It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

The waiting screen before Ark’s broadcast started featured a meticulously drawn image. It depicted a young girl sitting on the edge of an ark, singing a song.

She had chosen the name Ark with the heartfelt intent of “becoming a broadcaster who embraces a diverse audience and provides them with a haven, like an ark.”

Not long after deciding on her name, she had drawn the image herself.

On Ark’s G-Tube channel, there still existed a preserved moment from her very first broadcast, where she confidently expressed her aspirations.

One could easily see from her young eyes darting here and there that she found it a bit embarrassing—even she thought it was a bit cringe-worthy. At the time, there weren’t any viewers yet, so there were no teasing comments in the chat.

She clearly remembered looking at that empty chat space, vowing that one day, it would be so overflowing with messages that just glancing over it would be overwhelming.

Perhaps those words had been the seeds she planted.

『🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥』

『Bring in the guests~ Bring in the guests~ Bring in the guests~』

『I’m going to spam~ Because I’m an Ark viewer~』

『I know you’re watching, start the broadcast already, you silly girl!!!』

『Ark, you’re doomed』

『 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥』

『Did they sign a contract to broadcast only through Ark’s channel?』

『Did a containment area burst somewhere?』

『Why is Revan on break again?』

Around 25,000 varied viewers had joined Ark’s broadcast, and, indeed, the chat was overflowing to the point where just trying to glance through it was challenging.

-ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!-

【Hello, it’s nice to see so many Revan viewers here. I’m also a fan of Revan】

『Reha~ Reha~』

『Right, I’m also a fan of Revan? Or whatever, I guess』

『Hey, what do they call Revan’s fans anyway?』

『Nice to meet you, I’m also a fan of Revan』

『Hello, I’m a fan of Revan. Can you tell that silly girl, GetDevoured, to start the broadcast?』

『The spamming from Revan’s viewers is pretty intense;』

『What instrument does she play?』

『Hey, play a tune on the ocarina or something』

It was a remarkably cohesive group, to the extent that questioning where they were from seemed unnecessary.

Ark, contemplating how many months of follow restrictions would be needed if she switched to follow chat, sighed lightly and gave up on the thought.

One significant reason was the viewers who spammed with emotes only available through subscribing to her channel—viewers who had originally watched Ark’s broadcast before flocking to Lee Yena’s broadcast. A mere 3-4 months of follow restrictions wouldn’t deter them. After all, her broadcast and Lee Yena’s broadcast were like distant relatives.

However, the primary reason was the budding ‘Let’s just try it!’ mindset within Ark. No matter what, she believed that public attention was as vital as her lifeline as a broadcaster.

Three years since she’d been a full-time broadcaster, and she knew better than anyone that gaining attention, even through controversy, had to become a natural and familiar act.

‘Yeah. If you think positively, we shared viewers during the co-broadcast.’

At first, she felt overwhelmed by the news, but upon further reflection, maybe there was no reason to be.

Perhaps, from the perspective of Lee Yena’s viewers, they might be satisfied to hear Lee Yena’s gameplay and voice through Ark’s broadcast. From what she remembered, Lee Yena usually minimized her interactions with the chat anyway.

‘Yeah. It’s needless worry… an overreaction… it’s just that.’

Thus, convincing herself, ark displayed a bright expression and turned on her camera. It was a practiced expression perfect for streaming.

“Aha~ Hello, everyone! Oh, we have so many guests today. Alright, alright! Everyone, calm down. I don’t have time to calm you all down… it’s already this time. So, today’s the second day of our tournament practice, right? Let’s dive right into Discourse without delay.”

Of course, a large-scale protest was taking place in the chat, but Ark wasn’t excessively worried. The demands of the protestors were clear.

The game, and Lee Yena.

In other words, as soon as the game with Lee Yena began, they were likely to calm down and turn into well-behaved viewers. Given that they planned to alternate the main order role, she aimed to hear Lee Yena give as many commands as possible.

《Hello, ark.》

As soon as she connected to the voice chat in Discourse, Lee Yena greeted her as if she had been waiting—

Hearing Lee Yena’s extremely calm voice, the viewers got even more excited.

Of course, it was within Ark’s expectations.

“Yes, hello! Wow… GetDevoured-nim’s fandom is no joke. So many people are asking about you on my broadcast… are you really not going to start your broadcast?”

When Lee Yena responded with something persuasive yet nonsensical, ark planned to have a light-hearted exchange on that topic, and then naturally start the co-broadcast once everyone joined.

That’s what she thought.

