The Collab Reveal
I turn my gaze to the chat window after announcing the collab and wait for Haram's reaction. 'What if she makes a mistake?' I hadn't discussed it with her—would it be okay for a mere Ha-ko like me to reveal it on my own? Worried I might get roasted, I broke into a cold sweat and stared at the chat.
Haram stayed silent. No—she kept her mouth shut, waiting for Mama's words. She was afraid that speaking any more might cause an even bigger mistake.
The Jireongi burst into laughter, clearly enjoying my reaction. Meanwhile, I was being more cautious than ever. Then a donation popped up.
"Ah… I-I didn't mess up, right…? Right? I-It's okay for a Ha-ko to say something like that…?" Relieved, I let out a sigh and said that. Haram replied that it was fine—she'd already gotten permission from Yeon-a too.
People started guessing who the partner might be. Watching them, I shook my head vigorously.
"No no no! You can't!"
"Ugh… It might cause trouble for that person, so let's keep it quiet! We just have to wait three days. Three days later! Sounds good, Mama."
Watching the banter between everyone and Mama, I smiled awkwardly and launched EoW to prepare for the stream.
"Oh, today I'm… going to do a little prep for the lesson."
"I-It's okay. It's just a few tears."
"Huh…? This isn't okay?"
Everyone said I wasn't okay right now. Tilting my head at them, I told them I was fine and started matchmaking.
"Oh, I've climbed quite a bit today and got back to 200th place… There aren't many people swearing here anymore, so it's okay."
"Ah, c-could you stop sending friend requests…? I-I'm a little scared." I smiled brightly before starting the game and hit the matchmaking button again.
"I-I got all kinds of abuse the last time I accepted one, hehe… Sorry."
"Eh…? I-I don't remember, it's been months." While I answered in a fluster, a match was found. The moment the match popped, I felt my nerves come alive.
"I'll focus now. My goal this season is to get into the top 100…"
Setting a goal like that felt a little arrogant for someone like me. Still, I wanted to make a reason. I'd decided to change, and I wanted to dive into one thing like crazy.
"…I want to find a new goal now! I can't just give up on myself after raising all the kids… S-So please cheer me on."
I was even asking for support so boldly. But the Jireongi told me I was doing well and said we'd do it together.
"S-Steel?"
"Ah, no, you said steel mentality… My mentality is weak, heheh……." Saying that, I naturally picked the champion I played the most.
[…Y-You picked it for me? Hic! I'm touched…….]
The character wearing a mix of kimono and hoodie, holding a long sword—Suika. People who saw it started pouring out hate, calling it trash.
"I-I like Suika. The name is watermelon and it's cute……."
"It's pitiful…… S-She's a wanderer in the story too, and it's c-cool…!" When I said that, people called it a trash champ again. My cheeks puffed up on their own. My kid isn't that much of a dumpster. She just can't land basic attacks until level 2. Her skill damage is miraculously low so she struggles early, that's all.
"H-Her late game is really strong, you know!"
"Ugh… You guys are so mean, my baby's fine."
The moment I finished speaking, my teammates started badmouthing Suika. Stunned, I stared blankly at the chat window.
"N-No, it's good though."
"Uuu……" Feeling wronged, I sighed as I looked at the loading screen.
"I just have to show you, right?"
Seeing the Jireongi showing anticipation, I smiled. I decided to show them.
"I'll show you how I do it." With a confident voice, I bought my starting items after loading finished and clicked the mouse while looking at the map. Spawn location was on the far outer edge of the map.
"F-First lesson in EoW is that it's a team game."
"Y-Yes, that's right. Everyone just learn it, I'll teach you."
The people laughing. I just tilted my head, not understanding what was so funny about my advice.
"…This is fun." Lying on the sofa, Yeon-a let out a small laugh.
[Oh, it's a game where you win if you get fifty points… Simple, right?]
Suhyun looked brighter than expected. Of course, Yeon-a didn't know much about her. From the viewers' reactions, it seemed she'd recently started streaming and was gradually improving. She was curious. What kind of life had she lived during that blank period when she had no confidence? Maybe, Yeon-a thought with a sigh, she had wanted to believe her own pain was nothing.
"…Don't look at Suhyun like that." The fact that she'd momentarily thought of her most precious friend as a means to comfort herself made her expression twist in disgust. Clenching her fist, she reached into the pocket where her cigarettes used to be, but nothing came out.
"Haa… I need to quit." She had to quit in preparation for when they met later. In case Suhyun wrinkled her nose and said Yeon-a smelled like smoke.
"I want to die." Yeon-a muttered gloomily. She got up and opened the window to air out the smell of cigarettes in the house. She turned on the air purifier and started ventilating.
"Maybe I should do a singing stream for the first time in a while." She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs. Thinking that, Yeon-a casually added a singing stream schedule to her notices.
"…Thank you always. Thanks for loving me." Yeon-a smiled faintly, let out a sigh, and started dozing off on the sofa.