm, the reaction's not bad."

Seolhwa read slowly through the comments left beneath the post. There were several reasons she'd accepted Ente's collab offer, but the largest one was information gathering.

A man like him has probably trawled through most regions by now.

Seolhwa did not know where all of her old comrades were.

I have a rough idea where most of them are. But the tight-lipped ones would never tell me a thing.

Some of them Yuri had picked up along the way; others had been scouted when their guilds disbanded.

Through a collab with Ente, Seolhwa figured she might find hints about where those comrades had gone.

"It'd be nice to learn something."

Harboring that small hope, she waited for the weekend to arrive.

"Hmm, when will she get here?"

Taejun fidgeted restlessly around his My Room, unable to stay still.

It was seven in the evening.

Ente always met his collab guests in person beforehand to walk them through the overall rundown. That was why he'd arranged to meet Seolhwa at seven, an hour ahead of the joint broadcast.

"Finally!"

The moment Taejun hit accept, a door materialized, and with a soft click it began to swing slowly open. Out stepped a woman with silver hair cut at her shoulders, pale skin, and blue eyes — exactly the figure he'd seen on screen.

"Hello. I'm Seolhwa."

Taejun took the hand she extended.

"I'm Ente — Yeon Taejun. Feel free to just call me Ente from here on out."

Seolhwa gave his hand a light shake and said,

"I understood the stream starts at eight, but you called me here earlier than I expected."

Taejun answered her question readily.

"Ah, right — before we go live, I like to walk guests through the overall rundown and give them a chance to relax, so I always invite people about an hour early."

Seolhwa studied him as he spoke.

"Your other guests just start right away, though."

"The others?"

"Um, the people who appear on your stream regularly — didn't they just jump straight in?"

Before this collab, Seolhwa had binged Ente's entire YourTube catalog to study his streaming style, so she knew at least a little about the streamers who made frequent appearances on his channel.

Hearing her out, Ente nodded in understanding.

"Ah~! Those guys already know my whole shtick, and they're pros — the second I say we're going live, they flip straight into stream mode."

"Understood."

"Today's plan is a simple Q&A, then some Last Promise talk."

"Sounds good."

Ente sent her today's rundown and did his best to help her loosen up.

It's not so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different from back then.

Seolhwa found herself recalling the first time she had ever stood before a camera.

"Don't be so nervous. Everyone who comes to watch my stream is there because they like us."

"The internet news comment sections were full of people cursing at us, though."

"That's just what news comment sections are. It's time. We're going live."

And that figure overlapped, for a moment, with Ente's.

Yes. Just like back then.

Then, Saturday at eight o'clock sharp, Ente's stream flickered to life.

"One moment, please."

With that, Ente switched over the screen he'd kept hidden. And there she was — a silver-haired woman waving awkwardly at the camera, a faint smile on her face.

"Alright, hello everyone! It's Ente!"

After the greeting, he turned toward Seolhwa.

"Hello, I'm Seolhwa."

"Come on, guys — am I really that hideous? My face can hold its own anywhere, you know."

"Hey! I'm the host of this stream!"

"'Launch pad'? Now I'm genuinely hurt."

"Very well. Then allow me to introduce her once more — the woman at the center of every Last Promise conversation these past weeks, Seolhwa!"

Ente wrapped up the introduction cleanly and returned to his seat.

Ignoring the chatter, Ente spread his arms wide.

"Now then — Ente's Intellectual Talk Show begins!"