Streamer Crazy About Slaughter - Chapter 44
—
Victory!
Plea looked at the familiar hologram that decorated her field of view and let out a sigh.
“Well done!”
She spoke cheerfully while looking at the opponent who was about to turn into light and disappear, slowly gathering herself.
It didn’t matter whether her opponent heard her or not; they were both already well aware of each other.
Yet, she had greeted them out of habit.
People who are good at greeting others have a certain charm. It might seem insignificant, but it was true.
This was part of the most fundamental feelings she experienced when she considered the ‘acting’ required to maintain relationships, and it certainly proved effective.
In top-tier ranked games, she would eventually only meet those few she encountered repeatedly, and the user she just defeated was someone she had met dozens of times at least.
“Looking at this, it doesn’t seem like I’ve gotten weaker.”
Staring blankly at the ranked matchmaking hologram, a sigh escaped her.
Last evening, the shock of a 2:0 complete defeat still lingered in her mind. After the duel, she had conversed casually with the user known as Lin, pretending everything was fine, but honestly, her mind had been chaotic up until now.
It felt like once again facing a massive wall.
Aside from two steadfast rankers who were currently in the top two, she had never felt that way before, so she did not expect to feel it again.
“…I guess I’m really just trying too hard.”
Ranked 8th in Challenger, she had always believed she was talented. No matter how much time one spent, it was a tier that not everyone could achieve.
Even among those 200 challengers, she was ranked 8th. Therefore, she had received countless offers to turn pro.
But she chose the path of a streamer instead. She could earn income while broadcasting whenever she wanted and freely play Another World.
And now, commonly said “there’s a sky above the sky,” her current feeling was akin to encountering another moon in the night sky.
As soon as she woke up today, she logged into Another World and played in the arena for about three hours.
Suddenly, she decided to check her arena record for today.
[11 wins, 5 losses.]
A win rate of about 68 percent. It was undoubtedly a decent record.
—
[Challenger Tier]
—1870 LP
—
Her score had risen by about 30 points.
Even if the ranked users she matched with were relatively low, her score still increased.
Her skills were still intact.
It was clear she hadn’t performed poorly.
Lin was the unusual one.
“Should I just turn it off… and take a break?”
She shook her head and cleared her thoughts. Even if she kept thinking about it all night, the reality wouldn’t change.
It was just her complete defeat.
Unlike usual, she didn’t feel like reaching for the ranked matchmaking hologram anymore.
The score gap with the 7th place was significant, and her current mood wasn’t one to keep going.
As she manipulated the hologram towards game exit,
Ding!
—[Lin: Are you available now?]
Startled by the sudden notification, she checked the hologram.
The English ID next to the nickname Lin was bothering her, so she simply saved it in her friend list as “Lin.”
—[Plea: Yes, yes, what’s up?]
—[Lin: I’m thinking of becoming a streamer. Could you help me, Plea?]
It was a direct and bold request.
“…?”
The words she exchanged last night had indeed been half-serious. But when Lin seemed indifferent in response, she thought there was no interest.
Perhaps her heart had changed.
—[Plea: Sure, let’s meet and talk!]
With that message, she clicked on ‘House’ while manipulating the hologram.
As she pressed the house, the background of the Colosseum slowly faded away, revealing a bright garden filled with countless blooming flowers.
Suddenly, she recalled something the editor of her NewTube channel had said about a video going viral since morning.
A person worth befriending.
Without realizing it, Plea harbored such thoughts.
Afterward, she invited Lin. A message indicating acceptance appeared, and particles like light gathered on one side of the house space.
A woman with long silver hair and wearing a flowing, bright red garment adorned with elegant designs.
Her appearance, without the Crescent Moon Blade, was so feminine that Plea’s gaze involuntarily turned toward her.
It was as if someone had put significant care into crafting her ideal appearance stitch by stitch.
Looking at Lin, Plea greeted her energetically.
