Chapter 41: Watching Kang Hoomin

It wasn’t the first time trolls had barged in, so I stayed calm, as usual.

“If you start spouting nonsense, I’m blocking donations right away—just so you know.”

That’s the right way to deal with people who talk nonsense. They’re not the type to listen, anyway.

But still…

‘…What’s this about?’

Judging by the donation messages, they seemed to be talking about that time I met Harin in Seongsu-dong.

Curious, I glanced at the chat.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Harin’s started streaming]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What did you say to make them react like this?]

[What’s going on..]

[I’m playing League of Legends, and they’re interrupting me]

[I’m Kang Hoomin: Settle down before I put an end to this.]

[cccccc]

[Murder warning, as expected from Kang]

[Harin’s streams have never been any help.]

It was clear.

Harin must have talked about meeting me.

There was no other reason for these trolls to come in all at once.

Well… Harin already mentioned she’d talk about it, so I couldn’t really complain.

But I didn’t expect this many trolls to show up.

‘I guess I should say something.’

If I didn’t address it now, they’d keep stirring things up.

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I began.

“Alright, yes, I happened to meet Harin in Seongsu-dong, so stop with the weird theories.

I was out for braised short ribs and ran into her.

What’s there to even explain?”

That was it.

There was no deeper story—I was just out for ribs, bumped into her, and we had a chat.

Hardly worth calling an “incident.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Everyone, stop talking nonsense.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Just watch the stream.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Any trolls here, I’ll track your IDs and ban your alt accounts too.]

[Always protecting the stream, that’s our Cthulhu]

[But really, did you just meet up and have a meal????]

[Hwanhee: No, they didn’t even eat together. They just ran into each other while eating, geez.

Why is everyone’s comprehension so bad?]

[Guess that’s how rabid fans are.]

[Ah, rabid fans indeed.]

My firm words finally quieted down the trolls in the chat.

It wasn’t a big deal, anyway.

But there were still a few lingering ones.

[Fabio donated 1,000 won!]

-Explain, explain, explain, explain, explain

“Are you serious? How many times do you want me to explain? Geez.”

Honestly, that was the polite version.

They’d been asking for an explanation every ten minutes.

It’s surprising I’d held back this long.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Hahaha, calm down]

[But yeah, understandable why you’re mad]

[Where do all these trolls keep coming from? Is there some troll gathering place I don’t know about?]

[You really don’t know about the troll hub? Haha.]

[Hwanhee: Hang in there, haha.]

[I just want to watch the game in peace, but these trolls keep killing the vibe.]

[But wouldn’t the trolls disappear if you just stop accepting donations?]

It was true.

If I stopped taking donations, the trolls would stop too.

But there was still a big reason why I kept accepting them.

“If I close donations, I can’t interact with the viewers.”

That was the biggest problem.

I do this for the fun of interacting with viewers, and without donations, that fun would be cut in half.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why don’t you just communicate through chat instead?]

[Hey, hey, hey x17]

[He’s subtly implying he wants the money, can’t you see that..?]

[Hey, manager, get a clue!!]

[Hwanhee: Talk about clueless.]

[I’m Kang Hoomin: Such a typical dude.]

[Mangming: Hahaha.]

Money is just a bonus.

Though the viewers probably don’t see it that way… I didn’t mind.

As long as I knew my own reasons, that was enough.

With that thought, I wrapped up the game.

[Victory!]

“Of course, just as the game ended, another annoying donation came through.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Ugh.]

[I seriously want to kill those people who send clueless donations, haha.]

[They all need to be choked out for sending donations with no sense.]

[Calm down, haha.]

[Why are these guys so angry?]

[Geez, haha.]

[Mangming: Well, I’m off to stream now too.]

Then Mangming said he was off to stream.

Come to think of it, his stream notifications hadn’t popped up recently.

He must have been taking a break.

“Oh, work hard on your stream.”

[Mangming: Yep.]

[Mangming: I’ll come by next time.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Bye-bye.]

[See you.]

[Please, let’s not see each other next time.]

[Don’t come back next time…]

[It’s annoying when those forum users keep invading here, but there’s nothing Mangming can do about it either.]

