Streamer Crazy About Slaughter - Chapter 42

***

Rank 8 in the Challenger rankings, Plea.

She was a user who was so devoted to Another World that she was sometimes called a “crazy woman,” but her skill as a ranked player was undeniable.

That Plea ended her duel with a user named Lin by surrendering herself.

It was a duel with no premonition, akin to an impromptu friendly match.

Therefore, there was no change in rank or score associated with the result.

Plea remained ranked 8th in the Challenger tier, while Lin, who won against Plea, was a mysterious user with no name even in the rankings.

It seemed like an inconsequential friendly match. But the outcome of that simple match captured the attention of all communities, Newtube, and gamers of Another World like a massive storm.

— 2:0.

A one-sided victory for one side. Those hearing the buzz for the first time or hearing the rumors naturally expected Plea to win 2:0.

Recently, the user of the dancer class, ‘Lin.’

The fact that she had won 2:0 against Plea was something everyone initially denied or found hard to believe.

The name Lin had not yet widely spread among the users of Another World, while almost all users who enjoyed Another World knew about Plea, the ranked 8th player.

Thus, Plea’s 2:0 defeat naturally drew the interest of most Another World users, sparking a huge topic of discussion.

— The theory that Plea, the ranked player, intentionally lost to boost Lin’s profile.

— The rediscovery of the ‘Dancer’ class and the Crescent Moon Blade weapon.

— The question of where Lin suddenly appeared from.

— The controversy over awakening technique parrying.

Various topics fueled heated discussions across various community sites.

A well-known Outlaw PK user, a mediocre tier streamer named Platinum.

Even if Lin won against them, it could be dismissed as simply being good at control.

But winning against Plea, ranked 8th in Challenger, was something altogether different in significance.

It was not an opponent that could be beaten just by luck or simply having good control.

The level was close to professional, with gameplay that left viewers in awe, at a tier where skill seemed to breathe effortlessly.

That was the meaning of Challenger tier.

The influence of the name Plea in Another World was just as great.

And now.

The community of Another World, especially in the community site ‘Another Level,’ where many seasoned players resided, was dominated by hot topics regarding Plea and Lin.

……

Sipping through a straw, feeling the coolness of the cola.

“Ahhh.”

On a hot summer day, a refreshing cola felt like a cheat code and a little happiness.

With that thought, Hannah, one of the major streamers on Twitty, browsed the trending posts in the community.

Today was a rare day off from broadcasting, so she was wandering the community in her pajamas, unwashed, reminiscing about the broadcast she watched yesterday.

The duel between Plea and Lin.

Due to the sudden nature of the duel, many streamers from Another World gathered like moths to a flame.

Even while watching, Hannah found herself blankly marveling without fully processing it.

Professional leagues and matches were always fun, but yesterday’s duel was truly shocking.

The shocking result, the ferocity displayed in their techniques as they clashed weapons, the beauty of the Crescent Moon Blade.

Furthermore, Lin’s character moved in a way that seemed to purify her eyes just by watching.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that Lin felt less like a character. Even the pros, no matter how natural they might be, didn’t feel as natural as Lin.

Honestly, she couldn’t understand even half of what she was watching, yet she began to comprehend why the duels of skilled players were enjoyable to watch.

The beautiful flecks of light in various colors, combined with the fierce clash of techniques, elicited awe even if they were played slowly.

“I have to watch the replay later.”

Knowing that the incredible duel couldn’t have been seen by her alone, Hannah was curious about everyone else’s reactions.

Thus, she first checked the most visited community site, ‘Another Level,’ and looked at trending posts.

[The feasibility of awakening technique parrying]

[I’ll explain one by one the evidence that the crazy woman didn’t go easy on Lin]

[They say professionals and ranked players claim it’s possible for parrying]

[Lin might stream on Twitty?]

“What should I look at first…”

As she muttered blankly, Hannah clicked to the next page of trending posts and continued to browse.

She could see that even that page was filled with discussions about Plea and Lin.

It wasn’t surprising that, being a site for seasoned players, there was extraordinary interest in Plea, but Hannah was aware that the rest of the community wasn’t very different.

Lin.

Since she had a history of bad chat behavior, she assumed Lin’s main account was a user around Master or Diamond 1 or 2, but it turned out that it was ‘the real deal.’

Winning against a challenger meant there was no doubt about it.

Furthermore, considering that her opponent was a user referred to as a crazy woman, the term ‘the real deal’ seemed inadequate to describe Lin.

Rather, she felt like an existence more monstrous than the crazy woman herself.

Hannah shook her head in disbelief.

“…talented people really make me sick. Some people spend thousands of hours on a game but are stuck in Platinum.”

In reality, Hannah was currently stuck in the Platinum tier 1 range, unable to ascend.

There were no signs of rising.

As she continued with arena rank matches, the Diamond tier seemed close, yet somehow unreachable.

‘I want to hit Diamond.’

While whimsically contemplating that, she had no idea how Lin managed to defeat the crazy woman.

As those thoughts floated, Hannah soon recalled a Newtube video.

She opened another tab to access Newtube.

Then, she immediately entered her Newtube channel.

‘Hanatube’ had 310,000 subscribers.

Her subscriber count had certainly increased significantly in just a few days. Had she gained 40,000 in only 3 or 4 days?

And she knew that it was all thanks to Lin.

A video where she was merely made a fool of. Despite being uploaded for just a few days, it had surpassed 1 million views on Newtube.

“1.33 million views… this is really sweet.”

Hannah grinned foolishly, hovering her mouse over the view count of the Newtube video.

It was already nearing the views of her highest-viewed video that took months to accumulate.

