It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

『Author: Anonymous?』

『Title: So, everyone is going to the protest today, right??』

『I’m planning to send my soul over, yes.?』

– Ah LOL, it’s obvious this girl isn’t going, so why should I?

– How can anyone go from 12 to 2 PM on a weekday?

– Seriously, why did they pick such a time?

– The protest location is a hotspot, so it’ll be hard to get a reservation.

– Do we really need to reserve for a protest? Can’t we just do a surprise one?

– As far as I know, it’s first-come, first-served.

– Even if I don’t go, someone will upload photos to the forum, right~~~

– “Just one less of me…”

『Author: Anonymous』

『Title: What are the chances that the faceless female broadcaster comes out for the ‘fan meeting’?』

『I swear, if she goes there

It’ll end like an unrolling rogue’s portrait photo-scroll.

Consider yourself lucky if you even hear her voice from the speakers.

If you’re going, be prepared for two hours of remote ocarina performance.』

– Unfortunately, that sounds pretty realistic.

– Still going.

– As long as there’s a chance, I have to go.

– Brain dripping out.

– FYI: She once did a cooking broadcast without showing her face, so she might actually show up.

– Not even virtual G-Tubers go to such lengths, seriously wtf.

– She turned on the cam but cooked outside its frame so you couldn’t see her.

– That’s even crazier.

– Honestly, I’m curious how bad her red mark is for her to do it. Upvote if you’re curious too.

– Upvote.

『Author: Anonymous』

『Title: Let’s vote on how today’s protest with our gal will turn out』

『

1. She doesn’t show up at all and only displays the rogue’s portrait.

2. Revan, Ark, and others will show up.

3. Recruit someone else to stand in as a substitute.

4. Show up wearing a helmet.

Vote ㄱㄱㄱ』

– Why isn’t “show up and reveal your face” an option?

– Lol, would they even do that, you idiot?

– If revealing their face was beneficial, they would have done it already.

– Does a female broadcaster who can’t even leak a heavily edited photo with artificial effects really think she’s going to make a public appearance? Get lost, lOLOLOL

– Haha, and by the way, option 1 is overwhelmingly leading, lOLOLOL

* * * *

They said you get betrayed when you have expectations.

“The idiot who naively believed… No, no. GetDevoured wouldn’t do something like this.”

The announced date, the announced location. Although the time wasn’t yet disclosed—logically, the organizer should have arrived by now.

Dojeel tried to suppress rising aphorisms from the internet in his mind as he saw two familiar faces sitting like main characters. However, doing so wouldn’t make an absent GetDevoured appear.

In front of the spot where the main character would sit at a fan meeting, only Revan and Ark were seated. A few people sat on the mats spread out in front of them, but Dojeel was sure that none of them were GetDevoured.

It wasn’t something to brag about, but… if it was GetDevoured, he could recognize her even with a covered face.

Not really something to boast about, though.

Thus, he took a lap. Disguising himself as a disinterested passerby, he roamed around the plaza but didn’t see anyone who even remotely looked like GetDevoured or had a covered face.

Even while StarPork, who sat right at the front center waving a picket sign passionately, persistently drew his gaze away, Dojil scanned the surroundings meticulously, convinced that there was no mistake in his assessment.

Meanwhile, girls occasionally approached Revan to get his autograph or take photos, and others did the same with Ark.

“…… Should I get Ark’s autograph?”

It was a fleeting, weak thought.

“No, no. It’d be fine if I came to see Ark, but that would be disrespectful to both Ark and GetDevoured.”

Of course, the thought disappeared as quickly as it came.

More importantly—didn’t GetDevoured herself mention they’d be picking a moderator from the rally? She’s not one to delegate such a task to someone else. When she said she’d do something, she always followed through.

Though Dojeel knew how foolish it could be to judge someone based on their broadcasting persona, he believed so.

He continued with a second lap.

The crowd was gradually growing. After all, both Revan and Ark were pretty well-known broadcasters. Skeptics approached, got autographs, and left, while new observers joined in, seeing others get autographs—a typical pattern.

Dojeel, feeling embarrassed, was about to take off the hoodie that hung loosely around his neck at this rate.

And yet, he took a third lap.

By now, he began thinking it might be better to see this as some sort of prank and focus on that. Surely, they had prepared something fun, something that would be infuriating in the moment but amusing in hindsight.

“She might turn on her broadcast and tease, ‘You who snuck out here are the real rogues’, or a series of rogue portraits might suddenly drop from that banner over there.”

As suspected by the forum, it turned out to be nothing more than a prank, which left him a bit bitter. But what could he do? Picking acts that seemed destined to start a major fire and watching the burning scenes with a serene smile was a signature trait of his favorite broadcaster, GetDevoured.

“A bit, like an idiot. Me.”

Still, it could be something worth showcasing at the café. He could perhaps write a post. Even if it was a lie, coming for her sake was the hallmark of a true man—with some grand words for show.

“Damn, tch. Still, ha, I bought the hoodie for nothing.”

Muttering to himself unconsciously, perhaps due to the greater disappointment than expected, Dojil tried hard to change his thoughts. He turned on his camera app and pulled the hoodie over.