“Hello!”
—
“Hello!”
“Yes, hello.”
As she responded to the lively greeting, she looked around.
Various types of colorful flowers were blooming splendidly everywhere.
And right in front of her was a small lake, with the lush garden occupying most of the vast space.
‘Where is this?’
Receiving the ‘Plea user house invitation’ out of nowhere, she accepted but felt intrigued—it seemed to be a private space.
She could smell the faint scent of grass, feeling like it might be a healing space.
“Please, sit!”
Gesturing towards a rather luxurious-looking bench, she sat down without hesitation.
Immediately, Plea sat next to her.
“So, Lin! You’re becoming a streamer?”
Sitting right next to her and staring intently, Lin nodded.
“I found that it seems like a pretty good job. Plus, since you’re a big-time streamer for Tweeti, I thought I could get some help from you before starting.”
Upon saying it… it sounded like she was overtly trying to latch onto her. But what’s wrong with borrowing a bit of help?
“Well, being a streamer is, as you said, a nice job. It’s tough to get started, but honestly, with your skills, Lin, you’re practically guaranteed to hit the jackpot.”
“Really?”
Feeling strangely complimented as Lin praised her right next to her, it felt like quite the exaggerated metaphor to be compared to winning the lottery.
“Do you usually check sites like communities or NewTube?”
“Yes, a little.”
In truth, nowadays, she spent a lot of time in front of her PC just browsing websites and communities, but saying that outright felt… embarrassing.
“Then it’ll be easier to explain. You know how much buzz you’ve been generating lately, right? Right now, all sorts of communities must be buzzing with talks about you. Just yesterday, I… lost to you.”
As she mentioned her loss, she awkwardly smiled, and Plea unconsciously reciprocated with an awkward smile.
“Yesterday… well, I just got lucky.”
“Ah, you don’t have to be so humble, Lin. It was my complete defeat.”
Plea gave a small wave of her hand and smiled, and at that moment, she had a hunch.
This person didn’t really care about the result from yesterday.
She was just forcing herself to act okay. It made sense that someone at the ranker level would have a lot of pride.
“Do you know if I had continued in that second round, I would have lost?”
She intentionally tried to boost Lin’s spirit by making a light comment.
“…What do you mean? The way you parried my awakening technique was really pretty. After that, I felt like I couldn’t win.”
Was that a compliment?
“I actually had only 3% left on my HP gauge at that time.”
“…Oh. Was it because of the aftermath of the follow-up?”
“Yes. And it wasn’t like I parried every single long-range awakening beam. I ended up getting hit by one at the end.”
“…Oh.”
With a blank expression, she nodded, and it was obvious to Plea that Lin was regretting that moment.
Thinking that her mood might have lightened by now, she cautiously steered the conversation towards the next topic.
“By the way, could you help me with my streaming setup?”
“Well… you could find detailed information about setups by Googling or on other major websites. Is there any specific difficult part about the setup?”
“Yes, there are various donation settings for receiving money from viewers as sponsorships, but oddly, I could only manage to set up one.”
Before logging into Another World, she remembered fiddling with the broadcast settings briefly.
It seemed easy based on the guides, but when she tried to set it up herself—she found it extremely complicated.
“And also, could you give me some quotes on mics and other broadcasting equipment that seem okay?”
To be honest, she wanted to ask for all the help she could get.
When she looked into broadcasting equipment, her head started to ache just from a little searching.
The cost of the equipment wasn’t really a huge issue, but the thought of buying and setting everything up one by one was really unappealing.
Although in the past she liked games, she wasn’t really that handy with computer-related gear.
“…?”
Plea looked at her with a puzzled expression, and she maintained a straightforward gaze back.
“Do you have any unused mics or old broadcasting equipment, Plea?”
“Do you… want me to give them to you?”
“Yes.”
Somehow, she felt like Plea would immediately offer them if she asked.