Biting the Streamer with a Straw

Streamer Mallang-i was honestly stunned.

"No, wow... guys? This account is seriously way too insane!"

Since Mallang-i mainly streamed mobile games, it wasn’t like he’d never seen an account that had spent about ten million won. After all, there were rumors that the middle-aged men who played the notoriously money-hungry game Thor could easily burn through four million won a month just on keeping up appearances.

But Kwon Seah’s account was on an entirely different level.

The viewers were just as baffled and bewildered.

"Guys, guys! I’ve been playing games like Genshin and Seven Heavens for years too, and I’ve dropped tens of millions of won on games, okay?"

"I’m really the kind of lunatic who’s spent everything I could spend, and I’ve never seen an account like this! Seriously!"

"No, seriously, guys! I’m telling you, this is a viewer account!"

Mallang-i looked aggrieved as he hit ESC and brought up Kwon Seah’s player name.

Labellehar Lv. 31

"Guys! Guys! Look! This account’s higher level than mine, okay? How could this be my alt?"

Mallang-i was completely at a loss for words.

"Hang on, guys. I think the reason this person’s World Level is so high is because they just kept swiping their card."

If Kwon Seah had bragged about this in the Galaxy Express gallery, she would have been laughed at.

But on Mallang-i’s stream, it was different.

Kwon Seah’s account was being discovered in front of five thousand people right now.

The same information, presented as a story, could only become entertainment.

"But is there actually somewhere you can do this much swiping?"

With that question in mind, Mallang-i started browsing through the characters Kwon Seah owned.

Kwon Seah had been waiting for this moment, so she had set the account to make Seele appear first the instant the character menu was opened.

"Whoa, holy crap...!"

Seele (Quantum, Hunt) Lv. 90

Combat Power Rank: 1st

"This person’s Seele... she’s ranked first in combat power? No, and her Stigmata is fully unlocked and her Light Cone is fully refined too..."

A true powerhouse knows one when they see one.

The moment Mallang-i confirmed that Seele’s skill levels were basically maxed out, he stood up from his seat.

"Oh, uh...! I’m sorry! This isn’t just a viewer — this is basically a big-shot older brother!"

"Big brother...! I’m sorry! This Mallang-i little brother didn’t recognize you! I’m sorry! Oh man... you’re trying to play, and my stupid proxy pull session blew up in your face... I’m sorry!"

Mallang-i immediately dropped into a full groveling apology and began making a huge scene.

That day’s broadcast was edited and uploaded to Mallang-i’s channel, where it shot all the way up to fifth place on the trending videos list.

Seah Kwon

Openly sponging off Mallang-i had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the best choice, just as I’d expected.

Snapshots of the video were plastered across every community out there, so now there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know my account.

But! There was still one more round left.

I planned to take first place in clan war, and that was why I’d made myself famous in the first place.

I wanted strong clan members to feel that joining the clan I, Kwon Seah, had created was a more attractive option than joining some ordinary one.

To do that, simply spending a lot of money wasn’t enough.

"I also need to show that I know a ton about the game, and that I’m insanely strong!"

So I decided to sponge off someone one more time.

Why again?

Because I still didn’t really know how strong my full Limit Break, full Materials Seele and Haeunrich were.

I didn’t know just how terrifying they’d be in clan war, or what kind of value they actually had.

All I really knew was that they were strong enough to smash through content on their own.

I needed someone to explain that clearly and do the advertising for me.

So the streamer I chose... no, the VTuber I chose, was Lilith.

"And now, right before clan war! I’m finally doing that Galaxy Train party consultation stream I’ve been putting off like summer homework, danyang!"

Lilith was a VTuber with especially striking cat ears and a tail.

She kept up the little meow-meow cat speech so adorably that it only made teasing her more fun, and that was part of why she was so popular.

She also mained Galaxy Train, just like Mallang-i, and she was someone who did “party consultations.”

"Then let me introduce today’s first consultation seeker, danyang!"

─ Ding-ding! Ding-ding!

Ah, this was going to be a two-birds-one-stone moment — no, three birds with one stone.

I answered the noisy Discord call right away.

Still, even though this was all good, what if I slipped up? No matter how you cut it, this time I had to speak in front of seven thousand people, unlike last time...!

"Ah, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you perfectly, danyang! Welcome to Lilith’s consultation parlor~"

Just as expected, the chat room immediately caught fire.

As always, people just couldn’t resist a woman.

They probably wouldn’t even care that the core of the matter was actually a man.

"What sort of trouble has Labellehar brought to Lilith’s consultation parlor for? Or rather, danyang?"

As she spoke, Lilith logged into my account.

Party consultation was a kind of content where the streamer entered the consultant’s account, examined their currency and character status, and then offered advice on what they should do next.

People might ask why anyone would pay for something like that, but the reason was simple.

Because it was expensive.

