Streamer Crazy About Slaughter - Chapter 108

After about 2 hours of playing in Another World Arena, Serin reached Platinum 1 with 100 points. Therefore, she was able to increase her tier to the score just before the Diamond promotion match.

“Let’s wrap up Another World for today, and I’ll continue the Diamond promotion match in tomorrow’s broadcast.”

Today’s Another World Arena record was undefeated, but as the atmosphere in the chat room became chaotic, my emotions were thrown off as well.

As a result, I couldn’t fully enjoy Another World, and after a surge of chatter from G1 professional players, my desire to proceed with the Diamond promotion match disappeared completely.

So, I decided to push such significant events to next time.

—Disconnect.

—

Swish.

“…Sigh.”

As Serin stepped out of the capsule, she let out a deep sigh as if the ground had fallen away.

While I had to skip over the viewers’ chat about G1 today, I realized I’d need to manage it better in the future.

Swish.

Attempting to calm my disorganized feelings, I lifted my messy white hair and tied it with a string.

Since the significant sponsorship of 2 million won came in, sponsorship for G1 players had ceased.

I started to wonder if it was true that they were preparing for the match, as some chat suggested. At that moment, I found myself wishing poorly of the players for no good reason.

‘…Why am I trying to have negative feelings toward the players?’

They had only sponsored my broadcast out of goodwill, and it was absurd for me to resent them simply because of the sponsorship results.

A streamer who received a large sponsorship but felt unhappy was a situation that other streamers would not understand.

However, experiencing what it felt like to have the broadcast atmosphere soured was something I felt for the first time since starting my streaming journey, and it felt even more profound.

Since it was my first time encountering such chaos in the chat after starting my broadcast, having received a significant sponsorship didn’t feel particularly great.

With thoughts of needing to calm my heart over a cup of coffee, I opened my mouth.

“Just a moment, I’ll go grab some coffee.”

After saying this into the microphone, I stepped out into the living room.

Clack.

Pitter-patter.

Even while pouring coffee from the pot, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of amazing team G1 was for my viewers to be so filled with conversations about them.

I remembered searching for them once after receiving a scrim proposal, but it hadn’t left much of an impression.

I hadn’t paid much attention, replying in a way that indicated I could accept the scrim invitation or not.

I picked up my phone and searched for “G1” on a well-known website.

The G1-related wiki site popped up at the top.

*

—

Team Name: G1.

Founded: January 13, 2029.

League: ACK.

……

Coaches: Han Si-woo, Han Jin-hee.

Captain: Kang Hyuk.

— Major League Achievements.

2029 ACK Spring Runner-up.

2029 ACK Summer Runner-up.

2030 ACK Spring Runner-up.

2030 ACK Summer Runner-up.

2031 ACK Spring Runner-up.

— Records Held.

Most Runner-up in ACK: 5 times.

5 consecutive playoff appearances.

5 consecutive finals appearances.

<u>

– A team that set an unprecedented record of ‘5 consecutive runner-ups’ in eSports history.</u>

—

*

“Wow… how can there be so many runner-ups?”

Looking at the information about the G1 team made me laugh for some reason.

While finishing as runner-up is still a respectable achievement, if I were a G1 player, I think I’d feel quite peculiar about it.

Drip.

Drip.

As droplets fell from the coffee pot, I raised my cup and headed toward the room.

In one hand, I held coffee; in the other, my phone.

I thought about checking more information, but soon decided it might be better to learn about the ACK professional teams together with the viewers before the match at 8 PM.

Although the scrim date was still far off, it would be courteous to know about the players in advance.

Thud.

Once I entered the room, I placed my coffee cup on the desktop and closed the door with my foot.

Bang!

“Ah.”

Then, the sound of the door slamming startled me, and I let out an absent-minded exclamation.

[?????]

[What was that sound?]

[Is Lin on?]

[Why does it suddenly sound like something is crashing? LOL]

[Lin seems angry, whoa.]

[I could see that the chat was chaotic during the arena, so she didn’t look too happy.]

[There are too many people spamming about G1.]

[These guys are really overreacting. I thought I tuned into Lin’s broadcast, not a G1 player’s personal stream.]

The chat that had been slowing down picked up speed, reacting to the earlier noise as I sat down.

“Ah, I’m sorry about that noise. It was too loud, right?”

After offering a small apology, I opened a search site on the broadcast screen.

“Since there’s an 8 PM G1 match, let’s take some time to learn about the ACK professional teams before that. Honestly, I don’t know anything about the pro teams.”

The current time was 6:20 PM. There was still over an hour and a half until the match.

……

Until just before 8 PM, I spent time chatting with viewers and researching the teams on the website.

What I realized was that there were far more people who were ‘genuine’ about professional teams than I had expected.

To put it positively, they were enthusiastic fans; negatively, they could be seen as overly immersed.

The popularity of the ACK pro league was palpable, with many fans keeping up with ACK.

And accordingly, many were deeply involved in cheering for the team’s performances and players.

For example…

—Ding ding!!

『Eojan Fan donated 50,000 won!』

《Well, TSJ is definitely going to win, right? Does G1 even have a career win in the first place? If they were that good, wouldn’t they have won at least once? LOL》

—Ding ding!!

