My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

“Yay! We won~!”

The game ended with a 3-0 victory, as the enemy team surrendered. When Barcode came up from the basement and took down two more enemies while defending the second floor in round two, the enemy team suddenly left.

I wasn’t sure if they were angry because they couldn’t control the roamers and kept getting picked off, or if they were mad because of team arguments, but without saying anything, they left, and the next round, the enemy team immediately surrendered.

“Oh, right, I need to send a friend request… friend request…”

I pressed tab to send a friend request to Barcode, but Barcode was already gone. If it was a normal username, I could’ve just typed it in to send the request, but since it was a barcode nickname, I couldn’t do that.

“Sigh…”

I lowered the screen and turned the sound of the broadcast back on, which I had muted earlier.

On-screen, the next match was already starting.

There was still only one viewer. I tried chatting in hopes that Barcode would accept my friend request, but there was no reply. Only the faint sound of someone else’s broadcast could be heard.

“Wait… is he streaming while watching someone else’s broadcast?”

While I was dumbfounded, the match on the screen was already starting. Since I couldn’t play with him anyway, I took off my headset and decided to post something on the community forum instead.

It was the official Korean community for “Lesik,” with hundreds of thousands of members.

I was a fairly well-known user here. It wasn’t just because I posted a lot, but also because of my rank.

Platinum-ranked users were rare.

To explain the tiers, the lowest rank, Copper, was a place for trolls and absolute newbies. Bronze wasn’t much better, and Silver had the most players. Gold was a respectable rank, where you could confidently claim you were good. Platinum was divided into Plat 4 and 3, and Plat 2 and 1, which were significantly higher in skill level, and were already within the top rankings. Diamond was where even pros and trainees got crushed, and Master… well, you could think of it as almost nonexistent.

As always, the community was peaceful, but then a new post appeared.

“What’s the probability that a player I frequently met in the Plat 1 rank, who returned after a month, is a woman?” – by Aroalo.

The title was clickbait, and the author, Aroalo, was quite famous. He had the nickname “the ghost of the community and Plat.” Users knew that Aroalo often posted bait threads. Last time, when a Silver-ranked user asked how to reach Platinum, he made a post titled “How to Reach Platinum.”

The content started with tips on improving aim, character traits, and various advice, but at the end, he attached a picture of a frog and ended the post with a small phrase, “Just realize this after 5000 hours^^7.”

Many people clicked on the post, curious to see what nonsense it was this time, even though they suspected it was bait.

To summarize the post:

There used to be a Barcode player Aroalo often teamed up with. They had great synergy, and their win rate was good, but they never added each other as friends. After not seeing Barcode for about a month, Aroalo was watching a zero-viewer stream and saw someone clear a game with 60 FPS and 100 HP, only to die to the last enemy. Impressed, Aroalo queued for another match and by sheer coincidence, ended up in the same match as the Barcode player, who carried him.

The comments were predictable.

– “What kind of nonsense is this? Has playing 6000 hours finally driven you mad?”

Aroalo: “No, it’s true; And I haven’t hit 6000 hours yet.”

– “It’s ‘haven’t,’ not ‘haven’t hit’.”

– “This is too far, man… HP 100 in Battlefield is already crazy, but now you’re saying it’s a woman? Seriously, go take a walk outside.”

Aroalo: “I swear, she spoke once during the stream, and her voice was amazing.”

– “Got a link?”

Aroalo: “Nope.”

“Huh…? What…? Why did the stream end…? Wait… who is this…? Cho… what is it… Chocoa? Did they host someone else while ending the stream?”

I found myself in an unfamiliar stream, and I was momentarily stunned.

No way… they ended their first stream in less than an hour? Were they just curious and decided to try it?

I searched for the username “Baraa” to get the link for the 30-minute replay and posted it on the community.

“……Hmm?”

By the time the match was in the fourth round, my phone buzzed with an alarm, and I saw a familiar purple notification.

I only followed one person. So, the notification had to be from Chocoa’s stream.

I had no idea why they were streaming at this odd time, but I had to hurry and check. The replay had already moved well past the part I had watched yesterday.

