[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 110

“Good job, Ho-yun oppa! Can’t we practice together today? I do better when you watch over me…”

“It’ll be more helpful if you do it alone right now. Anyway, you did a great job too. Take good care of your condition, and see you tomorrow.”

“That’s too bad… Let’s do a night broadcast together this weekend instead!”

On the first day of the Cheongchul Aram Event, Kang Ho-yun forcefully left the waiting room by disconnecting from his persistent and clingy female streamer disciple.

She was cute and pretty. This was an objective view, not a subjective one. She had looks that anyone would envy, and aside from her clinginess, her personality was rather gentle, making others feel comfortable around her.

The fact that she had over ten thousand viewers proved that.

[Are they really filming a virtual marriage at the event?]

[LOL, it’s so pink and sweet here!]

[The handsome guy and beautiful girl streamer couple… I’m so jealous!!!]

[A romance blossoming with the scent of sweat on the circuit? I can’t resist this!]

[It’s a one-man show, but our “KING” is actually quite nice too.]

[Her face is pretty, her personality is good, and she makes a lot of money. What more do you need?]

[sh*t… They match so well it’s annoying… Beautiful and handsome people should just d*e.]

[Date! Date! Date! Date! Date! Date! Date! Date! Date! Date!]

[One-man show… Has our KING already given up? Is that how it is?]

[Shut up! Does a one-man show only have one woman? Just enjoy the romance!]

[Be grateful, guys. You need to feel this ticklish feeling as much as you can. This is all we have.]

[Yeah, the only romance we can have is through dating simulators or living vicariously through streamers…]

The sight of the handsome guy and beautiful girl that perfectly matched the phrase resonated with the excited viewers watching the livestream.

So before being streamers, they were just pretty decent people, decent humans.

Even when they first met through Sre, who was known as the social butterfly in the Kiwich community, it was the same. First impressions dictate a person’s subsequent impression.

Her friendly attitude and the beautiful crescent-shaped smile on her face made even the typically cynical Kang Ho-yun soften.

Of course, there had been many women like her in the past. Kang Ho-yun had everything: looks, wealth, and family background. He was perfect on paper as a dating or marriage partner, so it was no wonder women were drawn to him.

In the Kiwich community, the one-man show was known for its image of honesty and integrity. He could be seen as a perfectly trustworthy human.

Perhaps because of that, whenever he had a chance to connect with a woman, he couldn’t help but consider the “conditions” involved. Not the condition of the other person, but his own conditions.

Kang Ho-yun let out a deep sigh as if a long thread was being pulled out.

“Ha…”

It seemed that all those glamorous conditions obscured his true self. He had always carried a suspicion about humanity in a corner of his heart.

This wasn’t a sentiment limited to women, which made it even more stressful.

Distrust was a deadly disease that gnawed at the human heart from the inside.

Yet, the female streamer he had a connection with this time seemed to treat him with sincerity.

She expressed her feelings directly. However, she had no particular expectations from him and never forced her opinions on him. So in Kang Ho-yun’s mind, she occupied a space as at least a “transparent person.”

Of course, he couldn’t know all her inner thoughts, but at the very least, that’s how it felt.

She also had no lack in conditions. Compared to Kang Ho-yun, she might seem inadequate, but that was simply because he had abnormal conditions. She wasn’t lacking.

Most importantly, for Kang Ho-yun, who disliked measuring conditions, she wasn’t even on the consideration list.

He felt a genuine sense of affection for her. She was one of the few people he could feel a genuine connection with.

However, it was still just human affection; it hadn’t crossed over into anything more. She did not appear to him as a woman at all.

And he knew better than anyone the reason for that.

“Yooihyun…”

There was no room in his heart for anyone else; it was filled with Yooihyun.

This was both a rational emotion and an admiration as a driver. During their few weeks of unusual cohabitation, he developed a fondness for Yooihyun, and his respect for her as a driver grew with every encounter on the circuit.

As an F1 driver, she was closest to his dream and yet, he found himself completely captivated by her human side. To Kang Ho-yun, Yooihyun embodied two things he had to chase to the end.

“Match start.”

