Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Upvoting Like Crazy for Hyo-jeong Struggling to Keep the Concept
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Lee Jun-seong.
At 18 years old this year, he couldn't hold back a sneer when he saw the post that went up on the gallery a few days ago.
"A guy acting like that."
So he made a post of his own.
It just so happened that his libido was at full throttle that day.
And his trolling instincts were itching like crazy.
After posting it satisfactorily and messing around for a bit,
comment notifications suddenly came flooding in.
He was puzzled by the out-of-left-field comments for a moment.
Then new ones piled on.
"The victim?"
He scrolled up to check the first comment.
There it was.
The very first comment on his post.
Written by the streamer herself?
He sensed something was seriously wrong.
The sense of superiority he'd felt moments ago vanished, replaced by cold sweat trickling down his spine.
Too late, he scrambled for the mouse and hit delete.
[This post cannot be deleted.]
"Fuck..."
A curse slipped out involuntarily.
The post had already become gallery legend.
Even the comments were exploding.
He'd requested deletion from the admin, but no response yet.
"Argh, when are they gonna delete it!"
Normally, it took 5-10 minutes from inquiry to deletion.
Watching new comments pop up by the second, Jun-seong couldn't hide his anxiety.
In desperation, he jumped into Lemon TV and searched for TS Hyo-jeong.
Sure enough, the cam showed a woman with a rotten expression scrolling the community.
Fuck.
It's real.
Mentions of lawsuits or whatever—she was clearly talking about him.
Finally realizing he was utterly screwed, Jun-seong hurriedly topped up cash.
Hyo-jeong's voice came through the speakers.
Her stiff expression and rigid tone made it clear she was pretty pissed.
Seeing that, Jun-seong tensed up even more.
He nervously bit his nails.
No, this wasn't right.
Lawsuit? Come on.
He'd just left a dumb post on the community.
What's wrong with taking a dump in the toilet?
He was just unlucky.
Of all the timings, why'd the victim show up in the gallery then?
Even if the gallery was a toilet for venting, nobody likes seeing actual shit in the bowl. Human psychology.
In short, his crime was like forgetting to flush after taking a dump.
Yeah, admit it quick and apologize.
Apologize for crossing the line, show sincerity—maybe she'll let it go?
The long message bumped the minimum to 5,000 Won.
Hyo-jeong's expression shifted subtly as she read it.
Hyo-jeong questioning if it was real, chats mocking that he was done for.
Jun-seong's mind raced.
"Argh, please. Please..."
Was she seriously suing? What charge—sexual harassment? Public nuisance?
If sued, would there be a criminal record?
If his parents found out... the thought was horrifying.
Disowned for sure, kicked out of the house.
Hard mode life starts that day.
With trembling hands, he sent another donation.
"Argh, enough!"
Already on edge, the lowbrow teasing chats made Jun-seong snap.
"These are total psychos."
Look at them casually judging like it wasn't their business.
How twisted do you have to be to get joy from others' misery?
Malice wishing for his downfall seeped from everywhere.
Jun-seong couldn't fathom why this was happening to him.
He felt wronged.
Wronged to the point of tears.
Not that there was much to feel wronged about—he shouldn't have posted something problematic in the first place.
But ignoring his fault and brazenly getting mad instead, that's when Hyo-jeong's voice rang out again.
Tap tap tap.
Jun-seong's face hardened.
He'd scraped together cash from friends and PC bang money.
How much had he spent already?
The unexpected outflow stressed him out.
Her face said she was pondering what to do with him.
Like eyeing a fish on the cutting board, debating how to prep it.
Jun-seong rolled his eyes.
Didn't get the intent.
Wanting to hear she's pretty?
Objectively, anyone would say that about her looks.
Or nice?
Not bad to appeal to sympathy for forgiveness...
'No.'
He shook his head.
She wouldn't want obvious flattery.
Then it clicked.
Her broadcast concept, speech patterns so far, the situation.
After brief thought, he steeled himself.
Praying his conclusion was right, he slowly typed.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Like she hadn't expected that answer.
Not displeased, though—seemed pleased even.
Just as he thought it might work out,
viewers stirred the pot.
So he fired back.
Finally, Hyo-jeong nodded with a satisfied smile.
Jun-seong exhaled the breath he'd been holding.
"I... I lived..."
Tension drained, strength left his body.
His back was soaked with cold sweat.
"Ugh. Need a shower."
Flapping his T-shirt hem, he glanced back at the stream.
TS Hyo-jeong.
Definitely prettier than any girl cam he'd seen lately.
Idol-level looks, wouldn't be out of place.
Why do internet streams with a weird concept? No idea.
She kept browsing the gallery.
Frowning at some posts, bursting into laughter at others.
Then suddenly, max rage mode.
Jun-seong was baffled.
His post was pretty extreme too, but she'd laughed it off. What level was this one to rile her up that much?
Right then, the screen switched to a post.
Fury-laced voice, like only the guilty would feel it.
So.
It was all part of the concept, huh?
Searching "Hyo-jeong" brought up tons of posts.
More mentions than expected.
From "Hyo-jeong is hot af" to "What even is that concept?"
Half were about the concept.
Amuse or whatever agency getting dragged too for some reason.
Still, none as impactful as our no-pardon villain "Face Soccer Kick."
Maybe deleted in the meantime.
Anyway, the storm had passed.
"Good enough. That minute probably felt like an hour to him. Solid life lesson."
"Manly trait. Brushes off serious stuff easy."
"Nah, no regrets~"
A man who sticks to his guns amid the amateur mind-readers' flailing.
That was me.
Stream over, I stepped out for water.
Throat parched from yapping all day.
Ye-eun was lounging on the living room sofa, fiddling with her phone all carefree. She bolted up when she saw me.
"Stream done?"
"Yeah."
Grabbed water from the fridge and chugged.
Cold water down the throat—finally felt alive.
"Bro, you're killing it lately?"
"What? You watched?"
"Vibe seemed tense, got worried."
Then tossed in praise.
"Almost an instant explosion at the end, but you handled it well. Real broadcasting talent?"
Did I?
I just remembered winging it.
Bit embarrassing.
"Didn’t expect a whale that soon, though..."
"Oh yeah, that. Hope he’s not too salty about the refund."
"Probably not? Seemed chill enough."
Said he was shocked when I straight-up refunded everything.
Didn't expect full refund.
Hurt my wallet bad, but Face Soccer Kick's spree covered it.
So, water under the bridge, no regrets.
"Whoa, 300k Won?"
Settlement that was zero now showed that much.
With refund fees, that's 400k today.
Crazy earnings—couldn't hide the bewilderment.
"Still don't get why they donate."
Small change I could sorta see.
But 5k or 10k? No clue.
Burn 10k for one chat?
"Concept's hitting better than expected. Kinda like a chill girl bro vibe? No pretense feels fresh. Not many like that lately."
"Who the hell pays their girl bro?"
"More than you think?"
Why'd a certain sucker pop into my head?
Oh Byung-tae, infamous love loser among friends.
Back in college group project, blew money on a girl then got blocked.
Thinking of him made it click a bit.
"But is that even a girl bro if money's one-way?"
Not equals anymore once cash flows one direction.