Too Hot to Handle
The air in mid-November, when the showcase was held, was chilly and cool—though not yet cold enough for snow. Especially on a day like today, when the wind blew fiercely, the cool air kept pricking at the skin, making it feel even sharper. For that reason, the venue welcoming Ias’s precious guests had the heating cranked up high. —Ugh… Of course, there were people for whom that warmth rose all the way to sweltering heat.
Temperature was a funny thing. Even in the same environment, some people felt hot while others felt cold. Since everyone experienced it differently, a perfect temperature that satisfied everyone simply didn’t exist. That was why, in winter, the unspoken social courtesy was to keep the heating high enough that cold-sensitive people wouldn’t suffer, while those who felt warm could simply remove a layer of clothing to adjust.
Minji was doing exactly that. She had taken off her short padded jacket and hung it neatly over the back of her chair, sleeves rolled up to her elbows.
“Hey, you okay?”
—…I’m dying…
Even so, the heat wouldn’t let up. She kept tugging at her collar with one hand, fanning herself vigorously—
“Hey, hey, hey! There are people watching!”
Every time she pulled at her collar, a bit of skin flashed into view, and glances started flicking her way from the surroundings. No one stared outright, but those two massive peaks carried an overwhelming presence that naturally drew the eye.
—Ugh!
Only after Suha smacked her squarely on the back did Minji finally stop fanning herself. The surrounding gazes returned to normal. Minji grumbled that it was still hot, but the men nearby silently sent grateful looks toward Suha. Honestly, they knew they shouldn’t look, yet their eyes kept drifting—well. Thanks to her, they’d avoided the tragic fate of becoming shameless perverts, so gratitude was only natural.
Anyway, thanks to Suha’s half-threat, half-persuasion backed by physical force, Minji was forced to give up on collar-fanning. At this point she was genuinely starting to worry she might actually cook. Not that she had much meat on her bones to begin with—by ingredient standards, she’d be bottom-tier at best. Suha had lent her a handheld fan and forced air inside the helmet, but the heat showed no sign of cooling. The waiting room temperature before the showcase was simply absurdly high. The Ias staff had probably cranked the heat so their precious streamer guests wouldn’t feel cold, but to Minji it was nothing short of torture.
I’m gonna die! Seongna, save me—ack, ugh.
—It’s so hooooot!
“Minji?”
Unable to endure the heat any longer, Minji shot to her feet and bolted straight for the exit. The sudden movement drew every eye in the room toward the door.
And then the door flew open, revealing a face no Ias player could fail to recognize. The superstar who received Ias users’ love and hate, affection and loathing, praise and curses all at once.
“Oh, um… hello?”
Standing in the doorway was none other than Ias’s overall director, Jeon Gangseop.
In truth, Jeon Gangseop had come prepared with a plan before entering the streamers’ waiting room. He’d intended to open the door with a bright smile, greet everyone warmly, exchange pleasantries one by one, and then carefully bring up the main topic. But—
—Jeon Gangseop…?
Before him stood only a single woman wearing a helmet upside down. That one person alone shattered every plan he’d carefully laid out in his head.
‘Wh-who is this? A streamer? Or a delivery person? Wait, why the helmet…’
Minji’s current appearance was enough to cause spontaneous brain freeze in any ordinary person seeing it for the first time.
‘Delivery person…? No, there’s no way they’d let someone like that in here. The staff would’ve stopped them. Then what on earth… Oh, a name tag? Is she a streamer? Who the heck…’
[Seongna]
Seongnyeo Naise.
Like the previous director, Jeon Gangseop regularly lurked on the community boards to maintain user-friendly operations. Work had kept him too busy lately to check as often as before, but he still knew who “Seongna” was.
Ah, so it’s Seongna-nim.
The moment he realized it, his previously spinning thoughts began to settle. If it was Seongna-nim, this kind of thing was perfectly possible. It was the sort of pitiful assessment that would’ve sent Minji into a rage—“What do you mean, ‘this kind of thing’?”—but she had no way of reading his inner thoughts.
Her treatment seemed to be getting worse by the day, but even that was karma she’d brought upon herself, so who could she blame?
While Jeon Gangseop regained his composure after realizing Delivery Person A’s true identity, Minji was also quite flustered.
What? Why is Jeon Gangseop here? Well, it was the streamers’ waiting room, so of course he could come. Hmm.
To any Ias user, Jeon Gangseop was literally a superstar. And superstars were supposed to have not only friendly fans but also countless antis—enough to drive both sides crazy. If Minji had to pick a side, she was an anti among antis; given anonymity and immunity, she’d gladly hurl dozens of rotten tomatoes at him right now. Of course, that also meant she wouldn’t do it in a situation where people were watching. Others might call it cowardice for not speaking up when she should, but Minji preferred to think of it as the wisdom of knowing when to act.
—Ah, um… well… When the mythic weapon I bought by scraping together half a year’s living expenses turned into garbage, I swore revenge how many times? I beat the ground and wailed, asking how they could do this to me. At least rolling around in Cheorwon had helped cool that anger a little. Of course, even if the rage had subsided, the man in front of her was still the one who’d vaporized half a year’s living expenses. So even if the hatred had faded, there was no reason to welcome him…
—Yes, hello, Director-nim.
Minji’s attitude toward Jeon Gangseop was not merely softened—it was downright kind and gentle. If Suha had been a little closer, she would’ve been shocked—“Huh? Her?” Given Minji’s personality—charging in the moment something looked fun and always letting emotions lead—she was bound to react this way.
“Yes, you’re Seongna-nim, correct? It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Ias Director Jeon Gangseop.”