《No. I’m still a little intoxicated… you seem to be fine, though. Maybe because you didn’t drink much?》

『Alcohol?』

『Drank together?』

『???』

『ㅁㅇㅁㅇ』

『???? Did you have an offline meeting?』

『Did you two drink?』

『You got drunk?』

『It’s only 8 o’clock, when did you start drinking?』

Until the opponent casually revealed the fact that they had an offline meeting, igniting the chat.

“Wa, wait a minute. GetDevoured-nim?”

《Wow. Ark-nim, you have a lot of viewers. Did you promote a lot?》

* * * *

《Hey, hey! I broke through the Lich! I got a protective charm necklace, who should I give it to?!》

“Use it yourself. You can be a bit more aggressive.”

StarPork, who had just relaxed, exceeded expectations. Even though she still spent a lot of time alone underground in terms of the composition… she managed to evade well.

Dodging skillfully while only opening chests would have been quite frustrating for the opponent who was in the underground. Every time she staggered away upon encountering them, it seemed all the more clumsy, which made it even more irritating.

Regardless of anything else, she had an excellent talent for getting on the opponent’s nerves. In other words, she was a disciple born with the qualities of a top-tier rogue user. I really trained my successor well.

The lack of firepower and experience… I could fill in by frequently going underground to support her. The key was to accumulate advantages little by little without direct confrontation underground.

By operating this way, when I jumped underground at the right timing to mark the opponent’s Warrior, it allowed our well-equipped rogue to infiltrate the rear-

『Shushuk Shushuk Shuk has been slain!』

『StarPork(Rogue) → Shushuk Shushuk Shuk(Priest)』

No matter how poor her combat skills were, a priest who faced a rogue alone couldn’t possibly keep his head on his shoulders.

『(All) MyHandMagic(Warrior): Ah, that damn rogue is really annoying』

『(All) MyHandMagic(Warrior): Did your mentor teach you to do that?』

He snapped.

It was the moment when my evaluation of StarPork rose by two levels.

“Good job.”

《Tha- thank you!》

Anyone could earn praise from killing a priest. The true test was to kill just the priest and force a defeat declaration from the opponent underground. Considering she had only started learning two days ago and had already grown this much… I was deeply moved as a mentor.

Next, I might teach her to dance. VR seems quite free when it comes to dancing.

“Going up. Mage, provide artillery support. Let’s break through the center in one go.”

As they quickly returned to the surface to apply pressure, the opposing knight standing on the opposite side of the attack lane slowly began to retreat. It wasn’t just being pushed back by the offensive; it was a movement indicative of lost morale.

This was a sign that they had secured yet another victory.

.

.

.

“Surrender! They called surrender!”

“Wow, we actually won this. StarPork-nim, and our mentees too, their growth speed is insane!”

“Thank you! It’s all thanks to our Teacher!”

“Well done, everyone. Great job.”

“Revan-nim, as an eternal student, I would like to hear your compliment.”

“…… You did well, senior.”

As soon as the last game ended, the audio started to fill up, not allowing even a moment of silence. After two consecutive losses, they had secured three consecutive wins. It was indeed a score that could raise the tension.

Considering that Ark’s poor performance, unusually distracted today, had contributed significantly to their initial two losses, this was quite encouraging.

Ark had declined multiple invitations; despite appearances, perhaps alcohol didn’t suit her well. It didn’t seem like she was the type to feel pressured by the increased viewership.

On the other hand—our mentee was performing well, making her horrible movements on the first day seem like a distant memory. Just as initially sensed, her basic reflexes weren’t bad.

She only needed some enhancement.

However, the problem was that even with enhancements, she crumbled when engaging in close combat with opponents of reasonable skill. It was an understatement to say she crumbled; she had significant combat phobia. If she weren’t a broadcaster, she probably wouldn’t have even played a game like KoK. There wasn’t a job in the game that could be played without any combat.

I, as a teacher, didn’t know about such things. I didn’t raise my students that way.

Anyway.

If I could ensure she never had to face combat, things might work out for now… but was this the right path?

I couldn’t protect her from every encounter. In tournaments, opponents could come from Underground at any moment. No matter how much I covered for her, it would be impossible to create a path that completely avoided combat.

Ultimately, she would have to overcome it.

… Yeah.

I had to accept that I was trying to raise her like a flower in a greenhouse. They say lions throw their cubs off a cliff to raise them strong. It’s a lie, but such parables exist for a reason.

The collaborative broadcast was wrapping up. They had played the promised five games, finishing on a three-win streak, making this the perfect time to end. After confirming the still-glowing green circle, I spoke up.

“Revan-nim.”

“Yes. I mean, no.”

“After the broadcast… could you spare a moment? After turning off the broadcast.”

TL’s Corner:

Fuck me, I guess I need to change Ark to Ark now. My bad.