Chapter 42: How Fandom Develops

Where did all these troublemakers come from?

To answer this question, I have to go back to when I first started playing Leore.

Back then, I was definitely watching “Mangming”’s stream.

I had gotten a recommendation from some of the gallery regulars.

It was probably from that moment that these troublesome people started attaching themselves to me.

Now, I couldn’t get rid of them.

They had become as one with me.

So, I had to think of a way to coexist with them.

“Alright, stop.”

After saying “don’t do it” once, I wanted to leave the stream, but I couldn’t.

If there was a spam like that in the chat, I knew that somehow, through some route, news about Kang Hoomin would make its way to me again.

‘This is why you shouldn’t enter other people’s streams.’

There weren’t many viewers, and no one in the stream was really connected to me, so I entered without thinking too much.

But it seemed like I needed to control myself from now on.

I might cause trouble for those around me.

With that thought, I listened to what Kang Hoomin was saying.

“Dama? Who the hell is that guy causing a fuss here? Annoying. Just this guy alone is already irritating, why bring up some weird guy?”

“Mm…”

Sure, I was the one who spammed weirdly in Kang Hoomin’s stream first.

But that still didn’t give anyone a reason to talk like that.

…But it was a little awkward to say something here.

If I hadn’t started it, I might’ve said something, but since I did start it, it was embarrassing to say anything.

So, I used a valid trick.

“Hey, why can’t I hear anything?”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: No, dude.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: That method is a bit… ᄏᄏ]

[But it wasn’t something you should listen to sober.]

[Don’t listen to that kind of talk, Dama. T^T Don’t listen to that kind of talk, Dama. T^T Don’t listen to that kind of talk, Dama. T^T]

[Dama, don’t listen to those words.]

[Hwanhee: Kang Hoomin is seriously rude as hell. ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

[Kang Hoomin: That’s just my stream persona, can’t help it.]

[Doesn’t seem like a persona though. ᄏᄏ]

[Kang Hoomin, you piece of shit (This is aimed at ‘Kang Hoomin’ in Dama’s stream, not you, please don’t misunderstand. T_T)]

[If it’s a curse at Kang Hoomin, it’s okay. ᄏᄏ]

Thankfully, it seemed like the viewers understood.

It would’ve been awkward to argue about it here.

By the way, I was lucky that this happened when Mangming and Harin weren’t watching.

If they had seen this, it would’ve been a bit embarrassing.

‘From now on, I should just ban any mentions of Kang Hoomin.’

There weren’t many viewers, but still, I felt it would be right to ban any mention of Kang Hoomin.

It probably wouldn’t be for anything good.

With that thought in mind, I checked the current viewer count.

[Viewer count: 125]

“Where are all these viewers coming from?”

Viewers kept flooding in.

It didn’t seem like someone had posted a coordinate.

If a coordinate was shared, the viewers would increase explosively.

Then they would drop off all at once.

But since that wasn’t happening, it seemed that no coordinate had been shared.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: There are people who upload your videos on YouTube.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: That’s why.]

[Is there a place that uploads such low-quality videos?]

[Hwanhee: I’m cautiously thinking that uploading such videos might be illegal…]

[It’s fun to watch on that channel when I can’t watch the live stream. ᄏᄏ]

[Thanks, Haehwoo~]

[Haehwoo is a god.]

[Kang Hoomin: They sometimes edit and upload broadcast videos on that channel. ᄏᄏ]

[They get around 700 views, but they’re consistent.]

Oh, so that’s the route.

Of course, I had heard that popular streamers like Rimaldo also got viewers through that kind of method, but since it wasn’t a mainstream route, I thought it was interesting and opened my mouth.

“Then, should I watch the edited version? It’s amazing that someone edits my stream.”

Personally, as someone who’s never deeply immersed in anything, I couldn’t understand fan channels that edit and upload videos regularly just because they like something.

It’s not even for money.

That’s why I was even more curious.

I wondered what reason they had for editing my streams.

With that curiosity in mind, I typed “Haehwoo” into YouTube.

