Chapter 18: Fateful Reunion

The sudden hosting by Ronin Swordsman froze my thoughts.

Dropping around 6400 refugees on someone who just started streaming—what kind of grudge does Ronin Swordsman hold against me to do something like this?

Though, honestly, I did behave poorly!

Sure, I gave him a hard time three months ago, but it wasn’t intentional. It was just that we kept running into each other by chance.

[Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!

[Here to see the mysterious Yone master.]

[What’s with the webcam?]

[A prepared streamer, lol.]

[The difference in preparation between you and Ronin Swordsman is staggering, haha.]

[Didn’t Barcode Girl say she started streaming on a whim?]

Seeing the chat rising rapidly made my head spin slightly.

I kept repeating “stay calm” to myself, trying to recall how other streamers handled situations like this.

Right, in this kind of situation, Curry would probably use that command.

I quickly moved my hands to type on the keyboard.

When I entered the command to activate follow-only mode, the rapidly rising chatroom cooled down.

Thanks to that, I bought myself a little time, but it was clear I couldn’t keep things like this for long. After all, this wasn’t what you’d call “streaming.”

I kept the follow-only mode on for exactly one minute.

During that one minute, I hoped the chatroom’s atmosphere would calm down. Then I entered the command again to deactivate follow-only mode.

[Open the gate, streamer! Open the gate, streamer! Open the gate, streamer!

[Mom… I’m cold… Mom… I’m cold… Mom… I’m cold…]

[Are you trying to start a war? Are you trying to start a war?]

[Woo~hoo~ Woo~hoo~ Woo~hoo~ ]

[Who taught you something evil like follow-only mode!!]

[Barcode, please say something, take one. Barcode, please say something, take two. Barcode, please say something, take three.]

[Who’s this mysterious Yone master? Do you think you’re so good? Come 1v1 me.]

The chatroom’s heat only intensified compared to before.

As the chat sped by, I felt dizzy and reactivated the follow-only mode.

Being a streamer was far harder than I had thought.

How am I supposed to get through this trial? I was already feeling overwhelmed.

“Haa… Huh!”

I accidentally let out a sigh and clasped my hands over my mouth.

But it was too late; the microphone was still on.

Oh, you idiot! Why did you leave the mic on?!

The moment my voice was revealed, it felt like it was all over.

That thought dominated my mind, but strangely, the burden that had been pressing down on me felt a bit lighter.

Fine, whatever.

Is it so strange for a girl to stream LoL?

Trying to calm myself down, I typed on the keyboard with trembling hands.

Follow-only mode was deactivated again.

[?]

[Did I just hear that wrong?]

[It was definitely a woman’s voice.]

[Host, hurry up, voice, voice, voice!]

[A woman?]

[Wow, no way, the mysterious Yone master was a woman?]

[I feel like I’m losing my mind~ I feel like I’m losing my mind~]

[Hey, spammers, get a clue.]

[Stop spamming!!]

Strangely enough, the viewers stopped spamming the chat.

Instead, they started scolding other viewers for spamming and even managed the chat themselves.

Thus, a peculiar silence fell between the viewers and me, the streamer.

“Haa… Yes.”

It was I who first declared surrender.

[Really?]

[Really?]

[Is this for real?]

[What female challengers are even out there…?]

[TMI: Currently, there are no active female streamers who are challenger-level players.]

[But seriously, her voice is amazing.]

[I froze for a second too, lol.]

[Wait, does it even make sense for her to be a woman?]

[It could make sense, you idiot.]

As I spoke, the chatroom split into two reactions.

One group was amazed that the mysterious Yone master was a woman.

The other group couldn’t believe that the mysterious Yone master was a woman.

Eventually, the believers and skeptics began arguing, and the chatroom quickly turned into chaos.

Ah, so this is why streamers hire chat moderators.

Watching them fight for a while, I couldn’t help but feel a creeping annoyance.

I was already in a bad mood because the stream wasn’t going the way I wanted, but the viewers squabbling only made my mood sink further.