『This year is different donated 100,000 won!』

《G1 is on a 6-game winning streak, so who knows, honestly, I’m with you on this. LOL》

—Ding ding!!

『So where is Joan of Arc? donated 50,000 won!』

《What’s the point of TSJ without Joan of Arc? After she declared her rest, G1 was totally obliterated, right? LOL》

—Ding ding!!

『So they are in first place? donated 50,000 won!』

《So is G1 the current first place in the league? No, right? TSJ is still maintaining the first place, just like they did when they set that record of five runner-ups. They should make it six this summer. LOL》

—Ding ding!!

『BS True Fan donated 50,000 won!』

《I’m a fan of the BS team facing G1 today. Lin, are you thinking of supporting the BS team since they qualify for playoffs if they win? This is a really crucial match.》

—Ding ding!!

『Paladin Fan donated 50,000 won!』

《Is there no fan of Charlemagne’s Knight Team in this room…? Their summer league record was a disaster, but each of the players is so unfortunate.》

I was busy trying to respond to the flood of donations.

“Thank you all for your donations. But the atmosphere seems to be getting too heated. Again, trashing other teams is a ban. Donations don’t make it an exception. I won’t address the donations that have already been made but starting now, please refrain from making negative comments about other teams.”

The broadcast title was ‘Getting to Know the ACK Teams,’ a very straightforward title.

Yet the number of viewers surprisingly continued to increase.

Even though I wasn’t even playing in Another World and was just chatting with viewers and browsing websites, the viewer count suddenly exceeded 20,000.

Moreover, donations started pouring in at an overwhelming pace.

Considering the minimum amount for a donation was 50,000 won, I thought this was impossible. Yet, it was actually happening.

Though the donations stayed displayed on screen for about 30 seconds each due to the high minimum amount, the fact that they kept coming and filling the screen was astonishing in itself.

Even I, who was usually indifferent and not fixated on money, was dazed by the continuous wave of donations.

[Wow… how much is Lin making today?]

[For real, it’s like Lin is the only one profiting off a fight between whales. LOL]

[G1 has scheduled a scrim and their fandom is growing incredibly! LOL]

[Is it normal for me to feel burnt out while working and watching Lin’s stream?]

[I’m feeling burnt out too, d*mn…]

[Lin hasn’t committed to any team yet, so that seems to have fueled the fandom battles. LOL]

[LOL, I’ve never seen a female streamer receiving donations like this before.]

[Isn’t Lin a female streamer?]

[How can she be a female streamer if she doesn’t have a cam? LOL]

[The fandom battles are insane! Seriously. LOL]

The chat was extremely heated with either donations or passionate debates among those supporting specific teams, making it the most intense atmosphere yet.

And now, as donations continued past the hour mark, I couldn’t help but wonder how much I had earned in total.

That curiosity led me to take action.

I quietly fiddled with the streamer settings to check the total amount of donations I had received today.

I was taken aback without realizing it.

〔Donation earnings for August 7: 10,550,000 won〕

And while I was checking the amount, another notification chimed in.

The total donation amount just increased by 50,000 won again.

—Ding ding!!

『Great Sword Top donated 50,000 won!』

《So, is there a pro who uses a great sword in TSJ? There’s no romanticism like Kang Hyuk, you guys are just a boring team playing for results, LOL.》

“Everyone, this is… a donation from 10 minutes ago. It’s delayed, so please don’t react too sensitively. And if you’re professional players, it makes sense that you prioritize results.”

It felt like I was making a somewhat risky statement, and I tried to manage the situation by adding more context.

[?????]

[Is Lin defending TSJ right now?]

[Lin actually knows how to analyze teams. LOL]

[If TSJ stands for professional excellence, what’s wrong with that?]

[It’s boring because the opposing team’s level is low. It should be exciting when they face high-level teams.]

[Lin, what’s going on? Are you cheering for TSJ?]

[I’m somewhat disappointed in Lin. ;]

Suddenly, the reactions in the chat split drastically.

Looking at the chat, I felt a bit dumbfounded by the chaos unfolding before me.

Even though I tried to maintain a balanced stance, the reactions varied so widely that I started to wonder what tune I should follow.

The two fanbases with the strongest reactions were TSJ and G1.

In fact, those two fanbases were the ones donating the most.

—Ding ding!!

『So I’m asking if there’s Joan of Arc, donated 50,000 won!』

《What’s G1’s level? LOL So, has Kang Hyuk ever beaten Joan of Arc in any popularity polls or league careers? Our Eunha never lost! The ideal dream is Joan of Arc, while Kang Hyuk is just mindlessly swinging a great sword, LOL.》

One of the fanbases donating now was that of TSJ, while another massive fanbase was G1.

Then, I couldn’t help but notice a word that kept appearing.

—Joan of Arc.

“…I think calling someone a great sword user is a bit excessive. Both Joan of Arc and Kang Hyuk are outstanding players.”

Trying to mediate the situation, I felt a strange sensation.

—Joan of Arc.

She was someone who had donated 1 million won to my broadcast, requesting nothing in return but simply to add me as a friend in Another World.

Personally, I had thought of her as a wealthy saint.

‘Was that person… famous?’

Above all, what made it decisive was that in Another World, there was no system for duplicate usernames.

Therefore, it couldn’t be taken as impersonation.