Chapter 9: “Voice Reveal”

In all my time posting on the Efreet Gallery, I’ve written a lot of posts and attracted a lot of attention, but I’d never seen such an intense reaction before.

I guess you could say it was fascinating.

[Author: UncoveringLondon’sSecrets]

[Title: Massive Breaking News!!!!!!!!]

[Content: Starting tomorrow, I’ll be streaming on Twiss. Please check it out.]

L: Is this for real???

L Hwanhee: If we drop by your stream, are you gonna do something for us?

N: He says he’ll give us a special reward~

N: Why would he give that as a reward;

L: Suddenly starting a stream?

L: So after watching Mangming’s stream, you decided you wanted to stream too? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

N: Watching Mangming makes me think I could probably do it too.

N: lolol

L: But streaming is actually harder than you’d think. You think you can handle it?

N: You’re probably going to get cursed out a lot.

N: Unless you’re seriously a massive idiot, you won’t get cursed out that much.

As I carefully checked each comment, I could tell how the gallery regulars were perceiving my decision.

‘They think I’m doing this seriously.’

Since I had no intention of doing this seriously, I quickly clarified.

[Author: UncoveringLondon’sSecrets]

[Title: Guys, guys, I’m not doing this seriously;;;]

[Content: I’m just doing it for fun, to hang out with the Efreet Gallery folks.]

That should get my point across.

After posting that, comments started rolling in again.

L: But if it goes well, you’ll keep going, right? lol

N: If it goes well, of course, you should keep going lol

N: If you’re making money, who wouldn’t keep doing it, you fool.

L Gang Hoomin: Then can I spam the chat when you start streaming?

N: Of course not.

N: Breaking social norms, as expected from Gangpyeong lol

N: Wait, who’s Gang Hoomin?

There’s a well-known nickname, ‘Gang Hoomin,’ frequently used in the gallery.

The name “Gang Hoomin” isn’t their real name, though.

It comes from a famous economics-related YouTube channel named ‘Gang Hoomin.’

Only a select few know about it, and since it often makes odd comments in Shorts, the name pops up in various places.

‘…I’ve never actually seen it myself, though.’

Anyway, that’s not what matters right now.

What’s important is hitting level 30 quickly.

Then I’ll be able to play solo ranked.

“Phew…”

I finally reached level 30.

I thought it would take about three hours, but it took a bit longer than expected.

Honestly, I felt like quitting the game right then…

[Solo/Duo Ranked]

I couldn’t resist the text in front of me.

How many hours had I endured playing normal games just to be able to finally play solo ranked?

I’d heard rumours that solo ranked games were a lot of fun.

‘I’m excited.’

Feeling a sense of anticipation, I began preparing to start the stream.

Since I had studied a lot online, I didn’t find it too difficult to tweak the stream settings.

After one final check of all the settings, I was now at the point where all I had to do was press the start button.

“Ssshh…”

Soon, Yeram would arrive.

This was about the time she usually came home.

If I was streaming when Yeram showed up, it would be super embarrassing.

Not that I was embarrassed about streaming, but getting caught saying weird things would be a bit awkward.

‘Guess I’ll wait to start after she arrives.’

Yeram knew more about Twiss than I did, so getting some advice from her wouldn’t be a bad idea.

With that thought, I sat down in my chair and waited for a bit.

And then, it happened.

Beep beep-!

The sound of the door lock being pressed echoed as Yeram walked in.

“Ughhh… I’m so exhausted.”

As she spoke, she collapsed onto the floor, catching her breath.

She looked so worn out that I wanted to leave her alone, but I had something more important, so I couldn’t.

“I need to ask you something. Can you get up for a sec?”

“…Really? Right now?”

Yeram asked twice, clearly tired.

But I had no choice.

Delaying the stream any longer felt a bit off.

“It’s urgent, really.”

“Is it? Ugh…”

Even though she grumbled at my words, Yeram slowly picked herself up from the floor and sat down in a chair.

She looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

“What is it?”

“Well, actually…”

It was hard to get the words out.

How many people can comfortably tell their younger sibling, ‘I’m about to start streaming…’?

It was obvious I’d be teased relentlessly.

As I hesitated for a moment, she pressed me.

“Hurry up and tell me, I’m tired.”

