Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Prove It (2)
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Streamer Ogeum—known in some circles as Dogani—was on cloud nine lately.
"No, I'm telling you, he's definitely pro-level. You all saw me break into the top 10 of King of Fighters 35, right? And that's after playing nothing but Tekken for years. Why won't you believe me?"
-Sorry, can't hear you~
-If you're a pro, prove it in a KoF tournament.
-I'll believe it when you win a tournament.
The viewers were pushing back hard against him, but it was just for the sake of arguing.
"Haven't you heard that all roads lead to Rome? No matter what weird systems a game has, a fighting game is a fighting game. I'm telling you, this guy is so skilled he could go pro in Tekken tomorrow."
"Hey, what do you mean, girlfriend? He's my big bro. You know the rule, right? If someone's good at a game, they're your big bro."
-Facts.
-He's my big bro now too.
The topic of conversation was, day after day, the super-skilled player named Rasian.
"Is that you, Gi-nam?"
-Whoa.
-Whoa.
-Lmao, he just called him out like that.
With all the drama and trolling stemming from this one person, fighting game streamers couldn't help but feel a thrill as their viewership numbers soared.
"Come on, you don't really think he's watching my stream live and got so triggered he'd send an anonymous thousand-won donation, do you? He's got a reputation to maintain."
The gamer who hit rank 1, Rasian.
If he had only been skilled, his YouTube view count would have been the only thing to grow. But paradoxically, it was the viewership and donations of the King of Fighters 35 streamers he defeated that were exploding.
"If it were me, I'd proudly use my full name and drop a ten-thousand-won donation while I'm at it. Ahem, mentioning other streamers is technically banned for now. Don't insult the guy. Do you really think he's the kind of pathetic man-child who would cause an even bigger scene just because a video of his disgraceful defeat was uploaded to Rasian's YouTube channel?"
The YouTube video contained a complete recording of all his gameplay.
Among the matches were Ogeum's complete loss streak, and plenty of other games where pro players lost, whether the score was 1:3 or 2:3.
"Man, you really can't read the comments unless you sort them by 'Top Comments'."
Perhaps it was because the records of someone's defeat were left for all to see.
Not only were there videos of well-known players being overwhelmingly defeated, but because someone had cried 'scripted,' the flame war was now raging not on old videos, but on the new one.
"Let's see... 'This is 100% fake'? Someone said if it's not fake, they'll strip naked and twerk in the middle of Myeongdong? Heh, this is just wild."
Even as he read the crude comments aloud, Streamer Ogeum couldn't help but laugh.
Because the opponents' nicknames were clearly visible, viewers were manually updating the timeline in the comments to show who Rasian fought and when.
Of course, they were using slightly altered names.
"Huh? Bailer-nam? He didn't pull out after trying to ram into anything, he just bailed. How does that make him Bailer-nam?"
Behold.
Without even playing a competitive game, just by watching an awesome player and reading the comments on their video, donations were pouring in, and the chat was flooded with 'lmao'.
"If he'd charged in like a Pachycephalosaurus and lost ten times in a row, I could at least respect his enthusiasm... but pulling the plug on the last match? Isn't that a bit much?"
-Rasian is pretty ruthless, too.
-fr, he even uploaded the rage-quit lol
-Now that's what you call putting someone on blast.
Watching someone else's content and enjoying it with your viewers?
"My apologies. But since this seems to be quite profitable, I'll just keep on suuuuucking it all up."
If reading community reactions became the main content of his broadcast, his existing viewers and subscribers might leave. But right now, he could enjoy this wave without any such worries or burdens.
"Ah. It's not like I did it on purpose, but I just happened to find the timestamp for player Park Gi-nam's match here. Shall we watch it again? The match Park Gi-nam claimed was faked?"
He played the video again.
He wasn't playing a clip sent through a video donation; he was just streaming the nine-hour-long video from Rasian's channel directly on his broadcast.
"Wow, Gi-nam, you saved up enough face to drop ten thousand won. Check the video description, my friend~ It says monetization is turned off, and that people are free to watch it~"
Rasian's video playing on Ogeum's stream.
Considering he had about 800 viewers, the view count should have gone up by 801, but it only went up by 1. Still, since the video's creator said it was fine, there was no issue.
