The Life of a Large Streamer (5)

“Can you guess who today’s guest is?” Standing someone right next to you and pretending not to know would be weirder, wouldn’t it?

The viewers cheered at Arine’s introduction. Well, “cheered” might be an exaggeration, but at least it felt good to be welcomed. The chat compliments floating by were nice too. After several collabs and the virtual marriage streams, I’d become an indispensable partner to Arine’s audience. At first there were people asking who I was or what I was doing here, but now it felt like I was fully accepted.

“They’re saying you look handsome? Do Doyun? They say the new cam setup makes you look better.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Streamers are all about the cam and lighting anyway. If I had this kind of setup too, huh? My face would carry the stream, right?”

“Uh… I don’t think I could do anything. I should just stick to what I usually do. A slightly better version of Do Doyun, yeah.”

When I got cocky only to shrink back under the flood of chat reactions, Arine glanced over and giggled.

“Right, right. Still, putting in the effort to dress up and set the lighting makes a difference, doesn’t it? Right, everyone?”

“Nooo~ I’m not shielding him because he’s my husband~ He really does look fine. Visually. You guys were surprised too when you first saw him, right?”

“It’s really not rose-colored glasses, okay? Look closer, everyone. Don’t judge after just a quick glance. His features are sharp, right? And his expression is pretty calm at this level.”

Meanwhile, I was just blankly staring at Arine running the stream. It was fast. The speed at which donations and chats flew by was faster than I’d expected. I usually streamed to fifty viewers, and even now with five hundred I still couldn’t keep up with the chat properly. Yet Arine was communicating smoothly with over five thousand viewers and keeping the broadcast clean. Honestly, that alone made her look incredible to me.

Watching a stream as a viewer and running one as a streamer felt different. Especially the speed of the chat window during low-chat segments—I just couldn’t get used to it. Even during the virtual marriage announcement stream, I’d relied almost entirely on Arine for communication.

When I zoned out, Arine shot me a quick glance.

“What are you doing, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Doyun? Did you fall for how pretty I look on screen? Why are you spacing out?”

She tossed out a sweet joke to pull me back into the flow. I answered honestly, feeling a bit flustered. There was no point in bluffing—it would just look lame and everyone would see through it anyway.

“Uh… the chat’s moving so fast I can’t keep up with the flow…”

When I turned to her and mumbled it sheepishly, Arine burst out laughing.

The chat exploded with laughter at my sheepish expression. Yeah, getting teased and treated as cute was better than this. If I tried to act cool, it would just look worse.

Arine patted my back like a senior looking out for a junior and spoke while holding back her laughter.

“Yes~ So today we’ll be streaming together with our slightly lacking friend who can’t keep up with this fast chat. Everyone.”

Her hand touched my back and I flinched for a second before suppressing the tremor. This was just virtual marriage content. She was only touching me because it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part of the stream, just like when I’d patted her head in the car earlier. Repeating that to myself quickly calmed the shaking.

“We don’t have any special content planned today. As I announced, it’s part of our ‘A Day in Each Other’s Shoes’ series, so I’ll be doing my usual low-chat and variety gaming streams together with Doyun. It’s nothing fancy, but it already feels like it’ll be fun. Shall we get started~?”

Under Arine’s lead, the collab stream began. For the first hour or two before starting the game, this was usually the time Arine spent reading café posts and doing low-chat segments. She’d react to posts viewers had uploaded.

“Wow, that omakase looks delicious. That’s the Michelin chef’s place, right? I’ve been wanting to go there too.”

Or she’d check out new news or interesting incidents.

“Ah, so this is the new CS convenience store product? Has anyone tried it, everyone?”

It was light conversation time with the viewers. Then a viewer posted about a new energy drink from the convenience store. Arine, who had been chatting about it, turned to me.

“What do you think, Doyun? It’s called Zero Dr. Ice. Do you like Dr. Ice?”

“Dr. Ice? I don’t hate it, but I don’t drink ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it much either. It has that medicinal aftertaste like Bacchus, so it doesn’t really appeal to me.”

“Ah. That makes sense. Then what energy drink do you usually like?”

Arine’s communication skills really were impressive. She effortlessly turned a trivial topic into conversation with the person next to her. I thought based on my own stream and crafted a response. Usually in these situations, it was better to open a “debate cup” and rile up the viewers. That way donations would come in and everyone would get invested arguing whether it was right or wrong.

So, doing what I usually did on my own stream, I answered her.

“I don’t really have a favorite. If I had to pick, maybe Resix?”

“Ah… Resix…?”

For some reason, Arine’s expression seemed to darken when I said Resix. I didn’t know why, but I continued with my usual answer anyway.

“The two big names in energy drinks are X-Star and Resix, right? But X-Star just feels meh to me. The flavor’s too weak and the caffeine seems weak too. Energy drinks should hit you hard with that one big kick…”

The chat went silent. I’d only opened a debate cup like I always did during low-chat, but suddenly the chat froze cold and Arine’s face said “we’re in trouble.” Some viewers were laughing. Sensing something was wrong, I scanned the chat and one message stood out.

A chill ran down my spine. Ambassador. That basically meant she was the brand’s promotional model. She had an exclusive contract, received sponsorships, and promoted brand awareness to consumers. Naturally, since she was paid a lot under the contract, saying anything negative about the brand on stream was impossible. If things went wrong, it could damage not just Arine but the MCN connected to the ambassadorship, so I had to be careful.

Shit. I didn’t know. How would I? I’d watched Arine’s streams sometimes, but I wasn’t exactly a dedicated viewer. Unless there was a big banner on the stream, there was no way to know.

So this is what a large streamer’s broadcast is like. I’d just done what I always did and stepped on a landmine.

“…There was a time when I thought that, but now I prefer the milder ones. That’s why I only do one shot of americano too. X-Star is the best. As expected, energy drinks are X-Star. Hahaha.”

“Right? X-Star is better. Me too. Resix is too much. The flavor is overwhelming.”

Arine tapped my shoulder and laughed it off as I forced a recovery. Then a laugh she’d been holding back burst out of her.

“This won’t do. Since Doyun likes X-Star so much, we should let him try one and review it. Right, everyone?”

Arine headed to the small fridge next to the studio. She grabbed one of the many X-Star cans inside, came over to me, and plopped it on the desk.

……Yeah. I really screwed up. I need to pull off the biggest forced reaction of my life today, I thought to myself.