Chapter 20: Someone Who Doesn’t Listen to Their Mom

The Mangming Gallery. In fact, it was a place I had never been interested in.

I didn’t even know it existed.

But the reactions in the chat were strange.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Hey hey hey]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What if you make such a dangerous statement?]

[Oh no, this is bad]

[Mangming Gallery folks, we apologize on behalf of our friend]

[I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry]

[Hwanhee: Apologize even now…]

[If you get targeted by them, there’s no way out]

[Under normal circumstances, I’d just say to push through, but it seems like apologizing is the right thing to do here]

[Kang Hoomin: It would be better to apologize.]

[Quick judgment of the situation is what Kang Hoomin does lol]

[But seriously, it is right to apologize]

It felt like they were forcing an apology.

Even the regular viewers who usually watched my stream were reacting like this.

But with this much pressure, I didn’t want to apologize anymore.

‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’

If I had done something wrong, I could understand, but since I hadn’t done anything wrong, why should I apologize?

So I said confidently,

“Why should I apologize? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

It was even a reference to a gallery, a formless entity, not a person.

While I was thinking how absurd this was and preparing to chat,

[Yeomwang Ilpae Doji Jamanming’s  has donated 1,000 won!]

[Wow]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: That’s dangerous]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: lol]

[You should apologize now]

[But knowing Tamara’s personality, she’s not the apologizing type]

Well, what are they going to do?

If they don’t give me the power to type in the chat, then there’s nothing they can do.

That’s why I’m being bold like this now.

By the way,

I was planning to stream longer, but seeing the number of viewers increasing in real-time made it hard to speak.

At this point, it seemed like the right decision to end the stream.

“So I’ll turn it back on tomorrow, so see you then.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: ?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Out of nowhere?]

[But it feels like something will happen if we stay like this lol]

[It can’t be helped]

[It feels like something will definitely happen lol]

[See you tomorrow bye]

[Hwanhee: bye]

[Kang Hoomin: bye]

The viewers didn’t say much about me ending the stream, as if they understood the situation.

So, I could end the stream without any regrets.

[The broadcast has ended!]

After confirming that the broadcast had ended, I immediately shut down the computer and lay down on the blanket I had thrown in a corner.

Then, Yeram, who was lying next to me, playfully asked,

“The reactions to Mangming were funny.”

“Isn’t it a bit malicious to say that when you knew about it?”

“It was funny.”

“It was indeed.”

I could understand why people teased Mangming so much.

Their reactions were just so entertaining.

It was like they responded to every little thing.

Because of that, I felt a natural urge to play around more.

“By the way, what’s the Mangming Gallery?”

“I don’t know either. I’m a senior in high school. How would I know something like that?”

“A senior in high school comes back from school and flops on the blanket.”

“Oh, this is a sacred rest time.”

“Sacred, huh?”

I didn’t understand how someone could live so lazily and still aspire to be something in the future.

When I was studying, I never experienced anything like this.

Thinking about it made me sigh and I asked,

“So you’ve been watching my broadcast all along?”

“Yeah. You haven’t streamed much, so there could be mistakes in the middle.”

“That’s true.”

Since I wasn’t experienced in broadcasting, mistakes could happen.

It seemed that Yeram had been watching my stream continuously to prevent that.

Feeling grateful, I transferred some pocket money to Yeram’s account.

“I sent you some pocket money.”

“Oh, really?”

And a moment later,

“Why did you send me just 1,000 won? What am I supposed to buy with that?”

“You can buy ramen with it.”

“Just ramen, huh? Sigh.”

Yeram seemed upset and turned her head away from me, starting to use her phone.

I felt wronged.

1,000 won was quite generous.

[Author: UncoveringLondon’sSecret]

[Title: So what exactly is the Mangming Gallery?]

[Content: I couldn’t ask during the broadcast, but what exactly is it?]

I wrote a post filled with questions.

I was genuinely curious.

From what everyone was saying, it didn’t seem like a good thing.

I felt a bit uneasy and waited for comments to come in.

