Chapter 27: Unmasking Expectations

What I’ve felt while watching internet broadcasts until now is one thing.

Ultimately, the essence of internet broadcasting lies in the broadcaster reacting and the viewers enjoying it.

Thus, being a no-cam broadcaster is absolutely disadvantageous. The range of reactions is limited to just voice.

In other words, if you want to succeed as a broadcaster, it’s best to turn on the camera.

Han Yurim: So why don’t you turn on the cam too, Malang Mabbak?

“I’m just doing a hobby broadcast. Ah, that broadcast we did together, <Excel Busters>, is up on my channel.”

Han Yurim: I’ve already watched that broadcast five times in the replay.

Still, I’m curious about how it was edited, so I should check it out.

Mos lit a cigarette and asked me.

“Yet, Yurim, you’re also a no-cam broadcaster. Or should I turn the cam on?”

A cam, huh.

I had thought a lot about that part and had already made a decision.

But.

Han Yurim: I can’t tell Dia.

Mos went silent at my chat. The viewers were equally excited.

How dare a Diamond 1 speak to a Master!

Who’s even in Diamond?

“Comprehensive income tax is threatening me, though.”

May is the busiest month for tax accountants.

The deadline for comprehensive income tax reporting is approaching. It was a hectic time.

Mos was just briefly streaming; he wouldn’t be able to play games for a while.

But no matter how tough the circumstances, a Diamond is still a Diamond. I couldn’t reveal the truth.

I turned off my computer while watching Mos smash the enemy.

I heard that kids these days watch broadcasts in VR, but I still found my computer more comfortable.

I don’t understand why they don’t use this good stuff.

Tsk, tsk, I clicked my tongue and put on my VR headset.

It was about time to start broadcasting.

Han Yurim was a rising star in the current internet broadcasting scene.

You might think, ‘Only 1,000 viewers and she’s a rising star?’ but that’s just how rising stars are.

If they’re fidgeting, they’re called a rising star.

Rising stars can be divided into three categories.

First: those who fidget and disappear immediately. This is the most common type. Because of this, dozens of rising stars emerge in just one year. Of course, no one knows why they’re called ‘rising’ or ‘star.’

Second: those who build up hype but then disappear. They attract attention with a flashy debut but fail to maintain it. This type is somewhat better. Even if it’s brief, they’ve gained some fame.

However, these are ultimately fake.

The real ones are different.

The real ones use interest as a driving force to detach from the rising label.

They become stars.

Han Yurim was classified as the first type among those three.

Her broadcasting period was so short that it was hard to tell whether this was a moment of fidgeting, a process of building hype, or something real.

Since it wasn’t clear, she was initially evaluated as ‘fidgeting and disappearing,’ but my thoughts as someone who had been watching Han Yurim since the Rojon incident were different.

No matter how I looked at it, Han Yurim was ‘the real deal.’

Her gaming skills, her clear and melodious voice, her occasionally quirky behavior that seemed like ADHD (which is considered a compliment in the broadcasting community) — all of these were qualities of a star.

 

Her connections were also impressive. She was friends with Bunnyrun, a seasoned broadcaster known for his strong presence, and had previously known Lu Men, one of the best professional gamers, who worked for a large corporation called Pappa.

It made me wonder if there was anyone in the history of broadcasting who had such a profile, even if we looked beyond the current broadcasters.

If there were a weakness, it would be that her broadcast time was limited, either due to game development or just because she enjoyed hanging out (Han Yurim herself claimed she liked to have fun. The guy thought game development was the cause).

Still, it wasn’t entirely a hobby level. The long periods of inactivity were the problem; when she did broadcast, she didn’t take breaks and streamed consistently.

Considering these factors, I’m confident that within six months, there wouldn’t be anyone in the internet broadcasting scene who didn’t know Han Yurim.

“Is she not going to turn on the cam?”

The guy muttered to himself.

He had probably figured it out from the Rojon incident that he was from the VR broadcasting gallery.

Until now, he mainly watched male cam broadcasters and occasionally caught streams from female broadcasters like Bunnyrun. This was the first time he was focusing solely on a female broadcaster.

Perhaps because of that, he sometimes found Han Yurim’s broadcasts a bit boring.

While he enjoyed her straightforward content and crazy reactions, it was disappointing to hear her voice alone.

It’s only the real deal when you can see the expressions too. She would probably be making nonsense with a poker face, right?

Unconsciously, he imagined Han Yurim’s face: blonde hair, blue eyes, a beautiful girl…

“That’s Thierry.”

He had been so immersed in Han Yurim’s content that his perception was warped.

He shook his head to erase the image.

Was it because there were no proper Thierry users, even among professionals? Now the equation Thierry = Han Yurim had been established.

The MTube mad movie creators had contributed a lot to this.

For the current MTube mad movie creators, Han Yurim was a hot topic.

Thierry was an incredibly popular character despite his low pick rate. His reputation might be trash, but he looked good and had a clear romantic appeal, making him a guaranteed cheat key for views.

There was a reason high-tier players often uploaded videos showcasing their Thierry gameplay.

Finally, a player who truly excelled at Thierry had appeared.

It was like a refreshing rain during a drought for the mad movie creators.

Mad movie creators with subscriber counts ranging from ten thousand to hundreds of thousands edited Han Yurim’s gameplay and uploaded it to their MTube channels.

As a result, many came to know Han Yurim as a master of Thierry.

It felt like a volcano about to erupt.

If someone could just pierce that barrier once…

“No, has the barrier already been pierced?”

