Chapter 13: I don’t like men

[DDDDDDDD]

[ChallengerChallengerChallengerChallengerChallenger]

[She really hit rank 1]

[Seo-ha]

[Kya!!!]

[Ka]

[2,000 viewers on her first stream LOL]

I had never reached rank 1 in my pro days, so I felt good without realizing it.

Until now, I was worried that my talent might not be the same after getting TS’d, but this proved it.

“Thank you all for the congratulations. But why are 2,000 people watching?”

[She finally looked this way? She finally looked this way?]

[I’ve been waiting for so long]

[Kya~ The streamer is finally looking at us]

[Ooh, a middle school girl Challenger rank 1…]

[Eyes? Me?]

And for some reason, 2,000 people were watching my stream.

I was happy that I reached rank 1, and my first stream was a success.

But…

“Um, everyone. But why do you keep calling me by my name?”

[Oops!]

[Well, you see…]

[I told her~]

[Your name is pretty]

I even put Para as the stream channel name, but it was strange that the viewers were all calling me by my name.

[But Han Byeo-ri revealed your name on Master Invitation, so we can’t help it]

[Honestly, Yoon Seo-ha is just cuter than Para]

[How can we resist calling a middle school girl by her name?]

“Well… you can call me that if you want. Just don’t cross the line in the chat.”

[ ^^]

[Of course]

[Get your notepad ready]

[A generous middle school girl…]

After that, I started a simple Q&A session.

I wanted to play more solo queue, but I held back because of the viewers’ strong protests.

“Then if you have any questions, I’ll answer them as much as I can.”

[Is the streamer really a middle school girl?]

[Are you not turning on the cam?]

[Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh]

[Turn on the cam!!!]

[Just one question]

[Are you really planning to go pro?]

My eyes hurt from the wave of chats that came as if they were waiting for this moment.

I was used to eating CS and map reading while playing mid, but.

Even I had a hard time reading that level of chat.

‘So that’s why they only read donations, not because they’re money-hungry.’

I didn’t know because I did calm solo queue streams during my pro days, but the chat wasn’t this intense.

I finally understood why streamers with a certain number of viewers mainly looked at donations.

It was impossible to read the chat when it was flooding like that.

{ᄋᄋ donated 10,000 won}

So, does the streamer have a boyfriend?

“No~”

These people are really persistent.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that question since Master Invitation.

“I don’t know why everyone is so curious, but I don’t like men.”

[?]

[I like women (somewhat paraphrased)]

[Oops]

[Congratulations on your big decision]

I didn’t know what they meant by my answer, but everyone seemed satisfied, so it was fine.

While continuing the Q&A in a good atmosphere, one chat caught my eye.

“Other games besides LOL? Hmm…”

People often think that pro gamers only play that one game.

But there’s a saying that anything becomes boring when it becomes your job.

I didn’t have time to look at other games during the season, but most pros enjoyed other games during their vacation.

Of course, I was the same.

“I’ve played most FPS games. I also like packaged games.”

[Oh]

[It would be fun to do a PUBG collaboration later]

[I bet the streamer’s mechanics would be insane in FPS too]

[Have you played TLoU?]

[Recommend a game]

Time passed, and it was already past 11 PM.

“Then I’ll end the stream here for today.”

[??????]

[Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go]

[Please don’t…]

[It’s cold… it’s cold… it’s cold… it’s cold]

When I announced the end of the stream, the chat, which had been quiet for a while, started to heat up again.

But I couldn’t help it.

I need to sleep early to grow taller.

“I’ll turn it on again tomorrow evening. Thank you everyone~”

I ended the stream and lay down on the bed.

‘It’s more fun than I thought.’

During my pro days, I put everything on the line for the one goal of winning.

So I only streamed out of obligation, and I didn’t really communicate with the viewers.

Doing this kind of stream was more fun than I imagined, and I felt sorry for my viewers in the past.

‘I should do better in the future.’

****

‘Finally, the preliminaries start today.’

10 AM on Saturday, when ordinary people wake up.

For some, it was a time they could only reach by staying up all night.

‘Should I have just slept? No, then I wouldn’t have woken up.’

Han Byeo-ri rubbed her sleepy eyes and headed to the refrigerator.