“Hey.”

I grabbed the microphone and spoke.

“Anyone who keeps fighting from now on—I’ll ban all of you.”

“Got it?”

I warned the chatroom with a voice tinged with annoyance.

The fighting viewers disappeared from the chat almost immediately.

In their place, though, came an influx of strange and incomprehensible comments.

[Her voice is insane lol.]

[Heuuung…]

[What’s with her voice…]

[Strong lady, heuuung…]

[A reward, uwu.]

The atmosphere of the chat after the warning was bizarre.

Normally, people would feel upset after hearing an irritated voice.

Even though I had bluntly snapped at them, the viewers’ reactions were downright strange.

[A woman who’s good at LoL, assertive, and sexy?]

[And she’s a challenger too lol.]

[Take me! Take me! Take me!]

… The reactions were weird, but at least the atmosphere had somewhat improved, so maybe that was a relief?

“Phew… If you ruin the mood again, I’ll start banning people, so behave yourselves.”

[Got it.]

[But wouldn’t getting banned be a reward?]

[Oh? Maybe it is?]

A peculiar comment in the chat caught my eye.

I quickly moved my mouse and banned the viewer who posted it.

Then, with a slight smirk, I spoke in a teasing voice, barely above a whisper.

“I’ve given you your ‘reward.’ If you’re happy about it, type ‘woof woof’ in the chat, and I’ll unban you.”

[But lol, how can they type if they’re banned?]

[(The dead don’t speak.)]

[(A warm presence can be felt.)]

[Woof woof! Grrr… Bark bark!]

[There’s a dog in the chat room.]

[So when are we playing the game?]

“Ah, I was going to start as soon as I logged in… but I just remembered something I need to do.”

[What is it?]

[Oh, where’s the mouse cursor going?]

[What is it?]

[Who are you looking for? Hehehe]

I looked at the list of users chatting.

And in the middle, I found ‘RoninSwordsman00’ and blind-banned them for 1 hour.

A malicious cut for mindlessly hosting in a 0-member room.

[RoninSwordsman cut]

[Mindlessly hosting did cross the line.]

[Come to think of it, they hosted 6000 people in a 0-member newbie room, wow, Hehehe]

[They deserved the blind ban.]

After dealing with the cause and culprit, RoninSwordsman, I started the match.

Usually, during this time, matching in the celestial tier takes a while, so I had to wait a bit.

But I didn’t just sit idly by while waiting.

[Live]

[Current viewers – 6703]

Strangely, the number of viewers kept increasing.

I had dealt with a few disruptive viewers who hadn’t heard my earlier warning.

I could’ve taken it easy since I was only going to stream for one day.

But since I lost a bet to start the stream, I couldn’t slack off.

However, the disruptive viewers were nowhere to be seen now.

I had heard somewhere that leaving dead air while streaming was a crime.

I’m not sure why that memory came to mind now.

[Stream host, please speak up. I’m so lonely.]

[Waa, I’m a baby viewer, I want to hear your voice, unni.]

[Please wave your hand once.]

[If you think you’re pretty, stay silent.]

[So beautiful]

[Goddess]

“Sigh…”

It would be boring if there was no sound, but the number of viewers kept increasing.

It was truly a situation where all I could do was sigh.

“…I’ll answer, so ask if you have questions.”

[What are your measurements?]

“You’re banned. I’ll ban any questions that cross the line.”

I banned any questions that crossed the line immediately.

Since it was just a one-day broadcast, it didn’t matter if I banned anyone I wanted.

As various questions popped up in the chat, I picked some and answered them.

“LoL started from season 3.”

“I think the current Guinsoo Yone is broken. Oh, but the tankers who raised the Tai-Bul-Bang are better.”

“How many times have I been in a relationship? I’ll comment no further on this.”

“First kiss? It’s always these kinds of questions from people who’ve never had a relationship.”

“Please refrain from asking too personal questions.”

