Chapter 36: Life is full of ups and downs

The transfer to Cheese brought me quite a few changes.

No, it’s not just the transfer itself, but the incidental events that occurred during the process that brought about the

changes. A prime example of this is the establishment of my YouTube channel.

【LAGO – ‘The Day You Come’ (Cover by Cosmo)】

Views: 16,986 5 days ago

【What Happens When a Noob Plays Soul Games】

Views: 31,335 6 days ago

【You should cut ties with that kind of friend immediately】

Views: 33,254 7 days ago

I’ve been uploading one video a day and occasionally some shorts, even before the channel was established, and the

response has been better than I expected.

Honestly, when I created the YouTube channel, I thought it would be lucky if I hit 5,000 subscribers. I assumed the

views would be non-existent.

However, starting with the video where I gave advice to viewers in the advice counseling section, the response was

surprisingly good. Then, the video of me playing a popular game also seemed to catch the algorithm’s favor, and the

views started coming in unexpectedly.

Since then, I’ve also uploaded covers of songs I sang during broadcasts and shared some funny moments through

shorts, and before I knew it, I had around 8,000 subscribers.

It’s amazing that all of this happened in just a little over a week.

ᄂ Reaction is priceless ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
ᄂ I’ve never seen someone play soul games this well ᄏᄏᄏᄏ

The comments were not bad either. Especially when I played games, many people enjoyed my genuine reactions of surprise or frustration.

ᄂ This is a hard-hitting piece of advice

ᄂ This is so true… why would you keep something someone threw at you?

ᄂ I can feel the seriousness in your advice… I’m subscribing after seeing this for the first time

And the most unexpected comments were under the advice counseling video.

Initially, I’m not someone who has a lot of life experience or wisdom, nor do I think everything I say is necessarily

right while conducting the counseling.

Thus, I anticipated critical comments suggesting my views were wrong, and there were indeed some of those.

However, most people praised my attitude when listening to the viewers’ stories, responding positively that the

answers that emerged from that were satisfying, which left me a bit bewildered.

At first, I approached this content with a vague thought that even someone like me could help others, but realizing

that it’s genuinely being accepted by many was overwhelming.

I felt glad to know that what I’m doing now isn’t wrong at least.

Just knowing that has given me enough motivation to keep working hard in the future.

[Mom – The first video you posted was really fun, huh?]

[Mom – When will the next counseling video be uploaded?]

【Me – It’ll probably take about three days to go up.】

【Me – The editor has a lot of work to do.】

However, I felt a bit embarrassed, particularly due to the reactions of those around me.

Especially my sister, but my dad and mom don’t usually watch my live streams or show much interest. Yet, as soon as

they heard the news that I created a YouTube channel, they subscribed right away and have been diligently watching

the videos.

Dad left a brief compliment after watching a game play video, saying he appreciated that I didn’t swear like other

kids, while Mom has been busy whining about when the next counseling video will be uploaded since a few days ago.

It seems the advice counseling section, which involves hearing about people’s complicated relationships, is

entertaining for Mom, who has gotten used to K-dramas.

【Mom – By the way, why don’t you show your face like everyone else?】

[Mom – Everything is good, but it feels bland since your face isn’t showing.]

That part was bearable, but the problem arose when, starting from my YouTube channel, she looked into a few other

streams and realized that almost no male streamers do not turn on their cameras. Now she’s pressuring me to do a

cam stream as well.

【Me – Why would I reveal my not-so-good face?】

【Mom – What do you mean, your face is ugly? What’s wrong with our son’s face?】

【Me – From a parent’s perspective, their child’s face is the prettiest, right?】

While it’s not as bad as when I’m dealing with my sister, my mom shows a bit of that proud parent side in front of

me, insisting that I trust her and turn on the camera.

If I only had my sister’s looks, I would have turned it on long ago. But when I look in the mirror after seeing my

sister, all I see is a squid standing inside, so what confidence do I have to turn it on?

【Me – Anyway, I need to get ready for the broadcast, so I’ll contact you later.】

【Mom – Okay~ Make sure to stop by the house sometime.】

【Me – If I have time.】

Both Mom and I know that even though we say this, I’ll probably only sneak back home during the holidays. Still, I

wonder if her not nagging me is her way of showing consideration.

Crack.

“Ugh…!”

After stretching as if my bones were going to break, I start getting ready for the broadcast.

“LEOF.”

“Today, I already gave you a treat. No more.”

“Meow….”

I had left the door slightly ajar, and soon enough, Milk wandered in, whining for a snack, but I shook my head firmly.

Then, the little one immediately lowered his head.

No matter how I look at it, he seems to understand human language.

“If you’re bored, do you want to broadcast with Dad?”

“Meow…!”

With a hopeful heart, I sat down in my chair and tapped my thighs to entice Milk. He jumped up, thrilled, and settled

on my lap.

What’s going on? Is he really understanding me?

This is bad; I was just saying it casually.

“Meow.”

“…Okay, just sleep well.”

As I was contemplating whether to set him down or not, Milk completely sprawled out on my thighs, resting his belly

against them and closing his eyes.

