Chapter 69: “She’ll need to explain, right?”

There is a term called “pseudo-romance.”

It refers to the act of imagining oneself in a romantic relationship with a beloved target, even though such a relationship does not actually exist.

It’s about acting like a lover toward someone with whom there’s absolutely no chance of a romantic relationship—essentially a 0% possibility.

This phenomenon is commonly seen in the idol world, where fans engage in pseudo-romances with idols.

When dating rumors arise, these fans feel betrayed as if they were the idol’s actual partner and, in extreme cases, may even resort to stalking behavior.

This pseudo-romance also subtly exists in the world of internet streaming, even if not openly.

The streaming world is predominantly male-dominated, so the targets are mostly female streamers.

Not only female cam streamers who show their faces and dance but also faceless streamers fall prey to this pseudo-romantic phenomenon.

It’s somewhat surprising.

After all, it’s just a voice. What about an unknown person—someone they’ve literally never met—compels people to dig into their private life like that?

In the unrestricted world of the internet, space is no limitation.

This allows an infinite number of people to gather, and where people gather in large numbers, such shady types inevitably proliferate.

It wasn’t surprising that people trying to dig into streamers’ private lives eventually turned their attention to Kayak, who was currently a hot topic in the Twitch community.

Kayak’s team dinner took place a little later than the others.

Kayak had already caused an incident during an online drinking session before the dinner.

A mishap occurred where her chest was accidentally exposed despite being a faceless streamer.

Most people assumed that Kayak wouldn’t attend the team dinner after such an incident, but then came the news that she had indeed attended.

Kayak is a streamer with a considerable average viewer count.

Despite her significantly expanded audience base, very little is known about her, making her a mysterious figure.

Her age, occupation, and background are all unknown.

All the viewers know is that she’s a woman with a large chest and is exceptionally skilled at playing Abyss.

But through this team dinner, even this limited information was expected to unravel, albeit indirectly, through her teammates who attended the dinner with her.

This was why people were eagerly waiting for the post-dinner broadcast by Kayak’s team.

“Ugh….”

In the late afternoon, Ririyang and Dahee woke up holding their pounding heads.

Their queasy stomachs forced them to get up like zombies to drink some warm water.

Ririyang couldn’t help but yearn for the honey water her mom used to make, though it was no longer an option.

It had already been half a year since she moved out for her streaming career.

Living alone wasn’t all bad.

While there was no mom to make honey water, there was also no mom to nag her about how much she drank.

Feeling at ease, Ririyang lay on the sofa and picked up her phone.

It was almost like a daily ritual.

In the unpredictable world of internet streaming, this was her way of checking if any major incidents had occurred while she was asleep.

Although it was a risky habit that could lead her into the depths of online communities, it was unavoidable.

As a streamer who made a living on the internet, she couldn’t completely avoid the communities.

First, she checked the official forum for her stream.

There were only adorable posts urging her to stream soon, with people saying they’d hold their breath until she went live.

In other words, there were no issues.

Leaving a notice that she would stream in a few hours, she moved on to the next platform.

The streamer gallery, infamous for its toxicity, was the best place to check the public sentiment and trending gossip.

Someone was actively live-reporting a stream.

<Limetack’s shifty eye movements tell you everything. ᄏᄏᄏᄏ>

<Why hesitate so much to simply call someone pretty? Hmm….>

<If even simpleminded Limetack is hesitating like this, Kayak must either be extremely pretty or unbelievably unattractive.>

Just glancing at a few posts was enough to get a sense of the situation.

It seemed Limetack was streaming.

Though Ririyang didn’t drink lightly, Limetack had drunk at least as much as her, if not more.

Yet he was already streaming. His stamina was genuinely impressive.

While preparing some ramen to cure her hangover, Ririyang logged into his stream.

[What does she look like?]

[What does she look like?]

[What does she look like?]

[Does she resemble Yeonnu?]

[Yeonnu?]

[Yeonnu?]

[Yeonnu?]

[Yeonnu?]

[Ririyang’s real appearance?]

[Kayak’s real appearance?]

[Ririyang’s real appearance?]

[Kayak’s real appearance?]

[What’s the point of talking about Ririyang’s real appearance?]

[She does cam streams all the time anyway.]

[Ah, shut up for a second. Let me listen to what they’re saying.]

[What time is it, and they’re only now starting the stream?]

[Why can’t they move faster?]

[Limetack is the first to start streaming ᄏᄏ.]

[That guy’s usually so lazy, too.]

“Wow…”

While stirring her ramen, Ririyang let out a small exclamation.

The viewer count of 8,000—unheard of for Limetack’s stream—was enough of a clue.

The chat’s intensity was something else entirely.

For some reason, Ririyang couldn’t help but feel that the scene was hitting close to home.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t someone else’s issue at all.