Ding-.

Hearing the notification sound, I entered the post to check the comments.

L: By the way, every time I see your nickname, I’m curious—what is the secret of London?

N: I’m seriously curious.

N: Uh… there’s someone who broadcasts.

N: You shouldn’t talk about it carelessly…

L: Omniscient Cthulhu: I couldn’t explain properly during the broadcast, but let me explain it properly from now on.

N: Those who call themselves fans of ‘Mangming’ gather and act as ‘avengers’—it feels like a vigilante group.

N: They’re famous for storming in and causing chaos whenever there’s a broadcast related to ‘Mangming.’

N: Other streamers might be more careful about what they say since viewers actually come in.

“Oh.”

I finally learned the true nature of the ‘Mangming’ gallery.

They are individuals who play the role of vigilantes, going around streams and causing chaos.

It seems this place is called the ‘Mangming’ gallery.

But then, another comment was added.

N: And delete this post.

N: It’s rumoured that ‘Mangming  gallery’ people are searching for it by ego-searching.

“What kind of time do they have?”

The thought naturally arose.

To go as far as ego-searching while causing chaos elsewhere?

I felt ridiculous and decided to delete the post.

“I don’t want them following me around and terrorizing my posts.”

There’s a bit of fun in living life, and for me, one of those was engaging in the gallery.

So I didn’t want it to be disrupted.

Thinking that way, I slowly started browsing the gallery.

“Hello.”

“Oh, Jihoo, you’re here?”

“Yes.”

I gave a brief greeting to Yehwa, who was there as always, and began making coffee.

Mornings usually don’t have many customers, but today, since it’s the weekend, it was busier than usual.

Chik-chik-.

As I heard the sound of the coffee machine, I reflected on what happened yesterday.

I was torn about whether I should mention anything related to ‘Mangming’ during my stream.

Should I say I was worried?

To be honest, I can’t give up the fun of teasing ‘Mangming.’

The reactions are so entertaining that it’s hard to resist.

So I figured it would be best to maintain a relationship with ‘Mangming’ while avoiding mentioning the ‘Mangming gallery.’

‘Poor ‘Mangming.’

It’s sad that people who claim to be part of their fandom behave that way.

If it were me experiencing that… I wouldn’t want to imagine it.

Isn’t that a surefire way to tarnish one’s image?

It was then that I understood the rumours about everyone trying to distance themselves from ‘Mangming.’

If the fandom engages in such terror tactics, who would want to get involved?

When I was in elementary school, there was someone in my class similar to ‘Mangming.’

They were a really nice person, but their parents were so overbearing that the other kids naturally kept their distance.

If we ordered food and shared it, they would scold another friend, saying it could carry a virus.

Even now, I remember that overly zealous lady made my frontal lobe shudder.

While I was lost in those random thoughts and working my part-time job,

[Yeram: Oppa]

[Yeram: What are you doing?]

I received a message from Yeram.

Originally, I wouldn’t have messaged while working part-time.

It seemed like there was something important that prompted the contact.

[Me: Why?]

[Me: I’m at work.]

After sending the message, a moment later…

[Yeram: I thought about it while I was sleeping last night.]

[Me: How do you think while sleeping?]

[Yeram: No…]

[Yeram: It’s not that important.]

[Me: So?]

I immediately corrected Yeram’s illogical statement and listened closely to what followed.

[Yeram: There’s a streamer I watch named Harin.]

[Yeram: I think it would be better to get close to this person than to Mangming.]

A sudden recommendation for a streamer.

It was the first time Yeram had done something like this, so I was a bit taken aback.

[Me: All of a sudden?]

[Yeram: That person Mangming…]

[Yeram: Their fandom is too extreme, so…]

[Yeram: I thought it would be better to get close to another streamer.]

It seemed that my only younger sister was worried about her older brother, which led her to say this.

However—

[Me: I’ll think about it for now.]

I’m the type who doesn’t listen to my mom if I want to do something.

Well, mom isn’t around now, though.