Then—

“An old song is playing.”

It seemed like a song that was featured on a TV program called “Kayo Top Ten” from back in the day.

Of course, I didn’t know it.

I only listened to hip-hop songs.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Ah, that song is nice.]

[Mm, yeah, yeah, that song is definitely good.]

[That song is really good.]

[Hwanhee: I want to love you while facing each other~]

[Ugh, all these old people gathered.]

[Just die already, please.]

[Kang Hoomin: I keep getting annoyed because this song keeps popping up. I don’t care about these old songs.]

[Attacking the old people is classic Kang Hoomin. ᄏᄏ]

Scrolling down a bit more, I saw a channel named “Haehwoo” with around 100 subscribers.

“What? The number of my viewers and subscribers is the same.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Don’t say bad things about fan channels. ᄂᄂᄂᄂᄂᄂ]

[Hey, you bastard. ᄏᄏᄏ]

[The manager is the worst.]

[No one is saying anything, but they’re ranting alone. ᄉᄇᄏᄏ]

[Hwanhee: Is that what a manager is supposed to be?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Do you want to be a manager?]

[Hwanhee: That’s a bit… ]

Why is the channel name Haehwoo?

It might have been a name chosen without much thought, but usually, when people create accounts, they use their usual nicknames.

From that perspective, I wondered,
“Could there be someone named Haehwoo in the stream?”
It seemed like a reasonable assumption.

So, I decided to check right away.
Since there weren’t too many viewers, I could check the usernames of all the viewers for about a minute.

But—
“What? There’s no one.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Ahhhh!!! This is visual harassment!!!]

[The manager has finally lost it. ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

[Shortened to time ᄃ]
User has been temporarily disconnected!

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Boring joke. ᄂ]

[There’s no dictator like this one.]

[If they had been born a few hundred years earlier, their name would probably have been Goebbels.]

[Goebbels is acceptable. ᄏᄏ]

[What do you mean acceptable? Damn. ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

I checked the viewer list, confident that I would find something, but there was no one named Haehwoo.
I even checked for slightly altered versions of the name, but still, no one seemed suspicious.
So, I gave up on searching and decided to watch the edited video.

Click.
I clicked the mouse and checked the video that had been uploaded a few days ago.

“If you do it like this, it’s easy. Everyone should do it like this.”

“Mm… Was my voice this low? It’s so deep. Not really my thing.”
I’d often been told my voice was low, but I didn’t expect it to sound this low on the stream.
I thought it would be a bit higher.
Personally, I wasn’t fond of my voice, so it felt a bit embarrassing.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Your voice is great.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Please stop deceiving us. ᄂᄂᄂᄂᄂᄂ]

[No, I’ve been excited hearing your voice more than once. Please, stop saying stuff like that. ᄂᄂ]
User has been temporarily disconnected!

[Damn, you freak.]

[Don’t try to boost Da-ma’s self-esteem in such a weird way.]

[You’re really trying to boost self-esteem in such a strange way. ᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

[This is absurd. Really. ᄏᄏᄏ]

[Kang Hoomin: Crazy b*tch in heat.]

[Criticism is classic Kang Hoomin. ᄏᄏ]

However, in the chat, people were complimenting my voice.
There were a few compliments on my looks, but mostly, people were praising my voice.
“It doesn’t seem that bad, then.”
Relieved, I continued watching the edited video.

A little while later…
“…This is fun?”
The video ended.
I hadn’t expected it to be this entertaining.

“To think my broadcast was made so entertaining like this.”

Personally, I don’t think my broadcasts are that fun.

I usually think of them as something you can just play casually like a radio.

[It’s because the material is good that it makes something fun.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: But when they make even the boring parts interesting, it’s talent. ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

[I never imagined it would be this fun.]

[Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god, Haehwoo is a god.]

[Hwanhee: Even watching the editing again, it’s still so fun. ᄏᄏ]

[This is it, this is it~]

[Kang Hoomin: When the broadcast level gets bigger later, let’s hire a formal editor.]

A formal editor, huh.