Chapter 15: “Sense of Kinship”

Although I greeted everyone warmly, to be honest, I wasn’t that pleased.

Of course, it’s good when viewer numbers increase… but the viewers that just came in are probably only here to cause trouble.

And indeed, they were busy stirring up chaos.

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

[Neighbour dropping off rice cakes ^^ Neighbour dropping off rice cakes ^^ Neighbour dropping off rice cakes ^^]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Ugh, these Mangming fanboys, haha.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Let’s kick them all out.]

[You should be grateful so many people have tuned into your small-time stream.]

[Haha.]

Anyway.

I was curious how they even knew I was streaming.

I had only started streaming a day ago, and I hadn’t made it obvious from my username that I was broadcasting.

There was no way they could have known.

“But how did you guys even find out I was streaming? I never advertised it.”

Immediately, people in the chat began answering.

[There was tons of viral buzz on Mangming’s stream, why are you acting clueless now, haha?]

[In the chat, they were all like, ‘Hey, isn’t that Efreet Gallery’s popular user, Dama???’ and making a big deal out of it.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh, geez.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: No wonder so many people showed up to the stream.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Looks like someone watching this stream went to Mangming’s stream and spammed.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: Let’s go ask in Mangming’s stream who did this.]

[Who the hell was it?]

[I was quietly watching, so why are these troublemakers showing up?]

Watching the chat discussion unfold, I could roughly figure out what had happened.

One of the viewers watching my stream must have seen Mangming on the same team, gone over to Mangming’s stream, and started attracting attention.

“Well then, for those of you who just joined, please leave.”

There was no reason to welcome them.

If I left them alone, they’d just cause more chaos, so I figured it was better to kick them out now.

I used a firm tone.

[Why should we?]

[Why do I have to leave, haha?]

[Nope, not leaving, haha.]

[Mindless Mangmookie ON, Mindless Mangmookie ON, Mindless Mangmookie ON, Mindless Mangmookie ON, Mindless Mangmookie ON.]

[This is ridiculous, haha.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why is there never anyone normal in these streams?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I just want to enjoy the stream in peace.]

[What are you even saying, Efreet Gallery ghost, haha?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu:]

Looking at the chat, the original viewers and the new troublemakers were already arguing.

To settle the situation, I made a simple change.

That was restricting chat based on how long someone had followed me.

“I’ve set the chat to only allow people who followed at least 12 hours ago, so if you want to chat, you’ll have to wait.”

Now, only viewers who had followed me at least 12 hours ago could participate in the chat.

With that, the troublemakers naturally disappeared.

[Viewer count: 34.]

Despite everything, there were still viewers who remained.

‘…What’s going on?’

Are they actual new viewers?

Well… if they really want to chat in my stream, they can come back later and try.

With that thought, I selected my champion.

“I’ll go with Daous this time.”

Daous.

A female champion wielding a double-edged axe, tearing through the battlefield.

But she wasn’t exactly my type.

She was too muscular for my taste.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Daous is fun, though.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: But do you know how to play her?]

[Hwanhee: I’ve never seen you play her.]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: The stream just started yesterday, so of course, no one’s seen it.]

[Strong fact-based roast from Kang Pyeong, haha.]

[He’s not wrong, though.]

Honestly, I hadn’t played a variety of champions while playing “League of Legends.”

I just wasn’t interested in champions that seemed boring at a glance.

I barely had enough time for the fun ones, so why waste time on something dull?

“That said, I’ve never played her before, but I think I’ll do fine.”

Even though it was my first time playing that champion, I wasn’t particularly worried.

Just looking at her skill set, I had a good sense of what to do.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Isn’t that a bit reckless?]

[20]

[What if you mess up and lose, haha?]

[Yeah, that might be a bit reckless.]

[Hwanhee: How is that reckless?]

“Being reckless is what those other viewers did by coming to my stream to cause trouble.”

As I said that, I scanned my teammates’ champions.

I was curious to figure out which one of them was Mangming.

But no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t tell.

People said it was a smurf account, but how would I know the smurf’s nickname?

I didn’t watch Mangming’s stream regularly either.

So, I decided to ask the viewers.

“So, what’s Mangming’s nickname? That’s what I’m most curious about.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I’m not sure, but…]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I think they’re playing mid.]

[Yeah, it’s mid.]

[When Mangming plays a smurf account, it’s usually mid.]

[Mid is probably the right choice.]

[But why play mid on a smurf if you can’t even carry on your main account?]

[It’s Kang Hoomin: No matter how badly they perform in Diamond, they can wreck everyone in Gold.]

I wondered if the difference was really that big.

Between Diamond and Gold, there’s only the wall of Platinum.

If you can get past that, what’s the big deal?

Thinking that, I bought my items and started the laning phase.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: Top player

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: hehe

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: I heard you’re a streamer.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: Since we’re matched up, let’s play well together.

“What did you guys do on that stream to cause such a scene?”

When I watched Mangming’s stream before, they definitely didn’t have such a polite image.

Maybe it’s because this is online, or perhaps they’re just polite to people they’ve never met before.

As I wondered, I typed into the chat.

[Ally][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Daous]: Sure.

[Ally][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Daous]: Please carry me.

[Ally][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Daous]: I’ve only recently started playing League of Legends.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: Of course.

Since there was a chance they might slack off just because they were on a smurf account, I made them promise again, and then the game began.

As usual, I was grinding in solo ranked matches.

But—
[Defeat!]

Another loss.

It was draining my will to continue.

I wasn’t really in the mood to keep playing solo queue anymore.

“Sigh… I’ll stop playing on my main for today and switch to my smurf.”

Playing on my smurf was the right choice.

Rather than continue to lose in Diamond, it was better to log into my smurf account in Gold and go on a killing spree.

[Oh, come on.]

[That’s lame.]

[Why play on a smurf? Why play on a smurf? Why play on a smurf?]

[Just stick to your main, please.]

[What’s with the melee champ?]

[Smurfing is so boring.]

[Just play support if you’re going to smurf, otherwise it’s lame.]

I had anticipated the backlash in the chat.

But there was no other option.

I needed to play on my smurf.

After a disastrous losing streak on my main account, I had to restore my pride by crushing opponents on my smurf.

“Everyone, shut up. I’m playing on my smurf.”

With that, I silenced the viewers’ complaints, quickly logged into my smurf, and started a game.

The game was found, and shortly after—

[Please watch the stream of Dama, the beloved nickname of Efreet Gallery!!! Please watch the stream of Dama, the beloved nickname of Efreet Gallery!!!]

[Go Dama! Go Dama! Go Dama! Go Dama!]

[What the hell is up with the chat?]

[Where did this sudden spam come from?]

[This is absurd.]

[Kick all those guys out.]

[Who even is Dama?]

The chat suddenly exploded.

It wasn’t just one person spamming, but multiple people spamming simultaneously, so it was impossible to ignore.

“Ah, don’t give them any attention and just watch the game. You’re not amateurs; why give attention to stuff like this?”

[Haha.]

[That’s just bait; anyone who gives it attention is the same breed.]

[But when I searched, it shows someone from Mangming’s team came up.]

[Your top laner is the one they were spamming about, haha.]

[Why doesn’t this Dama guy control his fans?]

[Someone choke Dama out, haha.]

It seemed like this person was really a streamer.

It felt right to greet them politely.

It also seemed like they had a similar type of fanbase to mine.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: Top player.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: hehe.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: I heard you’re a streamer.

[Ally][ClearSkies][Corki]: Since we’re teamed up, let’s do well.

And with that, the game officially started