Tournament Entry (2)
Quite a few people offered to buy their way in by sending sponsorships, but Yeongho fairly spun a roulette wheel and picked the participants at random.
Profit mattered, sure, but he didn’t want to look like he was being ruled by money.
Besides, he already knew that if he just showed off his skills, the reactions would follow on their own. There was no need to cling to petty cash.
“Aaagh! Enemy over there! There! That side!”
“That’s... what, three o’clock? Understood.”
“H-hey! I’m gonna die!”
“I’ll save you.”
“Hey, why is there a Winchester here again? Show us the double-sniping!”
“Oh, nice. I’ll show you.”
He was a little taken aback by how low the skill level of the viewers who had won the chance to join him turned out to be.
But Yeongho still hard-carried the whole thing with nothing but raw skill, enjoying the game together with his viewers.
- Why is the average skill in this room like this...
- Are all three Bronze or something?
- LOL, our godfather has the face of a dad watching his kids cause trouble.
- Good thing this is unranked. If it were ranked, he’d be having a heart attack for sure.
- Anyway, Godfather’s Platinum, so Bronze scrub-lords can’t play with him lol.
- And the way he lights up the second he gets a Winchester again lol.
“I don’t know about their skill, but it’s kind of fun playing together. And our son doesn’t cause trouble. He’s only in first year of middle school, and you wouldn’t believe how mature he is.”
- Oh, you have a son.
- So you have children besides Totoring.
- Wow, you’re carrying four people by yourself.
- The participants are making such a mess, so comparing them to your son must be rough.
- Godfather, be my dad.
Since the level was clearly lower than in ranked games, he could joke with chat while playing and the gameplay still felt easy.
He relaxed his tension and used Battle Sense only sparingly, just when he needed it, and the fatigue didn’t seem to pile up all that much either.
[SJ DAD -> Gyeongho♡Miyeon (Dead)]
“Huh? That nickname looks kind of familiar.”
While racking up another kill, he stared at the opponent’s ID and felt like the memory was just about to click into place.
As he tilted his head and muttered to himself, chat immediately reacted.
- Isn’t that the guy from ChoiPinam’s first collab?
- Is it Gyeongho?
- Yep, that’s the couple, lol.
- The one whose girlfriend dumped him.
- Oh, the motorcycle couple?
“Ah! I remember now. I sent the two of you off together, didn’t I?”
- LOL, anyone hearing that would think you sent them on a nice trip somewhere.
- You did send them off together with a clean pistol double-tap, though lol.
- But looks like he’s alone today.
“Even couples can’t always be together. I hope you two come back next time.”
- If they come back together, what are you gonna do lol?
- He said he wants a two-for-one deal.
- Gyeongho~ Mieon~ Come eat some bullets~
- You’d kill them if they came back anyway lol
- Boo, you monster.
- Are you insane? lol
“Hmm. That wasn’t what I meant.”
He played along with the viewers and claimed a smooth win.
Then he repeated the process—drawing the next participant and continuing on—until, before he knew it, three rounds had flown by.
Maybe it doesn’t feel too hard because I’m not getting many situations where I need to push my concentration to the absolute limit.
Until yesterday, after about three rounds his head would feel warm and slightly heavy.
But maybe because he was growing used to VR, or maybe because he was taking it easy, he didn’t feel nearly as drained as he expected, so he decided to play one more match and then end the stream.
“I’ve cleared the nine o’clock side, so let’s move and loot... Huh? They’re all dead.”
- Man, there’s nobody here who knows how to act like a human being.
- Are you intentionally trolling because you joined stream?
- Even if you give them a taxi ride, what are you supposed to do if they smash the window and jump out?
- Ahem! Since they lack skill, they came to watch a skill stream!
He had thought it didn’t matter, since if a teammate was bad, he could simply cover for them himself.
But at this point it was practically turning into a solo queue game, so he couldn’t help wondering whether this still counted as a viewer-participation stream.
In the end, he kept picking off enemies one by one all by himself.
[SJ DAD -> Gyeongho♡Eunji (Dead)]
“...Huh?”
- Gyeongho?
- LOL, this bastard switched partners.
- Is that the same guy from before?
- He changed his nickname and came back lol.
- What, did he pick up another girl in the span of three games?
- Damn, Gyeongho was a total social butterfly, huh. Good riddance.
“You came as a couple earlier and I told you to meet me again, so this is turning into an endless wait. What a shame.”
- Meeting the same person that many times in an unranked match is fate, lol.
- You’re just disappointed you couldn’t get the double kill, right?
- They can come as a couple if they want. The partner just changed.
- That Gyeongho guy’s definitely gonna come back under a different name next time lol.
There had been all kinds of little incidents, but in the end, it was a satisfying broadcast.
When he wrapped up the daytime stream neatly, promising to come back in the evening, a manager approached him and handed over a chilled drink.
“You worked hard, hyung-nim.”
“Ah, thanks.”
Maybe because Choi Pinam kept calling him hyung-nim, even the manager had now fully settled into using the same honorific.
It made Yeongho feel a little like some gang boss being surrounded by two burly men bowing and calling him hyung-nim over and over, which wasn’t exactly comfortable.
Still, they seemed to mean it as a sign of friendliness, and it was awkward to correct them, so he let it slide.
Vrrring—
As he drank his beverage and checked his phone because a text seemed to have come in, he found a message from Seo Yunju.
You have met some of the requirements for Partner Streamer status. If you’d like to apply, we can help you get approved right away on our end.
When he told the manager about the text, the man reacted with visible shock.
“Already a partner streamer? There’s no way that could happen.”
“Hmm? This person says I met the requirements.”
