I Became a Malicious Streamer

As soon as I got home after the shoot, I fainted. Thud!

I literally fainted and woke up late the next day.

Given that my stamina was already low, I must have overdone it yesterday.

Still, I wondered if I changed into the new clothes I received and passed out, as something resembling a skin shed lay beside my bed.

The clothes I was wearing were a stretched cotton tee and shorts.

An all-too-familiar outfit.

On my desk were the outfits I tried on yesterday.

All the clothes I modeled were gifts from Eun-ha, without a single penny being asked in return.

Felt a bit like I received some kind of sponsorship.

Despite my repeated refusals, she kept stuffing me with clothes, and I just couldn’t say no.

After all, clothes that were about to rot in the warehouse were happy to find a new owner, or so they say.

Clothes being happy? Maybe Eun-ha has a rich sensitivity.

I received the clothes for free and got paid for the modeling shoot.

Am I not overly indebted to Eun-ha?

Ping!

Just when I was thinking about her, a text from Eun-ha popped up.

Eun-ha: Here’s the edited version of the photos we took yesterday! Maybe it’s because the subject was perfect, but I didn’t have much to touch up, so I finished quickly. It’ll be up on my YouTube channel by tomorrow, and the shopping mall will be up next week!

The lively tone of her message seemed to reflect her personality.

She already organized the photos we took last night? Did she even sleep?

I opened the file Eun-ha sent.

A beautiful image of Ji-eun appeared.

Wearing various outfits, striking different poses, and showing matching expressions.

Damn, she was annoyingly pretty.

Seeing my actions from yesterday captured in photos felt a bit surreal.

So this is how my movements and expressions were reflected in pictures, huh?

Yet somehow,

It felt like I wasn’t really me?

Flipping through the photos, reminiscing about yesterday, it was the same.

Isn’t this what they call “Doppelgänger”?

Having a few mental issues is common in modern times.

So now, what to do?

It was 2 PM.

An ambiguous time, not too early and not too late.

Maybe because I overstuffed myself last night thanks to Ji-yeon, I wasn’t hungry.

What is there for a jobless guy like me to do?

Might as well play a game.

As for streaming… I just didn’t feel like it.

I had just woken up, my throat was dry, and I wanted to shock the viewers during the next broadcast by raising my score.

Isn’t this passion and deep thought what makes a great streamer?

Thus, what I needed to do now was ranked games.

Focusing on gaining points.

Bahomet: Hello, sir ^^

Great King Castella: Mollru is here, dun dun!

Mollru: Hello!

I was already accustomed to teammates greeting me when matched.

Life as a celebrity…

Streaming tends to influence the surrounding folks a lot.

I picked up the sniper after a long time.

To be honest, I wasn’t confident I could carry regardless of the character I chose, but nothing beats the thrill of playing a sniper.

Flying around the battlefield and taking down enemies made winning feel easy.

Soon enough, victory tilted our way, and the game was nearing its end.

Great King Castella: Oh, there was Daesik on the opposing side, haha, didn’t know!

Noodle Soldier: We’re live, Daesik!

Daesik?

Seeing that name, I pressed the tab key to check the nickname of the opposing player.

Weapon Master (Mage) 1/6/2

A pompous nickname like Weapon Master.

Not just anyone could have that.

Most rare nicknames were held by old users who had been playing since the start of the season.

Daesik was one of them, and I knew him.

I hadn’t been following his broadcasts closely, but I was a longtime fan.

What a coincidence!

Excited, I thought about saying hi, but the game ended.

Thinking it over, it also felt strange to greet him.

He wouldn’t know me.

It would be a relief if the viewers watching the broadcast didn’t insult me as a mosquito.

Putting my encounter with Daesik behind me, I moved on to another game.

But what kind of coincidence was this?

Once again, Daesik appeared on the opposing side.

Great King Castella: Daesik is joining for round two, dun dun! Gonna get beaten up again!

In the middle of a weekday afternoon, being in a master tier was already quite high.

With fewer players matching during this time, it seemed like only familiar faces keep coming up.

Feeling a bit guilty towards Daesik, I ended up winning again.

I felt a bit bad for him struggling so hard.

Will we not meet this time?

