The Childhood Friend and the 1v1 Challenge
Streamers sometimes get asked certain questions while broadcasting. Things like, “Do you even have friends??” Since I only stream after finishing work every day, viewers ask that pretty often. As a viewer, they probably hope their favorite VTuber has no friends and is all about streaming. But unfortunately, since reincarnating, I’ve had seventeen years of social life. There’s no way I wouldn’t have acquaintances. Especially back when I was working as a child model. If there’s a person with the soul of someone in their mid-to-late twenties among kids whose average age is only elementary-school level, you can guess what happens.
“Where’s Ahyeon?” “Ahyeon! Let’s go together!” Naturally, I ended up at the center of the group. Kids admire and follow mature behavior, after all. Of course, now that I’ve gotten deep into my hobby and everyone has aged, it doesn’t feel the same as before. Still, the tight-knit modeling network remains.
This time, however, it was a slightly different kind of friend.
“Jeong Unhyeon PD said that?”
“Yeah, he was really riding the kid hard.”
The Lee Taejin I met today isn’t a fellow model but an elementary-school classmate. You could call him a childhood friend.
“I didn’t expect that from someone with good results. Sorry.”
The place I reached after the call was the private wine bar Lee Taejin runs as a hobby. It was an extremely private spot with no other customers around.
“Here, take a glass.”
The man with his black hair neatly swept back and wearing a luxury suit offered the glass. I shrugged and accepted. Taejin’s alcohol is always expensive, so mooching is pure profit.
“You did the right thing walking off the set.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to shoot. Just set things up properly and book me again.”
“That PD?”
“You said he gets results, right?”
If he has the skills, fine. I wouldn’t have said anything if he hadn’t scolded the staff right in front of me.
“Hmm.”
Taejin thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“No. We’ll use someone else.”
“Isn’t he the director’s younger brother?”
“I’m the chairman’s grandson.”
Saying so, Taejin took a sip. Yes, Taejin is the youngest grandson of a chaebol family—the grandson of the chairman of the Igang Group, the parent conglomerate of the company that commissioned the advertisement I just abandoned. He’s also president of that subsidiary. That’s why I had been on set to film the ad. The ink on my Andel contract had barely dried, after all. This friend had asked me to shoot it, saying it would create a nice effect if the ad dropped around the official announcement of my Andel deal. He rarely asks for favors, so I went willingly. But when the director’s brother, serving as main PD, started throwing a tantrum on set, I walked out in disbelief.
“Anyway, enough about the shoot. Is it okay to be drinking like this on a weekday afternoon?”
“I came out using alcohol as an excuse.”
Taejin answered nonchalantly and kept sipping. Ah, right—he’s always been crazy about drinking. While I watched him with an exasperated smile, he set his glass down and shifted his gaze.
“But you’ll come this time, right?”
“Where?”
When I tilted my head, Taejin frowned. A well-groomed third-generation chaebol frowning would look quite intimidating to most, but since I’ve known him since we were snot-nosed kids, it didn’t register.
“The Achinhoe.”
“Ah.”
Now that he mentioned it, I remembered. The group chat had been noisy lately.
“You created it, so you should show up sometimes. You’re the president.”
“That was elementary school. What does ‘president’ even mean now? It’s a miracle the group still exists.”
“And they’re doing everything among themselves anyway, so what’s the point of a president?”
“It’s because the president keeps neglecting his duties that we’re handling it ourselves.”
For reference, the Achinhoe’s official name is Ahyeon and Friends. They just shortened it among themselves. It started because I couldn’t stand watching those snobby little kid models acting high and mighty, so I dragged this third-generation chaebol in and created the group.
“Anyway, I’m busy. I’ll come out when I have time later.”
“You didn’t come even before signing with Andel.”
“Wasn’t I busy back then too?”
“What were you busy with?”
“Um.”
I was at a loss for words. For reference, only my family and Roselia know I stream. I haven’t told anyone else… After all, I still have some social dignity. No matter how you look at it, my stream is a little… embarrassing to reveal publicly.
“The kids were even talking among themselves, wondering what the president is doing these days that he never shows his face.”
“Hey, we’re all adults now. Let them handle their own stuff. You guys are gross these days.”
Back in elementary and middle school there was at least a cute side. But once the kids started working, they matured early and quickly turned gross. When they were little I could lead them around and take them places. Do you know how pointless it feels to be president when the room is full of adult men and women?
“I’ll relay those exact words.”
“Yeah, do as you like.”
And as these kids grew up they started watching each other so carefully—who shot what ad, who became a model for what brand, who confessed behind the scenes, who got rejected on dates. There was even one who, after I’d taken care of him since snot-nosed days, tried to hit on me saying he was a man too. After that I kept my distance from all the guys.
Ah, the one exception is this Lee Taejin—the only male friend I interact with without any distance. There isn’t any grand reason.
“More than that. What do you think of this person? I’ve been eyeing him lately.”
“He looks disgusting, get rid of him.”
Our golden-spoon alpha-male Taejin.
“Why do you dislike men? Look, isn’t he nice to look at?”
…He happens to like men instead of women.
“Get rid of him.”
This gay bastard.
After the simple drinking session at the wine bar ended, I returned home in the late afternoon and turned on the stream.
“Surprise.”
“I’m right here.”
I did drink a little wine, but it wasn’t much different from usual. I have decent tolerance, and I’d only wet my lips anyway.
“What do you expect from a surprise stream?”
Saying that, I launched League. After a drink, it really has to be League.
“Did you know? I’ve already played two hundred ranked games this season.”
I pulled up the tracker site and showed my record. A clean 102 wins and 114 losses. Even though it feels like I’ve played a lot, the actual number of games is still low.
Match History
102 Wins — 114 Losses
“Because I only turn the stream on to play.”
To put it another way, I’ve spent over a hundred hours of stream time this season on League alone, but let’s ignore those minor details.
“Let’s cleanly raise a hundred points and call it.”
“…It’s MMR. I just need winning streaks.”
If you care about minor things like that you’ll never climb. Just cleanly get five wins in a row. Considering five games take over two hours, maybe the goal was a little high, but I queued anyway.
“Huh?”
And surprisingly, I really started winning streak after streak.
“Wow, have I achieved enlightenment?”
What is this? Have I grasped the dao? A ten-year League veteran, and the heavens have finally answered.
But our viewers apparently couldn’t accept my growth. The chat stirred and complaints poured out. Probably because I kept winning and they were losing points on every bet.
For reference, I had point betting open every game. Every match had been an underdog victory, and we were now on the fourth consecutive upset.
“At this rate I might actually hit the goal?”
One more win and I’d have the clean five-win streak. I had already promoted to Emerald 3 and was in Diamond promotion range.
“Got a problem with a real Diamond?”
Wow, they’re salty. Everyone’s pissed?
Before finishing the five-win streak, I made a custom room.
“If you’re mad, you know what to do, right?”
Since I hadn’t established proper discipline they all looked pouty. These guys—does Emerald look easy just because you watch it on stream?
“I’m going to set some ground rules before the last game and ending the stream…”
Most of the League player base sits in Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. In other words—
“Come for a 1v1.”
Most of the viewers here are in the lower tiers where, if I felt like it, I could drop ten kills in lane.
“All right~ come on in.”
He sounds pretty confident. Diamond maybe? Well, it doesn’t matter. This body that’s about to hit Diamond will properly club him senseless…
Grand Master
“....”
I clicked.
“Next!”
Only those below Master, you bastards.