[Hwanhee: It’s not even Mangming’s fault that those users raid his stream.]

After a friendly goodbye, I decided to take a break and watch some videos instead of jumping into another game.

Playing back-to-back games can be exhausting.

“Ah, I’m so tired.”

It felt like the fatigue had accumulated from playing continuously.

I felt I’d need at least a 30-minute break to play properly.

With that thought, I opened Twitch.

“Everyone’s streaming.”

Mangming and Harin were streaming.

I wanted to go in and check their streams, but because of a previous incident, I was a bit hesitant to jump into someone else’s stream.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Looks like Mangming was already prepared to stream.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Considering he started right away.]

[A diligent young man.]

[A diligent young man (doesn’t stream without notice).]

[If Mangming is diligent, then Dama is like a dedicated attendance king, haha.]

[But doesn’t Dama stream diligently too?]

[Hwanhee: What’s with the unjustified hate?]

As I was debating which stream to join, a familiar streamer’s name caught my eye.

The name popped up so unexpectedly that I wondered if I was seeing it right.

[Kang Hoomin]

“What? I’ve never seen this guy stream before.”

Honestly, I didn’t know much about Kang Hoomin.

I only knew of him because of a guy named “Kang Hoomin” who was active in the gallery.

So, I was pretty intrigued.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Hahahahahaha]

[I’m Kang Hoomin: Yeah, lately I’ve been streaming on Twitch.]

[Of course, Kangpyung knows all the details, haha.]

[Why is that guy on Twitch? Haha.]

[Why is he on Twitch? Hahahaha.]

[I never thought I’d see him here.]

[Kangpyung haha (it’s true).]

I was very curious.

What kind of streamer was he usually, for all these memes about him to have developed?

So, cautiously, I clicked into his stream.

[Viewers: 893]

“He has a ton of viewers.”

That was a very respectable number.

I hadn’t even hit a hundred yet.

[But Kang Hoomin deserves it, haha.]

[He’s someone who deserves this kind of viewership, I guess.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Kang Hoomin deserves it, haha.]

[Kang Hoomin is a god, Kang Hoomin is a god, Kang Hoomin is a god, Kang Hoomin is a god.]

[Hwanhee: Just thinking about watching Hoomin’s stream is already cracking me up, haha.]

Everyone’s anticipation for Kang Hoomin’s stream was palpable.

Sensing that, I also felt a bit anxious.

When viewers are that eager, there’s often something to worry about.

With slight unease, I joined Kang Hoomin’s stream.

And then—

—I told you repeatedly to sell short here. You idiot. This fool never listens to me. Why would you buy more, you dumbass?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: LOL LOL LOL]

[Jumped in, and he’s cursing up a storm right from the start, haha.]

[This is classic Kang Hoomin, alright.]

[This really is peak Kangpyung, haha.]

[I’m Kang Hoomin: Never changes, does he? LOL]

[That’s the Kangpyung standard, haha.]

[Hwanhee: Hahahahaha]

[I’d only seen clips of Kang Hoomin’s streams before, but they’re just ridiculously funny, haha.]

[His voice totally sounds like a sly character.]

The moment I entered Kang Hoomin’s stream, I understood why people watched it.

A tone that sounded neither male nor female.

Unclear diction.

And with all of that, he cursed relentlessly.

‘It’d be hard not to go viral.’

In just about 10 seconds, I could see how a streamer like Kang Hoomin had gained popularity.

“Amazing.”

I couldn’t help but applaud.

Clap clap.

If there’s someone with an innate talent for streaming, it would be Kang Hoomin.

Of course, it was definitely not a path I’d want to take.

As I had these random thoughts, I glanced at the chat in Kang Hoomin’s stream.

[Came from Dama’s stream@@@ Came from Dama’s stream@@@ Came from Dama’s stream@@@ Came from Dama’s stream@@@]

[Stirring things up.]

[Spamming like you’re from another stream is peak Kangpyung haha. Spamming like you’re from another stream is peak Kangpyung haha. Spamming like you’re from another stream is peak Kangpyung haha.]

[Even if you try to disguise it, it’s obviously Kangpyung, haha.]

It was like witnessing chaos.