“Let me see... Ah, here it says ‘some’ of the requirements. Still, your followers have shot up like crazy, and your average viewer count is definitely high enough.”
“If it’s only some of the requirements, that means it’s no good?”
“Normally they also look at total stream hours and the number of days streamed.”
The manager shook his head as though he couldn’t make sense of it, but he still offered a hopeful opinion.
“But they wouldn’t bother telling you if it were impossible, right? So it must be real. Looks like the platform is paying quite a bit of attention to you, hyung-nim.”
“Ah, so this is something they normally wouldn’t do, and this person’s helping me? I’ve never even met them before. That’s amazing.”
“That just means they saw your potential from your stream, hyung-nim. Anyway, from the perspective of a full-time streamer, this is nothing but good news, so you should apply.”
At the manager’s urging, Yeongho replied that he’d be grateful for the help, and only a few minutes later his channel really did get changed to Partner Streamer.
When he told Choi Pinam about it, Pinam didn’t believe him at first either, looking at him like he was joking.
“No way, seriously?! How can you become a partner streamer after one day of broadcasting? Does that even make sense?!”
“Uh, you’re happy, right? You look kind of angry...”
“Of course I’m happy! But I’m jealous too! It took me, what, almost half a year after I started streaming to get partner status!”
He’d heard that because so many people were trying out personal streaming these days, it was hard to break out of the ordinary tier the way it had been in the early days of streaming.
Just the average viewer count alone needed to be in the triple digits, and because profitability had to be taken into account, the range of streaming days considered during the review was apparently pretty broad.
To ignore all those conditions and instead receive an offer for partner streamer status after just one day of broadcasting...
Even to a seasoned streamer like Choi Pinam, it was unprecedented.
“Hyung-nim, I really prayed and believed you’d do well.”
“Of course I know that. I’m grateful-”
“But I didn’t want you to succeed this much.”
“-and, uh... huh???”
“Aww, I’m so jealous! Ugh, my stomach hurts!”
Seeing Choi Pinam rolling around on the floor in a fit, Yeongho was briefly flustered and at a loss.
But he quickly realized Pinam was only joking, scratched his forehead, and gave an awkward smile.
“Still, I really had no idea I’d get this kind of special treatment. Guess big companies really do have a different level of action? The platform must’ve realized hyung-nim was a gem!”
At Choi Pinam’s words, Yeongho merely shrugged and kept his thoughts to himself.
He couldn’t possibly agree with that, having actually met people who worked for major conglomerates a few times in real life.
From what he’d seen, employees at big companies were even more obsessive about following the manual; they almost never made decisions that deviated from the rules, even a little.
Maybe they’re looser because it’s an affiliate and not headquarters? Still, it is strange.
In any case, there was no need to bring up something like that and ruin the mood.
So he just smiled and accepted the congratulations from Choi Pinam and the manager.
After the daytime stream, he rested generously.
By the time 3 p.m. rolled around, it was time to start the evening broadcast.
He turned the stream on a little later than yesterday, around 3:30.
Even before the start, the followers who had been waiting came surging in like a tide.
[Viewers: 227]
[Viewers: 541]
[Viewers: 1,136]
“Good to see you, everyone.”
- God hi!
- Why are you so late? Why are you so late? Why are you so late?
- I thought you were coming at three!
“I put up a notice this afternoon, didn’t you see it? I wrote that I’d be going live at 3:30 because I had something to take care of.”
- Aw, us regulars don’t know about that stuff. Just start already.
- Wait, you did a daytime stream too? I feel like I lost half my life.
- So we can watch more, please do it every day! Often! For a long time!
“I’m still new to this, so I’m not used to it yet, and it’s physically difficult. I’ll do my best to meet all of you as often as I can.”
While chatting, he glanced at the viewer count.
[Viewers: 2,288]
The number had already passed two thousand.
The people who’d been waiting seemed to have mostly arrived, so the rise had slowed, but since it wasn’t even a peak viewing hour, that was an excellent start.
“Now that I think about it, I have two things to tell you all.”
- Not one, but two?
- They’d better be good news.
- You’re not retiring, are you?
- Is something huge coming?
“They are good news. And even if I’m a little older, I’m still nowhere near retirement age. If you tell someone who just barely got a job that sort of thing, you’ll get in trouble.”
- LOL, the old man’s gonna scold us!
- Sorryyyyy.
- Haha, you want a spanking?
- Huh? I think I know what the good news is. But already?
- Did your rank change??
He hadn’t said it yet, but a few sharp-eyed viewers seemed to have guessed.
“Yes. Starting today, I’ll be working as a Partner Streamer.”
- Wow, partner!
- ??????? Didn’t this guy start streaming yesterday?
- Huh? Partner already? That makes no sense at all.
- How is this guy a partner on day two?
- No, seriously? He really did get partner status.
- WTF, this old man just broke common sense.
The incredible news sent chat into an uproar, and everyone congratulated him.
A few people even began sending small sponsorships, and after he offered his thanks and waited for the atmosphere to settle, chat started asking what the second piece of news was.
- The godfather getting partner status means he’ll get the partner contract soon too, right?
- So what’s the second bit of news?
- Is something huge really coming?
- Right, you said there were two good things.
Once those messages began appearing, he revealed the second announcement.
“You see the tournament promotion on the event banner? I’ve been chosen to compete in this streamer tournament.”
- HUH!!
- What team are you on?
- Wow, the other streamers are all screwed lol.
- They haven’t even posted the match announcement yet, just the team captain info.
- Who’s on the team?
It was a tournament that had been running steadily for some time, and the schedule had been promoted throughout the platform as well.
So when they heard Yeongho was entering it, the viewers’ reaction burned even hotter than before.