It was the kind of hoodie that would cover his face completely if worn deeply. Not something practical for daily wear. Having gone through the effort to buy this, he thought he had to use it at least for a single photo… At least he would get some value out of a trending post.

With that thought, Dojil let out a self-mocking smile. As he was about to press the shutter near the outskirts where a banner reading “Best, rogue, rogue” barely came into view in the distance…

-Tap, tap

“Hello.”

With the sensation of a tap on his shoulder, an unmistakable voice came. Turning around reflexively, Dojil froze halfway through the turn, but his eyes were wildly shaking.

It was GetDevoured.

Like any fan of a masked broadcaster, Dojil had occasionally imagined what GetDevoured looked like. The image created from descriptions by other broadcasters who had met GetDevoured helped to keep him steady against detractors who constantly undermined her.

However, he had never, absolutely never, imagined anything like this.

Her beauty seemed to emit a halo. The surroundings faded into the background. A small smile reminiscent of a white Arctic fox gently blossomed like a shy flower. Her softly bending eyes were intently focused on him.

One hand held a hat, and the other a mask—suggesting she had been hiding her face until a moment ago. It was hard to believe that such a face could be hidden. Surely, the light it emitted would have given her away.

“Are you here for the Rogue Revival Movement?”

“What? Ah, ah, yes! Yes!”

Foolish sounds tumbled out of his mouth consecutively. Amid the surreal appearance, he wavered slightly in disbelief.

Hearing the six-syllable “Rogue Revival Movement”, Dojil was assured once more.

It was GetDevoured.

“Heh.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Tha, ah, GetDevoured! I’m, I’m a real fan! I, uh—”

Babbling, there was too much he wanted to say.

Greetings for enjoying her streams so much. Compliments about how, despite her playful and bashful demeanor, it was always evident she cared for her fans. A declaration to continue supporting her earnestly as a fan.

And if he could push his luck a bit, add a witty remark that might make her smile—the words he typically honed through donations.

Unable to choose which of these to say first, his overloaded brain stuttered.

“Hmm… Dojil? Take it easy.”

Her words, which made his already stumbling mind freeze completely, slid out from her lively red lips.

“Wh, wh, how…?”

“Heh.”

With a small laugh.

“Why, remember before? We fought in the underground. You turned on the voice chat then. I remember your voice.”

Then followed by a light patting on the shoulder.

“That rough logger has become such a remarkable charge leader, wouldn’t it be against business ethics not to remember? Anyway—”

The girl in front of him, who spoke, stopped for a moment and extended her hand as if offering something. It was something black and elongated—

‘A microphone?’

“Since you’ve come wearing a hood, I believe you’re aspiring to be a manager. I have a favor to ask of the prospective manager. Feel free to refuse if you like, just let me know.”

As she said this, a bashful laugh, reminiscent of blooming petals, spread across her face. In her other hand was a familiar instrument.

“Can you help with the entrance scene? It’s noisier than when I did the preliminary inspection… probably because it’s lunchtime.”

* * * *

At the promised time.

A crowd of neither too many nor too few gathered in the square.

In truth, not many took Lee Yena’s protest declaration seriously. The idea that a masked female broadcaster would suddenly stage a protest in front of a game company was far beyond the realm of common sense—moreover, Lee Yena herself was a broadcaster known for various bizarre antics throughout her broadcasting history.

Even on fan cafes and Gallery, most speculated things like, ‘At best, you’ll just see a rogue portrait’, or ‘StarPork will go around with a speaker on her neck, greeting everyone.’

However, there always existed a minority who clung to hope.

More than five hundred fans gathered, driven by the thought that something extraordinary might happen. Among them were those harboring impure dreams of bragging if an upset occurred and left its mark on both Gal and fan cafes.

So, at 12:05.

Even those gathered felt resigned, thinking, “Of course, it’s the same as always.”

-Beep-

-Beep-beep-

An excessively familiar sound to most fans reverberated through the speakers in the square—

Immediately, everyone’s wandering eyes converged on one spot.

What came into view first was a fairly large man, wearing a deeply pulled-down hood. Awkwardly holding a microphone in an outstretched hand, walking with stiff, unnatural steps.

Following the trembling hand, the tip of the held microphone was attached to a wooden ocarina. The white hand that held the ocarina, with elongated, elegant fingers, moved gracefully, playing a beautiful melody.

A woman who loved nature and music, like a fairy from a fantasy, slowly walked forward while playing a song that everyone, at least there, recognized as an OST from KoK—

But in that moment, no one had the presence of mind to whisper about such facts.

While everyone stood frozen, with movements smooth as a gliding feather, Lee Yena, who sat beneath a banner boldly inscribed with ‘Rogue Revival Movement—Best Rogue Rogue’, naturally took the microphone from Dojil.

Then, she deeply bowed to the hundreds of people gathered before her, and with a determined expression, she opened her mouth.

“Ah. Can you all hear me well?”

Her clear, mellifluous voice, blending strangely with the banner’s like a subtitle reading ‘If short on firewood, there’s always a bomb’, resounded through the square—

“This is CravingWarmAmericano. Thank you for coming to the gathering for the Rogue Revival Movement today.”

The amazed shouts erupted nearly three seconds after Lee Yena’s greeting ended.

TL’s Corner:
Finally, a face reveal??