As a fan, I felt a bit guilty.

But I quickly changed my mind.

Daesik, as a gamer, was probably used to such situations.

It’d be worse if I took pity on him by delaying my matchmaking.

Abusing the system could lead to a ban too.

So when I met Daesik for the third time, I didn’t hold back and gave it my all.

His skills felt worse than in the first two rounds.

Was his mental state shaken?

I worried for his mindset.

The game ended in an overwhelming victory, and I entered Switch to hop into Daesik’s broadcast.

“….”

Daesik had a blank expression, just staring dumbly at the screen.

Ah, Daesik is broken now.

*

“No, you guys got hit by a truck or what? It’s not my fault! Mollru, what do I do if this person is too good?”

Daesik, like a professional streamer, quickly regained his composure.

Then, he started a back-and-forth banter with the viewers in his usual shameless tone.

I quietly watched his broadcast.

“C’mon, this time we won’t meet, right? If we do, then I’m done for today. You scared? Yeah, I’m scared. You guys think I wouldn’t be scared to meet that guy?”

Daesik expertly quelled the negative feedback from the viewers.

Dodging the trolls like a pro.

Once the game started, Daesik’s eyes swiftly scanned the enemies’ nicknames.

As if searching for someone, his pupils darted back and forth multiple times.

After repeatedly blinking, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah, thankfully not here this time. That’s a relief. They shouldn’t be at this skill level. What? You’re disappointed that Daesik the Teacher isn’t here? You’re banned.”

Having not spotted ‘Mollru’ in the loading screen, Daesik’s mood visibly brightened.

Of course not.

I wasn’t playing a game; I was watching Daesik’s stream.

This time, I decided to thoroughly enjoy being a viewer for Daesik’s broadcast.

Since we met, I wanted to see his live stream properly, and I was curious about his playstyle as the ‘All-Weapon’ user.

“See, I told you I carry when it’s just locals! I’m a Grandmaster. Not someone who should be in Master.”

In the early game, Daesik picked an assassin, claiming he’d show the essence of a dagger, and began taking down enemy dealers consecutively, dominating the game.

His flashy play restored the viewers’ goodwill.

[Is Daesik showing us something?]

[The light has arrived!]

[89! 89! 89! 89! 89! 89! 89!]

[Nightmare of Season 1, Oh Daesik, the nightmare of Season 1!]

[Why China gasped, Japan fainted, and America cried over Oh Daesik!]

[Looking at these guys making a fuss, you’d think Daesik shot a nuke.]

[He does play well though, haha!]

But my thought was the opposite.

“This isn’t good…”

Taking down the enemy dealer was all well and good.

But Daesik rushing so deep into enemy territory in excitement?

Seeing as all his skills, including the ultimate, were on cooldown and his HP was low, it was just a matter of time before he’d die.

This was bad play.

If he was truly aiming for Grandmaster, this was something that needed feedback.

I tried to warn him about how to handle it right by sending a message.

[Daesik, at that point, you should take down just one and back off. You need to push the lane together with me since our formation is breaking down.]

Due to the chat speed being too fast, my message got buried.

“Argh!”

Just as I expected, Daesik fell and his team lost their ground.

“They killed two of us, what are you doing? I gotta step in the frontline myself.”

Daesik said this and changed the character he was currently playing.

A user change can only be used once per game.

Since it resets the ultimate gauge and can destroy team composition if not careful, it should be used wisely, but here he is…

However, it wasn’t surprising to use the user change like that.

What surprised me was his chosen character.

“Dual swords?”

The character named ‘Dancer.’

A woman wielding sleek two-handed swords, shorter than greatswords but longer than daggers, appeared on the screen.

Fast DPS and agile movement make her a sought-after user, but now wouldn’t be the right time to pick her…

The viewers shared my concerns, voicing their unease.

[Is this right?]

[Daesik, calm down.]

[The Sword King Oh Daesik finally takes out the dual swords…]

[Definitely doesn’t feel ideal with dual swords.]

[Why is he using dual swords?]

From the outset, dual swords are a high-difficulty weapon.

Given the squishy nature of Dancer, if the controls falter even once, it would be a quick trip to the grave.

Thus, it’s a pick that doesn’t come out unless the situation is right.

