Chapter 35: Community is unpredictable, Part 1

In late March.

Woo Seo-jin, a returning student, considered his recent life to be not too bad.

Although it’s a pandemic season where people are wailing that they are dying or others are dying…

He, who has been reluctantly attending university with the sole aim of graduating after being discharged from the military, recently found a quite entertaining broadcast.

It’s a channel run by a streamer named Haru, who is doing a broadcast with an unheard-of combination of a high school girl and a creator of risqué illustrations.

Luckily, he also secured a position as a chat manager.

Like the protagonist in the stories of nurturing small-time streamers that often appear in the community, he was thinking of diligently assisting Haru…

[LIVE] High School Girl’s Cosplay Broadcast [121].

“What is she trying to do now?”

Recently, Haru started doing things she hadn’t done before.

Woo Seo-jin knew that Haru might be confident in her looks through the cosplay photos uploaded to the Girl’s War gallery, but he at least hoped she wouldn’t reveal her face openly.

The Haru in the photos was a woman with an ideal appearance that was rare even on college campuses.

It was obvious that once the youthful feeling faded a little more, she would be loved by people of all ages and genders.

And if such a Haru entered the female cam market in earnest, she would definitely succeed.

As a viewer who has watched from the very beginning of the broadcast, it’s natural to wish for the streamer’s success…

However, if that success is as a female cam model, it’s true that the feeling becomes complicated.

“Should I send a donation and tell her not to talk nonsense…”

Woo Seo-jin, who was struggling with part-time jobs while attending university and missed the timing to find a new part-time job when COVID-19 hit, doesn’t have much money.

If the real big-shot patrons who dominate the female cam market start to gather…

“Damn… if she does female cam, she’ll definitely blow up…”

Even the position of chat manager, which he received for the first time in his internet broadcasting life, might be taken away by those big-shot patrons.

In fact, it’s not an unheard-of story that a chat manager from the early days is pushed out by a big-shot patron and loses their manager position.

Woo Seo-jin frowned as if he had seen vomit next to a utility pole.

He felt bad for no reason.

I started watching first.

I started watching because I liked the drawings.

It’s annoying to think that I might lose my chat manager position to those guys who came in just for Haru’s face and have a lot of money.

“I’m getting too invested, I shouldn’t be like this…”

Is it because he found out about Haru’s appearance first, and because he is the only chat manager of Haru’s channel?

Around the time when Woo Seo-jin started showing symptoms of menhera, which are often seen in managers of small-time streamers…

-So I thought about it, and wouldn’t it be nice to prove it to my true loyalists by showing them my face?

-So I decided to make a cosplay book.

Suddenly, Haru’s.

Min Hayoon’s words struck Woo Seo-jin’s ears.

“Is it… good…?”

If Min Hayoon doesn’t reveal her face on the broadcast, she can maintain her current identity of ‘high school girl risqué broadcast’.

If the game does well and attracts attention, some female cam simps might come, but if Min Hayoon maintains the same attitude as now, there won’t be a big change in the broadcast style.

“I trust you. I’ll be a true loyalist, just don’t turn on the cam for no reason…”

Woo Seo-jin hoped that Min Hayoon would maintain the current broadcast’s tasty, and sent a donation with that heart.

“I’m going to buy the VIP edition right now. A thousand won… sorry for the small change…”

-Ah, manager! It’s only you. Thank you! Thank you!

Min Hayoon also expressed her gratitude, saying she would draw an illustration later because she was grateful for the VIP edition purchase, and even the viewers who had been quiet for a while started to show interest, asking if she would draw them a picture if they also certified.

And Woo Seo-jin.

“Phew, I got the signal. Nice.”

He ‘mistook’ Min Hayoon’s ordinary expression of gratitude as a signal that she would ‘never’ turn on the cam.

His over-immersion was severe.

However, Woo Seo-jin’s words about buying the VIP edition were not a lie.

Rather, he was raising it one level higher and pressing the checkbox for the VVIP edition and proceeding with the payment.

Cosplay book, mouse pad, acrylic stand, hanging scroll, shower towel, and other various goods and digital goods.

In addition, an additional page for the cosplay book and an autograph are included for 400,000 won, and Min Hayoon will draw a picture on the broadcast later.

“It’s a steal.”

From Woo Seo-jin’s point of view, it was a steal of a deal.