Feeling rushed, I finally said what I had been holding back.

“I’m starting a stream, and I need your help.”

Now it was Yeram’s turn to help.

“Set this part up like this, and I think it’s all good now.”

“Wow, it’s finally done.”

“I’ve only heard rumours, but apparently there are a lot more settings to adjust than this, though it takes way too long to do all of that.”

I already felt like I’d spent a lot of time setting everything up, but the thought of it taking even longer was a bit shocking.

I wondered just how much tweaking professional streamers do. I was impressed and said to Yeram, “Alright, I’m about to start now, so stay quiet.”

“Okay.”

I paid her 10,000 won to stay quiet during the stream. After all, she did help with the setup.

And a little later…

Click.

I moved the mouse and clicked the button, and the stream started immediately.

Of course, there was no webcam.

Even though I wanted to chat and hang out with the gallery members, that didn’t mean I wanted to show my face.

I’m not some celebrity or anything.

Thinking that, I checked the chat window.

There was one person watching.

“Hello,” they wrote.

It was probably someone who randomly stumbled upon the stream to see what it was.

But then–

[NidaleeSpearFan: LOL]

Just from the username and the tone of the chat, I knew exactly who it was.

“Yeram. Do you want to die?”

If you’re going to join, at least give me a heads-up.

I got unnecessarily polite, thinking it was my first viewer and all.

“Wow… I’ve never seen you so polite before, bro.”

“Shut up.”

I couldn’t stand being teased by Yeram.

How could a sibling treat their older brother like this?

After calming my briefly shocked heart, I logged into the gallery and made a post.

[Author: UncoveringLondon’sSecrets] [Title: I’ve started streaming@@@@@@@@!] [Content: Search ‘IWantToFuseWithRammusThorns’ on Twis and join @@]

I thought about creating a new account, but the process seemed more complicated than I expected, so I decided to use the account Yeraem had been using.

I wasn’t planning on making money from this, anyway.

All I needed was an account.

Shortly after posting, comments started coming in.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Oh wow, you really started streaming LOLLLLLLL]

[Hwanhee: UncoverLondon’sSecrets! UncoveringLondon’sSecrets! UncoveringLondon’sSecrets! UncoveringLondon’sSecrets!]

[KangHoominHere: This is probably going to fail soon. It’d be better if you just quit streaming now.]

[As always, hard facts from Kangpyeong LOL]

[Social commentary from Kangpyeong LOL]

Before I knew it, a lot of people had joined.

There were already twelve viewers.

It seemed that my regular activity on the gallery had paid off. I couldn’t believe so many people had actually tuned into the stream.

“Oh, hey everyone.”

The greeting came out naturally.

I was genuinely happy to see them.

As I opened my mouth, the chat exploded.

[OmniscientCthulhu: ????]

[Hwanhee: What the hell]

[KangHoominHere: ?]

[??????]

[Who are you?]

[Why is there a male voice? Am I hearing this wrong?]

I could see everyone was confused.

Then it hit me again.

“Oh, right. This is a gender-reversed world.”

This place was a world where the roles of men and women were switched.

From that perspective, I could understand the feelings of the gallery members.

We usually joked around with each other, but to suddenly find out that the person on the other side was of the opposite gender was surprising.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Wait, are you really a guy????]

[Hwanhee: Don’t mess with me LOL, don’t mess with me LOL, don’t mess with me LOL]

They couldn’t believe I was a guy, demanding that I turn on my webcam and show important areas.

[KangHoominHere: Show us.]

[Lowly desires are real LOL]

[This is so lowbrow LOL]

Looking at the chat, it was clear that they didn’t believe me.

Honestly, if I were in their position, I probably wouldn’t believe it either.

“Who would believe that?”

A well-known user who had been actively participating in a male-dominated community for years suddenly claiming to be a guy.

But—

“Why should I? If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t.”

There was no need for me to explain myself.

Revealing I was a guy wouldn’t gain me anything.

As I said that—

[OmniscientCthulhu: Hmm… Is it true?]

[Hwanhee: I’m really suspicious]

[KangHoominHere: Show us.]

It seemed they all thought I was a girl, given how casually they were throwing around sexual jokes.

Well, I didn’t care.

Just then, Yeram burst in angrily.

“Who the hell are those guys?”