“I first spoke with Ronin Swordsman yesterday.”

“How much can I eat? Well, I think I can eat up to two Big Macs…”

“Am I pretty? Again, no comment.”

As I continued picking and answering questions, the match started.

“Now, question time is over.”

[Oh, that’s a shame.]

[Your voice is so nice, Heeung…]

[Seriously Queen’s voice is on point.]

[It’s Dullahan but Queen I agree]

[Her voice sounds so commanding and charismatic.]

The bans for both teams were carried out, and as the first pick, I immediately picked Yone.

There were just too many counter champions for Yone to pick her as a second pick, and the fact that the current Guinsoo Yone was broken was already well-known.

‘I didn’t get target banned.’

I thought I’d be target banned when I started the broadcast.

But it seemed like no one from the opposing team was watching my stream.

Or maybe they didn’t ban her because they wanted to play Yone.

The picks moved on, and the opponent picked Ornn and Amumu.

As soon as I saw the pure tank Ornn and Amumu, my head started to hurt.

When you think about it, I lost the bet partly because of Tai-Bul-Bang.

[Amumu?]

[That trash jungle is coming out in the top ranks “lol”]

“Did you not watch Ronin Swordsman’s stream yesterday?”

[Today’s new viewers] Starting now

[If Amumu gets raised with Tai-Bul-Bang, no one can stop him.]

[The Hug skill also had issues, you know?] The Devil’s

[Ornn’s passive also had an impact.]

[Thinking of Tai-Bul-Bang-powered Amumu is horrifying.]

The Sun Flame Shield item being broken was slowly becoming known.

I browsed through some communities and saw posts about it, but the most notable was the guide about the broken Guinsoo Yone.

‘It’s getting nerfed.’

Since so many people found out about it so quickly, whether through a hotfix or the next patch, Guinsoo would definitely get nerfed.

Of course, even if Guinsoo got nerfed, I wouldn’t feel too upset, but if Tai-Bul-Bang wasn’t nerfed, I’d be really pissed off.

While thinking about this, both teams had picked their champions.

I shifted my gaze to check the opponent’s mid-laner; it was Akali.

Along with Azir, Akali is a typical physical champion that can range from tier 1 to tier 5, depending on the user’s skill.

[Isn’t Akali trash?]

[It’s broken in the top ranks.]

[I once met a GM Akali in normal matches, and it was terrifying.]

[The sweat is real for both teams] But

[That just shows how OP the tanks are.]

[Tanks are overpowered (X) Taebulbang is overpowered (O)]

“Our top lane has Malphite and Zac… looking solid.”

The enemy top and jungle are tanks, and our top and jungle are also tanks.

It seems like it’s a high-rank game because even though it’s only been a day since the preseason started, they already know what items are overpowered.

And so, the game began.

<Blue Team>

TOP Malphite

JG Zac

MID Yone

AD Vayne

SUP Ruli

Vs

<Purple Team>

TOP Ornn

JG Amumu

MID Akali

AD Kasa

SUP Thresh

I moved the broadcast screen from the LoL client to the game window.

[Huh?]

[The enemy Akali is Showdown]

[Showdown, entry game, haha]

[Wow, high ranks are really different]

[Meeting Showdown here]

[The mysterious Yone master vs Showdown]

[If Akali wins, the barcode guy needs to explain themselves]

[At least a 50-50 should be the goal, haha]

After checking the enemy Akali’s nickname late, I chuckled.

What a twist of fate, to meet a Showdown player on the day I started streaming, and in the first match no less.

I was nervous because it was my first time facing a Showdown player in the same lane.

But as I looked at the chat messages appearing next to me, I couldn’t help but relax as I tried to hold back laughter.

[Good luck!] Heehee

[If I carry this game, I’ll give you my love]

[If I win, as a reward, I’ll return my first kiss]

[You guys are such idiots, haha]

[Do you want a lawsuit?]

I responded by raising my middle finger in front of the camera.

“I don’t want your stuff anyway.”