[Starting rank game matchmaking.]

To acquire love and ideals, there was definitely a place he had to go.

The place where Yooihyun would be. The place where his dream lay.

F1.

With the singular determination of going there, he had poured his soul into the rank game for days.

“Information window.”

[One-man show #001 – F2 / Rank 61]

Name: Kang Ho-yun.

Age: 11.09.10

Appearance: Public.

Race record.

Number of general race events: 594 – 1st: 531, 2nd: 27, 3rd: 30.

Number of ranking race events: 1312 – 1st: 209, 2nd: 311, 3rd: 380.

Before he knew it, Kang Ho-yun had reached the 61st position in F2, ranking among the top tiers.

“I’m still insufficient. Just a little more, just a little more…”

Despite being an overly generous rank for an ordinary person or streamer, the 61st rank felt cruelly inadequate to Kang Ho-yun. Being generous only applied to common folks; it was an eternally insufficient rank to become one of the only 20 F1 drivers.

At the very least, he needed to be in the top 40 to be eligible for a stable entry into F1, but he felt he was still too far from that qualification.

He only needed to rise 21 places, but moving ranks in the top tier was as difficult as storming a fortress single-handedly.

The massive gap in points was the first issue. He had to be ahead of the same competitors he faced repeatedly, which was a problem with difficulty.

Still, he had a glimmer of hope thanks to his strong backing…

“If I can just make it to the 50th place…”

Once he entered the 50th place, he could join HISS, the last-place team in F1, as a pay driver.

A pay driver is someone who pays to secure a seat in a racing team.

F1 is a motorsport that requires astronomical research and development costs, making sponsorship crucial. A single race car costs 15 billion, and they invest over 300 billion in research and development.

Of course, thanks to the popularity of For One, the funding coming into the teams had significantly increased, but so had expenses.

In F1, lacking funds means no research, no research leads to elimination, and being eliminated means the team disappears, making money incredibly important.

Capitalism operates fairly across all sports.

As the last-placed team, HISS was naturally suffering from severe financial issues. The driver who had spent many years with the team under the name of family had a significantly lower salary. That driver had even parted ways with the team two years ago.

The chairman of a large corporation had made an offer: to provide sponsorship in exchange for placing his son in the seat.

Just when HISS seemed to have a lifeline…

The last hope they held onto fell through this year. They hadn’t seen results commensurate with their investments. The biggest problem was the incompetence of the chairman’s son, but no one wanted to hear such excuses.

Once more, in a crisis, Kang Ho-yun’s father reached out. He offered to become a sponsor in exchange for placing his son in the seat.

Given the nightmare-like precedent, it would normally be wise to refuse, but HISS had no other options. They had to accept.

However, the refusal came unexpectedly, from Kang Ho-yun himself.

“Entering the team at 60th is just embarrassing. It’s obvious I won’t be able to compete properly. I want to at least meet a minimum standard.”

He would join as a pay driver, but he had no intention of finishing races as a pay driver. If that’s all it would be, he wouldn’t join at all.

The minimum standard he set was 50th place. Though it was far from a secure position, if he could reach 50th place before the season opened with his current skills, he believed going beyond that was possible.

[Rank game matchmaking successful. Prepare for the race.]

Kang Ho-yun was teleported to the pit. Familiar nicknames lined up in order on the ranking board to his left: current and former F1 drivers and promising trainees cultivated by each team. Each one was a formidable opponent.

“Soft tires, high rake setting. If tire condition drops below 20%, give me an alarm, and fix pedal sensitivity at 70%.”

Even so, Kang Ho-yun’s determination was unwavering.

He had to beat them to reach F1 and meet Yooihyun.

Vrooom-!!!

Once the setup was complete, Kang Ho-yun’s race car revved its engine in sync with the pressed pedal.

Perhaps it was because of the shared goal of the members, but there was a mission-like sentiment in the grid that was unlike a typical rank match.

Meanwhile, Kang Ho-yun’s will shone brightly with a color as intense as theirs.

The race began.

A one-man show, just as the name suggested, had begun.

The goal was F1. No, it was Yooihyun.