Considering that her highest-viewed video had taken months to rack up views, it was obvious that this video, where she had been made a fool of, would surpass it soon.

Lin was bound to become even more of a hot topic moving forward.

“Come watch my stream, okay?”

She wished that Lin would come to her stream and drop some bad-channel messages again, but lately, she hadn’t even shown up to watch her streams.

When she had been made a fool of, she had felt fear and resentment toward Lin.

But with a guaranteed benefit like this from Newtube, Hannah was willing to be made a fool of again multiple times.

In fact, she even considered asking Lin to play up the crazy woman concept next time they met.

With this much guaranteed honey, she was ready to throw away her pride.

“Ha, will she really not accept my friend request? That crazy woman, Plea, could still drink this sweet nectar.”

How enviable. As she thought enviously, she pondered which trending post to click on.

Among them, her interest was piqued by one post.

[Lin might stream on Twitty?]

She clicked the post with that title.

Tick.

— [Lin might stream on Twitty?]

Author: GosuXXBastard

(Plea broadcast clip)

— After the duel, Plea exchanged words with Lin, asking if she was considering streaming.

Moreover, Lin seemed to respond rather indifferently.

Could Lin really become a streamer?

[From the clip, her reaction seems apathetic, right?]

[Plea seemed in a hurry to accept the gear when exchanging, so she probably was broke. If she had the money, she’d likely stream.]

[Then isn’t it a 100% thing? With her growing recognition and popularity, it’d be weirder if she didn’t stream.]

[But if it were me, I’d just go pro, lol. Streaming would be comfy, but with skills like hers, why not go pro?]

[Lol, with the income from streaming and ad rates, it’s massive. For someone like Lin with this level of popularity, streaming seems far better than going pro. There would be a ton of supporters just turning up to watch her.]

[Lol, she is parrying techniques, how could you not go crazy? That’s a total dream come true.]

[I’m thinking of supporting Lin immediately when she starts streaming.]

[Lol, they say professionals in Another World have mental problems. If they lose even once in a tournament, they get blamed in all sorts of ways.]

[Among the pros, was it Argalia? Seeing how he’s constantly getting blasted, being a pro is truly impressive.]

There were all kinds of comments discussing the guarantee of success if Lin decided to become a streamer or that her skill level should push her to go pro instead.

Nodding unconsciously, Hannah couldn’t help but agree with them.

“But… well, she’s bound to succeed anyway.”

Seeing her trending in the community alone was enough, and even the articles related to Another World often featured Lin.

Even on Newtube, videos with just her name were garnering unexpected views.

In fact, Hannah herself was enjoying the benefits from it.

“Wait, will her streaming cause my viewer count to drop?”

Muttering blankly, a sigh escaped her lips.

She secretly wished Lin wouldn’t become a Twitty streamer.

Hannah absentmindedly prayed that way.

***

The cool air conditioning maintained a comfortable temperature in the room.

With the air conditioner running at full blast, lying on her bed under a blanket felt like the ultimate luxury.

“This is happiness.”

Wrapping herself in the soft, high-quality blanket, she murmured absentmindedly.

After a few minutes passed.

Beep beep.

Beep beep.

She turned off the loudly ringing alarm.

After being absentmindedly enveloped in her blanket for a moment, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

“Unemployed. 25 years old. Han Serin.”

When she thought about how to introduce herself to someone, that was simply all there was to it.

There was nothing to add or deduct.

That was truly the end.

No matter how much money she had lying in her account, when meeting someone for the first time and introducing herself,

“I have a lot of money.”

She couldn’t just say that right off the bat.

And the fundamental reason she was pondering such thoughts now was that after her duel with Plea concluded yesterday, they had exchanged casual words.

Briefly recalling last night’s memory.

……

The opponent’s awakening technique. She couldn’t successfully parry one last beam of light after parrying all the others.

Among dozens of beams, she had only allowed one, and her health went from 20% to 17%.

The awakening technique called ‘Jongyeon’ wore off right after she finished her movements, which felt like dancing.

Thus, her HP was in a situation where if Plea touched her even once after that, it would be the end.

Having lost her omnipotence and experiencing a type of powerlessness after ‘Jongyeon’, she thought that if the duel continued as it was, she would have lost.

But then came the sudden, clean concession from her opponent.

—I lost. Lin.

Plea’s words sounded so clean to her.

After leaving the Colosseum, she received a whisper from her.

Despite losing, it didn’t feel bad, and she kept whispering, so she readily responded as well.

Then, somehow, the conversation turned to work-related matters.

— [Plea: Lin, what do you do for a living?]

— [Lin(rinhh): Just unemployed.]

— [Plea: In that case, Lin, have you considered streaming? I really think you’d succeed!]

Plea kept urging her to become a streamer, confidently asserting that she would definitely succeed, and Hannah provided nothing more than cursory replies.

……

That was the end of her recollection of last night.

“…streaming.”

Serin lay in bed, tightly wrapped in her blanket, murmuring that.

In Another World, she had clearly had more confidence than anyone else.

After all, she had just beaten Plea, who was in Challenger tier yesterday.

In fact, even now, the satisfaction from her victory lingered.

It felt like she was being acknowledged, even if that was all there was to it.

One of the greatest desires of living beings is said to be the desire to be recognized by others, and it felt accurate to her.

To prove herself and to seek acknowledgment from others.

The reason she had secretly paid attention to the responses in the chat might have stemmed from that very desire.

“…”

However.

This world was not solely confined to just Another World.

Beyond the boundaries of the game Another World, there existed a reality.

A powerless version of herself, contrasting sharply with the world of the game.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt the need for a proper identity.

“Should I… try streaming?”