"Gi-nam, my man, what's with dropping back down to a thousand won? So lame. And why'd you switch from informal to formal speech? Oh, I'm not talking about player Park Gi-nam. I have a friend named Choi Gi-nam... Ah, whatever, this is pathetic. The video shows me getting my ass kicked too, so what's your point?"
Ogeum was confident.
"If you get beaten because of skill, you should be thinking about getting better and fighting again. Losers are always all talk. Are you going to say my breaking into the top 10 is fake, too?"
While others were watching the nine-hour video, Ogeum had been grinding, raising his score until he had proudly placed his nickname, <Dogani>, within the top 10 of King of Fighters 35.
And that rank was a stark contrast to someone who had now plummeted to 39th place.
"I know the internet is full of fakes, but it's pretty pathetic when even the pros are acknowledging his skill. Oh, by the way, everyone."
While disappointed that the person spamming his thoughts through anonymous paid chats had disappeared, Ogeum skillfully changed the subject, worried his viewers might start acting as messenger pigeons to other streams.
"I heard that King of Fighters 35 pros are watching this video to prepare for the next international tournament. Is that true?"
-Yep.
-Master Kim 'Moyashi' is analyzing it right now.
-Wanna watch his stream? It's on another platform, though.
"Nah, it's a bit much for me to go that far. If he uploads the VOD to YouTube Live, I'll check it out."
In everything, the build-up is crucial.
"I just want to see how the King of Fighters 35 scene prepares for tournaments."
-Ooh.
-For real?
-Are you abandoning Tekken...?
The viewers caught on.
"No, it's not like that! How could I abandon my hometown? But if I enter a tournament, Rasian might be there, right? If you've hit rank 1 even once, you get a seed, and if I participate in an offline tournament, I can face a real master in person."
Now, the community forums would be buzzing with rumors like, 'Tekken pro Ogeum might be challenging the KoF35 tournament?'
"I'm a man, too. I can't just take this loss lying down. Hey! Rasian!! Come to Tekken! If you don't, I'll enter the King of Fighters 35 tournament and wait for you in the finals."
In that sense, Ogeum couldn't help but be genuinely grateful to Rasian for creating this opportunity.
Whether it was the opportunity to boost his viewership, or gratitude towards someone who helped him improve his skills as a fellow fighting game player.
Or someone who was letting him sit on a pile of cash.
"I wouldn't call it that, but while it's not a fan cafe, I am personally a fan. Oh my, I must have misread. One hundred thousand won, thank you so much!!!"
Look at that.
Someone who would never have come here before just donated 100,000 won.
Having been muted or banned from the controversial streamer's chat, these wallet warriors were seeking someone who would sympathize with their sense of injustice, and thus they found their way to Ogeum's stream.
"I'm seeing a lot of new nicknames, though. Where are you all from?"
-Ah.
-Ah.
-You know damn well.
"Hehehe, anyway, welcome. Have a seat. Today's content is analyzing Rasian's open content, the nine-hour match video... huh?"
The moment he was about to play the video.
"...Huh?"
-?
-???
-What's that?
Ogeum and all his viewers were stumped.
"Why is there a 'Live' icon next to the nickname?"
In truth, proving it is simple.
You just set up a camera and start a live broadcast of yourself playing the game in real-time.
That solves everything...
'As if.'
The nature of internet broadcasting is that once one problem is solved, a new one inevitably arises from it.
The real issue is that these problems are sparked by viewers' interest, all for the sake of a dopamine hit.
If Rasian were to turn on a stream and play live?
-Ooh damn.
-That skill...
-Is this a foreign streamer with a face cam?
It would undoubtedly attract all sorts of trolls and attention.
Upon seeing Rasian's face, some would try to find out who she was in high school and hunt for her graduation album. Others would try to find out if the "red pill" was a literal red pill.
In that case, the proof would have to be severely limited.
Keep the 'Live' aspect, but how to prove to people that Rasian's skills are real?
"Alright."
Come on.
"No mic, no cam. Just a YouTube Live stream showing only the game screen."
I've laid the kindling everywhere I've gone. All that's left is for the trolls to take the bait and for the festival to begin.
"Not on a dedicated streaming platform, but on YouTube Live."
Streaming live on the most difficult channel to do so?
"The world isn't yet at the stage where they'll figure out this is all a viral marketing stunt for a VTuber debut. Especially not from some fraud accuser."
Rasian will prove it.
His gaming skill.
And 'only' his gaming skill.