“No, no, it’s fine. Just watch.”

Confidently, Daesik dashed straight into the frontline as if there was no problem.

Feeling uneasy.

Sure enough, after a few slashes, he tried to dish out damage but was caught in enemy CC and fell dramatically.

The game inevitably resulted in a loss.

Baka Daesik, silly Daesik, idiot Daesik…

The chat imploded with negativity.

And rightly so, as there were plenty of issues with Daesik’s gameplay revealed this time.

Wishing for his success, I sent another message.

This time, I was a little more forceful.

Since bland chats tend to get lost, I needed to be assertive.

[Daesik, do you even have a brain? Why’d you pick Dancer? You should’ve gone with a noodle soldier or a mage there!]

I didn’t critique about control; it typically doesn’t improve to just tell them.

Yet again, it seemed Daesik didn’t see my message.

He briefly scrolled through the chat and scratched his head before returning to the game.

“Ah, you guys, we did well at the start, didn’t we? It’s just a mistake in the mid-game. If there weren’t pros like Mollru, we could manage.”

That was indeed true—there was a discussion in the audience.

It was embarrassing as I was getting a compliment, but the atmosphere was largely hitting the nail’s head.

“Next, I’ll go with a swordsman.”

Why must he only pick high-difficulty characters?

The chat had responses questioning this, but contrary to expectations, Daesik showed reasonable gameplay and secured a win.

As Daesik’s tension surged with the victory, the chat exploded with excitement.

But from my point of view, there were plenty of flaws in Daesik’s gameplay.

Isn’t it my duty to give him some advice?

Bad plays becoming habits could be lethal.

Whether he saw my critique or not, Daesik quickly jumped to the next game.

This round was of a gunslinger using a pistol.

Luck seemed to shine on him as Daesik won again.

His ego began to swell.

Yet again, I found his gameplay unsatisfactory.

I poured my heart into typing another message.

In the next game and the next.

Daesik steadily raked in victories one after the other.

As if he were determined to recover all the points lost from the seven consecutive defeats he faced today, he sped on ahead.

Still, there was no lack on my part, as I kept sending messages through the chat.

So there I was, while Daesik played the game and I engaged in the chat as a viewer.

Suddenly, Daesik froze matchmaking and moved his mouse.

“You pesky little brat, you’re gonna get it now. Your constant nagging is quite annoying.”

Apparently, there was a troublesome viewer spamming negative comments.

The other viewers were buzzing, calling it a rare “tyrannical” occasion.

I too felt curious.

How do major streamers deal with malicious viewers?

“‘Daesik, have you got a twitch or something? My dog does better than this on the mouse,” You’ve been spamming stuff like this since earlier, right? Did you think I couldn’t see it?”

Daesik read the malicious user’s messages aloud as if performing an autopsy.

This common way of “autopsy” is quite familiar to me.

But there was something nostalgic about the chat.

Where have I seen it before?

Moments later, as Daesik dragged the mouse, the chat history poured out.

[Moves like a ghost, shooting only when they dodge]

[Using a longsword like a dagger, dun dun!]

[Is this a mage (physically)? Why are you making melee attacks up front?]

[Pistol grip seems weird; the outlaw seems to only have four fingers.]

[Did they threaten him with a bomb around his neck, saying they’d detonate if he uses his skills?]

With each scroll down, the chat continued endlessly.

And I knew precisely who typed this.

That’s me.

“You’re out, aren’t you? How good do you think you are to talk like this? Let’s see your skills. If you can beat me in a 1v1, I won’t ban you. But if you lose, I’ll contact the headquarters for an IP ban.”

[Daesik the Weapon Master’s sword dance, dun dun! You can’t block this!]

[Looks like Daesik’s determined today!]

[Today’s broadcast sure is something else, pyuk pyuk!]

Mentioning an IP ban showed he was very angry.

But this isn’t what I meant to do.

Instead of enlightening him, I only provoked him.

Daesik grumbled as he lowered the screen completely.

Finally, the end of the malicious chat seemed in sight.

And at the very end, the viewer’s nickname was revealed.

‘Mollru’

In that proud display, Daesik muttered with a dumbfounded look.

“Uh…?”

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