After finishing the payment process immediately, he was making a subtle expression wondering what to do now.

-Now, now, I’m not saying you have to buy the VIP edition right away.

“Huh?”

Min Hayoon started to take control of the atmosphere.

-Well, I know my manager likes my broadcast, so I believe you’ll buy it, but there might be people who haven’t been watching my broadcast for long, right?

-Those people can just go into Mist now and search for Cosplay Holic. It supports Korean search, and the demo isn’t that long, so be sure to play it once and decide. Got it?

Of course, this was also a marketing ploy to sell as many games as possible.

Min Hayoon was sure that once they played the demo, they wouldn’t be able to resist funding because they were curious about the rest. And Woo Seo-jin.

“There was a demo…”

He bought the VIP edition half out of his fan love for Min Hayoon and half out of the belief that if he bought this, she wouldn’t turn on the cam…

But he’s still a hardcore otaku, so he thought he’d try the demo at this opportunity, so he went into Mist and typed Cosplay Holic into the search bar.

“Oh, it really came out?”

Indeed, what would the visual novel created by Min Hayoon, an illustrator, cosplayer, and streamer, be like?

“Let’s just have a taste.”

Woo Seo-jin moved Min Hayoon’s broadcast to the sub-monitor, turned on the demo that finished downloading in an instant, and wrote Woo Seo-jin’s full name according to the instructions to enter his name.

“Hey, let’s drink!”

The urging of familiar voices.

“How about the tripe restaurant we went to last time?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well today…”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

Woo Seo-jin bowed his head apologetically and turned his back on the group.

Apparently, he doesn’t handle alcohol well.

When he sees his school seniors pouring and drinking soju, he feels like throwing up.

So on days like today when there seems to be a drinking party, he quickly escapes.

But…

“I want to drink well too…”

It’s not that he has no desire for alcohol.

He wants to get lost in thoughts while drinking, drink more to escape those thoughts, and fall asleep with only a clumsy answer.

Life is not easy.

Next year, he will be a senior and graduation is just around the corner. Will he get a job easily after graduating?

What’s next after getting a job? No, will graduation even go smoothly in the first place? Worry after worry keeps following.

Sometimes when he talks about this to his friends, they tell him to smoke. They say he must have learned to smoke in the army.

But Woo Seo-jin didn’t like cigarettes.

He heard that the addictiveness of cigarettes and alcohol is like heaven and earth.

“Phew….”

But if he keeps rotting like this, won’t he really start smoking?

Feeling that anxiety, Woo Seo-jin went into a convenience store without any plan and bought a bottle of soju with a red cap.

And then.

“Ugh….”

He ran straight to a nearby park and took a light sip.

Since the sun has set, there are no people around the park, and the night air is cool and pleasant.

Aren’t these good conditions to fall into contemplation?

”
….”

The taste of soju was not very good, but still, after slowly emptying a bottle and getting tipsy, his mood improved quite a bit.

He’s not sure what to do in the future, but he feels like things will somehow work out.

He felt a surge of courage.

“Let’s go home and study for a certificate…!”

Woo Seo-jin seemed to be using that courage in the right direction.

So, as Woo Seo-jin was walking out of the park and heading home.

“…?”

“…?”

Just then, he made eye contact with a woman passing by the park.

And that woman was walking while drinking a can of beer, and maybe she liked the fact that there was a person in their 20s walking while drinking like her.

“Do you like to drink?”

“Yes, yes?”

“Do you like alcohol? If you’re drinking a bottle of soju, you’re pretty hardcore, you know?”

She suddenly asked Woo Seo-jin a question, and Woo Seo-jin shook his head.

“Or else?”

“Uh, I’m trying to enjoy alcohol a little now…”

“Why?”

At the woman’s chic question, Woo Seo-jin scratched the back of his head awkwardly and continued.

“Because life is so bleak…”

“Then it’s right to drink, but soju is a bit…”

“Yes?”

“You know, if you drink soju, you’re going to be double depressed, If you’re going to drink, you should drink something delicious.”

“Uh….”

However, he was at a loss for words at the woman’s continuous questions.

“Take this. Come find me if you’re interested.”

“Cocktail Holic, manager…?”

The woman who was walking while drinking a can of beer suddenly handed him a business card and walked away, sipping her beer again.

That was Woo Seo-jin’s first encounter with her.

And the reason why Woo Seo-jin fell in love with cocktails.