The game score was 4-0. It wasn’t that I was playing particularly well, but more like my team was doing so well that I was just getting carried. I placed my drone in a good spot during the drone phase and lowered my screen to check the stream…

“What the…”

I had forgotten I was streaming. But at least I still had one viewer. I had even chatted…

“Uh, excuse me…? Ah, Aroalo…? Are you going to stop streaming…?”

There was no response in the chat.

“…..Hrm… hrm… how do I host…”

Chocoa didn’t always stream alone. Although she usually did, sometimes she collaborated with others or played games with big creators. Whenever that happened, she would host the other streamer after ending her own stream. Hosting was a system where a streamer could send their viewers to another streamer.

I searched for the hosting feature for a few seconds before finally figuring it out. I quickly hosted Chocoa’s stream and switched back to the game.

I suggested a rush to my teammates, trying to finish the game quickly. After we won, I immediately turned off the game, cranked up the volume on the stream, and started watching.

“Yes… Ah, thank you, Baraa, for the host.”

As soon as I sent a greeting in the chat, a thank-you message appeared. I felt a sense of pride and smiled as I focused on the stream.

The stream title was “Learning Lesik from Yoon Gae.”

“Ah, isn’t that person famous in this stream?”

“Um… yes, I guess?”

“Well, let’s start the game!”

Yoon Gae, a general gaming streamer known for being skilled, good-looking, and a smooth talker… according to his own introduction.

From previous collaborations with Chocoa, I knew for sure that he was indeed a good talker. He often turned on his webcam, frequently arguing with his viewers, and was always loud and boisterous.

He was very loud today too.

“Ah, so for beginners~ This game has a ton of maps, and the guns you should use are~”

In the 10 minutes that had passed, he hadn’t stopped talking for even a second. The chat was already filling up with people telling him to shut up or even people falling asleep.

Chocoa hadn’t turned on her webcam, but I could easily imagine the expression she was making by now.

That day, after nearly five hours of practicing Lesik, Chocoa finally ended the stream out of exhaustion. Since I had to get up early the next day, I made a simple stir-fried rice with the remaining ingredients I had, cleaned up, and went to bed.

Little did I know that a small spark had been ignited in the community.

Beep-beep-beep-beep-

“…Ugh…”

The blaring alarm sound woke me up slowly.

“……Ah…ah….”

I gulped down a glass of water and checked the time. It was 7:40. Normally, I would’ve already been fully prepared by now, but with how exhausted I was, there was no way I could wake up early without an alarm. Since I needed time to wash up and dry my hair, I hurried to get ready.

By the time I finished, it was 8:30. Despite trying to zone out while washing up, I failed and ended up staring at the ceiling, so it took as long as it did last time. My hair was too long, and it took a while to dry.

Since I had no time and nothing to eat in the fridge, I quickly bundled up and headed out for my first day at work.

“Huff… huff… huh…”

I ran into the almost empty café and opened the door, feeling all the eyes on me.

I steadied my breath and fixed my long, messy hair as the manager came out.

“Here! Come in here!”

The manager waved me over, and I walked towards her, relieved that it was only 8:55, as I checked my phone.

“Welcome!”

“Hello!”

“No need to be so formal. Just have a seat for now.”

“Yes!”

The manager sat on the sofa, and I took a seat on the sofa opposite her.

“Yesterday was kind of sudden, so I don’t think we covered everything… What’s your name?”

“I’m Lee Su-yeon! I’m 21 years old, and I’ve worked at several cafés before!”

“Really? You’re younger than I thought… Well, since it’s required, let’s get the contract signed.”

After signing the usual part-time contract, the manager read it carefully and smiled as she spoke.

“Good. Now, how about you change into the uniform?”

“…..What?”

“We have a uniform for the café. I’m wearing it right now, actually.”

When I looked at the manager’s outfit, sure enough, she was wearing a brown skirt, hat, and a white shirt, which looked like the uniform. It seemed a bit cold to wear in the winter, but the café was warm enough, so it seemed fine…

“Um… manager…?”

“Hm? What? You don’t like the design? Or is it the size…?”

“Uh…”

After some negotiation with the manager, I ended up wearing a white shirt, a hat, and brown pants as a compromise. Then, I took my position at the counter.