Han Yurim had done a duo broadcast with Pappa, a major broadcasting figure.

At that time, the viewer count had exceeded 40,000, so it might not have been a situation to worry about barriers being pierced.

Pappa had over a million subscribers on MTube. If that broadcast was edited and uploaded to Pappa’s MTube, it wouldn’t be surprising if Han Yurim’s recognition took a quantum leap.

It was coming soon.

Perhaps realizing how fortunate Han Yurim’s situation was, the guy smacked his lips.

He felt good confirming that his judgment was correct, yet there was a strange sense of disappointment.

Why is that?

He frowned, unable to understand the reason. But everyone else knew why except for him.

He was already undergoing the process of emotional attachment.

Doubt. Denial. Compromise. Escape. Return. Among the five stages of emotional attachment, he was still in the first stage.

There were quite a few viewers experiencing this in Han Yurim’s stream at the moment.

Among female broadcasters, her situation was quite favorable. Han Yurim’s position was unique enough that it had only gotten this far; otherwise, there would have been many who reached the fifth stage within two weeks.

Watching female broadcasts was dangerous to that extent. Caution was needed.

Anyway, the guy habitually opened Han Yurim’s community page.

During the last Q&A session, Han Yurim had promised to post announcements there. Since then, he had been checking her community every time.

Not once had anything been posted.

As expected, the community was still clean.

He clicked his tongue and was about to access the VR broadcasting gallery when his gaze shifted back to the community page.

In that brief moment, a post had been made.

A fresh announcement had just gone up seconds ago.

<Important Announcement>
Today, I’m turning on the cam.

The guy stared blankly with his mouth agape.

Is she really going to become a cam broadcaster here?

Seriously?

Han Yurim was a rising star. And rising stars are always compared to established ones.

When comparing an emerging rising star to an established star, the former might seem at a disadvantage. There would naturally be a difference in capability between someone who has maintained a career for a long time and someone who has just entered the market.

But in reality, things are different.

Surprisingly, it’s the rising star who often gains the upper hand in this comparison.

The evaluation criteria aren’t based on capability but on other aspects.

No one is perfect. Everyone has flaws and makes mistakes.

Stars are exposed to the public for an extended period, naturally revealing their flaws and mistakes to a wider audience.

Thus, when comparing a rising star to an established one, the typical narrative goes like this:

This rising star doesn’t have the established star’s flaws.
This rising star hasn’t made the mistakes that the established star made.

All of this is due to the fact that the rising star has only debuted recently, resulting in less information available about them.

However, this advantage tends to dissipate as the debut period extends.

Rising stars are human too. They will make mistakes. They will have flaws.

Therefore, the moment a rising star fails to present a perfect image, fans—or those who might be bandwagoners—quickly turn into foes.

Han Yurim was no exception.

Currently, Han Yurim was receiving excessive attention.

There were a truckload of people imagining the best version of Han Yurim in their minds, believing it was real.

Naturally, that imagination included her appearance.

About half of Han Yurim’s viewers were watching her stream while picturing a face that would make you say, “If she looks like that, she would have gone into idoling.”

The other half were imagining a cute face while watching the broadcast.

This is how human imagination works.

Even if it isn’t intentional, people tend to find the best something.

Given that, it was difficult for a non-cam streamer to meet people’s expectations by turning on the camera.

It would have been easier if she had just started with the camera on, but now it would just be a bad move…

[Han Yurim’s broadcast has started.]

An alert pinged.

With a mix of anticipation and worry, the guy tuned into Han Yurim’s stream.

The broadcast title was [Nice to Meet You]—perfect for just before she turned on the camera.

An OST composed by Han Yurim played, and soon her voice was heard.

“Hello?”

The chat room was in chaos.

There were messages asking if she was really going to turn on the cam, along with messages telling her not to lie. It was all very confusing.

<ᄋᄋ has donated 1000 won>

  • Are you saying you’ll do a half-cam?

“No. I’ll show my whole body.”

It wasn’t even a half-cam as a last resort.

If this was the case, something big was coming.

A clicking sound was heard. Han Yurim was working on the cam program.

The guy swallowed hard and focused on the screen.

And then…

A blonde smiling girl… an avatar appeared on the screen.

No matter how realistic it seemed, the subtle feeling of dissonance reminded him that this was clearly a polygonal mass made up of data.

He couldn’t hold back any longer and spat out the words that rose to his throat.

“Why the hell is a VTuber using a cam?”

Perhaps feeling the same way, the chat room was also in an uproar.

If this b*tch is a VTuber, she should say she’s a VTuber instead of drawing attention with a cam! (Deleted by clean bot)
Who calls a VTuber a cam? 

I said I’m a VTuber, I said I’m a VTuber, I said I’m a VTuber, I said I’m a VTuber, I said I’m a VTuber, I said I’m a VTuber.

There had never been a mess like this before, but the guy agreed with the chat room.

Why did she lie?

She could have just said she was a VTuber from the start.

“That’s it.”

Is that it?
“This is me. It’s basically a cam.”

What the hell?

With anger, the guy typed furiously in the chat room.
As a Tieri one-pick, you designed the VTuber as Tieri? And then you get sued, you crazy b*tch.


Recommended Novel:

The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, I Became An Elusive Peddler is a must-read. Click here to start!

Read : I Became An Elusive Peddler
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Dawnless
Dawnless
3 months ago

Thanks for the chapter

Observador de Histórias
Observador de Histórias
3 months ago

Obrigado pelo capítulo