Chapter 22: “Another Guy?”

Actually, changing a nickname isn’t that difficult.

You can simply go into the settings and change it with just a few clicks.

Since I was feeling lazy, I had been using the nickname that Yeram used before… but it seemed like it would be better to change it quickly.

There could be misunderstandings later on.

“I should change it.”

Saying that, I started editing the nickname.

I erased the part that said [I Want to Merge with Rammus’s Spines]—

And replaced it with [Dama].

Something simple.

It was the name I had set for streaming before.

But—

[This name already exists!]

“Huh?”

A message suddenly appeared.

I was caught off guard.

To think that someone else was already using the nickname ‘Dama.’

I hadn’t expected that.

“What should I do?”

Since I hadn’t thought about what to do next, I was a bit flustered.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Of course, someone else would have already taken the nickname.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why didn’t you reserve it earlier? Damn.]

[Before choosing a streaming name, you should’ve reserved it first.]

[But if you had reserved it earlier, wouldn’t you have gone with ‘Dugong’?]

[Hwanhee: Honestly, ‘Dugong’ would be better than this nickname.]

[Kang Hoomin: Dugong is a no-go for sure.]

Looking at the chat, they were talking about ‘Dugong,’ which hadn’t even been mentioned today.

Maybe that was why.

It triggered my contrarian instincts.

Since the nickname ‘Dama’ was already taken, there was one nickname that would both let people know it was me and wouldn’t be taken by anyone else.

[Dugong]

I changed my nickname to ‘Dugong.’

“Looks like this one isn’t taken.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh no, dude.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why the hell did you pick that one?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You know once you pick a name, you can’t change it for three months, right?]

[Why did you do that, seriously?]

[Please change your nickname, please change your nickname, please change your nickname, please change your nickname, please change your nickname.]

[Hwanhee: Ugh.]

[Kang Hoomin: Dumbass.]

[The harsh language is classic Kang, lol.]

[But why is ‘Dugong’ getting so much hate? Am I the only one who doesn’t mind it?]

As expected, the chat went wild.

Why on earth did I pick ‘Dugong’ as a nickname? There were so many better options, so why go with something like that?

There were plenty of comments, but nothing was going to change my mind.

And besides, I couldn’t change it anyway.

Once you change a nickname, you can’t change it again for three months.

Even though my mind might change later, this nickname would have to stick with me for the next three months.

“This is the nickname you’ll be seeing for the next three months, so instead of hating it for no reason, try to like it. If you keep thinking you hate it, you’ll end up really hating it.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: If you really hate it, thumbs up, lol.]

[Spamming thumbs up.]

[Kang Hoomin: What’s ‘affection’? Is it the tiger’s instinct?]

[That was such a lame, forced joke, Kang Hoomin, lol.]

[Seriously so lame…]

[He’s lost his touch completely.]

“What the heck are they talking about?”

I was baffled.

We weren’t even talking about the word ‘affection,’ but they suddenly came out with that random statement.

I couldn’t just let it go.

It would lower the quality of the chat.

“Take a break for a bit.”

I said that and muted the chat for an hour.

There was no other choice.

There weren’t enough viewers for those kinds of bad jokes to disappear quickly, and with fewer viewers, unfunny jokes tend to stay in the chat for a while.

Thinking that, I started up the game again today.

Click.

Just like always, I was about to start the game.

[User Mangming has donated 1,000 won!]

• Hello

“Oh… Yes.”

Because of the recent drama from the Mangming Gallery, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to welcome Mangming.

Of course, I know Mangming is a good person.

But that’s one thing.

You have to keep business and personal matters separate.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why is your reaction so different this time? lololol.]

[Well, of course, the reaction would be different.]

[Hwanhee: Hey Mangming, since you’re here, I have something to say.]

[Hwanhee: Why aren’t you managing your fans from Mangming Gallery?]

[Hwanhee: I watched your stream, and honestly…]

[Hwanhee: You’re not managing them well at all.]

[Wow, that was a solid critique.]

[Usually, Kang would make some lame joke here, but…]

One of the regular viewers, Hwanhee, gave some harsh but necessary feedback.

Honestly, it was something I had always wanted to say, too.

