Chapter 3: It’s been a month since the broadcast-4

I sat at a table made of blocks, and I could see the other members of the collaboration across the chairs.

300k, 200k, 700k, 900k, and 400k subscribers.

All of them were rising streamers these days.

I only have 27 subscribers, not even 2700 or 270, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I even belonged in this situation.

Is it rude?

Was I being too oblivious?

Should I have turned down the offer after all?

I bit my nails, my mind overwhelmed with fear and pressure, feeling my mental strength draining away.

My already short nails became even shorter, and just as the bitter taste and scent began to rise, the streamers’ movements came to a halt.

It’s really starting now…

The bustling atmosphere of the stream seemed to fade as only Dragon’s voice echoed.

“Alright! Today’s content will be a role-play! Please play your roles as assigned, and thank you in advance!”

The words were spoken cheerfully.

There was no need for the word “start!” since, except for me, everyone here were professional streamers, naturally slipping into their roles and beginning the skit, all while laughing.

“Bring me food!!!”

“I swear because of this damn house!”

With exaggerated tones, mixed with laughter, the role-play continued while I sat alone in a doghouse made of three blocks.

It wasn’t uncomfortable or unpleasant.

In fact, I felt a strange sense of pride, seeing the professional streamers I admired so closely.

But then…

“By the way, what’s the role-play about…?”

I muttered quietly to myself.

After all, since I had been brought in on short notice, I had no information except that it was a role-play.

An dark room, sitting on a chair, I swayed my feet to show my anxiety, but it was just a simple concern.

As Dragon left, I thought the viewers would all leave, but a few stayed and answered my question.

• I think it’s a family role-play

One kind chat message appeared in the quiet chat window.

I nodded as I looked at it.

“Thank you.”

I took a glass of water with trembling hands, took a deep breath, and when the streamers gave me a signal, I focused, preparing to bark.

It was definitely a role I didn’t want, but I couldn’t ruin the broadcast!

This was a collaboration with top-tier streamers.

It was definitely a massive opportunity, and also a huge risk.

If I made a terrible mistake here…

I didn’t even want to imagine the outcome…

Could I really do well?

“Happy!”

Huh?

A cute, childish voice, like that of a young elementary school girl.

“Happy! Come here!”

The voice seemed to be calling for someone.

Who are they calling?

The way they acted was like calling a dog…

Wait.

I quickly processed the situation.

1. There’s no streamer with the nickname “Happy.”
2. “Happy” is usually a name for a dog, right?
3. And in this role-play, what’s my role?

A dog!

“Woof!”

I abandoned all thought of it being a role-play.

I just barked like a dog.

It’s not embarrassing for a dog to bark!

I convinced myself, but my reaction was slow.

Did I mess up?

Did I do something wrong?

Should I apologize?

Was I not dog-like enough?

What should I do?

Shaking with fear, I nervously chewed on my lip, when a cute, laughing voice shouted towards someone.

“I’ll take Happy for a walk!”

“You don’t need to come back! Just disappear!”

A sharp male voice.

I checked their usernames.

20k subscribers, Aram.

40k subscribers, Gaham.

Is it just my imagination, or does it feel… strangely similar?

“Let’s go, Happy!”

Using the item fishing rod, Aram threw the fishing hook at my character, pulling me towards him, and I felt a little demoralized.

How should I express this…?

“Ki, kkiing…”

A desperate attempt to imitate a dog, but as I tried to express my emotions, another awkward silence filled the air.

Did I really do something terribly wrong…?

Scratching my cheek absentmindedly, I looked at the chat and saw that 12 viewers had joined.

Wow! There are a lot of viewers!

Heh-heh-heh.

They must’ve come out of curiosity after watching me from another stream.

But something felt off…?

I rubbed my eyes and looked again—there were not 12, but 120 viewers.

“Uh, uh?!”

I couldn’t believe the number of viewers, and my surprise escaped reflexively.

Realizing my mistake, I quickly expressed it in dog language.

“Woof… woof!”

• The dog roleplay only makes dog sounds, huhᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
• No, she should talkᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
• What’s the problem with making dog sounds? I’m a dog
• Ahᄏᄏ But it’s cute, so it’s okay, right?

I can talk…?

The viewers teased me.

My face turned bright red with embarrassment.

I cautiously whispered to Aram.

“U-um, was it okay to talk…?”

“Ah, yes!”

Aram’s laughter echoed loudly.

“U-um, the dog role didn’t actually mean the dog itself…”

Aram’s voice trembled as he let out his unique chuckle.

So, the awkward silence earlier was because I had actually made dog sounds and caused confusion!

But I had an excuse too.

“Dragon-nim said that if I got a hint, I should just make a ‘woof’ sound…”

“Uh… ‘if you get a hint,’ not while you’re talking normally…”

“Ah?!”

What on earth did I just do?

I wanted to die.

No, seriously…

How did these people see me?

The girl who started barking like a dog right off the bat.

I buried my head in shame, realizing I had messed up my first impression completely.

This is so embarrassing… No, I want to die.

I cried out loud, and Aram, flustered, tried to comfort me.

“No, no! I think it was cute, so it should be fine, right?!”

Ah, I really want to die.

Aram spoke earnestly, but with each word, my self-loathing and embarrassment grew even bigger.

For some reason, I felt even more upset.

“Hoo-hoo…”

This wasn’t anyone else’s fault.

It was my own fault for doing something weird.

“Ggh…”

“Sniff!”

I let out a sigh, expelling the shame and embarrassment before firmly grabbing the mouse.

“I’m okay now…!”

“Wow! Well done!”

What is this? Are they treating me like a child?

It felt like Aram’s attitude had subtly changed.