—Just call me Seongna. I was lucky enough to get invited, but I didn’t expect to meet the director in person.
However, there was one fact no one else knew—
‘…Can’t I just hit him once? Really?’
Forgiveness and generosity were emotions far removed from Minji’s nature. Even though time had passed, seeing Jeon Gangseop’s face brought the memories rushing back. The money she’d lost, the “rice-eater” stigma she’d been saddled with, and the flood of curses she’d received on the community boards—memories that still made her blood boil. If it had been just the two of them here, she probably would’ve slapped him across the face without a second thought. Given Minji’s wild-horse personality that never looked ahead, she absolutely would have. The gentle demeanor she showed now was merely the result of suppressing the desire that kept stirring deep inside.
“Yes, but…”
Jeon Gangseop’s gaze landed on the beads of sweat trickling down Minji’s neck. His eyes drifted a little lower on their own, then flinched at the curves that came into view. He quickly cleared his throat and forced himself to calm down.
Until the East Sea dries and Mount Baekdu wears away…
“Was the room too hot for you?”
He hadn’t even stepped inside yet, but warm air was already leaking out. The hallway itself wasn’t particularly cool, but nowhere near as warm as a room with the heating running. Seeing her sweating like that, she must have been extremely hot.
—Yes, so I was just going to get some fresh air.
“I see. I’m sorry. We only thought about keeping everyone warm and didn’t consider the opposite.”
Honestly, he wondered who would wear a helmet indoors, but he kept that thought to himself. In this situation, he was clearly the inferior party, and the streamer held the upper hand.
“Seongna-nim, there’s something important I need to pass on to the streamers. Could you spare just a moment?”
According to the planning director, all the invited streamers had already passed through the entrance. The room had drinks and light refreshments prepared, so most of them were probably gathered inside. Since no one had left their seats yet, he’d wanted to deliver the message in advance, but—
—Uuuugh… But I’m really too hot… Oh, right. My friend Suha is inside, right? I’ll hear it from her. I’m sooo sorry—
With those words, Minji dashed toward the exit, shouting “It’s so hooooot!” Jeon Gangseop figured he should just deliver the message to the others first.
“Can’t be helped. Planning Director-nim, shall we go in first?”
“Yes. By the way, that… Seongna-nim…”
In the cutthroat world of internet broadcasting, survival often depended on having a unique concept no one else was doing. Of course, that was only the “broadcast image”—in real life, most people were nothing like their on-screen personas…
“…Yeah, she really is… quite the unique person, just like I heard.”
Minji was exactly the same in real life as her broadcast image. No wonder Jeon Gangseop had understood her appearance the moment he saw the name tag reading [Seongna]. At first he’d been quite worried, but after some time, he thought having one streamer of her type in Ias wasn’t such a bad thing. She seemed to have genuine affection for the game, and with her skills proven by reaching the finals, she was a capable player. In this dopamine-driven era, a user who pulled off such eccentric behavior was actually something a game company should welcome with open arms.
— — — —
Minji burst out of the room and headed straight for the restroom, yanking off her helmet. She turned on the handheld fan Suha had given her and let the cool air wash over her, slowly cooling the sweat on her neck.
“Ah… I feel alive again…”
As the sweat cooled, a refreshing chill spread through her. Minji savored the sensation and caught her breath.
[Suha: So they want to run the showcase with some of the streamers chatting on stage.]
In the meantime, Suha had texted her the details Jeon Gangseop had passed on. Minji wasn’t great with long messages, but to summarize…
1. The caster who was supposed to host suddenly got into a car accident, leaving the spot empty.
2. They were really sorry, but could the streamers help host? They’d give a rough rundown of the content beforehand, so just reacting would be enough.
3. Participating streamers would receive a small gift, and of course participation wasn’t mandatory.
“Hmm.”
After reading the request, Minji’s first feeling was indignation. These people had hard-reset loyal Ias streamers who’d poured their hearts into the game, and now they were wagging their tails saying, “We’re screwed, please help us just this once!” While it was unfortunate that the caster had been in an accident, she had no desire to help these unprincipled folks.
[Suha: You just stick a sticker on your name tag when you enter. Red means not participating, blue means participating.]
[Suha: I’m going to participate. It’s a good opportunity as a broadcaster.]
However, the other broadcasters seemed to feel differently. Being able to put their name on a showcase that had taken a year to prepare was a chance worth taking, and many seemed eager to use it as a stepping stone for their broadcasts.
Well, I don’t really plan on growing here anyway.
After cooling off, Minji returned to the room only to find it completely empty. Everyone had apparently already moved to the showcase venue. She’d thought at least Suha would wait… It stung a little. In reality, Jeon Gangseop had herded the streamers out, and Suha—being bad at refusing—had been half-dragged along.
As she headed inside the gymnasium, a staff member spotted Minji and made an “Eh?” face before quickly composing themselves and approaching.
“Ah, hello, Seongna-nim!”
—Hello.
Minji briefly wondered why staff members always nodded with an “Aha” the moment they heard her nickname, but she brushed it aside. The hallway was still hot, and she wanted to get inside the gymnasium before she started sweating again. It should be cooler in there.
“Before you enter, please attach one of these stickers to your name tag.”
—Ah, yes. Which one was non-participation again? Red, right?
She slapped a red sticker onto her name tag and strode after the staff. She’d heard there were reserved seats for streamers—Suha would probably be there. Why did every staff member’s eyes go wide when they saw her name tag? What was that about?
Watching Minji’s retreating figure, the staff member thought to themselves:
Surprising. I thought she wouldn’t participate.
—Bartender! One extra microphone over here!