This was a world where people would buy a ten-thousand-won hamburger and still read three or four reviews first, just in case it tasted bad.

In a game where a single character could practically be called worth two to three hundred thousand won, it was only natural to worry and want to squeeze every last bit of value out of what you’d pulled.

"The clan war’s about to start, right? I’m new to this kind of game, so I want to score as well as I can, but building parties is hard."

"If that’s your worry, then Lilith is the expert, danyang! When I played Seven Heavens back in the day, I saved a lot of people, too!"

Lilith swished her tail, clapped her hands, and then went into the character window.

"Then let’s take a look at your chara— huh."

Seele (Quantum, Hunt) Lv. 90

Haeunrich (Lightning, Erudition) Lv. 90

Brunnhilde (Wind, Harmony) Lv. 90

"Whoa... you have three max-level characters? Uh... I didn’t kno, know it was this kind of account..."

"Uh... L-Lilith forgot what she was saying, danyang! Why has Labellehar-sama come here for a consultation?"

Now she was even adding a formal honorific to me out of nowhere?

I didn’t mind.

"W-well, I looked at some clan war strategy posts on the café, but they were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so complicated I couldn’t figure out how to build a party."

"Lilith thinks those guides probably aren’t necessary for Labellehar-sama, danyang..."

The broadcast was going exactly the way I’d expected.

Lilith was flustered by an account she’d never seen before and would probably never see again.

But I couldn’t stop now. A day like this, where I got to consult an account like this, would never come again!

"Lilith first wants to know if Labellehar-sama has any understanding of clan war, danyang!"

"Umm... I know clan war is content where you assemble up to three parties and defeat the bosses in relay style!"

"Exactly, danyang! For this clan war, Labellehar-sama just needs to complete three extremely, extremely powerful parties, danyang!"

Oh, wow. She was giving me a lot more serious consultation than I expected.

Then again, if she ran away after seeing my account, she’d be mocked as a total scrub who couldn’t even handle a genuinely whaled-out account.

"First, Labellehar-sama is full Limit Break... huh? Wait, what? Seele and Haeunrich are both full Limit Break and full Materials? How much money did this person spend?"

"Ahem, cough! First party for Labellehar-sama... just put Seele in it alone and you can clear every dungeon in this clan war, danyang."

"The second party can be Haeunrich... you can also just put him in alone and still get a perfect score in this clan war, danyang."

"Ah~! I was thinking I’d need to put in all four party members."

"Usually, if you don’t field all four, you can’t clear it or get a gold star, and the party won’t carry over, danyang."

"I’m a little lost here, but what are gold stars and carry-over?"

Lilith let out a breath of relief.

"Gold stars are sort of like evaluation points, danyang! Labellehar-sama probably knows that when you do bosses or story stages, there isn’t a time limit, danyang."

"Yes, that’s right. There isn’t anything like that."

"But clan war is a content where you compete for ranking by score, so there has to be something to evaluate, danyang! Usually, the fewer turns you use, the higher your evaluation, and because the evaluation has ranks, getting a gold star means you got a perfect score, danyang!"

"Ah~ Then what about carry-over?"

"Clan war is a mode where bosses appear endlessly, danyang. A party you’ve already used can’t be used again, danyang! But if you get a gold star, you’re given one more chance to use that party, danyang!"

So if your combat power is absurdly high, while everyone else gets three shots at scoring, you get six.

"Then what characters should I put in the third party?"

"Honestly, Lilith thinks the third party can also be just this one character alone, danyang."

Meiling (Physical, Destruction)

Lv. 1

She was a character who had somehow become a two-dupe unit along the way as a byproduct of limited pulls.

"Meiling is a counterattack-themed character, danyang. Even ordinary players are recommended to keep her around and use her like a joker, danyang."

"Then I only need to build these three characters?"

"If you have a bit more room, it’d be good to level up some Harmony or Abundance four-stars too, just in case an accident happens, danyang!"

"Yes! I’ll definitely build other four-star characters and use them for clan war!"

"Then~! That concludes Labellehar-sama’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠party consultation, danyang!"

─ Ding-ding!

"Good... at this point, I should probably post a recruitment notice for clan members soon."

The chat atmosphere was great, and I’d casually bragged about how strong my account was in front of seven thousand people, so this felt like plenty.

...But maybe I’m actually suited to streaming? When I first took the Discord call I was a little nervous, but once I started talking, it felt like a blast.

Should I try broadcasting too? Since I’m already a little famous, maybe going into online streaming wouldn’t be bad at all, would it?

─ Ding!

Lilith should still be on stream, and she should still be doing consultation content, shouldn’t she...?

"Pffft... looks like she really didn’t want to let me get away."

Since I’d planned to sponge off her from the start, I didn’t bother replying to Lilith.

After all, in the approaching clan war, we’d be enemies!