Aram’s microphone was clearly different from the used one I had—it was expensive, which is why I could hear the sharp breaths so clearly.

But still, those heavy breaths…

“It’s a bit overwhelming…”

I muttered quietly.

When I was streaming alone with no viewers, it wasn’t a problem, but now it was different.

Around 130 viewers were watching me, and they heard my muttering.

And it didn’t take long before it was extracted into the video and sent to Aram’s broadcast.

“Liera-nim! Am I overwhelming you?!”

“No? Not at all! It’s not overwhelming at all!”

• “Clarify, clarify, clarify, clarify, clarify!”

What do I need to clarify…?

Before I knew it, the role-play content had disappeared, and the questioning began.

With the role-play stalled, Gaham, Dragon, and the other streamers joined us, murmuring as they watched.

“Doesn’t this seem more interesting than the role-play?”

“Aren’t we going to do the role-play?”

“Has Dragon ever made a role-play that actually went smoothly? It’s just whatever.”

Gaham’s last comment, throwing shade at Dragon, led to the chat being flooded with “Clarify!”

Just yesterday, I had only 7 viewers, so this situation felt extremely overwhelming.

Had I ever received this much attention before?

Had I ever had a conversation like this?

Had I ever gone through something like this?

There were some similar situations I could recall, but none that could help me here.

These people didn’t hold any ill will towards me.

My mind overloaded, and I froze up.

All I could do was mumble something.

“Aah… uu… ee…”

“Speak!”

“Is it overwhelming?!”

Gaham and Aram teamed up to push me further.

Trying to escape the situation, I attempted to self-destruct.

“Uh, um… aren’t we doing the content? I can bark! Woof woof!”

“Don’t run away, fight back!”

That failed.

“Ahh! It’s not overwhelming at all! I just said it because my breath was a bit rough! I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I’m sorry! Sorry! Woof woof!”

Banging my head on the keyboard and making a loud noise while apologizing, the streamers were shocked and hurried to calm me down.

• “Don’t do that! Don’t do that!”
• “We’ll get a controversy on our hands at this rate!”
• “It’ll probably end up being listed as the ‘harassment of a struggling streamer by a popular streamer’ at this rate.”
• There’s already a section for itᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
• Ahᄏᄏᄏ She looked pitiful
• Clarify, clarify.

The chat was flooded with the word “clarify,” and the situation was a mess.

Did I mess up again?

My forehead stung a bit, and I felt down, thinking I had ruined the content.

I should have turned it down.

Why did I push myself into this awkward situation?

“Hoo-hoo…”

27 minutes since the content began.

It was the time I had completely ruined the content.

“It’s okay! I didn’t explain properly, so it’s my fault!”

Dragon tried to salvage the situation as best as he could, but Aram only threw one word at him.

“Trash!”

“Ah…”

Dragon sank.

Aram scoffed, turning his back on Dragon and approaching me with a few questions.

“Since the content is ruined anyway, let’s introduce the newbie! How old are you?”

“Uh… huh?”

Newbie? Wasn’t I just brought in temporarily for a one-time thing?

Uncertainty and anxiety filled me.

But since I had to answer, I gave my response.

“I’m 17…”

“Wow, really trash… You made a 17-year-old girl bark like a dog?”

“Trash.”

“Trash, indeed.”

“Wow, I really didn’t see you that way…”

“Dragon? Who is that? I don’t know them.”

Huh?

The flood of chat messages in the room changed to “trash.”

The default emoticon, the spear shape, occasionally popped up.

“No, what the hell?! Is this my fault?!”

Dragon struggled, but the momentum had already shifted, and Aram and the other streamers attacked Dragon’s character, killing it.

The dead had no voice.

“Dragon is dead! Let’s call it a day!”

With Aram’s declaration of victory, everyone shouted, “Good job!” and I was the only one who couldn’t accept the situation.

“Is this how it ends?!”

“See you next time! If Dragon talks nonsense again, it’ll be awkward, but call me!”

“Anyone want to play LoL?”

People scattered in all directions.

Aram’s words caught me.

Will there be a next collaboration?

After ruining everything like this?

I became sad, pressing my sleeves to my eyes, wiping away tears, when Dragon respawned and came toward me.

Didn’t he know the mess I had made?

Trembling, I shrank away, only to hear Dragon’s hearty laugh.

“Great job today!”

“Uh… is everything okay?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I ruined the role-play…”

“Is that a big deal? Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to.”

Is he crazy?

It sounds like… “I told a 17-year-old high school girl to bark like a dog,” recovery.

“Rather than that role-play, most importantly, right now, it’s about ‘I made the high school girl cry,’ isn’t it? Haha.”

• That’s trueᄏᄏᄏ

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it! In fact, it’s kind of nice. I’ll invite you to the next collab, so please do well.”

Friendship with a big company.

An opportunity I’ll never get again!

I shook off my worries and smiled, bowing my head.

But wait… “Next collab”? Does that mean he’ll invite me again?

After five seconds of silence, I stood up from my seat and kept bowing to the monitor.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Alright, then, we’re done!”

Dragon also logged out, and I was left alone in the game, staring at the chat room.

Many viewers had left, and only 29 remained, but this was still more than my subscriber count!

Today was truly a lucky day.

I chuckled, then greeted the viewers.

“I’m going to end the stream!”

-?

-???

-?????

-?

After collecting the hooks, I ended the broadcast.

My body was tired, I was hungry, and I was sleepy.

But…

“I need to clean…”

I stood up from the chair, stretched, and looked around the room.

There was trash everywhere, clothes not organized, and a sticky floor.

‘Should I do it later?’ I lightly slapped my cheek to shake off that weak thought and slipped on my slippers.

I need to go buy a trash bag.

What I didn’t know yet was the aftermath of this stream.