Even though it’s tough to control the people from Mangming Gallery, you could at least tell them not to misbehave.

But then—

[Mangming: No, I actually…]

[Mangming: I want to manage them, but…]

[Mangming: I got banned from Mangming Gallery.]

[Mangming: I can’t even post there anymore.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: ?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: SB lolol]

[What kind of gallery owner gets banned?]

[What the hell is this?]

I couldn’t understand what was being said right now.

They liked ‘Mangming’ so much that they created a gallery for them, but then Mangming got banned?

This was like some random person walking down the street suddenly getting hit in the face by an unexpected swing.

“What the heck…”

[Mangming: To explain…]

[Mangming: The people in Mangming Gallery…]

[Mangming: They told me not to interfere with their independent community…]

[Mangming: Then they banned me for supposedly having subversive political thoughts…]

[Mangming: So I can’t control them…]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: SB lolol]

[That’s seriously legendary.]

[And these are the people who call themselves fans?]

[They’re no different from Red Guards.]

[Is this seriously the 21st century?]

[Hwanhee: Yeah… hang in there.]

It seemed like this was the first time others in the chat were hearing about this too.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been easy to bring this up to viewers.

The owner of a gallery getting banned from their own gallery.

And they even banned their IP address.

“Those people are insane.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of reasoning would lead to that decision.

I spoke, thinking how absurd it was.

“Well, I should start the game now.”

It was already time to start playing, but Mangming’s fascinating story had delayed things.

I had to get started quickly now so I wouldn’t be late for work.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Finally starting the game…]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I’ve been waiting to watch the gameplay.]

[Hwanhee: Thank goodness…]

[This is what I’m talking about!]

[Going top lane again today?]

[Everyone, enough about the Mangming Gallery…]

Mangming had also stopped chatting by this point.

I felt a bit sorry for them.

Thinking about how they might be getting treated like this by other streamers as well made me feel even worse.

‘I should reach out to them later.’

It wasn’t something I could do right now.

With that in mind, I started the game.

“Wow… why has the level of solo queue gotten so high?”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You’ve been playing for less than a month, and already?]

[Well, you’re starting to feel like you’re close to Platinum.]

[You’re almost at Gold 2, so yeah…]

[Are you sure this is your first time playing League? You’re pretty good.]

Hwanhee: But…

[Hoomin Kang: There are some parts where your control is lacking, but your game management is super clean. Practically flawless.]

[Of course, Kang’s evaluations of others are always on point lol.]

How long had I been playing while sitting here?

I was now on the verge of promotion to Gold 2.

I wanted to go for it right away, but—

‘That doesn’t seem like a good idea.’

After playing several games in a row, my energy was already drained.

If I played again now, I wouldn’t be in the best condition, and my skill shots, which were already bad, would get worse.

That would make my ranking drop.

It was a vicious cycle.

“I’ll do the promotion matches tomorrow… I’m too tired right now.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh, come on…]

[Not doing it today]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why not?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Just do it tomorrow.]

[Hwanhee: Ugh, come on.]

[Do it right now, do it right now, do it right now, do it right now, do it right now!]

[Kang Hoomin: I actually think it’d be better to do it now too.]

The viewers were urging me to play the game immediately.

But there was something they were overlooking.

“It’s my decision.”

Viewer opinion?

So what.

I run my stream the way I want.

It’d be nice if my viewers increased, but even if they decrease, I don’t really care.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: SB lolol]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s even more annoying because you’re right.]

It’s not wrong, after all…

[As expected of Rimardo’s successor lol.]

[Hwanhee: If you want to do it tomorrow, then that’s what you should do.]

[Kang Hoomin: Go die.]

[A cruel curse, as expected of Kang lol.]

[SB lololol.]

After saying that, I closed the game.

But I wasn’t planning on ending the stream right away.

Since I had some time left, I decided to watch Harin’s stream with my viewers.

‘Well… there shouldn’t be any problem with that.’

My viewers aren’t the type to say anything weird anyway.

I figured I’d watch Harin’s stream for a bit with them and then call it a day.

With that thought, I clicked on Harin’s stream.

And a moment later.

• Oh, it’s another guy?

“Huh?”

Suddenly, I was called out.