At this rate, she would fall asleep before the VLL preliminaries at 12 PM.

‘How did I get this opportunity?’

How much effort did she put in to reach the requirement of Grandmaster?

When she played 400 games in Diamond, when she was sniped 10 games in a row.

She didn’t feel good thinking about those days.

“Ah, I’m out of coffee.”

There were no instant coffee cans left.

She must have forgotten to order more.

Han Byeo-ri’s eyes went to the long padded jacket hanging on the chair in the living room.

‘It’s cold…’

But she decided she couldn’t stand it without coffee.

Han Byeo-ri wrapped herself in the long padded jacket and went outside.

‘Did it snow?’

She didn’t know because she always had the curtains closed at home, but it seemed to have snowed in the early morning.

She walked carefully on the icy road where the snow had melted and frozen again, and headed to the coffee shop.

“Oh, hello!”

The place Han Byeo-ri arrived at was a small, privately owned cafe.

It was a cafe with a lot of fans thanks to the cute female owner, but not for Han Byeo-ri.

She was just uncomfortable with the owner who was always overly friendly even though she didn’t know she was a streamer.

‘It’s the only place open at this hour…’

But most franchise cafes opened at 9 or 10 AM, so she had no choice.

“Hello… one iced Americano, please.”

“Wow, did you cut your hair short? It’s so cute!”

“Ah… thank you.”

“You said you were 25, right? You really look younger than me!”

Han Byeo-ri maintained a high energy level on stream, but she didn’t have the energy to do that in real life.

“But you don’t want a latte today?”

“I just felt like an Americano…”

“Our Americano is popular!”

Han Byeo-ri swallowed the words ‘That’s because men come to hit on you’ in her mind.

“If you can just sit down for a moment, I’ll bring it to you quickly!”

She chose takeout anyway, so she was going to sit anywhere near the counter, but.

‘What the…’

The area near the counter was full even at this hour in the morning.

At a normal cafe, the corner seats would be more popular, but she thought that everyone was trying hard to get a date.

‘Wow, a full hair set and a suit at this hour?’

While waiting for the coffee to be made, Han Byeo-ri looked around.

Someone was pretending to read with a full hair set in the morning.

Someone was watching anime right in front of the counter for some reason.

They were all amazing people in the morning.

“Unnie! Your iced Americano is ready!”

“Thank you. I’ll come again.”

She took the Americano with a resolution to never come again.

‘It’s cold…’

She didn’t realize it when she had her hands in her pockets on the way here, but her hands were cold because she was holding the coffee.

But she couldn’t put the coffee in her pocket, so she just endured the cold and walked.

“Huh?”

She stepped on the icy road on the slope near her house.

The combination of the carelessly worn warmer boots and Han Byeo-ri’s lack of athleticism made falling inevitable.

Unconsciously, she reached out and braced herself on the ground.

“Ah… I spilled all the coffee.”

Even though she spilled all the coffee on the ground, she didn’t seem to be seriously injured.

She bought a canned coffee from a nearby convenience store and returned home.

‘There’s about an hour left.’

She thought about playing a game of ranked to warm up her hands.

When she got home, her frozen hands started to feel strange as they thawed.

‘It stings.’

With a worried heart, she created a practice game and pressed the keyboard.

“Ah.”

A sharp pain shot through her left hand, which she needed to press the keyboard.

She tried a few more times, but it was impossible to even press the keyboard.

‘Damn it.’

She felt more sorry for her teammates than the thought of losing the hard-earned opportunity.

Before going to the hospital, she went into the group chat where her teammates were gathered and apologized.

“Really? It’s good that you didn’t get seriously injured. Go to the hospital quickly.”

“It’s a good thing your face wasn’t injured, unnie.”

“That’s true. If your head got hurt, I wouldn’t be able to handle it if it got worse.”

“I agree~”

Even though they had worked hard to earn the right to participate, they were worried about her, which made her feel even more sorry.

“Oh right. Can’t someone else play if someone gets hurt?”

“Is there such a rule?”

“I think so? Find it.”

“Oh, here it is. But the person who can’t play has to find a substitute themselves.”

In the awkward silence, Han Byeo-ri spoke.

“Um… I know someone who can play as a substitute. They’re high-ranked too.”