His strong will to not move from here was evident, so I ultimately had no choice but to give up on putting him down

and just start the broadcast.

Tch, he’ll probably get down when he gets bored anyway.

By the way, this is the first time I’m broadcasting with Milk.

‘Cosmo’ has started streaming.

‘Broadcasting with Milk’

While I was pondering what to title today’s stream, I noticed Milk sprawled across my thighs and decided to go with that.

I had mentioned a few times that I have a cat and that its name is Milk, so everyone probably knows.

Once, there was a huge commotion when someone asked to see pictures, so I posted a few on Twip.

In a way, you could say that Milk is more of a cam stream veteran than I am.

【CosmoAbsoluteProtect】 – Koh-ha!

【PassingAppDeng】 – Koh-ha! Where’s Milk?

[Ubaeklim] – I rushed in because I wanted to hear Milk’s voice.

【NationalHipTopCosmo】 – Where’s Milk?

As expected, as soon as I turned on the stream, the viewers were more eager to find Milk than the host, me.

Since I anticipated this reaction, I gently stroked Milk’s head with my finger while bringing the microphone closer.

“Meow.”

As soon as his meow echoed, the chat began to flood in at a speed faster than usual.

[PinkRabbit] – Milk yaaaah!

【MackeyIntroduceFrog】 – The host doesn’t need to show his face; just bring out Milk! ᄉᄇ

【AllFried】 – If you don’t show Milk quickly, I’ll sue you for something something!

At this point, it felt like my audience was more about Milk than me.

I don’t know if this will actually happen, but if I ever do turn on the camera, I feel like the viewers would be more

excited to see Milk’s face than mine.

I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

【’CosmoAbsoluteProtect’ has donated 100,000 cheese!】

• Please buy some cute treats for Milk with this.

“No, Chairman! Why would you donate 100,000 won just for Milk’s treats…!”

As I scratched Milk’s chin and played with him, the Chairman’s generous donations continued, just as they did every day.

With the Chairman putting down such a huge amount of money—under the pretense of buying Milk’s treats—I

couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of respect welling up inside me.

“Milk, quickly thank the Chairman. He donated 100,000 won for treats!”

【KokkyaHo】 – How would Milk understand that? ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ

[Bera666] – I’ll report for proxy reactions.

[BaekhwaYoran2] – I’m sorry…

Even though you can’t see it without the camera, as I lifted Milk while supporting his bottom, the voices in the chat

grew louder in their criticisms.

Come on, if I received 100,000 won, even a cat should show some reaction. Does he think he’s the master? Huh?

Whirl.

“Meow!”

“Oh!?”

Just when I was contemplating whether to spend that money on treats or not, Milk slipped from my hands and

suddenly jumped onto the desk, where he began to spin in circles on the spot.

Cats sometimes do this when they chase their tails, and that’s exactly what it looked like.

Seeing my chance, I grabbed my phone and started recording the scene.

“Guys! Milk is reacting right now! I’ll upload this video to the café.”

【CosmoAbsoluteProtect】 – Really?

[HyangBbalGangGeomjeong] – Is he really doing that? ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ

【CroMagnon】 – A monstrous rookie ᄃᄃ

[LucidDream7] – At this point, is he even a cat? ᄅᄋ

I was a bit surprised too. I knew Milk was smart, but I never expected him to show a reaction like this.

At this rate, I can say he’s earned that treat money. Alright, as promised, I’ll buy him 100,000 won worth of snacks.

While the warm atmosphere continued thanks to Milk’s antics,

【FallingFlowers】 – ᄉᄇ The cheese ranking still isn’t fixed.

A familiar viewer’s chat caught my eye.

That person usually doesn’t make irrelevant comments or curse during broadcasts, so my eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The ranking? What does that mean? Is something happening on the cheese platform?

“Why? Is there something going on with the cheese ranking?”

Unable to suppress my curiosity, I asked, and the chat began to flood in.

It seemed that the viewers already knew what was going on.

[KokkyaHo] – Didn’t you know? It’s chaos because of the viewbot right now.

【ChuuChuu】 – Exit and other streamers looked pretty upset too.

【NextDoorHani】 – Check the ranking page if you’re curious. ᄀᄀ

Viewbot.

A program commonly used in the streaming community, it refers to bots that artificially manipulate viewer counts,

followers, and other statistics for the purpose of entering rankings or gaining visibility.

In reality, it’s an inseparable part of the streaming world, but typically, the moment someone gets caught, they face

permanent bans from the platform, which is why very few people use it.

Even if someone rises to the top rankings using this, if a previously unknown streamer suddenly pops up alongside

industry giants like Exit and Hanyang, both viewers and the administration would quickly sense something odd.

So, this program has almost become obsolete, but someone is using it?

“…What is this?”

Thinking there might be some misunderstanding, I quickly switched to the cheese main screen to check the ranking

list from the top.

What I saw first was a sight that left me speechless: streamers I had never heard of were maintaining similar

rankings alongside top-tier streamers like Exit and Hanyang.