In just a few hours, her own stream would likely end up in the same state.

Although she felt slightly nauseous at the thought, she forced herself to gulp down the ramen broth.

The chaotic chat only calmed down after Limetack enabled both “follower-only chat” and “subscriber-only chat,” restricting participation to his regular viewers.

“Geez, can’t you wait a little?

If you keep acting like this, I’ll have no choice but to take tougher measures.

You’re pushing me to become a thug!”

[Freebie viewers, get out!]

[Bye-bye, trolls!]

[Does it sting? ᄏᄏ]

[Does it sting? ᄏᄏ]

[Does it sting? ᄏᄏ]

[Why are one-month subs pouring in all of a sudden? ᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

[It’s useless anyway since it’s follower-only chat.

Idiots.]

“Anyway, don’t tease them too much.

Now, where were we…

Ah, right, Kayak.

When did Kayak arrive?

Well—”

Click.

At that point, Ririyang closed Limetack’s stream and began cleaning up.

It wouldn’t be long before it was her turn.

“Hello, everyone!

Trha Trha!

Welcome to my late afternoon stream…

This is Ririyang!”

The post-dinner streams were conducted in a relay format.

This had been agreed upon in advance.

As professional streamers, they had anticipated the surge of interest following the dinner.

The plan was simple: take turns streaming, share some stories, and rake in a bit of money while at it.

It was a conclusion reached during the dinner itself.

“I wasn’t the first to arrive but the second.

I thought I was early, but Hangang was already there.

Oh, by the way, Hangang was the one who reserved the restaurant.

Did you all hear about that?”

Ririyang shared photos of the restaurant they had visited and the food they had eaten, narrating her story as she went.

[Ah, that place!]

[It looks amazing;;]

[As expected of Millionaire Hangang.]

[I wish I could eat at a place like that ᅲᅲ.]

The audience’s reaction was positive, but Ririyang knew better.

She could tell what her viewers were truly curious about.

The current chat consisted of a few polite subscribers, thanks to the follower-only restriction she’d set up, much like Limetack.

“This is the outfit I wore.

It’s nice, right?

I debated over it for ages the day before.

It doesn’t look overly dressed up, but it’s not too casual either—just that perfect in-between.

You all get it, right?

Exactly that vibe.”

Ririyang began to leisurely recount her stories, deliberately avoiding any key details.

Even though it wasn’t her intention, her audience found it tantalizingly frustrating.

[Ririyang, your explanations are too long…]

[Please go a bit faster, haha;;]

[The streamer is adorable, though, so it’s fine.]

[Looks like everyone here came from Kayak’s stream, haha. Everyone just wants to hear more about Kayak.]

<10000 KRW donation from KayakLoverDog!>

“So, how was our teacher? What do they look like? Do they resemble any celebrities? Did they talk a lot with you, Ririyang?”

Ririyang felt a sense of inevitability but maintained her composure, continuing with a calm demeanor.

“Oh, Kayak? Hehe. Kayak is beautiful, isn’t she? Did we talk a lot? Of course! We became super close, like best friends. We sat next to each other, chatted a lot, shared some appetizers… She even looked after me yesterday when I overdid it with drinking.”

[The streamer finally escapes being friendless?]

[Wait, wait, wait. Fed her appetizers?]

[What about the polar bear thing…?]

[If you’re friends, are you two the same age?]

“Oh, age? It turns out the teacher is younger than me!

Her vibe is so mature that I thought she was older, but it turns out she’s actually younger.

But we decided to just be friends anyway.

There’s not much of an age difference, and I’m not someone who gets caught up on one or two years.

How many years apart? Kayak is two years younger than me.”

In the chat, which was set to follower-only mode, there wasn’t much reaction.

Most responses were mild acknowledgments: “Oh, she’s younger than expected.”

Because of this, Ririyang didn’t realize the gravity of what she had said.

Kayak had never revealed her age on her stream.

Those who were always digging for information about her quickly latched onto Ririyang’s comment about Kayak’s age.

<So how old is Ririyang then?>

<Ririyang is 23, so does that mean the channel owner is 21?>

<Wait, wasn’t she posting on the forums years ago? Now you’re telling me she’s only 21?>

<A high school forum member? Kayak… oh wow.>

This unintentional revelation created yet another piece of gossip, which Ririyang couldn’t have foreseen.

<If Kayak is 21, then what about that post from three years ago?

She uploaded an announcement about the server closing and posted a photo of her drinking soju back then, didn’t she?>

<+>

<Wait, what?! The channel owner was a juvenile delinquent?

Drinking soju and posting it on the forums while in high school?>

<A high schooler drinking alcohol… hmm…>

<These days even elementary schoolers drink, haha.>

<Overreaction much.>

<But shouldn’t she explain this?>

The snowball of gossip began to roll.