Chapter 14: Mangmookie Attack

As time passed, it was finally time to clock out.

Lee Yeram and her friends, who had been sitting at the café, had already moved on to another place.

They probably headed to their study sessions or classes.

I thought to myself how hardworking they all are as I changed out of my uniform.

“Then, take care!”

“Oh, yes. Have a good evening!”

It seemed like Yehwa was planning to work at the café until dinner, as she hadn’t clocked out yet.

I remembered hearing that she often stayed until late.

‘How does she eat?’

I had many questions, but for now, it was time to go home.

There was no need to waste time asking her about it; I could always ask later.

With that thought, I walked out lightly.

Creeeak-.

When I arrived home, I immediately opened the door to air out the place.

Yeram wasn’t home.

She probably went to a nearby study room.

It made sense; it can be hard to concentrate at home.

‘I’m glad she’s not here.’

To be honest, I felt a bit embarrassed the last time I broadcasted at home with her around.

It felt like exposing my own flaws.

I didn’t want to show that side of myself in front of my younger sibling.

So, this situation was just fine.

Thinking about that, I checked the comments on the post I had just made.

[Author: UncoveringLondon’sSecret]

[Title: Streaming Soon@@@@@@@@]

[Content: Everyone get ready.]

L: Oh, finally going live!

L Hwanhee: Start the broadcast, start the broadcast, start the broadcast, start the broadcast, start the broadcast!

ᄂ Hwanhee: I’ve been waiting so long!

L: Just how fun is it that everyone is waiting like this? Haha.

ᄂ: Honestly, it’s not that entertaining, just worth a watch, I guess?

ᄂ: You’re just spreading false rumours to get viewers.

L: Please, just start the broadcast already!

Many people in the Efreet gallery often have nothing to enjoy, so they tend to create all sorts of weird buzz.

That’s why when I go live, they get so excited.

With that thought, I fiddled with my computer, preparing to start the broadcast.

Click-click-.

After messing around for a bit, I thought, “All set.”

I was now ready to start the broadcast.

Without hesitation, I clicked the start button.

Click.

The broadcast turned on instantly, and viewers began to join.

Quite a lot of them.

It seemed like more viewers were joining today than last time, when I had just over ten.

The broadcast had only just started, and already there were 11 viewers.

“What’s going on? Why are so many people joining?”

I couldn’t help but feel surprised by the numbers.

For a major streamer, it might be insignificant, but for me, it was impressive.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Haha

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You started the broadcast right after your shift ended.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I’m bored.

[Hwanhee: Yeah, I’m super bored.

[Just turn on the broadcast and play games without saying anything..]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Looks like you came a bit early today.]

It hadn’t been long since I started the broadcast, so I thought, “What the heck?” as I launched the game.

I didn’t plan to jump straight into League of Legends.

I had a different game to warm up with first.

Ding-ding-.

The game started with a familiar sound.

If you’ve played it a bit, you’d recognize that sound.

“Let’s start with this to warm up.”

I picked Maple Story.

It’s not a game many people play these days, but I personally liked it, so I occasionally played it.

It’s good for relaxing, too.

‘I don’t care since I don’t spend money on it.’

Not spending money makes the game a bit inconvenient, but I had no complaints.

My goal for playing wasn’t to level up my character, but to enjoy the cute designs and hunt casually.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Are you playing Maple Story?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: No way.]

[This is a bit..]

[‘Gotta normalize this..]

[But what are your specs?]

[Hwanhee: First time hearing you say you’re playing Maple Story.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: -Maple-]

The reason I hadn’t disclosed that I was playing Maple Story in the gallery was simple.

If I mentioned it, I’d get all sorts of ridicule.

‘..Well, it might be because other people do weird things, though.’

Anyway.

What mattered wasn’t that.

What mattered was warming up my hands.

“Don’t come over and disturb me; just watch.”

I really disliked being interrupted while hunting, so it was better to set that boundary in advance.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Who would do that?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Are you telling me not to come to the hunting ground?

[20==]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Who even plays that game?]

[Fact check: Kang Hoomin, haha.]

[Hwanhee: I used to level up in Luminos, can I go there and hunt?]

[Didn’t you just say I can’t, you crazy attention-seeker?]

Someone in the chat asked if they could join the hunt, but I simply ignored it.

There’s no way they’d actually come.

I didn’t care too much.

Bang! Bang!

I tapped the keyboard energetically, moving around here and there.

Then, after a while, I thought, “I think my hands are warmed up now.”

I could feel that my hands had loosened up.

League of Legends doesn’t require a lot of keyboard usage, but jumping straight into the game would feel awkward without some warm-up.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Ugh, so boring watching the hunt.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Almost died there.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Why are you even doing this?]

[Hwanhee: You hunted cleanly.]

[It’s so funny how someone pretends to know about short-haired dogs in between, haha.]

“Okay, now it’s time to start League of Legends.”

With that, I launched Legends.

Once again, I was playing top lane.

“By the way, I played top last time, but I don’t think I did very well.”

[ᄅ]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: In the lower tiers,

[Omniscient Cthulhu: there are so many idiots,

[Omniscient Cthulhu: it can’t be helped, haha.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Just go for two tops.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: It’s because you let them have it.]

[Of course, the lack of conscience is Kang Hoomin, haha.]

[Hwanhee: Still, it’s better to let the lane go and win.]

[Winning is good.]

I had been playing to improve at top lane, but last time, there were so many strange players asking for top that it got weird.

Still, I managed to achieve 8 wins and 2 losses to reach gold.

“Is gold high? I’m new to League of Legends.”

I wasn’t sure if gold was a high tier.

There hadn’t been much excitement in the chat when I achieved gold, either.

As I asked, the chat immediately lit up.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Gold is pretty high for a first-timer.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s really good.]

[I was Bronze 5 when I first played League of Legends, haha.]

[Isn’t Bronze 5 basically a bug?]

[How can someone be Bronze?]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Bronze is a bit..]

[Hwanhee: It’s typical to go Bronze when starting League of Legends.]

Checking the chat, it seemed that gold was a pretty high rank after all.

There weren’t any bad comments, so that was a good sign.

Maybe I have some talent for a game called “League of Legends.”

With that thought, I continued playing, and soon a game match was found.

“Oh, it’s top lane.”

Thankfully, I was assigned to top.

I was worried about being assigned to a different lane.

I was slowly deciding which champion to pick.

Then suddenly, the chat exploded.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What? This is real, haha.]

[Why is this real?]

[It’s Kang Hoo-min: The great Mangming.]

[Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god, Mangming is a god.]

[How is Mangming getting picked? Haha.]

[How did the game get matched when they’re playing an alt?]

[Don’t they know each other?]

[Last time I checked the gallery, they said they were watching Mangming’s broadcast.]

The chat was overflowing with discussions about Mangming.

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, I tried to process it.

[Oh, is this the place?]

[Haha.]

[Mangmookie ON.]

[How old are you?? How old are you?? How old are you?? How old are you?? How old are you?? How old are you?? How old are you??]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Ugh, this is dizzying.]

[Hwanhee: The Mangmookie squad is already here.. sigh.]

[The strongest ones on the internet..]

The chat was chaotic again.

The number of viewers suddenly surged.

It was a bewildering situation.

“Wait, what?”

Reading through the messages, it seemed viewers had come over from Mangming’s broadcast.

The viewer count was already at 80.

It was a record high.

I hadn’t expected this many viewers to join.

Since it wasn’t a loss for me, I greeted everyone cheerfully.

“Hi, everyone!”